SI sent out their annual football preview issue today. They had six regional covers and wouldn't you know Donovan McPuke graced our cover. Right....what? How about Ben? If you want to sell copies on the newstands, there has to be data that would back up a Roethlisberger cover over McNabb. Anyway, I digress. Still A Dog wants football. Let's talk football. In the issue, they go into the key for some team's success. Of course, they talked about the Steeler's Offensive Line. Thing is, I wasn't sure if they meant Offensive - like opposite of Defensive - line......or if they meant Offensive - like "F*ck me their line play is simply offensive "- line. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it's the first choice. They are still listing Starks as a backup, so there's a front office screw up right there. Remember, he's getting paid like, zillions of dollars this year. Ouch. They call Colon a mauler on runs. Hmmmm. How about pass protection? They protect Ben like Marino's lines used to run block. Exactly! The thing that worries me, and they mentioned it, and The Dog mentioned it....we haven't invested a high pick on a stud hog in some time. They mention the Defensive Line as a strength of the team. Look how old they are though! Where is the future? With Parker and Melwelde Moore already in the fold, unless Mendenhall is special, I hardly see how someone getting his number of touches can replace our future lines. I'd like to be proven wrong on that and have him break out, especially on kick returns. And speaking of kick returns, they rated our Special Teams a solid B. Jeff Reed must have brought that average up all by himself, because if you take the FG unit out of the equation, I thought they sucked big donkey.....ears. I swear those guys just throw darts and mix and match what they are saying. One thing I did get excited about was all the talking they did about Lamar Woodley. Kevin Greene has taken a liking to him and took him under his wing, teaching him about rushing from the outside. I can't wait to see him in action this year. The talk about Woodley also boned up a piece of history when it said The Steelers haven't had consistent pressure on the QB since the Lloyd/Greene days. Interesting. I bet Jason Gildon and Joey Porter would have something to say about that.
