It�s got to be Tommy:
At no time during the course of his weekly press obfuscation did Coach Cowher comment on our new QB controversy.� That�s fine, why let the Saints know sooner than is necessary?� In my opinion though, the conclusion is foregone; here�s why:
- The Steelers don�t have the trace of a running game.�� Injury and illness have depleted the RB position.� Bettis, necessarily idle for the better part of 6 months, now hits the hole with the speed of Jon Witman and the power of, say, Pepe Pearson. �Very poor; the Bus may get back on track by the time bad weather sets in but, for now at least, he is nearly worthless.
Zereoue�s liver problem may be behind him but the effect is lingering.� For three games now, Amoz has looked more like George Jones than the speed back to whom the Steelers gave +$8M last spring.� Fu has size, speed and smarts; everything you want in a RB, except durability.� Fu is out now and rookie Verron Haynes is #3; in short, the RB are, variously, damaged or untested
2. The Steelers go at least four deep at WR.� Both Ward and Spike had #1-like seasons last year; Mathis has been a #1 and ARE is the best rookie seen here since, well, K-Bell.� Randle El and Mathis are mismatches for nearly every teams� 3rd and 4th CB.� Given that, together with the fact that the RB stable is burning, the Steelers best option offensively is to spread the field, presuming of course that they have a triggerman.����
3. Kordell Stewart has had great success in the 5-wide but as a receiver, not a QB.� Here, the 5-wide heyday was �95; Slash was part of a stable then including Thigpen, CJ, Hastings and Mills.� By �97, Mills and Hastings were gone, incapably replaced by Hawkins and Blackwell.�� You can�t run 5-wide if you don�t have 5-wide and, that year, the Steelers did not.�
In �97, Thigpen caught about (80) at about 16YPC; he was the primary receiver, the guy Kordell looked to, if not locked on.� In �97, the Bus rolled for over 1600 yards; in �02, the Steelers had the #1 running attack in the league.�� Stewart played well in the years when the running game was top notch.� Asked to carry team in the years between, he simply could not take the weight.�
4. It�s Arena ball all over now and Maddox has played that game:� So did Kurt Warner and, at least for time, the Rams ruled.� I don�t know that Maddox can do it in the show but I am sure Kordell cannot.�
5. Win Now:� The Saints are good at safety and okay at LB.� They have outstanding DT and they stink at CB.� You figure it out.� �Like the Bears and Broncos, the Saints have adopted the double jumbo DT paradigm perfected by the Ravens, circa �00.� Very difficult to run on, that set is attacked through the air.� If the Steelers force Haslett to remove Hand and Grady Jackson, they then can run, maybe.� If not, not.� Tommy Maddox and the 4-wide give the Steelers their best to win this week and, until or unless the Bus comes around, that will be true thru out the year.