About those preseason games…
Sorry for being tardy with this update but watching the [intlink id=”19″ type=”category”]Pittsburgh Steelers[/intlink] final exhibition game last night left me feeling not unlike Alex after undergoing treatment in “A Clockwork Orange.” The tone was set early when Charlie Batch played two series then spent the rest of the game on the sideline wondering why the Panthers cheerleaders all look like they’re thirty-five years old. [intlink id=”45″ type=”category”]Mike Tomlin[/intlink] made no effort to disguise this farce, telling reporters afterward that if a player was suffering from anything more serious than a hangnail, they weren’t going to see action. I feel sorry for the people of Carolina who paid good money to see UFL level action at NFL level prices.
Remember, folks, Roger Goodell is all about listening to the fans.
The Steelers won the game, by the way. More importantly, nobody was injured. Speaking of injuries, in an effort to trim the roster to 53 men by Sunday, the team has placed quarterback Byron Leftwich on injured reserve. Thus endeth Lord Byron’s 2011 campaign.
You can put away that voodoo doll now, Dennis Dixon.
[intlink id=”55″ type=”category”]Double D[/intlink] actually looked halfway decent last night, leading five scoring drives (two touchdowns and three field goals). Running back Jonathan Dwyer ripped off a few nice runs, likely cementing his place on the roster. Undrafted rookie tight end Wes Saunders caught a touchdown, which probably means he’s going to make the team even if it’s only the practice squad. Perhaps the hottest battle right now is the Amazing Leg Race between Dreamy Daniel Sepulveda and Jeremy Kapinos. Sepulveda has the advantage of being a wasted draft pick whereas Kapinos’ case boils down to being a better punter.
The Steelers clearly haven’t made up their minds yet as they ushered in Labor Day weekend by adding to the ranks of the unemployed. Earlier this afternoon, they cut 21 players to knock the roster down to a mere five over the limit with roughly twenty-four hours left. How depressing it must be to be a real football player like a big-ass linemen or red-meat eating linebacker and the coaches slip you a pink slip while the team continues to carry TWO punters.
No real surprises on the cut list. The team was high on undrafted rookie RB John Clay, safety Da’Mon Cromartie-Smith and offensive lineman Kyle Jolly but all got the axe in the end. Kicker Swayze Waters has a big leg but missed too many chip shots to win a job. Receivers Wes Lyons and Tyler Grisham and linebackers Mario Harvey, Chris McCoy and Morty Ivy all showed flashes of ability but the team is simply too deep at those positions for those guys to catch on. Saddest for me, the team cut defensive back Macho Harris. Between this and the untimely death of Randy Savage, it’s a tough year to be Macho.