[Lefty Noob]

Well, it happened - the Steelers became I believe the first defending Super Bowl champion ever to go winless in the preseason, losing to Carolina 15-13 yesterday. It isn't as big a deal as it sounds, really. Ben Roethlisberger played only four series in three games, Hines Ward's been recovering from an injury, and yesterday's game almost exclusively featured reserve players. Still, is there anything for Steeler fans to worry about with their team?

[xlh_stud]

I'm not too terribly worried about a winless preseason. What I am worried about is the amount of time, or lack thereof, that Big Ben got during the preseason. What little time he had, he wasn't that great. He wasn't bad, but also not great. I think that should have prompted Coach Cowher to play him a little more. His completion percentage wasn't bad, but many of his completions were screen passes. Now he's going to be entering a regular season game after throwing less than 20 passes (an estimate, I don't have the exact numbers) during preseason games. Plus he's basically had 2 weeks off since his last in-game throw. Is anybody else worried about this?

Also, is anybody worried about our secondary? They were ok last season, but it seems as though they gave up a lot of passes during the preseason. Maybe it was just Coach trying different personnel at different positions. Hopefully they have that ironed out.

We are coming back with the majority of our starters. Maybe Bill was trying to create a smoke screen with the preseason games since he knows other teams are going to be gunning for the SB Champs. I do know it is going to be an interesting season and I can't wait to see what Ben and Hines are going to do.

[rmjvol]

Hi xlh_stud, welcome to GoTeamsGo

I'm still amazed by the whole motorcycle wreck story. As amazed as I was the see him performing on the field, I'm amazed to hear that he's got occasional problems like vertigo.

I don't watch him closely enough to know but he seemed like he wasn't that impressive in the snaps he had. Do you t hink he's really gonna be fine, whatever "fine" means?

[xlh_stud]

Great post! I didn't know he still has some vertigo. I know he hit the car pretty hard. I wrecked my bike about 3 weeks before Big Ben and I still have another year before I'll fully recover, but I'll be plagued with various medical problems for the rest of my life. But, I digress. I think the vertigo/accident is another reason to play Ben more during the preseason. We need to know if dehydration, fatigue, etc, will severely and negatively affect his play. We need to be able to recognize and minimize any weaknesses to be able to fully maximize his game play.
Thanks for the welcome! Have a great holiday!

[xlh_stud]

Well, I found out why Ben didn't play on Thursday. He had to have an appendectomy and will miss Thursday's opener against Miami. Here's the link:
Official site of the Pittsburgh Steelers - Article

Look's like us Steeler fans will have to rely on Chucky Batch for the Miami game.