I know how good Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown are. That’s why I want to predict a winning record for the Steelers and another trip to the playoffs with maybe even a shot at getting to Super Bowl 50. But I can’t. Not with the broken-leg injury to Maurkice Pouncey, who will miss at least half the season. Not with suspended Le’Veon Bell, who will miss the first two games, and suspended Martavis Bryant, who will miss the first four. Certainly not with the defense, that poor, poor, potentially pathetic defense.
8-8.
No playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
It’s hard to get past that defense.
“I’m not as concerned as you might imagine,” Mike Tomlin said.
Really?
Here it is, two days before the opening game at New England, and the Steelers still don’t appear to have a clue about who to start in the secondary. They were counting on cornerback Cortez Allen to bounce back from a miserable 2014 season, but he showed nothing in the preseason and could be replaced by Antwon Blake. They thought Shamarko Thomas could step in at safety, but he showed even less than Allen and appears to have lost his job to Will Allen.
What a mess.
The Steelers absolutely have butchered the cornerback position. They gave Allen a four-year, $24.6 million contract extension before last season and, even though he was awful, decided to bring him back to play opposite William Gay despite having to pay him a $3 million roster bonus. That’s big money that now appears wasted. The Steelers drafted Doran Grant in the fourth round in May and released him Sunday. They had some bad luck with second-round pick Senquez Golson, who showed up at training camp with a bad shoulder, had surgery and is lost for the season. They had to trade for Brandon Boykin from the Philadelphia Eagles and sign Ross Cockrell after he was cut by the Buffalo Bills.
The safety position is just as unsettled. Mike Mitchell should be fine in his second year with the Steelers if he’s healthy, but Thomas, starting his third season here, has been a major disappointment. Special-teams ace Robert Golden is the depth. The team cut seventh-round pick Gerod Holliman.
Do you think Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is eager to line up against the Steelers Thursday night?
Brady is 7-2 against the Steelers, including 3-0 at home. He routinely destroyed them when Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark were in their secondary. The most recent time the teams played — November 2013 in Foxborough — Brady threw for 432 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-31 win. The Patriots had three 100-yard receivers and a 100-yard running back and finished with 610 yards. It was the worst defensive day in Steelers history.
“They did whatever they wanted,” Clark said.
“I’ve never been a part of anything like that in my life,” Polamalu said.
The defense won’t be that bad this time. It probably will hold the Patriots to below 50 points and 500 yards. I’m trying really hard to be positive here.
New defensive coordinator Keith Butler will take heat, but that hardly seems right. He has the same problem that longtime coordinator Dick LeBeau had — not enough good players. It’s amazing how much smarter LeBeau was when he had players such as Polamalu, Taylor, Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton and James Harrison in their prime.
Cam Heyward is going to be a star. Lawrence Timmons is a really fine linebacker, although it is a bit troubling that he missed most of the preseason with a toe injury. Ryan Shazier looked good in the preseason. Stephon Tuitt has a chance, although he’s been down with an ankle injury.
But after that?
Where are the turnovers going to come from? Where are the sacks going to come from? There is no guarantee former No. 1 pick Jarvis Jones will produce them, although the Steelers are counting on him the way they did Allen and Thomas. When Harrison is your best pass-rusher at 37, it doesn’t say much about your defense.
Enough already.
If I keep going like this, I’m going to talk myself into 6-10.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Poni” show weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: September 8, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
