The following link examines the call and how it unfolds from the perspectives of multiple players--Brown, Wallace and Ben. The Steelers didn't call the trick play ESPN blabbed about, but they did unveil Brown's speed for a crucial play with the season on the line. For most of the year, he was used on slants and outs while Wallace drew attention as our burner. Now the league knows we have two deep weapons...and it's only a matter of time until Sanders burns someone too.

http://aol.it/hTHxW4

Just wondering...if it's a football crime for a defender to lead with his helmet while tackling, why is it okay for running backs to lower their heads like battering rams while plowing through the line? Both actions invite helmet-to-helmet collisions, but only the defender is penalized for head-to-head hits.

This policy places defenders at a sharp disadvantage that will surely determine the outcome of games and divisional standings. For example: I suggest L. Timmons was handcuffed by the league's bias in this regard when he wiffed on LaDainian Tomlinson on a key third down in the fourth quarter in the recent loss to the Jets.

It seems strange the Jets would be so forthcoming re their offensive game plan for Sunday (see  Against Steelers, Jets looking for backs to play catch‎ - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com). The strategy makes sense, considering their weapons, but I suspect it's a smoke screen.

After Baltimore torched us twice with the long ball two weeks ago, you have to figure Santonio Homes is salivating over the thought of burning us for multiple big ones...and he probably has Ryan & Sanchez convinced he can do it.

Considering the recent anemic point production of our offense (plus it's mid-Dec. in Pittsburgh), Santonio et.al., probably figure twenty points should win this game. This means if Sanchez can dink & dunk his way to a couple field goals and draw us in, Santonio hopes to bask in the limelight by blowing past our drawn-up secondary for a long ball, then (when Ike restores the cushion) by scoring on a long catch & run after eluding a tackle, i.e., vintage highlights from Holmes.

I figure this game is really on the offense--they need to run the ball, control the clock, maintain field position superiority, and force the Jets to play catch-up. Anything over 20 should win this game. Thoughts?

For those interested in the CFL receiver [Andy Fantuz] the Steelers evaluated this week as a possible F/A pick-up for next year, the following video suggests his hands and height might offer potential red zone or possession assets.

Speaking of tall receivers, anyone hear anything about Limas Sweed? I wonder how he's recovering and whether it's possible he get another shot.

Thoughts or information?

Andy Fantuz CFL Highlights

While I'm on the subject...just for the record, I got a bad feeling about Santonio Homes & the upcoming game. Santonio can be phenomenal when he's zeroed in--and I expect he'll be jacked on Sunday.

The offensive line looked far better against Tampa (than the first two weeks). Is Legurski an upgrade at guard over Essex? Or was it the combination of Starks being back and Charlie have success thru the air, which forced TB to drop off the line a bit? Your thoughts?

Btw, I thought Freeman and Blount put it tough performances. Good players. TB made a smart pick-up cheap with Blount. On the other hand, Mendenhall and Redman didn't look shabby either.

For forty-five years I've been a die-hard Steelers fan. The past few years, I've spent way too much time reading about sexual assaults, abused wives and girlfriends, drug use, whatever. Ben finally opened my eyes--I need to get a life and quit following the on-field/off-field exploits of over-paid, clueless & classless bums.

The bottom line (for me) regarding Ben's latest stunt is this:

1) One or more of his entourage put a drunk twenty-year old co-ed in a private bathroom and then stood guard outside the door after Ben entered the room.

2) Ben's companions admitted the first of the above points to the authorities (that they put her in the room in a highly intoxicated state), and Ben admits to being in the room with her and that intimate relations took place.

3) The girl then emerged with physical injuries and claims of being sexually attacked. [Note: If I'm her father or brother I'd call it "rape" and go looking for 1. the guys who put her in there, and 2. the guy that raped her.

For me this isn't about guilt because ANY question of right and wrong ended when Ben followed a girl too drunk to defend herself into a guarded bathroom. If the Steelers or NFL decide to suspend its cowardly thugs for two games, four, or the whole season, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned this is a wake-up call.

