The Pittsburgh Steelers certainly did better in 2011 than many previous teams coming off of Super Bowl losses. They finished 12-4 and got into the playoffs. But they were far from a dominant team, losing twice to division rival Baltimore and succumbing early in the playoffs to a plucky Denver team.

Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert will have their hands full in 2012 trying to match the success of the last two seasons. There remain questions along the offensive and defensive lines. Age is becoming a factor in several key areas, which means younger guys with promising skills but little experience will have to step up and play key roles. And salary cap issues mean Pittsburgh could lose other key contributors from past seasons, most notably deep threat wide receiver Mike Wallace.

But the Steelers are run as well as any team in the league. So where does this team go from here? Neal Coolong, assistant editor of Behind the Steel Curtain, joined us to share some thoughts. Here’s what he had to say:

Zoneblitz: Coming off of a Super Bowl loss, Pittsburgh had a pretty good season but didn’t win the division and lost to an inferior Denver team. What happened in the playoff game and how do you grade the 2011 season?

Neal Coolong: I neither write for nor root for the Denver Broncos, but the lack of respect they received for that win is a bit unwarranted.
John Fox put together a great game plan. Everyone and their brothers knew the Steelers were going to stack the box and make Tim Tebow throw the ball down field. Fox accepted that challenge, and based his offense around Tebow’s ability to get outside (he did) and hit passes deep (he did).

The deep passes were pinpointed for the right moments. Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, who played well throughout 2010, played far too aggressively, most likely due to the fact that Tebow barely completed deep passes all season, and the ones he did were usually the result of blown coverage. Taylor tried to stay in front of Demaryius Thomas, who kept going, and Tebow got him the ball where Taylor (going for the pick) wasn’t expecting him or the ball to be.

Other factors: The Steelers were down to three defensive linemen. Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel both suffered injuries that would keep them out of a game next week if there was one. Nose tackle Steve McLendon had barely played before this season and defensive end Cam Heyward was a rookie. Between those two and Ziggy Hood, all playing in high altitude with no back-ups, it was amazing they held Denver in check on the ground as well as they did. Ryan Clark not playing will never make the Steelers a better team. Roethlisberger did not have the mobility that makes him great. He took a lot of sacks that, it seemed to me, Healthy Ben would have been able to escape from.

All told, it was just a really bad game. Even if they had won, they would have been spanked by the Patriots the following week, but credit should rightfully be given to the Broncos.

The grade for the season overall, I’d say is a B. Like many Steelers fans, I never really got the feeling they were a dominant team. They certainly played well, but they never really crushed a team in all three phases of the game in the second half of the season. They struggled in the red zone offensively. They had lots of injuries on defense. They managed to win games, sure, but as we saw, come playoff time, you gotta crank it up to 11, and they weren’t able to do that.

Zoneblitz: What is going on with the Ben Roethlisberger/Todd Haley/Bruce Arians/Mike Tomlin saga? Is everyone getting along now and will any of the potential fallout affect 2012?

Coolong: The Steelers announced former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians was retiring. Arians said his contract wasn’t renewed (he was essentially let go). The Steelers weren’t technically lying; Arians did file his retirement papers. They just didn’t say they didn’t ask him to come back.

There was a massive divide in SteelerNation as to the effectiveness of the offense Arians ran. It had evolved into a spread formation, deep pass priority offense, and much of the struggles the Steelers had were due to their lack of ability to hit those deep passes consistently (Roethlisberger was among the lowest in the league in terms of deep pass completion percentage) and while their numbers per run were pretty good (4.4 yards a carry, I believe), they failed often in short-yardage situations, and the lack of commitment to the run hurt them in the red zone.

An inconsistent kicker didn’t help them, either.

However you want to boil it, the Steelers offensive had far too much talent player-to-player to be in the bottom third of the league in scoring. I feel Arians put together winning game plans, but I don’t think he got his players prepared enough from an execution standpoint. There were lots of blown opportunities due to missed assignments, and ultimately, that comes down to the coordinator. He has to put his players in a position to succeed first, but then, make sure they do succeed. I feel he had the first part, but as far as the second part, it was time for the Steelers to move in a different direction.

Zoneblitz: What do you think the addition of Haley will mean for the Steelers? Was replacing Bruce Arians a good move?

Coolong: I think it was time to move on from Arians. Like I wrote earlier, I disagree it was due to poor play calling (although his decisions left them with less options in the red zone), but rather, due to the offense’s seemingly low level of execution. You can’t have five first-round offensive linemen, but the Steelers won a Super Bowl and lost a close Super Bowl with seemingly bad offensive lines.

The execution of those offensive linemen this year, though, left much to be desired. Sometimes you need to bring in a coach to work with the players who are there, and make them the best they can be. I don’t feel Arians was getting the best performance from his players this season, and it was time for a change.

That doesn’t take the players off the hook, though.

Enter Todd Haley. I wrote this on Behind The Steel Curtain, and it was met with significant backlash. It’s just my opinion, but Haley’s hard ass style and frequent examples of losing control of his emotions while coaching do not mesh with the culture the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin have established in Pittsburgh.

