Steelers Analysis/Recap, Game One

Overall, I'm real pleased with the Steelers' performance last night. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac has posted his Game 1 Steelers Report Card; I think he's overly critical. While he doesn't get down to "grading" per se, the PG's Ed Bouchette paints a rosier picture in his game summary article.

The Miami Herald's article on the game has a title that looks like they're about to start whining - "Steal Curtain" - but actually spends more time criticising the Dolphins rather than trying to claim that the game was stolen from them. I always love reading the opposition press after a favorite team's win. (On a side note, three or four years ago I think after a particular Steelers' demolition of the Cincinnati Bengals the local beat writer commented that, "The Bengals next opponent is bye week, and the early line on the game has them as seven point underdogs.")

Thoughts on the game:

1) It was great to hang in Tulsa with the local congregation of Steelers Nation. The wings though at the Fox & Hound weren't the best - overloaded with sauce, and a few of them even had some bone chips in them. The tortilla soup gets the thumbs up. It's great to be ~1,000 miles from home in a bar/restaurant, and see the Terrible Towels wave!

2) I don't play fantasy football, but if you do and you don't have Heath Miller as one of your TEs, get your head examined. I thought about taking the fantasy plunge this year and Miller would've been one of my picks.

3) In my live blogging last night, I didn't highlight the fine play of Hines Ward really at all, except for his touchdown. Hines didn't show any rust at all from sitting out the whole preseason, and as usual, made the big catches when he had to.

4) While overall the special teams didn't do very well, if 1st round pick Santonio Holmes is going to continue as a punt returner, somebody has to bang into his head when to let punts fall. At least two of the ones he caught deep and then returned for little gain or fair caught probably would have bounced into the end zone for touchbacks.

5) 11 days off until the next game. Gives Big Ben plenty of time to get back into the mix. Next two games are key, at Jacksonville and home vs. Cincinnati. If we come out of that stretch 3-0 (and into the early bye week, which is unfortunate), things will be looking real good.