Aaron Smith goes on IR, could be the end for career Steeler

The Steelers today announced that DE Aaron Smith is headed to IR for 2011, ending his season and perhaps the career of one of their best all-time defensive stars.  

A career Pittsburgh Steeler, Smith was drafted out of Northern Colorado in 1999.  From 2000-2006, Smith played in every game for the Black and Gold.  He was the stalwart on a defense that led the franchise to 2 Super Bowl championships, and one of the certified leaders for the team both on and off the field.

In the community, Smith has been one of the most generous athletes to ever suit up in the Steel City.  His charity contributions are virtually unmatched, and rarely achieve any media attention.  

While he only played in one Pro Bowl, every fan of the Steelers knows the importance of Aaron Smith to this franchise, and his passion and hard-nosed play has made every one of us proud over his stellar career.  

Here's hoping that #91 can make it back from this setback, but the odds of a successful return at what will be age 36 are long.  Regardless of the outcome, Aaron Smith will always be remembered as a proud Steeler, and ever prouder Pittsburgher.

Is this the least impressive 4-2 team in Steelers history?

Coach Tomlin has his work cut out for him over the next month.

After disposing of the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars this past weekend, the Pittsburgh Steelers sit in a familiar spot at 4-2.  The team is poised to make another run at an AFC North title, the first stop on the 7th Heaven Express.  Unfortunately for this team and its fans, the Steelers have yet to put together more than one complete game thus far in 2011.

The victory against Jacksonville was a tale of two very different football games.  In the first half, the Steelers looked as if they could do no wrong.  All facets of the offense were clicking, as RB Rashard Mendenhall led them out to a seemingly blowout worthy 17-3 halftime lead.  In past years, this team would have put the clamps down once they re-emerged from the depths of Heinz Field.  They would have maintained a feverish pace, scored a few key turnovers, and disposed of their Florida-based former division rivals by a 20 or 30 point margin.

Tennessee was the victim of the only true 100% performance by this team so far this season.  That 38-17 victory in Week 5 gave us all a false sense of security that our beloved Black and Gold was ready to roll through the "salad days" of the season en route to their usual back 8 dominance.  Usually, back to back home games against Tennessee and Jacksonville would be daunting, but with both former AFC Central squads dealing with issues of their own, this seemed to be the perfect time for the Steelers to get their act together prior to moving into big boy territory in Weeks 7-8.  A quick trip to Arizona could prove to be a roadblock, since the Steelers never seem to be able to fully get over that hump.  The lackluster 2nd half performance this past Sunday has now cast a shadow of doubt on whether this team can truly compete with the New England and Baltimore teams they will see Halloween week.

The key for the Steelers in the next portion of their schedule will be to once again regain their "60 Minute Men" swagger.  QB Ben Roethlisberger must find a way to get on key with his exceptional WR crew, after misfiring on 3 sure TD tosses this past Sunday.  RB Rashard Mendenhall looked like the same guy who rushed for 1200+ yards in 2010 this past week, but it will only take one more rough game before the "Issac Redman for President" calls become the norm once again on 93.7 "The Fan".  The vaunted LeBeau defense has finally found a way to stop the pass, leading the entire NFL in yards against through the air.  The turnovers are still just out of reach, which has made the unit seem very unreliable.  In reality, the unit has played as well as can be expected minus the Pro Bowl caliber losses of Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, Brett Kiesel and James Harrison as various times this season.  Moving forward without #92 wreaking havoc is a monster loss for this team, but the Woodley/Timmons tandem at OLB may be the real future for the Steelers.  

The 2011 Steelers are a parallel to this blog post, all the potential in the world but lacking the ability to piece it all together and formulate a true victory.  Hopefully, what we have seen in 6 quarters of real Steelers football the past 2 weeks (minus the entire 2nd half of the Jacksonville game) will continue and the added element of returning starters on defense will jack up the turnover machine.  The #1 goal of this team should be to maximize the opportunities for Big Ben and the "Young Money" WR crew.  Opening up the running game for Mendenhall/Redman/Dwyer will give the talented RB stable a chance to average 100+ per game.  Matching up Emmanuel Sanders against nickel back sets will enable him to break free of mediocre coverage and maybe become the 5-hole hitter to Mike Wallace's "cleanup" spot.  Careful use of Hines Ward in the soft middle of the field could be a surefire method to picking up those troublesome 3 and 4s'/5's.  Heath Miller can continue to do what he does best, decoy the LB pass coverage into taking that one step in that will allow all of the aforementioned names to do what they can do, BURN down the field.  If Ben can hit them in stride, this offense could put up 30 points a game and this team will end up 12-4 and polishing off another home field playoff matchup come January.  

It needs to all come together....and FAST.  Arizona is a nice vacation spot, but for the Steelers it will be followed by the biggest 2 games Heinz Field will see during this regular season.  Considering that games with Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland (twice) and a Bengals team that is playing way over its head are the home stretch for 2011, a few true "team" games against the big boys could springboard the 2011 Steelers to another AFC North title.  Lets hope that they find that cohesive fire in the desert this weekend.