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And thus the draft ends. Solid picks by the Steelers. We didn't get Posluszny, but I'm okay with him going to Buffalo. Timmons was a solid pick and fills a role and a need that we had. But I'll tell you who I'm really excited about:

LaMarr Woodley.

He played some great ball at Michigan and has the tenacity of a Steelers Linebacker. Look for this guy to make some big plays on 3rd down this year.


On another note, New England is going to be downright scary this year. The only way they don't win the Super Bowl is if Tom Brady gets hurt. Sorry Steelers Nation, I would love to see us make a run, but there is no way New England doesn't win it this year.


Here's another encouraging note from the post-draft Press Conference:
Q: Are we seeing a shift in offensive philosophy?

Coach Tomlin: Yeah, we value the tight end without a doubt.


You know what that means?

3 months until Training Camp.

Draft Day

T-minus 1.5 hours until the draft begins.

T-minus 4.5 hours until the Steelers pick.

I know I've been pulling for us to pick Posluszny, but I just wanted to say that I will be happy with whoever they select and trust in the decisions of the coaching staff that it is the right person for our system.

Go Steelers.

People I don't like, Part 1

I have a feeling I'll end up talking a lot about people I think are morons and why throughout the season. So let me start things off by saying that there are certain people, or things, that I just can't stand. One of them is ESPN. Now, I watch Sportscenter and games on ESPN because, well I have no other choice. Another is the entire KDKA sports broadcast team. Bob Pompeani and folks make watching preseason games about as entertaining as watching KDKA's Live Zoo Cam. If I'm going to watch tigers, I'd prefer they be something like this:

Verlander = great Fantasy Baseball pickup.

Or maybe like this:

US Open at Oakmont, who's excited?

At any rate, I got distracted from my original point. Which was, that I really hate it when people write articles that appear to be one thing, but are actually another thing entirely. For example, this supposed "Point and Counterpoint" article about who the Steelers should pick #1. However, this was not a "Point and Counterpoint" article. It was "I'm going to talk about why the Steelers should pick Lawrence Timmons, and you can agree with me." Which was basically what it was. Save yourself the braincells that you would lose pounding back 2 Irons in order to make the idiocy of this article go away.

Save these for later folks.

At any rate, the article is basically John Harris, a columnist for the Trib who was probably one of those people who said Cowher should be run out of town at some point during the Super Bowl season, preaching about how we should draft Lawrence Timmons. Now, to rectify the situation and actually provide a Counterpoint to Harris' argument instead of just stroking his ego (like Scott Brown did in the article), I provide you with this information.

2006 Stats
Timmons: 13 Games Played, 42 Solo Tackles, 37 Assisted Tackles, 18.0 Tackles For Loss with 71 yards lost, 5.0 Sacks for 29 yards lost (ave: 5.8 yds/sack), 1 INT, 6 Pass deflections 2 QB Hurries, 1 Fumble Recovery, 0 Forced Fumbles, 2 Blocked Kicks. (Stats from Seminoles.com)

Paul Posluszny: 13 Games Played, 69 Solo Tackles, 47 Assisted Tackles, 10 Tackles for Loss with 35 yds lost, 3.0 Sacks with 12 yds lost (ave: 4 yds/sack), 0 INT, 4 Pass deflections, 1 QB Hurry, 2 forced fumbles (no stats on fumble recoveries, thanks NCAA.org)

At any rate, here's a breakdown: Posluszny has more tackles, but with a bit less of an "impact" that Timmons has. What does this mean? Posluszny is always where the action is. For those of you who may have watched the Outback Bowl, Posluszny (who is supposedly "slow") ran down speedy Tennessee running back LaMarcus Coker from behind on the exact same play that Coker had broken for a touchdown run earlier in the game. What does this mean? Posluszny is always where the ball is.

In the article, Harris talks about the need to replace Porter. Let me ask you, the reader, something. When's the last time you rememebr Joey Porter making a solo tackle on a running play? Go ahead, think about it.


It's pretty tough. Porter lacked a presence in the run defense. I would much rather have a stout Linebacker that is a solid tackler against the run and is disciplined than someone who lacks discipline. Maybe it will happen that the Steelers take Timmons. Maybe Adam Carriker will still be around. Who knows. But for the love of the running game, please resign A-Fan.

A little blocking goes a long way.
This is A-Fan in his Pro-Bowl stance, ready to kick ass and take names.

T-minus 36 hours and counting...

