FAN: And We Miss You, Sean Morey

This is a short, but great article and really speaks to what's so special about our Pittsburgh Steelers. If you think I'm not serious about missing Morey, just go up to the "Search This Blog" area and enter "Sean Morey". Told you so. Good Special Teams coverage is an art and Sean and Chidi were very good at it.

Day Of The Turk

The Stillers got down to business today by getting down to their final 53-man roster. There weren't too many surprises, if any if you've been paying attention. Tomorrow after 12 noon they will be able to sign 8 players back for their practice squad. Let's take a look at who got whacked like a weed.

First off WR Dallas Baker, TE Cody Boyd, TE Jon Dekker, WR Gerran Walker and WR Walter Young. No surprises there. Matt Spaeth did nothing (and I repeat nothing to earn a roster spot), but he did. The new regime doesn't want to admit an error in the 3rd round I guess. This leaves a decent enough group of receivers in Ward, Nate Washington, Santonio Holmes, Willie Reid, Cedric Wilson and Miller, Tuman and Spaeth at TE. I guess coach Tomlin isn't sold at all on Willie Reid returning punts and/or kickoffs because we traded a conditional pick next year for return specialist Allen Rossum of Atlanta. I remember watching him quite a bit when he was with Philly. Hope the burst is still there after 10 seasons.

The first "surprise" cut was Chukky Okobi. Sean Mahan won out as predicted and it was determined that Okobi makes too much to be a career backup. They also cut the only other center on the roster - Marvin Philip. I guess Kendall Simmons did well enough in camp that he will be the replacement center if there is an injury. Other OLs cut were Jason Capizzi, Cameron Stephenson and Brandon Torrey. The OL will be Mahan, Starks, Colon, Smith, Faneca, Kemoeatu, Simmons & Essex. I'm surprised Trai Essex made the team. He must have played much better down the stretch. Good for him.

Verron Haynes couldn't overtake the youngsters and Dick Hoak wasn't here to vote for John Kuhn - one of my favorites from last year. On the plus side - Danny Kreider makes the team. Cool. Backs are Parker, Davenport, Kreider, Gary Russel and Cary Davis. That's a lot of undrafted running backs!

There were no major surprises in the defensive backfield or linebackers either. That being said, I love Chidi Owuoma and I hope he catches on with another team. Maybe his base salary is getting too high for his number of years to make the team as only a special teamer. Chidi rarely gets into a game playing corner and I suppose there is a reason for that. Also, Rian Wallace is local to Pottstown PA and I was hoping he would make the roster as well. Didn't work out that way. The final cuts are CB Chidi Iwuoma, CB Jovon Johnson, S Mike Lorello, CB Anthony Madison, CB Grant Mason, DE Ryan McBean, DE Shaun Nua, DT Scott Paxson, QB Bryan Randall, LB Ron Stanley, LB Rian Wallace.

No guesses on the practice squad but I'd like to see Kuhn and Wallace on it for sure. Still A Dog likes Capizzi but doesn't think he'll clear waivers. We'll know by tomorrow.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Well, Tomlin seems to have watched some game film as he's bringing Chidi Owuoma back for another year as a Special Teams Specialist. It doesn't hurt that in a pinch he can play DB just enough that he doesn't kill you. Sean Morey, however, had the hatchet dropped on him and was quickly gobbled up by Arizona. Probably a decent move for them as they need kick coverage help. Sometimes the Steelers only want 5 receivers on the team and it hurts when one of them is a liability but is kept around for Special Teams purposes. I like Morey, but Tomlin is banking on a defensive rookie being able to do what he does well. Plus, it will save cap money this year. I'm glad Chidi is back and I still can't believe they released him last year knowing the Pats like to sign our casualties to get a knowledge dump.

Good News, Bad News

Good news? Fan favorite and more importantly my favorite special teams demon - Chidi Owuoma is back on the team. Bad news? So is Lee Mays. Owuoma is back because of injuries to Polamalu and Clark. Mays is back due to injuries to Ward and Wilson. I want to see what Nate does for an entire game. Should be fun to watch.

