BALTIMORE — Having buried the local football club about 6 1/2 feet deep in the column filed late last night from M&T Bank Stadium, thought I’d dig even deeper for anything remotely resembling a positive.
Yeah, I know, right?
Well, I was able to come up with Le’Veon Bell. Not just for the 59 yards he picked up over 11 carries. Not for the five catches for 48 yards, a wonderful average of 9.6 per play. Not even for the breathtaking patience he continues to exhibit, highlighted by this beauty of a 21-yard sprint into the Baltimore backfield. When you watch this video, do so the first time isolating on Bell, and the second time isolating on Heath Miller, who slashes across to his left to set the pivotal block.
Good stuff. But still not what I want to discuss.
Let me preface this by reiterating in the strongest possible tones that I find driving under the influence to be abhorrent behavior. And I hope Bell is hit with any punishment due him, both by the legal system and whatever Mike Tomlin purportedly will arrange behind the scenes.
That said, Bell’s response to this situation just might tell a lot more about his future with the franchise than the idiocy he showed in that moment. He’s been mentally tough, he’s been focused and, even after the game last night — in which he had to be disappointed to run only 11 times — he showed what I thought was real maturity and confidence.
See for yourself:
• The Steelers’ nouveau riche had themselves a whale of an night, huh?
Yikes!
I can’t imagine an offensive lineman grading out much worse than Marcus Gilbert did after being blown up by Elvis Dumervil all night long, then committing a critical penalty. I would cite Mike Adams’ outrageously awful showing in London last season against the Vikings, except then I’d have to remind that Adams is next in line if Gilbert keeps this up.
Cortez Allen wasn’t much better. Neither was Mike Mitchell, the main free-agent signing. And Lance Moore, another such signings, still hasn’t stepped on the field.
• Bear in mind, giving money to these players is the reason Art Rooney II and the Steelers cited as their explanation for not extending Ben Roethlisberger.
• Brad Wing looks like a really promising punter. There. I did say I’d dig deep.
But no, really, the kid had four kicks for a 45.8 average, a long of 56 and one inside the 20. Oh, and a special-teams tackle, as well.
• It’s lousy that Steve McLendon finally was having the desired impact at nose tackle, including significant penetration into the backfield, just as he was knocked out of the game by a shoulder injury. I asked Big Mac really quickly last night if he thought it was serious, and he said it was not. We’ll see.
Related note: Anyone pining for behemoth Daniel McCullers to replace either McLendon or robustly ineffective Cam Thomas won’t get their wish. The Steelers see him as a long-term project. Size isn’t everything, even at that position.
• If you blinked, you missed it, but Ryan Shazier spent some time on the sideline in favor of Sean Spence late in the game. That’s no accident. Tomlin and Dick LeBeau have worried from Day 1 about Shazier having to take on too much too quickly, and he looks lost far too often. Shazier prefers to speak in the collective, so maybe this was telling as he met with reporters right next to Spence at his stall: “We could’ve played better. I don’t think we did as well as we should have.”
• Anyone find Jason Worilds yet?
• One might think Troy Polamalu and/or Mitchell would have been steaming in the postgame about those two terrible personal-foul calls by Ed Hochuli’s flag-flying crew. Especially after how animated they’d been on the field.
Instead, all we got was this from Troy: “I think it’s kind of funny because this is what you’re used to seeing in this type of game. It’s just kind of our style of play. They play physical. We play physical. I think those kinds of plays are going to happen whenever we play each other.”
• Fair or not, you’d better believe that the defense being disorganized — and that concurrently being blamed on young players — will limit Stephon Tuitt’s snaps on the defensive line. That’s too bad. It’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t be an upgrade over what we’re seeing and that it wouldn’t help him advance. He had one tackle in Baltimore. He’s had 25 snaps total in the first two games.
• I feel compelled to end on a positive note, as well, so I’ll remind that the NFL Network premier of the Joe Greene edition of ‘A Football Life’ airs tonight at 9.