I will never root for a Steelers team (or anyone else) that employs women beaters, rapist, and anything in between. There MUST be better people--artists, doctors, musicians, world leaders...even athletes--who DESERVE to be followed and admired.   

I read a comment on Bleachers by a Steelers fan who had to explain sexual assault to his eight year old son--a son who won't be wearing his "Ben R." child-sized jersey to school again. Ben may or may not be guilty of sexual assault, rape, or whatever--I hope he isn't. However, it appears by his own admission that something sexual occured between him and this young woman--possibly in a nightclub bathroom, and possibly while members of his entourage guarded the door. Again according to Ben, this young woman coincidentally fell and hit her head after this intimacy took place.

To put this in perspective, I thought of myself as a kid--a kid who sniveled while listening to Myron Cope describe the torturous last seconds of the Steelers pending loss to the Raiders in a playoff game...before a miracle occurred. What would that kid have thought of reports describing Terry Bradshaw having sex with co-eds in public bathrooms--co-eds who emerged from the encounter with head injuries and a tale of sexual assualt? What would Art Rooney have thought?

One could also ask why Ben and the woman were in the room together. Did he follow her, or did she follow him? And if the latter, why weren't his "bodyguards" instructed to protect his privacy so this couldn't happen? Regardless, these are questions for the authorities in GA, not Steeler Nation or the city of Pittsburgh. The question we should be asking ourselves is this:

Is it so important that the Steelers win football games that parents should be put in the position of having to explain the meaning of rape or sexual assualt to eight year-olds through the actions of their sports heroes? If it is, I suggest we forget about the Steelers, turn off the TV and Internet, and look at ourselves.

James P. Kelly, formerly of Monaca

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts regarding Redman's release.

Yes (others will say it, so I might as well say it first), he's an unproven rookie who might offer a short yardage solution and little more. However, problems concerning short yardage plagued the Steelers last year far worse than poor punt returns, and yet the team made a major off season effort to acquire effective returners. One therefore wonders why they would carry no power runners whose performance in preseason or in practice indicates they can carry the mail when things get tough. I find this particularly confusing since I clearly recall Tomlin being caught on camera during a goal line situation last year saying something like, 'Can we get it in from here? That would be nice.'

All things considered, I wonder whether Redman's release signals that 1) Tomlin and Ariens are in denial regarding their a: offensive line, and b: short yardage running ability, or 2) Ariens plans to toss the run aside and let Dixon run Oregon's spread, or 3) Redman has personal issues that caused the management to think his attitude was not appropriate for the Steelers.

Regardless, I propose a long range survey. Of all the third or fouth down and short that the Steelers face against the Ravens this year during the regular season (two yards or less), how many will the Steelers convert on the ground. Whomever predicts the correct total wins a full color digital photograph of my black and white cat (signed with his paw print). His name is Lord Voldamort.  I predict zero (0).

Steelers cut Mendenhall, Hampton, Sweed & others

AP wire report: Pittsburgh PA

In a shocking roster shake up, the Pittsburgh Steelers released last year's first two draft picks, Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed, along with eight others from a reigning championship team, including All Pro nose tackle Casey Hampton.

According to head coach Mike Tomlin, "If you don't show the juice, we'll cut you loose."  

When asked whether Hampton's release signaled a fiscal move to gain salary cap space, Director of Personnel Kevin Colber said, "Actually we felt we needed more space in the locker room. The fans rave when Big Snack occupies two blockers on the field. But no one considers what this means in the shower. When the guys started grumbling cause only seven men could fit into an eight man shower, we had to make the move." Apparently feeling defensive over the release of the likable Hampton, he added, " After all...he took two nozzles and hogged the water.

Perhaps most disturbing to the Steeler's rabid fan base - fans who appreciate the Steeler's running tradition - is that many of these roster moves indicate that offensive coordinator Bruce Ariens is coming out of the closet after his empty denials of disdaining the run.

