As for the RB situation, most teams in the NFL use a committe in the backfield, if only to keep legs fresh and extend the careers of stars like W. Parker. It surely extended Bettis’s career a few years back. The Steelers backs are adequate and about equal in talent. Rushing continuity largely depends on O-line execution, anyway. The RBs aren’t missing the holes; they’re simply aren’t many holes these days — the long run by Mendenhall being the exception. Like you, I would prefer a big time “go to” guy at RB, but we don’t have one now. Parker still hasn’t fully recovered from his knee injury; Mendenhall lacks power; and Moore (the most versatile of the lot) is smallish for the routine pounding RBs take. I think the coaches are making do with a very ordinary group of backs. However, if the O-line blocking improves, these guys will all look much better than they do now.

The Steelers have routinely passed on big power backs in the draft and in free agency, probably for financial reasons. In pro sports of all kinds, victory usually goes to the team with the most genetic freaks — guys who are bigger, stronger, faster than the average pro
– at their skill positions. The Steelers have less than their share of such uber-athletes over all, and none at RB. (Mendenhall looked like one in college, but his talent hasn’t translated to NFL success yet.) The Steelers success in recent years has been the result of using the talent they have more skillfully than others: i.e. through teamwork. In both Super Bowl XL and XLIII, the Steelers were not the most talented team in the NFL. But the team won anyway. And we can win this year again, even though our RBs are simply adequate (not great), if the O-line makes holes for them, if the blocking schemes suit the defense, and if the right running play is called at the right time. In short, I’m afraid we’re stuck with the RB committee for the balance of the year –but it should be good enough, if the rest of the problems get fixed.

Surely, the inclement weather and slow field negated the speed of our receivers and contributed to the offensive miscues described above — but none of the foregoing would have mattered if the Steelers had a reliable running game. As the Post-Gazette observed, of 14 first down running plays, 9 produced three yards or less, and some resulted in negative yardage. The calls were painfully obvious: dive plays on first down between the tackles that Chicago easily stuffed. The team did manage 103 yards rushing for the night, an improvement over last week. But the rushing improvement was marginal. Except for Mendenhall’s one 39 yard ramble (also his net total on 3 attempts), the Steelers rushed for only 66 additional yards. More important, they couldn’t and didn’t run when they needed to run. The coaching staff repeatedly called passing plays on short yardage situations — hardly a vote of confidence for the running game. And on the goal line, the call was a QB option. Although the play resulted in a TD, but it also showed that the coaches know our RBs can’t gain two yards when needed. In short, the Steelers are a one dimensional team, and opposing defenses play them as such.

We should also note, for completeness, a deficiency in the Steelers’ pass defense which allows opposing QBs to complete passes underneath the coverage almost at will. The idea, a popular one in the NFL, is to allow short catches and limit YAK. A patient, accurate QB will gladly accept this largess and dink-and-dunk his way to the red zone, and often the end zone. The misnamed ‘prevent defense’ — a variation on this concept — is equally porous and largely prevents the team that uses it from winning. The accurate, but lame-armed, Curt Warner, routinely used his dink-and-dunk game to exploit our swiss cheese schemes in the Super Bowl last season. Yesterday, Jay Cutler, the Bears’ QB, did the same. While Cutler has a big arm, he didn’t need it against the Steelers; his dink-and-dunk passes were safe (zero interceptions versus 4 last week against G. Bay) and delivered 232 yards against a passive secondary. I admire Dick LeBeau as much as any fan, but he needs to tighten up the short coverages or even use man-to-man on occasion. Yesterday, the pass defense of the Super Bowl champs looked generous, predictable, slow, and ordinary. You can almost hear Carson Palmer licking his chops.