"They have two backs. Taylor of course, has a very impressive resume...Just had an 80-yard touchdown this past weekend, so nothing surprises me in terms of what he’s capable of. Jones-Drew is a great complement to him, does a lot of things well, can run inside, can run outside...and I think he’s got plus 25 career touchdowns already in less than two full seasons, so he is a big part of what they do."Alright, so I take it we all heard the hot news by now - Aaron Smith is out for the season with a torn bicep. So going into a game in which we'll face not one, but two hard downhill runners, we'll be down one rock solid run stuffer. Shit.
- Mike Tomlin
But alas, while he'll be missed, all is not lost...
My question now is - Is this Tomlin's chance to give that 4-3 Defense a try?
LaMarr Woodley is scheduled to practice today, and played DE in college. Backup NT Chris Hoke is considerably better than both backup ends Travis Kirschke and Nick Eason. And Brett Keisel is actually kind of better suited for the 4-3. Not sure I want to sit Farrior or Foote right now, but still...
Of course, this week is out of the question. Even if we weren't facing one of the leagues more dominant rushing attacks, we don't have enough time to implement anything effectively. But just a thought to plant in your head. Smith's out for the remainder of the season. Will we see the Tampa 2 come to Pittsburgh once again? My guess is no, but hey, we gotta talk about something today, right?
Anyways, for those of you wondering, here's what the overall injury sitch looks like:
Aaron Smith ~ Being too much manIn other news, here's an interesting tidbit - This guy has devised a formula for calculating a team's chances of making the playoffs and currently has the Steelers at a rather obvious 98.2%. But the real question is - Can he calculate when Brian Billick will finally be fired? That'd be really impressive...
Willie Colon ~ StrainedVaginaCalf Muscle (Will play)
Andre Frazier ~ SoreLoser SyndromeGroin (Will play)
Bryant McFadden ~Ike Taylor EnvyAnkle (Will play)
San Antonio Holmes ~Ankle SprainWeak Healing Abilities
Woodley and Polamalu~ Will practice today
And finally, in case you guys hadn't heard, Anthony Smith made a so called "guarantee" that the Steelers would beat the Patriots and then got picked on like it was high school and he was part of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons crowd. If you missed it, these guys would be more than happy to tell you about it:
Smith says Patriots will see Steelers again [Associated Press]So that's all I got for now. Hopefully something remotely interesting happens today. Otherwise you guys might just have to wait until tomorrow to get anything worthwhile out of me.
Smith serves as Pats' motivational speaker [Fox Sports]
When facing the Pats, just shut your mouth [ESPN]
A-bombed [SteelCityInsider]
'Til then talk amongst yourselves...I'll give you a topic - Consideration is not necessary to form a contract nor should it be. Discuss.
5 comments:
Man, losing Aaron Smith hurts this defense.
They might have to adjust the scheme some, but probably not to a 4-three at this point in the season.
Yeah I was thinking like situational and shit. Mostly shit. Some situational.
That's funny shit about Willie Colon my friend.
-Blitzburgh-
Yeah man, I just call it like I see it.
Chris Hoke is more than capable of replacing Smith at end, and i hope to G-d that's who they go to. I don't think much of Eason at all. Kirschke has his moments but is more of a situational guy than a full-timer.
I still don't understand why our Steelers refuse to learn from all the highly successful teams who use a talented rotation on D-line to keep pressure on opposing QBs. We've played the same guys basically on every play all day every week. That's what opponents are exploiting, IMHO.
BTW- I think Max Starks would be a dominant DT in the 4-3. I believe he played defense in college at some point. Imagine 6'8", 350 in the middle...and he IS strong. An idea anyway...
Thoughts?
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