A mindless but fun game to play to pass the time while drinking (or not drinking if you're not into that whole imbibing thing) is "Would you rather?"  The purpose of this game is to come up with two scenarios that are both terrible and make people choose which they would rather do.

For example:
Would you rather re-watch the patriots game from last night or the Browns game from last year?

Some Steelers related "Would you rathers" after the jump...

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For all you bright folks out there, I have a quandary. Much like the rest of you my fandom borders on obsession when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  During the Fall I base my weekends around figuring out how to watch the game on Sunday.  Then there's my wife.  I'm looking for ways to convert her to fandom.  Ideas and thoughts below the jump.

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Bumped. Great post idea from one of BTSC's super old-school readers and contributors. Thank you all for all the great posts and conversations this past few months. You've kept the site humming while I've been finding my 'legs'. - Michael -

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I'm appreciative of all the folks posting great info on the Draft and free agency.  I don't have that kind of knowledge of college football so I depend on you fine folks to do the research and I'll reap the rewards in bar conversations. 

What I am good at is playing the "what if" game.

The stories from Bullet Bill's time have made me fascinated with what the Steelers would look like now if you only had the small rosters where every one did everything.  So what if the Steelers had to play with only 11 men on the roster?  Who would make that roster and what positions would they play on offense and defense?

The 11 players and their positions on offense... 

1. Ben Roethlisberger (QB) - I think it goes without saying that Big Ben is the most important player on our team and would play his natural position on O.
   
2. Aaron Smith (LT) - Aaron is such a smart athlete and is fantastic with his hand placement and footwork. I think he could step in on the offensive side and keep Ben pretty clean.
3. Chris K. (LG) - I like the attitude and ability Kemo brings.
4. James Harrison (C) - We know he can long snap.  And I can't imagine any team wanting to see him pulling around the edge.
5. Willie Colon (RG) - In part I put him here just cause we all so desperately want to see him play guard that in my dream world we get our wish.
6. Lamar Woodley (RT) - Lamar brings a lot to the table and he could beef up a touch more to be a decent RT with tremendous drive in the run game and quick feet in the passing game.
7. Heath Miller (TE) - He's only getting better and is tremendous at all aspects of the TE position.
8. Hines Ward (WR) - Old?  Who's old?
9. Troy Polamalu (RB/Utility) - How much fun would he be on offense?  He'd never hit the right hole, but you'd never know where he was until you see his hair flying past the endzone.
10. Santonio Holmes (WR) - Anytime you have a Superbowl MVP coming into his prime you keep him on the team.
11. Lawrence Timmons (TE) - I'm keeping Timmons on the squad for pure athletic ability.  In terms of ceiling I don't think he's anywhere near his and his quickness and tenacity would make for an interesting TE matchup for defenses.

Offensive Analysis-

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Thank God for football season.  I thought it might never come.  Thankfully it has and with it games that matter on television again.  I thought last weeks game went about how I hoped it might.  I had little hope for the running game versus the Titans and thought Collins might get some good garbage yards versus the Steelers D. 

But the new week is upon us and I'm heading out of town tomorrow to get married, so I wanted to share what little insight I might have to offer for this weeks game.  Living in Chicago and routing occasionally for the Bears has made it so that I've watched more than my fair share of Bears football over the last few years.  Combine that with spending far to much time watching and discussing the Steelers perhaps gives me a slight bit of insight into this weeks game.  Ya'll can be the judge of that after the jump...

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I propose a brief trip down memory lane.  I joined BTSC in April of 2008.  Since becoming a regular here I've been astounded by the quality of people and stories that have been listed here. 

We've recently had a lot of rounds of tournament style voting.  I'm tempted to start my own, however I want to get feedback from ya'll before I make the round selections. 

My proposed tournament would be the best stories ever posted here on BTSC. The most fun of this will be getting to go back and waste time all over again (or for the first time for those who are new around these parts) when voting.  I've spent a few minutes finding some of the stories I found impressive at the time and still now.  Some I list mostly for their ability to tell the future, others are just well written amazing stories.  I've missed a lot of good stories here, and completely know that.  I tried to get a smattering of greatness from many different regular authors here at BTSC. 

This will get more fleshed out once the tournament begins (if people like the idea if I get no response I might not worry about it).  But here's some stories to get you started.

Blitz's early take on Mewelde Moore. Might I say, prophetic...

