Thursday Steeler Science

Yinzers,

Week one is finally upon us. As the nation continues ride the poles of Brett Favre and the New Orleans Saints, the Steelers are preparing for Sunday's opening day against the Atlanta Falcons at Heinz Field. The game is at 1:00 pm, the most ideal game time for Steeler fans for tailgating purposes. Let's take a look at what's on the lab bench, shall we?

The Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons finished up last season with three straight wins in their last three games. Last year was a rebuilding season for the Falcons with a true rookie quarterback by the name of Matt Ryan out of Boston College. The team overall plays solid football, consistently in the top half of the league in most categories except passing yards against. Unless they have sured up their pass defense, it should be a good match-up for the young Dennis Dixon. The Falcons run a pretty balanced offense, though most of their big plays come from few players. Matt Ryan's favorite target is Roddy White who finished last season with 1100+ yards receiving and Tony Gonzalez was the second favorite target with 867 yards receiving. Shut down these two and Matt Ryan could panic. The running game is more of a modern "running back by committee" with the carries getting split between Michael Turner, Jerrious Norwood and Jason Snelling. Turner was the leading rusher with 850+ yards on 178 carries. All three of these guys have big play potential, however. Look for the Falcons to try traps and play actions to keep the defense on their heels and free up Roddy White if he is lucky enough to get one-one coverage. On defense, the biggest weakness will be the defensive secondary. The Falcons were 28th against the pass last year, allowing nearly 250 yards per game. If the Steelers can run some short- to mid-range patterns to take advantage of cushion given by the corners, it's gonna be a long day for the Falcons' defense. The defense also does not get to the quarterback particularly well considering they went all of last year with just 28 team sacks. James Harrison and Lamaar Woodley combined for 23 alone last year. If you can wear these guys down between the tackles, it will open up the both the run and play-action very well.

Your Pittsburgh Steelers
Yes, we do not have Ben Roethlisberger this week, I know. Dennis Dixon will get the start against a mediocre Falcons defense. I think he will be ok in this one, perhaps not outstanding, but I feel he got to see enough snaps in the preseason to get many of the butterflies out. The new-look offensive line should give Dixon plenty of time with Pouncy taking control in the wake of releasing Justin Hartwig. This will be a good test for the offensive line considering that the Falcons generally do not get to the quarterback very well. Rashard Mendenhall is a returning 1000 yard rusher and should fare pretty well with his physical style against the generally undersized Falcons linebackers. Keep the shoulders square and run North and South and I could see a 100 yard game. As far as the passing game goes, look for Bruce Ariens to call a lot of screens and short passes as usual to build the confidence of Dennis Dixon and continue to be the most predictable offensive coordinator in the game. Do I need to say anything about defense? 43, 92, 51, 94, 56, 99, 91, 98. That's all that needs said. The only question I have on defense is will the corners continue to crap the bed? Special teams also needs to step it up this season. The Steelers had some of the worst special teams play in the league last season, giving up what seemed like an average of 1 or 2 returns for touchdowns every game and getting little if anything on their own returns. Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders will most likely be splitting the return duties until one of them shows promise. From my point of view, if the Steelers can control the field position, they should be able to come out with an opening day victory without Ben Roethlisberger.

Here we go,
B Brog