The Good and the Bad from Saturday Night

 

There is plenty to take, both good and bad from the Steelers 13-9 loss to the Green Bay Packers in preseason game two.  Here is a quick breakdown of what we saw, and maybe what we can look forward to as preseason game three gets ready to roll this weekend vs the Redskins in Washington.

* The No-Huddle has some work to do:  Looks like the opening up of the offense is for real, as we saw Big Ben and company run out the no-huddle offense on the first two series of the game vs the Pack.  They didn’t score on either drive, but I think they showed enough to want to make Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator run it with confidence in 2007.

* Blocked extra point: For the second week in a row, Jeff Reed had an issue with a kick, this week it was an extra point that was blocked, which simply cannot happen in the regular season.  Last week Reed missed a field goal, and with the way Tomlin works special teams, this unit can’t afford simple mistakes that will cost them points.

* Will “Fast” Willie take the Field this week?:  Willie Parker told the media on Sunday that he feels he’s ready to go and wants to play this week.  While Gary Russell and Carey Davis have shown flashes helping out the running game the first two weeks of preseason along with Najeh Davenport, I am itching to see Willie and what he does behind this line.  Of course I also don’t want to risk him for 9/9 vs the Browns when it counts.

* Rookie punter Daniel Sepulveda is going to have a big impact in 07: While I was not on board 100 percent with taking a punter in the 4th round, after two weeks I see why Tomlin and co. wanted to grab this kid as high as they did.  If he can put teams in the hole as far as punting like he has the first two weeks of the preseason, it looks as if the Steelers made a wise move grabbing him.  I can’t wait to see him make a hit as well!

* LaMarr Woodley looks like a player: No question that the Steelers did their homework on Woodley, who already looks like a guy that will make some plays throughout the 2007 season.  He also brings that sense of youth to the linebacker core that I think we’ve been missing the past few seasons.  While Lawrence Timmons hopefully will be back soon, I am looking forward to the day we see Woodley and Timmons on the field together.