Wolfpack's analysis of the WR position.  He had many of these and I grabbed WR to get us started.

The Helmet -Good stuff from maryrose.  To be fair, one could put just about every article maryrose has posted in this tournament and if you haven't read through his histories I invite you to make good use of your spare time and go through them..

Tomlin’s Coaching Resume – Blitz hits it out of the park again evaluating our young coach.

Art Rooney Jr. Interview - An amazing one-on-one interview with one of the creators of the Steelers dynasty.

Summarize Season in 7 Words - A fun fanpost that generated some really clever ideas.

How the Steelers Defense works LB edition - This from one of our many servicemen on the site.  An excellent X's and O's description of the Steelers D.

Remembering Bradshaw - a great retrospective on one of our greatest players.

Blasphemy, I know...  But Lebeau's got some fun toys at his disposal. 

We've got some crazy knowledgable folks here at BTSC and I'm curious what defensive schemes people would use with the Steelers personnel. In another post steelguy99 was refering to running some 2-5-4 with Fox or B. Davis.  How would it look and what advantages would it give us? 

Let's be creative in where we put people, where we hide blitzes and where the coverage lies.  The genius of Dick Lebeau and other good DCs is that they don't just think of fun ways to get to the QB, they think of ways to confuse the QB so that even if they see the blitz coming they can't use their normal dump off/outlet. (see James Harrison's 100 yd INT)

Feel free to say what situation you'd use your custom play (ie 3rd and long against Peyton Manning, 1st defensive snap of the game versus the uni-brow, etc).  And don't limit yourself if an offensive or special teams player could make a difference put them in.  (I'm looking in your direction Mitch Berger)

I'm also all for historical players being brought in.  What kind of formation could you run if you had Mean Joe Greene next to Hampton?  Could you make an 11 linebacker defense from all the Steeler greats? (that could be a scary group)

Just another way to kill time till there's real football news again.  Have a great Memorial Day all.

The following will be a rather random collection of my blue-sky wishes for the NFL in the coming year.  Very few will be directly oriented at the Steelers, as that's well-covered ground on the site.  I should note that I don't think these will or even could happen, but if I ruled the NFL world they would.

1. Goodbye Goodell...  I don't like Roger Goodell as a commissioner.  I don't like almost any of the changes that he has made in his tenure as NFL Czar.  Sure he's tough on players that get out of line, but then he's weak on coaches and organizations that break rules (ahem, Coach Hoodie I'm looking in your direction.)  He's gotten excessive with fines for things that should not be fines and generally has not made the game better in any definable way.  
2. Overtime Changes-  I've stated this in multiple places here so I won't reiterate too much.  I don't want college football and I don't want wacky rules that change the game from the regular time.  I just want an overtime period.  And like most sports if you score more points in that overtime period, you win.  Shutdown corner has an idea I like and could totally get behind: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Tinkering-with-the-overtime-rules-makes-me-nervo?urn=nfl,142449
3. Coach's Tape- Have a service where I can download not only the broadcast of every game from the season, but also coaches tape of each game.  I will pay extra for this, but my obsession with football (and I think many of you would join me) to the point where I want to see more than the standard shots.  I want to see the routes that didn't get thrown to.  I want to see if a special teams player didn't stay in his lane and that's what caused the big return.  I do not need video of coaches sending in signals so Coach Hoodie can put his hand down.
4. Keep 'em Here- Less international games.  Actually strike that, no international games.  I don't like taking home games away from fans.  They can have pre-season games if they want them.  When the day comes that I can't get tickets to a "home" Steelers game in Pittsburgh I will throw a fit.
   
5. He's Earning What?- It's time to get these rookie contracts under control.  The fact that the top picks earn more money than God without ever playing a down is ridiculous.  NFL is built for parity but these top 5 pick salaries are handicapping the teams that get them from being free-agent buyers.  And no one wants to trade up for these positions cause they know that the better value is after the 10th pick.
6. Name Someone Better- Dick Lebeau deserves to be in the HOF.  In fact I think the rules for getting into the hall are somewhat odd.  I'm fine with the press getting a vote, but I think all existing hall members should also get a vote.  And for Pete's sake get coach Lebeau in the HOF!
7. Have You Ever Seen Football- I'm tired of almost all football announcers.  I'd like the stations to give me the option to listen to the home broadcast of the game through the TV. 
   
