BTSC Steelers Daily Six Pack- Week Two Hump Day Edition

by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Sep 16, 2009 1:47 PM EDT

IX-Last season the Pittsburgh Steelers finished with a 12-4 record and all four of the losses came against teams that employ 4-3 defenses. Last week the Steelers pulled out a squeaker against another 4-3 defense, and this week the Steelers face another daunting, although possibly overrated, 4-3 defense of the Chicago Bears. Scout.com breaks down some of the confusion the Steelers have had against the 4-3 defense, and Mike Tomlin makes it known that their will be no excuses, just execution against future match-ups against 4-3 squads.

X-The defense of the Chicago Bears obviously isn't the only concern for the Pittsburgh Steelers who are making moves on their depth chart to combat explosive return man Devin Hester. The Steelers have moved two newcomers; Keiwan Ratliff and super speedy rookie Joe Burnett to be the gunners on the return team. I am assuming the Steelers think the extra speed will help combat Hester. Personally I am somewhat concerned about making a rather drasctic move this close to game time, but I am confident that coach Tomlin will have the rookies prepared to show why they made the 53 man roster and what they can do when given opportunities.

XIII-To this day the extent to which Steelers fans tormented Tommy "Gun" Maddox and his family is heavily debated and the true extent or lack thereof may never be known, but at least one fan of the Buffalo Bills took a page from the Steelers and decided to desecrate the lawn of Bill cornerback and return man Leodis McKelvin. McKelvin was the player who fumble a kickoff return with just a few minutes left in the game that allowed the Patriots to come back and win the Monday Night match-up.

XIV-The Pittsburgh Steelers have been known to have one of the worst playing fields in the entire NFL by players, coaches, and front office personnel, another team that has had similar problems with their players surface is the Chicago Bears who the Steelers face this Sunday. The Bears are in fact having to replace sod that was destroyed when the band U2, held a concert at Soldier Field last week, and some of the Bears players are worried because the new sod tends to be loose and possibly dangerous. Hopefully the sod and the weather will cooperate for a safe and dominate Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

XL-The Carolina Pathers looked horrible on Sunday afternoon largely in part to veteran quarterback Jake Delhomme, who threw 4 interceptions. Delhomme has thrown 9 interceptions in his last two starts for the Panthers and I guess no teams were interested in his service initially so the Panthers decided to try their luck with Craigslist. Thanks to HereWeGo for pointing this link out in another fanpost.

XLIII-Kayne West can't even let Mike Tomlin go through a press conference without interrupting to put in his two cents about the situation. Hopefully Kayne doesn't decide to break onto the field during one of Big Ben's legendary game winning drives. Check out Benstonium for more videos.

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Keiwan Ratliff

Is not a rookie but a 6 year veteran who is in his first year with Pittsburgh

by RoethlisCrosby on Sep 16, 2009 2:16 PM EDT reply actions

oops my bad

I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!

by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Sep 16, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I tend to jumble Ratliff and Keenan Lewis in my head for some reason.

I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!

by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Sep 16, 2009 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Keenan - Keiwan pretty close

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Sep 16, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think anyone has ever confused me for being a genius.

I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!

by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Sep 16, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions

No...I was saying...they are close...no joke

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Sep 16, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Ratliff - Lewis................pretty close

its ok milkshake, I’ll make fun of you.

by shleeve on Sep 16, 2009 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh god I'm prayin for a mud bowl

Lets pray for Rain and get us a Mud Bowl… 3-0 win would be awesome. Oh I just love it.

And yeah I like the idea of putting some extra juice on the kick coverage squad. Thing of it is I haven’t heard Hester’s name too much in recent times. I dont think he’s gonna kill us.

by Mechem on Sep 16, 2009 2:29 PM EDT reply actions

hester..

has been returning punts, but is not on the kickoff return team. They brought him in for the last kickoff Sunday night , but took him out before GB kicked off. He didnt do anything spectacular against GB other than his rec. TD, but he is always dangerous.

by indianasteelers on Sep 16, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I think part of the reason is he is more of an offensive weapon similar to how we only use Santonio on occasion the bears on doing something similar with Hester.

He is still their main punt returner but I think he probably plays with a little bit less reckless abandon than he once did since he is also an important part of their offense.

I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!

by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Sep 16, 2009 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Just checked the Chicago forecast for Sunday

Few showers with temps around 70. If that changes and the rain becomes heavier, we could be looking at bad field conditions for the game.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Napoleon Bonaparte

Stampede Blue's Resident Steelers Fan

by LV Steelers Fan on Sep 16, 2009 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions

WR Screens

They seem to be using him on a ton of quick passes and WR screens recently. seemed like he got a bit of space against the packers doing this. It will be up to Ike or gay to make some plays in the flat.

by SteelerBuddha on Sep 16, 2009 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions

You trying to bait me into another Humpday flashback?

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Sep 16, 2009 2:31 PM EDT reply actions

Special teams.....

…need more speed because Robo kicks much longer than Berger or Ernster ever could. Several times during the pre-season, he outkicked his coverage, allowing modest returns. Had it been Hester and the Bears, those returns would have been much more than modest.

Aces Madison and Woods are gone.

While it may be worrisome that CT is fixing the problem a couple days before the game, that’s a helluvalot better than fixing the problem a couple days afterwards.

Containing Hester on kickoffs and punts is a big, big step towards beating the Bears.

by Homer J. on Sep 16, 2009 2:35 PM EDT reply actions

Pretty funny about the running game

I know someone who went to that concert. I’ll have to ask him about it. I don’t think another Sod Bowl favors us more than a normal game would though. Hopefully a monsoon doesn’t come through Chicago.

