Game Day: Steelers at Kansas City

First NFL start for quarterback 

Landry Jones.  

All eyes on him.  

"Obviously."

Landry Jones was dandy last Sunday vs. Arizona. 

Antwon Blake decleating Dwayne Bowe last year.

The 1-5 Chiefs can still bring a pass rush -- especially Justin Houston (#50) and Tamba Hali (#91)

Visitors locker room at Arrowhead this morning
(photo courtesy of Steelers.com)

The Unstoppable Landry Jones.

Landry Jones: Winner.

The Steelers scored on all five possessions with Dandy Landry Jones at quarterback. A relatively small sample size, but, really, What's Not to Like?

When he entered the game, expectations were low, but Joey Porter's Pit Bulls barked, "It's gotta be easier to watch Jones, even if he's gonna suck."

As it turned out he did just fine, with five scoring drives, two touchdown passes and a gaudy 149.3 quarterback rating. No turnovers; no sacks.

It's awkward and painful to watch the wretched quarterback play of Marcus Michael Vick, who should have been intercepted at least three times today -- just like last week vs. San Diego.

With Vick at quarterback vs. the Arizona Cardinals, the Steelers averaged 0.5 yards per offensive play. They were oh-for-six in third-down conversion attempts. Vick had six yards passing at halftime. Six!  The net yardage was even worse: With Vick at quarterback, the offense in the first half had a single pathetic net yard (one yard, net) passing on three completions in seven attempts. Total offense: a measly 59 total net yards,

Clearly, they were a much better offense today with the 26-year-old Matthew Landry Jones at quarterback, in his first NFL regular-season game. Who knew?

Coming Up
As for next week in Kansas City, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls agree: Jones should start. The way coaches think, however, we wouldn't be at all surprised to see Vick start ... the coaches' rationale being that it's a road game, a hostile environment, a noisy crowd, and Vick's a "veteran."

NFL coach-think typically is so conservative and risk-averse that it frequently defies common sense and what everyone else can see. No doubt, Mike Tomlin considers Vick the "safe" choice.  Despite all evidence to the contrary. Just ask Antonio Brown. Vick has proven to be the only player in the NFL capable of stopping Antonio Brown.

Other things to feel good about: 

• Kicker Chris Boswell. Four field goals in his first appearance at Heinz Field, including kicks of 47, 48 and 51 yards. His kickoffs were deep, too. The Steelers finally might have a kicker who can go toe to toe, or nearly so, with Baltimore's Justin Tucker, who by the way, had a rare miss last week -- coincidentally, from 51 yards, in Baltimore -- and another miss on Sunday, from 45 yards, during the Ravens' loss at San Francisco.

Alejandro Villanueva

• Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva. On one of his first snaps, he didn't flinch when the opposing defensive end jumped offsides. That's discipline. Even better, he accomplished what all good offensive linemen manage to do: Not get noticed. No flags; no sacks allowed; and no hurries, so far as we could tell. He did just fine. He's a feel-good story, sure, but not just a feel-good story. He looks like a good player, period, and there is every reason to feel good about him stepping in as the starting left tackle.

• The defense: The "numbers" stats said Carson Palmer three for more than 400 yards, but the only numbers that mattered were points allowed. Thirteen points surrendered to an offense that had averaged 38 points per game prior to their visit to Pittsburgh. It's good to see the defense getting turnovers again, and timely ones at that: two interceptions and a forced fumble recovery.

• James Harrison: The man is amazing. 'Nuff said. Let's hope he plays like this for another five years.

• Martavis Bryant: Good for him. Falling down is part of life. Getting back up is living. Bryant got back up in a big way. Let's hope he stays on his feet the rest of his career and that we never see his name in embarrassing headlines again. The young man has a bright future, if he can stay clean. He showed today what he can do.  He is fully capable of sustained success.  

Talent is Talent

It's always fun watching the playoffs, and this weekend's games should be especially compelling. People who aren't into football as much as some of us are sometimes wonder why we take such an interest in the draft. Well, the simple answer is, that's how you build teams.

One example: With the 35th pick of the 2011 draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected quarterback Andy Dalton. With the very next pick, the San Francisco 49ers selected quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Do you think the Bengals would pick Dalton over Kaepernick today? The Bengals seem to have most of the pieces in place to still be playing this weekend — if Andy Dalton hadn't played so brutally in their home playoff loss to San Diego. The Bengals need a quarterback who can take advantage of all that talent around him and lift the team to the next level. In time, Dalton may do that. He hasn't done it yet.

