Bye Week Bounce Back in Steel City
Pittsburgh has a Week #6 bye
I have always hated the bye week and I hate purists, like me, who whine about it also. Look the fact is I am not against change and progress in general but part of the NFL season is the physical test and demand that is put on each team and each player.
It is an indicator of your conditioning as well as your will to endure. It is a manifestation or an indictment of how well you have built a team. The toll a season takes will bear witness to the depth and the ability to coach up a team. The bye week gives a team a reprieve in essence.
Okay so I may be over stating the point but what really bothers me is this was a financial decision. By giving teams a bye week it gives the NFL an additional week of games to broadcast thus bumping up the already bloated TV and radio contracts.
Any how here we are at week 6 and the Steelers get the week off. So let us briefly review where we are and where we can expect to go.
The Steelers stand alone on top of the AFC North division with a 4 and 1 record. 2 of their wins are division wins and there only loss was to an NFC team, thus a non-division opponent. They also maintain a 1 and a 1/2 game lead over the Baltimore Ravens who have played one less game so far.
The Steelers defense have held their adversaries to a combined 79 points in their first 5 games. Which averages out to 15.8 points allowed per game. On offense they have scored a modest 103 points for a 20.6 per game average. There is a small concern in these numbers pertaining to the offensive output however.
While 20 points a game is not bad, 20 points is basically the line of demarcation of NFL offenses. 20 points and above is on the good side where as below is viewed as basically heading toward incompetent. So at first glance it would appear that 20.6 is adequate. However you need to factor in that 38 of those points came in one game and not all of those 103 points were scored by the offense. In retrospect then the offense should be embarrassed a bit for being more of an anchor to the ship instead of the rudder. The good news is this team has the potential to improve. On a side note for those who may be saying “you jerk what about the injuries?” While that is a contributing factor to any teams success or failure, that is part of the preparation of putting a winning team together. And some of those injured players will return. Hopefully Willie Parker leading the charge.
In contrast the defense has been on par week to week. They have held up there part of the bargain thus far and give no reason for skepticism. I will add here that the offense has had some bright moments. Ben Roethlisberger played brilliantly in the Jacksonville win. And Mewelde more had a nice 99 yards on the ground. Heath Miller was found and Nate Washington was a contributor along with Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes. Jeff Reed has been money all season.
All this bears itself out in the league rankings at this juncture also. The Steelers now boast the #2 overall ranked NFL defense. #5 against the rush and #5 against the pass. If you are confused how they can be #2 overall that is because the rankings are based on yardage against. Do your own math from there.
And on offense they are presently #19 out of the 32 teams. They are at #17 executing the rush, an area they usually excel in. For example in 2007 they were #3 in rushing (finished 10W - 6L). 2006? #10 (8W-8L). 2005? #5 (11W-5L). 2004? #2 (15W-1L). 2003? They were a un-Steelers like #31 and ended with 6W’ s and 10L’ s! Notice a pattern here?
Passing the ball in 2008, the Steelers are ranked at #22. Detroit and Minnesota are ranked higher and they are widely excepted for a poor passing attack. And we have one of the best quarterbacks in the league! It should be noted that in Pittsburgh the passing production is set up by there ability to run the ball. Unfortunately there inability to run often effects there ability to pass consistently. So while Ben had an enormous 300 yard passing day in Jacksonville, they are not accustomed to chucking the ball 41 times a game and gaining that kind of yardage on a weekly basis. Very few teams are. Especially playoff teams do not like to rely on a Marino-ish type of game plan.
So looking ahead our first game back will be in Cincinnati where the Bengals are imploding. So that should give the Steelers a chance to regroup and establish the identity they plan to carry on through the season. Following the Bengals however will be 2 NFC East showdowns against the Giants in Heinz Field and the Redskins in Fed-Ex Field in Washington. They better repair the damage now and next week against Cincy. Because then we have Indy and San Diego. Both of them at home though. So after the Bengals the next 4 games following are going to be against playoff caliber teams.
> Buy Pittsburgh Steelers apparel & jerseys online through Pro Football Fans and check out the 2008 NFL scores!
So at 4 and 1 the Steelers need to go 3 and 2 in this stretch. 3 of the next 5 are at home. If the defense maintains or even gets stronger , and the offense steps it up a couple notches, 3 wins in this 5 game stint is rather reasonable to expect from the Steel gang.
I am really anticipating big things in the upcoming weeks.
By Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Pittsburgh Steelers Correspondent