Tomlin does not lose his head during games. Sure, he’s intense, but he’s not tearing a strip off players. In turn, his players do not engage in shouting matches with him on the sideline. I don’t care how passionate about the game someone is. From a management perspective, those kinds of things only service a group negatively.

A team reflects the attitudes of its leader. Detroit has a tough, physical kind of head coach, so they played with that kind of style (all the way after the whistle, even). New England is very smart and very disciplined because their coach prepares them to play that kind of football.
It seemed like thousands of Chiefs fans told me how wrong I am about Haley, but I watched their games this year and saw a troubling lack of consistency, which, in my mind, is the result of a manic, spastic coach who promoted a culture of fear and animosity.

I very well could be wrong, but it’s interesting how well they played against Green Bay (you know, the undefeated defending champs) the week after Haley left.

None of this means he can’t and won’t be successful, but if he is not, I’d be willing to bet it will be because his derisive style rubbed the players the wrong way, and they ended up not playing their best.

As far as the Ben/Haley dynamic…what we know about Roethlisberger is he’s fully aware he doesn’t have the pure skills that Tom Brady or either Manning does. For Ben to establish his legacy (which I feel he wants to do), he needs to win. He’s a winner; that’s his rep. He knows he’s got the talent to bring his team championships, so I don’t feel he’s going to kick and fuss too much with what Haley wants to do – assuming it works. Put simply, if they both absolutely hate each other, and they’re successful, I think both of them will be happy. And so will Steelers fans. They’ll come together under the goal of winning.

Zoneblitz: There have been rumors that Mike Wallace might end up leaving as a restricted free agent. Do you think this is possible? And what does that mean for the rest of the wide receiver corps?

Coolong: Wallace leaving is certainly possible. The team announced recently it would give Wallace the highest level tender in restricted free agency, and not the Franchise Tag. That’s a critical decision because under the new collective bargaining agreement, the highest tender comes with a first-round pick as compensation, should Wallace sign somewhere else. It used to be a first rounder and a third round pick. A Franchise Tag gives two first round picks as compensation.

Teams like Cincinnati, who have tons of cap space and two first round picks, or a team like New England, dying for a deep receiver and holding two first round picks of their own, or even San Francisco, a team that came THIS CLOSE to making the Super Bowl, could be comfortable with losing a low first round pick, plus a few million bucks, in exchange for the best deep threat in football.

In the event Wallace leaves, obviously, they take a hit in terms of speed. No receiver can touch Wallace’s production when he catches the ball, but the issue with him over the second half of the year is he didn’t really get the ball. The emergence of wide receiver Antonio Brown may have something to do with that, but it’s likely more due to Roethlisberger’s injuries.

I was working on a project a few weeks ago, and I was watching the Steelers/Colts classic playoff game from the 2005 season. The difference in arm strength from Roethlisberger that year, his second in the NFL, compared to this past year is shocking. It makes me think something happened to Roethlisberger’s shoulder, and it’s limiting his ability to get the ball down field.

A weapon unused is a useless weapon, and Wallace hasn’t shown close to the same amount of production inside the hashes as he’s shown outside of them. While I’d absolutely hate to lose him, and a 20-something draft pick is not even close to his real value, if Ben can’t get him the ball deep down the field, he’s not going to justify the amount of money he’ll likely command on the open market.

Brown is a remarkable receiver and he has no limit in terms of potential. Emmanuel Sanders had an injury-filled year, but he played very well his rookie year. With the release of Hines Ward, and a lack of salary cap room available to re-sign Jerricho Cotchery, if Wallace leaves, they’ll have two receivers on the roster. Either way, it’s a position they’re going to have to address in both free agency and the draft.

Zoneblitz: How is Rashard Mendenhall recovering and what is the plan for the run game in 2012?

Coolong: Mendenhall’s going to do what he needs to do, but it’s really a kick to the groin to suffer that injury that late in the season. It’s nearly a certainty he’ll begin at least training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list, which is pretty much the last place a guy heading into a contract year wants to be (next to the injured reserve, of course).

I don’t believe there’s a magical and measurable number of carries a team has to have to achieve “balance.” I think it’s about running the ball successfully when you should (short-yardage). The Steelers ran well on a per-carry basis, and that was without a ton of long runs (outside Jonathan Dwyer’s carry against Tennessee in week five). They failed to execute consistently in short-yardage situations.

If we’re going to notice one thing in 2012, it’ll likely be the use of running backs more as receivers. Haley demands quarterbacks check down and gain yards whenever possible (not something Roethlisberger likes, but he’ll learn to live in the Non-BA-World of not holding the ball for nine seconds waiting for the deep pass to open up). That’s another part of Mendenhall’s injury that really sucks; he’s a good receiver and would have been a valuable component to the offense from day one.

Isaac Redman is a talented runner and has shown some ability to make catches on broken plays. The team was raving about the first few practices of running back Baron Batch (2010 7th round pick), particularly his ability to block. That helps get guys on the field. He’s said to be a decent receiver as well, so people can expect to see him often in the preseason, and see where that takes him.

