Steelers Lounge Podcast #68: Bruce Arians and Free Agents

Posted on January 27, 2012 by ryan

This is going to be a busy offseason. The organization got things rolling when Bruce Arians “retired” last week.

We spend a good part of the podcast wondering what the end game is here, from the front office’s perspective, as well as possible replacement candidates (that segment of the show was much shorter since the best candidate is now sitting at home in York, PA waiting to join Steelers West in Arizona).

We also discuss the horrendous salary-cap situation, what that means for Aaron Smith, Big Snack, Potsie and Larry Foote on defense, and Chris Kemoeatu and Hines Ward on offense.

(As a side note, we agreed that Hines should probably retire. Excepting that — and Hines said he ain’t done playing — it might be cheaper to have him return at the veteran minimum instead of cutting him. It also means that the Steelers probably can’t afford Jerricho Cotchery. Of course, Ward could be valuable if Pittsburgh returns to their RUN-FIRST ROOTS.)

Oh, and we also rehash the Ravens loss last week because misery loves company.

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Art Rooney Asserts His Authority

Posted on January 23, 2012 by ryan

I have no idea what’s going on in Pittsburgh right now. For some god forsaken reason, team president Art Rooney wants the the Steelers to return to their roots (whatever that means), which apparently includes running the ball more more effectively (first introduced before the 2010 season — and by the way, where the hell was he in 2003 when Tommy Maddox happened?) and “tweaking” Big Ben’s style of play so he takes fewer hits.

So what happened? According to Football Outsiders, the Steelers had the No. 6 offense in 2011, 7th in passing and 7th in rushing. By comparison, the offense was 5th, 3rd and 14th the season before. Not good enough, it turns out and Bruce Arians is now out of a job.

But the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Gene Collier says we’ve misunderstood.

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Who Replaces Arians if He Leaves Pittsburgh?

Posted on January 18, 2012 by ryan

We’re filing this under “Be careful what you ask for,” right above “Don’t worry, Tommy Maddox will turn the Steelers into an awesome passing offense” and “Chad Scott and DeWayne Washington always play much better than they practice.”

Gerry Dulac reported Wednesday night that Bruce Arians might not be back with the Steelers in 2012.

Whether that’s his choice or someone else’s, the point remains: for the first time in Mike Tomlin’s tenure, there could be somebody other than BA calling plays. I know that makes some of you happy. For others, like me, much less so.

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Steelers Have Some Decisions to Make

Posted on January 13, 2012 by ryan

Almost six years ago (!), shortly after the Steelers and Bill Leavy beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, I wrote a post on HSS (remember that place?) about the impending free agents, and which ones the organization should target for new contracts.

It’s funny to now read things like “I have Quincy Morgan above Randle El because I think Morgan has a chance to be a better number two receiver, but that means that the special teams will take a big hit if Antwaan doesn’t re-sign.”

I published that post on February 9, 2006. Now that Tim Tebow has ended the 2011 Steelers’ season in truly inglorious fashion, we’re afforded the opportunity to get a jump-start on the offseason. Ted has gone into great detail about the salary-cap trouble that awaits the Steelers, and on Thursday, Ed Bouchette listed the 11 players who could possibly become free agents in the near future:

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BA Stays but Same Problem Remains: Steelers Can’t Score

Posted on January 12, 2012 by lounge legal dept.

To all of you who are glad that Bruce Arians is likely staying with the Steelers, I would humbly like to submit the following question: Why can’t this offense score points?

The Steelers are 19th in the league in total touchdowns with 36. Breaking that number down further we are 15th in the league with 13 rushing TDs and 13th with 21 receiving scores (then one each for special teams and defense – that defensive stat has the Steelers tied for second the last … but that’s another issue).

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Steelers Lounge Podcast #67: Broncos Recap – Kimo von Oelhoffen

Posted on January 9, 2012 by ryan

And so it ends, ingloriously at the hands of Timmy Tebow.

In the Big Ben era, this loss ranks pretty low on the “I’m never getting over this” scale, although JJ and Adam feel differently (as I suspect, do you). But in my mind, a confluence of events kicked the Steelers squarely in the gonads — the injuries (starting with Ben and ending with, well, everybody else), Ike Taylor’s Chad Scott impression, Mike Wallace not showing up again (I actually thought he should’ve been benched) — and if we’re being honest, this team as currently constituted had no chance to beat the Pats next week.

Whatever, we talk about all that happened Sunday and take a quick peak ahead to the offseason because changes are a-comin’.

Two more things we discuss that I want to throw out here:

1) What’s the chance Dick LeBeu returns in 2012 (and do you want him back)? [Edit: approximately 47 seconds after I posted this I see that Tomlin said in Monday's presser that he expects LeBeau and Arians back. I fully embrace this news.]

2) Who do you want to see win the Super Bowl. Or more pointedly, who do you want to see lose? For me it’s the Ravens, though some of you have more hatred for the Pats.

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Well That Was Definitely … Something

Posted on January 9, 2012 by adam

Let’s start with this: The Denver Broncos beat the Steelers at their own game on Sunday.

Outside of Pittsburgh, hell, even still in Pittsburgh, there is this perception that the Steelers are a grind-it-out, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense that hands the ball off to Jerome Bettis, Bam Morris, Barry Foster, Franco Harris or John Henry Johnson 50 times a game and grinds out tough yards by blasting into the line every play. The reality is the Steelers are a downfield passing team that throws the ball more than it runs it (and they have been for about five years now) and beat teams by making big plays on offense and not allowing big plays on defense. It’s been a pretty good recipe, and it’s won a lot of games (and Championships) in recent years.

On Sunday, we were in bizarro world. Not only did the Steelers give up more big plays than they made, they were absolutely dominated in that area. By Tim Tebow. By an offense that over the previous three weeks that regressed back to the stone ages.

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Deebo vs. Tebow Wild Card Game Thread

Posted on January 8, 2012 by ryan

This truly is good vs. evil. And quite possibly Brady Quinn.

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Steelers Lounge Podcast #66: Broncos Preview – Alan Faneca

Posted on January 5, 2012 by ryan

The Steelers are in the playoffs and as a lot of people suspected weeks ago, they’re facing the Broncos. Or as Lance William’s calls it on Steel Curtain Radio: Deebo vs. Tebow, Pray Hard, Prey Harder.

And while Pittsburgh has some issues heading into the game, they have Big Ben and his 1.5 ankles and hopefully that should be enough. So we talk about that, what the loss of Rashard Mendenhall means for the running game, and if Ryan Clark’s absence matters against the run-run-run-punt offense the Broncos favor.

Other topics: Chad Spann (he’s the Steelers’ newest running back, all 5-7, 200 pounds of him), Kevin Colbert’s big brain (Santonio Holmes, everybody!), the Steelers’ offensive line finally being healthy, the disappearance of Mike Wallace, and Dick LeBeau’s game plan to stop Tebow (I know, I know, it probably goes something like this: MAKE HIM THROW THE BALL).

By the way, I mention it on the podcast but in case you don’t know: I’ve watched every one of Tebow’s snaps this season for CBS and if you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of his season, knock yourself out.

(Also: apologies again that we haven’t been around nearly as much as we should. It’s the usual stuff — babies and work — but that ain’t your problem. Things will pick up, I promise, I just can’t say precisely when. )

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Steelers-Browns Week 17 Chattin’ Thread

Posted on January 1, 2012 by ryan

Let’s go Bills, let’s go Bengals, let’s go Steelers…

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