Today was a fairly disappointing day for the Black and Gold, and their fans, but let's make sure we pause a moment to recognize James Harrison's performance this year.  16 sacks is a new Steelers single season record.  Not bad for an undrafted free agent....

While it doesn't appear that Harrison will be much of a factor in the Defensive Player of the Year race, he certainly has been the pace-setter for the most dynamic front 7 in the NFL, and the source of most of the mayhem caused by the NFL's best defense.

Props to Harrison, and let's hope he can heal up and be 100% Silverback for our Divisional Round playoff game...we're going to need him to constantly be in the backfield all January, and hopefully February....

...and give the "Cut/Bench/Retire" Ben topic a rest...

Where's the running game?  Where's Fast Willie Parker?  I know where Hurt Willie Parker is...but I can't find our ground game.  Over the past 38+ seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers have PRIDED themselves on two things: 1.) Running the football, and 2.) Stopping the run.  In fact, it was that exact philosophy that got BOTH Mike Tomlin and Bill Cowher hired.

Now the latter, we're doing great...3rd rush defense in the league, you can't complain about that.  As always, Dick LeBeau has us at the top of the food chain defensively.  But on the flip side, our ground game has been relatively non-existent for much of the year...especially in our 3 losses.

Here's the breakdown of our loses and ground game performance:

Philly - (allows 103 ypg) - 19 carries - 32 yds 0 tds

Giants - (allow 88 ypg) - 22 carries - 95 yds 1 td

Colts - (allow 134 ypg) - 26 carries - 55 yds 2 tds

I'm no expert, but i see a disturbing pattern here...with the exception of the Giants game, our yards per carry are WELL below 3.0, and below 2.0 against the Eagles. 

This franchise has a mentality: play tough, stop the run, and run the football.  Running the football wears out the other team's defense, rests your defense, and get the opposing offense out of sync by keeping them off the field.  Also, general rule of thumb...running the football allows you to win the Time of Possession battle, and the team that wins that battle, wins the game the majority of the time.

That's all I have right now.  Suggestions, observations, concerns...all welcome.  But let's see if we can right this over the coming weeks.  One thing that successful Steelers teams have ALWAYS had, is a powerful running attack.  It's obvious that an injured FWP and Mendenhall will deplete our running capabilities...but the Broncos and Mike Shanahan have always been able to move the ball on the ground, regardless of who was running the ball, or who their qb was for that matter.

Cornerback Bryant McFadden will miss at least five games with a broken forearm, injured in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Bengals.

McFadden had surgery on his arm yesterday morning.

McFadden arrived at the Steelers' training site yesterday with his right arm in a sling and what appeared to be a soft cast. He was injured on the same play in which safety Troy Polamalu left with a head injury.

Doctors likely will want to evaluate Polamalu as the week goes on. Coach Mike Tomlin said Sunday night that Polamalu was "dinged" after his helmet flew off his head when he hit Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson.

Polamalu has had at least six concussions playing high school, college and pro football, most recently Nov. 12, 2006 against New Orleans.

Deshea Townsend likely will return to start at left cornerback, where he began the season, and William Gay would move up as the nickel back because of McFadden's injury.

When Polamalu left the game in Cincinnati, veteran Tyrone Carter replaced him.

This is the article heading on Jaguars.com.  Even Jack Del Rio was giving props to Ben on his toughness, desire, poise, and resiliency.  Last night was, as Dan Patrick said on his radio show today, "truly special watching Big Ben, who single-handedly won that game."  Not sure if i completely agree with that, but the big guy is really starting to build a legacy.  Nothing but love and praise for Ben around the league today...and rightfully so.

Read the article here.

so i'm going to pittsburgh for family stuff next weekend, and of course, the steelers have their bye week.  but, does anyone know if their practices are open to the public or what other options i'll have while in town?  any events that you locals know about?  any specific place to go and get a good dose of steelers football?  someone help a non-native out.  where's the steelers hall of fame?  at heinz?  thanks.

Having been born and raised West Coast, I've never been able to experience a Steelers game in the Burgh.  For that matter, I've never had the opportunity to experience much of the atmosphere that surrounds Steeler football in-season.  I'm posting this because I would like, from those of you who have the experience, to get an idea of what it's like to be in Pittsburgh when the Steelers are in-season, and looking strong.  For instance, I would have loved to have been in town during the 05 playoff push to experience what REAL FANS are like (my uncle and cousin were at the SB parade and said that 250,000 people lined the streets in 20 degree weather). 

