Week 6 - Pittsburgh Steelers 2009

The Steelers are tied for first place with the Bengals in the AFC North. Fine. Not happy, but fine. Ben does not lie when he says there is still need for improvement. I'm giving the big side-eye to Bruce Arians for not establishing and sticking to the run, especially when Ben and the receiving corps can land TDs in such convincing fashion. I don't like airy-fairy teams. You can beat airy-fairy teams. A powerful running back and/or slick running scheme combined with a talented quarterback gives defenses fits. That's all I'm saying. For now.

Another area I'm not happy about is special teams. Last year, I dry-heaved when the Steelers had to punt the ball because the punt kicker was so lousy. You just knew that the other team was going to have more than good field position. Well, Sepulveda healed and is back to form. Now, it's the field goal attempts that are making my stomach flippity-flop, especially when we're on the road. Pittsburgh should have beat Chicago in Week 2, and Jeff Reed's whiffed kicks contributed mightily to that loss. I was shocked that he whiffed TWO kicks. That's not acceptable.

There's a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Reed got into another drunken scuffle on Sunday. WTF. Now, I know that Reed is a bit of a bon vivant (and by that, I mean drunky) and it's really not any of my business. It's his life, and he's old enough to accept responsibility for his decisions. With one caveat. Hangovers and the other negative physical effects of heavy drinking better not be the reason for the lack of leg in Chicago.

It is a well-known fact that I'm not the biggest fan of kickers. I can only think of two I actually admire. Obviously, Gary Anderson. I wasn't happy when the Steelers let him go to find a bigger free agency check. It's not easy to find a dependable kicker in the NFL, much less a kicker you can count on in big game, clutch moments. But, I just took a deep breath and repeated my mantra, "In the Rooneys, I trust."

The other kicker I truly enjoyed as a football fan was Kevin Butler (ironically, he played with the Chicago Bears). I don't have a clear sense of how good of a leg he had, but what I appreciated most about Butler was that he was a decent tackler...for a kicker. Born and raised in central Pennsylvania, I could tackle before I could walk. So, when I see pitiful tackles during games it only arouses disgust and scorn. Kickers and quarterbacks are the worst offenders. (The worst tackle I have ever witnessed was by Chad Pennington when he was still with the Jets. The opposing team was running for gold after a turnover, and Pennington made a fierce lunge at some invisible blocker five feet away from the person who actually had the ball. Pathetic.) Which is why during this year's draft I viciously questioned the validity of kickers:

Kindhearted commentator, probably Mooch: "Punters are people, too."
Me: "Yeah, but are they football players?"

I'm not an impatient fan who judges players based on "yeah-but-what-have-you-done-for-me-lately." I'm still rooting for Limas Sweed to step up and prove why he should be wearing black and gold for five more years, despite the tantalizing potential that is Mike Wallace (I'm already calling him 60 Minute Man.) If Reed has become less reliable because of a substance abuse problem, I fully expect the Steelers to demand a treatment plan to help him return to the excellent form we're used to seeing. If Reed's whiffing is due to a "case of the frat boy who can't let go of partying," I fully expect someone to correct that situation (and by that, I mean put a foot up his ass).