View topic - TEXANS scouting report on STEELERS

[Hi5Steeler Profile]

What the houston fans are reading
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The Pittsburgh Steelers went 10-6 in 2007, winning the AFC North division. After losing in the playoffs to Jacksonville in the wild-card round, the Steelers are out to improve upon their success from last season.

Mike Tomlin enters his second season as the Steelers head coach after 2007 saw him become just the second coach in team history to post a winning record, win a division title and earn a playoff berth in his inaugural season.

OFFENSE

Quarterback: In 2007, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was named to his first Pro Bowl after throwing for 3,154 yards and 32 touchdowns on 204 completions. Roethlisberger has become one of the NFL’s most consistent quarterbacks with a 92.5 career passer rating, the best in Steelers history.

Running back: Willie Parker returns as the Steelers' starting running back after breaking his leg in their week 16 win over the St. Louis Rams in 2007. At the time, Parker was leading the NFL in rushing and still managed to rank fourth in the league for the year with 1,316 yards and two touchdowns on 321 carries. The Steelers' first-round draft pick in 2008, Rashard Mendenhall, will steal some carries from Parker this season.

Wide receiver/tight end: In the passing game, wide receiver Hines Ward is entering his 11th season in the NFL. Ward is a four-time Pro Bowler but had a few knee injuries last season. He finished the year with a team-leading 72 receptions for 732 yards and seven touchdowns. Opposite Ward is wide receiver Santonio Holmes, the Steelers' first-round draft pick in 2006 who caught the ball 52 times for a team-high 945 yards and eight touchdowns in 2007. Holmes also had an 18.2 yards-per-reception average, which led the NFL. The Steelers spent a second-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft on Limas Sweed, a wide receiver out of the University of Texas, and expect him to contribute this season. Tight end Heath Miller has started 44 consecutive games dating back to his rookie season and established new career highs in receptions (47), yards (565) and touchdowns (seven) in 2007.

Offensive line: Left tackle Marvel Smith gave a veteran presence to a unit which twice rushed for over 200 yards and finished last season ranked third overall in the NFL with an average of 135.5 rushing yards per game. At left guard is fourth-year player Chris Kemoeatu. Center Justin Hartwig started 15 games for the Carolina Panthers last season and was signed by the Steelers this offseason. Seventh-year pro Kendall Simmons has now started 26 consecutive games and seven consecutive playoff games at right guard. At right tackle is Willie Colon, who started all 16 games in first season as a starter last year.

DEFENSE

Defensive line: The front line of the Steelers' 3-4 defense is anchored by mammoth nose tackle Casey Hampton, who was the Steelers' first-round draft pick in 2001. He has earned four trips to the Pro Bowl, including last season. Hampton was named to the Steelers’ 75th Season All-Time Team during the 2007 season. Defensive ends Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel bookend the d-line with solid play. Keisel has started every game at right end for the past two seasons and finished 2007 with 49 total tackles and two sacks. Smith was a Pro Bowl selection in 2005.

Linebackers: Linebacker James Farrior led the Steelers with 111 tackles last season and was tied for second on the team with six sacks. Larry Foote joins Farrior in the middle of the linebacking corps, where he has ranked among the team leaders in tackles the past three seasons. Right outside linebacker James Harrison had a breakout year in 2007, earning the Steelers’ team MVP award and his first trip to the Pro Bowl. Left outside linebacker Lamar Woodley was selected in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He appeared in 13 contests in 2007, including the Steelers’ playoff loss to Jacksonville.

Secondary: The Steelers’ secondary is led by four-time Pro Bowler Troy Polamalu, who has developed into one of the NFL’s top safeties. Polamalu was taken by the Steelers in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft and registered 74 tackles last season. Joining Polamalu is free safety Ryan Clark, who started six games for the Steelers last season. Cornerbacks Deshea Townsend and Ike Taylor round out the Steelers’ secondary.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicking: Kicker Jeff Reed kicked in all 16 regular-season games for the fifth consecutive season in 2007 and has appeared in 86 straight games since joining the team in 2002. Reed handles all field goal and extra point attempts. Punter Daniel Sepulveda is out with an injury and is being replaced by Mitch Berger.

Returning: Running back Rashard Mendenhall is currently listed as the team's kickoff returner. Mendenhall showed the quick burst and second gear to elude defenders in the open field during his college career at Illinois. Slotted to be the Steelers' kick returner is running back Mewelde Moore, a former Minnesota Viking. Moore holds the Vikings' record with a 10.5-yard career punt return average and is one of only two players in Vikings history to have two career punt return touchdowns.

[b0ng Profile]

First off, let's look at the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers:

They have an excellent coaching staff. Tomlin is entering his second season with the Steelers and so is offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. The Steelers were very efficient on offense last year in Arians first year as the offensive coordinator. Big Ben had his best year yet, and was second in passer rating last year behind Tom Brady. They also return Dick Lebeau as their defensive coordinator who guided them to third in pass defense, third in rush defense, and first in overall defense.