"Let me think about it," said Ariens in his Heinz Field office. "I can ask our hundred-million dollar quarterback to rifle the ball fifty yards to any of our small, elite fast guys - whom no one can cover, by the way - or I can use our lumbering running backs - who can't break tackles or run away from them - to charge into non-existent holes and fumble." 

Perhaps in reference to Ariens gloomy prognosis concerning their power running game, the Steelers also cut Isaac Redman, Tank Summers, Justin Vincent, and lead blocker Sean McHugh.

The final two roster moves both came as shockers as the team released last year's second round pick, Limas Sweed, and a promising cornerback from this years draft, Joe Burnett. When asked about these moves, in typical Tomlin fashion, the glib coach said:

"We're sending a message. The Steelers want receivers and returners, not point guards. Anyone who wants to dribble can try out with the Lakers."

I missed part of the second half. Did Redman or Tank do anthing (...good, I mean)?

Otherwise...any thoughts concerning Logan? We've seen him in action now. My impression is that a dual-threat return man who can hang onto the ball might be worth keeping around. If he can duplicate tonight's effort again this preseason, someone will snap him up if we release him. Between him and Sepulveda, we might see a significant change for the good in the field position war.

Also, the clean-up O-line didn't give Reilly (or our runners) a chance. The kid was running for his life.

Finally...I've figured out Sweed's problem. He can't catch the ball unless he's falling down or being draped by a defender. It's my guess that he wouldn't know the difference between one of our guys and one of theirs. So I propose that Bruce assigns a twelth player to shadow Sweed and knock him down just as the ball arrives. (He wouldn't count as "too many men" because he wouldn't be allowed to block, catch the ball, or run with it...he'd be our designated "Sweed-tweak.") One one hand, it would put a serious crimp in Sweed's yardage after the catch. On the other, watching the ball bounce off his hands doesn't do much either (except to assuage Ike's bruised ego).  

Ok, I admit I'm a fifty-two year old fossil. In 'my' day, I used to pick up the Beaver County Times during training camp and read daily updates that reported who looked really good or really bad in camp...who looks like they might make the roster and who does not. Not anymore. Now I've got to pay an annual subscription for professional reporters -  most of whom also get paid for being reporters by employers in journalism - to tell me what I used to buy for fifty cents. In fact, this new Internet 'service' seems to exist with the tacit approval and (wink-wink) support of sports editors at the Times, Post-Gazette, and Trib-Review. I find it highly doubtful it's a coincidence the stories these editors choose to provide (regarding the Steelers in camp) seldom threaten the foundation of the "pay directly for inside info" industry...namely, how the team is shaping up through the drama of camp competition. Call me cheap. Call me behind the times. But in my opinion, it's a load of pig manure.

Just in case Daniel S. has a bum knee for good, perhaps the Steelers should take a look at punter Aaron Perez (recently cut by the Patriots in favor of their veteran, who holds for their kicker etc.) According to his college stats at UCLA, Perez certainly would seem to be a big step up over last years mid-season acquisitions.

http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/perez_aaron00.html

It's possible the front office doesn't know this guy is available...

Conventional wisdom suggests the Steelers have few possible roster spots that rookies might win. However, when I scanned the pre-draft roster and added the names of players I wouldn't think the management could possibly release regardless of a rookie's performance in camp, I arrived at totals between 41 and 46, meaning between seven to twelve rookies might make the 53 man team. Of course they'd have to earn it against stiff competition.

Try it. I'm curious what your totals would be.

The following names represent the Steelers' 2009 undrafted free agent class.

Video samples for most of these are hard to come by. However, check out the following link for a good look at QB Mike Reilly. It shows this Div II QB in action against Div I U. of Montana in the only loss for Reilly's team in 2008.

It'll be interesting to see how he performs in camp. According to his comments at the combine (He said he was the best QB in the draft), he believes he's an NFL quality QB. After watching this video, I'm not sure I'd be quick to disagree. Btw, it's worth keeping in mind while watching this that it was posted by U of Montana supporters to promote their team...and yet Reilly's heroics still stand out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJufP5ryZvg