I didn’t have many expectations heading into this Steeler season and that’s probably a good thing in the wake of Sunday’s 16-9 disaster against the Tennessee Titans. The score makes it seem like this game was closer than it really was. Pittsburgh’s only offensive score came with 1:23 left to go in the game and the Steelers still needing an onsides recovery to have any chance.
I’ve always been in the camp of people who felt that the Steelers would always have a chance in a game if Ben Roethlisberger suited up, but after this loss, I have to re-address that point of view. This is a team that came into the season with very little depth behind an aging group of starters and that depth took a further hit with what appear to be season ending injuries to Maurkice Pouncey and Larry Foote.
If you look at this team overall, it is a team that lost James Harrison, Mike Wallace, Keenan Lewis and Casey Hampton during the offseason from a team that was a mediocre 8-8 last year. The receiving corps took a preseason hit when they lost Plaxico Burress. Add to that list the slew of injuries we saw during the loss to the Titans and it gets even uglier.
You can’t sit here and tell me the Steelers won’t suffer any more injuries going forward and the bottom line is they don’t have adequate replacements for all of these guys. Coach Mike Tomlin can preach about the standard being the standard all he wants but the backups around here have gone downhill quite a bit since the run to the Super Bowl in 2010.
I don’t see a Doug Legursky lurking around in the depth chart anymore. Instead, you have to take Kelvin Beachum from an already decimated tight end position and put him at center. I wonder how long he’ll last there with David DeCastro diving at his legs in this new blocking scheme. In fact, I haven’t seen much blocking up front since Sean Kugler left town, but that’s a different topic altogether.
I’m also starting to fall into the category of those who question Mike Tomlin in all of this. I saw no sense of urgency from this team outside of a small dose of no-huddle. I saw a coach letting a full minute tick off on two plays as the two minute warning approached and then calling a timeout one second before the warning itself. The team just did not look prepared out there.
The bottom line is that this was a mediocre team last year and it got worse during the offseason. Roethlisberger might tend to pull miracles out of his rear from time to time but I think even this is too much for him.
The Steelers have no running game, no offensive line, no pass rush, a depleted secondary, questionable coaching and, let’s be honest, no chance this year.
Photo Credit – ESPN.com
