Post-Green Bay thoughts

When the Packers drove right down the field on 10 plays for a TD on the opening drive, Twitter started.

"Going to be a long season with this defense," was the general tone.

And then the sacks started coming.

Six in one game. I realize that some of those came in the second half when both teams had plenty of backups in the game, but we saw James Harrison and Cam Heyward almost get there and then Harrison do so for a safety.

Then we saw Jarvis Jones get home. Bud Dupree did so twice - though one was negated by an offside penalty by nose tackle Cam Thomas (how does that happen?). Shamarko Thomas got there on a blitz as well.

The first-team run defense was a little soft - Eddie Lacy averaged 5.0 yards per carry on six attempts - but they were playing a nickel. And without Lawrence Timmons.

That will get better.

But it was nice to see some guys getting home, especially since, as Jones said afterward, Mike Tomlin had challenged them to win some one-on-one battles.

* OK, now we can talk about Maurkice Pouncey and his latest injury, a broken lower left leg.

Much like when he was injured against Tennessee in the opener a couple years back, Pouncey was hurt out on the edge.

Perhaps his mobility is working against him in these situations. The fact that he's able to get out there, while some other centers don't, has added up to a pair of major injuries for the Steelers' Pro Bowl center.

I'm not saying you don't do those things with him any more when he gets back, but both injuries were kind of flukish.

It's a shame, because the line really looked poised for a big year. It really had made some strides in the past year.

Cody Wallace will be fine as a fill-in until Pouncey returns - sometime in November, I'm estimating.

The problem arises for his backup spot. Chris Hubbard struggled Sunday at center against the Packers. Rookie B.J. Finney might have found a roster spot because of those two things.

* The Steelers dodged a bullet with Stephon Tuitt. Tomlin said Tuitt has an ordinary ankle sprain. That means he could be back for the preseason finale or the regular season opener.

That also means the Steelers will continue their auditions at defensive end.

I wrote it prior to this game and I'll write it again - the team's No. 3 defensive end might still be on someone else's roster.

Why do I say that? I think this team is poised as a Super Bowl contender. And if that's the case, you can't allow an injury to Tuitt or Heyward to derail your season.

* I thought Thomas showed up and had a solid game at strong safety, which is something I needed to see to feel a little better about his prospects moving forward.

But I'm a little curious as to why the team didn't give Thomas and Mike Mitchell more time together in this one.

Mitchell was out of there pretty quickly.

* Pouncey has a nasty streak that kind of sets the tone for the rest of the offensive line. But Wallace has that as well. Did you see him busting downfield on a screen soon after entering the game to crush a linebacker?

Nasty.

* I hate to say it, but the injury to Pouncey is one the Steelers can better deal with than one to, say, Kelvin Beachum.

First, they've already played a season without Pouncey. Second, they don't have a healthy reserve offensive tackle right now who has ever taken a snap in the NFL, let alone at left tackle.

* It was good to see Garrett Hartley force a couple of touchbacks. That had been a concern.

* Imagine how Tyler Murphy would look at wide receiver had he not spent most of training camp at quarterback.

Maybe they should line Sammie Coates up at QB for a while.