The Dime Line:

The bell is tolling for the Steelers D-side; if that�s a death knell we�re hearing, well, it has a familiar ring.� In fact, the quandaries facing Coach Lewis, as were so ably outlined by the Mill in his recent analysis, were published on-site previously.� Consider this, from a year ago:

On the D-side, the Stillers remain system-challenged in mounting a pass rush.� The OLB are the sack-kings here; the Stillers haven�t had a D-lineman with double-digit sacks since Keith Willis bowed out.� Bell may provide a necessary 3^rd rush threat out of the LB corps but elsewhere around the league, the premium pass defenders are DL who can bring pressure and DB who can cover. ��Broadly, LB figure in a secondary role against the pass but here the LB are the premium Front 7 performers.� IMO, the Stillers are strong in the base but will have problems countering multi-WR sets.�� That could happen a lot; this season, both Cin-City and Cleveland figure to feature (3) WR packages as their base, or co-base, set.� So long as the Stillers �passing down� package removes Holmes, sits Bell, inserts Jones as the dime backer and lines up Porter and Gildon on the LOS, the advantage will rest with their opponents.� Further, teams with a pass receiving RB, will get a pressure reprieve when the Stillers are forced to drop one of their LB in coverage.� As constituted, the Stillers must keep as many LB on the field as possible; if the B&G can develop a nickel pack with Porter and Bell as the LB, some (5) DB and (4) rushers then, IMO, they�ll have a chance.� However, since innovation has not been a feature of the Cowher Era, I expect the Stillers will have a lot of trouble countering diversified passing attacks, at least early on

That passage is from Phantom�s Fearless Forecast circa September 2001.� While the nuts and bolts have varied from that prediction, recent results have not.� Further:

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Cincinnati, Oct.7:� The overly confident Stillers are unprepared for the Bengals.� Cin-City fields Darnay Scott, Peter Warrick and Chad Johnson in their base set but lack a QB to get them the ball.� However, Dillon breaks free against the dime package and, while Holmes and Bell look on, the Stillers suffer a catastrophic defeat.��������

Well okay, the date was wrong, Kitna passed for about a quarter mile in December, not October.� Quite obviously, I�ve got some kind of future-forward cataract occluding my otherwise crystalline pre-cognition.� So it goes.��

The current situation amounts to this: every opponent will spread the Steelers base and throw the ball; every opponent with a decent RB will gouge the Steelers dime line.� The Pats did not try the latter proposition because they believed they could not; the Raiders did try, did carve up the dime, did control the clock and did win easily.� Similarly, the Browns probably won�t run effectively but Dillon, Deuce and the Edge are coming on.�

Here is Phantom�s fearful forecast: if the Steelers seek a fix featuring a nickel base with (2) DL, then their rush defense will plunge into in the bottom quarter league-wide, 24^th or below.� If that happens, well, we�ll have plenty of debate on whether to spend that Top Five pick next spring on a franchise QB or on a lockdown corner.��

Gerry Dulac belabored the obvious in his column last weekend propounding the fact that Steeler OLB can�t rush if they�re in coverage.� It is true that only (1) of the Steelers (5) sacks vs. the Raiders came against their spread.� Considering that Joey Porter had one-game stats that night exceeding those of any LB in the history of professional football, we are left to ponder the unit�s overall ineffectiveness.� Well:

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Ignoring the pachyderm in the parlor, Mr. Dulac closed his piece.� I would add that when challenged, (1) OLB rose to the occasion; that man was Joey Porter.� Haggans played okay, not great, rushing with some effect but making no plays in space.� When asked to cover, Gildon defended no passes; asked to rush, Gildon delivered neither sack nor hurry.� Sure it�s only one game but as Gildon has never played the run to any effect, if it is to be spread the base and run on the dime from here on in, well, you have to wonder what Big Sack can contribute.�

Then there is Brent Alexander.� In the Pats game, he approached tackling with the posture of, say, a man hip deep in a mountain stream prospecting for gold: head down, bent at the waist, peering at the earth through arms outstretched and (unsurprisingly) moving very, very slowly.� In the Raiders game, Alex went up high on the 270# Doug Jolley and, like some faux-cowpoke trying a mechanical bull, got cast off.� Very poor: off that, you�ve got to conclude that replacing Alex with Logan is not, as some have said,� �a band-aid�.�� It is a tourniquet.���

Word out of Steelers HQ suggests there will be no personnel changes this Sunday.� Well, the Raiders lied about the spread; we can hope our brain trust is equally duplicitous.� Whatever; it is up to Coach Lewis, not me, to the right the ship.� Good thing too since Mr. Lewis is infinitely more qualified.� That said, (2) DL and (3) SS plus a coverage LB won�t make it; if Coach Lewis goes that way, well, I�ll be delighted to be proven wrong but I do believe he�ll be pounding the equi-quadrilateral prism into the void of insufficient circumference.