Pig Ben Sparks the Offense Over the Browns

Sometimes erratic, sometimes reckless, and sometimes positively breathtaking, Pittsburgh's Pig Ben Roethlisberger returned, turning a pedestrian offense into an explosive one, making throws of 50 yards to both Mike Wallace and Heath Miller, and tossing a beauty of an over the shoulder pass to Miller to sock the game away. Other times, he strangely overshot receivers and threw an ugly interception on the first drive, but all things considered, it was about as good as anybody could expect and better than most predicted. There were times when he was vintage Ben and good enough that his QB rating was a lofty 112.7. So, there's that.

Bruce Arians called a great game and I so rarely say anything nice about BA that I'd like to go on record saying that I thought he had one of his best games in recent memory. He was aggressive without being greedy, daring without being hasty or thoughtless. He didn't get away from the run, even when the Browns were bottling it up; he called plays that allowed Pig Ben to hit six different receivers. 27 passes and 35 runs on the day and that strikes me as a really nice balance.

Rashard Mendenhall turned in another impressive game, running with power, stiff arming defenders, sticking his head into tight spots, and hanging onto the ball. Issac Redman added 31 yards, each of them hard fought and well-earned. The line, despite shuttling in players as Doug Legursky and Chris Kemoeatu were injured (both returned), did a really solid job up front and it looked like Maurkice Pouncey had a real bounce back game after struggling a bit against the Ravens.I want to give a big shout out to Flozell Adams here. He wasn't flagged all day and that has to be a first in his career. Plus, he positively clothes-lined Cleveland DB Joe Haden as he rumbled back and forth across the field after picking off Pig Ben. The Hotel is 35 years old and the Steelers list him at six feet, seven inches and 338 pounds. He was the only Steelers player who was able to run from one sideline to the middle of the field, probably covering more than 70 some yards, to take down a speedy, elusive corner. Seriously? That might have been the most impressive thing I saw all day.

On the other side of the ball, the Great Troy was quiet, but James Harrison seemed to make a point of trying to be a one man tour of destruction, sending both Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi to the locker room in the first half. And Lawrence Timmons turned in another monster performance and was a large part of the reason that the Steelers were able to hold Peyton Hillis to just 41 yards rushing on they day.

As to the opposition, I think the best things to have happened in Cleveland in a long time may have been the injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace. I thought Colt McCoy played with a tremendous amount of poise, no matter how many times Harrison, Timmons and Lamarr Woodley hammered him and lord knows the kid is accurate when he has time.

Oh, and congrats to Hines Ward, who turned in a very Hines Wardian day -- five receptions for 54 yards and a head-shaking, tackle breaking touchdown. He is now tied for fourth on the all-time list for most consecutive games with a reception at 164. Just who are these people who don't think he's a Hall of Famer?

Mendenhall, Offensive Line Key to Steelers Victory Versus Ravens

As impressive as Charlie Batch was last week in the Steelers victory over the Bucs, perhaps more impressive was this stat: Total Rushing Yards - 201.

In the last few years, the Steelers have been mediocre at running the football and seemingly indifferent to the idea of running the football. Either they were unable to do it. Or they were unwilling to do it. Or, more likely, some combination of the two.

That five game stretch of putritude in 2009 was punctuated by a marked inability to pick up first downs on the ground, punch the ball in from short yardage and maintain offensive possessions even when they had a lead. In short, they threw so much that other teams always had lots of chances on offense late in the game, a fact that came back to bite them in the butt numerous times. Like this time:
But if last week was a fair indicator of what's to come for the remainder 2010 season, the bad old days of ignoring the running game or being completely inept at it are behind them.

Rashard Mendenhall ran for 143 yards last week but the best part was that he picked up 103 yards of those in the second half. Somewhere, the Bus is wiping away tears of joy.

The whole team picked up 67 yards rushing in the 1st half and another 134 in the second half. No doubt, Bill Cowher is flashing those terrifying new choppers over that stat.

What does it mean for the immediate future?

