But the other piece I mentioned we were all looking for is confirmation on Leftwich's injured MCL.
Like I highlighted earlier, the Trib's Scott Brown says it's an MCL tear and that Leftwich is out indefinitely, and that Leftwich's "agency" tweeted as much last night.
But now, ESPN's Chris Mortenson is reporting that (his "sources" say) it's just an MCL sprain and that Leftwich wants to avoid surgery and play.
Everybody wants to be the first to report things, and unfortunately, you can't trust anything until it's independently verifiable through multiple sources. And even then, who the hell knows. Yet, I'm the asshole for waiting on "confirmation."
ANYWAY, the Steelers - keeping to form - have said nothing on the situation.
So we're still waiting.
But like I said on Facebook and Twitter, let's assume Leftwich did only sprain the MCL and that he feels like he can play - do we really think we're better off with the world's least mobile QB hobbling on an injured knee playing behind the Steelers offensive line?
Oh, and rest assured, I'll let you know if/when we ever get confirmation from the Steelers.
UPDATE (3:54 PM) - Apparently at around 12:43 PM, which was literally two minutes after I left my laptop and stepped out the door (in keeping with how things go for me), Ed Bouchette reported that Leftwich SPRAINED his MCL and will be out two to four weeks...still nothing from the Steelers, though.
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Of course, with the events that have transpired in the media this week, you have to call this a REPORT at this point.
But let's get serious, I'd hope that NFL Network would be a source you could trust for NFL news.
So, Ben's got four weeks to play a lot of Madden before he's allowed to return to the team just in time for the Week 5 bye, which is good since that'll give him a solid TWO weeks of work with the team (or a week plus as much work as the team does during the bye week, anyway) to get his proverbial groove back.
UPDATE (11:22 AM) - Commissioner's "official" statement straight from NFL PR Man Greg Aiello - "You have told me and the Steelers that you committed to making better decisions. Your actions over the past several months have been consistent with that promise and you must continue to honor that commitment."
Now, let's watch this for four weeks...
While we wait for this...
Here we go, Steelers...
HERE WE GO!!!!
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Alright, let's not try and pretend it didn't happen.
Last night, amidst something that I'm not sure I'd even bother qualifying as a game, Byron Leftwich caught some friendly fire from Jonathan Scott (who later himself was injured) and friends, and went down with a left knee injury.
Leftwich left the stadium to get an MRI and the initial word was some type of MCL damage. "His agency," according to everyone who has reported it, tweeted last night that it was a tear...but while you'd like to assume the report is genuine, not knowing exactly who's in charge of the account, I'm not sure I trust it until I hear the news from someone I KNOW I can trust (I'm told that the Trib's Scott Brown has confirmed that it's an MCL tear...though his current "report" still uses the word "apparently").
Anwyay, assuming this is true it obviously shakes things up rather obnoxiously with the first game of the season just over a week away.
The team brought Leftwich in as a veteran presence to bridge the gap while Ben is out on suspension, but presuming he's out for the foreseeable future, would they be best to just put him on IR and use that roster spot on valuable and healthy talent? Do they bring in another guy to back up either Dixon or Batch (presumably Dixon)? Questions abound, not the least of which is - can we please get an official prognosis from the team?
Amazingly, all those people who were so rabid to call for Dennis Dixon to start have now started to panic, which frankly is something I'm not sure I understand. But then, there were a ton of people who called for the team to trade Big Ben this offseason who have now rejoined the cheering section, so I suppose this isn't anything new for Steeler Nation.
On the positive side, if Dixon even plans on being a viable backup (here or elsewhere), he's gotta play some time. Maybe this is a good thing for the Steelers. Dixon gets to do work with the starting offense, providing mobility, improvisation skills and youth, and the Falcons, Titans, Bucs and Ravens (assuming Ben's suspension gets reduced today) have to plan for a lot more than just a statue who drops 20 feet back in the pocket.
On the negative side, Dixon is way less experienced, and these four (to six) games are about making it to the other side with a serviceable record. Whether Dixon will make young mistakes and hurt the team more than it's already shown that it's capable of hurting itself is a question mark.