I approved of the Maddox lawn vandalism (not the child harassment, though), but this is pretty dumb. I saw the Maddox thing as an expression of all the frustration we’d had with all our QB’s since Bradshaw. Those frustrations were finally behind us in 2005, but it didn’t take long to remember them when Ben went down for a game or two.

McKelvin had a mediocre game and made one somewhat stupid mistake that may or may not have cost them the game. He’s a young guy, though, and mistakes happen. He’s your future, Buffalo, not your past. Burning his lawn isn’t going to help convince him to take a hometown discount instead of leaving like all their other players.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Sep 16, 2009 4:05 PM EDT reply actions

Not sure McKelvin made a mistake

I’m not sure of all the facts, but this is how a few Pats fans broke it down for me.

McKelvin had to back up to make the catch. He had his eye on the ball not his feet and wasn’t sure he was in the end zone. In his words…

“When I caught the ball, I didn’t know if I had two feet inbounds or if my momentum took me into the end zone. If I downed it, it may have been a safety. So I decided to bring it out.”

There was 2:06 in the game. The Pats had several timeouts. McKelvin needed to burn some time off the clock to be certain they could run it out. In a post game interview, Belichik said they kicked it long hoping McKelvin would take a knee in the end zone and the Pats could take advantage of the 2 minute warning.

Completely agree with you about the lawn, though.

by Varmint on Sep 16, 2009 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions

same reason I thought it wasn’t a bad idea to run it out. By running it down to the 2 minute warning he was essentially denying the Pats a time out.

by shleeve on Sep 16, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions

McKelvin totally screwed up. First of all, he has to understand where he is on the field. It was not going to be a safety. Even if he isn’t sure, he has to understand that the team only needs a first down, not a great runback.. It doesn’t matter where they start the possession or if the 2:00 minute warning gives the Patriots an extra time stoppage. A first down wins the game. At the worst, a three-and-out punt forces the Patriots to go 60-plus yards for a TD. Thirdly, he has to remember the KO return team was set up with the hands team for a short kickoff, not the blockers for a return. He was trying to break the return, not just return the ball safely or even get out of bounds.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 16, 2009 11:56 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

He should have stokleye’d and run horizontally in the endzone.

Willie Colon - top 2 RT in the NFL

by steelguy99 on Sep 17, 2009 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Still, it’s not like they had the game put away. They needed a first down and him running it back means one less timeout and could have meant better field position. If he can even get it to the 30 (which he did), that’s a big 10 yards.

It was a mistake, but if he takes the knee and they have to run the ball 3 times and the Pats still have a timeout and 1:40 on the clock at their 40…

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Sep 17, 2009 10:34 AM EDT up reply actions

It's certainly do-able for the Patriots

The difference of 10 yards is not that great for a Patriots offense if they have to score a TD with at most one timeout. It’s one five-second pass to Moss. The point is that a three-and-out punt should have been the worst-case scenario for the Bills. A first down for them was not a given by any means but they had been having plenty of success running the ball and making short completions.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 17, 2009 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions

You make some good points, but I will add something to your second…

It doesn’t matter where they start the possession or if the 2:00 minute warning gives the Patriots an extra time stoppage. A first down wins the game. At the worst, a three-and-out punt forces the Patriots to go 60-plus yards for a TD.

Offenses don’t like being backed up on their 1. Most any penalty is a safety, which loses the game. A trip in the backfield loses the game. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t taking a knee cost a yard.

Also, a kicker needs some room to boom. I don’t know the Bills kicker, but not many can get 60 yard from the LoS when they’re backed up under the goal posts.

So far, I don’t think returning the kick was a problem. The problem was the fumble. In a perfect world, McKelvin would have returned the kick and then fallen on the ground when a defender got near him.

by Varmint on Sep 17, 2009 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions

The fumble was definitely the problem but there ways to mitigate the possibility of it happening and he didn’t do any of them. Taking a knee in the end zone puts the ball on the 20. If he’s going to run it out, all he had to do was run to the 20 and go down at the first hint of contact. Whether it’s 2:01 left or 1:59, he would have done his job and allowed the offense and possibly the defense to do theirs.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 17, 2009 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Steelers TE Kevin Brock's Pro Day Numbers

From NFL.com:

Rutgers Pro day: Rutgers prospects showed off their skills indoors on FieldTurf in front of representatives from 27 teams, including Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner. TE Kevin Brock (6-5 1/2, 255) ran a 4.64 and 4.67 in the 40-yard dash, a 4.28 short shuttle and a 6.81 in the three-cone drill. Brock also recorded a 34-inch vertical jump, a 9-foot, 11-inch broad jump and 23 bench press reps. – Gil Brandt, NFL.com

Dude seems like quite an athlete, and think he was known more for his blocking than pass receiving. Well, at least the Steelers will get a chance to check under the hood to see what he has, if he has anything.

by datruth4life on Sep 16, 2009 4:54 PM EDT reply actions

Timmons, Sweed down; K. Fox, S. McDonald up

Ed Bouchette reported Timmons tweaked his ankle and that Sweed has a mid-foot sprain. Sounds like both will be out.

Also, Wex reported that the reason for the change in the gunners is because K. Lewis hurt his hamstring in the first half this past week and didn’t return and that M. Wallace had trouble getting off the line of scrimmage. So that is why the gunners are K. Ratliff and J. Burnett.

by datruth4life on Sep 16, 2009 11:45 PM EDT reply actions

Depth counts. This is why it’s nice to have McDonald on the 53-man roster. He can go out there and do a good job if he has to play. He’s a reliable receiver and with the the Bears missing two linebackers he can work those short zones and be a nice option for Ben.

by steeler.lifer on Sep 17, 2009 12:02 AM EDT up reply actions