Pittsburgh is #1...at some other completely irrelevant thing

Dan Majors obviously has a lot of time on his hands. His job description is basically "Find out what Pittsburgh is being awarded for now." This time, it's being the most livable city. Woo, big news on the top of the Post-Gazette page. What else is up there with it? Oh yeah, draft stuff.

With T-minus 1.5 days until the NFL Draft commences at noon on Saturday, followed by an agonizing 3-hour wait until the Steelers get to pick, everyone in the sports world is going nuts.
Who is Oakland going to pick? Will it be....

Probably one of these three. But you want to know something? Oakland is still going to have a losing record next year. For all the hype and all the jazz, here's the simple breakdown.
Last year Oakland was last in the league in Total Offense (measured in Yards/game), last in the league in Yards/play, 30th in First Downs/game, 28th in Time of Possession, 31st in Interceptions (meaning 2nd most in the league with 24), and last in the league in Sacks, with Oakland QBs getting sacked 72 times (the only other teams that gave up more than 50 sacks were Detroit with 63 and Cleveland with 54). So what's to conclude? Oakland's offense is terrible. They can't move the ball, can't hold on to the ball, and can't protect their Quarterback. If Quinn or Russell get drafted by Oakland, they're going to get beat up, because Oakland's O-line is like a block of Swiss cheese.

Oakland's Offensive Line looks something like this.

Therefore, the hype is worth nothing. Oakland needs linemen to protect whichever highly touted prospect they sign to a huge deal. Regardless of who gets picked at 12:15 on Saturday afternoon, their team is going to stink. If they pick Johnson, they don't have a QB to get him the ball. If they pick a QB, they don't have recievers for him to throw to. Oakland is a team in need of a lot of work, and one pick is not going to solve that.

Honestly, I think way too much emphasis is placed on first round picks. Look at what Colston did last year for New Orleans, and he was a 7th rounder out of Hofstra. The moral of the story is, you never know. So what's the use in building it up and trying to predict things? Let's just see what happens.

By the way, everyone should laugh at ESPN if they say anything good about Vince Young on Saturday after how much they bashed him last year on draft day.

P.s. Colbert & Tomlin- Draft Posluszny.

Action shot of Posluszny ruining someone's day. Great 2-armed form tackle.

Remind anyone of Jack Ham?

Eat it Cleveland! (and Cincy and Buffalo)

I now have a new respect for Dan Majors (columnist, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

The Post-Gazette today featured this article about Pittsburgh leading the nation in consumption of Ho Hos. That's right, Ho Hos.



According to the article, Pittsburgh tops the list nationally in Ho Ho consumption, beating out Buffalo/Rochester, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

On another note, FoxSports.com's Peter Schrager's latest mock draft has us taking Paul Posluszny in the first round of the draft. I couldn't agree more. Keep up the good work there Pete. In my opinion, Posluszny is the perfect fit for what the Steelers need/want/are looking for/should be looking for. He's got something that none of our other Linebackers have: versatility. He won the Butkus award playing outside linebacker, then moved to middle linebacker and was the runner-up. He's a solid all-around player and has great tackling ability. His talent would be just plain scary in a place like New England or Baltimore. Plus, coming out of the Penn State system, he could play next year if need be. He would be a great addition to the team.

Other mock draft's have us taking a variety of other players including Leon Hall (CB, Michigan), Darelle Revis (CB, Pitt), Adam Carriker (DE, Nebraska), and Lawrence Timmons (LB, Florida State). However, I can't say that any of these guys really has what Posluszny brings to the table. Timmons probably would be a special-teamer at best his first year and would require a lot of work. Revis: no way. Carriker would be a good fit if we were thinking of switching to a 4-3, but Tomlin has already said he is committed to the 3-4 for next year. I don't really see the point in drafting Carriker, a traditional 3-4 Defensive End in the mold of Aaron Smith unless we plan on dealing away either Smith or Kiesel. And as for Leon Hall...did anyone watch the Rose Bowl last year? Remember how USC just ripped Michigan up and down the field with their passing game? Remember how Ohio State did the same thing at the end of the year? I don't trust Michigan's corners. If the Steelers are smart, they'll draft Posluszny. We've made mistakes on draft day before, like in 2000 when we passed on Shaun Alexander to pick No-catch-ico Burress. Interestingly enough, we grabbed Marvel Smith in the second round that year and Clark Haggans in the 5th. That was the same year New England grabbed a mediocre quarterback from Michigan named Tom Brady in the 6th round and Baltimore drafted Adailus Thomas in the 6th round.

