I’m focusing on the defense because I’m hoping that most of what we’ve seen from the offense isn’t what we will be seeing with the actual first team on the field. And since the defensive backs are probably the position group that has generated the most angst (I’m guessing TE is a distant second) it’s worth having a look.
As I discovered, it can be pretty hard to figure out who lined up where and who was actually on the field. So I’m just going to approach the group as a whole, making some assumptions about who was likely to have been playing, based upon when the front-line starters mostly packed it in.
We hear a lot about “camp battles” this time of year. I don’t know that we really think about what this means, from the standpoint of the guys battling, because to do so would in some cases break your heart. But I want to focus on one aspect of the camp battles.
There are many possible types of camp battles, and they aren’t always a matter of veteran status (with the Steelers) vs. rookie. Sometimes it is a group of young ‘uns—this generally happens with the wide receivers. The famous instance of that was Mike Tomlin’s “two dogs one bone” between Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown, although it wasn’t a tremendously long time before Tomlin was forced to look for another bone, because both guys earned a spot.
But very frequently camp battles are between a (at least relatively) grizzled veteran and the new kid on the block, and that’s the sort I’m going to focus on here.
The previous postwas getting unwieldy, because there is a great deal to talk about in terms of both Lake and the coaching job he has done so far. In the first post we looked at Lake’s first season (2011) which represented a high point for the secondary. It’s been mostly downhill since. According to Football Outsiders, the 2012 team dropped to No. 15 in the league, the 2013 team was No. 19, and the 2014 team was No. 30.
But guess what? Last season they finished at No. 13, despite not starting a single defensive back who ranked higher than No. 24, according to Pro Football Focus, among players with enough snaps to be ranked. The highest-ranked corner was Ross Cockrell, at No. 27. The highest-ranked safety was Mike Mitchell, at the afore-mentioned No. 24. They considered Antwon Blake to be essentially the worst corner in the league (and much of Steeler Nation would agree with them, I expect.)
Finally, some real Steeler news with the advent of the free agent signing period. The worst part of the silly season is over, at least until the draft is over . . . .
My favorite signing so far is the three year contract for “Big Play” Willie Gay. Aside from being the team’s most consistent cornerback, he is as mentally tough as any player on the roster.
Once the favorite whipping boy of more critical fans. Gay not only survived the torrent of catcalls for his ouster, he has improved to the point where keeping him was critical to the continued improvement of the secondary. Ike Taylor might have had a lot to do with Willie’s mental toughness. . . .
All week we’ve been hearing how this was going to be a vicious game. And it did not disappoint, at least if you like that sort of thing. The “chippyness” (which would be called something else in almost any other line of work) began before the game did. And strange to say, Vontaze Burfict and Dre Kirkpatrick seemed to be in the middle of it all game long.
The refs tried to get it under control by first giving Antonio Brown and Dre Kirkpatrick off-setting penalties. (Who’s a village idiot now, Dre?) When that didn’t calm things down the refs decided, apparently, to just go after the Steelers. Perhaps they were afraid of being damaged by the rabid crowd.
And speaking of the crowd, unlike a typical Bengals home game, which usually features a large Steelers contingent, the stadium seemed largely to be occupied by Bengals fans, other than the occasional tiny pocket of Steeler fans or the few mixed marriages. I guess this is what happens when you are 10 and 2.
The extracurricular activity did not stop all game, at least anytime Vontaze Burfict was on the field. I suppose if he played for the Steelers we might admire him for his fiery nature, but on the opposition he’s just seriously annoying. (And for the record I’m not a big fan of that sort of thing, even when it is one of our players (cough, cough, Mike Mitchell. And to be fair Mitchell can’t hold a candle to Burfict.) Continue reading “Game Recap: “There Will Be Blood” (Steelers at Bengals)”
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Going Deep: 