Steelers Morning Huddle 9/11/2013
By Kim Myers
I said Huddle up!
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Now that the Steelers Week 1 loss has been fully digested, regurgitated, and then digested again we can turn our focus to the next game up. Who’s ready for some AFC North road action? Here is what’s being said about your Pittsburgh Steelers around the block.
Coach Tomlin’s Press Conference
It’s that time of the week to hear from Coach Mike Tomlin on reviewing last week’s game, running down the injuries, and looking forward to the next game up. Tomlin began the presser by reviewing the Titans game. Apparently he thinks he saw some good things out of the Steelers. Possibly he could have been talking about Polamalu’s perfectly-timed sack but he actually thought he saw some good things out of the offense. Mind boggling. Makes me worried that they don’t feel the need to change the play calling up a bit to something that I don’t know, makes sense to run with the players you have? I’m digressing. Tomlin then went on to preview the Bengals and of course now that includes James Harrison. It’s important to note that Cincy runs a 4-3 defense as opposed to the 3-4 the Steelers run so Harrison is a middle linebacker in a different position than he’s used to. Still doesn’t mean he’s not going to take Ben’s head off if given the chance. Yikes. Tomlin also went through the addition of Jonathan Dwyer back on the roster spinning it in a positive way by saying the team was lucky that he wasn’t picked up. Not much else you can say about a player you thought two weeks ago wasn’t good enough to make your roster and wasn’t good enough to be added to anyone else’s roster either. You can watch Tomlin’s press conference in its entirety right here.
Steelers plummet in Power Rankings
While the Steelers started the regular season in relatively the middle of the pack in all of the Power Rankings, they’re now near the bottom after Week 1. Fox Sports has the Steelers dropping from their spot at #20 down to #26 citing the season-ending injuries to key starters as too much for them to overcome. ESPN has the Steelers dropping from #16 to #23 and here’s a shocker, they’re also saying the injuries to Pouncey and Stephens-Howling caused the downfall. NFL.com dropped Pittsburgh from #20 to #25 because of the injured starters.
Bleak outlook for Steelers
If you’d like to get more depressed about the state of the Pittsburgh Steelers following the Week 1 loss then head over to SI.com and check out Don Bank’s column where he highlighted the fact that while the Steelers weren’t the only recent Super Bowl winners to start the season 0-1 this year, they are the only team whose offensive performance was only underdone by Jacksonville. I needed a drink just after reading this. Apparently there is no upside to the Steelers this year. Because of the injuries and the deficient running game, the Steelers are going to have to rely on Ben Roethlisberger a lot, and he’s just going to be injured sooner or later. Also apparently Ben’s best years are behind him already.
What are your thoughts Steeler Nation?
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