All in all, there's 8 days until the draft, and the hype is just going to get bigger, even though it's not really going to make a difference. Looking back at these old drafts, it's surprising how many names I don't recognize. This leads me to conclude that the draft is way less important than it is built up to be and what is much more important is the infrastructure a team has to develop players and create a championship team.

First Post: New Schedule, New Season

Last season is over. We went 8-8 and missed the playoffs. Let's move on.

With the new schedule coming out, here's an early look at what we've got coming our way. Along with a few of the storylines the media will play up, but won't really matter in the end.

Game 1: Sept 9 @ Cleveland (1pm)
So we almost lost to Cleveland on the road last year. And Willie Parker romped all over them in a -300 degrees game in Pittsburgh. No amount of alcohol could numb you from that type of cold, it was just freezing. So what's the verdict? Well...let's look and see how the Steelers have come out of the gate in previous seasons. In spite of losing all 4 preseason games in 2006, they came out with a solid thwomping of the Miami Dolphins. In 2005 they gave up a touchdown on the opening drive to Tennessee then scored 34 unanswered points. In 2004, in a game that was about the inverse temperature of the last home game against Cleveland, Tommy Maddox lead the Steelers to a 24-21 victory over Oakland in the last game he ever won as a Steelers starting QB. So what's to look forward to? Pittsburgh will lose the toss, Cleveland will get the ball first and score on the opening drive. Cleveland 7-0. Pittsburgh will fight back with some big catches by Heath Miller and Hines Ward, capping off a touchdown drive with a long pass to Santonio Holmes to pick up this season where he left off last season. 7-7. From there, Cleveland will run around like a bunch of dogs chasing their tails and Pittsburgh will be able to drive back down I-79 with pride. Steelers win. 1-0.

Game 2: Sept 16 vs. Buffalo (1pm)
Buffalo lost Nate Clements and London Fletcher-Baker and some running back who only played half the games but wanted to be paid like a pro-bowler. Where did he go to school? Oh yeah, "The U". Regardless, Pittsburgh wins this one easily, though the corners get a scare early in the game. I Like Ike Taylor makes a big interception to seal the game. Bryant McFadden also pulls one down. Steelers win. 2-0.

Game 3: Sept 23 vs. San Francisco (1pm)
This isn't the San Francisco team of the mid-80s. Or the San Francisco team of the mid-90s. The Steelers get to put off facing Nate Clements for a week, but that doesn't really matter. Willie Parker runs for over 150 yards and the Steelers show the finesse-oriented West-Coast offense what smash-mouth football is all about. Steelers win, 3-0. San Francisco proceeds to lose it's next two games trying to recover from the whalloping they took in Pittsburgh.

Game 4: Sept 30 @ Arizona (4:15pm)
Don't be fooled by the time into thinking this game is anything special. Remember, 4:15 in Pittsburgh is 1:15 in the West. So by 4:15 in the West, the Steelers will be 4-0 and Arizona will have another coaching vacancy. Unlike San Francisco, this is the same Arizona team that has always been bad. The Whiz starts 0-4 out here and calls for his head are made. Maybe he'll tell the fans and media that he knew who we were, Denny Green-style. No surprises in this game. Steelers come up with big sacks and big interceptions at key times. Anthony Smith runs one back for a touchdown as the Steelers move to 4-0, giving Matt Leinhart more losses this season than he had in his career at USC.

Game 5: Oct 7 vs Seattle (1pm)
This is not the same Seattle team that we beat in the Super Bowl. Losing some key offensive linemen has really hurt this team and made the NFC West an open field for everyone but Arizona this year. However, this Steelers team is still good enough to beat this Seattle team. There won't even need to be any questionable calls. Remember when Willie Parker turned the Seattle defense into a merry-go-round?



Notice Seattle's D standing around like the kids on the merry-go-round. This will happen again.


Steelers win, move to 5-0 going into the bye week.

Game 6: Oct 21 @ Denver (8:15pm)
The Steelers come out of the bye week with a little less momentum than they took into it. Denver is coming off their bye week after playing Jacksonville, Indy and San Diego. They'll probably have lost 2 of those games, so they'll be looking to a big game coming off their bye week. Conversely, we'll be flying a little too high and have an ego about as high as their stadium. As much as I hate to say this, Denver is probably going to win this game. Playing on the road in Prime Time against Mike Shanahan's team will be tough for anyone, but the new-look Steelers will probably falter here. Parker gets held under 100 yards for the first time in the season and the Steelers go down, moving to 5-1.

