Hartwig over Mahan and other Steelers observations

By Neal Coolong  |   Thursday, August 28, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

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Steelers coach Mike Tomlin announced Monday that Justin Hartwig, not Sean Mahan, will be the team’s starting center when Pittsburgh hosts Houston in Sept. 7's season opener.

It wasn’t exactly a Dermontti Dawson-vs.-Jeff Hartings battle for one of the league’s storied center jobs. Judging by the amount of times Hartwig ended up on the ground during the preseason, it’s safe to say the Steelers have not improved the weakest position on a porous returning offensive line.

About that offensive line ...

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked twice and hurried four times in the Steelers’ 12-10 victory at Minnesota last week. There’s some consolation that the Steelers won’t have to block the Vikings this season – no one in the AFC North looks capable of producing the kind of heat Minnesota was bringing – but the fact that Roethlisberger hit his check-downs well is somewhat disconcerting. This is a run-first, big-strike-second offense. If he’s only able to hit Heath Miller on a 5-yard safety-valve route because he’s got a defender in his grill, the defense is going to have to stand on its head all season.

Can the defense stand on its head?

One aspect of Saturday night’s game not mentioned enough is how viewers got to see two of the NFL's top defenses playing at a high level. The game didn't count, but just as the Steelers should be concerned with their offensive line, the Vikings should have taken pause for thought on superstar Adrian Peterson’s 12 carries for 21 yards. The Steelers' defensive line may be as deep as a wading pool, but the starters were dominant, owning the line of scrimmage and pushing a highly regarded Vikings O-line back on every snap. If it wasn’t for a beautiful Gus Frerotte pass to Visanthe Shiancoe, the game would've been tied 3-3 going into the second half.

And that was without Troy Polamalu. Does Frerotte have that kind of time with the four-time Pro Bowl safety in there? Maybe, maybe not, but getting a pass off when rookie Bruce Davis is coming at you is a lot easier if your primary receiver is being covered by 5-foot-8 Tyrone Carter, not Polamalu.

More defensive predictions

If you put a healthy Polamalu in Pittsburgh's lineup for all of 2008, you’re going to see one of the best Steelers defenses in years. At the very least, it'll easily be the most athletic. Second-year inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons has running back speed and the ability to hit 5 yards through a ball carrier. The Steelers haven’t had two pass-rushing outside linebackers this dominant since Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd. LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison will each have double-digit sacks, and Harrison will go back to the Pro Bowl.

It's doubtful the same will be said for ex-Steelers Clark Haggans and Joey Porter.

Things to watch for Thursday

The final preseason game -- a matchup against Carolina -- is so unimportant, the team bumped the start ahead 30 minutes from its originally scheduled time to make room for the Democratic National Convention coverage. Just as well, it’s highly likely backup QB Byron Leftwich will have played well enough to give the Steelers’ brass serious pause for thought in what to do with their second and third signal-callers.

Leftwich loads and launches at speeds usually reserved for catapults, but he’s got the same amount of power behind his throws. Releasing longtime clipboard carrier Charlie Batch may not sit well with the fans, but running the risk of cutting Dennis Dixon to put him on the practice squad means the Steelers spent a lot of money in meals during training camp on a QB they never had to have wear a jersey; running those scout-team drills is what oft-released Mike Potts is for. Batch’s contract is up after this year, and the simple fact is that he is by far the most likely to be available should the need to sign another QB at some point.

With rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall having to pay out $100 each time a teammate got the ball he had to carry around with him all week, it will be interesting to see if he does put it on the ground. Steelers fans should remember that WR Santonio Holmes fumbled five times during his rookie season. Since then, he has just two fumbles against eight touchdowns. Watch him drop that number (pun intended) to zero fumbles, and boost his TD total to 13. As for Mendenhall, he’ll get some confidence-boosting carries against the Panthers' practice bodies, and go into the season hoping to spell starter Willie Parker.

Training Camp: An entirely new kind of fantasy game!</i>">Training Camp: An entirely new kind of fantasy game!
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About Neal Coolong

Neal Coolong is a freelance sports writer with contributions to Scout.com, AOL and Steelers Live. He lives with his fiance in St. Paul, Minn., and saves every dime (that she knows about) for their wedding next June. He's already made the prediction that the Steelers 2007 draft class will be one...
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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
12:14 PM
08/28/2008
This last game will show the coaches what the rookies and backups are all about and the starters shouldnt play much or even at...
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No.2
RedskinFan21ST		12:44 PM
08/28/2008
I think Pittsburgh is a lock to win the AFC North with maybe Cleveland contending but they have looked poor in preseason and that...
No.3
04:02 PM
08/28/2008
If the Steelers Defense can play the way they did last year and stay healthy they should give Big Ben plenty of time to put up...
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