* Ed Bouchette had his weekly chat session yesterday and as you might expect there were tons of questions with a heavy emphasis on the offensive game plan against the Broncos. Ed tried to put out some panic fires and offered some of his usual quips. Here's a small sample of the questions offered up by BTSC users:
Ed Bouchette: I could not have said it any better.
cgolden: Has the Keisel "experiment" been a total bust in your opinion?
Ed Bouchette: No, he's put more pressure on the quarterback than anyone. I'd call it a success.
DaTruth4Life: Ed, do you think this team was too overconfident going into Denver? Madden said during the telecast that he thought the team had been reading its press clippings too much?
Ed Bouchette: How would John Madden know? He's still crying about the Immaculate Reception.
The Madden comeback was just too funny to pass up, and I asked the Keisel question after seeing it brought up in several comments after the Broncos game. I wonder what your opinions are of his play so far this year. For what it's worth he has no sacks and only 8 tackles through 6 games. That's fewer tackles than several backups including Gay and McFadden and half as many tackles as his counterpart Aaron Smith.
* In some other news Aaron Smith has pretty much been ruled out for this week and they're comparing his injury to Hines Ward's earlier this season. Smith hasn't missed a game since his rookie season in 1999 - a remarkable streak of 105 consecutive regular season games. The Steelers should get McFadden and Tuman back after several weeks missing both.
* Lastly I have two questions for everyone and the first has to do with this week's game "across the pond." I'm still on the fence when it comes to these overseas games because it doesn't affect me if the TV schedule is the same but I know I would feel differently if the Steelers were involved in the game. I think it puts the teams involved in a distinct disadvantage for the remainder of the season. How long is that flight again?
The second question has to do with the Steelers' fullback situation. We all know Carey Davis beat out Dan Kreider because Davis was supposedly more versatile and would give defenses another weapon to gameplan against. Through the first six games though, Davis has 6 receptions for 22 yards and six rushes for 10 yards. That's two touches a game for a total of 5.4 yards a game. Is his versatility upgrade enough of a trade off for the decreased blocking ability when compared to Kreider?