Post First Preseason Game Thoughts and Grades

[DanRooney]

Quaterbacks
Ben Roethlisberger- A. No wrongs for Big Ben. Nice little pass to Holmes to let the receiver make a play.
Charlie Batch- C-. Only went 1 for 3 and handed the ball of most of the game. Hes been a good backup for years but I'm 100% sure his age has caught up on him. I won't be surprised if he gets released to add more room for our roster. I don't think losing him to injury will hurt us that much.
Dennis Dixon- D+. Not a good first impression. He checked off on many of his passes for short yardage. Sweed made a great catch diving backwards in one of his low thrown balls. Dixon's only saving grace and underthrown 40 yard pass to Walker that was wiped away due to a hold. Needs to step it up next week since Batch is injured.
Mike Potts- N/A. Didn't do much but hand off the ball to Russell. Went 0/2 passing.

Runningbacks
Willie Parker- A. Looked like the same Fast Willie to me. Don't think the injury slowed him down a bit.
Rashard Mendenhall- B. Was pretty impressed with the guy. Had some good hard runs and a 15 yard run on one of his plays to the outside.
Gary Russell- B-. Earned some hard fought yards despite the low YPC. Looks very powerful. Should see more carries at the goal line.

Wide Receivers
Santonio Holmes- A. Looks like he'll be a top 10 receiver in the league this year. Great TD catch and run.
Hines Ward- B+. Only caught 1 pass but it was for 20 yards
Limas Sweed- B+. He made some fantastic catches tonight despite Dixon's inaccuracy.
NateNAte- F. Where were you man??? KC? Any answers?

Offensive line- B-. first team OL looked solid. Not much to say other than Starks got beat pretty bad twice. Dixon was under pressure for a handful of snaps but we only allowed 1 sack. Not too bad.

Defense- B. Still not liking the big cushions our corners are giving. As usual, we were susceptible to those short 5 yard slants. After seeing Kolb drive down towards our side of the field on multiple occasions, however, the D seemed to tighten up and forced them to punt. Well I could probably account that to all those damn penalties the Eagles were committing as well though. Nice to see Farrior get a sack. Fox on the 2nd team played well.

Special teams- B. Wow what an improvement. Almost everyone aside from "Fair Catch" Bloom had decent returns. I liked Drummond's run down the sideline. Ernster looked pretty good aside from his last punt in the game which still had a forward bounce. Looks like he has enough leg on kickoffs to shoot it into the endzone. I was impressed with the 50 yard field goal. Defensively we didn't allow much.

[AZ_Steeler]

A "C" for Charlie Batch??? He did end up with a broken collar bone on a busted play that he tried to turn a loss into something positive A C might be a little harsh plus if Charlie is in then you know the other backups are in as well... I think if you put Charlie with the starting squad he's right there with Ben IMO.

[DanRooney]

A "C" for Charlie Batch??? He did end up with a broken collar bone on a busted play that he tried to turn a loss into something positive A C might be a little harsh plus if Charlie is in then you know the other backups are in as well... I think if you put Charlie with the starting squad he's right there with Ben IMO.

He also went 1 for 3 for 3 yards

I would've gave him a D had he not improvised that 6 yard run

[manofsteel]

QBS Ben A Charlied C Dixon D+
Run game as a whole. A
Defense B+ descent pressure. Stlll lacking big punch
Special teams C. Thought the new punter did well

[Black@Gold Forever32]

Handing grades for a pre-season game?......lol

I don't put to much stock into pre-season games....But I did like how the first string offense looked fluid and sync with each other......Some times in the pre-season the offense can look real sluggish.......Not last night on that first drive...

[Stlrs4Life]

Overall grade from me would be a B-. Our defense needs some work, but it is pre seasson and are going to put out vanilla defenses, as we also faced in Philly.

[Stlrs4Life]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib.../s_581985.html

Savvy Tomlin pulling the right strings

By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 9, 2008

The Steelers scored on their opening drive of the 2008 preseason Friday night against the Philadelphia Eagles at Heinz Field, just as they did to open the 2007 preseason in the Hall of Fame Game against the New Orleans Saints.
Coach Mike Tomlin's first drive in his first NFL game a year ago set the tone for a 4-1 exhibition record and a fast start out of the gate in the regular season.

The Steelers played with a madcap regular-season intensity last preseason. Starters and substitutes all played like the meaningless games really meant something.

For example, cornerback William Gay won a job based on what he did in preseason. It seemed like Gay, a fifth-round draft pick, made a big play in every exhibition game.

