Steelers @ Panthers, Pre-season Game 4 Notes:
This game was billed as a true test for the Steelers� O-line, what with Carolina fielding a Front 4 as fearsome as any in the league today.� However, even elementary research would have revealed that this match wasn�t going to come off.� By Tuesday last, if not before, the Panther site available thru NFL.com had posted a transcript of Coach Fox�s post-practice remarks, one revealing that both Brentson Buckner and Mike Rucker would be out of action Friday.� That�s bad stuff for talk shows and columnists but it is the truth.� So, as usual, much ado about nothing locally; still, the Steelers played who they played and, generally, did pretty well.� The following notes give a gloss to this otherwise meaningless tilt, slanted towards who stays, and who falls short of the Final 53.�
First Unit Offense:
The starting O-line played effectively for about one quarter.� As noted, Carolina was short 2 starters on the D-line and, as you may know, strong-side OLB Mark Fields has been diagnosed with Hodgkin�s Disease and so will sit out the season.� We should wish Fields the same outcome as Mario Lemieux achieved.�� Leaving that more significant result, noting that the Panthers came with 3 back-ups is not to minimize the Steelers� evident improvement upfront; however, that is the true context.� In that:
- Tommy Maddox was sharp again tonight, hitting 4/5 for 65 yards.� On the downside, Maddox missed an opening ARE blunting the Steelers first possession; on the upside, he spread the ball well with 1 seam pass to Jay Reimersma fully indicating the benefits of a legit pass-catcher at TE.�
- Amos ran effectively for the first time in pre-season, 5/33 with 1 TD.� He did too much dancing for my taste on a couple runs, getting 3/8 when 12-14 was possible but you can�t argue with the overall results.
- Verron Haynes was 3/18 behind the 1st O-line; Haynes is decisive between the tackles and can catch the ball too.� The more I see of this player, the more I like; IMO, he has a Hines Ward-esque approach and, maybe, will get a similarly huge return from comparatively average ability.
- Todd Fordham is your starting RT; before he left with a mild ankle sprain, Fordham had effectively neutralized Julius Peppers.� If the O-line as a whole didn�t get a full-on test, Fordham did and he came thru just fine.
- Kendall Simmons faced off with Kris Jenkins for most of the 1st half.� Jenkins is a very powerful DT, exactly the kind that buffaloed Simmons on some occasions last season.� Excluding one play on the goal line, where Haynes was stuffed, Jenkins didn�t factor.� That�s all good; IMO, Simmons is much further along that we could have reasonably hoped.
The first unit defense shut out the Panthers; however, the Caro-ones have gotten little done in preseason.� Still, a couple items were noteworthy:
- Dewayne Washington was up at the LOS on about 50% of the plays.� For the most part, Washington had Steve Smith, a small, quick WR who isn�t very physical.� Certainly, press is the way to go against such a player and, in this case, Washington did take Smith out of the game.
- Chad Scott was off the LOS on most plays; however, on one, the Steelers showed an interesting wrinkle.� Off the base, Scott lined up in a slot and came on a blitz; Alexander rolled over to the LCB spot presumably leaving Logan single high.� The play was slow developing: play action, look left, come back right to a WR in the flat.� Scott had some pressure, Alex arrived too late to defend the pass but on time for a sure tackle.� Short gain, nice play, nice look; however, had the QB keyed on Scott and gotten the ball off quicker, the results may have been different.�
- Kendrell Bell laid out Weinke on a delay blitz off the nickel.� This too was a nice design; the Steelers rushed 4 at the snap including Porter and 3 D-linemen.� Joey started up and then looped inside while Troy Polamalu tried to get around the corner.� Polamalu didn�t make it but, after Porter cleared the LG on his inside move, Bell came through and closed the deal.� 6 rushed on this play, maybe 5 if you consider Porter may have had a peel-back towards coverage.� Great design, good result.�
- Jason Gildon defeated prize rookie RT Jordan Gross to garner a PD or strip on the opening series.�
Charlie Batch came on in possession 3 and, behind the 1st O-line, drove the team to their second (and last) score.� Batch was okay; Verron Haynes was very good (as noted), Chris Doering looks like the #4 WR and Matt Cushing appears to have made the team.� Cushing lined up both at TE and in the backfield; he had a nice grab on Batch�s TD, showing some agility in beating CB Reggie Howard.� For sure, Matt�s emergence throws the 26th O-side slot into doubt; consider:
- Since Cushing can function as a 2nd FB, and since FB won�t see the field much, JT Wall will not make the team.
- If the Steelers carry 4 TE then they�ll probably go with 9 O-linemen.� That bumps Calvin Collins, which is something of a surprise.� However, Collins� true value seems to me to be as a #3 OC; excluding Hartings and Collins, the Steelers have 5 guys with starting experience at OG (including both RT), they don�t need another player there unless that man can fill in at some other position too.� Had Collins gotten any game day snaps at OC, his value might be way up, but he did not.� I�d carry Collins and work him at both OG and OC but that�s just me.��
- The other O-side only option seems to be to keep just 3 TE with Tuman the odd man out.� It is said that you can�t the club in the tub. �Well, we�ll see with Tuman, and with Fu too.
- Conceivably, the Steelers could carry 27 O-side, 3 S and 23 D-side but that would leave them thin upfront, especially with 10 DB.