Heading into the big game this Sunday versus the Ravens, we all know that both defenses are going to try to hit the quarterback, and hard, every chance they get. Ray Lewis will probably try to break Mendenhall's shoulder again, if given the chance. Coach Tomlin is always saying that football is a violent game and no two defenses personify that better than these two. They are built to intimidate other teams. Most of the time, they succeed at doing just that.

Pittsburgh's defense ranks first in average points allowed per game, even with the two garbage touchdowns they gave up late in the Tennessee game and Tampa game, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Ravens defense ranks first in the league in total yards allowed and first in the league in total passing yards allowed.

But where the Ravens have shown a chink in the armor is their run defense. They have allowed 383 yards on the ground in the first three games, about 125 per. They allowed the Browns Peyton Hills to rumble for 144 yards last week, all of which bodes well for the Steelers game plan.

Rookie center Maurkice Pouncey has been solid and, at times explosive in the middle of the line. On the right side, Hotel Flozell is still good for two pre-snap penalties per game, but he's also a dominating steam roller when run blocking. If those guys can get Mendenhall going and, if the defense can pick off Flacco (he threw four ints. versus the Bengals two weeks ago ...)

At the start of the season, with Pig Ben out, Leftwich hurt and only Dennis Dixon and Batch holding down the fort, who would ever have thunk it that a 4-0 start was even a remote possibility? So, sitting on a 3-0 record, they're already playing with house money.

Even better, I don't see this game as a must win for the Steelers, but it's closer to a must win for the Ravens. Somebody pinch me.

Five Things the Steelers Can Do to Survive Week 1 of the 2010 Season

Pig Ben, out for four games. Byron Leftwich, out with a knee sprain. Willie Colon, out for the year. Chris Kemoeatu sprained his ankle this week in practice (but will go on Sunday, according to reports from the Steelers.) And the Steelers open the season, at home, as 2.5 point 'dogs.

Here are five things they can do to hang in there to open the season:

1. Heath Miller. Short crossing routes might be the easiest things for Dennis Dixon to hit. Plus, Miller is one of the most reliable targets they have. The Steelers and Steelers fans recognize Miller's greatness, but I'm not sure the rest of the league does. Put the ball in his hands at least minimum five times on Sunday.

2. Double D using his legs. If I'm Bruce Arians, I'm telling Dixon to take off if he doesn't see anything he likes downfield. And take off right away. The way I figure it, if the Falcons are smart, they'll stack the box to try to take away the running game. If they do that, and if Dixon breaks contain, there's not much between him and a big gain except a couple of DB's who will likely have their backs turned away from Dixon in coverage. Dixon can fly like a gazelle, so I say use it. I know, I know, a QB can't run like that and survive the NFL, but I think he can survive four games.

3. Run behind Hotel Flozell. Hotel's footwork on passing plays is awkward, painful to watch really. And he makes up for his clumsiness with his slowness. But the guy can still knock people out run blocking. If the Steelers have any chance of establishing a running game (and that's questionable), I think it's by running right behind the Hotel (using both Issac Redman and Suspect Mendenhall) all day long.

4. Cover some kick offs, people. The Steelers have lost games to bad teams and I mean terrible, bad stinky, putrid, unfocused teams because of kick coverage failures. And I know that the kickoffs themselves are woefully short, but without Pig Ben, the Steelers offense cannot dig itself out of a hole created by the historically appalling special teams coverage units. I don't care how they do it, but they absolutely have to provide tight coverage and not give up a score or set the defense up to defend a short field. I probably should have made this bullet point 1.

5. Put the game on Matt Ryan. I know, he's good. I like the kid. I liked him when he was at BC. He doesn't throw many bad picks. He's smart and he's got a good arm. In short, the Falcons have the right quarterback in the right system.

But, but, still ... Michael Turner scares me more. He had a subpar year last year due to injuries, but the guy is nearly unstoppable when healthy. He has never averaged less than 4.5 yards per carry in his career and he's always good for a handful of really long touchdown runs per season. The first thing the Steelers defense has to do is take Turner away. Then they still have their hands full, but I like their chances if they can keep Turner under 90 yards on the day and keep him from breaking off anything big.

It's football season and it is good.