Cleveland Connection

NFL Network is doing its part to remind me of the Steelers good times with Steelers highlights from 1972 to 2008 airing around the clock. With the Thursday night game against the Browns being past, so no reason to promote that anymore, I wonder if they really are doing Steelers fans a favor by showing us just how good Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith are. Troy made more plays in the 2008 playoffs than the whole secondary has through 13 games this year. And that total includes all the plays that he himself made in the parts of five games he has played this year.

I'm watching a replay of the 2002 Wild Card game against the Browns in which Browns running back William Green had 30 yards rushing on 25 carries, a number that is inflated by a long run of 23 yards. Aaron Smith, combined with then rookie Casey Hampton, absolutely dominated the line and has been doing so ever since.

My thoughts about the 2009 team are closely connected with that game. The most pertinent connection , of course, is that Browns offensive coordinator Bruce Arians now holds that position for the Steelers. In the game, Arians directed Holcomb to throw the ball 43 times (45 if you consider a sack apiece from Joey Porter and James Farrior) and Holcomb did so with such success (429! yards and three TD's) that it took a furious Steelers comeback to win, 36-33. The Browns exploited a weak Pittsburgh secondary that allowed them to move the ball without the ability to run.

Three things:

1) The Steelers have Rashard Mendenhall and a line that apparently can run block despite being the worst in the league at blocking for the pass, they should run the ball. When Rashard runs for five yards on 1st down and four on 2nd, he should probably get the opportunity to get one on 3rd.

2) Without Troy, the Steelers have a bad secondary like they did in 2002. Deshea Townsend has been a nickel back since then, and the guys ahead of him, Ike Taylor and Inexplicably Small Play Willie Gay, are playing like Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington. I have to assume to the weakness of the secondary makes it much more difficult to rush the quarterback.

The defensive makeup of the 2002 Steelers is eerily similar to this year's team, especially when you consider the missing stars, Smith and Polamalu. The defensive line was excellent against the run with Smith, Hampton and Kimo Von Oelhoffen. The 2009 version that features Brett Keisel and now, finally, first-rounder Ziggy Hood, along with Hampton has been very good as well, particularly Keisel. The linebackers are similarly strong, with Joey Porter and Jason Gildon and now Lamarr Woodley and James Harrison. I think both guys in 2009 have been spectacular, but don't have the sack totals because of the other team's ability to pass efficiently against the secondary. Farrior has missed more plays than we would expect, so it's possible he has begun to decline. On the other hand, when he gets burned on a quick in route by Ray Rice, emphasis on quick, I have a hard time blaming him. Lawrence Timmons has been a scapegoat to some, but I think he does enough stuff that I've never seen a linebacker do that he is more than helpful to the D.

3) The quarterback of the Steelers is Ben Roethlisberger, not Tommy Maddox or Kelly Holcomb. At receiver, Dennis Northcutt and Andre Davis don't even compare to Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller. Because of these differences, the Steelers should be an offensive juggernaut, but they aren't, and for that I blame Bruce Arians. The biggest issue appears to me to be the offensive line, and unless I don't know something about the NFL coaching structure, the offensive coordinator is ultimately responsible for the performance of every offensive player. If he can't design plays to utilize the abilities of the aforementioned Pro Bowlers and Super Bowl MVP's, he is not qualified to be the offensive coordinator of a team that is generally expected to contend for championships.

For comparison, the Browns, playing against the Steelers' defense, which is pretty good, were able to design a successful game plan around a dynamic return man/wildcat general, Joshua Cribbs (PAY THE MAN!), and a great left tackle, Joe Thomas. Two players on the offensive side of the ball are better than replacement level for NFL players, but they won because they found a weakness in the defense and beat it enough times.

The Steelers, on the other hand, allowed Big Ben to get sacked eight times. They allowed Cleveland, without Shaun Rodgers, to sack the quarterback eight times. The offensive line deserves 100% of the blame, and Bruce Arians deserves even more for calling deep passing plays out of the shotgun on third and one.

When that happens, the offensive line isn't good enough AND the play calling isn't giving the quarterback an opportunity to make plays.

I started writing this to make note of the fact that Arians' presence now is funny considering the way the playoff game went in 2002. Ultimately, they threw the ball unbelievably well against a bad secondary on a sloppy field, but could never run the ball. I guess it got me thinking more about this team, and I couldn't help but think, this team can run the ball. They won't make the playoffs this year, and I think that's fitting considering the talent discrepancy they would face against any possible playoff opponents.

But, going forward, I think that it's clear that they should be able to be better offensively, and that starts with Arians. Defensively, they lost Troy and Bryant McFadden from last year's excellent secondary, so that will be something else to address in the off season. With Hampton and Ryan Clark as impending free agents, it could be an exciting time going towards the draft with a higher than usual pick.