Bring Back Chidi

OK, obviously Tyrone Carter forgot how to tackle last night and he picked some bad angles. I don't dislike Ty as a player, but I Love Chidi as a player. Chidi, to me, is the kind of guy you need on a championship team. From what I've seen and read he's selfless and will do whatever is asked of him. He may not be the best DB on the team, but in reality, how often is the last DB on the depth chart used (not on special teams)? So, besides Ty Carter in no particular order, here are a few players I feel like we can do without if it would mean Iwuoma could come home.

Willie Reid - I saw nothing special out of this cat in the preseason. If he was drafted to return punts and he isn't returning them YET, then obviously there is a problem. Put him on the practice squad if nobody picks him up off waivers but Chidi can help us win right now - Willie Reid cannot.

Brian St. Pierre - If we went into the season with 2 QBs, why do we need 3 right now?

Duce Staley - Are you kidding me? He's just taking up space!

Arnold Harrison - Not related to James, doesn't play like James.

Tim Euhus (TE) - Who? I know we play some 2 TE sets, but if Miller or Tuman got injured in a game, we could just abandon those sets.

Not Surprised - Jags Are For Real

My goodness, what a defense. I think we have more talent on our team and Ben was rusty - but we got beat last night. In my old age, I can look at this game and not get that upset. I think if we played them at home tomorrow, we would win. The thing is - they've now beaten us two years in a row. Should we face them in the playoffs, they won't be intimidated by us at all....not one little bit, nosireebob. All we need to do is beat Cincy next week and we're 2-1 and looking OK. I don't want to be 1-2 but it's very early in the season and we knew we had a killer schedule coming out of the gate. Some things I noticed last night: maybe Ben should have sat and they would have had a long time to prepare a plan for Charlie (good point Dog!), we can't seem to tackle those short hitch passes very well when it's 1-on-1. Ike got beat by that against Miami and DeShea was getting schooled last night. Santonio looked confused at least twice last night, especially on the one pick. Not much pressure. No running game. At least we covered punts and kickoffs. Can't say the defense played poorly, but i was surprised at the lack of good tackling from Ty Carter. Troy is hurt and banged up, but Carter took bad angles and missed several tackles - the one surely giving up the 2nd field goal. Chidi time? It's not even that the offense played terrible, it's just that Jax plays the same aggressive in-your-face defense that we do. I would have bet the farm that we could muster more than 26 yards on the ground. I'm not going to panic though. Let's give Ben a full week of healthy practice and come after those "Who Dey?" guys. Remember, all we need to do is make the playoffs. Heinz hasn't been kind to us at home in January!

Front Office Shuffling Some Of My Favorites

Geez. So Kuhn makes the team. Then Ben gets hurt and to sign St. Pierre they release Kuhn. Chidi Iwouma had a nasty concussion in the last preseason game and he has now been released to resign Kuhn....admitting once again that they are in love with the kid. The next time he is released, if any of our division opponents have a brain, they will sign him just to spite us! Anyway, I really hope nobody signs Iwouma while Ben is healing. As soon as Ben is OK, they should release St. Pierre and resign Chidi.....how can you not like Chidi? He is a special team assassin!

Chidi, Iwanna Thank You

If you know me, then you know I collect Steeler autographs. Around this time of year I send a batch of letters out requesting cards that I make up be signed and returned to me in a self-addressed stamped envelope. I write a nice letter and mention something about each player so it's not...."Hey, SIGN HERE....NOW!". You'd be surprised how many come back. I already have most of the major players but I need to send letters to get some players that there isn't a market for financially. I don't do this for monetary gain - It's my hobby. Well, James Farrior was the first to send back last year and this year the honor goes to none other than Chidi Iwuoma. Chidi is part of what makes the Steelers special in my opinion. He is an unselfish player who gives 110% on special teams. It's players like him that allow injuries to occur by providing depth at a high level of talent. Here's to you Chidi, for growing my collection and always being one of the first men down the field!