pete74
08-23-2010, 04:01 PM
Good morning,
Some impressions from Saturday night:
--- The Maurkice Pouncey experiment is over. He’s no longer competing for the starting job at center. Give it to him now. Pouncey is so dominant at the position that it’s not even close. He looks like a Pro Bowler after two preseason games. Not only does he block his man, he often blocks TWO men, getting one and then running downfield to obliterate someone else. The man consumes defenders. The only question left is what to do with Justin Hartwig, release him or try to make use of him.
--- Byron Leftwich has the strongest arm of all the quarterbacks. Remember early in the spring when he was determined to hit Mike Wallace with a deep pass and not underthrow him? He did it again Saturday, hurling his pass 60 yards before it settled into Wallace’s arms at the 15 for a 68-yard touchdown.
--- Yes, Leftwich has a stronger arm than Ben Roethlisberger. It does not make his arm better than Roethlisberger. That wind up by Leftwich increases his release time, which will cause him some problems, and has during his career.
--- What’s with Ike Taylor? A fistfight in football? He can expect a fine to go along with that ejection. However, it was not necessarily a bad thing. We got to see Keenan Lewis earlier. I thought he looked just OK before he left the game with a concussion.
--- The coaches believe Antonio Brown is not smart enough to grasp the routes he has to run as a wide receiver. I’m told his roster spot is in jeopardy because of it. Look, Steelers coaches once explained that Johnny Unitas wasn’t smart enough either before they released him. Brown is on my team, if for nothing else right now than as a return man. Let’s hope the coaches come around to that way of thinking. Brown showed a good burst right off the ball on his returns and made good decisions where to run. Stefan Logan, for all his speed and quickness, has neither of those two attributes.
--- Not that it really means much, but after two preseason games I’m still waiting for Ziggy Hood to, you know, make me go WOW, as he did during his second training camp. Pouncey already has done that after his first two games.
--- If Bryant McFadden is the best the Steelers have as their No. 2 cornerback, I do not believe the position will be improved this season.
--- Isaac Redman just keeps getting the job done, no matter what is asked of him.
--- The Steelers have said little about a Pony Backfield. Two years ago, after they drafted Rashard Mendenhall, coordinator Bruce Arians said he had the Pony in his playbook. He did not use it and then Mendenhall was eliminated in the fourth game of the season. Think of the Pony as Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, two running backs together rather than one back or the classic lead fullback and running back. The Steelers paired Mendenhall and Redman a lot Saturday night and Redman has played no fullback this summer. They also seemed to use more fullback-running back than the tight end h-back Arians has preferred in the past.
--- Have to catch a flight. More later.
Some impressions from Saturday night:
--- The Maurkice Pouncey experiment is over. He’s no longer competing for the starting job at center. Give it to him now. Pouncey is so dominant at the position that it’s not even close. He looks like a Pro Bowler after two preseason games. Not only does he block his man, he often blocks TWO men, getting one and then running downfield to obliterate someone else. The man consumes defenders. The only question left is what to do with Justin Hartwig, release him or try to make use of him.
--- Byron Leftwich has the strongest arm of all the quarterbacks. Remember early in the spring when he was determined to hit Mike Wallace with a deep pass and not underthrow him? He did it again Saturday, hurling his pass 60 yards before it settled into Wallace’s arms at the 15 for a 68-yard touchdown.
--- Yes, Leftwich has a stronger arm than Ben Roethlisberger. It does not make his arm better than Roethlisberger. That wind up by Leftwich increases his release time, which will cause him some problems, and has during his career.
--- What’s with Ike Taylor? A fistfight in football? He can expect a fine to go along with that ejection. However, it was not necessarily a bad thing. We got to see Keenan Lewis earlier. I thought he looked just OK before he left the game with a concussion.
--- The coaches believe Antonio Brown is not smart enough to grasp the routes he has to run as a wide receiver. I’m told his roster spot is in jeopardy because of it. Look, Steelers coaches once explained that Johnny Unitas wasn’t smart enough either before they released him. Brown is on my team, if for nothing else right now than as a return man. Let’s hope the coaches come around to that way of thinking. Brown showed a good burst right off the ball on his returns and made good decisions where to run. Stefan Logan, for all his speed and quickness, has neither of those two attributes.
--- Not that it really means much, but after two preseason games I’m still waiting for Ziggy Hood to, you know, make me go WOW, as he did during his second training camp. Pouncey already has done that after his first two games.
--- If Bryant McFadden is the best the Steelers have as their No. 2 cornerback, I do not believe the position will be improved this season.
--- Isaac Redman just keeps getting the job done, no matter what is asked of him.
--- The Steelers have said little about a Pony Backfield. Two years ago, after they drafted Rashard Mendenhall, coordinator Bruce Arians said he had the Pony in his playbook. He did not use it and then Mendenhall was eliminated in the fourth game of the season. Think of the Pony as Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, two running backs together rather than one back or the classic lead fullback and running back. The Steelers paired Mendenhall and Redman a lot Saturday night and Redman has played no fullback this summer. They also seemed to use more fullback-running back than the tight end h-back Arians has preferred in the past.
--- Have to catch a flight. More later.