News and Notes

2007 Year in Review

If you are like me, I am sure Pittsburgh's untimely end to their 2007 season, in the first round of the playoffs, left a bitter taste in YOUR mouth. You know the one I am talking about--that same taste when you reach for what you think is an ice cold iron city beer, only to find out it has been sitting in the hot sun for 2 hours! Sure they rebounded from their dismal 2006 performance. The fact that Mike Tomlin managed to take the Steelers into the playoffs, took some Steeler fans by surprise, as Tomlin's performance was the big question going into 2007, especially having to fill the shoes of his predecessors Chuck Knoll and Bill Cowher. So Steeler fans should have been elated that they even made the playoffs. Yet, for some reason that was not enough. It seems, and perhaps I am wrong, that they underperformed, or that we put too many expectations on the team that probably should not have made the playoffs.

As the Steelers started 2-0, I was as elated as any Steeler fan and was looking at another AFC championship game, possibly home field throughout the playoffs. But then, who does not think that two weeks into the season when your team is 2-0. When they lost the Washington game, I dismissed that as a fluke, mainly that Ken Wisenhunt, Pittsburgh's former offensive coordinator, was their new head coach, and so if any team was going beat Pittsburgh this year it would be Washington. When the Denver game rolled around, and lost that one I had a sneaky suspicion that Pittsburgh was in serious trouble. Frenchy Fuqua, who ironically picked against Pittsburgh in that game, said Pittsburgh historically has problems with Denver. While that may be, the Jets game was an entirely different stink fest altogether. While I missed that game as I had traveled to Portland, Oregon, Frenchy did watch the game. Simply put, he said ÒCoach Tomlin was just out-coached.Ó

Coaching aside, some other glaring problems were starting to emerge, ones that the Steelers will have to address in this year's draft. First, the ongoing problems which surfaced on the 2006 offensive line, had not gone away. It seemed Big Ben was running for his life while trying to make big plays, which is always a recipe for disaster. Losing Alan Faneca in 2008 is not going to help matters all that much.

A second problem, which may only worsenu nless something is done, is their defensive line. While their secondary had their own issues (highlighted by two lousy performances against Jacksonville) a large part of the problems the Steelers' secondary suffered was that the Steelers defensive line failed to exert pressure on the opposing quarterbacks. Granted, injuries to Aaron Smith did not help. But I am not convinced things would have been all that different had he played all season. Frankly, the defensive line has been in decline since Kimo von Oelhoffen. If it was me running things, I might be inclined to go with a defensive end or nose tackle. Of course I said the same thing in 2004, and then they drafted Ben Roethlisberger in the first round. I thought there were other needs they needed to address at the time and quarterback was not one of them. In hindsight I am glad I was wrong on that, yet not all of Pittsburgh's picks turn out to be that brilliant.

A third area of growing concern is wide receiver. The only real concern here is that Hines Ward, while one of the best in the league, is starting to show his age. He has now hit the point where injuries he was able to shake off 8 years ago are starting to become nagging. Hence in 2007 he missed serious playing time, especially in games they could have used him. While they will probably not go for a wide receiver in the 2008 draft, they need to start thinking about a replacement for him. I have a grim feeling that Santonio Holmes will bolt Pittsburgh when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. I do not see him having the same loyalty Hines Ward has.

Ok, so the Steelers have their issues, but I wonder, if they had actually stuck it to Jacksonville in the playoffs, would I be so critical now? Perhaps not. Yet when you lose playoff games to teams that you hate more than life itself (next to Cleveland, old Cleveland [Baltimore], Oakland and New England) you tend to be more critical. Perhaps had they just beaten Jacksonville I would be this upset. But hey, 2007 is history, let's just focus on 2008. I am sure that by the end of the upcoming season, unless they win the Super Bowl again, there will be issues we will inevitably end up complaining about!

--Mike Kotts

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