mesaSteeler
08-22-2009, 11:42 PM
NFL from the sidelines
After hobnobbing around the NFL in the press boxes and sidelines, sports reporter Dale Lolley will let you know the insider scoop
http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Post-Washington thoughts
There was plenty to like in Saturday's preseason loss to the Washington Redskins and some things that weren't so great for the Steelers.
We'll start with the good.
© Return man Stefan Logan may not have done quite enough to make this team with one good outing as much as rookie Joe Burnett did help him.
Logan averaged 12 yards per punt return and nearly 40 yards on four kick returns and both of those numbers are eye openers.
But the Steelers still like rookie speedster Mike Wallace as a kick returner. Burnett, however, has fumbled punts in each of the team's two preseason games.
The trouble with Logan, however, is that he's not going to be able to cover kicks - at least he hasn't yet - and with a veteran team, who do you cut on this team to keep a guy who only returns kicks?
Then again, Logan could be special and sometimes you have to bite the bullet.
© Second-year quarterback Dennis Dixon is starting to look like an NFL-caliber quarterback, at least one who can step in and make things happen in a pinch.
His back-to-back 17-yard plays in the second quarter – one a pass to Limas Sweed, the other a scramble – were big-time plays.
Dixon injured his AC joint in the fourth quarter - the same injury that dogged Ben Roethlisberger last season - but the severity of the injury is not yet known.
© Rashard Mendenhall looked much more comfortable running the ball this week than he did last week against Arizona. He hit his holes hard and got positive yardage with each carry.
Willie Parker also looked good.
Now if this team could just get its starting offensive line on the field together, we'll finally get to see if there's an improvement.
© After a slow start, the first-team offensive line got its feet under it - even with Doug Legursky at left guard in place of Chris Kemoeatu. Kemoeatu was out with a rib injury that's not serious.
The second-team line also did a pretty good job.
Remember, this was their first road game and that's always a little more difficult.
© This team wasn't supposed to have any depth at inside linebacker, but Keyaron Fox and Donovan Woods are thumpers.
Fox made a big stop on third down at the Pittsburgh 2 to keep Washington out of the end zone, while Woods blew up a return man on a kickoff.
They're both solid backups.
Now for the bad:
When you have more penalties than points, it's never a good thing.
That's two weeks in a row that the Steelers were highly penalized, something that hasn't been a problem in recent years.
They have to clean that stuff up.
© Burnett was this week's goat after being one of the stars of the first preseason game. In addition to his fumble, which led to one touchdown, he also got beat on a fade for another score.
But those are the things you deal with when rookies play.
© The Redskins gouged the Steelers on the ground at times in this one, something that doesn't usually happen, even to the team's third-team defense.
We'll say it was a schematic problem for now - at least until we get a chance to investigate further.
Posted by Dale Lolley at 12:07 AM 0 comments Links to this post
After hobnobbing around the NFL in the press boxes and sidelines, sports reporter Dale Lolley will let you know the insider scoop
http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Post-Washington thoughts
There was plenty to like in Saturday's preseason loss to the Washington Redskins and some things that weren't so great for the Steelers.
We'll start with the good.
© Return man Stefan Logan may not have done quite enough to make this team with one good outing as much as rookie Joe Burnett did help him.
Logan averaged 12 yards per punt return and nearly 40 yards on four kick returns and both of those numbers are eye openers.
But the Steelers still like rookie speedster Mike Wallace as a kick returner. Burnett, however, has fumbled punts in each of the team's two preseason games.
The trouble with Logan, however, is that he's not going to be able to cover kicks - at least he hasn't yet - and with a veteran team, who do you cut on this team to keep a guy who only returns kicks?
Then again, Logan could be special and sometimes you have to bite the bullet.
© Second-year quarterback Dennis Dixon is starting to look like an NFL-caliber quarterback, at least one who can step in and make things happen in a pinch.
His back-to-back 17-yard plays in the second quarter – one a pass to Limas Sweed, the other a scramble – were big-time plays.
Dixon injured his AC joint in the fourth quarter - the same injury that dogged Ben Roethlisberger last season - but the severity of the injury is not yet known.
© Rashard Mendenhall looked much more comfortable running the ball this week than he did last week against Arizona. He hit his holes hard and got positive yardage with each carry.
Willie Parker also looked good.
Now if this team could just get its starting offensive line on the field together, we'll finally get to see if there's an improvement.
© After a slow start, the first-team offensive line got its feet under it - even with Doug Legursky at left guard in place of Chris Kemoeatu. Kemoeatu was out with a rib injury that's not serious.
The second-team line also did a pretty good job.
Remember, this was their first road game and that's always a little more difficult.
© This team wasn't supposed to have any depth at inside linebacker, but Keyaron Fox and Donovan Woods are thumpers.
Fox made a big stop on third down at the Pittsburgh 2 to keep Washington out of the end zone, while Woods blew up a return man on a kickoff.
They're both solid backups.
Now for the bad:
When you have more penalties than points, it's never a good thing.
That's two weeks in a row that the Steelers were highly penalized, something that hasn't been a problem in recent years.
They have to clean that stuff up.
© Burnett was this week's goat after being one of the stars of the first preseason game. In addition to his fumble, which led to one touchdown, he also got beat on a fade for another score.
But those are the things you deal with when rookies play.
© The Redskins gouged the Steelers on the ground at times in this one, something that doesn't usually happen, even to the team's third-team defense.
We'll say it was a schematic problem for now - at least until we get a chance to investigate further.
Posted by Dale Lolley at 12:07 AM 0 comments Links to this post