2010 Steeers!

There is football on my TV right now. This excites me greatly. But the Steelers had such a disappointing 2009-10 that I haven't missed football as much as I normally do. And with Ben being banned the first four games I feel like there is even less to get excited about. HOW-EV-AH. I watched a good part of their first pre-season game against the Lions and I was struck by a few things I saw. Here are some things that I'm excited AND scared about this year.

• GOOD: Dennis Dixon looks SOLID. It was absolutely pouring down rain at Heinz Field Saturday night but DD seemed totally unfazed. In spite of the slippery ball he was very accurate and threw a nice tight spiral. And even though the turf started to give way (like it always does) he still managed to scramble around and evade tacklers with ease. The scrambling dimension really neutralizes what opposing defenses can do as far as blitz schemes and deep coverage. He exploited the Lions a bunch when they blitzed and he stepped up or they rushed three and all the coverage went long. The only downside to DD is that he is often too excited to take off and doesn't always give plays enough time to develop. I think he'll get more comfortable with waiting it out in the future (especially with Ben as his mentor: dude stands around FOREVER back there). 
• BAD: Bruce Arians still cannot call a football game. Granted it's hard to tell what they are trying to accomplish in August against the Lions, but thinking back to last year and what I saw it seems like we're going to get more of the same out of BA. First down: singleback formation: run for no gain. Second down:  repeat first down. Third down: screen or 40 yard deep route that takes 6 seconds to develop while the other team blitzes. Sack. Punt. 
• GOOD: Isaac Redman looks like he might actually be a legit power runner, which is something the Steelers haven't had since the Bus retired. They turned to him in some goal-line situations the other night and in spite of the lackluster O-line he was able to break through. Could be a really effective third-down back.
• GOOD: Arnaz Battle might actually have a little bit of gas left in the tank. He had a nice catch-and-run in the second quarter that set up a Redman touchdown. Good hands, runs decent routes. Seems like a useful addition, but he'll never replace Santonio. 
• BAD: Byron Leftwich was slow and lumbering four years ago when he lost his starting job to David Garrard in Jacksonville. Now he's older, so he's even slower and more lumbering. The O-line is simply not good enough to give him time to amble back in his drop, make his reads, then whip the ball up from his hip to behind his head and release. Dude is just too slow. 
• BAD: O-line is a sieve. For real, I don't know what they're gonna do. 
• GOOD: The defense hit hard and forced turnovers. The backups played great. KFox looks like a legitimate backup option at linebacker.

Clearly one game is not enough to judge a team, but there are some things from last year that I get particularly concerned about for the upcoming year that I would like to see fixed at some point in these exhibition games. 

Namely:

• Changing up the play calls on offense. BA has got to do more with the talent he has. Ben (when he is back) needs to get outside the pocket more. He is a significantly better passer when he's on the run. Dennis Dixon is the same way. Get him on the move and if there isn't anything there he can at least pick up a few yards on the scramble.
• They also have to start running out of the I formation more. The line can't run block for shit so why not put Frank Summers or Sean McHugh in front of Mendenhall to take on the first would-be tackler? 
• Oh yeah, and SPREAD THE FIELD, BA. Why not send Big Mike Wallace deep a few times each game? Let Ben do his patented 5-yard underthrow that he's so good at. Whatever. Just give the other team's defense something to think about. 
• RELATED: O-Line: Give the QB and RB more room. Ben (or whoever) needs more than 2 seconds  to make a pass, and the running backs need at least some semblance of a hole to run through. When Mendenhall gets a seam he can be REALLY dangerous. He averaged over 5 yards per carry in several games last year so you know he can bust off a long run. He just needs to be able to squeak through the first attackers. 
• Learn how to score in the red zone. Last year the Steelers were 22nd in the league in red-zone scoring. This mostly has to do with Arians and his miserable play-calling (you know, where it would be first and goal on the 1 and they'd run it off tackle three straight times for no gain).
• Troy needs to stay healthy. Everything LeBeau wants to do defensively stems from having Polamalu in the secondary to scare the living piss out of opposing passers. Harrison and Woodley blitz, QB looks downfield to get rid of the ball, sees Troy, hesitates, SACK. And he is vital to the Steelers protecting leads (which we will get to in a moment). Now, there isn't a whole lot they could have done about Troy injuring himself to begin with, but they could have kept him out another week or two more to keep him from RE-injuring himself. They probably win the Oakland and Cleveland games if Polamalu is around in the second half to neutralize their passing attacks.
• Rediscover the run defense. Do you remember that streak the Steelers had where they didn't allow a 100-yard rusher for like three seasons? They need to revert to that form. A lot of this will rely on how much Ziggy Hood has come along since last year. The D-line is pretty old with the exception of Ziggy.
• Closing out games. Check out these five losses from last year.* 
• Week 2: Chicago. Leading 14-7 after 3 quarters. Lost 17-14
• Week 3: Cincy. Leading 20-9 after 3 quarters. Lost 23-20
• Week 10: Cincy. Leading 9-6 at half. Lost 18-12
• Week 11: Chiefs. Leading 17-7 at half and 24-17 with 8:35 left in 4th quarter. Lost 27-24
• Week 13: Raiders: Leading 10-6 at half, 17-13 with 7:13 left and 24-20 with 1:56 left. Lost 27-24

There was more I wanted to include but after researching those losses I'm too frustrated to remember what it was. 

So we'll see what they can do this year. I'm definitely skeptical of their chances of winning the division as the Browns, Bengals, and Ravens have all seemed to get better while the Steelers stayed basically the same (and lost their starting QB for 4 games). I think if Dixon (and then Ben, when he comes back), Mendenhall, and Big Mike Wallace stay healthy on offense and Troy, Harrison, and Woodley can stay healthy on D the Steelers could win 10-11 games and possibly grab a wild card. And after last year, a wild card berth would feel like a MAJOR victory. 

*They also lost in OTat the Ravens in that Sunday night heartbreaker (when Dixon got his first start for the concussed Roethlisberger and one-armed Batch), and that shitfest on Thursday night at Cleveland where Ben got sacked 8 times and they didn't score a touchdown.