But frankly, it doesn't do a lot of good to talk about hypotheticals.
The reality is, Dixon will start.
I love Chuck Batch, you love Chuck Batch, but I think we can all agree he's not a kid anymore. First, I'd worry about his old bones getting injured every time a defender so much as glances in his direction. And second, he hasn't gotten nearly the same reps with the first team as Dixon has (not that Dixon has even had that many either).
So, here's where we start to hope for the best and root for Double D.
As for last night's "game," in case you missed it, you really didn't MISS much of anything beyond those injuries I mentioned (Leftwich and Jonathan Scott) and Chuck Batch going 3/4 for 10 yards passing.
No Steelers RB had less than a 4 yards per carry average (except Justin Vincent who probably won't make the squad anyhow)...
Jonathan Dwyer helped his cause with 20 carries for 86 yards, including the 36 yard gem pictured below...
Isaac Redman had 4 carries for 35 yards, for an almost 9 yards per carry average.
Mendenhall carried 5 times for 22 yards, and Mewelde Moore carried 5 times for 20 yards.
Manny Sanders had a solid night catching 3 balls for 66 yards, including a 23 yard connection from Dixon, which coincidentally was the only pass Dixon threw and was the only TD scored throughout the entire game...
The Steelers nabbed four sacks, including one by Nick Eason that generated probably the best pictured ever captured of him...
The offensive line looked about as solid as my bowel movements the morning after taco night, allowing a sack and way too many close calls on Big Ben...
Other than that, not a whole lot you need to take away from last night.
At this point, we now sit and await two important pieces of information... 1) Confirmation on Leftwich's injury from the Steelers 2) The outcome of today's Big Ben-Roger Goodell tea party (UPDATE - Suspension reduction, secured! Four games)
Feel free to make any observations you might have on any of this in the comments.
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I hope you'll excuse the lack of posts between yesterday and today.
Oh right, AND Monday.
Your faithful editor has been preoccupied with things that need not be discussed.
Needless to say, the full recap I promised is meh. I thought I'd get to something, but then, life happened, and I didn't. You'll have to forgive me if I don't find highlighting every single detail of a preseason game to be my top priority.
Anyway, not like the news has stopped while my brain has been on hiatus.
Over the past few days, a bunch of things have happened...including...
- Some guys you probably didn't think were going to make the team anyway, got cut (don't cry for me David Pittman...er, other way around?)
- Peter King put a hex on the Steelers by picking them as winners of Super Bowl XLV (personally, I'm not worried about the Super Bowl just yet, so much as I am worrying about getting a healthy record out of four to six games without Ben)
- Some idiot columnist from the Washington Post fabricated a rumor that Ben's suspension would be reduced to five games (coincidentally, apparently some are now saying Ben plans on asking for three games or less...a proposition which head honcho Art Rooney II apparently supports)
Of course, if you were a fan of OFTOT on Facebook, you'd have already heard about all of this and more...well, you would've heard about all of it from me, anyway.
As for the rest of the goings on, not much to report.
Ben starts tomorrow night (excuse me, probably starts), Willie Gay starts in place of McFadden (and in spite of Keenan Lewis), I doubt anyone who is any value to the team plays more than a series or two, and currently, I'm working on murdering a bag of Lay's Sour Cream & Onion chips that I'm way too into.
I'll hopefully resume regular [meaningful] posting sometime in the next few days.
Until then...
Smiley with teeth.
It's ok if you don't know what to do with that.
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The first thing I can think of to say about tonight's game - I'm amazed such a sloppy mess could happen without the Heinz Field turf being involved.
If you didn't see it, the final score was Broncos - 34, Steelers 17.
But it might as well have been Broncos - 56, Steelers, 3.
I've got a few things I'll mention now, the rest will follow tomorrow...ish.
Here are the things that should have stood out to you...
1) Penalties - 11 for 93 yards 2) Turnovers - Namely, THREE interceptions (two of which were returned for six) 3) Special Teams - Obviously still broken
But beyond that, the other thing everyone will be buzzing about is Dennis Dixon.
