Another interesting week for the steelers as they beat a good team with their 3rd string QB. The Steelers are starting to stack wins, and look to stack another this weekend on the road in KC. This past week marked my first perfect inactive list prediction (7-0). This brings the current weekly count to 8-1 (23-9), as I was wrong with the team going with Golden over Shamarko. After watching the game, I was pleasantly surprised with Golden's performance. His tackling was strong and he seemed to be in the right spot to make plays. He's not as fast as Shamarko, but his 3 years of experience, has shown that Golden is more reliable in this defense. I also had a pending prediction that Bryant's first game would be a breakout performance. Too bad he didn't have Jones throwing the entire game, he could have had over 200yards receiving! Kudos for the great catch and run as well as the athletic TD Bryant! You are a freak athlete who will be a mismatch to any defender you face.
This week wasn't as active as most weeks we've had, but we still suffered a significant injury at LT by losing Beachum for the season with a torn ACL and in turn, signed Byron Stingily as a backup. Many of you may have noticed that the call of an ACL injury was made at postgame, so the natural thought process may be: How can they know his ACL is injured? Doesn't he need an MRI, and doesn't it take time to get one? MRIs are the most effective way to determine the exact severity of an injury, however there is a specific test that can be done on the field to see if the ACL is severely damaged. It's called a drawer test. The leg is bent at a 90 angle. This can be done laying on the ground with your knee bent above you. The trainer or doctor then sits in front of the player's foot, grabs the calf, below the knee, and pulls the lower leg toward them. If the lower leg slides out from the knee joint (like opening a drawer), this is an indication of an ACL tear. Normally the ACL is intact in the front of the knee joint and the lower leg would not slide at all because of it. This test is how the team immediately knew the injury to Beachum was severe and could definitively make the statement that he was lost for the year during the postgame presser.
Since Beachum is now out, we get to see the 6'9" Villanueva play. Earlier this season I predicted that Villanueva would be the heir to the LT spot, after a strong showing in preseason. The Steelers knew what they had in him and may have made Beachum a fair to lower offer than he was expecting, because they had option 2 in the wings. Unfortunately, since Beachum is a free agent, and he will be out the next 9months rehabbing (a July timetable), I don't see any team making an offer on Beachum before training camp. His value has dropped significantly, and unfortunately, with for this type of knee injury, there isn't a good track record of OL returning to form after an ACL tear. I hope he can buck the trend and be productive, because Beachum can play any position on the line. His position flexibility is invaluable, so that alone will keep the steelers interest of signing him to a modest contract, on his possibility of returning to form. Though this contract won't be offered until next summer.
It would be helpful to get Adams back, and since he was PUP designated, this week is the first week a PUP player can return to practice. Adams did not return, so the severity of injury to his back may be more significant that when he was PUPed. This does start a 5 week window period where a PUP player can be added to the active roster. If he doesn't return in 5 weeks, he's on the PUP for the rest of the year and is unavailable to play. PUP players, when they return to practice, have a 3 week window where they can practice, but not be added to the roster. The player must be added to the roster to participate in games, and at that point, you'd have to cut a player. Stingily would be the logical cut if Adams can return.
The only information I could find on Adams was he supposed to be out for 4 weeks after back surgery. We are now at 15 total weeks for his injury, so I'm interested to know what his specific back issue was, and why has he not responded well to surgery? There are too many types of back surgery to speculate what he had. I only hope the right questions can be asked during a presser to get more information on it. http://www.thescore.com/news/799449
Looks like Pouncey just underwent a 2nd surgery. http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...-maurkice-pouncey-undergoes-second-surgery-on The bones are healing, but the infection is the issue. Since it was was not a surface cleaning and hardware was removed, this will increase the timetable for his recovery. 6-8 weeks is standard recovery for bones to reattach completely to new hardware, but I wouldn't anticipate Pouncey being anywhere near game shape at week 13-15. If he returns at all, it would be as a backup until he can strengthen his leg and return to game shape. That time table on the optimistic side would have him ready to start in the playoffs and perhaps the last couple games of the season. Get well soon big man!