Game 7: Oct 28 @ Cincinnati (1pm)
The Steelers will have a late flight back from Denver then will have to turn around and head out to Cincinnati. The short turn-around will be bad for the Steelers as well as the fact that they'll be reeling from their first loss of the season. Cincy will have already lost to New England and will be on a 2-game winning streak coming into this game. The Steelers will have trouble gaining momentum from the start and probably end up in a shootout, which never ends up good for them. Steelers lose again, 5-2.

Game 8: Nov 5 vs. Baltimore (8:15pm)
The first Monday night game of the season provides the Steelers the opportunity to get back on the right track. And they do. Pittsbugh is crazy for Monday Night games and the Steelers show up big time. Baltimore won't know what hit them. With the loss of Thomas on defense, they won't be nearly as versatile and Najeh Davenport has a huge game picking up 2 touchdowns as the Steelers crank up the power running game. Steelers win a close one on a Jeff Reed field goal in the final minute, moving to 6-2.

Game 9: Nov 11 vs. Cleveland (1pm)
Good thing we have an easy game coming off that Monday night game. Parker, held down against Baltimore, bursts out huge in this game and runs all over the Cleveland defense. Steelers win, 7-2.

Game 10: Nov 18 @ NY Jets (1pm)
Can Chad Pennington make it a full season as the Jets starting QB? Can he survive against the Pittsburgh defense? Polamalu has a big game and Farrior comes up with a fumble recovery as the Steelers walk all over the Jets, moving them to 8-2.

Game 11: Nov 26 vs. Miami (8:30pm)
The Steelers second Monday Night game this month. This time, the "story" is Joey Porter returning to Pittsburgh. Guess what? Miami still doesn't have a Quarterback. Guess what else? One outside linebacker doesn't make a team. Big Ben and Hines hook up for 2 touchdowns on a snowy Monday Night. 9-2.

Game 12: Dec 2 vs Cincinnati (8:15pm)
Nothing like keeping the emotions high two weeks in a row. The year we went 15-1, everyone kept looking for that "let-down" game where the Steelers would lose because they were burnt out. It never came in the regular season. And as much as the Steelers tried to lose to the Jets, the Jets just wanted to lose more. This is not a let-down game. Parker has a huge game and I-Like-Ike Taylor has a big-time game shutting down Chad Johnson. McFadden proves his worth against TJ, and Chris Henry gets handcuffed by Anthony Smith. That should be nothing new for him. Carson Palmer decides that he doesn't like the way the sky in Pittsburgh looks this time of year, as he gets plenty of time to analyze it while laying on his back. Steelers win, 10-2.

Game 13: Dec 9 @ New England (1pm)
At New England, in December, coming off a huge win against Cincy. What does this spell? Letdown. Don't get me wrong, the Steelers will play tough in this one. In the end, Brady hooks up with Dante' Stallworth for a big completion to put the Pats in field goal range and secure the victory in the final minutes. Steelers lose, fall to 10-3.

Game 14: Dec 16 vs. Jacksonville (1pm)
Jacksonville could be said to be our spoiler over the past few seasons. Tommy Maddox blew one game and the entire Offense blew the other. However, both of those games were played early in the season, and one of them was in Jacksonville. Finally, we get to play them in Pittsburgh, in December. I love bringing warm-weather teams to town in the winter. Steelers win a big game, moving them to 11-3.

Game 15: Dec 20 @ St. Louis (8:15pm)
Thankfully we get an easy team in this short week. St. Louis is far removed from the "greatest show on turf" team they had that won the Super Bowl. Steven Jackson is a formidable threat out of the backfield, but the Steelers run defense may be the best in the league next year. They did not allow a 100-yard rushing game last season and getting rid of Porter will actually help their run defense. Anthony Smith makes another big interception late in the game, sealing the Steelers victory. 12-3.

Game 16: Dec 30 @ Baltimore (1pm)
Sadly, the Steelers will probably drop this game. We haven't won a game in Baltimore in a long time, and we probably won't win there again this year. We'll have enough wins to secure a playoff spot, but we might still be fighting for the division. This will be a tough game and I don't see us taking both games from Baltimore next season. In the end, we end up 12-4, which is a very solid season.

Well, there you have my predictions for next season. There's a lot of hype leading up to the draft that's coming up in a week and a half. However, I'm not going to get all obsessed about who's going to pick who. You know why? Because one trade could change everything. So it's not really worth trying to predict picks. But after the draft I'll probably do a little review of the players we've selected.