Ugh, just what the Steelers don’t need. Maurkice Pouncey left the game already with some kind of ankle injury, and now Keenan Lewis goes out with a knee injury after making a nice coverage play in the endzone. I hate the preseason.
It looks like they’ll both be OK, though.
How about that return from Antonio Brown to open the game? The Steelers have looked pretty good so far, but not great like last week.
…and as I say that the Falcons tie the game up.
TOUCHDOWN!
Wow, Antonio Brown is dynamite. Tell me he’s not Hines Ward’s replacement-in-waiting. If he doesn’t get some good touches this year it will be a crime. Between him and Mike Wallace they have some serious explosiveness.
The opening return was impressive, and probably would have gone all the way if it weren’t for the horsecollar tackle. I wonder how much Timmons will hear it for running out of gas on that INT return. Oh and hey, speaking of Antonio Brown, a 77 yard TD reception isn’t so shabby either.
The Bengals won’t be as bad as you portray. Not world beaters, but they will be competitive. Too much talent not to be. Especially on defense.
Your faith is admirable, but your imagination is not. The Bengals might win 4 games this year. Maybe. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t win a single division game.
Ben’s little flub right there reminded me of how much I really hate the Tuck Rule. I’d imagine Raider fans hate it, too.
…ANOTHER touchdown for Antonio Brown. Man, he is looking good this preseason.
Well, isn’t that great. From the looks of it, Byron Leftwich is done for a long time. To my untrained eye it looked like his left arm had a kink in it, which would indicate a broken arm. I’m hoping I was seeing things, but for now Dennis Dixon or Charlie Batch, probably Dixon, is the backup.
People have been saying that they should get Batch to retire and become the quarterback coach in Pittsburgh. I’ll bet they’re not saying that now.
Lions are clubbing New England. Should I buy playoff tickets now?
Sure. Treat it like a tax refund. You’ll get a nice chunk of change back in a few months.
So that’s that. Pittsburgh laid the wood to Atlanta, but at what cost?
Injuries:
Keenan Lewis: appeared to be a knee. How bad is unknown.
Maurlice Pouncey: ankle. It looked to be the same ankle that kept him out of the Super Bowl last year. He hobbled off, so there’s hope that it’s not bad.
Byron Leftwich: went to the hospital with what appeared to me to be a broken arm.
That’s why pre-season sucks. Anyway, the Steelers looked pretty good tonight. I have no complaints. Antonio Brown is going to be awesome if this preseason is any indication. It looks like they’re ready for the season, even without Ike Taylor in the secondary.
The Steel Curtain blocks your vision. When 4 important players are carried off in body bags, the team is diminished. They will not make the playoffs. Steelers are on a downslope.
Injury situation following the Falcons game: QB Byron Leftwich broke his left arm, and TE Miguel Chavis tore a pectoral muscle. Coach Mike Tomlin didn’t think the ones to Casey Hampton, Maurkice Pouncey and Keenan Lewis were serious.
Only one of them is a starter. I’ll be concerned when the starters go down with season-ending injuries, but until then nothing has changed except for thinning of the reserve players.
Here we go!!
Looking forward to the season. Many of our divisional rivals are in transition. New offense, new defenses, learning new schemes. The organizational consistency of the Steelers will be a great advantage this season. Of course it’s only one factor of many, injuries and the o-line have the potential to derail the train if the secondary doesn’t. Overall I feel quite good about the state of the team.
I think those things you mention will help the Steelers a lot this season. As you said, the Bengals and Browns are in rebuilding/transition. And the other thing that helps the Steelers is that the Ravens defense is getting really old, Flacco is overrated and they still don’t really have great wideouts (unless they got someone I am unaware of).
They did pick up Lee Evans, and he looked impressive to me in their game against the Redskins, though I did hear a rumor that he was walking around in a boot, so he may not even be around for the opener against the Steelers. But I agree with you, from what I’ve seen, I think this year’s Ravens team will be weaker than last year’s.
The Steelers more or less kept the starters on the bench and played the guys looking for roster spots against the Panthers last night. They still stomped a mudhole in them and walked it dry. I was impressed, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Steelers’ cut list gets raided for talent by teams looking for good backups. With the exception of the secondary they were DEEP in camp this year, and even the secondary looks lie it might come around given how they did without Goddamn Ike Taylor.
The guy on Cooler Talk last night was raising the question of how we will react to a Steelers team that wins primarily with offense rather than defense, a reversal of the traditional way it’s done in Pittsburgh. While I’m not as pessimistic as he is with regard to the defense, I do say it would be good if the offense would carry some of the water for a change and put big numbers on the board. I think that’s a pipe dream, especially with Bruce Arians and his Prevent offense anywhere near the redzone, but you know, 21 points a game would be a big step in eliminating the Steelers’ propensity towards keeping the games close and losing in the last few minutes.
Anyway, they look ready for the season. This first game against Baltimore is going to be a big test for both teams, and I do think the Steelers are going to win. Whatever happens, it’ll be a great game.
over / under???
40 points?