What to look for against the Steelers

Friday, August 19, 2005
Robert Henderson
MDBW Staff Writer
Talk about this in MDBW Forums

The Pittsburgh Steelers mauled the Philadelphia Eagles before their offense even took the field. However, with the ongoing T.O. Soap Opera going on in Philadelphia, it was not surprising. This is pre-season, and it shows in a lot of ways. The Miami Dolphins will have a good challenge with their first stringers both on offense and defense. Pittsburgh is very strong on both sides of the ball, thus their league-leading 15-1 record last season.

Nick Saban announced early this week that Gus Frerotte would again start for the Dolphins. His outing last Saturday was adaquate, but his numbers weren't outstanding. He went 6/14 for 51 yards. You can't judge him on this, as he only had a few drives to work with.

In this third pre-season game against the Steelers, the Dolphins will still be playing to develop their players and let them compete, and the starters will most likely play the majority of the first half, with the exception of running back because of the deep wealth the Dolphins have this year at that position and the recent signing of Ronnie Brown - they will want to get him some playing time. However, Saban says he does not know whether or not they will actually play Brown.

"Our emphasis is still going to be on the development of our players and competition between our players, because in the season, basically, what you are doing is preparing for games," head coach Saban said. "I think it is too far away from the first game to start preparing for games at this point, although I think at some point in time in the preseason a dry run to do that would be a good thing for our staff and our players, so everybody understands what their expectations are."

However, Frerotte will have a better chance to put a stamp on the fact that he will be the starting QB for this team. A.J. Feeley also will have more of a chance after Frerotte with the 2nd and 3rd stringers to prove that he is not worthy of the starting position. As you can tell, I am not giving my endorsement to Feeley.

The thing to look at most will be the running back battle between Lamar Gordon and Sammy Morris. It looks as if Morris has the heads up since he is listed as the starter on the depth chart and Gordon has been dropped to third string after initially being designated as the starter. These two are essentially battling it out for the third-string running back spot behind Brown and Ricky Williams. Travis Minor will probably be kept as a fourth running back with a primary job of returning kickoffs and playing punt coverage.

Another interesting battle on the offense is that of the receivers. The Dolphins have an immense amount of talent and potential amongst their receivers. Maurice Mann, who will probably end up being cut, has had a very productive pre-season. He has caught 7 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Bryan Gilmore, who has been elevated on the depth chart to second string caught 2 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown against Chicago, but did not play against Jacksonville.

The offensive line certainly played better than they had against Chicago, but are still learning and slowly progressing. They only allowed one sack all game against Jacksonville and Williams managed to gain 39 yards on only 6 carries including an athletic 13 yard run.

Williams was not surprised about his stellar play against Jacksonville, and that how he feels right now does not really matter.

"I don't think much surprises me," the running back said. "I try not to have expectations and just go out there and try my best and that’s usually when the best things happen ... Seeing the fact that I don’t play for another eight weeks, I don’t think it really matters how I feel right now."

Ultimately, what Saban and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan want to see this week on offense is more than 3 points scored with their first team. That is the total that the first team offense has scored in two pre-season games. It's encouraging to see your starters do well in the short time that they are actually out there.

Defensively the Dolphins looked very good against Jacksonville. Their potent offense could not do anything productive while the starters were out there. Byron Leftwich was sacked 4 times in only 11 drop backs. Newcomers Kevin Carter and Keith Traylor had a sack and half a sack respectively. This is very promising considering they were brought in to stuff the middle of the line and put pressure on the quarterback. Jason Taylor and Carter should be able to thrive this season as offensive lines will not be able to consistently double team either of them.

Jason Glenn added to his impressive play since recently joining the Dolphins by recording a sack on Leftwich, a normally elusive running-type quarterback. He, Channing Crowder, and Derrick Pope are a very solid backup linebacking corp.

The biggest worry on defense is the secondary. Losing Sammy Knight and Patrick Surtain to Kansas City will prove to be big blows this season. An annual top 5 defensive secondary will drop to middle of the pack at best. However, Travis Daniels, who looks to be the front runner to start opposite Sam Madison and replace Surtain, has been playing surprisingly well. The fourth round pick out of LSU has thrived in Saban's familiar defensive scheme. Against Jacksonville, he knocked a ball away from Pro Bowl receiver Jimmy Smith right as it seemed to be falling into the receiver's hands.

However, Daniels injured his hamstring later in the game and had to leave. Coach Saban says he is still day to day as of Wednesday.

Linebacker Zach Thomas was pleased with the Dolphins play against Jacksonville, but admits the group is still trying to bond.

"We are still basic. I think that we are not going to show everything. We are just trying to get a feel with the guys," said Thomas. "We are going to be aggressive, but it's all about game-planning. We really haven't had a game plan yet ... With success against Jacksonville, it is exciting to see that we are getting more comfortable together. Hopefully, we won’t have the mental breakdowns or anything like that."

Hines Ward has ended his training camp hold out and will play on Saturday against the Dolphins. This coupled with last-year rookie sensation Ben Roethlisberger will certainly give the Dolphins' secondary an immense challenge. That, and the defensive line will be competing against one of the top offensive lines in football - quite different from practice.