(The beauty of
Windows and the 'net is that I wrote this article last year, and it applies 100%
to today�.so all I had to do was "copy and paste" it into a new
article!)�
Before Stiller fans dash
for the bridges and skyscrapers of Pittsburgh, and jump off in utter despair �.
Stop.
Yes, starting TE Mark
Bruener is gone for the remainder of season with a torn rotator cuff. But
there's absolutely no need for any wailing of despair or misery from Stiller
fans. No need to cast away hopes of a home playoff game. No need to put away
the Stiller garb and paraphernalia while fretting about "what could have
been". Keep the chin up and the caterwauling down, as this is not a
catastrophic event for this team.
This is not to be
coldhearted toward Mark Bruener, who has been a true professional in his 7-year
career in Pittsburgh. But the cold, stark reality is this: The Stillers will
easily survive without Bruener, and assuming a few easy moves & adjustments
are made, they will still thrive after their 7-2 start.
No need to inundate me with
the shopworn fawning over Mark Bruener. Been there, heard it, and have yawned
at it. "Mark Bruener is the best blocking TE in all of football."
"Mark Bruener is the key to the Steeler rushing offense." And on and
on and on. While this fawning over Bruener is folksy and full of motherhood and
apple pie, the fact that Mark Bruener is such a "great blocker" is
worth little more than a warm six pack of cheap beer around the NFL. Two teams
-- Balt. and NY Giants -- tangled in the Super Bowl last season, both on the
shoulders of a power running game. Both ran the ball well, yet neither employed
the almighty blocking TE, Mark Bruener.
Again, not to belittle
Bruener's health and welfare, but frankly, this injury isn't anywhere near the
disastrous proportions of Rod Woodson tearing his knee up on opening day of
1995, or Greg Lloyd suffering a similar fate on opening day of 1996. Nowhere
close.
"But what about the
running game?!?", fans will shriek and sob in horror and fear. This isn't
the first time Bruener has been lost for the season. Back in 1996, while wide
open on a seam route, the brickfingered Bruener bobbled a perfectly thrown pass
in a MNF game at Miami, and by the time he managed to corral the bobbled ball
he got crushed by the DB and tore up his knee. Bruener missed the final 4 games
of that season. But it was awful quarterbacking by Mike Prozac; the maladies of
Yancey Thigpen; and the ineptitude of the Stiller passing game that caused the
team to stumble against Balt. and San Fran down that stretch, not the loss of
Mark Bruener.
Just look at this past
game. The 2 best runs of the game -- Bettis' 40-yard rumble followed by
Zereoue's 28-yard scamper -- came well after Bruener, the God of Blocking, had
already departed the game with the shoulder injury. The belief that it is
impossible to run the ball with any modicum of success, without the almighty
Lord of Blocking, Mark Bruener, is as absurd and ridiculous as any fallacy ever
espoused since the days of declaring that the Earth is flat
This is not to say that
Jerame Tuman is an adequate replacement as an every-down starting TE. He's not.
Tuman is a frail weak, soft blocker with an obvious disdain for hitting, and
who has no business playing a prominent role on a team that prides itself in
smashmouth football. If the team wants a TE who can pound opposing defenders,
then the ever-tough Matt Cushing will need to see more time. Another option is
to see if ex-Stiller Corey Geason is in-shape and available. If not Geason,
then some other veteran TE most assuredly will have to be signed, if for
nothing else some modicum of depth, as well as help on special teams and a body
to use in practice.
And if blocking at the TE
spot is so immensely critical that the world will end without it, then here's a
simple suggestion -- use backup tackle Oliver Ross, who played some TE two days
ago as a 2nd TE -- as our starting TE. Some will guffaw and call this
preposterous, but those are the same folks who fawn over Bruener and claim that
his blocking is the most critical element of the Stiller offense. If one clings
to the premise that the most critical part of our offense is having a big body block
next to the tackle, then who better to do that task than your 3rd best tackle ?
