Notes From Lombardi: AFC North

Lombardi,

You cant win a Super Bowl with a poor o line. They are average and Ben holds the ball too long trying to make plays....its the gift and the curse. Nate was not inconsistent all this year. He is the 3rd option so his numbers will be low.
McFadden has been good since he was a rookie, He was hurt this year for a stretch and William Gay is ready to step in without missing a beat! Lastly, our starting, 2 time Ray Guy award winning punter was injured in the preseason....he will be back with a vengeance.....no worries.

Ekwaun,

Ummm, Pittsburgh did, in fact, win the Superbowl last year with a sub-par O-line. It's a rarity, but it did just happen.

I do agree with you on Ben, though. He holds on to the ball waaay too long. Big guys like him should get rid of the ball quicker or else, he'll end up getting seriously injured.

As a Steelers fan, I am quite appreciative of their 2 recent SB wins. However, I would love for the Steelers to get back their attitude in the run game. I think some of the deficiencies are by talent and others by scheme.

Talent
1. Is the O Line capable of mashing the D and creating holes? I would like to see the Steelers get a bruising OG or C (Alex Mack?)to open up holes? How good are the OTs in the run game. As bad as Willie Colon is in the pass game he HAS to be a better masher. Thats what the Right OT should do.
2. How good is Willie Parker? He has great long speed but not much wiggle and does not get much yards after contact.
3. Matt Spaeth is a terrible blocker and Arians LOVES the 2 TE look?

Scheme
1. While Arians calls a good passing game he loves the single back O and it always seems that the D gets great penetration vs. that formation. The I formation (with McHugh as FB) seemed to be more effective.

Overall they did win the SB last year BUT New England is going to come out with a vengeance. The Steelers need to raise the running O to hold the ball longer to neutralize the Pats O.

Yeah i guess Ben held the ball too long on that last drive of the super bowl...Santonio was his third option. If he would play like Terri in San Diego wants he would have never went to his third read.

Cedric Benson's main high school play was for the Qb to pitch him the ball and lead block on a sweep. We know he's too slow for sweeps at the NFL and the extra blocker who gave him numbers is gone as well.

I thought he'd do something, but teams stayed on on the waggle during his college days, that created extra yards for him. Few Qb put that kind of fear into teams at this level outside of the wild hog.

1) Look for Antwan Barnes to step in and take Bart Scott's spot. He's quick, can rush the passer, and has a motor. I think he will have to battle Goodsen although the team is high on Jameel McClain to step in. I'm worried about the corner duo of Foxorth and Washington against physical recievers.

2) O-Line pick-up Matt Birk was a great move and will put a much needed mean streak back in the line. Willie Anderson needs to be replaced. Signing Orlando Pace is a gamble and he could get injured again. Theres not much out there for young OT's. Draft?

3) Having a full off-season in Cam Camerons playbook is a plus for Flacco. What's missing from it though is Todd Heap. He's been injured, but is a clutch TE when used. They need to go to him more often a'la Antonio Gates when Cam was in San Diego. Adding a physical WR is a must. Darrius Heyward-Bey out of Maryland would make a great draft pick in this years draft.

4) Look for the Ravens to take a DT in the draft also. Having Gregg healthy will help rotation and subbing Ngata at end with Pryce will also help. The duo of Bannan and Gregg when healthy are a great 1-2 punch. Moving Ngata around is good also, the guy is a BEAST.

5) Like i said above, Orlando Pace may be a risk, but at a reduced salary it would be the steal of the century if he makes it a entire season. They need to provide more protection for Flacco on passing downs.

Cincinatti - Can anyone rush the passer?

Cleveland - Who can rush the passer?

Not really the sort of questions you want to be asking in a division with Big Ben!

Baltimore:
"Who will replace the departed Bart Scott at the Will linebacker position? Will it be Tavares Gooden, the third-round pick in ‘08?" Clay Matthews in the 2nd round, Cody Brown or Ian Campbell in the 3rd round would be better options that Tavares Good.

"In spite of all the fanfare and solid play of rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, the Ravens’ passing game was lacking. Will adding a playmaker help improve this area? The Ravens ranked 25th in first downs through the air."
I think there are a lot of talented WR in this year's draft. I think they could work their way up via trade to snag Maclin. I also think they could sit back and wait for Jarrett Dillard, Mohamed Massaquoi, Juaquin Iglesias, or Derrick Williams.

In Cincy, the O-line protection begins by drafting Michael Oher or Eugene Monroe.

LBs aren't now and never are a problem for the Ravens. Between their system and their incredible success at drafting LBs, I have no doubt that whoever they plug into Scott's position will succeed. Whoever thought Scott would be a star as a UFA out of a nowhere school?

Their biggest questions are at CB, WR, and OL depth. I think the recent spate of CB signings (Foxworth, Carr) has given them the flexibility to take either CB or WR in the first round -- freeing them up to go with Ozzie's philosophy of best player available, regardless of position. And I know they LOVE Pettigrew; he probably won't last that long, but TEs do slip in the 1st round (like Heap in 2001).

Steelers don't need a new punter they just need Sepulveda to recover the the preseason injury that put him on IR.

"Who will be the starting quarterback and is he already on the team? Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson threw at a 50-percent completion rate and are not accurate. Who can win the job, or will the Bengals draft a quarterback?"

Brady Quinn looked magnificent against the Broncos. A week later in Buffalo he plays with a broken finger on his throwing hand and people wonder why he's not playing that well. He also played with a broken finger a week later vs the Texans. Few people understand that when they look at the stats. If you want the "real" Quinn look at the Broncos game.

Also, it's the BROWNS, not the BENGALS. ;-)