8. I Love this Show- NFL Matchup on ESPN will be moved to the pre-game slot and will be an hour long.  This is good football analysis and it's unwatchable without DVR.  I would like more shows like it during the week.  NFL Network and ESPN have employed legions of former players and coaches who all know how to break down film, let me watch it!
9. Get a Real Expert- National pundits should be required to bring in a beat reporter from the team they're talking about for accurate news.  Lolley, Wexell, or Bouchette would be far better reporting Steelers news than Chris Berman and his co-horts. 
   
10. I Don't Care Anymore- Pundits and announcers would only be allowed to bring up "hot topic" issues once an hour.  If I hear about Brett Favre twice in the same quarter I will reach through my screen and choke someone.  Same goes for TO, anything Dallas related, or the Pats*.

What do you guys think?  How would football change if you were king?  Or am I wrong and the NFL is perfect and to change anything would be to ruin it!?  Thanks for reading.

Oh yeah, and most importantly, One for the Other Pinky!

Thumbs Up To:

1.  Big Ben.  He's a game winner, no doubt.  Could easily have been MVP.

2. 'Tone-He was MVP and rightfully so. 

3. The TE screen pass to Heath.  We've been terrible at RB screens (see one of the thumbs down) but this was a thing of beauty.  Slows down the outside rushers when they realize that Heath can release that quick.  Hadn't seen that play all year and it was a good wrinkle introduced by BA and the offense.

4.  Hines Ward.  He may not have been ultra productive in his catches, but he drew coverage and blocked as well as ever.  Good for him coming back 3 weeks earlier than most players could from that injury.

5.  Mike Tomlin's victory speech.  I was ready to follow that man after that speech.  Turns out he has no use for me, but still.

6.  The Cards play call on Fitz's second TD.  Credit is due here.  The route combination was fantastic.  We're in a two deep and we're expecting throws to the sidelines to maintain the clock.  Two outside receivers run the same out routes just past the 1st down marker.  Troy and Clark bite hard on these two routes leaving the center wide open.  Ike is a step behind and the ball is placed perfectly so that Fitz can grab it and run.  It was a beautiful thing that made me want to puke.

7.  The Wookie.  Lamar just looks unstoppable at times.  He collapses his side of the pocket every time he bullrushes.  All it takes is a little extra pressure either up the middle or from Harrison on the other side and the QB has no escapes.  I can't wait to continue watching this player for years to come. 

8.  The quick slants to Holmes.  I mentioned this elsewhere, but DRC was ridiculously good at coverage yesterday.  On one play Ben pumped, DRC bit hard on the pump, Ben threw a good ball to Holmes and DRC regained his footing ran hard on the ball and deflected it into Holmes' helmet.  And on the long one to Nate that Ben under threw slightly DRC was way behind and he made up ground ridiculously fast.  But... He's a rookie and makes mistakes and is not the most sound tackler.  This made the quick hits to Holmes a brilliant piece of the game plan.  Again good work by BA.

9. James Harrison.  I don't think much needs to be said.  Lock this man up on a 4-5 year extension this off-season. 

10.  Obama on the pregame.  Not a political statement, I just like that he was up for talking sports and wasn't afraid of alienating people by picking a favorite.  And he's totally right that college football needs a playoff system.

11.  My girlfriend.  After dating 10 months this was the first time she was with me during a Steelers game.  Amazingly she did not break up with me.  I was less than pleasant to be with last night until the end.

Thumbs Down:

1.  BA in the second half...  What the hell happened?  The TE screen was replaced by a RB screen which we have not run well all damn year.  The quick slants to Holmes were replaced by 5 wides slow developing play resulting in sacks. And a QB draw from the 5 yard line?  Really Arians?  Let's just run the QB sweep like in last years playoffs?

2.  The Refs were WAY to involved this game.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to finally see some holding calls when Harrison is being hugged, but there were a lot of flags.  I'm not sold that there was conclusive evidence that Ben's knee was down on the first drive.  I didn't see anything that disproved it.  And I know Hartwig carried him in, but that is not reviewable.  And while I think the first Warner fumble was a correct ruling, I think it's a dumb one.  I know it's on the books as such, but you can't tell me that Warner was truly "Attempting a pass" there.  He was pushing foward to try to avoid the sack.  Anyone watching sees that and thinks, "Wow that's a fumble", but because of silly interpretations it's taken away.   The holding on Hartwig?  Really?  He was getting knocked over and the player came with him.  It did not look bad enough to call.  The roughing called on the Cards was terrible too. The holding against the Cards on the missed Hines catch looked off as well.  Just didn't like it.  Refs should be nearly invisible in big games.

