Black@Gold Forever32
05-14-2006, 12:48 PM
From the moment the Steelers won XL we have heard nothing but how the Steelers won't repeat. Jerome Bettis retired and we have heard how we will miss his leadership. Then the few free agents we did lose and how we can't replace them. El and his big 35 catches and 1 TD hard to replace I think not. Chris Hope who made so few plays only has two career INT's. A free safety needs to make more plays on the ball then that. Kimo was a very good player but we have Kiesel ready to take his place. Now we are hearing this latest stuff about Hines Ward and how this will distract us from winning. These recent Ward's comments have been way over blown and by the time the season starts Hine's comments will have been long forgotten.
All this crap and nothing really of any substance leads me to believe with the moves the Steelers have made will be better in 2006 then in 2005. We drafted Santonio Holmes who I'm sure will make up for the loss of El in the passing game. People forget that El didn't even return punts in college. Reid doesn't have to learn how to return punts since he was an elite returner at the college ranks. Ryan Clark seems to be as good a player as Chris Hope. I expect Clark to struggle at first since he learning a new system and playing with new teammates. But by midseason Clark will be fine.
My biggest reasons the Steelers will be better.
1. Ben Roethlisberger will be in his third season. The third year is the year QB's seem to really take off. Ben already has a Super Bowl title. The first one is always the toughest in my mind. Ben will be fully healthy and better in 2006 especially with all the weapons he has to work with.
2. The Oline has had a year to work with each other. Last year we were breaking in Max Starks as a first time starter. Kendall Simmons was coming back from injury and struggled at first to retune his game. They have had a year to jell with each other and I expect to see the performance of our Oline in 2004 then the performance of the Oline from last year. Oline was good last year but it was better in 2004 in my mind.
3. The Steelers Defense. Only lost Chris Hope and Kimo. But have people as good or better to take over. Also saw players like Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor continue to grow and improve. Troy is already one of the best in the NFL and Ike had a very good season and showed that he can be a very good corner in the NFL. Throw in the good play of rookie Bryant McFadden and the Steelers secondary has some serious talent.
The LB core is still together and one of the best in the NFL. Porter and Haggans combined for 19.5 sacks last year. James Farrior and Larry Foote are very solid in the inside. James Harrison is the super sub of the unit. Andre Frazier showed some ability last year.
Kimo was a loss to the Dline. But Brett Keisel is a better pass rusher then Kimo. Brett might not be the run stopper Kimo was. But the Steelers will rotate Dlineman so Kirschke or a rookie like Orein Harris could play the run downs.
4. Speed kills. Willie Parker is the starting runnningback and he did very well as his first year as a starter. Yea he has his share of very short runs. But on the very next play he can take it to the house. Parker to me last year was thinking to much at times instead of letting his instincts take over. Willie at times followed the orginal hole instead of maybe cutting it back for a big gain. Now with the drafting of Santonio Holmes and Willie Reid the Steelers recieveing core and special teams are much faster. I expect more fireworks from the Steelers offense and special teams this year.
I can go on but I'll leave it at those four reasons. Now we all don't know what will happen. Of course if the Steelers have major injury problems that could lead to the Steelers not repeating. Sorry for the novel guys.
All this crap and nothing really of any substance leads me to believe with the moves the Steelers have made will be better in 2006 then in 2005. We drafted Santonio Holmes who I'm sure will make up for the loss of El in the passing game. People forget that El didn't even return punts in college. Reid doesn't have to learn how to return punts since he was an elite returner at the college ranks. Ryan Clark seems to be as good a player as Chris Hope. I expect Clark to struggle at first since he learning a new system and playing with new teammates. But by midseason Clark will be fine.
My biggest reasons the Steelers will be better.
1. Ben Roethlisberger will be in his third season. The third year is the year QB's seem to really take off. Ben already has a Super Bowl title. The first one is always the toughest in my mind. Ben will be fully healthy and better in 2006 especially with all the weapons he has to work with.
2. The Oline has had a year to work with each other. Last year we were breaking in Max Starks as a first time starter. Kendall Simmons was coming back from injury and struggled at first to retune his game. They have had a year to jell with each other and I expect to see the performance of our Oline in 2004 then the performance of the Oline from last year. Oline was good last year but it was better in 2004 in my mind.
3. The Steelers Defense. Only lost Chris Hope and Kimo. But have people as good or better to take over. Also saw players like Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor continue to grow and improve. Troy is already one of the best in the NFL and Ike had a very good season and showed that he can be a very good corner in the NFL. Throw in the good play of rookie Bryant McFadden and the Steelers secondary has some serious talent.
The LB core is still together and one of the best in the NFL. Porter and Haggans combined for 19.5 sacks last year. James Farrior and Larry Foote are very solid in the inside. James Harrison is the super sub of the unit. Andre Frazier showed some ability last year.
Kimo was a loss to the Dline. But Brett Keisel is a better pass rusher then Kimo. Brett might not be the run stopper Kimo was. But the Steelers will rotate Dlineman so Kirschke or a rookie like Orein Harris could play the run downs.
4. Speed kills. Willie Parker is the starting runnningback and he did very well as his first year as a starter. Yea he has his share of very short runs. But on the very next play he can take it to the house. Parker to me last year was thinking to much at times instead of letting his instincts take over. Willie at times followed the orginal hole instead of maybe cutting it back for a big gain. Now with the drafting of Santonio Holmes and Willie Reid the Steelers recieveing core and special teams are much faster. I expect more fireworks from the Steelers offense and special teams this year.
I can go on but I'll leave it at those four reasons. Now we all don't know what will happen. Of course if the Steelers have major injury problems that could lead to the Steelers not repeating. Sorry for the novel guys.