- I went to the game solely to watch Big Ben in
his first ever game, and I was thoroughly impressed.� It doesn't hurt that I reside in suburban Detroit.
- Langer and I got to the field an hour and a half early and watched the
Steelers warming up.� Bettis came over
and signed a few autographs, and all I could see was his big pot-belly that
gets somewhat hidden once he throws the pads on.
- Other warm-up observations included the fact that Rob Bironas has what
appears to be a much stronger leg than Jeff Reed.� Bironas was booming kicks from 50+, while Reed as we witnessed
during the game comes up well short.
- Big Ben looks big, in a good way, without the pads on, and as he proved once
the game started, he's got the moxie to get out of the pocket and make things
happen.
- Maddox was efficient and workmanlike in the first quarter, but he's merely
the caretaker until Big Ben is up to speed.
- Duce Staley was very impressive pounding away for 4-5 yards a pop.� If this guy can continue to that, along with
popping the big ones occasionally, we'll have our first real threat at RB since
we last went to the Super Bowl.
- I found it interesting that Bettis called out Zereoue last week, when he
noted that his competition with Staley is different since Staley works much
harder than Zereoue and that Zereoue really didn't work hard at his trade.� I'm just curious when Bettis became the
expert on working hard in camp, since he very rarely plays in training camp.� Training camp for Bettis consists of the hot
tub and late night runs to fast food joints on Route 30.
- You can take three things to the bank (about Bettis past, present, and
future):
1) Bettis will work out in the offseason with Bob Kersee, and report in the
best shape of his life (according to the 'burgh media).
2) Bettis will suffer some mysterious malady and miss most of training camp,
especially the grueling two-a-days.
3) Bettis will be either hurt or ineffective once the playoffs start.
- Back to Big Ben, I was most impressed with the play in which he was flushed
out of the pocket and rolled right towards the sideline.� He was about to be sacked or forced out of
bounds either of which would have resulted in a big loss, yet he had the
presence of mind to get rid of the ball and fired it out of bounds.� These are the types of 'mental' plays that I
love to see from a rookie QB.
- The first team o-line was solid enough in the running game, and kept Maddox
clean for the most part.� There were a
few gaffes, which is to be expected during the first preseason game.
- The defense generated zero pass rush, especially the first unit during the
Lions' opening drive.� This is pretty
scary considering we were only missing Haggans from our starting front seven,
and he is arguably the weakest member of that front seven.
- I'm not sure how it came across on television, but Alonzo Jackson was abused
for much of the game.� He did little in
the way of stopping the run, rushing the passer, or coverage, and pretty much
just reminded us of the former LOLB.
- The added athleticism in the secondary certainly showed.� It's remarkable that youth and speed would
be more effective than experienced but slow.
- If Willie Williams plays an important role in the secondary, he will be this
year's Brent Alexander.
- Chad Scott and Deshea Townsend are your starting CBs for 2004.
- Ike Taylor and Ricardo Colclough will be your starting CBs for 2005, and
they'll make damn good nickel and dime CBs for 2004.
- I can't really comment on Zamir Cobb, as Langer and I left the stadium with
about 4 mins left, just when Cobb pulled off much of his antics.
- If Bettis were released tomorrow, do you think anyone (even the Miami
Dolphins) would take a sniff??? �Unfortunately Bettis will collect another million this season, and
we'll get to read next offseason how he worked out with Bob Kersee and is in
the best shape of his life.� Order the
Post Gazette or Trib and you'll get to read all about it.