FanHouse DanKreider

It looks like Dan Kreider's days as a Steeler are officially done.

The writing had been on the wall ever since the Steelers didn't make him a contract offer of any sort when he became an unrestricted free agent. But now the Lancaster New Era is reporting that Kreider is going to sign a contract with the St. Louis Rams, even if his chances of making the Rams roster are pretty remote.

By saying goodbye to Kreider, Pittsburgh appears ready to go into next season with only Carey Davis on the roster as a true fullback. New offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has de-emphasized fullbacks in general, and he seems to prefer guys like Davis--a runner and a blocker, instead of Kreider's pulling guard in a fullback's body approach.

Great news! Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said the Heinz Field turf is in "outstanding" condition. So there won't be a repeat of what we saw Monday night ... well, unless you believe that given the weather conditions, and the shoddy playing surface before the Dolphins mud wrasslin' event, there's no way the field will be in decent shape.

We'll know for sure come Sunday at 8:30 pm EST, but at least the organization is doing all it can in the meantime:

The Steelers will use an extra layer of tarpaulin to cover the field, an attempt to prevent water from leaking through the seams of the existing tarp, as it did Monday night.

The Steelers had the field aerated and rolled after the game against the Dolphins and have used blowers in an attempt to dry the sod.

There's been a lot of bellyaching about the surface, but despite all the complaints there haven't been any injuries you could point to and say, "see, mud painted green really isn't all that good for the players' health." Now, though, we might have our first confirmed victim: fullback Dan Kreider was placed on injured reserve earlier this week after tearing his ACL after stepping in a hole on Monday night. Kreider wasn't sure if the hole was primarily responsible, but I'm guessing it didn't help.

Either way, you have to expect the potentially sloppy conditions to favor the Steelers. That said, the Bengals have had their way with the Steelers at Heinz Field, so who knows what to expect.

Alrighty folks, we're less than 90 minutes from the full slate of Week 1 games. I'm listening to the Steelers pregame radio show via the internets (while also learning the ins and outs of DirecTV's Sunday Ticket -- many props to MDS for the guidance) and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Mike Prisuta just reported that cornerback Ricardo Colclough and returner/fifth wideout Willie Reid won't dress for today's game against the Browns.

Casual fans are probably asking themselves, "So what?" Well, a couple of things: First, Colclough is a 2004 second-round pick who, to date, is best known for single-handedly losing the Bengals game last year. There were rumors he might not make the team, but he squeezed onto the final 53, even though he's not dressing today.

Reid's a bigger surprise. The 2006 third-round pick was drafted specifically to replace Antwaan Randle El. Instead, Reid only saw action in one game last year before going down with a foot injury, and an inconsistent preseason led the Steelers to trade for Allen Rossum.

Who knows what this means for the team's long-term plans for Reid, but one thing's clear: new head coach Mike Tomlin is a lot quicker with the hook than the old head coach, Bill Cowher. And like it or not, that's a good thing.

There was some speculation that Dan Kreider might not dress today, which would've pretty much signaled the beginning of the end of his time in Pittsburgh. He's probably one of the league's most underrated blocking fullbacks, and given that the Steelers' offensive line isn't particularly keen at blocking, dressing him on game days seems like a smart idea.

As for the other game-day inactive: LB Marquise Cooper, RB Gary Russell, C/G Darnell Stapleton, G/T Trai Essex, Colclough and Reid. Brian St. Pierre is the emergency quarterback (but you already knew that).