The Steelers need play action to succeed in the passing game and that injury limited them. They also lost Aaron Smith, which hurt their run defense at the end of the season. Troy Polamalu, one of the best safeties in all of football, played only 11 games last year. He missed four of the last six games in the regular season. They had some key players that were not right and were essential parts to their team.
Still injuries were not the only reason they fell short. What they need to do is get more sacks and more turnovers. The Steelers had only 11 interceptions, which was tied for last in the NFL. They are traditionally too good at pressuring the quarterback to finish that low.
Sacks were also part of their problem last year. Their 36 sacks ranked 13th in the NFL, but there wasn’t much separation between them and a team like Miami, which ranked 24th with 30.0. They need to get into the high 40s or low 50s in sacks to join the likes of the Giants (53) and Patriots (47). Increases in sacks and interceptions will help this team win more games on the road.
On offense, they need to give up fewer sacks. The Steelers tied for seventh most sacks allowed in the NFL with 47. To put that in perspective, the Colts and Patriots allowed a combined 44 sacks. Part of that is the offensive line. They need to pass block as well as they run block. Part of that is Big Ben. He has to get rid of the ball better and have better pocket presence.
The Steelers have to win with him being a bigger part of the offense. He has led a team to a Super Bowl, is just entering his prime, and that seems strange to say about a guy that threw 32 touchdown passes last year and made the Pro Bowl, but here is my point on that.
Big Ben threw almost 60 percent of his 32 touchdowns in five games. He totaled 19 touchdowns in wins at Cleveland, at Denver, Baltimore, Jacksonville, and at St. Louis. The Steelers were just 3-2 in those games. That means in the other 11 games he had just 13 touchdown passes and the Steelers went 7-4 in those games.
In their three biggest blowouts he had 11 touchdown throws (at Cleveland, Baltimore, and at St. Louis), but he attempted 23, 16, and 20 passes. His best games are when he throws the ball the least. The more he throws the ball, the worse the Steelers are. That is true of a lot of teams, but 30 passes is not that many passes in the NFL. It would be different if we were talking about when he throws 50 passes.
If the Steelers are going to improve on their 2007 campaign, they have to be able to rely less on play action and rolling him out of the pocket. While that is a great dimension to have it should be icing on the cake, not be the focal point of the passing offense. He really needs to become better in the pocket if he is going to join the elite signal callers in the NFL.
Prediction: I really liked the Steelers' draft and think they have an excellent chance to compete in the AFC. Their struggle is in the schedule, the most difficult in the NFL. They have a brutal stretch where they play Week 8) N.Y. Giants, 9) at Washington, 10) Indianapolis, 11) San Diego, 12) Cincinnati, 13) New England, 14) Dallas.
That is six 2007 playoff teams in seven weeks, which includes the two Super Bowl representatives, and three of the four teams that earned first round byes.
The Steelers have owned this division for a long time. They have a great defense, much better than Cleveland’s.
The Steelers are 44-20 since 2004, which is the first year Roethlisberger joined the team. Other than the Super Bowl hangover season, which included a coach on the way out, and Big Ben’s big motorcycle incident, the Steelers have been the class of this division and won 10 games or more every other year.
Cleveland is probably going to make the playoffs this year, but they have to prove to me that they can beat the Steelers before I pick them to overtake the Steelers.
The Steelers don’t have a glaring weakness like the Browns' pass defense. That said, Pittsburgh has an impossible schedule and will have to play better than they did last year if they want to repeat as division champs. I think they will do that.
2008 Pittsburgh Steelers’ Record: 11-5 – AFC North Divisional Champion; AFC No. 4 Seed
Derek Lofland is the NFL director for Fantasy Maniaxs.com
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