3.  John Madden.  I hate listening to that man.

4.  Troy P. tackling the wrong guy.  What the F happened there?

5.  Matt Spaeth and Stapleton.  Both picked a bad day to have terrible games.  Spaeth was getting blown up on every running play I saw him in on.  The Stapler was whiffing on Dockett left and right.  Seldom do I wish for Simmons to be healthy again.

Oops, quitting time at work.  Better finish up.  Thanks for being a big part of the season BTSC.

Now here's an odd thought.  Mike Tomlin for Coach of the Year.

I'm confident there will be plenty of ya'll who disagree, but let me give my reasoning.

1.  Unreasonable amounts of injuries.  In the past we've collapsed under the weight of injuries far less than what the team has dealt with thus far this year.  Looking at the ranks of walking wounded manning the sidelines of the Steelers you could form a better team then most of the NFC West with just our injury lists.  Yet Mike Tomlin has kept his troops together with the rallying cry of 'Standard of expectations do not change.'  Very few teams over-come these levels of injury.  Last year we lost Aaron Smith and our defense started to collapse.  This year we lose Keisel, Hampton, and even Eason for a game.  Now I'll grant you that Smith is likely the best player of that group, but the fact that the line has played at nearly the same high level throughout is a tribute to each man stepping up and doing his job.  It speaks volumes to the practice time each is getting and the coaching that is being done throughout the organization. 

Darnell Stapleton and Max Starks step in and play well when called upon.  Matt Spaeth have career highs for receptions and makes no real mistakes in starting duty.  Mewelde steps in and wins games.

My point is simply that the attitude the Steelers are playing with right now comes from the top, and it's obvious that all players have bought into that mindset.

2.  Head Coach game-time responsibilities...  One thing I was dismayed with last year, was his baffling challenge use.  This year he's been right on.  I've agreed with basically every challenge he's made this year.  He's helped the team win from that stand point. 

He also keeps his men fired up for playing even after lot's and lot's of fines.  Every player continues to go 100% even after being told repeatedly from the league that they need to go 100% till they get within 20 feet of the QB.  Say you want about his over the top response to Farrior's 15 roughing the passer call, but he's sending a signal to his players that they need to keep fighting, scratching, and playing violently cause that's how Steelers win football games.

Game plans.  I'll admit that our offensive adaptations have been slow.  But that's not his area of expertise.  We do come back with good drives at the beginning of the second half almost every time.  Plus we are always in it till the end, showing that we're doing something right. 

3.  No excuses.  Here's something I love.  Never an excuse even though he's given every opportunity.  He came into this season and said he's excited to have this difficult of a schedule as that's how your team defines itself is by beating the best teams. 

Granted, if our slump continues and we end up missing the playoffs then all of this is moot, but what he's done thus far into the season is impressive to me.  His competition is mostly from rookie coaches turning around franchises and I agree that both Mike Smith and Harbaugh have done impressive things.  But going from 0 expectations to over-achieving shows only so much.  I point to last years Browns as proof. 

I expect I'll take some ribbing for suggesting this while we're spending so much time yelling for BA and dirty Z's heads.  I'm not defending those two.  I think they need to leave post season.  I don't believe they are right for the team.  But I think the decision to keep them this year was the right one.  In business you don't fire your VP of marketing a year after they grow your profits considerably from the year before.  Even if arguments are that the product itself was so good it didn't matter how it was marketed, you don't change a good thing.  But this year our marketing is slumping and Tomlin will be forced to respond.  His 'No Excuses' mantra must stay true for his coaches as well.  The injuries can not be excuses for poor performance. 

What do the rest of you think.  If the Steelers finish strong (and granted that's a hypothetical but it's a hypothetical that all Coach of the Year candidates share) should Tomlin have your vote for CotY?

Finally remember to go to nfl.com and vote for Aaron Smith and the rest of the Steelers playing well this year for the Pro Bowl.

I've got a gut feeling on this weeks games.  I'm gonna throw some predictions out haphazardly.

