Going into the off season, the Steelers have just one glaring weakness... the offensive line. Our franchise quarterback was sacked 46 times last season good for second in the NFL. Despite winning the Super Bowl, this line needs to be fixed badly. First, the Steelers franchise Max Starks again. I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, "Well they did that last year and everything worked out, so I guess this is fine". Then they make a contract offer to Willie Colon. Okay, so its only for a couple million, I can live with that. He could be a backup. Now here's where things really take a turn for the worst and I just can't take it anymore. With long time Colts center and all pro lineman Jeff Saturday expressing an interest to play in Pittsburgh, the Steelers cut loose Kendall Simmons. I don't know if the two are related, but it was shocking. Yeah, Simmons missed all of last season injured, but he's still a former number one pick and a much better guard than what the Steelers have now. Saturday then went on to resign with the Colts.The Steelers were running out of options and needed a guard fast so they throw $20 million at Chris Kemoeatu. Are you kidding me?? Four million a year for a guy that was simply awful in the Super Bowl and I mean AWFUL. It was Kemoeatu's man that deflected Ben's pass up in the air that led to the interception. It was Kemoeatu that got in Ben's way and didn't block anyone when he tried to scramble up in the middle on 3rd and goal in the second half. Resigning Kemoeatu is a horrible move. Replacing him with Simmons would have been a significant upgrade, but instead they're keeping together one of the worst offensive lines in the game. They're poor run blockers, poor pass blockers and you can forget about getting any kind of push up the middle with this line. Gary Russell would have an easier time punching a football through steel than punching it in from the one yard line.
I'm not going to say the Kemoeatu signing is a stupid move, but its very illogical. The Steelers are rewarding mediocre play with a long term contract. Simmons was a much better option at guard and he would have cost the Steelers about the same amount of money ($4.7 for Simmons, $4 for Kemoeatu). Making bizarre off season moves isn't new for the Steelers and it usually works out for them in the end. Hopefully this is one of those times it works out. If it isn't, you're at risk of losing the best quarterback your franchise has ever known and you can't spell risk with without ChrisKemoeatu.
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I put up some blog posts on Steelerslive.com making the same kind of points(under the name mantar). I got crucified by fans who keep repeating the same stupid logic that "THE LINE WON A SB". By that logic, we should keep the punter since he WON the SB and ask Sepulveda to take a hike since he LOST the Afc Wildcard game the year before.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's the typical "yinzer" way of thinking. "The end result wasn't bad, so it must be good enough". Never mind the fact that Ben, the franchise QB, was sacked 46 times, good for second in the NFL. Never mind the fact that Ben was taken off on a stretcher in Week 17, something that we'll be seeing a lot more of in the coming years. Rule number one to having long term success in anything, "You're never good enough." Regardless of whether or not they win the SB, they need to keep improving.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of room for improvement with this offensive line and moves to make it better NEED to be made. Anyone that thinks otherwise is a fool and clearly has no idea what they're watching on Sunday.