At the half:
- The Steelers ran 15 times and passed 13 in the first half; they out-gained the Panthers about 2:1 despite a narrow TOP margin.
The Steeler reserves came on early in the 2nd quarter and so the game turned.� With few exceptions, the D-side back-ups were just terrible.� It was an especially tough day for the rookies:
- Troy Polamalu had a nice force or two in run support.� However, he is late reacting in pass coverage and, as we saw on one play is overmatched against TE, even smaller types such as Jermaine Wiggins.� Polamalu was not impressive in space; on one play, a completion to Eugene Baker where Poteat blew a sure INT, Polamalu was late getting over and missed what should have been a blow-up tackle. Not good.� If you enjoy second-guessing, keep an eye on the Ken Hamlin, a second round rook S who is going to start for Seattle.
- Ike Taylor got beat badly for a TD; Walt Young, a big, slow, 7th round draft pick turned Ike around and easily out-muscled him for the ball.� Ike is a talent but he�s got some distance to travel.
- Zo Jackson got nothing done at rush RDE; last week, Jackson beat Cowboy rookie Torrin Tucker for his two sacks.� Tucker was a guard prospect in the draft last spring; it is not obvious that he approaches state-of-the-art at LT.� Keep an eye on the cut wire Sunday to see if Tucker makes the team.� From what I can tell, Jackson has only an outside rush, no counter, no rip, no pull and push, not much of anything but run and reach.
As for the vets, well:
- Chidi Iwuoma got out-muscled in the EZ again.� This time, it was a TE, rookie Mike Seidman.� That�s a hopeless match-up but, with few exceptions, Iwuoma is giving up a lot of size.� By my unofficial count, Iwuoma has been in coverage on 2/6 passing TD allowed this pre-season; additionally, his EZ interference set up another score.� Maybe, he�s a 5th CB but it�s inconceivable that he�s #4.
- Clark Haggans was unblocked for much of the night; 3 highlight rushes resulted in 1 sack, 1 facemask penalty and 1 TD where Haggans took the Cape Horn route to the QB, utilizing his 5.05 speed to arrive one step late.
- The reserve D-line, Clancy, Hoke and Upchurch, didn�t do much.� Hoke had a stuff, Clancy was in the backfield some but those were the guys on 3 Panther scoring drives wherein the Steelers did little against either the air or ground games.� Last week, this group got tossed around by the Dallas ones but held their own against the �Boy reserves.� This week, they didn�t face the Panther ones so getting their funhouse ride from some guys who might not be playing on Sundays.� Depth is a big problem here.
- Both Kriewaldt and Foote are almost completely worthless at ILB; in contrast, James Harrison made plays all over the field from his LOLB slot.� IMO, Harrison should be moved inside ASAP since he�s got no real chance to contribute as an OKIE DE.� Harrison isn�t big but he�s listed as 10# heavier than Foote, and makes way more plays.
- Chris Hope got trucked at the goal line by He-Hate-Me, aka Rod Smart.
As for the O-side reserves:
- Khori Ivy shook off any effects from the concussion he suffered last week and had a couple grabs.� I see little to suggest that Lee Mays is ahead of this player; as noted, Chris Doering looks to be the #4 guy.
- For the 2nd week running, the 2nd unit O-line played poorly.� Josh Burr is not a prospect; he had 3 holds and made Kavika Pittman look like, well, Julius Peppers.� Chukky Okobi got a snap at LG, got beat badly and gave a sack.� Off that, Okobi looks like an OC only.� Calvin Collins whiffed miserably on a run left and got trampled by about everyone on the field; Collins left for play or two, Okobi came in and did what he did.� This sequence was beyond ugly.�
- Dante Brown didn�t help himself; as noted, the 2nd unit O-line didn�t give him any space and that�s not his fault, though it may be his problem.� Brown functioned as fly-right on PR but got juked by Eugene Baker as that unheralded local product brought Miller�s 50-yard punt back 31 yards.� Not great.
ST:
- Jeff Reed reached the EZ twice on KO, on by air and one on the ground.� However, he rolled one OB too setting the Panthers up at the 40.� Reed has the leg, let him air it out.
- Josh Miller has decent numbers in pre-season but has shown a propensity for shanking about 1 in 4.� That has to be extinguished, and soon.
Summary:
1-3 in pre-season means nothing but depth issues upfront on both sides of the ball do.� Further, the ILB back-ups are undistinguished, the returning DB back-ups haven�t developed and the rookie defenders don�t look ready to contribute (except on ST).� On the plus side, the offense seems to have righted itself although, again, level of competition issues may attenuate that enthusiasm.�
Off what I�ve seen in pre-season, there�s little to modify my earlier forecast.� That is 10-6 with the underpaid T-Max upright; delete 1 win per any of 4 question mark O-line slots that may under-perform.
Note to readers:
This will be my final post-game report.� Regular season games, and post-season (if any) are available to all, as pre-season are not; so, while pre-season reports may have some benefit, you can see the rest yourselves.� Additionally, this site has added several writers who figure to contribute their analysis; that, combined with some number of returning vets, should render extraneous any small contribution that may have been made here.� I�ve made my points from the Overviews published last winter forward; early next week, I�ll post twin unit-by-unit analysis pieces for both sides of the ball.� After that, well, we�ll see how it plays out.�
That is all.