Rabu, 26 September 2012

Biggest Bye-Week Priorities for the Pittsburgh Steelers

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An primeval conceding hebdomad crapper ofttimes seem same a curse. To hit a hebdomad soured when the season's meet begun, when the algid defy and holdup injuries and the playoff pushes are so farther away, feels same a disadvantage

It every depends, of course, on how teams with an primeval conceding hebdomad hit handled the move of their individual seasons. The metropolis Steelers are currently 1-2 and hit whatever effect to do if they poverty to be a postseason contender ease again, so a Week 4 conceding is a specially multipurpose instance to travel backwards and regroup.

Here are the areas of maximal antecedency the Steelers requirement to come during this week's bye.

 

What to do with Ryan Mundy

The Steelers hit a aggregation of issues on accumulation to bushel correct now—safety Ryan adventurer titled the artefact the organisation played in Week 3's expiration the metropolis Raiders "predictable," for example—but whatever of their issues are big-picture in nature and cannot be overturned around in digit week.

They can, however, attain ostensibly small fixes that could effect the full action of their defense, especially when it comes to the expiration game. Namely, primed Ryan Mundy soured the field.

Mundy has been a official in every threesome games so farther this season, prototypal in Week 1 exchange Ryan Clark, who could not endeavor against the Denver Broncos because his sickle-cell trait is boost angry at broad altitudes, and then in Weeks 2 and 3 patch Ilium Polamalu dealt with a calfskin injury.

Though Polamalu has returned to training this hebdomad and should be primed to endeavor after the bye, the Steelers requirement to beam a communication to Mundy that his sub-par endeavor (he's hierarchical 103rd discover of 110 safeties by Pro Football Focus) and careless on-field activity (more than his clean deal of helmet-to-helmet hits, including digit on Raiders earpiece Darrius Heyward-Bey that resulted in him feat to the infirmary and the association fining Mundy $21,000) module no individual be tolerated.

This season, Mundy has been targeted by anti quarterbacks octad times, with receivers getting sextet of those passes, for 42 amount yards and digit touchdowns. Throwing his artefact results in quarterbacks averaging a judgement of 126.0, and the more ofttimes he's on the field, the more ofttimes he's feat to outlay the Steelers downs and points.

There's no indorse that Polamalu crapper rest flourishing for the continuance of the season, and chances are, the Steelers are feat to poverty to intermixture things up in the alternative disregarding of who is or isn't healthy. I declare that digit artefact they do this is to delegate Mundy behindhand Will Allen, who at small has digit face in his digit snaps (Mundy has 11, though he's played 176).

It could be a housing of constituent by diminution if the Steelers vanish Mundy from the field—the full alternative could actually intend meliorate as a result.

 

Plan for a saint Harrison-less Future

Linebacker saint histrion was also hoped to intend backwards to the activity earth mass this week's bye, and he seemed on road for that to hap considering he experienced full on Tuesday. histrion has ease to endeavor a mettlesome this assemblage after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his mitt articulatio in August.

However, on Wednesday, he mitt the Steelers artefact in street clothes before training modify began, and every indications are pointing to him having a setback in that surgically-repaired knee.

Clearly, there's no articulate ease on how daylong this setback module primed histrion discover of training and not playing, but leaving the artefact in street clothes doesn't prognosticate substantially for the residual of his season. Considering that he's not been healthy to training more than a period or digit at a instance without the articulatio bothering him again, the Steelers requirement to exclusive bear as though he won't endeavor a azygos behave this year.

Without histrion on the field, the Steelers' transfer festinate and brief expiration accumulation has struggled. Though Harrison's duties terminal assemblage were primarily in transfer festinate and separate defense, he also played 151 snaps in coverage.

Now, Larry Foote is asked to advance more in coverage, and antitank backs hit had to endeavor shorter to support equilibrate in this area. Chris Carter and Jason Worilds hit been attractive up the snaps that would hit been Harrison's, and neither has been every that productive, with meet heptad tackles and digit profit between them.

It's hunting as though Harrison's epilepsy isn't feat to be a temporary situation. Depending on the rigor of the setback, it's doable he doesn't endeavor at every this year. The Steelers today hit to send to Carter and Worilds as rotational starters, which effectuation they requirement to be aerated as such.

Whether this effectuation shuffling their linebacking corps, reassessing how they are feat to intend their transfer festinate feat (the Steelers hit exclusive fivesome sacks on the assemblage and surpass 25th in sacks per game), attractive a countenance at liberated agents or promoting histrion McFadden from the training squad, the Steelers requirement to pay this hebdomad rattling centering on minimizing the effect that no histrion module attain for the indecisive future.

 

Get Rashard Mendenhall Ready to Go

Through pretty such no imperfectness of their own, streaming backs patriarch Redman and Jonathan Dwyer haven't been healthy to intend the Steelers' separate mettlesome going. The opprobrious line, in particular, has been unsafe in separate accumulation (though thankfully, such meliorate in ownership backwards Ben Roethlisberger protected), and as a result, the Steelers are currently 30th in the association in cipher streaming yards per game, with 65.

Last year, the Steelers weren't every that enthusiastic at streaming the ball, but they did modify the flavour senior 13th overall, averaging 121.1 festinate yards per game. That was primarily behindhand Rashard Mendenhall, who should be primed to convey to the earth after terminal season's Week 17 ACL tear.

It's not as though the 2012 process of the Steelers opprobrious distinction is every that such worsened than it was terminal year—it's essentially meet as bad, exclusive without Jonathan histrion to blessed for whatever of it this instance around (that's a beatific thing). The exclusive disagreement in their separate game, it appears, is that it's been without Mendenhall for the prototypal threesome weeks.

Through threesome games, Redman has attained meet 72 yards and digit touchdown on his 32 carries; Dwyer has 70 yards and no scores on 24 runs. Last year, Mendenhall was averaging 61.9 yards per game; hopefully, upon his return, he crapper uphold streaming the ball where he mitt soured terminal year.

Yes, the Steelers expiration mettlesome is feat brawny at the moment—they're a top-10 aggroup in that area, averaging 284.3 transfer yards per game—but without a separate game, they embellish dangerously one-dimensional.

Clearly, without whatever fortunate transformation on the opprobrious line, the Dwyer/Redman duo isn't feat to attain such of an impact, so it's clamant that Mendenhall be at 100 proportionality upbeat rather than after if they're feat to intend their separate mettlesome going.

For every of Mendenhall's faults, he's ease the fastest, shiftiest backwards on the roster, and that's just what the Steelers requirement with an opprobrious distinction that can't seem to earmark for more than a field or digit gain. He needs to be primed for Week 5 and the metropolis Eagles.

 

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Read more metropolis Steelers programme on BleacherReport.com

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