Shazier is returning this week, and I've read that he will be wearing a neck roll. This is a good sign, as a neck roll limits the neck's range of motion and can absorb impact to reduce the chance of his burner flaring up. Hopefully it's just what he needs for the confidence to play hard and not worry about his burner. JJ had a hip, and I'm assuming it was a hip pointer since he only missed one game, and on the mild scale at that. He should be good moving forward, as a lesser hip pointer injury is more of a painful injury than a debilitating one, and has a very low chance of reoccurring.
This week I am looking for Jones to Start and Ben to serve as the backup. Ben is good enough to practice and could come in if Jones is injured. It would be cool to see if they bring Ben on the field for 2pt or short yardage conversion attempts. This would add a wrinkle to KC's game planning and they would not be ready for it.
Lastly, I'm looking for our interior receivers to have a great game. KC has trouble covering the slot and TEs or RBs running routes. Their job will be even harder while committing 2 men each to limit AB and Bryant. Wheaton should excel on 3WR sets as well as Heath and Bell out of the backfield. I would predict that this will be Bell's best receiving game of the season, and Wheaton should hit a season high as well.
Defensively it is going to be pressure, pressure, pressure. KC has allowed 24 sacks this year, and the Steelers D is pretty good at getting to the QB. Alex Smith is not a very mobile QB, and he like to throw to his first reads. Tight coverage and good pressure will slow down his decision making allowing the front 7 to feast on QB pressures. The only unknown is the fill in for Tuitt. I would like to see Heyward play there instead of Cam, and let Cam and Big Dan shore up the middle. Heyward IMHO is the best at shooting a gap and it would be better to have his skills doing it on the end as opposed to up the center.
Predicted Inactives for week 7:
1. Vick - He is sitting as his hamstring will not be able to go for a bit
2. Tuitt - This knee injury concerns me, as the team has been awfully quite about severity and he's not practicing
3. Will Allen - His Ankle isn't ready to go this week
4. Cortez Allen - His knee is still nagging. He's practicing, but until he becomes a full participant, I will always predict him as inactive.
5. Jessie James - Redshirting on the roster.
6. Chris Hubbard - Since the OL injury was to a tackle, his status as an inactive is unchanged and Legs gets the hat.
7. Chickillo - With JJ returning he's the odd man out
* Todman is a possibility, but they seem to like to keep him active. Walton will get a hat due to Tuitt's injury.
This week wasn't as active as most weeks we've had, but we still suffered a significant injury at LT by losing Beachum for the season with a torn ACL and in turn, signed Byron Stingily as a backup. Many of you may have noticed that the call of an ACL injury was made at postgame, so the natural thought process may be: How can they know his ACL is injured? Doesn't he need an MRI, and doesn't it take time to get one? MRIs are the most effective way to determine the exact severity of an injury, however there is a specific test that can be done on the field to see if the ACL is severely damaged. It's called a drawer test. The leg is bent at a 90 angle. This can be done laying on the ground with your knee bent above you. The trainer or doctor then sits in front of the player's foot, grabs the calf, below the knee, and pulls the lower leg toward them. If the lower leg slides out from the knee joint (like opening a drawer), this is an indication of an ACL tear. Normally the ACL is intact in the front of the knee joint and the lower leg would not slide at all because of it. This test is how the team immediately knew the injury to Beachum was severe and could definitively make the statement that he was lost for the year during the postgame presser.
Since Beachum is now out, we get to see the 6'9" Villanueva play. Earlier this season I predicted that Villanueva would be the heir to the LT spot, after a strong showing in preseason. The Steelers knew what they had in him and may have made Beachum a fair to lower offer than he was expecting, because they had option 2 in the wings. Unfortunately, since Beachum is a free agent, and he will be out the next 9months rehabbing (a July timetable), I don't see any team making an offer on Beachum before training camp. His value has dropped significantly, and unfortunately, with for this type of knee injury, there isn't a good track record of OL returning to form after an ACL tear. I hope he can buck the trend and be productive, because Beachum can play any position on the line. His position flexibility is invaluable, so that alone will keep the steelers interest of signing him to a modest contract, on his possibility of returning to form. Though this contract won't be offered until next summer.
