| Pittsburgh Sports Report November 2009 |
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| Aging Lines Before Steelers fans get too relaxed at 5-2, here is a word of caution for you: 2010! The team hit its off week with a four-game winning streak and a share of first place in the AFC North with the Cincinnati Bengals, but the future beyond the next three months presents special problems for a franchise that, usually, finds the right way to handle them. This year might be different. A good case can be made that the Steelers can function efficiently without Parker, given the recent ascendancy of Rashard Mendenhall to marquee running back. And the team will gladly look the other way, in the direction of another kicker, when Reed walks out the door at the end of the season. But Colon has turned into an important component in an improving offensive line; and the lack of good depth at safety makes the loss of Clark a potential problem. But what about Hampton, whose loss could be the most difficult to withstand? The problem with losing Hampton is that there aren't many men on the planet built like him-at 6-foot-1, 325 pounds-who are powerful enough to make big offensive linemen look like bowling pins and nimble enough to skip past those same blockers. The problem with the Hampton situation is that he is still playing well and will want to be paid accordingly as a free agent. But Hampton will be entering his 10th season when he celebrates his 33rd birthday next Sept. 3. Do you pay an older player a bushel of money on a multi-year contract with the kind of guarantees his agent will demand? Especially if 2010 turns out to be an uncapped year, launching salaries and bonuses a bit higher than the Rooney family normally likes to reach? Or, do you try to write a less expensive check, mindful that players, especially 300-pound ones, tend to break down as they approach their mid-30s? And if you think so long and hard about it that you end up losing Hampton, what do you do about a replacement? Backup nose tackle Chris Hoke will be 34 next season. There is no getting around the most obvious problem on the team: The Steelers have an aging defensive line, and Hampton and Hoke are hardly its only older players. Smith was an immovable force last season and at the time of his injury this year, but he will turn 34 in April. Will he be able to play at a high level for three more seasons? Two? One? The Steelers' 3-4 defense is in danger of losing 33 percent of its starting defensive line (Hampton) in a matter of months and perhaps another 33 percent (Smith) not long after that. OK, stuff happens in the NFL. Outside linebacker Kevin Greene left the team once, and the Steelers brought in a long line of pass rushers, starting with Jason Gildon, who became the franchise's all-time sack artist. Gildon was a backup when Greene was a starter, so coach Mike Tomlin just needs to go to his cupboard and find some replacement linemen. Right? It's not that easy. Travis Kirschke has replaced Smith in the starting lineup, but he has a bad back and is going to be 36 next season. Not exactly hope for the future. Nick Eason is younger-in fact, the youngest veteran defensive lineman on the team at the age of 29-but he has had a largely undistinguished career. All of the above is the reason the Steelers made Ziggy Hood a first-round draft pick this year. The Steelers usually are proactive in correcting a problem, and the drafting of Hood was the first step in the important attempt at trying to get younger on the defensive line. At the time of Smith's injury, Tomlin famously said that Hood is not ready "to come out of the oven." That is troubling because in training camp Hood was said to be developing faster than most rookie defensive linemen. Still, it's not a devastating statement because there are no great expectations on Hood this season - he has not been given much playing time, even in Smith's absence. That will change next year, because there are high hopes for Hood, who is big, fast and smart. The Steelers will need him fully baked as soon as 2010. Meanwhile, the team is having no problem winning games and contending for the AFC North championship with its geriatric defensive line. The defense isn't as dominant as it was last season, but it still has the ability to make the "splash" plays that Tomlin loves. Woodley's 77-yard fumble return and linebacker Keyaron Fox's 82-yard interception return resulted in touchdowns and 14 of the Steelers' 27 points in a big victory against the Minnesota Vikings immediately before the off week. Don't feel sorry for those old guys on the line, either. The defense forced the San Diego Chargers to abandon their running game and ended up with 16 yards on eight rush attempts, the lowest yardage total against the Steelers in five years. There were some questions, however, early in the season when the Steelers gave up fourth-quarter leads in losses to the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears, with 10 and 14 unanswered points. Prior to keeping Peterson in check, the Steelers had not been as strong against the run as Tomlin would like to see.. The Detroit Lions ran for 110 yards and Bengals 100 (76 by Cedric Benson).. Not bad, but Benson had a key 23-yard touchdown run included in that winning effort. Still, the team can rush the passer like few others in the NFL, and that distinction and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger are the Steelers' tickets to the playoffs. Outside linebacker James Harrison had eight sacks in the first seven games, including two of the four against Favre. The rush had the 40-year-old Favre so spooked late in the game that he hurried a short toss to Chester Taylor that deflected off the running back's hands and into the arms of Fox. The bottom line is that the Steelers' defense is good enough to get the team back to the playoffs, even though the November schedule is difficult: Three on the road, including visits to Denver and Baltimore, and a return date with the Bengals at Heinz Field. It's a schedule that could set up the Steelers for a run at another division title, or improve their draft position next year when the rebuilding of the defensive line must resume in earnest. Thriving After 30 A look at great NFL defensive linemen and what they achieved after their 30th birthdays:
Michael Strahan, Giants
Howie Long, Raiders Active players over 30
Patrick Kerney, Falcons/Seahawls (32)
Pat Williams, Bills/Vikings (36)
Casey Hampton, Steelers (32) Compiled by Rob Stott |
Five
players who were key parts of the most recent Super Bowl victory
are scheduled to become free agents next year: nose tackle Casey
Hampton, backup running back Willie Parker, free safety Ryan Clark,
offensive right tackle Willie Colon and rogue kicker Jeff Reed.
Aaron
Smith, the team's best defensive lineman, is on the season-ending
injured reserve list with a bum shoulder. This is the second season
in the past three that Smith will miss the most important games
with an injury. It was a torn bicep in December, 2007, and it
was no coincidence that the Steelers lost their only playoff game
a month later. 
More
recently, the defensive line played well against the Vikings,
holding running back Adrian Peterson to 69 yards on 18 carries.
Plus, defensive end Brett Keisel, 31, had a sack of Brett Favre.
Reggie
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