The Steelers don't miss a beat and other NFL thoughts

(1)              The Steelers weren’t supposed to survive the Ben Roethlisberger suspension.  Most experts thought they would be lucky to escape the four games without Big Ben with a 2-2 record.  Instead, Pittsburgh came about two minutes away from going undefeated in Roethlisberger’s absence with a last second loss to the Baltimore Ravens the only blemish on their record.  Their surprising success was built on the return of their devastating defense and the steadiness of their running game.  They were being considered one of the two or three best teams in the NFL and they still were without their best offensive player.  With a bye week to prepare, Big Ben returned to the active roster and the Steelers faced another set of questions about how successful they would be.  Many wondered if Roethlisberger would return rustier than an old nail after his league imposed exile.  There was also a lot of uncertainty regarding how Steelers fans, as well as his own teammates, would react to the quarterback that had let them down one too many times.  I think that everyone involved with or supporting the Steelers needed positive answers to these questions in order to feel good about where the season was headed.

After the 28-10 drubbing of the Cleveland Browns, I think that Steelers Nation can feel very good about where they are heading.  First of all, Big Ben showed very little rust.  He completed nearly 60% of his attempts on his way to compiling 257 yards passing and three touchdowns.  His early interception set the table for Cleveland to score three points, but otherwise Big Ben was flawless in posting a 112.7 QB rating.  Keep in mind that the Steelers entered the game ranked last in offense and last in passing offense with Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon at the controls, so even a mediocre game from Roethlisberger would have been an improvement.  It should be pointed out the Big Ben’s return also marked the return of the Steelers’ lost vertical passing game.  Roethlisberger completed five plays of 20 yards or more, including a 50-yarder to Mike Wallace and a 36-yarder to Heath Miller that set up Pittsburgh second touchdown.  Secondly, I’m sure that Big Ben felt a sense of relief after getting a huge welcome from the 60,000 Terrible Towel-waving fans at Heinz Field.  After getting skewered on the local and national level, Big Ben had to have felt a little trepidation entering his first start of the 2010 season.  In the end, the only reminder that Roethlisberger had run afoul of the laws of common sense and off-the-field behavior were the handful of protesters outside of Heinz Field.  Once Big Ben felt the love from the Heinz Field faithful, he proceeded to take his frustrations out on the poor Browns like they had taken indecent liberties with Roethlisberger’s sister.  I guess playing Cleveland for his first game back was a perfect landing spot for Big Ben considering his 11-1 lifetime record against the Browns.  Finally, I think that Roethlisberger got a nice welcome from his teammates as well.  They watched him from afar as he handled his personal issues with maturity, determination and professionalism and they probably couldn’t wait to get back the piece of the puzzle that might take them all the way to Dallas in February.  Nothing against Dixon, Batch and Leftwich, but Roethlisberger brings a toughness that cannot be matched at the quarterback position.  On his touchdown passes to Mike Wallace and Hines Ward, Big Ben hung in the pocket, in the face of intense pressure, and delivered strikes on both occasions.  His penchant for putting his body on the line and his never-say-die attitude has to endear him to his teammates even if he has had his troubles in the past.  Overall, Big Ben’s return was a roaring success and Pittsburgh now looks like a bona fide Super Bowl contender.

(2)              Put me at the top of the list of people that are shocked that the Rams are 3-3 after six weeks.  After handing the starting job to Sam Bradford, I fully expected the Rams to go through tremendous growing pains as their rookie quarterback grew into the position.  Instead, the rookie has shown great poise and confidence and St. Louis is right in the middle of the chase for the NFC West crown.  Against the Chargers, Bradford posted his third game of the year with a QB rating greater than 84 and his first game without a turnover.  The kid is taking his lumps but he is on pace to throw for over 3,600 yards and nearly 20 touchdowns despite the lack of established playmakers on the outside.  Frankly, Steven Jackson is the only respected offensive weapon on the Rams roster, but Bradford is still making plays with the likes of Laurent Robinson, Donnie Avery, Mardy Gilyard, Danerio Alexander and Danny Amendola.  Basically, Bradford is making the players around him better, which is what you should expect from a quarterback picked number one overall.  You also have to like the kid’s perseverance and toughness.  After his worst performance of the year against Detroit, Bradford bounced back with his most steady game of the season.  Bradford’s leadership qualities help in two ways.  First of all, his character when the times are tough demonstrates to his teammates that he is not going to lie down after a bad loss.  Secondly, Bradford is also showing his team that he isn’t going to stand for the losing tradition that has enveloped the St. Louis organization over the last few years.  Before Bradford arrived, the Rams were 3-33.  Since he took the reins, the Rams have already matched that win total.  It appears that St. Louis hit a home run by selecting Bradford as their franchise quarterback.

Bradford is not the only reason that the Rams are playing better.  A lot of credit has to go to the defensive unit that has unleashed an aggressive style of play fueled by a promising batch of young players.  Steve Spagnuolo was responsible for the defense that harassed Tom Brady during the N.Y. Giants Super Bowl-winning season in 2007 and he has finally assembled a group of players in St. Louis that can apply the principles that were so successful in Gotham.  Spagnuolo wants to apply consistent pressure with his front four and the approach is paying dividends in St. Louis.  The Rams are ranked in the top ten in sacks with 17 and their defensive line has produced 13 of their total.  The sack attack is being led by 11-year veteran James Hall, who is already more than halfway to his career-high sack total of 11.5.  The defense is also getting great leadership from young players like James Laurinaitis and Oshiomogho Atogwe.  Those two guys are the number one and number three leading tacklers on the team and their aggressive style of play is rubbing off on the entire unit.  The biggest contribution that the defense is making is that they are holding opponents out of the end zone.  They have held five out of six opponents to 17 points or less, which is good enough for them to be in the top 10 in scoring defense.  As a result of the stinginess, the Rams have been able to be competitive despite scoring more than 20 points just once all season.  Overall, things are looking up for the St. Louis Rams.  They seem to have the most important position in football set in stone for the next 10 years and their defense is gaining confidence with every week played, so it would not surprise me to see them take control of the NFC West in the next couple of years.

(3)              The New England Patriots have made a cottage industry of disposing of players before they decline too rapidly, when they start clamoring for more money or when they start becoming too much of a distraction.  The lengthy list includes Adalius Thomas, Assante Samuel, Deion Branch and Randy Moss.  The Patriots have had an arrogance about them that has told the rest of the league that they can always find a younger, cheaper, more committed player to replace the veteran contributor that they shipped out.  Since their 2007 Super Bowl appearance, the Patriots’ system has lost its way.  They were still good enough to make playoff appearances, but they had lost too many of the high character, high value guys, like Mike Vrabel and Teddie Bruschi, to be true championship contenders.  In the last 10 days, we have witnessed the Patriots work in both expected and unexpected ways.  The expected move came when they traded Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings after Moss apparently became too much of a squeaky wheel.  The unexpected move came when they traded for Deion Branch in an attempt to recapture some of their Super Bowl glory days.  Branch had languished in Seattle since being traded before the 2007 season and bringing him back seemed to be a small concession by the New England organization that it is not always better to replace guys that helped you win championships.  Branch had a triumphant return to Foxboro with nine catches for 98 yards and one touchdown.  In his first game back, he quickly reestablished the chemistry that he had with Tom Brady in his first stint with the team.  Frankly, it was a chemistry that he was never able to find in Seattle due to injury troubles and three different head coaches.  In the end, the Branch trade back to New England appears to be a win-win for both organizations.  Branch gets an opportunity to reclaim his best days as a professional football player and Seattle gets to give his playing time to younger players that will be part of their system for a much longer time.