While the running game has me worried, the punting game has me sick. Which is why I was none too happy hearing Tomlin say that Mitch Berger was going to stay the teams punter this week vs the Ravens. Here is a clip from the Post-Gazette on it:
Mitch Berger will keep his job as the team’s punter. In his two stints with the Steelers this season, Berger has averaged 40.6 yards gross and 37.6 net. Tomlin blamed the wind for Berger’s bad day Sunday. “Hopefully, the weather conditions won’t be as bad as they were last Sunday, but they probably will. The good thing about it from Sunday’s standpoint was that their punter struggled when he punted in that direction as well.”
I don’t know about the rest of you, but Berger to me has been awful all season. I realize he got hurt, which is why they went to the even worse Paul Ernster, but I can’t believe that there is not another option out there. Think Chris Gardocki would come in for a few weeks? How about Josh Miller?
Jimmy Straightline
December 10, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Obviously the team likes Berger, how many times did they send him to punt with TWO BAD HAMMIES???
Even with the bad hammies and the bad weather/wind, Berger is still net-averaging 37.6 yards per punt. For comparrison, in 2007 Sepulveda net-averaged 37.9 yards per punt – better by about 1 foot.
My recollection of Sepulveda is that he’s a game-changing stud, but the fact is that last year he was the NFL’s 11th best in terms of net yards.
Berger is alright. This Steeler defense can be trusted to handle an extra 1 foot per punt. Now, let’s get back to worrying about the running game, pronto.
Morgan
December 13, 2008 at 3:26 pm
BErger, and ernster both suck WE NEED SEPULVADA!!!!!!!!!