Zoneblitz: The offensive line is much maligned and there already has been talk of position switches (Marcus Gilbert to left tackle, Chris Kemoeatu released). What is your assessment of that unit and what needs to happen for it to improve?

Coolong: Gilbert will enter training camp as the team’s left tackle. He’s a solid player, and did well on the right side as a rookie. The return of RT Willie Colon from season-ending injuries the last two years will be a hot story come camp. Before those injuries, Colon was one of the best in the game at that position.

I’ve also heard some talk about the possibility to figuring out a way to keep Jonathan Scott on the right side, and move Colon to right guard. That’s actually come up a few times the last few years with nothing ever happening, but if they were going to take a look at it, it’d be this year.
Either way, it’s a near certainty the Steelers will walk out of the draft with an interior lineman. I’d go as far as saying it’ll be with one of their first three picks, but it’s a really deep guard draft. The release of Chris Kemoeatu shows they’re looking to upgrade that position, and guys like Georgia’s Cordy Glenn, a lineman who could potentially play guard or tackle, are enticing, should he fall to the 24th pick.

I think the unit just simply needs to execute better than they did. Talent obviously helps, and they’ve invested high picks in offensive linemen (Gilbert was a second round pick, C Maurkice Pouncey was a first round pick). They aren’t all going to be elite individuals, but offensive line success is about continuity and communication.

It wouldn’t hurt if they could all stay healthy for more than a week at a time, too.

Zoneblitz: Some say the Steelers defense is showing its age. Do you agree and what has to be done to turn that around?

Coolong: If showing its age means it leads the league in scoring defense two years in a row, then I’d be curious what they’d do if they were older.

The combination of age and salary cap constraints, they’ve already cut linebacker James Farrior (or at least said they were going to). Jury’s still out on Casey Hampton, who tore his ACL against Denver. He’s 35 and due $5.9 million next year. While that’s a lot to pay for a guy who will almost certainly miss training camp while he recovers, the retirement of Chris Hoke means the Steelers only have Steve McLendon at the nose tackle position – a critical piece of a 3-4 defense.

It’s another area they’re likely to target high in the draft.

Defensive end Aaron Smith will also be released. The first-round selections of Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward in recent years, and the extensive time both of those players have seen recently, shows the Steelers saw this coming, and prepared for it.

Again, though, the Steelers led the NFL in scoring defense last season, and that was with James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley playing four games together. The secondary, as weird as this sounds, is the strength of the unit. Despite forcing an insanely low amount of turnovers last year, teams simply did not succeed throwing the ball against them. Cornerback Bryant McFadden was released to make room for an impressive group of young corners, Cortez Allen, Keenan Lewis and Curtis Brown. Cornerback William Gay won’t be re-signed, leaving the three young guys to compete for the starting cornerback opposite Ike Taylor and nickel back duties.

Zoneblitz: Ownership and the front office typically are as good as there are in the league, but with injuries, salary cap issues and a defense aging at least at a few spots, does this team have what it needs to make another deep run in the playoffs?

Coolong: That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?

I think the Steelers have had offseason worries before, and by and large, since General Manager Kevin Colbert took over in 2001, they’ve done very well season-to-season. Many of the core guys from the Steelers’ three Super Bowl teams are gone now (Ward, Farrior, McFadden, Kemoeatu, Smith, Max Starks) but many of them have already been replaced, piece by piece.

Grooming an inside linebacker for the future is a must, as is finding a nose tackle (or exploring a different base defensive alignment). These problems, though, aren’t too different than what many teams face, and the core talent of the team is still high.

More than anything, I’m worried about the rest of the AFC North. Even Cleveland would have a tough time finding a way to screw up a trade up to the number two spot overall to get Robert Griffin III. With a quarterback who can actually throw the ball, Cleveland becomes a vastly improved team. That was an excellent defensive team last year, and those guys are all coming back. Cincinnati was a quality team with two more first round picks coming, along with a huge amount of cap space to help bolster a great defense and an emerging offense (how good are they with Trent Richardson falling to them in the first round? Very good, and it’s very possible).

Baltimore’s obviously a good team, and they’ll be able to keep Joe Flacco (extension) and Ray Rice (Franchise Tag).

It’s without question the best division in football, and 9-7 could be good enough for fourth this year.

Zoneblitz: What would you like to see the Steelers do in free agency and the draft?

Coolong: I think the Steelers need to look at the interior of both the offensive and defensive line. With the impending release of Farrior, they need to bring in an inside linebacker to fill the buck linebacker spot in that defense. I think they need some receiver depth as well as another safety.

More than anything, though, I would like to see them stick with the same philosophy they’ve had with their successful drafts of the past; don’t reach, take the right player at the right spot. If they’re on the clock at 24, and the best guard available is worth the 44th pick, they shouldn’t draft the guard. Reaching is a sure-fire way to destroy your team in the future.

I don’t think they’ll have a ton of cap space to invest much in free agency, but veteran minimum back-ups are essential to any team, and if they can afford one, looking at a receiver there, or a nose tackle (two positions in need of players who understand it at a high level) would be wise.

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