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Another collection of random thoughts, most of which involve the Steelers in some way. Or at least the NFL. Or football in general or just whatever pops into my ADHD-riddled mind.
- Not gonna lie, I really don't like the Steelers' match-up against the Jets without Polamalu. It was going to be an extremely physical game anyway, and Ryan Mundy isn't exactly inspiring in run support. There isn't a 100 percent assurance Polamalu won't play (he didn't practice all week, and it's borderline unprecented for a non-quarterback to play after missing a week of practice), and I'm guessing if he does, Tomlin feels the same way I do - they're in for a brutal fight against the run, and they don't have an experienced and talented run-stopping safety after Ryan Clark and Polamalu.
- Please don't kill me for this, but I can't help but notice how perfect of a scenario this would be for a Bruce Arians-led offense. An over-aggressive Antonio Cromartie, no Darrelle Revis, LaRon Landry on Heath Miller...the Steelers really can do some damage in the air. The question is whether Todd Haley will want to stray from the "run as mandate" philosophy he seems to want to instill.
- And I'm not even totally sure I'd want Haley to do that. This is what happens when you watch far too much of both teams when they only have one game as evidence. Thoughts like "Haley needs to stick to his guns on this, and run the ball until the wheels fall off of yet another running back!" creep into your head.
- If you close your eyes and think really hard, you can actually see Mike Wallace's fist-bump to Antonio Brown when they heard Revis won't be playing. They have to love the idea of man coverage from Cromartie and David Wilson.
- Speaking of Revis, though, ya think Rex Ryan kind of wishes he didn't bring up the whole "Pittsburgh Flu" thing? Kind of makes his hero look bad. Not that Revis should be playing, but Ryan enjoys going out of his way to over-compliment his guy.
- Why do I not like this match-up again? I forgot. I should love this match-up. I should be telling you about how Heath Miller could have nine catches and his first 100 yard game since that slugfest with Green Bay in 2009.
- Just out of morbid curiosity, I watched the Cleveland/Philadelphia game. John Stockton announces after Brandon Weeden's first play as a pro, "when we talked to him he showed the assurance of a guy who was a rookie but who wasn't 22-years-old." What is that supposed to mean, exactly? He's had a long time to wonder what it would be like to be a completely overmatched NFL quarterback?
- I don't think there has been a worse game between two quarterbacks in NFL history (in fair weather). His first pass, a quick slant to Mohammad Massaquoi, looked decent enough. His second pass, he manages to overthrow Massaquoi with zero pressure on him, with Massaquoi wide bleeping open, by probably five yards. Misses don't come any bigger than that. I went from laughing at him to shaking my head to nearly feeling sorry for Browns fans, to wondering if he hasn't set the movement for older players being first round draft picks back quite a ways, to knowing he's set the movement for older players being first round draft picks back quite a ways.
- It went downhill for Weeden from there. He looked shockingly bad. I remember the start of the 2007 season when the Steelers kicked eight kinds of dog turd out of the Browns, leading me to believe they would be the first team ever to lose 16 games. They actually did pretty well that season - the last time they were any good. Weeden looked far worse than either Derek Anderson or Charlie Frye did that day.
- Is a donut-16 in the Browns' future? Nah. That defense is good enough to beat a bad team on its own. Even the most optimistic Browns fan would struggle to see this team winning more than four games with Weeden right now. On the other hand...they competed in Week 1. Weeden would have had to put on an Eagles helmet in order to do less to contribute to a Browns win, and they still nearly pulled it off.
- As it sits, with a new owner and a ridiculously poor decision (through one game) in the 2012 draft, they'll clear out the entire front office and coaching staff.
- Bill Cowher, anyone?
- I would think it'd be possible anyway, but that would be a golden opportunity for Steelers capologist Omar Kahn to move into a general manager role.
- New owner Jimmy Haslem has seen Kahn in action. It seems logical for Cowher to want operational oversight more than just a head coaching job. Why not bring Cowher in for a position similar to Holmgren, hire a coach like his buddy Chan Gailey (the man Cowher recommended the Steelers hire to fill his role upon his retirement), give Kahn a GM job answering to Cowher and let him oversee it?
- Makes so much sense, it's kind of worrisome.
- Back to Week 2. What say you, coach Haley? Willing to give Ben the freedom to relive a few Uncle Bruce moments? Just for old time's sake? Glad it's your call and not mine, because there are lots of ways you're going to get ripped after this one.
- Run too much and it fails, you'll be called "predictable," the No. 1 complaint of the masses of any offense. Throw deep a bunch and it fails, you'll be compared to Arians. Throw deep and it succeeds, you'll be required by the public to do that again in subsequent weeks. Basically, run the ball for 4.8 a pop, score four touchdowns on the ground, the fans will carry you out of the stadium on their shoulders.
- Can your team do that against the Jets? I don't think so, but it's almost like you have to try anyway, right?