It would be helpful to get Adams back, and since he was PUP designated, this week is the first week a PUP player can return to practice. Adams did not return, so the severity of injury to his back may be more significant that when he was PUPed. This does start a 5 week window period where a PUP player can be added to the active roster. If he doesn't return in 5 weeks, he's on the PUP for the rest of the year and is unavailable to play. PUP players, when they return to practice, have a 3 week window where they can practice, but not be added to the roster. The player must be added to the roster to participate in games, and at that point, you'd have to cut a player. Stingily would be the logical cut if Adams can return.
The only information I could find on Adams was he supposed to be out for 4 weeks after back surgery. We are now at 15 total weeks for his injury, so I'm interested to know what his specific back issue was, and why has he not responded well to surgery? There are too many types of back surgery to speculate what he had. I only hope the right questions can be asked during a presser to get more information on it. http://www.thescore.com/news/799449
Looks like Pouncey just underwent a 2nd surgery. http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...-maurkice-pouncey-undergoes-second-surgery-on The bones are healing, but the infection is the issue. Since it was was not a surface cleaning and hardware was removed, this will increase the timetable for his recovery. 6-8 weeks is standard recovery for bones to reattach completely to new hardware, but I wouldn't anticipate Pouncey being anywhere near game shape at week 13-15. If he returns at all, it would be as a backup until he can strengthen his leg and return to game shape. That time table on the optimistic side would have him ready to start in the playoffs and perhaps the last couple games of the season. Get well soon big man!
Shazier is returning this week, and I've read that he will be wearing a neck roll. This is a good sign, as a neck roll limits the neck's range of motion and can absorb impact to reduce the chance of his burner flaring up. Hopefully it's just what he needs for the confidence to play hard and not worry about his burner. JJ had a hip, and I'm assuming it was a hip pointer since he only missed one game, and on the mild scale at that. He should be good moving forward, as a lesser hip pointer injury is more of a painful injury than a debilitating one, and has a very low chance of reoccurring.
This week I am looking for Jones to Start and Ben to serve as the backup. Ben is good enough to practice and could come in if Jones is injured. It would be cool to see if they bring Ben on the field for 2pt or short yardage conversion attempts. This would add a wrinkle to KC's game planning and they would not be ready for it.
Lastly, I'm looking for our interior receivers to have a great game. KC has trouble covering the slot and TEs or RBs running routes. Their job will be even harder while committing 2 men each to limit AB and Bryant. Wheaton should excel on 3WR sets as well as Heath and Bell out of the backfield. I would predict that this will be Bell's best receiving game of the season, and Wheaton should hit a season high as well.
Defensively it is going to be pressure, pressure, pressure. KC has allowed 24 sacks this year, and the Steelers D is pretty good at getting to the QB. Alex Smith is not a very mobile QB, and he like to throw to his first reads. Tight coverage and good pressure will slow down his decision making allowing the front 7 to feast on QB pressures. The only unknown is the fill in for Tuitt. I would like to see Heyward play there instead of Cam, and let Cam and Big Dan shore up the middle. Heyward IMHO is the best at shooting a gap and it would be better to have his skills doing it on the end as opposed to up the center.
Predicted Inactives for week 7:
1. Vick - He is sitting as his hamstring will not be able to go for a bit
2. Tuitt - This knee injury concerns me, as the team has been awfully quite about severity and he's not practicing
3. Will Allen - His Ankle isn't ready to go this week
4. Cortez Allen - His knee is still nagging. He's practicing, but until he becomes a full participant, I will always predict him as inactive.
5. Jessie James - Redshirting on the roster.
6. Chris Hubbard - Since the OL injury was to a tackle, his status as an inactive is unchanged and Legs gets the hat.
7. Chickillo - With JJ returning he's the odd man out
* Todman is a possibility, but they seem to like to keep him active. Walton will get a hat due to Tuitt's injury.