Tomlin was just getting his feet wet as a head coach in 2007. A winning record in the exhibition season meant nothing in the standings, but it meant absolutely everything to Tomlin, who didn't blow his only chance to make a good first impression.
The carryover from the preseason led to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth for the Steelers, who played their best football early before fading in the stretch.

To his credit, Tomlin is approaching his second training camp differently -- pulling back more than he did a year ago. He doesn't hesitate resting his veterans, an admission that he may have pushed the team a little too hard the first time around.

Last year, Tomlin was a rookie coach learning about his players, just as they were trying to figure him out. It was important for Tomlin to establish his authority and his coaching style -- almost as important as it was for him to have a successful campaign his first year.

This year, Tomlin is displaying more give-and-take -- more or less.

He understands his players -- what buttons to push, their strengths and weaknesses, how hard to push them and when to pull back.

Tomlin's players, in turn, understand him and his system better. If you don't believe the Steelers don't know how much they can get away with, just ask nose tackle Casey Hampton.

Still on the physically-unable-to-perform list because he reported to camp in poor condition, Hampton was given a reprieve last night from working out on the sideline while his teammates played, as he is expected to do during practices. Tomlin's punishment has become a humbling experience for Hampton, a four-time Pro Bowler.

Other than the Sean Mahan-Justin Hartwig competition at center, Hampton has been the Steelers biggest on-field story.

Hampton's lofty reputation provided Tomlin with all the motivation needed to keep his veterans in line. Regardless of a player's status -- Pro Bowler or scrub -- they know not to rub Tomlin the wrong way.

The Steelers also realize that Tomlin knows his team a lot better now. That's what the regular season is for. There will be plenty of time to prove themselves later, when the games count.

No need for Tomlin to demand the same results from his veterans this preseason. Exhibition games meant a lot more to Tomlin last year than this year.

[dawgs]

He also went 1 for 3 for 3 yards

I would've gave him a D had he not improvised that 6 yard run

speaking of runs, did you catch brady quinns. He was hit pretty good in the back field, did a spin move and ran for the first down and some.


some thoughts I have after watching reply of the steelers game.

1. of course QB problems now with batch out. This is a long season and you need to have decent backups just in case. Steelers are a top team in this leauge, and you know some young guy on another team would love to make a name for himself by laying out ben. Dixon could be a good player later on, but right now he won't cut it. So a move will need to be made and im sure steelers front office are already in talks.

2. offence line. They looked solid but were also facing starters on the eagles who don't wanna get hurt. no gravity said that the starters were solid, But not so much after that. Which means there's no depth at all. Injuries will happen to every single team, So having no depth is very scary.

You guys got the browns punter who filled in for dave Z when he went down. better look for another punter, He's not very good.

[Black@Gold Forever32]

speaking of runs, did you catch brady quinns. He was hit pretty good in the back field, did a spin move and ran for the first down and some.


some thoughts I have after watching reply of the steelers game.

1. of course QB problems now with batch out. This is a long season and you need to have decent backups just in case. Steelers are a top team in this leauge, and you know some young guy on another team would love to make a name for himself. Dixon could be a good player later on, but right now he won't cut it. So a move will need to be made and im sure steelers front office are already in talks.

2. offence line. They looked solid but were also facing starters on the eagles who don't wanna get hurt. no gravity said that the starters were solid, But not so much after that. Which means there's no depth at all. Injuries will happen to every single team, So having no depth is very scary.

You guys got the browns punter who filled in for dave Z when he went down. better look for another punter, He's not very good.

Batch will be back......He isn't out for the season......He is a quality backup for a game or two but even if he had to start the majority of the games this team would be screwed......Really Batch going down isn't a big deal unless Ben goes down....If Ben goes down for a serious amount of time there isn't a QB on the waiver wire that would save the season anyway.....I couldn't see Batch or Byron Leftwich leading this team to the play-offs if they had to start 8 or more games.......

As for the OL....They looked solid....But its pre-season so can't put to much stock into it....But it was a nice start.....

I think the Steelers will continue to watch the cut list to keep an eye of the punting situation.....

[Phenomenal TJ]

speaking of runs, did you catch brady quinns. He was hit pretty good in the back field, did a spin move and ran for the first down and some.

He was kinda forced to spin to keep his balance, it was nice, but not like he actually meant to do it. Braylon Edwards catch was very nice though.

I was just happy to see that Parker isn't afraid to get hit after breaking his leg.