Steelers Source

NFL Network has reported that the meeting between Ben Roethlisberger and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has concluded, with Goodell reducing his earlier suspension of Roethlisberger from 6 to 4 games for his compliance with the League’s guidelines given with the initial suspension.

In other news it appears that after testing today in Pittsburgh, Bryon Leftwich has suffered a second degree sprain to his medial collateral ligament.  This type of injury is serious and I would expect sideline Leftwich for a number of regular season games. It should be interesting to see if the reigns get handed to Dennis Dixon or if Charlie Batch will be called upon to lead the Steelers for the early part of this season.

MCL

That’s about all that’s left at this point. Video of Byron Leftwich going down last night against the Carolina Panthers with a possible MCL injury can be seen on NFL.com here.

He will be having an MRI today to confirm what type of injury he’s sustained, but judging by the reaction of players on the sidelines during last night’s game it doesn’t look good. With Leftwich out the Steelers will most likely be starting Dennis Dixon in this season’s opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

Cry Baby

Ben Roethlisberger is scheduled to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell this Friday to discuss the final disposition of his 6 game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. According to reports, Roethlisberger and his attorneys will argue for leniency beyond the 2 game reduction that Goodell has indicated he would provide should Big Ben comply with his terms for rehabilitation.

It is rumored that Steelers president Dan Rooney II will also be present at the meeting to help make Ben’s case. I find this astounding on a couple of levels. First the argument for a reduction is that no other player has recieved such a penalty for an offense in which there had not been a criminal conviction. While true, the NFL’s conduct policy is very clear and was reiterated in a memo that the League office sent to all teams back in April:

“The Policy makes clear that NFL and club personnel must do more than simply avoid criminal behavior. We must conduct ourselves in a way that is responsible, that promotes the values upon which the league is based, and is lawful. This standard reflects the recognition that the conduct and behavior of our players and other league and team employees is critically important. Whether it involves your team or another, these incidents affect us all — every investigation, arrest, or other allegation of improper conduct undermines the respect for our league by our fans, lessens the confidence of our business partners and threatens the continued success of our brand.”

Hard to argue on any level that ol’ Beer Bong is guilty as charged in the court of Goodell. Ben put himself into this position and it sucks for him and all of us that he did it after an 18 month period in which these types (and more severe) incidents occurred all over the League. Commissioner Goodell has the power to impose whatever measures he likes and I expect those will continue to be increasingly severe.  Life is tough and those are the breaks.

I also find it embarrassing that Dan Rooney II would actually participate in this joke, and the slack that he has cut Ben is exhausting for me to think about. First, he didn’t dump him on his can or levy a further penalty. Secondly, he allowed Ben into the Steelers locker room to make his initial comments to the media after the events in Georgia looking hung over in a golf shirt with that ridiculous 19-year old haircut. I think Dan Rooney Sr. was screaming to himself over in Ireland while this whole thing was going on, would have handled it very differently, but didn’t want to step on junior’s toes as he assumed leadership (if you can call it that) of the team.

I could go on for another 10 paragraphs, but I think you see my point. Roethlisberger’s attorneys continue to provide him bad advice and this is just another example, yet Steeler Nation continues to go along for the ride. This meeting on Friday strikes me as what you would get in an argument from an 8 year old when they are grounded.  I guess it is just another piece of the price the organization is willing to pay to win.

The Steelers released six players today to reach today’s NFL mandated pre-season limit of 75. Released were:

• LBs  – Andre Frazier and Brandon Renkart
• CB – David Pittman
• FB – Dwayne Wright
• OGs – Adrian Jones. and rookie Chris Scott placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.

I don’t see any surprises here, although some may see the release of Andre Frazier as one. Frazier has been on the roster for a number of years, including both Super Bowl teams. Clearly indiciative of how deep the Steelers are at linebacker. Stay tuned all of you who thing Keyaron Fox is going to make the team.

Today shampoo maker Head & Shoulders announced that it has insured Troy Polamalu’s hair for 1 million dollars. In their news release they quote Troy as saying, “”Head & Shoulders has gone above and beyond this year by insuring my Samoan locks for a cool $1 million.” For those that don’t know Head & Shoulders is a dandruff shampoo – draw your own conclusions…

Bruce Arians

I defended Bruce Arians during the last half of the 2009 season when the world was calling for his head, arguing that it wasn’t so much the scheme as it was execution and the play calling just needed a few adjustments. So I was encouraged when Dan Rooney II talked in the off-season about wanting to get back to Steeler football, which as we all know is the running game. After watching the Denver Broncos game last night I’m rethinking my position for two reasons.

First I think one of the problems is that Mike Tomlin is too hands off as a head coach. I get leaving the defense alone. Dick LeBeau has forgotten more about defense than most coordinators will ever know. The problem is on the other side of the ball and the bottom line is that someone needs to get a grip on Arians, and the only person to do that is Mike Tomlin.

I should have seen all of the signs in Arians’ comments after the Rooney edict. He talked about it not being the number of running plays called, but the execution. He was also adamant that “his” offense does not use a fullback. Tell that one to Emmitt Smith. Time and time again the Steelers get into 3rd and short and they come out in a 4 or 5 wide set. They then send a guy in motion and if it is a run, you, me, everyone in the stadium, and the opposing defense know that is the side where the ball is going. Arians tried to get cute last night with sending Dennis Dixon towards the sideline in a similar situation and there were six Broncos there before Dixon cleared the tackle box.

Run the ball with a lead blocker, you block head! Anyone remember the good old Merril Hoge days? If you are going to throw it, what is wrong with throwing to a tight end, or heaven forbid a fullback coming out of the backfield? Last I checked that is where you can start getting mismatches against linebackers. If they have to think about their coverage responsibilities, they won’t blow up the offensive line immediately which makes running inside nearly impossible.

Maybe Mike Tomlin isn’t confident about his knowledge of offense, but he better learn to assert himself over Bruce Arians and make some changes because at the end of the day he’ll be the one looking for a job.

Tim Tebow

Agh. What a performance. Almost all teams in the League use this third game as the last dry run for the starters and play backups and guys battling to make the team in game 4. I am going to try and not go off of the deep end today. The first half wasn’t terrible considering 4 personal foul calls. That is unacceptable and you just can’t win doing that, but it is easy to fix so no need to dwell on it. Ben Roethlisberger looked good while he was in the game and other than short yardage, which I’ll get to in my next article, were able to move the ball. The defense on the other hand did not play well with all the penalties. In particular Keenan Lewis stunk up the joint while filling in for Bryant McFadden.

The performance of the night was turned in by Maurkice Pouncey. Pouncey was matched up against an All-Pro nose tackle in Jamal Williams and was dominant throughout the game. He was putting people on their backs left and right. Too bad the rest of the line is not nearly as good. Are you reading this Trai Essex?

In the second half things just got worse. Denver’s defense pushed around the Steelers offensive line and the defense was anemic. As far as the quarterbacks go, two interceptions that went the other way for touchdowns. Just inexcusable. Controversy could be brewing at quarterback because of the bunch, and I hate to say it, Charlie Batch looked best of all engineering a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Dixon didn’t look much better but I’m starting to wonder if Leftwich is going to end up being the odd man out.

The best news of the week is that I don’t have to hear about Tim Tebow anymore this year.