1.  We'll start with the most important.  I believe Steelers win this one.
2.  I think they win it big.  I'm calling 27-13.
3.  I think Portis ends the day with 15 carries for 64 yards.
4.  Jason Campbell has his first 2 interceptions.
5.  Big Ben takes 3 sacks, but has a Passer Rating of 101.2
6.  Holmes has a 50+ TD reception.

Why do I think this?  Well point 3 has been well discussed throughout the site already so I won't enter into it much except to say that if we can stop Brandon Jacobs' bruising style, we can take Portis who tends to combine some bruising with some shifty. 

Points 1+2 are obviously joined up.  Here's where the feeling comes from...  I may have my problems with Mike Tomlin's hiring and occasional hands off approach on the offensive side of the ball.  I understand having a hands off style of management, but I think he's confusing, "If it ain't broke don't fix it" with a system that could work tremendously better.  This has also been pounded to death here so I won't go into BA's deficiencies.  What I love about Mike Tomlin is his ability to demonstrate a standard of expectation on the organization.  Losing at home last week probably left such an awful taste in each players mouth that they'll be ready to injure people.  James "Deebo/Silverback" Harrison will long snap a few heads in retribution.  If Mike Tomlin left him into long snap this weekend and just lets him snap it where ever he damn well pleases and then annihilate anyone attempting to pick up the ball.

Point 4, is kind of a corollary to point 3.  I think this will be the first game that Campbell is forced to try and win the game for them as the defense will be stuffing Portis all day.  I think Campbell will eventually try to force a ball down field and Troy will get his 4th interception of the year.  Then late in the game they'll be heaving the ball with the hopes that they can get a last minute touchdown, giving stone hands Ike a chance at the pick.

My general feeling is that without a strong pass rush Ben and the line should hold up fine.  We'll see some strong drives and some drives will stall because of poor play calling.  But I see us cleaning up the penalties that were called on us and with Holmes back our receivers will have more room and separation.

Point 6 stems from the thought that Washington will be overly concerned with the aptly named Washington and will shade deep coverage to his side.  This will leave single coverage for Holmes, the play fake will draw a step out of the safety on Holmes' side and Ben will look to take advantage.  (This play may or may not be called back by Colon holding)

What do ya'll think?  Any ridiculous predictions?  Finally a new statistic that needs to start being tracked:

7.  Total Steelers players fines incurred in this game: $15,000

I think I'm in the minority here.  And I'm not usually a hater, so don't take this the wrong way, but that game left a bad taste in my mouth.  For all the offense was more productive it sure seemed the most production still happened when Ben was running the No Huddle and calling his own plays.  In the 3rd quarter we went back to huddling and running patterns for a long time that produced nothing.  Not a single first down.  It was back to:

1st Down: Run up the gut (where we can not get push to save our lives)

2nd and 9: 7 step drop, Heath Miller stays in to block (even though he was a monster in the passing game and could not be stopped going through the middle).

3rd and 9: (see 2nd down)

4th - At least our coverage units are much improved.

Perhaps I'm off as I don't have DVR these days I couldn't go back and review it closely.  I think Ben's making better decisions on the whole but I'm not sure if he's being given the best opportunity to win by his OC.  Look Ben's comfortable in this offensive system, but the play calling is not helping him. The quality of weapons on this team mean that they need to be many more quick strike plays till the defense gets back on its heels and then strike for the throat and or deeper balls.  As mentioned above, I think Heath needs to run his routes.  I know we need help blocking up front but can't we just 3 step drop to heath in the middle?  The jags weren't rushing 7.  Let our 5 line and 1 RB take care of their rushers and let one of our best weapons move the chains.

Where's the gadgets?  I'm not saying they have to happen overly much like the dolphins are running, but one-two a game?  I saw some amazing stuff out of Dennis Dixon this preseason and I'd like to at least have him trotted out on the field to scare the defenses into reacting. 

As Tomlin says Ben loves having the keys to the car.  Why not give them to him?  The whole offense has played well, nay better, when he's calling the plays in the no huddle.  Let him drive till he crashes (preferably while wearing a helmet this time).  We're paying him Manning kind of money let's give him Manning responsibility.  Most of the best QBs of the past and present get to call their own plays.  Till I can see that Ben doesn't have that ability, I say we see him try.

And where for the love of all that is holy in this God forsaken world is Max Starks when Marvel gets injured?  I understand that there are better men then I making these decisions but Kevin Colbert sees something in him and he's pretty damn good at this.  I'm not even worried about the money he makes, I just have a hard time believing that Essex is a better option.  Starks was good in 2005 and in 2007 when he was covering for Marvel.  Essex has been tolerable at best in all of the playing time I've seen from him. I don't get it.  I would love to hear an explanation.

