Troy Aikman and the bunch were amusing during Fox Sports� coverage. At least it wasn�t John Madden talking about his six-legged turkey or obsessing over Dallas� offensive lineman. Nah, Fox doesn�t bother me, especially their news channel who took the bold step of not having coverage that is completely slanted to the political left. Speaking of bold moves�.
Cowher came to his senses and inserted Amos Zereoue and Jay Riemersma into the starting lineup for this preseason game and opening day. Zereoue was bottled up in the first series, but started getting it going in the second once the o-line got into the flow of the game and the passing game started clicking and kept Dallas� defense on their heels a bit. The Steelers shot themselves in the foot the first two series. On the first series an off-sides call on Plex killed a promising drive. The play was allowed to happen before they blew the whistle, and he caught a first down on that play. Very sloppy, wide receivers should never get called for off-sides. The second series was lowlighted by Maddox botching the snap and Reed pushing a 36 yarder. On both of the first two drives screen passes were called and neither one got the B&G close to a first down. The second screen pass probably should have been a fumble, but that did not matter when Reed pushed wide right. The play calling was a bit too conservative on those two calls, especially the second.
The one highlight of the first two series that stood out was Jay Riemersma making a difficult catch that converted a third down. He brings another dimension to the passing attack on possible running situations. He caught the one pass on 3rd and 2, which is a perfect situation to use him. That being said, third and 14 is a situation for him to catch a breather on the bench. Bettis came in on the third series and ran well, especially his crushing block of a blitzing defender (did not catch his name). I do think Bettis can contribute, it is just that he is making WAY too much money to be a backup and on this team Zereoue is the right choice to start. Verron Haynes looked capable, although he struggled with the 2nd team against Dallas� regulars. This is to be expected but I must say that I like the fact that the backups got to go against starters for a full quarter. Watching the tape of the 3rd quarter will give the backups a good indication of what they will be facing if they have to play in the regular season.
Fordham was not spectacular, but solid, and I would like to see him start on Friday against Carolina and in the opener against Baltimore. Ross looked a little better yesterday but stilled seemed too oafish and slow to handle a good speed rush. It was nice to see Hartings and Simmons playing together, this offense has potential if the o-lineman can stay healthy and get on the same page. Marvel Smith�s holding call bothered me because it negated a 50 yard touchdown. I noticed watching the replay he kind of took an awkward step out of his stance that play. He was basically beaten before the play began, though otherwise he played well. Faneca was Faneca and all in all the o-line needs to just keep playing together with the same five guys, that is why Fordham needs to start against Carolina and get most of the reps in practice.
The defensive side of the ball once again provided solid play for two series holding the Cowboys to one first down. Then on the third series they march 74 yards converting 3rd down after 3rd down. Washington and Scott played too soft and Alexander was nowhere to be found. Scott was way too far off Joey Galloway in a goal line situation and even back-pedaled when the play started. Carter threw a poor ball that Galloway turned into a touchdown. If Scott played aggressively as he should have that would have not even been a completion. Was Scott worried that Galloway would beat him on a double move and catch a fly pattern three rows into the bleachers? The hope for this defense is that at some point Polamula will start and Logan will move over to free safety. Deshea Townsend getting reps with the first team is a good sign that Cohwer/Lewis realize that all is not well with their secondary. I expounded on these same problems in my last article. For the sake of redundancy, I will just say the same problems haunted the Stillers� secondary last night. In the second half Ivan Taylor played well and showed great speed returning kick offs. Polamula is still learning, but inserting him into the lineup right now with Logan beside him is still an upgrade over keeping Alexander on the field.
James Harrison showed a great motor and Alonzo Jackson flashed a lot of potential playing against Dallas� backups in the 4th quarter. He has good potential and will do better against first team offenses if Cowher does not rot him on the bench. Clark Haggans missed an easy sack but otherwise showed an intensity and aggressiveness that Big Jay does not. I would love to have spent Big Jay�s salary on a starting caliber DB and had Haggans/Jackson battle it out for the LOLB position. Had this happened the defense would have been better off. Of course, this was impossible because Gildon was lavished in March, 2002 and there would have been too much dead money. Clancy was not impressive so hopefully the big man does not get hurt. KenBell played well last night until he was injured, which luckily was not serious and he should be fine for the opener. They should still take the necessary precautions though because last year he never got healthy when he rushed back to play against the Pats.
In summary, the Stillers starting offense moved the ball well but need to limit the mistakes that cost them a potential touchdown drive in the 1st quarter. The o-line needs to jell and open up some holes for the running game or the B&G will be one-dimensional. The defense was once again stout against the run but their soft coverage will continue to be their undoing. Overall, I grade this game a �B-�. Mainly because the offense moved the ball and the 2nd team at least played with respectability against the Dallas regulars.