The Steelers looked a little bit flat last night as they saw there preseason record fall to 1-1.  You can’t blame the loss on Ben Roethlisberger who looked pretty sharp completing 9 of 11 passes for 142 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Byron Leftwich got his first action with the Steelers and he looked rusty completing 5 of 11 passes for 41 yards.  Rookie Dennis Dixon only completed 6 of 15 passes last night for 79 yards.  But he electrified Toronto with a 47-yard TD run as he finished the game with 54 yards rushing on 2 carries (27.0 ypc).  Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 30 yards on 11 carries (2.7 ypc) with a TD run but he didn’t look too good.  WR Dallas Baker led the way for the Steelers in the passing game with 3 catches for 57 yards (19.0 avg) last night.  Santonio Holmes caught 2 passes for 53 yards (26.5 avg) including a 40-yard TD grab from Ben Roethlisberger.  The Steelers finished up wth 108 yards rushing last night on 22 carries (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 37 passes for 230 yards.

The Steelers’ defense didn’t look too good last night as the Bills did whatever they wanted despite only putting up 263 total yards.  Linebacker Lawrence Timmons led the way last night for the Steelers with 7 tackles and a sack.  Fellow linebackers Larry Foote and Anthony Harrison each pitched in with 6 tackles apiece.  The Bills finished up with 159 yards rushing on 31 carries (5.1 ypc).  They also completed 14 of 18 passes for 104 yards with 2 TD passes to TE Robert Royal which shows that safety is once again an issue for the Steelers.

Mike Tomlin did a pretty good job as a rookie coach in 2007 as he led the Steelers to a 10-6 record (62.5%) during the regular season.  The puzzling thing about the Steelers in the off-season though is that they essentially did nothing to fix the biggest weakness on the team…..the offensive line.  Sure, they added more playmakers in Limas Sweed and Rashard Mendenhall but that won’t matter if the Steelers don’t get better blocking.  Coach Tomlin did not coach very well in the playoff game at home against Jacksonville as they lost 31-29 ending last season with a thud.  That game proved that Tomlin still has some things to improve on and it will be interesting to see how the Steelers do in 2008 playing a very rough schedule.  Following a Pittsburgh legend like Bill Cowher is a hard job and the only way that Tomlin will win the hearts of fans is to win a lot of games both during the regular season and it the playoffs.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed 36-year old punter Mitch Berger to compete with Paul Ernster for the starting punter job.  Berger played in 5 games for the Cardinals last season and he averaged 40.7 yards per punt with a net of 33.1 yards.  He placed 6 punts inside the opposing 20-yard line (30%) and he only had two touchbacks (10%).  This will be an interesting battle for the starting punting gig between Berger and Ernster with Berger probably holding a small edge due to experience.  Berger has now played in 164 games in his NFL career and he has averaged 43.1 yards per punt with a net of 37.7 yards.  He has placed 233 punts (31.9%) inside the opposing 20-yard line in his career and he has had 72 touchbacks (9.9%).  This was a solid signing for the Steelers as Berger could win the job outright.

With Charlie Batch breaking his collar bone last night the Steelers needed to act fast to replace him as he might miss the entire 2008 season.  With that in mind the Steelers have signed Byron Leftwich and Daunte Culpepper.  It’s possible that they are fighting for only one job but the Steelers might be smart to keep them both if they prove they are healthy.  28-year old Leftwich is a big guy at 6′5″, 250 pounds.  He’s a pure passer with a good arm but limited mobility which could be a problem behind the Steelers’ offensive line.  Leftwich played in 3 games (2 starts) with the Falcons last season and he completed 32 of 58 passes (55.2%) for 279 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions (59.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 6 times for 7 yards (1.2 ypc) last season.  It will be interesting to see how Leftwich responds to the challenge that Culpepper gives him as he didn’t handle competition from David Garrard too well in Jacksonville.  Still, he is a talented player when healthy.

31-year old Daunte Culpepper is also a huge guy at 6′4″, 260 pounds and he’s trying to get back to where he was when he was throwing longballs to Randy Moss in Minnesota.  Culpepper played in 7 games (6 starts) last season for the Raiders and he completed 108 of 186 passes (58.1%) for 1,331 yards with 5 TD passes and 5 interceptions (78.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 20 times for 40 yards (2.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  Culpepper still has a gun attached to his right shoulder but knee injuries have robbed him of his running ability.  Culpepper has now played in 92 games (90 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 1,867 of 2,927 passes (63.8%) for 22,422 yards with 142 TD passes and 94 interceptions (89.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 484 times for 2,536 yards (5.2 ypc) with 33 TD runs. 

Personally, I think the Steelers should keep both Leftwich and Culpepper if healthy and put Dennis Dixon on the practice squad for a season.  Signing these two guys was a smart move for the Steelers as they have both been good QBs in their careers.

UPDATE:  The Steelers have in fact declined to sign Daunte Culpepper as was first reported here.  For some reason he thought he would be given a chance to compete with Ben Roethlisberger for the starting job.  It’s quite possible that Culpepper couldn’t pass a drug test if he thought he would get to compete for the starting job.  Leftwich will be the #2 QB for the Steelers until Batch returns from injury and maybe even longer than that.  The Steelers were fortunate to be able to sign a QB with Leftwich’s experience this late in training camp.

The Steelers played this game close to the vest working on the running game on offense.  Ben Roethlisberger only played one series and he completed both of his pass attempts for 38 yards with a 19-yard TD pass to Santonio Holmes.  Charlie Batch followed Roethlisberger in the game and it did not go well for him.  Batch fractured his right collarbone and will likely miss the entire 2008 season.  Batch completed 1 of 3 passes for 3 yards and he also carried the ball 1 time for 6 yards.  Rookie Dennis Dixon was allright completing 6 of 9 passes for 30 yards.  Mike Potts threw two incomplete passes in this game.  First round pick Rashard Mendenhall looked pretty solid in his first action in the NFL carrying the ball 7 times for 34 yards (4.9 ypc).  Justin Vincent was also busy with 9 carries for 28 yards (3.1 ypc).  Gary Russell worked hard for his 25 yards on 10 carries (2.5 ypc) last night.  Willie Parker indeed looked fast carrying the ball 3 times for 20 yards (6.7 ypc).  Rookie WR Limas Sweed led the Steelers’ with 3 grabs for 23 yards (7.7 avg) in this game.  The Steelers really didn’t want to show much in this game so they didn’t.  The Steelers rushed for 118 yards on 35 carries (3.4 ypc) against the Eagles.  They also completed 9 of 16 passes for 71 yards last night.

The Steelers’ defense was pretty effective against the Eagles.  CB Travis Willams led the way for the Steelers with 7 tackles.  Linebacker Keyaron Fox and CB Anthony Madison each pitched in with 6 tackles apiece.  The Steelers held the Eagles to 61 yards rushing on 20 carries (3.1 ypc).  The Eagles also completed 28 of 48 passes for 210 yards.  The Steelers have to be happy with this win as they really didn’t show too much.