Don't take this wrong.  I believe in this team and organization.  I think we've got a great path to the playoffs and I think the defense is playing lights out, and is one of the top 3 in the league this year.  Maybe #1.  I even think our offensive line has the skills to stay competitive enough to let Ben win.  But I continue to question both our Offensive Coordinator and O-Line coach. 

ps. I'm worried about Jeff Reed.

Having nosebleed seats my brother and I arrived early at Heinz to snag a spot at the railing in the south end zone.  This made for an interesting viewing experience.  A few thoughts:

1.  Seeing the field from that eye level makes you appreciate the speed of the game like never before.  Holes would open and close at such rates that I don't understand how any running back can choose.  By the time my eyes saw the hole it started to collapse.  Likewise I'd see a LB blitz the middle and it looked for sure like they would prematurely end the life of Matt Schaub, when out of nowhere (seemingly) a RB would step up and a collision would ensue.  Never have I realized how quick this all happens.  AMAZING.

2.  Our kick coverage looked great!  Being able to see the whole field I saw all lanes covered at all times.

3.  It's fun being able to see the player substitutions.  At least for a nerd like myself.  One interesting formation that we ran a lot had 2 TEs, 1 WR, 2 RBs.  I realize that formation is not new.  But what surprised me about it was the 1 WR.  It was always Nate Washington.  Anyone else see this?  This was primarily a running formation but isn't Hines the best blocking WR in the league?  I'm sure there's a reason, but it seemed odd.

4.  Leftwich needs to drop to #3 on the depth chart.  He looked lost out there.  I realize Dix is a rookie and probably has a lot to learn, but his God given talent and athletic ability make him a better choice in my mind then Lefty. 

5.  In the future i need to remember to take aspirin before going to the game.  Lord my head hurt from all that screaming.

6.  I'm 4-0 at Heinz field so far.  Just saying that they seem to play well for me and if ya'll are interested in a good season it's not a terrible idea to pay for me to be there.  I'm not saying, i'm just saying.

I've been reading all the posts round here and thinking more and more about the d-line for next year.  It's no news to anyone that we're incredibly shallow at that position currently.  Aaron goes down and our rushing defense goes from best in the league to near the bottom.  And no real improvement was added in the offseason.  So it left me pondering what the FO and Tomlin are doing here?  So in hypothetical I tried to think of what might be going through the Steelers minds and came up with one plan that made sense to me...

Incorporation of a lot of 4-3 alignments.  Especially if we pick up McFarland once he clears medical.  This would give us the following d-tackles (I think) Hampton, Hoke, Smith, McFarland.  For ends: Keisel, Woodley, Davis, and I think Smith could swing both positions. 

With linebackers the way I see it most naturally would be to put Timmons at MLB because of his athleticism he'd be best for covering that middle zone of the cover 2.  Farrior swings to Strong side OLB and Harrison takes the WOLB. 

Personally I love the way the 3-4 works, but I also like making an offense prepare for both, and I could see this year as an opportunity to really confuse offenses. 

What do you guys think?  Again, it doesn't seem like Tomlin cares about the exact alignment so much as the philosophy.  What do you guys think?  Just some random football thoughts as we enter in to the long dark of spring and summer.

Rather than make the players go through all the toils and tribulations inherent in the regular season I figured I'd just try to take a good look at each matchup and determine the winner.  Let me know what ya'll think on the games...

(1) vs. Texans WIN
While I believe the Texans are a team that are slowly rising, I don't think they'll be able to put it all together this early in the season.

(2) @ Browns (8:15) WIN
Along with most of you, I'm not sold on the resurrected Cleveland Browns.  They certainly look more solid, but I think Ben can still pick them apart in the secondary, and I think our defense can confuse the hell out of DA, to force some mistakes on him.  The spotlight is really on the Brownies this year and I'm betting against them showing up big in their first big contest.

(3) @ Eagles LOSE
Don't like to put this down as a loss, but am worried about getting the Eagles early in the season.  When McNabb and Westbrook are both healthy that's a dangerous offense.  And Jim Johnson's defense is always hard to handle, and I'm not confident our line will be rock solid.  Were this game at home, I think I'd give the edge to the Steelers, but in Philly I'm going loss.

