1) Can’t say I know enough about your DBs to make an intelligent assesment there. I know there’s some plays to be had in your secondary, but only really if we force you to put 7 in the box to honor the run and not disguise some converage looks with stunts from your pass rushing LBs.

2) Ike Taylor will face Randy Moss, likely with S Ryan Clark playing a MUCH better last line of defense than Anthony Smith who was forced into action last year. I think Polamalu will be allowed to his usual disruptive self all over the field rather than spending too much of his unique abilities shutting down one man (Moss). We’ll see how our 2nd year CB William Gay does against Welker. He’s a 3rd rounder out of Louisville, and though he doesnt quite ‘look the type’ of a shutdown guy, he’s got good instincts and is pretty darn fast. I think he’ll definitely do better than what we saw last year against Welker. How much better? That’s another question, but no 10+ catch barrage for Wes. We also have 2nd year phenom in the making Lawrence TImmons to help be a disrupter in the passing game. We’ll see just how precise Cassel and his receivers are on Sunday, but I know that Timmons will at least certainly close down some of the windows much faster than was the case last year.

Then let others fill in behind me.

But basically we’re in a similar boat, though I thin most of us would contend that theres far greater potential for us to continue improving as we have the past month and half to actually field a DECENT enough line to get some things done offensively. The big difference is the replcaement of old and lazy and rich G Kendall Simmons with young hungry and physically talented Darnell Stapleton. Stapleton’s got plenty of work left, but we’re not seeing the CONSTANT pressure up the gut like we were last year nearly as often. And he’s had his moments in the running game.

We’ve also experienced a nice upgrade at center. Last year Steelers fans were positive we were watching the worst Center in the history of organized football in Sean Mahan. This year veteran Justin Hartwig from TN and CAR has been a solid upgrade. Again, not All World, but fare.

Where we still have major issues is at the tackle position. Veteran Marvel Smith is down and out with back issues in a contract year, youngster Willie Colon is actually better this year than last, but still not nearly good enough to be a starting caliber T for a contending team. And Max Starks, who we transitioned this offseason still has big problems with speed rushers.

If we were a 3/10 last year, with a 10/10 being say the Giants or the Titans, and you guys perhaps being somewhere in the 7-8.5 range, we’re probably at like a 5.0 now. With the key though being that they could continue to improve. Their have been no disruptions to the O line in quite some time now (for our standards), so it’s possible that we’ll gel even a bit more with the help of some better more disguised play calling.