T-Minus One Day and Counting: NFL Preseason Is Finally Here

One day from today, the Pittsburgh Steelers will report to training camp at St. Vincent College, in Latrobe PA.  Training camp will officially begin on Saturday, and the 2009 season will officially begin.

It has been a typical Steelers offseason, and other than the accusations Ben Roethlisberger faces, there is little to no differences from the Steelers team that won the Lombardi Trophy in February.

Mike Tomlin enters his third season with the Steelers, and expectations are high for the upcoming season.  You will not hear Tomlin speak of defending the title or a repeat.

Those words will associate this season with last, and that is not what this Steelers team is about.

This years Steelers know they are playing with a target on their collective chest.  They know that they are no longer the hunter, but the hunted.

The most important fact in the beginning of this season, is that the coaching staff has returned intact.  Add to that, 20 of the 22 starters return, and that make things that much more promising.

The two replacements are Lawrence Timmons who will replace Larry Foote.  Timmons is faster and stronger than Foote.  He is also better defending against the run.

One of the reasons the Steelers ranked first against the pass, was Timmons was on the field for passing downs, in both the Nickel and Dime formations.

The other reason for the Steelers success against the pass was William Gay, replaced Bryant McFadden during injury.  Without missing a beat, Gay played every bit as good as McFadden.

The offensive line, which most considered weak, returns intact, with the addition of third round pick Kraig Urbik.  With Urbik now in the mix, and a year of experience under their belt, the line should be much improved this year.

That leaves the only major question to be answered, how will the sexual assault allegations effect Big Ben Roethlisberger?

If Big Ben can play beyond the distractions, then the Steelers could again be hoisting the Lombardi come February.

Wild Card

Las Vegas has reported that the two most likely destinations for Mike Vick to land, would be New England and Pittsburgh, both at 4-1 odds.

I have been skeptical of this from the time Vick was reinstated.  There was an article on profootballtalk.com, that gave 10 reasons why Vick will be a Steeler.  I am still not sure I agree with this, but it would be interesting.