(4) vs. Ravens (8:30) WIN
The picture of a team on the decline.  Many key positions are filled by players past their prime.  I think the Ravens come out hard to make up for their embarrasment at Heinz last year, but get down a little early resulting in an all out collapse as Ray Ray brings the defense to one side of the sideline and refuses to associate with the Offense till they do their part.

(5) @ Jags (8:15) LOSE
Del Rio's got our number, and he's got the players to execute it.  

(6) BYE
Guess I'll just drink ridiculous amounts on Saturday and sleep away the day on Sunday.

(7) @ Bengals WIN
Steelers in Ohio = Win.

(8) Giants 4:15 WIN
I'm just another guy predicting a serious hangover for the Giants this year. They've got a tough schedule and like the Steelers of 06 won the Superbowl, not by being the best team, but by being the hottest team at the time. I see them going the way of the 06 Steelers.

(9) @ Redskins 8:30 LOSE
Based on lasted year's away performances(not including Ohio). I think this game will be a mirror of the Jets game last year. A game we should totally win, but just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

(10) Colts 4:15 WIN
Only cause it's at Heinz and by the 10th game we'll be seeing the same old wear and tear on the grass. With a slowed down offense and defense we can slog it out with them and trade punches.  Coming off the stinging loss to the most racistly named team in football, I expect our boys to be at their best.

(11) Chargers 4:15 LOSE
I just don't like our OLine against that defense. I see Ben taking a pounding.

(12) Bengals 8:15 (Thursday) LOSE
More of a result of the short week then anything. As I said, I think the Chargers are going to be punching us in the face a lot, and getting back to it on Thursday's gonna be tough, I think we'll have a let down.

(13) @ Pats 4:15 LOSE*
But Silverback suplexes Evil Bill, making all right in the world.

(14) Cowboys 4:15 WIN
Sorry Terry, but I don't buy the Cowboys taking one from the Steelers on our home turf.  The playoff's are taking shape and the Steelers are getting to a must win point and I think that desperation shows through.  I think the Steelers go old school Cowher on the 'Boys and run, run, run, run and then playaction and Roy Williams (aka most over-rated safety ever) bites harder than Anthony Smith playing the Pats* and Pro Bowler Santonio Holmes scores an easy touchdown clenching the win.

(15) @ Ravens WIN
The Ravens have been struggling mightily (in my head) and have turned to rookie quarterback --INSERT DRAFTED QB HERE-- and he's taking poundings as Ogden is done for good and much of the rest of the team is taking the week off.

(16) @ Titans LOSE
Big tough defenses scare me.  Tampa 2's like the colts, not so much.  But with Haynesworth & Co breathing down Ben's neck I don't see much good coming of it.

(17) Browns WIN
See the above defense for the Cinci win.  If this is indeed the game for the division I just have more faith in the pedigree of the Steelers to inch into the playoffs.  

That's what I got.  Resulting in a 9-7 season and a playoff birth based on winning the division.  I tried not to be too much of a Homer, although I admit that it will sway me.  What do you guys think?

Since off-season seems to be the time for it, I had a thought...  What if the Steelers could go take any active player off any roster and sign him?  Is there one player that would put us in the Super Bowl for sure?  What position do we look for?  

First thoughts are the best players in the game today offensively, Peyton Manning, Brady, Tomlinson, but I don't see any of those three being SO much better than our starting QB and RB that I'd use this fantasy pick on them.  I dunno, any thoughts?

In Goodell's conversation with Arlen Specter it came out that Darth Sidious, I mean Bill Belichick has been video taping defensive signals since 2000!  And Goodell knew this!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/02/13/specter.goodell.ap/index.html

7 years of cheating does not result in a suspension?  What?  I always thought the penalty was too light on Belicheat, but thought the league only had evidence from 6 games.  But no, they'd been breaking the rules since 2000 and Belichick gets no suspension?  His excuse was that he thought it was legal.  Plenty of players have used this excuse when they get over the counter supplements that end up having a banned substance, and it doesn't change them getting suspended at least 4 games.  

Not liking Goodell much right now.

Worked up the gumption to watch the game on nfl replay last night.  I've got bad news. They still lost and all remains meaningless.  

