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It’s that time of the year everyone. Are you ready for some football? After finally coming to an agreement, the players took the field Friday night for the first time this year. I was excited to see the black and yellow playing football especially since the Pirates are on a little bit of a decline. The Steelers went against the Redskins to start our preseason. There were a few things that made this game interesting.

First thing I watched for was how the first team offense would run together after only a couple weeks of practicing together. The offensive line struggled a bit giving up a sack and Ben getting pressured. He attempted a pass to Mike Wallace in that first series. However, after not having all the time to sync together, like OTA’s and training camp, he overthrew Wallace. Mike had a few steps on the closest defender and Ben overthrew him by about 4 yards. The only real highlight came in the second quarter when Isaac Redman scored on a 22 yard run. This reminded me and some of the fans that the undrafted rookies need all the extra practice time to prepare and get used to the playbook.

Second thing I was watching for is the defense. They surrendered 16 points. It could have been more but Shayne Graham shank two kicks in a row. The first drive was tough. Players were missing tackles and playing a little sloppy. Now I don’t expect in the first game them to be in midseason form but it is kind of important to show that you didn’t forget the basics of tackling during the offseason. I still will not understand why they brought back William Gay. My opinion is that he was brought back because they don’t have faith in Keenan Lewis to play opposite Ike Taylor. My wish was that they try to go after a guy like Jonathan Joseph or even Nnamdi Asomugha, which might have been a push.

We really didn’t get a chance to see Shaun Suisham kick a field goal. However, we saw why Daniel Sepulveda should still be our punter. He has had two knee injuries in three years. He still has the leg strength and accuracy. He and Jeremy Kapinos are competing for the punter job. By comparison, Sepulveda had the better night. 

Here are the stats:

Sepulveda: 4 punts, 204 yds total, 51.0 avg/punt, 3 inside the 20, and his longest was 62
Kapinos: 4 punts, 199 yds total, 49.8 avg/punt, 2 inside the 20, and his longest was 58

All in all, it was an ok game. A few mental mistakes, Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon not really showing who should get the third QB spot and Byron Leftwich is showing that he is the number 2 QB. I look forward to Thursday’s game to see some improvement, hopefully.
Written by James Barry, Submitted 8/14/11

Since the NFL is currently in a lockout, I figure there is no better time than now to reminisce about the Pittsburgh Steelers 2010-2011 season. It all started in March with Ben Roethlisberger and ended in February with the Steelers losing the the Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers. A lot has happened in those 11 months.

In March, Ben Roethlisberger, for a second time was accused of sexual assault. This time it was with a 20 year old woman in a Georgia nightclub bathroom. There were multiple opinions on what happened, but the most consistent parts of the story were that she was drunk, he had his entourage bring her to the bathroom, and that she didn't want to file charges. The District Attorney in Mlledgeville, Georgia did not file charges, but did make it a point in his press conference to remind Ben that there are consequences for the choices you make. All these events, plus an incident in Lake Tahoe in 2008, led Commissioner Roger Goodell suspend Ben for the first 6 games of the season. The announcement, led to rumors and speculation that the team would try to trade their franchise QB. At the end of the day, the team stood behind their QB and kept him on draft day.

April came, which meant time for draft day. This year the Steelers had the 18th pick in the draft. It was their highest pick since they had the 15th pick in the 2007 draft, which happened to be Mike Tomlin's first year. Our first pick in the draft was Maurkice Pouncey. He was drafted as a guard nut played as a center. We drafted him to help sure up the offensive line. Some of the other picks were Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, Stevenson Sylvester, Jason Worilds and Johnathan Dwyer. Sanders and Brown made some big plays for the team this season. Sylvester and Worilds turned out to be special teams aces, until some spots open up in the linebackers position. 

During the draft though, the Steelers made a couple of moves to sure up their defense. We traded Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes to the Jets for a 5th round pick. They then used that 5th round pick to trade Arizona for Bryant McFadden. Since Ben was out for at least the first 4 games, we needed to get another quarterback , so they traded a 7th round pick to Tampa Bay for Byron Leftwich, who had a brief stint with the Steelers back in 2008. 

July arrived which meant the beginning of training camp. Before camp started, tackle Willie Colon ruptured his Achilles tendon so they had to scramble to find a replacement. They signed Flozell Adams, who had just been released from the Dallas Cowboys after playing for the team for 13 years. During the length of camp and preseason, there was a competition at the quarterback position. Byron Leftwich was the favorite to start while Ben was suspended. So for the first 3 preseason games the team split most of the reps between Dennis Dixon and Leftwich. They gave a few reps to Charlie Batch. Their record during the preseason was 3-1. Some people say that the preseason doesn't matter but as everyone knows it helps the coaches and staff evaluate rookies and other talent brought in. During the final preseason game, Byron Leftwich sprained his ACL. That gave Dennis Dixon the starting job and kept Charlie Batch on the roster. 

When September 12th rolled around it was time for the regular season to begin. We welcomed the Atlanta Falcons to Heinz Field. Now when the season began, I thought that the Steelers would go 2-2 without Ben in the starting lineup. I had my doubts. Well the defense helped prove that this team could go without Ben for a few games. The highlight of the game was Rashard Mendenhall's 50 yard TD run at the beginning of overtime to win the game. Week 2 was a very interesting game. The Steelers arrived in Tennessee to take on the Titans. During this game, Dennis Dixon hurt his knee and the defense forced 7 turnovers for a 19-11 win. Week 3 was a little easier on the offense. Charlie Batch threw for 186 yards but 3 Tds. Brett Keisel intercepted a pass and ran it back 79 yards for a TD. 

Week 4 was our last game without Ben. We welcomed the Baltimore Ravens to town. It was a typical hard hitting, physical game between these two rivals. It came down to the Steelers needing to complete a first down to keep the clock running. They couldn't so they were forced to punt. The Ravens took the ball down the field and scored with 32 seconds left in the game. Even though the Steelers lost this game, the city could breathe a sigh of relief because Ben was officially back during the bye week on Week 5. So after 4 games the Steelers started 3-1, almost perfect. 

Week 6 arrived with the return of our franchise QB. Ben returned to the field and showed why the team was right in not trading him. He passed for 257 yards with 3 Tds and 1 Int. Six different receivers caught a pass for the game. This game also saw rookie Colt McCoy make his debut. He didn't do too bad, 281 yards with one TD and 2 INTs. Final score 28-10 Steelers. Weeks 7-10 saw the team go 2-2. They beat the Bengals and Dolphins but lost to the Patriots and New Orleans. 

Week 11 this team made a move that was surprising but necessary in my eyes. They released long time kicker Jeff Reed and sign free agent Shaun Suisham. Suisham had previously been employed by the Redskins and Cowboys. As well, the Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 35-3. They overcame 14 penalties for 163 yards, a franchise record. Ben also was on the receiving end of a Richard Seymour punch that got him ejected from the game. 

Week 12 and 13 had a couple of close calls. Week 12 was played at Buffalo. It came down to a few key plays like Steve Johnson dropping a wide open pass in the end zone, and Shaun Suisham kicking a game winning field goal in overtime. Week 13 came down to 3 points. Troy Polamalu stripped Joe Flacco and Lamar Woodley returned to the 9 yard line. Issac Redman took a pass from Ben Roethlisberger 9 yards and scored the game winning TD with 2:51 left in the game. Week 14 saw the Steelers rout the Cincinnati, 23-7. The last three weeks of the season saw the team play the Jets, the Panthers, and the Browns. The Jets beat us, 22-17. Melwelde Moore was tackled in the end zone for a safety and we let the Jets run back the opening kickoff of the game. When the Panthers came to town, we out gained them 408-119 in total yards. We won that game 27-3. The final game of the regular season came down to if we beat the Browns then we get a first round bye and the AFC North division title. Well it was pretty easy for the Steelers, out gaining the Browns 418-225, including 318-182 through the passing game. Final score in that one, 41-9. 

So when the regular season ended the Steelers finished with a record of 12 wins and 4 losses. Pretty good considering all that they had to overcome. So they got the first round bye and faced the Baltimore Ravens. This was the second time in three seasons that we would face our rivals 3 times in one season. The first half and second half of the game were like two separate teams playing. The first half, the Ravens went up 21-7. Most of Pittsburgh lost faith. But something happened in the locker room at halftime, and this team came out motivated. They scored 21 unanswered points and won that game 31-24.

Next round was the AFC title game, a rematch against the New York Jets. Like the week before, it was each half had two different teams playing. The first half saw the Steelers dominate the Jets. Unfortunately,  in the second half, the Steelers let the Jets charge back to pull within 24-19. The Steelers had the ball with 1:59 left in the game. Normally, a team would punt and put the game in their defenses hands. They did not do this. Ben rolled out of the pocket to the right and hit Antonio Brown on a short pass for 14 yards. With no timeouts left, the Jets had to sit on the sideline and watch as the clock ticked down to zero. The Pittsburgh Steelers were in the Super Bowl for the record 8th time. They faced the Green Bay Packers.

The game came down to who would commit the most turnovers and whose receiving corps could score when need to. The Steelers committed 3 turnovers and Aaron Rodgers threw for 304 yds and 3 Tds. Jordy Nelson had 140 yards receiving and 1 TD. The Steelers just could not over come the turnovers and lost the Super Bowl, 31-25.

It was a very compelling and interesting season. Heading into the offseason, the Steelers have several key free agents. But the signings don't really matter, since the owners have locked out the players and there might not be a football season this year.
Written By James Barry, Submitted 3/14/11