Of course, it didn't help Dalton that his coaches (offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, who was just named head coach of the Redskins, and Marvin Lewis) had him. absurdly, throwing the ball 51 times in extremely windy, cold, rainy conditions; nor did it help Dalton that Giovanni Bernard fumbled the ball in the red zone.

Still, Dalton has yet to win a playoff game, and Kaepernick's been to the Super Bowl already and is on the verge of going again this year.  Do you think Cincinnati fans aren't wondering how Kaepernick would look throwing to A.J. Green, Mohammed Sanu,Tyler Eiffert, etc.?  But for the Bengals, Dalton was the safer choice, and look where it's got them. Home. Meanwhile, Kaepernick and the Niners will be getting busy against the Seahawks.

Where the chips fall
By the way, with the 31st in the 2011 draft, the Steelers selected defensive end Cameron Heyward, and he looks like an emerging force on the defensive line.

Like so many other Steeler fans, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls are always on the lookout for that next developmental quarterback who can be groomed as a backup to Ben Roethlisberger, and step in and play well if and when called upon. And, no, Landry Jones does not appear to be that guy.

At the time, in April 2011, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls liked the idea of Kaepernick playing for the Steelers and had him pegged, potentially, as that guy, if the Steelers could somehow snag him (even as high as the second round). His draft stock had been rising, and we'd been paying attention. He was no secret. Before the draft started on April 28, 2011, here's what we wrote to close out our final draft-preview. The following paragraphs are an excerpt from that draft-day post:

***

We suspect the Steelers will target three positions in the first three rounds -- cornerback, defensive line and offensive line — but, of course, it all depends how the chips fall. There are any number of guys we'd love to see in a Steelers' uniform next year ... even Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick.

In fact, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls would LOVE for the Steelers to somehow grab Kaepernick, but we don't see it happening. He is likely to be drafted early to mid-second round. Just a feeling the guy not only has a ton of legitimate NFL-quality talent, but he also seems to have his head screwed on straight, since he says things like ...

"I feel like I’m a good person. I'm not going to put myself in a bad position or the team in a bad position with things I do off the field. That's what you look for when you're looking for a leader. Is this person responsible and mature enough to realize no matter what as a quarterback you are face of that franchise and you need to carry yourself a certain way? Certain things you can’t get away with."

Sounds like Kaepernick gets it. 

Back to Work -- Training Camp

Enough of the summer hiatus. Time to get back to work.

Before we talk about the Steelers, how about Baltimore tight end Dennis Pitta's season-ending knee injury on the second day of camp? Pitta was probably Joe Flacco's go-to receiver as much as anybody, along with Anquan Boldin, and now both are gone -- along with a whole lot of other players from last year's Super Bowl winning team.

Before Pitta's injury, we were convinced Baltimore would be every bit as formidable as they were during last year's late-season run.  Now, we're not so sure, although they will be helped by the addition of defensive end Elvis Dumervil, safety Michael Huff and cornerback Lardarius Webb, who returns from injured reserve. Still, the loss of Pitta could really hurt them.

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls have always liked Pitta. He's fast, smooth in his routes and has excellent hands. When he came out of Brigham Young, we thought he'd look good in a Steeler uniform and were disappointed that Baltimore drafted him, and not the Steelers.  Last off-season, we made the argument the Steelers should sign Pitta as a restricted free agent -- as much to hurt Baltimore as to help the Black 'n Gold at tight end, a position with quantity but some question of quality in the wake of Heath Miller's devastating knee injuries (ACL, MCL, PCL).

Now, with Pitta's season-ending hip injury suffered during drills on Saturday, the Ravens will be without their No. 1 tight end. They have another good one in Ed Dickson, but Pitta was better all-around, more reliable and more clutch.

As for the Steelers at tight end, well, questions remain.  Which brings us to the draft.

Heath Miller's knee injuries raise the question of when and whether he will return to full effectiveness. In the first round, the Steelers passed on Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eiffert and instead selected pass-rushing linebacker Jarvis Jones out of Georgia, despite medical questions (spinal stenosis) and a 4.92 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.  That 4.92 40 time, by the way, is the same run by fourth-round QB Landry Jones, a pocket statue who had all of 15 yards rushing last year at Oklahoma.

Having said that, our feeling is that Jones and most of the other Steelers' 2013 draft picks bring a tough edge to the team that was sorely missing toughness and leadership last year.  Jarvis Jones, Le'Veon Bell, Marcus Wheaton, Shamarko Thomas, Vince Williams -- all have reputations for toughness, and at this point, the Steelers need all the toughness they can get.  Maybe some of those guys will turn into team leaders, too.

Zach Ertz

At the very least, let's hope Jarvis Jones can cover Tyler Eiffert, who was snapped up by division rival Cincinnati in the first round.  In our book, Jones and Eiffert will be linked for years to come. Who will be the better player?