I'm confident most of the good points have been made about the game but I wanted beat that dead horse for just one more post:

1.  All in all that was a horrendously officiated game. On both sides too.  But there were quite a few times that Silverback was being held on the edge pretty clearly and no flags. Hines got punched in the head out of bounds on his first long catch. Holmes may or may not of caught that ball but I'll be damned if I can see evidence to overturn it.  And I think we can all agree that Mahan didn't hold a soul on the first two point conversion attempt. For those keeping score at home, two points is what we lost by.  
2.  Heath Miller.  STUD.  But...  Some areas for improvement still.  I tried to focus on him this time through the game on offensive snaps.  He has a hard time fighting jams when a lineback would meet him at the line Heath tended to get driven off his route pretty easily.  This could be a product of him knowing the pass wasn't coming to him but I'd like to see him shed those jams a bit quicker and fire off the line everytime into patterns.  As I said last time Heath does a good job maintaining a block but he doesn't fire off the ball all that well and is usually blocking right on the line of scrimmage and never pushes his man back off the ball.  Otherwise ya'll have seen him getting open enough and he's got sure hands and gets YAC everytime.  Love him.
3.  James Farrior.  Slightly less studly.  Potsey played better this game than he did some others.  He shot the run gaps well forcing the RBs to change their attack.  My problem is that when he shot the gaps he'd only partially hit the back and seldom could get a solo tackle.  His gap responsibility was good so the backs didn't get too much, but something that really good inside backers do is hit the gaps and bring the back down in the backfield,  not just redirect him. Oh potsey...  In coverage you were killed on the Jones-Drew TD.  Just burned.  Now that's a tough match up but I'd like to see Potsey play the angle better to ensure a tackle after the catch.  He did get the one interception that was nice.  but there were a few other times when he was burnt in coverage by the backs.  Greg Jones even burnt him once but had the ball bounce off his face mask.  

(re-read before posting, forgive the length)
Considering how the media loves the patriots stories they've been on the only game on a lot this season so I've watched most of the debacles until they got ridiculous and sometimes throughout that grabbing my head wondering how a team can be so cocky and careless with it's star players by leaving them in and driving up the score.  

That being said I think the last two weeks gives us good blueprints to follow this week. Some amateur thoughts on a game plan:

Offense-
Their linebackers are old.  Especially without Colvin. They're good at gap responsibility and the d-line ahead of them gets good push.  Thus I really want to see some edge plays with FWP.  None of this following Mahan crap cause we all know it won't work.  Put it just off-tackle and preach to Willie all week to look for cut backs.  If the line can get him to the second level he should have some room to create.  Most of McGahee's opportunities came off tackle following Ogden with the tight end on the right forcing the Patriots to put their eighth man over there to account for the tight end.  This often left Seau one on one with McGahee and he was losing that battle all night.  I really wish we had Krieder as I think he could really help on these types of plays kicking out the edge.

Passing... The Eagles showed how this is done. Crossing patterns and digs.  Asante Samuel guards the deeps and outside roots like nobody.  Plus they seem to play outside technique almost exclusively allowing for a few feet to the inside.  I think Hines should be able to make a lot of great catches over the middle.  Plus let's make use of Heath. He's much taller than Harrison who will likely mark him a lot and if he can get an inside edge Ben just needs to put it in front and let Heath use his fantastic hands to bring it in.  I'd also really like to see more screens.  That's not just against the Patriots but in general.  I don't really understand why we don't do this to alleviate blitz pressure and get FWP the ball in space with room to run with Faneca clearing the way ahead of him.

Defense-
Smart blitzing.  This goes without saying as we have the Wizard, Mr. Lebeau calling the defense, but watching the past two Pats games getting some hits on Brady early and then faking and pulling 8 men back seemed really effective.  And I hate to say it but let's let Welker beat us not Moss.  Welker moves chains like its nobody's business but at least that takes longer and gives us more shots at turnovers and slows down the game.  So let's put Ike man on Moss and have him get a jam off the line. Put safety coverage over top and man up across the rest of the line.  

Hit hit hit and hit some more.  Saw someone else mention this in the Ravens diary that the wide outs for the Pats started slowing their roots after the Ravens dealt some big hits.  This has been one of the big complaints on Moss throughout his career (which I've seen much of being a Bears fan for the NFC).  Hit him as much as you can and make him pay for every catch and watch the alligator arms shrink.

Here's to hoping that we can wipe that smirk of Brady and Belicheck's faces and clinch our division all in one week.