I lived in Tucson, AZ when the men's basketball team won the NCAA tourney in 97, and I've been in Sacramento for a couple good Kings teams, but from what I understand, it's not the same experience as the Steelers dominating the league.

Any of you out there who can chime in, please do.  I'm HOPEFULLY going to my first game in October...and I can hardly sit still just thinking about it. 

I read this article this morning to try and stay up-to-date on the ownership situation...  It seems that Goodell, while a very strict commissioner, also has a heart. 

However, one thing really stood out to me about the article, and something that I had not thought about, is the fact that the owners of the league must vote to approve the sale of the organization, and according to the Tribune-Review, along with Goodell, the league might not take too fondly to the idea of not having the Rooney family in control of the Steelers:

"During the meeting at NFL headquarters in Manhattan, Goodell said he made it clear to Art Jr., Tim, Patrick and John Rooney that any sale of the team is subject to approval by 75 percent (24 of 32) of the league's owners.

Steelers chairman Dan Rooney is a highly influential and popular owner. Given his stature and the respect Rooney commands among fellow owners, any deal not compatible with his goal of retaining control of the franchise could have a difficult time passing a league vote.

'He's had a tremendous influence on the game of football. He's in the Hall of Fame for a reason," Goodell said of Dan Rooney. "There's great respect for the Rooney family in the National Football League, and we want to do everything we can to ensure the Steelers will continue to be operated by the Rooneys and the way they've been operating.'"

I couldn't agree more.  Even though Drunkenmiller seems like a good fit for the Steelers, he's not a Rooney.  The history, tradition and success of the Steelers can be attributed directly to a large, loyal and rabid fan base, and the Rooney family.  I hope that something can be worked out to keep the Steelers where they belong. 

Thoughts?

After two preseason games, what do you project the respective starting 11 to be?

Here's one west-coasters view:

OFFENSE:

QB: Ben

HB: FWP

FB: Davis

WR: Hines, Holmes (Washington, Sweed)

TE: Heath

LT: M. Smith

LG: Kemo

C: Hartwig

RG: Simmons

RT: Colon

DEFENSE:

LE: Aa. Smith

DT: Snack

RE: Keisel

LOLB: Woodley

ILB: Farrior, Timmons (who is going to need an outstanding nickname soon)

ROLB: Silverback

LCB: Ike

SS: Troy

FS: Clark

RCB: McFadden

A few observations:

O-Line...blows.  D-Line...might be worse.  I would actually entertain the idea of seeing Snack and Hoke on the field at the same time, with Aaron Smith and Kirschke at the end positions.  yes, i know, that would mean running a 4-3.  but against LT, Taylor/Jones-Drew, we might need the extra bulk, based on what i saw against the run last night.

Timmons is a monster and should start week 1.

Ben will struggle to play a full season if the o-line does not improve its play immediately.  If they can keep him upright, he'll throw for 30 TDs easily, and he and Holmes will travel to Honolulu come February.

I think that Deshea, while a crafty vet, and a valuable member of our secondary needs to move to FS/Nickelback to make way for the younger, stronger, faster, more atheltic McFadden.

Please weigh in on what you think.

how does everyone feel about capizzi being waived and drummond being signed?  i thought the reason for holding on to a guy like bloom, and siging a guy like mewelde moore was to prevent us from having to go outside the organization and bring in a new face.  we tried this last year with rossum, and it worked out well enough to get him promptly cut.  i know that drummond is a good return man, but so was rossum when we signed him last year...

i don't know much about capizzi other than the coaching staff had noticed his improvement from last season to this.  tomlin said that he has a foot injury that will require surgery and that the organization came to an injury settlement with capizzi.  it just seems to me that maybe holding on to a big tackle that shows at least some promise would be smart, given our recent lack-luster o-line performance, and cutting someone like reid or bloom, who has NO shot at getting any time at wideout would make more sense.  plus, cutting reid (a 3rd rd pick), who also is a terrible return man, would free up more cap space than cutting an UDFA like capizzi.

any addtional insight will be appreciated.