Steelers Game Recap

This is going to be a little lot shorter than what I usually do in the regular season.  Mostly that's because it's Friday night and, really, if you're hanging around to read this right after a preseason game, you have even less of a life than I do.  But also, I plan to get the video rewind knocked out this weekend.  And since preseason games are all about that kind of in-depth evaluation, rather than big storylines, they're more about the rewind anyway.

With that said, let's go positive/negative. 

Bad stuff first:

• That first defensive series sure was rough.  I covered the attacking-the-edges point below, but I want to add that on first viewing the linebackers looked really tentative out there.  I'll have to watch again to be sure, but that was my first impression.
• Brian Dawkins looked really, really slow on that touchdown he gave up.  That was disconcerting. 
• Really disconcerting. 
• The special teams still look terrible. 
  • The return men seemed fine, but the coverage and blocking still wasn't there.  Nice return by Demps on that last punt. 
  • Akers had two good kickoffs and then a really, really weird one that seemed to not spin at all -- or go very far.  That was strange. 
  • Rocca put two balls in the end zone.  Good touch. 
• Front four -- no matter the mix -- seemed to get no pressure until we got down to the Jerome McDougle's.  That's disappointing.
• Ryan Moats is still fast as hell, dumb as ...

What I liked:

• DMac.  Obviously.  He looked great.  I especially like the way he chose to throw the ball away a couple of times rather than risk possible sacks when the play wasn't there.  He's going to have to do that more now to stay healthy.
• DeSean Jackson.  Five catches, 51 yards.  Seemed to be open the whole time he was on the field.  Great reach-back catch on a poor throw by McNabb.  The only thing we didn't see from him was any real attempt to get down the field deep.
• Booker.  I'm a Booker Believer now.  We knew, based on all reports, that he could play well as a receiver, but I was most impressed tonight by how good he looked carrying the football.  Four carries, 16 yards, may not seem like much, but he showed nice patience and seemed to be really following his blocks.
• Tony Hunt.  Still looks like the running back I remember.  Didn't see a trace of the "heaviness" some observers have suggested he was lugging around this year. 
• Starting offensive line.  They looked pretty solid.  They should, of course.
• I was going to put King Dunlap here, but he just picked up that late holding call.  The big man looked like he was holding his own out there for the most part, however.
• Jerome McDougle.  Yes, he was feasting on third-stringers, but he looked quick and strong.

Other observations:

• Guys who look like football players:  Joe Mays and Andy Studebaker.  Be interesting to see some more of them.  
• All those bottom of the depth chart WRs are really small.
• A.J. Feeley seems to really be enjoying entering the who-gives-a-crap phase of his career.  The best teams always have slightly unhinged third QBs, I think.

Finally, I've been telling you for weeks that FB Jason Davis was going to be the key to solving the red zone issues.  Didn't I?

More later this weekend.  Good night everyone.

Comments

[benZ]

Great post-- only disagreement I have is on Hunt. I noticed EXACTLY the heaviness that you feared. He had a couple of decent gains, but watch them again. My auntie could have picked up 5 on them. It was all push. I felt like every time he had the ball, I found myself shouting "run!" He seems tentative. I think Moats is a stretch to make team and Hunt is a long shot. How many RB's does one need?

Very positive on DMac and Booker and Jackson and even Q. Mikell.

Very negative on special teams, LB play on run, and Dawkins. Ouch. Maybe him getting hurt wasn't such a bad thing last year.

[Eric]

It seemed like the majority of the run chances Hunt had there were defenders immediately in the backfield and he did a good job avoiding them.

I agree with pretty much all your assessments. I'm not sure how much I want to really go crazy on Dawkins. When I saw it I had the same reaction as you. But then I thought that he is 35 and playing safety. I expect him to have trouble with a mid-20s speedster. Whether that should be an excuse or not, I don't know. But he definitely had no help over there.

[BossHotSauce]

First team offense still looked good without its biggest playmaker and best lineman. That's certainly a plus. And Mc5 -- he looked great. He looked confident, threw with zip, threw to spots -- was just great.

I'm curious to read your breakdown of Kolb. All I can say is that he seems like he's going to only benefit from not having the burden of being a franchise QB thrust on him in his first couple of seasons (knock on wood). He seems to have the tools, and I trust the birds when it comes to evaluating QBs, but he also seems like he might need a little more time in the oven.

I, like everyone else, like what I saw from DeSean Jackson. The ability to make get open while being this new to the offense is something we haven't seen from a wideout.

I gotta say, Winston Justice held his own, but for one play. Really impressed with the second team O-Line. They looked solid. King Dunlap, as you noted, in particular.

B-Dawk looked out of position on the Holmes touchdown. If you watch the re-play, while he looked slow, it would have been a hard play to make, as much room as Holmes had on the outside. What worried me most was that I saw the blitz coming a mile away -- no wonder Rothlisberger made the easy read.

Hunt failed to make an impression on me running the football, but neither did Moats, and, while I love the way he runs, I think Buck is getting worse at pass protection (thought Hunt looked MUCH better out there in that respect).

[Tracer Bullet]

If it was possible to cut coaches, Seagrist would be fearing the Turk this morning. The special teams didn't look any better despite the increased emphasis. I missed the first defensive series, but they looked pretty good after that. Nice to see Mikell bring the wood and I too thought Dunlap and Justice played pretty well. Add BWest to the offense I saw last night and they should run teams out of the building. If the defense is solid and the special teams rise even to average, they're a Super Bowl contender.

[Andrew2]

I thought King Dunlap looked terrific, considering. I'd love to see how he holds up playing against starters. The man's arms are so darn long, just swallows guys up. Could be the answer at left tackle once Tra walks away?

Wanted to see more from Trevor Laws. Playing against the Steelers 2nd and 3rd team, I was expecting him to shine. He was good, but not great.