A tough decision to make
The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost some key players for the season in running back Rashard Mendenhall and guard Kendall Simmons. Now, the Steelers face the decision of how to compensate for their losses.
The replacement of Rashard Mendenhall will be the easy part. That is due the availability of free agent running backs Saun Alexander and Cedric Benson. Neither of the two have yet to sign with a team.
The hard part is the replacing of Simmons. The Steelers were already hard pressed for quality lineman. Now, there are going to be desperate, as the quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is on pace to be sacked 60 times this season.
At that rate the only place the Steelers will be going is the golf course at the end of the season. The reason is the same as in the Saint Louis Rams situation.
Quarterbacks that get hit a lot eventually get ancy in the pocket. When that starts to happen the ball is released earlier than normal, thus the pass is usually incomplete, or intercepted. That is exactly the problem with Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, who was benched this past week for back up Trent Green.
Unless the solution for the Steelers is ihouse, then it is going to be a long year for the Steelers.