The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: Week 7 - Steelers (5-1) defeat Dolphins (3-3)

The Steelers played in Miami and pulled out a win, 23-22. Now I didn't see the game, living in Cleveland I got stuck watching the Browns and didn't go out. So my recap is coming from things I have seen on highlight shows and read on the internet.

The Good:

1. Mike Wallace might be faster than any defensive back in the league. He is quite the deep threat, averaging 25.3 yards a catch with four touchdowns. Look for him to be a big play guy all season, because Ben Roethlisberger can throw it deep. He opens up the underneath routes for Hines Ward, Heath Miller, and Antwaan Randle El.

2. Hines Ward is clutch. He will make the tough catches in traffic. You wouldn't realize that he's 34 years old the way he plays with reckless abandon.

3. Ben Roethlisberger completed 70% of his passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He had a QB rating of 132. So for the most part, the rust is off.

The Bad:

1. The offense couldn't punch it in often and had to settle for field goals. Mendenhall couldn't get it going, but it couldn't have helped that Flozell Adams was lost during the game. The game wouldn't have come down to a late FG and a controversial Roethlisberger goal line fumble if the Steelers could just punch it in.

2. The defense didn't play badly. They held Miami to five field goals and just one touchdown. But Polamalu and Harrison let up on a couple plays that before last week's increased penalties they would have made big hits on. Hopefully Dick LeBeau and the other defensive coaches emphasize being physical and making hits, as long as those hits aren't intentional to the head/neck area. We cannot have these two playing timid.

The Ugly:

1. Injuries.

LaMarr Woodley injured his hamstring. From what I heard, he will be back next week and is just fine, nothing to worry about.

Right tackle Flozell Adams hurt his ankle. I have not heard anything about his injury, so until I get word I will assume it's nothing major and he will be starting Sunday in New Orleans.

Now for the devastating injury. Aaron Smith is lost for the season with a torn triceps. This is the third time in four years that he has been put on injured reserve. The one year he wasn't lost for the season? It was 2oo8, and we won the Super Bowl that season.

There is the chance this could have been his last game in the Black and Gold. He is 34 years old and he could possibly decide to retire at the end of the season, or even be cut. I hope that if he doesn't retire he accepts a backup role, because I don't feel that he can make it through an entire season playing starter's snaps.

It is now time for Ziggy Hood, our 2009 first round draft pick, to step up and be the player we believe he can be. He has been very good in practice and had a very good preseason. He's been groomed for this role. This is also the exact reason we drafted him, to eventually replace Smith and to be a backup if he were to become injured again.