Should Colbert be on the hot seat?

Guest contribution courtesy of Nick Beckwith ...

Pittsburgh’s recent first round successes — Troy Polamalu (2003), Ben Roethlisberger (2004), Heath Miller (2005) and Santonio Holmes (2006) — have masked a problem, namely relatively poor drafting in later rounds. Over the last five years the team has drafted only six starters, and Brett Keisel (7th round) is one of the few late round players to blossom into a significant contributor. Therefore, if director of football operations Kevin Colbert is not on the hot seat, his chair should at least be a bit warm.

It is easy to criticize the man in front of the big board; it is more difficult to offer solutions. But I have, if not a solution, at least a new approach, which is simply the re-emphasis of an old approach. Pittsburgh must draft Steelers — players of high character and a strong work ethic who also display a love of hitting. I advocate drafting players whose idea of “going clubbing” is spending four hours in the free-weight section of Gold’s Gym.

Chuck Noll was of the opinion that his job was not to motivate players, but to teach motivated young men to be better players. I’m not saying the Steelers should ignore ‘triangle numbers’ (height, weight, 40-yard dash time) or the results of the various athletic tests of the Combine. I’m saying that football is a team game, and a united warrior attitude is the most important among many determinants of wins and championships. While so-called project players of great potential should not be eschewed, on-field production should be the defining characteristic of most of the players acquired in this (or any) Pittsburgh Steelers draft.

Dolphins: What are the Chances...?

Forget about the individual matchups and forget that key players like Troy Polamalu and Santonio Holmes are out with injuries. If Pittsburgh plays anywhere near its collective potential the Dolphins have no chance. But as we know, last week Pittsburgh failed to put its breast -- I mean, best -- foot forward against the 1-8 Jets, so one never knows....

Of course, the big storyline for Steelers' fans will be the less-than-triumphant return of former Steelers' LB Joey Porter, who hasn't done much thus far in Miami. In a recent post we noted that Pro Football Weekly named Porter the worst FA signing of the past offseason.

As for our prediction, "What are the Chances...?" is giving the Steelers an 85 percent chance of defeating the Dolphins (our highest percentage to date). The only thing really holding us back from going to 90 or 95 percent is the fact that Ben Roethlisberger is banged up and there are those key injuries to consider. Still, the Steelers haven't lost a Monday Night home game since the Chuck Noll era, and it's difficult to imagine the Dolphins breaking that streak.

But this raises an interesting question: If the game is close late in the 4th quarter would Steelers' fans begin rooting for the Dolphins? I highly doubt it; it's not like Miami is 0-15 or anything. But consider this: Back in the early '80s I went to a game at New York's Shea Stadium between the 0-14 Saints and the hometown Jets. With the outcome in doubt late in the 4th, Jets fans began rooting for the hapless Saints, who squeaked out a one-point victory and narrowly escaped a winless season.

Remembering Cowher's Debut

With Mike Tomlin's first regular season game as Steelers' head coach now less than a week away it seems appropriate to recall Bill Cowher's head coaching debut, which took place on September 6, 1992 at the Astrodome versus the Houston Oilers. Cowher's charges got off to a very slow start, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, allowing a fumble recovery for touchdown and a Warren Moon touchdown pass. But the momentum changed when the Steelers successfully executed a fake punt and RB Barry Foster subsequently scored on a one-yard run. (At his farewell press conference earlier this year Cowher admitted that he tried to call off the fake punt but failed to do so). The Steelers went on to shut out the high powered Houston offense in the second half and vanquished the heavily favored Oilers, 29-24. Cowher went on to win two more games (at home against the New York Jets and at San Diego) before losing at Green Bay in his fourth game.

For what its worth, Chuck Noll also emerged victorious in his debut, beating the Detroit Lions 16-13 way back in 1969.