Happy Birthday Pittsburgh Steelers

The Greatest Head Coach in NFL History

Growing up in West Virginia almost equally distanced from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Cleveland I could have been a fan of any of teams in any of those cities and the world have known no difference and would have gone on just fine.  But luckily in the 70’s when I was making the crucial decisions as to what teams I would follow, the Black and Gold were becoming powerhouses.  That is the Black and Gold of the Pirates and The Steelers.  The Pirates bookended the 70’s with championships with players like Roberto, Omar Moreno, Dave Parker, Manny, Kent Tekulve, Steve Blass, The Candy Man, and many others.  That was enough for me to be a fan, but something else was going on in Pittsburgh in the 70s that cemented my fanaticism for the Black and Gold.

Around the beginning of the decade the Steeler hired a new coach.  Prior to that time period they had been something of a let’s say “diamond in the rough.”  Putting it kindly, they were not a good team.  They had some memorable players, Bill Dudley, Bobby Layne, Ernie Stautner, John Henry Johnson, but from a team standpoint, not good.  Then in 1969, this guy named Chuck Noll was hired to turn the team into a winner.  Little did Art Rooney know that this man would be a stabilizing force for the Pittsburgh Steelers and would take the team to unimaginable heights that only a select few teams would achieve in the NFL and that no other coach could say they had achieved to this day in the NFL.  Noll had been the defensive coordinator in Baltimore under another legendary coach, Don Shula the season before the Steelers hired him.  It is no coincidence that Pittsburgh’s defense became the Steel Curtain after Coach arrived.  Baltimore’s defense was stingy, giving up only 144 points during his last season. 

Chuck Noll’s will to turn this team into a dynasty did not happen overnight.  The first season could not have been an easy one.  The Steelers went 1-13 to continue their path that had been recorded in the pre-70’s history book, but what no fan of the Steelers could know in that first season was that the building blocks were starting to accumulate.  Not to take anything away from Dan Rooney, who was the GM in 1970 and 1971 until Dick Haley Took over, but the most important piece, Chuck Noll had been put in place and the rest of the building blocks were yet to come.  Like an army marching in a single file line, the players began to arrive.  Joe Greene the number 3 overall pick and L.C. Greenwood in 1969,  Terry Bradshaw the number 1 overall pick and Mel Blount in 1970, Jack Ham, Dwight White, and Mike Wagner in 1971, Franco Harris and Steve Furness in 1972, J.T. Thomas in 1973, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Jack Lambert and Mike Webster in 1974.  There were so many others that Chuck Noll and the Steelers brought in to contribute to the domination of the 70s.  It is just unreal how they were able to put together so much talent. 

There was one man that was in charge of meshing them into a team and that was Chuck Noll.  I’ve listened to Merrill Hoge and Tunch Ilkin and many other players reverently discuss so many times how Chuck Noll was a master at coaching.  He could teach, he could stand back and let his assistants teach and he could coach.  He knew how to pull the right strings and he is the only head coach with four Super Bowls to show for it.  He is a hall of famer and he is the reason that I am a Steelers fan and will always be a Steelers fan.

On Second Thought

The NFL season seems to be lasting longer and longer each year. The day after Mr. Irrelevant is taken, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay come out with mock drafts for the next year. Really? Does Kiper really think that any of the guesses that he formulates right now will have any semblance of reality a year from now? Doubtful, but that's what the NFL is right now. It is such a popular entity that people hang on the edge of their seats with these mock drafts with anticipation that the players that are chosen by these experts will be the ones chosen by the teams. The only problem with this is many teams go a long way to make sure that noone knows who they are picking. They leak misinformation by various means and voila, the experts latch on and boom that's who those teams are drafting. Funny thing is, rarely that's who they draft.

This year the misinformation was flying around. Ben wanted a big receiver to target. The cornerback position was getting older by the day. Ike's getting slower and William Gay is not getting better. Cortez Allen has barely done anything to prove he's worthy of taking over and the rest of the cornerbacks are a bunch of unproven, underwhelming projects. There were secondary reports that maybe Eric Ebron was the target. There weren't many projections of a linebacker being drafted. Safety had already been taken care of in last year's draft and free agency this year. Defensive linemen were a need and there were rumors floating around about that position as well as Louis Nix and the Nose Tackle.

