50-YARD LINE

Your Pittsburgh Steelers may have the week off but blackngoldnat never sleeps. The Steelers are 1-2 in the AFC North, looking up at both The Bungels and the Baltimorons at 2-1. They’ve also lost 2 games in the conference, not good when it’s time for playoff seedings, if they get that far. 3 games into the season, the Steelers have more questions than answers.

1)Will the Steelers ever find a running game? Issac Redman looks like he’s doing a Rashard Mendenhall imitation back there the way he’s dancing and spinning around. People were expecting big things from both Baron Batch and Chris Rainey and they’ve been virtually non-factors. Jonathan Dwyer showed flashes early on but is definitely in the doghouse after fumbling last week. The offensive line’s failure to open up holes for these guys certainly isn’t helping, either.

2)Can the Steelers win on the road? The Steelers have lost 4 of their last 5 away games. With the way Steelers fans travel, almost any stadium in the league is considered home away from home for the Steelers. Not anymore. This was a team that won all their playoff games on the road to winning a Super Bowl a few years back.

3)The big question on everyone’s mind: Where’s the D? Through 3 games the Steelers have 5 sacks (last year’s 35 was their worst in 21 years) and 3 turnovers (2 for the D). True this is without Polamalu (who expects to play vs. the Iggles) and Harrison (who practiced yesterday). The problem is, these guys are both winding down their careers. It’s unrealistic of the Steelers to keep putting all their eggs in the Polamalu/Harrison basket. Then again, the Steelers are expecting younger players such as Worilds, Carter, Mundy, Lewis, Timmons, Hood, Heyward, etc. to step up and these guys just aren’t getting it done. Example: Porter took over for Gildon, Harrison took over for Porter. Will the outside linebacker taking over for Harrison please stand up? I’m not calling for the great Dick LeBeau’s head. It used to be his schemes were carried out with precision by his players. The only thing these current players are executing is their complete lack of ability to be able to perform up to the standards that have been set before them. I think Lebeau does need to change his schemes based on his personnel. Another question, are the Steelers making bad picks on defense? The only impact player they’ve drafted in the Tomlin era is Woodley. Or, are the Steelers not developing their players properly? The more we see of Tomlin’s guys on this team, the more disappointing it is.

The great teams beat the good teams and beat up the bad teams. The Steelers can no longer do either.

There’s still time to fix this. Re-group during the bye and go on a run. Here we go Steelers!!!!!!