The Steelers looked truly awful last night as the Broncos pushed them around a little bit.  Ben Roethlisberger looked solid in his brief appearance as he completed 4 of 6 passes for 67 yards.  Dennis Dixon was pathetic to say the least in this game.  He completed 9 of 16 passes for 94 yards with 2 INTs (one was returned 77-yards for a TD by Broncos’ CB Andre Goodman).  Dixon did rush for 33 yards on 3 carries (11.0 ypc) so that wasn’t too bad.  Byron Leftwich was 0 for 4 passing so he looked pretty poor too.  Charlie Batch finished up this contest by completing 3 of 4 passes for 44 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (he also gave up a pick six to Syd’Quan Thompson of the Broncos (48-yarder).  Rookie RB Jonathan Dwyer led the way on the ground last night for the Steelers with 89 yards rushing on 13 carries (6.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Rashard Mendenhall pitched in with 28 yards rushing on 5 carries (5.6 ypc) last night.  WRs Mike Wallace (3 rec, 59 yards) and rookie Antonio Brown (2 rec, 17 yards, TD) led the way through the air for the Steelers last night.  The Steelers finished up with 175 yards rushing (5.8 ypc) and 180 yards passing last night.

LB Lawrence Timmons led the way for the D last night with 5 tackles and 1 QB hit.  CB Keenan Lewis also had 5 tackles but Coach Tomlin was pissed at him for some big mistakes he made.  The Broncos finished up with 128 yards rushing (4.8 ypc) and 140 yards passing in this game.  The Broncos finished up with 128 yards rushing (4.6 ypc) and 140 yards passing last night.  The Steelers are now 2-1 on the pre-season.

The Steelers pushed the Giants around on offense despite only putting up 24 points on Saturday Night.  The Steelers finished up with 161 yards rushing (3.9 ypc) and 251 passing yards in this game.  Ben Roethlisberger got the start and he completed 6 of 8 passes for 76 yards with 1 INT.  Byron Leftwich looked better in his second game as he completed 3 of 6 passes for 95 yards with 1 TD pass.  Dennis Dixon was outstanding once again as he completed 7 of 8 passes for 82 yards.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 27 yards (5.4 ypc) in this game.  Justin Vincent was the leading ground gainer for the Steelers in this game with 37 yards rushing on six carries (6.2 ypc).  Isaac Redman (6 car, 34 yards, TD) and Dwayne Wright (8 car, 27 yards, TD) also had good games running the ball for the Steelers in this game.  Mike Wallace (2 rec, 80 yards, TD), rookie WR Emmanuel Sanders (3 rec, 51 yards) and TE Heath Miller (3 rec, 33 yards) all played well in the passing game for the Steelers on Saturday Night.

Linebacker Keyaron Fox (6 tackles) and safety Troy Polamalu (4 tackles) led the way for the Steelers’ D in this game.  The Steelers did have some issues against the powerful Giants running game as the Giants rushed for 129 yards (4.3 ypc).  The Giants only passed for 151 yards in this game but the Giants’ #3 QB (Rhett Bomar) played the whole game due to injuries to Eli Manning and Jim Sorgi.

The Steelers looked o.k. on offense Saturday night.  Byron Leftwich didn’t look too good though completing 6 of 10 passes for 43 yards.  Dennis Dixon was the star of the game for the Steelers as he completed 6 of 7 passes for 128 yards with 1 TD pass.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 31 yards (5.2 ypc) on Saturday.  Charlie Batch completed 1 of 2 passes for 10 yards in a very brief appearance.  Isaac Redman led the way on the ground for the Steelers in this game with 60 yards rushing on 15 carries (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  Redman also caught 2 passes for 17 yards (8.5 avg) in this game.  Rookie 6th round pick Antonio Brown led the way in the passing game for the Steelers with 3 grabs for 84 yards (28.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Arnaz Battle only caught one pass but it went for 51 yards.  The Steelers finished up with 117 yards rushing (3.3 ypc) and 169 passing yards in this game.

Rookie 5th round pick Stevenson Sylvester led the way for the Steelers’ D in this game with 7 tackles.  The Lions finished up with 79 yards rushing on 24 carries (3.3 ypc) and they passed for 208 yards in this game.

29-year old WR/RB Stefan Logan will likely be the Steelers’ kickoff return man once again in 2010.  He played in 16 games for the Steelers last season and he returned 55 kickoffs for 1,466 yards (26.7 avg).  Logan has good speed and a lot of moves so the Steelers hope he gives the offense solid starting position in 2010.

31-year old WR Antwaan Randle El is the backup plan.  He played in 16 games for the Redskins last season but he didn’t return any kickoffs.  He has played in 127 games in his NFL career and he has returned 79 kickoffs for 1,759 yards (22.3 avg) with 1 TD return. 

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE STEELERS KICKOFF RETURNERS in 2010:  B

The Steelers have placed 28-year old OLB Andre Frazier on Injured Reserve due to a knee problem ending his season.  Frazier played in 14 games for the Steelers last season and he had 13 tackles.  He has played in 48 games in four years for the Steelers and he has 41 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  This is not a big loss for the Steelers as Frazier’s main role was on special teams.

The Steelers have already lost their best O-Lineman (Willie Colon) for the season and the line wasn’t that good with him.  LT Max Starks is a solid run blocker but he has issues with speed rushers which will lead to quite a few hits in the back for Steelers’ QBs in 2010.  LG Chris Kemoeatu is a solid run blocker because he’s so strong but he needs to improve his pass blocking.  Center Justin Hartwig has been terrible his last two seasons as a pass blocker giving up 14 total sacks.  If he doesn’t improve soon rookie 1st round pick Maurkice Pouncey could bounce him out of a starting job soon.  It seems more likely that Pouncey will battle Trai Essex for the starting RG guard job in 2010.  Essex started all 16 games for the Steelers last season but that doesn’t mean he’ll start over Pouncey.  RT will be manned by Flozell Adams who is a much better run blocker than a pass blocker at this point in his career.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE STEELERS O-LINE in 2010:  D+

The Steelers lost to the Chiefs, Browns and Raiders down the stretch last season and it cost them a chance to defend their Super Bowl Championship.  The Steelers were a very disappointing 9-7 (56.3%) last season as they missed the playoffs.  Tomlin has a regular season record of 31-17 (64.6%) in his three years with the Steelers.  The Steelers are 3-1 (75%) in the post season under Tomlin and he earned a Super Bowl ring in 2008.  Tomlin is a solid football coach but he will be tested this season playing at least 4 games without Ben Roethlisberger and the whole season without Santonio Holmes (he was traded to the Jets).

31-year old kicker Jeff Reed might get drunk and arrested once in a while but he’s still a solid kicker.  Reed played in 16 games for the Steelers last season and he connected on 27 of 31 field goals (87.1%).  He also made all 41 of his extra point attempts last season to finish with 122 points.  Reed has now played in 118 games with the Steelers and he has made 189 of 227 field goals (83.3%).  He has also made 288 of 291 extra points in his career and he has scored 855 points for the Steelers.  As long as he can stay out of jail, I see Reed having another solid year for the Steelers in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE STEELERS KICKERS in 2010:  A

The Steelers have claimed fullback Dwayne Wright off waivers from the Eagles.  Wright has not played in the NFL since 2007 (his only year in the league).  In 2007,  Wright played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Bills in which he carried the ball 29 times for 94 yards (3.2 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 17 yards (5.7 avg) for the Bills that year.