I'm surprised to see so  much heat coming down on the defense this morning. To me the biggest problem with this team right now is inefficiency in the red zone.

Football Outsiders runs a good table of "drive stats" every week. You can see the figures through Week 2 here: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats I updated some of the Steelers' stats through Week 3 and compared them to the rest of the league through Week 2 (FO will update the entire league through this week shortly):

Yards Per Drive: Steelers average 33.3 yards per drive. 11th in the league.

Points Per Drive: Steelers average 1.52 points per drive. 24th in the league.

The figures tell you what we all have seen with our own eyes. This is a well above-average offense between the 20s, and a weak offense at turning those drives into touchdowns.

The team has made eight trips into the red zone this year and come away with just three touchdowns (the other drives resulted in four FGs and a missed FG). So that's 3 of 8 in the red zone - a weak 38% - but even THAT stat is misleading because the team had two additional drives inside the opponent's 25 that resulted in a missed FG (Bears) and a punt (Titans).

Let's highlight that stat: On ten drives inside the opposing 25 the Steelers have scored 3 touchdowns and averaged 3.3 points.

For a team that's had all three of its games decided by three points, this is a crippling stat. Red Zone efficiency, IMO, has been the difference between 3-0 and 1-2.

Interesting item in today's USA Today: This year fans will be able to make their case online for their favorite Hall of Fame finalist. You can read the item here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2009-09-17-fox-inside-call-tim-mccarver-cd_N.htm

JC Penney is the sponsor of the site in partnership with NFL Network. The site goes live tomorrow and will be here: jcp.com/fans

Fans will be able to vote for their favorite finalist, as well as post videos (and possibly essays?) in which they can make the case for their choice. Although fans will not literally have a vote, the purpose of the site is to demonstrate grass-roots support for one finalist.

Obviously Steeler Nation should dominate this process by stuffing the ballot and posting as many good essays and videos as possible. It will be impressive if LeBeau can generate more online support than obvious first-ballot HOFers like Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice.

I encourage every reader of BTSC to vote early and often and show your support for the next Steeler Hall of Famer.

Let's show some love for Fast Willie. He's played his heart out for this organization and broke off one of the great plays in Super Bowl history in XL. He's one of the most productive undrafted players ever and a great rags-to-riches story.

But he is absolutely done as a feature back at the pro level. Indecisive, no burst, liability in the passing game. How can anybody watch tonight's game and still support him getting 20 touches a game?

Mewelde's rushing stats were only marginally better, but he is an obvious asset in the pass game and he always gets something positive. Clearly the offense started humming once MeMo was on the field and the team went to the no-huddle.

FWP will torpedo this season if the staff lets him. Moore must be the starter next week and beyond.

Agree? Disagree?

Just thought I'd create a post for anyone who wants to post their comments on the excellent America's Game program that just aired on NFL Network.

A few thoughts of my own:

By now we're all familiar with Troy's unique approach to the game and to life, but it's still impressive to me anytime I hear him speak. He's a singular character in football, if not all of sports. His whole approach is so Zen. I don't think there's ever been another player quite like him. He's a guy I'd be a big fan of no matter who he played for.

Yeah, it was hokey when they cut back to Ben reading the poem as the offense took the field in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, but it got to me. I had forgotten all about it by then and it was a great call to come back to it at that moment. Perfect example of why NFL Films is the greatest when it comes to sports documentary.

I love that they had the video footage that Tomlin cut together of the interceptions in practice that week. Even as the play was happening I remember thinking, wow, look at these guys get down the field and get out in front of the play. Just pure desire and great coaching.

For me it was also a fun show because last December I became a dad for the first time and the late-season games are kind of a blur. There was a lot I had forgotten, and although I've watched the Super Bowl a couple times this year I have not watched the AFCC since that night so those clips were fun. Definitely the single most violent game I've ever seen.

Overall a typically great production by NFL Films. I'm so excited now that I won't be able to sleep tonight. Of course, I have two nine month olds so I'm not able to sleep any night ;-) Here we go! 

This is my first fanpost and, fair warning, it's a long one.

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to attend a presentation by Mike Pereira, the NFL's Vice President of Officiating, on rule changes and points of emphasis for the coming season, and I thought some of the BTSC readers would be interested in what's new for this season.

I've seen Pereira give this presentation prior to each season for a number of years and I could hardly be more impressed by him. He is truly dedicated to making sure the NFL product is fair and hard-hitting, but also as safe as possible for the players. NFL officials take a lot of knocks from fans, and Pereira would be the first to admit that they don't get every call right, but I'm convinced that if any fan could spend just a half-hour with Mike they would be blown away by his intelligence and his commitment. He has been a great asset to the league and he'll leave huge shoes to fill when he retires after this season. 

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