The Pittsburgh Steelers open the 2012 NFL season against the Denver Broncos, returning to the scene of the crime.  There probably isn’t a single NFL fan who has forgotten how Tim Tebow, the Broncos QB last season, burned the Steelers #1 ranked defense in the first play of overtime with a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.  On the eve of the game, here’s what I’m thinking (in no particular order):

1.  WR Mike Wallace boarded the plane for Denver without achieving his goal of a contract extension.  After holding out throughout the preseason (for the purpose of avoiding injury in preseason games, as he knew the Steelers front office won’t negotiate during a holdout), Wallace has been in hurry-up mode to pick up new OC Todd Haley’s offense.  Now that he’s playing on a 1-year tender worth $2.74 and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, he needs to have a big year…but he also can’t afford to get injured.  He’s taking a big risk, and I hope it doesn’t affect his concentration.  It’s already affected his interaction with the media. » Continue reading “Steelers Eve: Final Thoughts Before the Game”

• With the regular season nearly upon us, the Pittsburgh Steelers have voted on their offensive and defensive team captains. Ben Roethlisberger will do the honor of serving as offensive captain, and on defense Brett Keisel will serve as captain for the first time in his career. Presumably Brett Keisel’s beard will serve in an honorary role as beard captain. It is interesting to note that this is the first time since 2003 that neither Hines Ward nor James Farrior will be serving as captains as they were both victims of the front office’s March Massacre.
• Rookie linebacker Sean Spence has been placed on Injured Reserve. Spence injured his knee in Thursday’s preseason finale against Carolina and will be out for the season. 
• James Harrison returned to practice after sitting out all of training camp and preseason with a knee injury. It’s still wait and see as to whether or not he’ll be ready for next Sunday’s opener in Denver, but right now I’ll take this progress.

Pittsburgh Steelers 17 Carolina Panthers 16

The knee gods giveth, and the knee gods taketh away. Again.

Last week we saw the return of Max Starks, who came back from injuring his ACL in January’s playoff game. The warm tingly feeling of Starks rejoining the Steelers once again had barley worn off before top draft pick David DeCastro went down with a severe knee injury of his own.

This week, Casey Hampton made his first start since that fateful game in January in which he too injured his ACL. This time third round draft pick Sean Spence went down with what Head Coach Mike Tomlin calls a “significant” knee injury. You hate to see so many young players go down with injuries right before the start of the season.

As for the rest of the game, it wasn’t a pretty affair, but the Steelers held on for the win. Fifth round draft pick Chris Rainey had punt return touchdowns of 78 and 90 yards called back due to penalties. He didn’t have much in the way of official yards on the night, but this should catch some attention on special teams.

The Steelers wrap up the preseason by going 3-1. They very well could have been 4-0 or 2-2, but who’s counting? Heading into the regular season they have a few issues with injuries and depth. Losing two top rookies to knee injuries doesn’t help. But the standard is the standard and the Steelers must move on and focus on the regular season and the Denver Broncos.

• With the loss of so many veteran leaders, there are some pretty big shoes to fill on both sides of the ball. Jerricho Cotchery, now the oldest Steeler receiver on the roster at the ripe old age of 29, is ready to take a leadership role in the offense.

“I’ve had 1,000-yard seasons. I’ve had the numbers. I’ve had many other things, but I want to win a championship,” Cotchery said. “Meeting the head coach and knowing what type of quarterback was here, that’s what drew me here last year. … I just love being here and I just wanted to come back to it.”

I like the sound of things, Mr. Cotchery. Now please go have a nice long chat with Mike Wallace.

• Isaac Redman feels like he is ready to carry the workload on offense. I’m glad there will be more of a focus on the ground game and that Redman will get a chance to prove himself. I know he had a few fumbling issues last year, but he was one of the few bright spots in that Playoff Game That Shall Not Be Named. » Continue reading “Steelers News Blitz: The “Big Shoes To Fill” Edition”

• The Steelers signed third-round draft pick Sean Spence to a four-year contract. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
• Former Steeler linebacker James Farrior is close retirement. It doesn’t matter where he began his career. He’s a Steeler, and if he decides to retire, I’d love for him to retire as a Steeler.
• Speaking of retiring as a Steeler, Kordell “Slash” Stewart was in town to officially announce his retirement.

“I just wanted some closure with my NFL career,” said Stewart. “I wanted to finish it off as a Steeler. This is where I started. I talked to Mr. (Art) Rooney and he gave me the opportunity to finish it out as a Steeler. This means a lot. It lets me know how much they appreciate what I have done. I just want to tell Mr. Rooney and Dan Rooney the appreciation I have toward them and how they stuck by me during the tough times. When I talk about the Rooney family and how they do their business, they do it better than anybody.”

Kordell hasn’t played in like 80 years, but good on him.

• Are you as ready for “The Dark Knight Rises” as I am? Well I have good news. You can now pre-order your very own Hines Ward action figure from “The Dark Knight Rises.” The bad news? The figure isn’t available until October. Oh well.

• The Pittsburgh Steelers are so very close to signing their entire Draft Class of 2012. Kelvin Beachum inked a deal last Thursday, leaving only David DeCastro and Sean Spence as the only rookies left to sign. This is perhaps the earliest the team has signed most of its rookies, so there’s certainly no rush in getting DeCastro and Spence signed.
• Former Steeler Hines Ward was recently back in Pittsburgh. Hines threw out the first pitch at a Pirates-Nationals game at PNC Park.

“I have seen some of the guys do this before and the key was to get it over the plate, not in the dirt or over the catcher’s head” said Ward, who threw out the first pitch prior to the Pirates-National game on Thursday night. “It was just about having fun and letting it rip. I played in pressure games before, so to come out here and throw that pitch, it wasn’t that bad.

“To have the fans show their appreciation like that had special meaning. It was a great farewell from the fans here.”

No word yet as to whether or not the Pirates have signed Ward. I’m sure they would if they could.

The draft is over for another year. As much as I enjoyed this little three day burst of football in the spring, if I don’t see a certain Verizon commercial ever again I’ll be even happier.

But enough about that. Let’s meet the newest Steelers.

• Sean Spence, OLB, Miami
• Alemeda Ta’amu, DT, Washington
• Chris Rainey, RB, Florida
• Toney Clemons, WR, Colorado
• David Paulson, TE, Oregon
• Terrence Frederick, CB, Texas A&M
• Kelvin Beachum, G, Southern Methodist

The Steelers added some depth to the defensive line with the selection of Ta’amu. Most people, myself included, felt that DT was a high priority for the Steelers. So naturally the Steelers wait until the fourth round.

» Continue reading “Pittsburgh Steelers Rounds 3-7″