September 12, 2014
Steelers PATs: At least there was Le’Veon
by Dejan Kovacevic • News/views • Steelers
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
BALTIMORE — Having buried the local football club about 6 1/2 feet deep in the column filed late last night from M&T Bank Stadium, thought I’d dig even deeper for anything remotely resembling a positive.
Yeah, I know, right?
Well, I was able to come up with Le’Veon Bell. Not just for the 59 yards he picked up over 11 carries. Not for the five catches for 48 yards, a wonderful average of 9.6 per play. Not even for the breathtaking patience he continues to exhibit, highlighted by this beauty of a 21-yard sprint into the Baltimore backfield. When you watch this video, do so the first time isolating on Bell, and the second time isolating on Heath Miller, who slashes across to his left to set the pivotal block.
Good stuff. But still not what I want to discuss.
Let me preface this by reiterating in the strongest possible tones that I find driving under the influence to be abhorrent behavior. And I hope Bell is hit with any punishment due him, both by the legal system and whatever Mike Tomlin purportedly will arrange behind the scenes.
That said, Bell’s response to this situation just might tell a lot more about his future with the franchise than the idiocy he showed in that moment. He’s been mentally tough, he’s been focused and, even after the game last night — in which he had to be disappointed to run only 11 times — he showed what I thought was real maturity and confidence.
See for yourself:
• The Steelers’ nouveau riche had themselves a whale of an night, huh?
Yikes!
I can’t imagine an offensive lineman grading out much worse than Marcus Gilbert did after being blown up by Elvis Dumervil all night long, then committing a critical penalty. I would cite Mike Adams’ outrageously awful showing in London last season against the Vikings, except then I’d have to remind that Adams is next in line if Gilbert keeps this up.
Cortez Allen wasn’t much better. Neither was Mike Mitchell, the main free-agent signing. And Lance Moore, another such signings, still hasn’t stepped on the field.
• Bear in mind, giving money to these players is the reason Art Rooney II and the Steelers cited as their explanation for not extending Ben Roethlisberger.
• Brad Wing looks like a really promising punter. There. I did say I’d dig deep.
But no, really, the kid had four kicks for a 45.8 average, a long of 56 and one inside the 20. Oh, and a special-teams tackle, as well.
• It’s lousy that Steve McLendon finally was having the desired impact at nose tackle, including significant penetration into the backfield, just as he was knocked out of the game by a shoulder injury. I asked Big Mac really quickly last night if he thought it was serious, and he said it was not. We’ll see.
Related note: Anyone pining for behemoth Daniel McCullers to replace either McLendon or robustly ineffective Cam Thomas won’t get their wish. The Steelers see him as a long-term project. Size isn’t everything, even at that position.
• If you blinked, you missed it, but Ryan Shazier spent some time on the sideline in favor of Sean Spence late in the game. That’s no accident. Tomlin and Dick LeBeau have worried from Day 1 about Shazier having to take on too much too quickly, and he looks lost far too often. Shazier prefers to speak in the collective, so maybe this was telling as he met with reporters right next to Spence at his stall: “We could’ve played better. I don’t think we did as well as we should have.”
• Anyone find Jason Worilds yet?
• One might think Troy Polamalu and/or Mitchell would have been steaming in the postgame about those two terrible personal-foul calls by Ed Hochuli’s flag-flying crew. Especially after how animated they’d been on the field.
Instead, all we got was this from Troy: “I think it’s kind of funny because this is what you’re used to seeing in this type of game. It’s just kind of our style of play. They play physical. We play physical. I think those kinds of plays are going to happen whenever we play each other.”
• Fair or not, you’d better believe that the defense being disorganized — and that concurrently being blamed on young players — will limit Stephon Tuitt’s snaps on the defensive line. That’s too bad. It’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t be an upgrade over what we’re seeing and that it wouldn’t help him advance. He had one tackle in Baltimore. He’s had 25 snaps total in the first two games.
• I feel compelled to end on a positive note, as well, so I’ll remind that the NFL Network premier of the Joe Greene edition of ‘A Football Life’ airs tonight at 9.
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