Fleur-de-Links September 12, 2010: No-Saints Sunday

Dennis Dixon was the third stringer only because of two reasons for sure and a probable third

1) This was his second actual start — ever.
2) They thought they had Byron Leftwich available. Horrible as he has been in some circumstances, he’s still far more experienced and seemed (to them, if not to me) to be the better option. And frankly Byron DID outplay Dennis in the preseason.
3) Dennis has a lot of potential and he’s about to become an RFA. The less they showcase him the less they have to worry about losing him in the offseason before they know what the future with Ben holds.

At any rate, here is my take on things. Dixon looked his experience level. Tentative, and mistake prone, and he got harassed a lot. A lot of people will say that’s because Atlanta’s pass rush has improved. They’re part right — it HAS. Which is semi-scary. But the Steeler OL makes the Buffalo one look halfway decent. I’m not kidding. It’s injury-riddled already and full of backups and stop-gap plugins. And they weren’t even that great before the injuries. So how much was Atlanta and how much was the Steeler line being OK at run blocking but horrid at pass blocking? Not sure. We’ll find out in a few weeks, I guess.

The LB corp looked a bit improved too, but again not awesome. And they definitely showed their inexperience. Weatherspoon is still all mouth and no money, but he’s got the raw skill that he’ll probably improve soon. Unfortunately.

The Altanta secondary, however, was basically exactly what I was expecting. Dunta looked OK, but not the superstar they were expecting. DeCoud looks just like I remember — hard hitting guy who I would probably forgive if he was on my team, but since he’s on a rival I can’t. And he does make some questionable hits. He’s probably not trying to play dirty. I doubt Polamalu or even Allen actually does that, and they’re like the poster-children for dirty play. But he does manage to do it at least some of the time. And the rest was lucky that the Steeler’s OL was so porous, or they’d have been torched.

I’m quite sure we’re the better team. I’m not as sure we’ll actually win. Barring a situation where you’re twice as good or more, divisional games are always tight, always hard fought, and always up in the air going in. And so I’m sure I’ll be on the edge of my seat for at least half of that game.