I was very much looking forward to them selecting a shutdown corner.  There were three or four corners that were available that many had decided were high enough quality to be considered first rounders.  There was Justin Gilbert, Kyle Fuller, Darqueze Dennard and probably some others.  Those experts that I talked about earlier seemed to think that Gilbert and Fuller would be gone before number 15.  So, it looked like the Steelers had Dennard in their sights, which was fine by me.  I'd seen Dennard play and despite the fact that he was not the fastest cb available he seemed to fit into the Steelers mold for a corner.  Toughness, check, size, check, sufficient speed, check. Watching him play in college the average person would think that he was the player that fit the top need the Steelers had.  The Steelers apparently didn't think so, because he was there and they didn't take him.  All I could see was Ike slowing down even more, Cortez not being able to take the reins as the second cornerback and Gay being slightly below starting cornerback calibre. Thankfully Josh Gordon helped the Steelers out and himself into a year suspension more than likely. There's still AJ Jenkins though and Torrey Smith. The Steelers need someone to cover those guys. So, the Steelers blew their chances and the 2014-2015 season is over before it started.

Not so fast, says Dick Lebeau and Carnell Lake. Along comes the Steelers number one pick. At number 15 the Pittsburgh Steelers select 4.40. That's not the player, it's Ryan Shazier and he runs a 4.4 40 yard dash. That should get him to the quarterback pretty quick. Quick enough to get to the quarterback before he gets a pass off, or at least fast enough to put a hit on him. It's hard to hit a receiver if you are lying on your back or a linebacker knocks the ball out of your hand.  4.4 let's you make mistakes occassionaly and still be able to get back to make the play. 4.4 let's Troy Polamalu stay in the secondary or get to the backfield instead of playing where 4.4 should be. There's also 4.3 playing safety. Troy may have had near that at one time but probably not now, but there are a couple new kids in town in Shamarko Thomas and Mike Mitchell with blazing speed. They both have their question marks. Shamarko looks like a beast, has 4.3 speed and is a workout maniac. But, he hasn't done anything in the NFL yet. The good news is Troy did little his first year and he's turned out pretty good. Mitchell has taken a few years and a few teams to find his groove with Carolina, but did Carolina just have a system that fit him or did he just grow into his position. I think both of these guys will be welcome additions and should improve the defense dramatically. Then, there's always the chance that the Steelers braintrust knew what they were doing while drafting Shaquille Richardson. I think Carnell Lake has done a decent job with the defensive backfield and he is familiar with Richardson through his time at UCLA, so maybe he'll pan out, but he will most likely be a project. Shazier and 2nd round pick Stephon Tuitt should help a run defense which desperately needed help. If the running game can be stopped that makes the offense predictable. 1 yard run on 1st down = 2nd down pass or 3rd down pass. Sack or Hurry the QB and that leads to a turnover. So, maybe, just maybe the Steelers knew what they were doing when they passed over DD in the first round.  We will definitely find out because the Bengals thought he was a good enough bet to take in the first round and we will probably be seeing him 2 times a year.

Just a not about Dri Archer.  I watched some highlight film on him.  Yes, I know it's called highlight film because it is his best plays, but he is lightning quick.  He has speed to get around the corner in the NFL like fast Willie used to.  In those highlights their was no angle the defense could take because he outran the angle. He's what the Steelers wanted in Chris Rainney a few years ago, but without the baggage that came along with Rainney.  Hopefully he has good hands because he can run past secondaries the way Wallace did also.

Then there's Daniel McCullers.  Supposedly he's not the fastest guy in the NFL, but his size is so intriguing.  6'7" and 352 pounds.  This guy is  massive and if anyone could block more than one person at a time he should be able to.  But size does not always make the best players.  I'd love to see him play nose tackle if he can tie up a few linemen and allow the linebackers to find the holes, but it sounds more like he will be an end. 