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls will also be following with interest the NFL career of Stanford tight end Zach Ertz, whom we suspect may be every bit as good as Eiffert, if not better.  As stated before the draft, we could have seen the Steelers trading down in the first round and selecting Ertz, who went to Philadelphia with the third pick of the second round (No. 35 overall).

Such a move, of course, would have left the Steelers without Jones and with a major lack of depth at the critical outside-linebacker position formerly manned by James Harrison, also now with the Bengals. Another option we thought might make sense for the Steelers in the first round was Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who went to the Vikings with the 25th overall pick. Rhodes has reportedly been a standout so far in Vikings camp.

Naturally, we hope Jarvis Jones succeeds in a major way. We hope he will be every bit as successful as he was at Georgia during his final season, when he led the college nation in sacks, forced fumbles and tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The Steelers need him to succeed in a big way.

We love, absolutely love, running back Le'Veon Bell -- loved him before the draft and hoped the Steelers would take him. When they announced his name in the second round, we did a big Yeah!, and then immediately wondered if they might have been able to get him later -- he'd been projected as a third or fourth rounder. Maybe, just maybe, he was overdrafted?  Possibly. Still, we're glad they landed him.

One of the many very good things about this guy: Le'Veon Bell doesn't fumble.  Bell had zero fumbles in three years at Michigan State. Not one. Nyet. Nada. None. Ze-Ro.

He starts Game One and solidifies a running game that was awful last year. We have no idea why the Steelers retained Jonathan Dwyer in the off-season.  Dwyer recently said he's lost 25-30 pounds in the past month or so -- which would have put him at 260-265 lbs. at about the time of OTAs.  Really.

To draft Bell, however, the Steelers passed on two other players we would have loved to see in Black 'n Gold -- SMU's 6'8" defensive end Margus Hunt (went to the Bengals, Round 2, pick number 53 overall) and Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown (to the Ravens, number 54 overall, at 6'0", 241).

Margus Hunt's the guy we really hated to see get away -- he would have been perfect for the Steelers -- and Brown looks like he'll be a perfect fit in Baltimore. It is a bit worrisome that both Hunt and Brown went to our top two rivals in the division.  Hunt, especially, seems like he could be a special force for years to come, and if he blocks field goals or extra points that keep the Steelers out of the playoffs ... we won't be happy. We're keeping our fingers crossed Hunt and/or Brown won't be Steelers nemeses for years to come.

On the other hand, we have high hopes for the Steelers' sixth-round pick, linebacker Vince Williams (Florida St., No. 206 overall, 6'0", 247). Maybe Williams will have every bit as good a career as Arthur Brown. Or not. We shall see. Our feeling is that Williams is going to be a good one, and possibly very good.

As for the Steelers' third-round pick -- wide receiver Marcus Wheaton -- absolutely loved him before the draft and were elated the Steelers got him. He's a perfect fit here, and they got him in the perfect spot. He'll be terrific.

Speaking of wide receivers, our feeling before the draft was the Steelers made a mistake in April by retaining wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders instead of letting him go to New England in return for a third-round draft choice (91st overall).

We were hoping WVU wide receiver Stedman Bailey would be available and sure enough, he was. Bailey went to St. Louis with the 92nd pick overall (the very next pick after the pick the Steelers would have gotten from New England, which, interestingly passed on Bailey).  Intuition says Bailey would have made a perfect Steeler. We would have had both Wheaton and Bailey, and both would be under contract for four years. As it stands now, Sanders can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

As for the fourth-round picks, we love the toughness safety Shamarko Thomas brings, but we're concerned about his height (5'9"?).  Might he have trouble covering the likes of Eiffert, Dickson, A.J. Green, Torrey Smith, etc.?

The other fourth-round pick, QB Landry Jones out of Oklahoma, eh, we have concerns about him.  The Steelers are long past due drafting a good young quarterback. But we're not sure Jones is the guy. Certainly we hope Jones leads the Steelers to the Super Bowl many times and cements his place in the Hall of Fame. We have doubts, however, and we also have concerns that Big Ben will last a full season -- ever.

Before the draft, we made the case for drafting Duke QB Sean Renfree, who went to Atlanta in Round 7, 249th overall.  Too bad.

Another college player we had our eye on as a potential draft pick was Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor, who went in the fifth round to Bruce Arians's Arizona Cardinals.  Taylor had a lousy Combine but compiled 4,300 yards and 40 touchdowns during his career at Stanford.

Well, you can't get everybody you want, and we'll trust the Steelers know more about what they're doing than we do..  

That's it, Fort Pitt.