Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
 |
The Steelers haven't changed their way of doing things for nearly two decades, but Bill Cowher's tried and true way of playing offense will be sorely tested when the season opens. Literally and figuratively.
With both Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley limping, the vaunted Steelers running game that has anchored their approach for so long is at least temporarily slowed, although that may not greatly alter the way Cowher approaches things.
A year ago, Cowher's Steelers went 15-1 with one of the most unbalanced offenses in the league. Trying to protect rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from carrying too much of the load, the Steelers ran the ball 61 percent of the time while throwing it only 39. Even for them that was a bit much, but the same approach might be the way they go about things this season because during Cowher's long reign the Steelers are 85-6-1 when they have run the ball 35 times or more. That's all the proof Cowher needs to keep approaching his AFC North
opponents with a pounding running game and the fact he still has a reliable — if limping — one-two punch at running back has much to do with it.
The ageless Bettis ponders retirement every winter, but he's back again after rushing for 941 yards last season, much of it coming after he took over for Staley when he went down with an injury. In 10 games, Staley ran for 830 yards himself and the intention is he'll start again this season whenever he's fully recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery in August. Staley rushed for 91 yards or more in six of his eight starts so the 33-year-old Bettis has no problem with him getting the ball, as long as it gets handed back to him around the goal line, where he barreled in for 13 touchdowns a year ago. The problem is that for the moment both are under the weather and Cowher has to wonder if they are reaching the age when their bodies can no longer be relied upon.
If so, Cowher will have to take some of the wraps off Roethlisberger, who looked for much of his rookie season like he could handle anything before fading late in the year and in the playoffs. He threw five interceptions in two playoff games while throwing only 11 during the regular season. He did complete 66.4 percent of his throws and was efficient enough to post a 98.1 quarterback rating, but was the late season drop off merely from a tired arm or was it a sign of greater problems possibly surfacing his sophomore season now that the league's defensive coordinators realize he tends to put too much air under the ball on his deep throws?
Whether that was from a tired arm or an exhausted mind only the Steelers know for sure. One thing they are certain of is they want Roethlisberger to again be ably supported by the running game that a year ago averaged 154 yards per contest. The Staley-Bettis combination allows the Steelers to keep from asking too much from its young quarterback or a depleted receiving corps that is replacing erratic but dangerous Plaxico Burress, who departed in free agency. Cedrick Wilson and Antwaan Randle-El will take up much of the slack for Burress and the hope is rookie tight end Heath Miller eventually gives Roethlisberger another target with good hands and the knack of getting open and making plays alongside one of the league's best receivers, Hines Ward.
As solid as the offense is from top to bottom, the defense is even better. The run defense was first in the league, allowing only 81.2 yards a game, the pass defense was fourth and, most importantly, the scoring defense was first as well, allowing only 251 points, an average of 15.1 points per game. Although inside linebacker Kendrell Bell left in free agency, he was out all last season any way so the Steelers return all 11 starters from the stingiest defense in the NFL a year ago. That defense is greatly aided by Pittsburgh's ball control offense, which a year ago led the league in time of possession with an average of 34 minutes of offense per game.
HOT SEAT: Cedric Wilson. It appears Wilson has beaten out Randle-El for the starting wide receiver job next to Ward. The 6-5 Burress was a big target but an erratic one. Wilson will play the split end position he favors and the Steelers believe he may end up at least as productive as Burress was and maybe even more so if Roethlisberger is free to throw the ball a bit more.
OVERHEARD: The entire starting right side of the offensive line is gone, but the Steelers believe Max Starks and Kendall Simmons can replace departed tackle Oliver Ross and guard Keydrick Vincent without a problem. Simmons is coming off battles first with diabetes that cost him 30 pounds and then a torn ACL that cost him last season. Two years is a long layoff, but the Steelers believe Simmons has the talent to pull it off without missing a step. They're not as sold on Starks, because the second-year man is relatively untested, playing only on goal line offense as a third tackle last year. But he's 6-7, 340 and the Steelers' staff feel he will adequately replace Ross without significant dropoff.
OUTLOOK: The Steelers return every starter on defense and all but three on offense and have a quarterback who went 15-1 in his first 16 professional starts so why should they slip significantly? They have two power runners and a defense that refuses to give up a yard rushing without a fight. That's enough to get them back to the playoffs unless Roethlisberger
suffers a serious sophomore jinx.
PREDICTION: First.
|
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
 | Slideshow |
 | Super Bowl XLVI shots See the best moments before, during and after the Giants' win over the Patriots more photos |
Latest from ProFootballTalk |
 | Video: Football from NBC Sports |
 Getty Images |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
/peacock_7788aa.gif){kind=small}