Anyone that cares enough about the Steelers to be reading this article already knows a few things about what happened on Friday night. You probably know that the Steelers lost 16-7 and were soundly outplayed by a Redskins team that played its starters for the entire first half of the game in stark contrast to the Steelers, who held out a bunch of starters and played those that dressed sparingly. You probably know that Ike Taylor broke his left thumb and will undergo surgery this week. And you probably know that a number of starters didn’t play at all – Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Bryant McFadden, Ramon Foster, Chris Kemoeatu, Hines Ward, and others didn’t take the field.
What you should take from the game, however, and the resulting fallout that will matter for games that count is unrelated to the above. Here is what matters from Friday night:
Scott, who started atRamon Foster held out due to a slight concussion, was horrendous, beaten badly on numerous occasions during the first two drives. To say that Scott looked overwhelmed seems grossly inadequate, with the speed of the game bypassing Scott. While there’s still nearly a month of practices and games before the opener in Baltimore, Scott’s chances of being in the starting lineup against the Ravens took a major hit on Friday night.
In what can only be described as a major surprise, Hills completely shut down Brian Orakpo and threw the key block to spring Isaac Redman for the Steelers’ lone In three seasons with the Steelers, Hills has been dressed for only four games, all as a backup at tackle. Hills ran with the first team atin camp and has been announed as the starter for this weekend’spreseason game against Philadelphia. With Ramon Foster a less than sure thing at starter and with the Steelers laying awake at night thinking of reasons not to start Doug Legursky, Hills appears to be the new front-runner
With three corners (Bryant McFadden, Curtis Brown, and Cortez Allen) not dressed and Ike Taylor going down with a broken thumb early, Keenan Lewis received extended playing time on Friday before going down with a calf injury. Unfortunately for Lewis, he continued the downward spiral in which he’s been since last year’s preseason game in Denver where, getting the opportunity to start, he was yanked after being called for two personal fouls. With six corners almost certain to make the roster (Taylor, McFadden, Brown, Allen, Crezdon Butler, andand with Lewis no longer practice squad eligible, Lewis is firmly on the bubble to make the 53-man roster.
A roster spot opened up last week when rookie camp sensation Baron Batch tore his the battle likely to be between last year’s 6th round pick Jonathan Dwyer and rookieDwyer looked slow and uncertain on Friday, gaining 7 yards on 5 carries. Clay had only one carry due to the Steelers trailing most of the 2nd half, but it is becoming clear that if Dwyer is counted on in 2011, the running game is in trouble.
Antonio Brown, the guy the Steelers drafted in the 6th round in 2010 with picks obtained in the Santonio Holmes trade with the Jets, played little early in 2010, having only 2 catches through 11 games. Brown began to pick it up as his playing time increased late in the season, grabbing 14 balls over the last 5 weeks and the game-clinchingbomb on 3rd down in the Brown has picked up where he left off, having an exceptional camp and a dynamic game on Friday with 4 catches for 64 yards and, more importantly, displaying the ability to get open againsstartinghis speed and route running. The Steelers are absolutely loaded athe addition of JerrichoCotchery, but Brown is forcing his way into a prominent role in the offense.
What you should take from the game, however, and the resulting fallout that will matter for games that count is unrelated to the above. Here is what matters from Friday night:
Scott, who started atRamon Foster held out due to a slight concussion, was horrendous, beaten badly on numerous occasions during the first two drives. To say that Scott looked overwhelmed seems grossly inadequate, with the speed of the game bypassing Scott. While there’s still nearly a month of practices and games before the opener in Baltimore, Scott’s chances of being in the starting lineup against the Ravens took a major hit on Friday night.
In what can only be described as a major surprise, Hills completely shut down Brian Orakpo and threw the key block to spring Isaac Redman for the Steelers’ lone In three seasons with the Steelers, Hills has been dressed for only four games, all as a backup at tackle. Hills ran with the first team atin camp and has been announed as the starter for this weekend’spreseason game against Philadelphia. With Ramon Foster a less than sure thing at starter and with the Steelers laying awake at night thinking of reasons not to start Doug Legursky, Hills appears to be the new front-runner
With three corners (Bryant McFadden, Curtis Brown, and Cortez Allen) not dressed and Ike Taylor going down with a broken thumb early, Keenan Lewis received extended playing time on Friday before going down with a calf injury. Unfortunately for Lewis, he continued the downward spiral in which he’s been since last year’s preseason game in Denver where, getting the opportunity to start, he was yanked after being called for two personal fouls. With six corners almost certain to make the roster (Taylor, McFadden, Brown, Allen, Crezdon Butler, andand with Lewis no longer practice squad eligible, Lewis is firmly on the bubble to make the 53-man roster.
A roster spot opened up last week when rookie camp sensation Baron Batch tore his the battle likely to be between last year’s 6th round pick Jonathan Dwyer and rookieDwyer looked slow and uncertain on Friday, gaining 7 yards on 5 carries. Clay had only one carry due to the Steelers trailing most of the 2nd half, but it is becoming clear that if Dwyer is counted on in 2011, the running game is in trouble.
Antonio Brown, the guy the Steelers drafted in the 6th round in 2010 with picks obtained in the Santonio Holmes trade with the Jets, played little early in 2010, having only 2 catches through 11 games. Brown began to pick it up as his playing time increased late in the season, grabbing 14 balls over the last 5 weeks and the game-clinchingbomb on 3rd down in the Brown has picked up where he left off, having an exceptional camp and a dynamic game on Friday with 4 catches for 64 yards and, more importantly, displaying the ability to get open againsstartinghis speed and route running. The Steelers are absolutely loaded athe addition of JerrichoCotchery, but Brown is forcing his way into a prominent role in the offense.
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