LJ;458195 wrote:lol then you're completely blind, but whatever.

Co-sign. It was clear as fucking day. BOTH Taylor and Nicks threw punches. Both were wrong/guilty and deserved to be ejected.

A few thoughts on the game:

- Solid showing for Ben. He had the interception but also made some good throws, threaded a few in there to Heath.
- Offensive line looked much better. They had a few plays blown up early but one was a reverse and the other was a wide running play. Giants had a guy break through on those two plays. But overall the Steelers got a decent push in the running game the first three quarters and also gave their quarterbacks time to throw.
- Ed Bouchette says that Pouncey will be the starting center. He played a long time Saturday night and it really looked like he settled in and was the anchor of that second group. Legursky, Hills and Jonathan Scott were also part of that group that had two pretty dominating drives.
- I have a feeling that Mendenhall might go down with injury and Redman will end up being the feature back. For fantasy purposes, it might be a good idea to take Redman in the late rounds.
- Frank Summers has stepped it up it seems. It was reported before preseason started that the Steelers weren't expected to keep a fullback on the roster and they would use tight end David Johnson as the lead blocker. But that hasn't been the case in the preseason. Summers has gotten a lot of work at fullback early in games and he's done pretty well. Blocking, catching and he's made some tackles on special teams.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't think the Steelers are going to have that great of a season. And here is why. They have some good players and good depth but it might take awhile to define roles for guys, particularly on offense. They won't have Ben for at least four games. They also have this new wide receiver group with two rookies. The offensive line is going to be in transition with probably Pouncey and either Adams or Scott trying to build continuity with the other three. They're going to have a new look team in a lot of areas. They still might be able to be in the race if the defense plays well and they can get enough wins under their belt early and then later in the season they'll probably have a more together team.

As usual, Non.....solid assessment. Can't say that I disagree with any of it.

Sometimes it takes the coaches some time to figure out how players fit into the regular rotation. And in some cases they're a little slow to try a young player even though as fans we kind of think this guy or that guy might give them a lift. I think that's my concern with this team. It might take some losses and setbacks before our coaches can put players in the right position to succeed.

Will Dixon be used the first game or in some mini role to give them a spark or will it just be Leftwich? Will Sanders and Brown play much in the first few games or will they lean on basically Wallace, Ward and Randle El. How much will Redman spell Mendenhall right away?

I think Logan has seen his last days as a Steeler. Brown was a step from breaking damn near everyone of those returns.

I'm liking what I've been seeing from this years draft class and some other other younger/newer players. I was a bit shocked when they took Sanders....and I didn't know much about him, but he was a great pick. The future is bright in Steeltown.

And yeah...Logan is dunzo.

Bouchette said that Brown is having a difficult time learning the routes as a receiver and his roster spot could be in jeopardy because of it.

I don't believe that for a second that he's in jeopardy of not making the team but just something to pass along. They might be trying to keep him somewhat grounded since he seems to be very cocky.

Sanders, on the other hand, seems like he's very composed and polished at running his routes. I think he might play a lot right away.

LJ;458187 wrote:Why is speulvda doing kickoffs? To provide a better deep safety on kickoffs? (6'3 230lb linebacker by trade)

Did you see that tackle he made on the one return? Probably my favorite play of the game.

If Pouncey is the starting center, and nothing I've seen so far says that he shouldn't be, then what do the Steelers do with Hartwig? Try and shift him? Cut him? Isn't he making too big a buck to be a backup?

I think it depends if somebody else can be an adequate backup center.

They've tried Legursky and Urbik a little bit at center, I'm sure for that very reason.

Time to take a look at where each player stands after two preseason games.

Projecting 53

These players I would consider to be locks to make the team. If I feel there is even some doubt they're not going to be on this list.

QB
Ben Roethlisberger (1)
Byron Leftwich (2)
Dennis Dixon (3)

RB
Rashard Mendenhall (4)
Isaac Redman (5)
Mewelde Moore (6)

WR
Hines Ward (7)
Mike Wallace (8)
Antwaan Randle El (9)
Emmanuel Sanders (10)

TE
Heath Miller (11)
David Johnson (12)

OL
T-Max Starks (13)
G-Chris Kemoeatu (14)
C-Maurkice Pouncey (15)
G-Trai Essex (16)

DL
DE-Aaron Smith (17)
NT-Casey Hampton (18)
DE-Brett Keisel (19)
Ziggy Hood (20)

OLB
James Harrison (21)
LaMarr Woodley (22)
Jason Worilds (23)
Thaddeus Gibson (24)

ILB
James Farrior (25)
Lawrence Timmons (26)
Larry Foote (27)

CB
Ike Taylor (28)
Bryant McFadden (29)
Keenan Lewis (30)

Safeties
Troy Polamalu (31)
Ryan Clark (32)
Will Allen (33)

Kicker
Jeff Reed (34)

Punter
Daniel Sepulveda (35)

Long snapper
Greg Warren (36)



That would leave 17 spots available...here are the players still in the mix...I labeled which players I think have the inside track

RB
Jonathan Dwyer
Justin Vincent

FB
Frank Summers (37)

WR
Antonio Brown (38)
Arnaz Battle (39)

TE
Matt Spaeth (40)
Sean McHugh

OL
T-Flozell Adams (41)
T-Jonathan Scott (42)
G-Ramon Foster (43)
C-Justin Hartwig (44)
C/G-Doug Legursky (45)
C/G-Kraig Urbik
T-Tony Hills

DL
NT-Chris Hoke (46)
DE-Nick Eason (47)
DE-Doug Worthington
DT-Sunny Harris

OLB
Patrick Bailey

ILB
Keyaron Fox (48)
Stevenson Sylvester (49)

CB
William Gay (50)
Joe Burnett (51)
Crezdon Butler
Anthony Madison

Safeties
Ryan Mundy

Return specialist
Stefan Logan

There's a rumor going around that Rashard Mendenhall broke his arm today. I hope it's not true.

Are you serious? Where did you hear this?

That was just a rumor. He is fine.

It was on the bleacher report and a couple other sites Friday. It was making the rounds on Twitter too. KDKA reported that evening that he underwent tests on his arm but it wasn't broken. They just said he's completely healthy on KDKA during their 6:30 broadcast.

Wow. Didn't hear that.

I think Redman is going to take that job and run with it.

He's not flashy but he's more of the kind of grinder the Steelers have been lacking since Bettis retired.

two late hits

come on guys

making it easy

Antonio Brown just went from on the team to the bubble after catching a punt inside the 3

That guy looked like a moron. And why are the Steelers starting a qb that won't be playing for at least the first 4 games? Seems stupid to me. Also, not watching anymore, but what happened with the Orton/Harrison collision?

iclfan2;465573 wrote:That guy looked like a moron. And why are the Steelers starting a qb that won't be playing for at least the first 4 games? Seems stupid to me.

Because I believe he won't be allowed to be around the team when the suspension starts going into week 1, so they are trying to get as much work as they can with him.

looks like Leftwich will be starting

Non;465621 wrote:looks like Leftwich will be starting

Yep.

And.....what LJ said. Starting Ben tonight makes sense as they've got to get him reps now so he won't be as rusty when he returns.

And all the mental errors tonight. Wow. Gotta get that shit corrected. Too many stupid penalties.

nice pass and catch by Grisham

Grisham can play

he might get cut due to numbers but another team should grab him in a second

maybe Batch should start the opener

nice drive finally