This looks like a very positive draft, but the only way to measure the quality of draft is to see how well they have performed and the only way to measure that is to wait a few years and see who works out.  Then again there's those 6 Lombardis that are proof that the Steelers know a little about drafting Super Bowl teams. 

The Steelers Still have a chance this year. If they can get in you never know what could happen. Seems like I remember a Wild Card team from Pittsburgh doing pretty well a few years ago. But these 4 things need to happen or they'll be watching the playoffs from their couches. I will rank them from 1 to 4 in order of the chance that they will happen. 1 being most likely to occur, 4 least likely. Number 1(Rank - 1): They need to take care of the thing that they control and they need to beat the Browns at Hines Field in the last week of the season. They should not just be playing to get in the playoffs, but they should also be playing because this could be the last game some of the veterans with impressive resumes will be a part of as Steelers. Just like I couldn't imagine seeing James Harrison in another uniform other than the Steelers, or Hines Ward, I can't imagine seeing "The Bearded One" or Ryan Clark in any other uni. Ryan has had his hits this year, and I think he is still a very good safety, but understandably, not as good as a few years ago. Just like they parted ways with Harrison this year, The Steelers could very easily say goodbye to Ryan to gain more cap room. Unfortunately, that leaves a mostly untested Shamarko Thomas to take over his spot. Kiesel has been a very steady influence on defense this year, but he is getting older and as I said with Clark, understandably not as good as a few years ago. I don't even want to mention this, but there is another Saftey with the Steelers that is getting older too. Early in the season he wasn't making the "splash" plays that we have come to expect of him, but in the second half he may bel one of the biggest reasons for the Steelers righting the ship. He has caused turnovers and made big plays to keep them in the game. He has managed to stay healthy all season, which is a huge bonus and he has played all over the field. Uncharacteristically, he has been out of position on many plays, but you take the good with the bad. If he's out of position to make a play on a 10 yard run, but he strips the ball from the QB with a minute left to play to give his team another chance to win the game, I think that's a pretty good trade off. So, let's not even think about what will happen with him til that time comes around. Now, where was I.... Got off the subject there thinking about those guys. Along with the Steelers beating the Browns at home, these things must also happen in the last week of the regular season for them to make the playoffs. Number 2: (Rank - 2)The Ravens (8-7) must lose at the Bengals (10-5). I would hope that the BenGals would take this one seriously. They are already in the playoffs as the AFC north winner. But going into the playoff on a losing note doesn't help gather any momentum. They are playing at home too, which is a positive. The Ravens did have some mo before they lost on Sunday. Let's hope they don't have anything left in the tank in Cincy next week. Number 3: (Rank - 3)The Chargers (8-7) must lose at home to the Chiefs (11-4). The Chargers have been up and down this season and every season for the last decade for that matter. The Chiefs, after losing their undefeated status a few weeks ago have been beatable. Let's hope the Chargers play more up to their early season form than their recent season form. This one's in San Diego which is an advantage for them. But the Chiefs have the better record. Number 4: (Rank - 4) The Dolphins (8-7) must lose at home to the Jets (7-8) Not totally out of the question, but it all depends on which Jets team shows up. If the good Geno Smith shows up they have a chance. If the bad Geno shows up, not likely. Both teams are Jekyll and Hyde, so again a toss up and again the wrong team has the homefield advantage. So it's a wait and see thing. It's usually not a good thing when you have to count on 3 other teams to get in the playoffs, but on the other hand, it makes for an interesting final week. Go Steelers, BenGals, Chiefs, and Jets.

MVPCutchen

Andrew McCutchen's talent leads him to the MVP. It was a great season for Pirates fans and it was largely due to this man.

Cowboys Defense

Searching the internet for solutions to the Steelers defensive woes I found this old video of how the cowboys defensed Bo Jackson. The Steelers defense doesn't look too bad after watching this. :)

A Tribute to Jim Leyland (Rated R - Not for Kids)