Bumped. Good stuff Jason. - Blitz-

This is my latest article that includes a bunch of random thoughts and statements. I have our historic ranks on both Defense and Offense, to prove that our team is always in pretty good shape.

Some say our Defense "Isn't what it used to be" right after we finished number one in yards allowed and number 2 in points. Our defense collapsed down the stretch for one reason - Athleticism. Our Linebackers, the core of the 3-4 are SLOW. If we had faster Linebackers we would have beaten the Jags in the playoff game. Scrambling/mobile Quarterbacks will always haunt us unless we add athleticism and speed to our Linebacker Corps.

Our Pass Defense, believe it or not, is very good. We had the best Completion % (54.5), and the best YPA (5.3). We acheived these ranks while having an average pass rush. That is really impressive. Outside of Taylor and Polamalu, we do not have anyone else that is really good.

Continuing, we do have one hole on our team, the Offensive Line. Our Defensive Line depth is becoming a problem, but our DLine is still a strength. Our great run stopping ability has a lot more to do with our Linebackers and DLine taking the right angles, then it does pure run stuffing strength. If one of our DLineman get injured again, I am confident our Run D will still be rather good. The playoff loss to Jacksonville proves that. Our personnel that day was the same for the previous few weeks, but somehow we shut the jags run game down. Our players were being smarter that day and not over pursuing.

Our Linebackers will become a strength this year with Woodley taking over for Haggans. Woodley is not fast, but he is much stronger and bigger then Haggans making him harder to block.

Timmons - The key to our defense this year. If we want to be a great team in the clutch , something that we were bad at last year, this guy needs to see the field. He is fast, and will be great in coverage and our ILB blitzes that cross in the middle will be much more effective if we have a fast linebacker.

Bruce Davis - Think Woodley last year. He probably will not have as many sacks(4) as Woodley last year, but I think he will come through with a big one somewhere as long as he gets playing time.

As the title suggests, I am going to take a look at some of the Steelers historic ranks both defensively and offensively.

Defense - Since 1970

22 times in the top 10 in Points Allowed
2 times ranking 20th or above in Points Allowed
25 times in the top 10 in Yards Allowed
3 times ranking 20th or above in Yards Allowed

Offense - Since 1970

19 times in the top 10 in Points Scored
5 times ranking 20th or above in Points Scored
16 times in the top 10 in Yards
10 times ranking 20th or above in Yards

*Keep in mind, most of our bad Ranks came in the 80's.

Obviously we are a defensive team so our D ranks will be better. However, our offense is just as potent. Only reason our O ranks aren't as good is because it is easier to score by throwing the ball, and we are primarily a running team.

The point of displaying our historic ranks is the fact that our front office knows what they are doing. We are consistently a playoff team and Super Bowl contender. When was the last time you went into a season not expecting to get atleast 8 wins?

Here are some more facts concerning our Offensive Line

First 8 weeks of the season, Ben was sacked only 19 times. The second 8 weeks, Ben was sacked 31 times(This includes the playoff game since Ben didn't play the season Finale)

New England, a very good team had only 3 sacks. They are a very good scheming team and tough opponent, but only recorded 3 sacks compared to the Jets and the Dolphins, two of the worst teams, who recorded the highest sack totals against us.

By looking at our sack totals in every game, there is clearly no certain scheme(3-4 or 4-3), or strength of opponent that gives us trouble.

Also, I have not seen a lot of people talk about this: Remember how in training camp, Tomlin was really pushing our guys much more than Cowher ever did? Maybe that is why we had injuries down the stretch and faded record wise. Cowher didn't push our guys as much, and that is why we always started off slower then got on fire much later in the season into the playoffs. I would like to see Tomlin refer back to what Cowher did and not push the players as much.

I will always be optimistic about the Steelers chances because this team has a proven track record. Even with a horrible Offensive Line, we still went 10-6. Out of the 13 teams with the highest sack totals, the Steelers were the only team to make the playoffs.

In 2006, we were ranked 27th in turnover differential, and still went 8-8. We were ranked near Oakland(2-14), Cleveland(4-12), Tampa Bay(4-12), Detroit(3-13), Seattle(9-7), Washington(5-11), Carolina(8-8).

As you can see, the Steelers were very good for how often they turned the ball over in 2006. Most teams who turn the ball over this much range around 4-12. Only the Seahawks, and Panthers were pretty good for turning the ball over a lot.

At the end of the day I know the Steelers will still be in the playoff picture into late December, no matter how bad our Offensive Line is.