Grades and thoughts on the Steelers win against the Buccaneers

Offense … A-

Well lets start this weeks grades and thoughts off with the offense and Charlie Batch...You have to feel good for the guy...Think about it... He was an after thought in training camp getting little if any meaningful reps with the starters or second string for that matter. He never once complained ...never had a real shot in the preseason... If Byron Leftwich does not get hurt in the last preseason game during what was going to be his last playing time of the night ..Batch would have been cut from the team ..Then he takes a back seat to Dennis Dixon being that Batch did not get much work with the team in camp or preseason and Dixon did have a pretty good preseason ...but then Dixon hurts his knee and Batch goes from the last in line to the man in command ...He comes out against the Buccaneers and throws an interception right off the start ...A younger less seasoned QB may have went into the tank at that point not Batch though ...the very next drive he throws a bomb to WR Mike Wallace for a 46 yard TD ...and then another 41yard TD to Wallace ...and a nine yard TD to WR Hines Ward in the end zone to end the half with 3 TD passes and by the time the Steelers ended the half they were up 28 to 6 and Steelers Nation took over Tampa as the Terrible towels filled the air ...it then became like a home game..Batch ended the game with a passers rating of 106.5 ...12 of 17 passing for 186 yards and 3 Tds and 2 Ints The offensive line did great protecting Batch not giving up any sacks and opening up the running game for Rashard Mendenhall who had another great game rushing for 143 yards on 19 attempts and a TD ...He averaged 7.5 yards a carry that's a great average, Mendenhall is really turning into a good back if he keeps this up he has to be mentioned as a top 5 Rb in the league!

DEFENSE...A-

The Defense played another outstanding game ...Only giving up a TD late in the fourth when the game was already well in hand and the back ups where in ...This Defense is something special ...They came out after the very first Batch interception and set the tone causing the Buccaneers to go 3 and out and kick the field goal...Ryan Clark had a fumble recovery ….Brett Keisel had his first interception and returned it 79 yards for a TD...The Steelers D sacked the QB 4 times and Lawrence Timmons led the team in tackles again ... the coaches called another brilliant game... Every one on the defense continued to play to the high standard they have set this year and barring a lot of injuries this may be the best defense that the league has seen in awhile...They are so physical and have so many play makers that you have a hard time praising them all....they held another team under 14 points giving up just 13...This Defense can be summed up in one word and that's AWESOME !!!

Special teams ...B+

Daniel Sepulveda only punted one time but it was a beauty going 62 yards and getting the steelers out of a field position jam...He is becoming one of the best ...Jeff Reed was 5 for 5 on extra points and had a 24 yard field goal ...The coverage teams never let anything major get pass them and the return team did OK but I would of like to seen them break more long ones .

The Good ...

Charlie Batch and the offense as a whole

The Bad...

Not much bad but the interceptions

The Ugly...
Not much ugly when you win 38 to 13

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