Making The Not-So-Special Special Teams Special Again?

So in an attempt to fix the Steelers special teams unit,  Corey Ivy  (CB) and Rocky Boiman (LB) were signed yesterday.  Both have Super Bowl rings with other teams which could mean something, I suppose.  Ivy most recently played with the Ravens (2006-2008) and had 46 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 7 solo tackles on special teams.  Boiman has 197 career tackles on defense, 1.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.  He also has 57 special teams tackles.  Not a bad start, if they produce.  And that’s what we need to know.

The bandaid applied last week when the Steelers moved Donovan Woods from practice squad up to 53 didn’t work and he was released, along with veteran Keiwan Ratliff to make room for the new guys. Boiman knows Tomlin from his time with Tampa.

While some things are great – the Steelers are #1 in the NFL in total defense, #3 in the Afc and #6 in the NFL in total offense – there are challenges that remain just terrible: for example, the Steelers are #25 in the NFL in takeaway/giveaway.

At yesterday’s press conference, Mike Tomlin identified three things that need to change, and change immediately:

• Special teams need to stop giving up touchdowns.  There have been five – four on kick-off and one on a punt return.
• Stop committing turnovers. There have been 19 offensive turnovers in 10 games.  Too many.
• The defense needs to create MORE turnovers, the big plays.  There have been just 14 defensive turnovers created.  (I think most of those have been from Troysus with a couple random here and there from others, but not consistently)

The Steelers are 6-4.  Baltimore is up this week.  It’s now time to get it together and barrel through the rest of the season.  I don’t want to hold my breath anymore, I want to have confidence that the Steelers can make it to the playoffs.  We’ll worry about what happens when we get to the playoffs once that bridge is crossed.  Right now it’s time to focus on Baltimore.

The sad part about all this is that the Steelers are really a good team.  The stats show Ben is having the best season ever, the defense is the same defense from last year and they are tough – but penalties, turnovers and missed tackles along with allowing the opponent to run it to the house do not make a championship team.

Now is the time to change the momentum.  I hope that they are getting the usual “playing the Ravens” mojo ready because they are going to need that “play hard, play 60 minutes” attitude to win this one.

Lets Go Steelers!