Thoughts on the season so far

[FanSince72]

Originally Posted by mikegrimey

1-2 since reverting to a "regular" fullback... Hmm

WTF?


When your QB goes 36/49 for 384 yards and throws 4 TD's and doesn't throw a pick, you really shouldn't NEED a FB -- or ANY back for that matter.

But when you LOSE a game with numbers like that, what you really need is a F***ing DEFENSE!

[Lord of Lombardi]

Originally Posted by Fire Arians

The Good:
1. Heath Miller is finally being used as the weapon we all knew he could be
2. Ben Roethlisberger is lights out and if he keeps it up, will have a career season
3. Protection for Ben has been a lot better than what we're used to seeing
4. Baron Batch is money in pass protection
5. Woodley seems to be starting off the season well compared to the start of his last 2 seasons.
6. Mike Wallace missing camp a non factor, he's been productive
7. Harrison, Polamalu, Mendenhall back after the bye (likely)

The Bad
1. Redman / Dwyer are below average and are not getting it done in the running game
2. Lawrence Timmons who? I haven't heard his name called much all season. For 50 million $, he needs to play at a much higher level
3. There is no heir apparent to James Harrison. Worilds and Carter have not made any impact plays in his absence. We spent a lot of picks on OLB's in the recent years, and none have made any impact whatsoever.
4. 2 blown 4th quarter leads in 3 games
5. Special teams, then again, as a Steeler fan I'm used to crappy ST being the status quo

The Ugly
1. Wasn't Willie Colon supposed to be beastly? He hasn't done much in the way of opening running lanes. He has been good in pass pro (reason why he's not in the 'bad' category)
2. Love AB, but hold on to the damn ball
3. Casey Hampton either doesn't have it anymore or is playing injured. If either is the case, should McLendon be given some snaps?
4. Sucks having to lose like this before a bye week, it just gives you another week to think about it.

THE GOOD: The Offense. With how bad our D is they obviously can't score enough
THE BAD: LB Corp is our weak spot, Troy-Retire already, No Young Casey
THE UGLY: Watch our DB's play
The UGLY II: We've lost 2 4th qtr leads to suck teams. See you around pick #12 in the draft.

[NSMaster56]

1. No running game.
2. But thank God for the passing game.
3. Tough opening schedule (@, decent Jets team, East Coast to West Coast, BYE, tough Philly team).
4. Injuries happen, but are a bitch.

[SteelCity4Life]

Originally Posted by StainlessStill

You're SERIOUSLY going to go that route and blame the offense? Seriously dude? Not only is this offense completley DESTROYING teams in time of possession (keeping that old, slow and done defense off the field is key, right?) but they are scoring points and giving the defense the lead.

In week 2 against Denver, the offense twice gave the defense the lead, keeping Peyton Manning off the field for a WHOPPING one hour of play and we STILL lost the game. In week 2, our offense scored 27 points and had a breath-taking 10 minute drive to close the game at home. In week 3, our offense was absolutely BRILLIANT, scoring 31 points of offense and playing with the lead the entire game until the final gun.

And it's because of inserting the fullback? Good grief. You people are downright NAUSEATING to listen to after a loss. Out of all my years that I have watched the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's to NEVER panic after a couple tough loss's. You fans should buckle down and do the same and realize this season is FAR from over. If it's any team to rebound, it's us. Same thing every year. We're bound to drop some tough road games.

We will respond.

THANK YOU! SPOT FREAKIN' ON!!!!

[Rotorhead]

Honestly, if you look at our last 4 games, Mundy is killing us. D Thomas just owns him, he has either been out of position or whiffed on a tackles for 5 scores. OT last year he ran up to stop the run, nobody back to make a tackle, this year, same thing same result. I cant recall the second time the first game but was out of position for another score as well. Whiffed the tackle on the raiders long TD run and was out of position on a pass for a TD. When bith Troy and Clark are in, we played solid on Def. I know there are alot of other contributing factors to the losses, but the drop off to Mundy is HUGE. Troy may have lost a step, but he can tackle, Clark is our def MVP right now. We will be fine as long as Mundy doesnt have to start IMHO. I always liked him, but he is just not good enough to start, spot duty for him.

[Edman]

1) Hampton and Keisel need to be benched somewhere down the line of this season. Just like with McFadden, