A 2-6 start and a 6-2 finish to the season. Offense starts to really
assert itself, with the defense doing what it can to assure wins. A
young and dynamic player, barely 26-years old, beraks records as
the team looks forward to a promising upcoming season.
But, enough about 2006.
The
Pittsburgh Steelers ended another decade of home victories over their
longtime rivals, the Cleveland Browns, and their 2013 season with a 20-7
win. There was still a slight chance at that point that they could've
made the playoffs, with the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins having
lost and the San Diego Chargers still to play, but then the referees had
something to say about it. -
http://tinyurl.com/kesvw6h
Instead
of a playoff berth, the Steelers end the season as in 2006 with losing
key games early that derailed a great second half of the season.
Mark
that: the refs are
not to blame for the Steelers not making the
playoffs. There is an old saying in football -
"Never let the officials
determine the outcome of the game."
In
actuality, it's the Steelers themselves who are to blame. From Art
Rooney II, to GM Kevin Colbert, to head coach Mike Tomlin, to
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and all the way down to Steely McBeam.
(Alright, maybe not Steely.)
Early losses, starting 0-4 and 2-6, too many turnovers and too many big plays by the defense. Too many little things, too.
They
say that football is a game of inches. That was never more apparently
truthful than on Antonio Brown's half pitch-and-catch, half Hail Mary
run up the sidelines to almost win the game against the Dolphins.
There
were other little things, also. There was Isaac Redman's fumbled
handoff near the goal line in their opening-day loss to the Titans.
There was a key dropped pass in Cincinnati by tight end David Paulson.
There were many overthrows by Big Ben that were off by inches against
the Bears. And the team knows there was no sense losing against Oakland
and Minnesota.
Big
Ben was more inaccurate this season than people realize. Short passes
and screens skew the actual completion percentage. Not to mention his
plethora of turnovers - 20 and nearly half of them (nine) in the first four games alone.
Make
no mistake, though, there were big plays too. A lot of them - 17 plays
given up by the defense of 40 yards or more, including 11 of over 50
yards. Five of those those 17 plays, also, were runs and two of those
were by quarterbacks.
Most
all of this was early, though. The second half of the season was a
smoother ride with only the Carolina Panthers (7-1) having a better
second-half record than the Steelers (6-2):
It saw more points scored - 28.2 point average over the final nine games.
It saw a more efficient offense - 14-for-20 in the red zone in the final six games.
It saw fewer turnovers - from -11 in the first four games to +7 over the final eight.
It
saw the defense tightening up on the big plays - no plays over 40 in
the final six games and none over 50 in the final three.
In
2006, running back Willie Parker, who turned 26-years old during the
season, broke the Steelers single-game rushing record, 218 yard by
Frenchy Fuqua, when he ran for 223 yards against (guess who?) the
Browns.
With
his nine-reception, 87-yard effort today against the Browns, not-yet
26-year old wide receiver and team MVP
Antonio Brown became the first
player in NFL history to have at least five catches and 50 receiving
yards in every regular season game.
Brown
also broke Yancey Thigpen's single-season receiving yardage mark of
1398 by gaining a franchise-best 1499 yards. Though he finished the year
with 110 receptions, that mark fell two shy of Hines Ward’s
franchise-best 112 receptions. Still, Brown is just the second player in
team history to break triple digits.
Tomlin
referenced former outside linebacker James Harrison in his
complementary acknowledgment of Brown's work ethic. Brown's season was
the embodiment of consistency and something that
Ben Roethlisberger has come to
rely upon now. A level of trust and comfort that is somewhat unusual for
a 5'10" wideout.
Brown
also scored nine touchdowns (eight receptions and one punt return),
answering the question as to where a loss scores would because of free
agents lost. He deservedly earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl as a
wide receiver this year. But he also made it this year as a punt
returner, his second time doing so, making it the first time a Steelers
player has been voted to the Pro Bowl at two positions since Rod Woodson
(PR/RCB '89, '90).
There
was talk recently about Brown's nomination as team MVP, claiming it
should've gone to Big Ben who had a franchise record 375 completions, a
4,261-yard season, 2-to-1 TD/INT ratio and three more game-winning
drives and/or fourth-quarter comeback.
We
can see the arguments for a possible co-MVP award, but not for it
clearly being Big Ben. In fact, there's no debate when considering, again,
that he turned it over nine times leading almost single handedly to the
team's 0-4 start.
Back
to the receivers, the only issue now is a true No. 2 receiver,
especially if Emmanuel Sanders leaves via free agency. Because of early
offensive problems and hand injuries at two different points in the
season, what the Steelers exactly have in Markus Wheaton isn't yet
known. We saw flashes in preseason, but that was preseason.
The
other wide receivers are Jerricho Cotchery, the Steelers leader in YAC
and receiving touchdowns, and Derek Moye. Moye's size (6'5", 210lbs) is
very attractive as a third down and red zone target if nothing else.
Similar to that of practice squad rookie Justin Brown (6'3", 207lbs and a
poor man's Keyshawn Johnson), whose chances to make the team increase
if Manny does in fact leave.
With
his total of 96 yards vs. the Browns (notice a trend developing here?), running back
Le’Veon Bell finished his initial
campaign with 1,259 yards from scrimmage - the
most in Pittsburgh Steelers franchise history. He bettered the mark set
by Franco Harris in 1972 when he gained 1,235 yards.
If
you're saying to yourself, "But Bell had more games than Franco who did
it in a 14-game season", you'd be wrong - Bell missed the first three
games of the season, meaning that he gained more yards than Franco did
in one less game.
Bell
rounded into a very good runner who is able to identify the open lane,
and showed good hands (though, even by his own admission he dropped more
than he should've) out of the backfield. His blocking was good and got
better as the season went on as well - all things the Steelers saw in
him and that
If It Ain't Steel wrote about him coming out of college.
One
of the things in particular we wrote about him was that his college
career showed that he could run behind an offensive line that wasn't
exactly "The Hogs." He was at home, then, in Pittsburgh.
The
Steelers used nine different starters and between 12-16 different combinations of
blockers this year, and it was hard for them to find stability between
the injuries and ineffectiveness. But former seventh-rounder
Kelvin
Beachum, after second-rounder
Mike Adams failed to hold him off, seemed
to find himself the fixture at left tackle.
Right
guard
David DeCastro finally started playing up to his draft status as
well, as the former first-rounder began road-running and mauling
defenders. He looks to be the long-term anchor he was expected to be out
of college.
The
return of Pro Bowler
Maurkice Pouncey and
Fernando Velasco next season
will present a good problem at center. Both can play center and guard
and are interchangeable. Does Pouncey fit better at guard so as to
concentrate on the opposing blocker and not the other assignments as
well?
Even
Marcus Gilbert solidified himself on the right tackle spot. He isn't
exactly an All-Pro, but he holds his own in the run game and is
surprisingly better in pass blocking. The opposite is the case with
Ramon Foster. Don't be surprised to see the Steelers explore other
options, even if only for competition and depth, in the May NFL Draft.
Regardless,
their offensive line coach, Jack Bicknell, jr. - dealing with three
centers and virtually countless rotations - looks like "Scotty" from
Star Trek: the miracle worker. Should be a fixture in the Steel City for
a long time.
But
make no mistake, as we called them in a previous article, the
Killa B's
(Big Ben, Brown and Bell), barring contract/Salary Cap issues with Big
Ben, are the key to the engine's offense moving forward and the
brightest part of the immediate future.
UPDATE: Not more than 24 hours after we wrote this, Jack Bicknell, jr. was fired. The subject has since been covered in a subsequent piece.
~
TIDBITS:
Per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Alan Robinson, @arobinson_Trib on
Twitter, the Steelers-Ravens game on "Thanksgiving night was 8th
highest-rated show of fall TV season, according to NBC. Bears-Steelers
was No. 11."
~
Highlights from Mike Tomlin's final Press Conference:
On
the season: "I'm really proud of the guys, the way they improved and
the way they stuck together in the midst of adversity." Tomlin said he
wouldn't "speak too soon" on potential staff or roster changes, or on
"some of the natural business that needs to transpire."
On
the 0-4 start: "We need to insulate ourselves a little better (from
injury). I could adjust a little bit better schematically."
On
the KC/SD situation: "We didn't state a strong enough case. I'm not
going to lose sleep over something that went on in a stadium we weren't
in." Said he saw Chargers illegal formation on TV and has received
"calls, texts, emails" from NFL about it. "It doesn't change what
transpired."
On
NFL officiating: "There's a lot of work that needs to be done. I look
forward to being part of the process of helping it improve."
"Steelers Live" announced the team's preseason schedule at 4 pm EST and probably drew a greater audience than whatever baseball game was on at the time. The only date known at present "obviously" is the Hall of Fame game on August 9, 2015. - http://stele.rs/2run1 