After dominating 3rd stringers for the past couple of weeks, he finally earned some solid playing time with the 1st team offense, relieving Ben early on in the game.
How'd he do?
Well, I wouldn't exactly pencil him in as the game 1 starter.
He went 9/16 for 94 yards, and threw TWO picks - one in the end zone that he should've just thrown away, and another that led to six Broncos points at the end of the 1st half.
Needless to say, neither was acceptable.
And then Leftwich came into the game.
He literally played just under four minutes total, going 0/4, getting sacked once and generally looking like he would have rather been getting a colonoscopy (which probably would be about as painful as what would've happened to Leftwich if he stayed in the game any longer).
Though, to be fair, he did hand off to Jonathan Dwyer for one of the Steleers two TDs.
Anyways, this of course instills no confidence in either QB with the season just a couple of weeks away.
The good news is, no one ever lost a chance at the playoffs in the preseason.
So, for today, we hold our noses and hope that the stench of tonight's game doesn't linger any longer than the next few days, as the Steelers play the Panthers on Thursday night in their final preseason game.
The only other thing you really need to know is that Roger Goodell will be meeting with Ben following Thursday's game to let Ben know whether he'll have to throw passes to his dogs for the first four or six weeks of the season.
For all our sakes, let's hope it's four.
At least we all got a laugh out of it.
Feel free to deposit your own initial thoughts in the comments.
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Plus, Pouncey's going to get the start Sunday night against the Broncos and NT Jamaal Williams.
Now, look, one day of all 1st team reps - even coupled with a preseason starting nod - isn't definitive evidence that this is anything more than an evaluation at this point.
But given the not-so-gradual easing of Pouncey into the 1st team rotation, one has to wonder what's going to happen with just about two and a half weeks until the first game that counts...
So, the natural question would be - if Pouncey takes over at Center, do you cut Justin Hartwig?
On the one hand, he's going on 32, and you've got other Centers on the roster (and by other Centers, I mean Doug Legursky).
On the other hand, you're talking about inserting a 21-year-old kid (he apparently JUST turned 21, too) at the hardest position on the line. Having some veteran talent around in case you need someone to step in wouldn't be a bad thing, especially considering the state of the Steelers line the past few seasons.
Either way, while I trust that no decision is ever final until Tomlin says it is, all signs are pointing to Maurkice Pouncey right now.
Now, how many of you got hard after reading all that?
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"I THINK (DENNIS) DIXON should be the man in Pittsburgh. I think Ben Roethlisberger should have to try to earn his spot and start from scratch for what he did. Let Dixon play those four games, and if he wins all of them, just keep starting him until he gets hurt, and then put Big Ben in. When people make mistakes they should have to pay for it."
Ok, so apparently while we weren't looking, someone in the greater Harrisburg, PA area decided to push the boundaries of complete mental instability (and potentially the non-lethal limits of methamphetamine consumption).
The hot topic this preseason has obviously been the "competition" between Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon for the exciting job of interim starting QB.
And I fully submit, Dixon has made it really hard not to get swept up in the mass hysteria.
I'm on board.
Maybe if the team hadn't decided to run the ball every other down in the preseason, at least Bruce Arians could absorb some of the attention. But as we have kept it on the ground about 65% of the time so far through two preseason games, the wolves have been kept at bay on that front.
Anyway, Byron Leftwich vs. Dennis Dixon for an interim starting job is one thing; Dennis Dixon over Ben Roethlisberger for the overall starting job is completely another.
Putting aside the fact that the Steelers pay Big Ben about 800,000 times more than they pay Dixon, and the fact that he's a two-time Super Bowl winner who has won the most games through his first five years in the league of any QB in NFL history, "when people make mistakes they should pay for them?"
Sorry, I know we've been through this, but if you were looking for the National Girl Scouts League, you're doing it wrong.
I know you didn't miss the part where they handed Ben a four to six game suspension...is that not paying for his "mistake?"
But even beyond that, do you not want the Steelers to give themselves their best chance to win?
Whatever, I'm gonna go put my time to more productive use and eat some Dorito's.
In the meantime, try not to hemmorage any brain cells re-reading that quote.
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