As the defending World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers enter in their midway point Monday with the previously unbeaten Denver Broncos and coming off a Week 8 bye, I’m taking full advantage of the off week to hand out some hardware.
These awards are strictly handed out to members of the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers and are of my own choosing.
— ROOKIE OF THE YEAR — Receiver Mike Wallace
Wallace earns the nod kind of by default since outside of first rounder no other 2009 draft pick has seen significant action, but kind of not if you know what I mean.
Wallace has emerged as a deep threat for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, hauling in 21 aerials for 368 yards and two scores. This includes a 7-catch, 102-yard effort against Cincinnati, which figures to the be the first of many for the speedster.
The Ole Miss product has made so many strides as a rookie that he’s made 2008 second rounder Limas
Sweed insignificant.
— OFFENSIVE MVP — Running back Rashard Mendenhall
Mendenhall has overtaken the Not-so-Fast Willie Parker as the Steelers’ lead runner and is 14th in the league with 418 rushing yards.
He’s doing this despite averaging anywhere between 0.3 and 12.3 less rushing attempts than the top 13 rushers.
Mendenhall has allowed the Pittsburgh offense to showcase some sort of balance, which is now like 60-40 in favor of throwing the ball, and would be more if Bruce ‘I-don’t really-like-to-run-the-football-even-though-it’s-more-often-than-not-more-successful-than-throwing-the-ball’ Arians wasn’t calling the offensive plays.
Mendenhall’s lone shortcoming has been his propensity at coughing up the football, which I’m sure the coaching staff is currently working on with the second-year running back.
— DEFENSIVE MVP — Outside linebacker James Harrison
After a slow start, Harrison is back to wreaking havoc on opposing offenses, having wracked up eight sacks, which is two behind Denver’s Elvis Dumervil, and forced four fumbles.
While he hasn’t had that attention grabbing performance yet, Harrison is getting all kinds of attention from opposing offenses and is bound to be among the leading candidates to earn the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
He earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Month award for October after posting seven sacks, 25 tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in four games.
— OVERALL MVP — Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
As much as I don’t like Roethlisberger, I have to admit he’s the main reason the Steelers won their NFL-best sixth Lombardi Trophy last season and are among the favorites to win the Super Bowl again this year.
Going into Pittsburgh’s win over the previously unbeaten Minnesota Vikings, Roethlisberger was the league’s top passer in yards, but even after the game, he’s completed a gaudy 70.4 percent of his 233 throws for 2,062 yards, 11 touchdowns and six picks.
More than that, his ability to make bide time in a sometimes chaotic pocket and allowing his receivers to get open is what truly make him special, but as the offensive line continues to improve, he hasn’t had to improvise as much recently, leading to less and less Big Ben mistakes (ie. interceptions).
Corey J. Corbin is the former sports editor for The Allied News. He can be reached at gcsportsguy@yahoo.com.
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Corey J. Corbin/Allied News Steelers columnist
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Looking For No. 7: With a break in Steelers action, it’s time to hand out some much-deserved hardware
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