The Steelers offense:

Big Ben (Pro Bowler) was a beast last year. 3,150 yards, 65% completion percentage, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. However he was sacked 47 times last year, so if we are going to stop Big Ben and this offense we will need to get pressure. This will be a good game, as the first game of the season, to get a pass rush going.

Practically all of Big Ben's targets last year returned to the team this year. Santonio Holmes is developing nicely into their #1 WR, and a true force with his speed. He accounted for 52 catches last year for a whopping 18.1 yards per catch. That adds up to 942 receiving yards with 8 touchdowns. This guy is legit and we will need to game plan around him, as he will stretch the field. Hines Ward is still around and tough as ever. He had 7 touchdowns last year with 71 catches and 732 yards. Only 10.3 yards per catch is the lowest of his career, however he is still a very effective possession receiver and blocker. Limas Sweed and Nate Washington will compete for that #3 WR spot and they are both good receivers.

They also have solid TE's in Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth. They can both catch it, and Heath Miller was a huge target for them last year catching 47 passes for 566 yards and 7 touchdowns. He has a similar skill set as Owen Daniels but he is alot bigger. 6-5 250.

Their running game is really the scariest aspect of the offense, as always. Fast Willie Parker (Pro Bowler) returns but with a new sidekick, Rashard Mendenhall. They also have Gary Russell as a third running back. He was the third running back in that nasty group of RBs (Laurence Maroney, Marion Barber) with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. We will need to control this stable of running backs or we will have no chance in this game.

Their offensive line looks like this:
LT Willie Colon (18 starts) LG Kendall Simmons (76 starts) C Sean Mahan (52 starts) G Chris Kemoeatu (2 starts) RT Marvel Smith (103 starts). They lost Faneca but they should still have a strong solid group.

The Steelers defense:

This is the strength of the team, and arguably the best defense in the league.

The Steelers run the 3-4 as we all know so it all starts up front with the 3 down lineman Aaron Smith, Galveston native Casey Hampton (Pro Bowler), and Brett Keisel. This is a very effective front 3, especially Hampton in the middle. He and Vince Wolfork make up the top 2 nose tackles in the league in my opinion.

Their linebackers are scary. They have Woodley on left outside spot behind A. Smith, James Farrior and Larry Foote on the inside, and James Harrison (Pro Bowler) on the right outside spot behind Brett Keisel. Lawrence Timmons, the young linebacker out of Florida State and former first rounder is a key backup behind the outside linebackers. Bruce Davis, a rookie from UCLA, should also provide some depth behind the inside linebackers. Look for Davis and Timmons especially to get some playing time throughout the game, keeping those fast and instinctive linebackers fresh.

Bryant McFadden, Deshea Townsend, and Ike Taylor are three solid corners to have. Look for Townsend and Taylor to start again this year with McFadden as a nickel back. Troy Polamalu (Pro Bowler) is their star in the secondary. This guy has arguably the most range of any safety in the league. Schaub will have to be smart when throwing the ball in his direction, because Polamalu is one of the biggest playmakers at safety this league has. We may see a change at FS after Anthony Smith did his talking last year at the wrong times, but it is also possible to see him back in that FS spot this year.

Special Teams:

They still have Jeff Reed as their kicker, and Daniel Sepulveda was their punter this year until he had a season ending injury. Mitch Berger is now their punter.

Nate Washington and Melwelde Moore are their returners and neither are particularly dangerous.

Yes guys, this game is going to be a hard one. We have got to run the football on these guys and keep their running backs in check or we are going to put our QB in some bad situations. This is the kind of game where you can get a QB knicked up. Hearing that in the first game is hard, I know, but without a running game we might end up seeing it.

Ahman Green needs to come out and atleast contribute because a rookie like Slaton is not going to be able to carry our team against a FAST defense like this one.

Matt Schaub should be fine if he has a running game to support him. Their corners are the weakest part of their defense, but still not a weakness. Maybe our receivers can have a nice opening day against them.

Our defense needs to step up against the run. This preseason hasn't looked exactly promising when it comes to our run defense. I will look for our whole front 4 and their backups to really set the tone in this game. DeMeco should be successful with a good push upfront. Hopefully Greenwood steps his game up as well, or I look for another linebacker to come out and push him for time.

Our secondary will have to be smart when dealing with Holmes, Ward, and Miller. It will be a true test for this secondary.

This whole game will be a test for this team. We are facing a Super Bowl contender this week, one that has an strong identity (tough defense, run the football).

Let's set the tone for the season.

LINK

So that's the breakdown I read. Did you pull yours off of the main Texans site? I would say that that is probably the best official source of Texans information as the Houston Chronicle sucks at reporting on any football not based in the Dallas area. It's an okay writeup, but I'd say that any of the smart fans would be reading that one.