The point about Burnett not seizing the return job and forcing us to lose a roster spot is s very good one. Carey Davis’ inclusion could have meant a W.

Has anybody heard about the injury to David Johnson? I was frustrated to lose our FB on the first series.

 I agree with the train of thought that they have not played enough to be the reason we are 1-2. That rests solely on the team and coaching staff as a whole, with few exceptions.
I have no issue with Logan taking a roster spot, is there really anyone he thinks he isn’t making more of a impact than another 53rd player would, he is making an impact on kickoff coverage as well in case no one noticed. I would like to see him involved in the offense, he maybe short but he plays big.

Tomlin meant it when he said this team is not the defending Super Bowl champions because that team isn’t here any more. This is a new team.

The Steelers defense was on the cusp of getting too old, and there were other problems. They seem to have had a very deep draft.

Tomlin knew he had a head case or two (Mendenhall seems to be one), and didn’t want to repeat Chuck Noll’s mistake of sticking with all his veterans too long, or Cowher’s mistake of resting on his laurels after winning the Trophy. So he shook up the roster and made this team considerably younger.

That said, it’s been the veterans – especially ‘Tone and Skippy and Lemonass – who have failed. Holmes has a case of “slippy” hands in Chicago and had his head up his ass last week. But he has a history of coming back with ferocity after he messes up. Ben and the Coach covered for him after two miserable weeks. He’ll be fine.

Reed missed one in pre-season, two in Chicago, and one last week. He had excuses for all of them (either more than 45 yards and bad weather), but he’s been an all-weather, no excuses kicker. He screwed up in the off-season, and if he doesn’t get his head screwed on in a hurry, he’ll be working the night shift at Sheetz in New Alexandria, cooking up delicious Schmiscuits for the congenitally inebriated.

Lemonass lost his number three WR job to Wallace, and if he doesn’t learn to catch the football, he’ll have a ticket out of town on the Willie Reid Express.

Sure, the Tank whiffed on a couple of blocks and Wallace has made a mistake or two among an otherwise brilliant body of work, but it’s the vets who are screwing up.

Homer’s right. This is a transitional year. We have an aging d-line who appeared to get tired towards the end of the game allowing crucial rushing yds we couldn’t afford and a weak pass rush. I’d like to see Ziggy play more to keep the line fresh.
Wallace has outplayed Sweed but I think they are playing Sweed to see if he can be productive. He should be released.
Logan is a necessity. Since Randle El left, our return game has been pathetic and Logan has shown he can get yards. It is only a matter of time before he takes one the distance.
The 2008 draft can almost be called a complete bust. No contributions to speak of and I think the Steelers were expecting that class to contribute significantly by now.
The rookies playing now are going to be crucial to saving this season. Especially Wallace, Logan and Hood

The Steelers are transitioning. The rookies are stepping up.

Gone are the days of 10-15 year careers. 4-6 years average now, which means at any given time you are turning over 15-20% of your roster. Blame salaries, blame free agency, whatever. The Steelers have had far better skill than most teams in the draft. So it is to be expected that new young quality players are always coming up.

The issues here aren’t about youth. The issues here are about intensity, maybe fitness, hunger, the letdown following a Super Bowl year, coaching……something has to change. Someone has to step up and raise some hell in the locker room. Someone has to be Mean Joe, or the Bus and tell it like it is, and kick some hind ends into gear.

There are some execution issues that really need to be addressed:

1) Anyone else notice that the Steelers NEVER cause opponents to go offsides? Know why? Because there is no trickery. I don’t care what Ben does with his cadence, all you have to do is watch for Hartwig to lift his head one second before he snaps it and you know when it’s going to happen.

2) Do the Steelers remember how to do a play-action pass anymore? How about a trap? Ben sure does the double pump effectively, but Bruce Ariens offences lack imagination.

3) You know Ben’s handoffs where he holds the ball 4ft out from his body to put it in the belly of the running back? Of course, so do the opponents, it’s a dead give away for the run. No one getting faked out there? Maybe Ben could fake it once in a while, oh wait, that’s a play action pass.

4) Does Bruce Ariens know anything about mis-direction plays?

5) If you make a good play on defence one in ten attempts, should you REALLY do a little demonstration for your own ego? How about a demonstration each time you screw up a play? You know, just to keep it balanced? There’s no “I” in “team”, but there is in “win”.

Don’t get me wrong here, the Steelers do alot of things right. But they could do some other things even better. Simple things. Winning things.

Thanks for letting me spout off! (like you coulda stopped me anyway! LOL)

Anyone else notice that he is also on the kick-off team? And he is typically one of the first ones to the ball EVERY time? I don’t know the stats, but he has to have at least 3-4 kickoff return tackles……and he is also a running back, like Daryl Sprowles. Ariends will figure that out eventually.

I’ve said from Day One they need to watch film of how San Diego uses Darren Sproles and put together a pkg for Logan in that way.

http://www.steelers.com/article/111251/

Well, hopefully Tank can use this year to learn the offense, his assignments as well as how to block.