FanHouse DesheaTownsend

Heading into free agency, most people assumed that former Steeler Bryant McFadden would be in demand, perhaps even the first cornerback to ink a big-money deal. Ten days and a handful of defensive back signings later, McFadden finally got a new contract. And it has to be a lot less than what he was expecting: he's headed to Arizona for two years and $10 million.

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The Steelers have $19 million in cap room with only a talented cornerback and a slew of mediocre or injury-prone linemen heading to free agency. So everything's great, right?

Well, take a look at this list of Steelers who are getting ready to head into the final year of their current contracts (thanks to davaughnci for pulling a list together over at Football's Future Forum): RB Willie Parker, LB James Harrison, WR Hines Ward, TE Heath Miller, C Justin Hartwig, S Ryan Clark, CB Deshea Townsend, DE Brett Keisel, NG Casey Hampton, K Jeff Reed.

As they create room in the trophy case for a sixth Lombardi Trophy, the Steelers also have some decisions to make. Four of the team's top five offensive tackles are free agents (although Willie Colon is only a restricted free agent), as are starting cornerback Bryant McFadden and No. 3 receiver Nate Washington.

But according to Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, the Steelers have already decided on their top free agent priority. Banks says the Steelers plan to try to re-up McFadden before free agency begins on Feb. 27. With $19 million in cap room, Pittsburgh has some room to get McFadden under contract while also either re-upping Max Starks or trying to bring in free agent offensive line help.

Want to get a cheat sheet for the Super Bowl, here are a couple of plays to watch for on Sunday.

Blocking Steelers outside linebackers James Harrison or LaMarr Woodley is a tough job for any offensive tackle, but thanks to a new blitz that Dick LeBeau has dreamed up, sometimes a tackle has to worry about both of them at the same time.

LeBeau is a defensive genius who is always drawing up new looks in an attempt to spread confusion among offensive linemen. And nothing is more confusing than trying to figure out the Steelers outside linebacker overload as the play clock runs down.

Despite being the reason for the season and all that, I'm pretty sure Tony Romo could do without December and January, two months that haven't been very nice to him during his professional tackle football career.

Sunday against the Steelers he threw three interceptions -- including the game-deciding pick-six -- and mixed in a fumble for good measure. After the game, Romo took full responsibility for the outcome, and tight end Jason Witten also suggested he deserved a few fingers pointed in his direction (Dominic Raiola gladly obliged on behalf of disgruntled fans everywhere).

That said, fans also took issue with Stay Puft Wade's coaching skills, as well as Boy Genius' play-calling abilities.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 14 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory. (Disclaimer: This will only be for the Sunday games, since you probably can't even remember the Thursday games at this point.)

Studs

Brian Westbrook, RB Philadelphia (33 rushes, 131 yards, 1 TD, 6 catches, 72 yards, 1 TD) -- Not a lot of people have exposed the Giants' defense like Westbrook did yesterday, but I guess not a lot of people have completely taken over games in Brandon Jacobs' house. Westbrook had 203 all-purpose yards in the upset by the Eagles, not only keeping Philly's playoff chances very much alive but showing that when the offense is clicking, this team will be scary for the other side of the sidelines. Donovan McNabb might have just found his best offensive scheme yet -- check down to Westbrook and let the athlete make the plays.

For 53 minutes, this was setting up to be one of those games where Cowboys fans would breathe a sigh of relief, while Steelers fans would bang their heads against walls.

Pittsburgh forced four first-half turnovers and still went to the half tied 3-3. Tony Romo had played about as bad as he could play in the first half, and all Pittsburgh had gotten out of it was a tie.

Dallas then took control of the game in the third quarter, scored a touchdown (something that seemed very hard to do in a game where the defenses dominated), added a field goal and continued to hold the Steelers offense down to double digits in total yardage. Even when the Steelers finally started moving the ball, Dallas stuffed the Steelers on fourth and goal to take away the Steelers first good chance at a touchdown. With the Falcons losing, Dallas' chances of taking control of the wild card race was looking very good.

And then everything changed. Santonio Holmes returned a punt 35 yards to the Cowboys 25. Even when Pittsburgh was held to two yards on three plays, it was still enough to give the Steelers a field goal that cut the lead to seven, 13-6. The Steelers' defense steppped up to force a three and out, and the Steelers went to the no-huddle. That finally seemed to get the Steelers' passing game finally going, as Ben Roethlisberger found Nate Washington for 14, 21 and 16 yards, setting up a touchdown pass to Heath Miller that tied the score at 13-13.

Yesterday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spent an hour and 40 minutes in Senator Arlen Specter's office explaining why it was a good idea to destroy all the evidence related to Patriotgate.

One of the nuggets to come out of the meeting was that the Patriots had (allegedly) illegally taped two games against the Steelers in 2004. Shockingly, mock incredulity ensued. Tonight the Total Access crew got Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend on the horn to discuss the whole sordid affair:

"It really doesn't matter, you know, if a team tapes you ... but whatever it is that you can find to help you win ... especially with it being illegal, you have to really take a look at it. You never want a team to have an unfair advantage on you that you don't get to have on them.

Not to say that if they had the signals it would've made a difference, but who knows? And that was one less opportunity for us to win a Super Bowl.

Rams defensive lineman La'Roi Glover was on Total Access and stated that a team would "absolutely" gain an advantage by taping the opponents' defensive signals. Which seems kind of obvious since the Patriots have been doing it for as long as Bill Belichick has been the head coach.

Obviously, Goodell would love for this story to go away, and you have to wonder if it would have had he not destroyed the evidence in September. After all, Specter was looking for a reason to pimp Comcast's case and Patriotgate provided the perfect vehicle. Come on, Rog, that's D.C. Politics 101: It's not the crime that gets you, it's the cover-up.

Today's Post-Gazette makes a very insightful point. Injuries to Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu may mean that the Steelers will be starting a pair of backup safeties on Monday, but this isn't the first time Anthony Smith and Tyrone Carter have started together.

Last year injuries sidelined Polamalu and Clark for two games late in the season. The duo of Carter and Smith managed to hold down the fort, allowing only one touchdown during those two games. While Carter doesn't have Polamalu's big play ability he is a solid tackler and is competent in coverage.

The bigger concern is the team's lack of depth at safety now. Coming into the season safety was the deepest position on the team, with four starting caliber safeties on the roster.

Safety Ryan Clark will not make nearly as many big plays this season as Anthony Smith, but he won't blow as many coverages either. That consistency explains why Mike Tomlin is starting Clark and Deshea Townsend for the preseason opener instead of Smith and Bryant McFadden.

Sure it's only the first preseason game, but Tomlin seems to be indicating that the battle for two starting spots in the secondary is more than just a sham of a competition.

"It's not necessarily about what they are potentially capable of," Coach Mike Tomlin explained. "It's about what they are on a day-to-day basis. These guys (Townsend and Clark) are extremely consistent. They're very smart. They're very competent. You know what you're going to get from them. That's very attractive. They're rock-solid guys. They don't ride the emotional roller coaster. There's not a roller coaster in terms of their level of play. You know what you're getting. From a coach's standpoint, that's very attractive, particularly from a secondary coach's perspective."