FAN: Leftover Sandwich

Well, Leftwich has left us. Rats. I mean, I like Batch and all and I think he's played well when in there - but I think if Ben got hurt for a longish time - I would feel better with Byron over Batch. Batch isn't getting any younger. We just have to hope that all the low mile seasons have kept him fresh. Byron wants to start and obviously can't here so he'll take a shot at the QB Carousel that is Tampa Bay. Good luck, Byron, I enjoyed your time with the Steelers.

Who's Your Batch?

Wow. 3 TD's against 0 picks. I like it. I said he would have 2 costly turnovers and he had 1 on a bad transaction with the center. He looked calm and collected in the pocket and moved well when he needed to. I feel very confident having Charlie Bath on the team as the backup. I watched the press conference after the game and he was as happy as a 15 year old boy getting to third base with his highschool crush. In no particular order, here are some thoughts about the game: Where is Willie Reid? If we drafted him soley to return punts, shouldn't he be returning punts? And if not, why not keep a veteran with size like Quincy Morgan? Joey Porter is a monster...who loves his coach. Polamalu must scare the shit out of every offensive coordinator in the league. Not many safeties could hustle to the ball like he did to make the 4th quarter pick. Also, the way he interupted the reverse in the backfield was classic. Can you imagine trying to attack this defense? Where would you go? I loved the hit McFadden put on somebody in the 4th to seperate them from the ball. I didn't love the excessive showboating that got called out by Madden as well. He was showing us his bicepts again a few plays later. He'll be your opening day starter next year on the other side of Ike. Ike, McFadden, Troy and Anthony Smith should be the defensive backfield very soon. That's a pretty physical backfield. Willie Parker looked like he deserved every penny of his new contract. Ike did not, unless he was instructed to keep Chambers in front of him the entire night. You would think after 1 or 2 of those quick hitch passes right in front of him that they would move him up a bit to take it away because they were really working it, but they continued to have success with that play right up until the game ended. He also gave up a few mid-distance comebacks. Yeah, Chambers is a good receiver - but for all the talk about Ike being a "clamp down" kind of guy, that was NOT a clamp down type performance. Oh well, at least he will have something to work on this week. Ike also couldn't squeeze yet another pick. He really needs to work on that as well. Coke is starting to look like a liability to me at times. I think he let the long play to Booker happen by biting on a pump fake bigtime. I like the fact that we got a win in and now we get to take a nice 10 day rest before playing a very physical Jaguar team that beat us last year with Tommy Gun under center (and throwing the game away in OT!).

Wow. Perfect Predictions So Far

Superb job by the front office. We signed Keisel the Deisel....let Kimo walk. Chris Hope took a walk and we signed a replacement before he left. We restructured Hartings. We signed Rodney Bailey to a very cheap contract and kept Tuman. Good solid players at backup prices. Depth and defense win Super Bowls. The thing that worries me is that Ike Taylor is drawing interest. I feel like he is now a core player. I would hate it if he walked. Townsend is still up in the air, but it is not the end of the world if he leaves either. The Steelers offerred Hope about 2.5 per year but he left for greener pastures. Have fun not making the playoffs in Tennessee, Chris. His replacement, Ryan Clark, is only making $7 million over 4 years....an outstanding Steeler contract. Don't forget we also signed a solid backup QB in Charlie Batch. He could be integral if Big Ben misses time again this year since Batch knows the offense well. After cutting Maddox it was great to see Charlie come back. I would now like to focus on getting Quincy Morgan signed. As I've stated here before, I like him to start at the #2 wideout position more than Cedrick Wilson just because of his size and blocking. Ced can play the slot. I'd love to make this 10 paragraphs - but I'm still in St Louis and trying to make a meeting! Go Steelers!!!!!

Batch Looks Like Better Backup

Charlie Batch is scheduled to become a free agent this week. I hope the Steelers resign him and keep him as the backup to Big Ben. Tommy Maddox needs a change of scenery the same way Rosie O'Donnel needs a salad. Badly. After taking over for Kordell Stewart and leading us to the playoffs in 2002, Tommy Gun was the talk of the town. I don't have to repeat his story here, but it was a good one, going from selling insurance to the NFL again. Tommy's game seemed to mimic the Arena Football League though...it was mostly throwing to places and praying the receivers would be there. It was all on quick drops and throws. Well, in year two of his rebirth the defensive coordinators around the league caught up to him and he was abysmal....leading us to a 6-10 record. I know the line was banged up that year, but he made very poor decisions all year. After Ben proved to be the savior of the franchise in early 2004, it seemed like we didn't need both Maddox and Batch backing him up even this year. Batch looked better than Tommy (marginally as they both looked bad) this season while Ben was out with his knee and he is also 3 years younger. Charlie can also still move around in the pocket a little while Maddox still looks like Peyton Manning could take him in a race. This seems like an easy decision to make: money, youth and speed are all on Batch's side plus he is from Homestead and we know the Rooney's like their homeboys. To fill out the squad with QBs they will probably either sign an undrafted rookie free agent or bring back Brian St. Pierre at the league minimum salary. With St. Pierre's years of service going up - don't be surprised if the take the undrafted free agent route. Besides, in an emergency if Ben and Charlie both get hurt - all they have to do is call Prudential and ask "Is Tommy there?".