I already know the opposition to this idea -- "Ross couldn't help our
passing game". And therein lies the fallacy of Mark Bruener, a slow, brittle-fingered
TE who has done nothing in his entire career to help this passing game, other
than catch a few short dumpoffs and a few rare downfield grabs. In 9 games this
season, the ham-handed Bruener has caught a whopping 12 passes and no TDs (along
with dropping about 4 passes), which was putting him on a prolific pace of 21
grabs over the course of the season. Since no team in the NFL spends even 10
minutes in their game-planning worrying about Bruener's pass catching, Ross
would give the Stillers about what Bruener did -- good blocking (actually, as a
tackle Ross is probably a better all-around blocker) and lousy receiving. Hell,
just seeing the portly Ross rumbling downfield after a short dumpoff would be
humorous, if nothing else.
Actually, the bigger
picture for this Stillers offense as it heads down the home stretch is this:
This injury can be viewed as a catastrophe, or it can be viewed as an opportunity.
I choose to view it as an opportunity. And here's why: Bruener's injury can,
and should, serve as the impetus for more 4WR sets. This has numerous
long-range benefits for this offense, as follows:
1. As we saw on Sunday
versus Jax, when these 4 WRs are clicking, this can be a potent passing
offense. Ward had the best game of his NFL career. Shaw had the big 40-yard
gain on the 2nd series, as well as a couple clutch 3rd down grabs. Edwards
helped put the team in FG range late in the half with 3 catches in that series.
And Burress, despite being frozen out by his own team 2 days ago, has shown signs
of hope with strong games against Tenn. and Balt. Remember, Shaw averaged
nearly 17 yards per catch last year, and it appears he's back in the same
groove after a slow start. Edwards remains an enigma, but I'm convinced that
Troy is at his best when he's fully engaged and employed (as he was two days
ago), not sitting on the pine 85% of the game. With the stonefooted Bruener on
the field, one of these weapons is sitting in the bench. The only way for
Stewart and these 4WR to reach their maximum level of confidence, trust, and
fluidity, is to work these four to the max extent that is reasonable and
possible. The way to do that is with more 3WR and 4WR sets, and less sets
involving a slow, bootfooted TE.
2. Just as we saw in 1995,
I'm convinced that this offense needs a consistent, trusted 4-WR set if it has
any hopes of going to the big show. (And yes, I realize that '95 used more 5-WR
sets, but it also used 4-WR sets.) The point here is this: the 4-WR set gives
the Stillers great flexibility, especially against defenses that have to make a
personnel choice between playing extra DBs for coverage but who are weak
tacklers, or run-stuffing linebackers who are incapable of covering the #3 and
#4 receivers. And the 4-WR set is a weapon that must be used when playing
catch-up football, which the '95 Stillers had to do in the regular season win
over Chico, as well as in the playoffs against Indy and against Dallas. It's
hard to play catch-up football with a TE who might average 6 or 7 yards per
grab.
3. The use of the 4-WR set
will actually help, not hinder, the running game. Using a TE in these
tight-assed alignments has its obvious downfall that we've all seen the past
couple of games -- the offense is in a very compressed front, and the defense
can bring an extra man up to the LOS and run-blitz him pell-mell at the snap of
the ball. This helped cause the safety against Cleve. 9 days ago, and it helped
the Jaguars stuff and bottle Bettis on almost every one of his 21 rushes 2 days
ago. The "Bruener is an indispensable God" crowd can't see this, but
the reality is that, when you line up in a 3WR and 4WR set, you can still run
the ball. In a 4WR set, you can use a 1-back set, and there's simply no way
that a defense can stack 8 men within the length of the offensive line, because
if they do, this means a WR is literally not covered. The four WRs are spread
out wide, thus spreading the defense, and inhibits the defense's ability to
mass 7 & 8 men within our 5-man front and run-blitz like hell at the snap
of the ball. Ergo, not only will the use of the 4WR set help the passing game,
but it can also help the running game fend off these devil-may-care
run-blitzing schemes that the Stillers will see a whole lot of these final 7
games.
Yes, it's a shame for Bruener
to get injured and to miss the rest of the season. But despair not, Stillers
fans. Bruener is far from irreplaceable, and the opportunity now exists to shed
some of the sloth from this offense and replace it with some skill that will
ultimately enhance this oft-sagging passing game. And that improved passing
game is exactly what will be the difference if the Stillers are to make a
serious run at the Super Bowl.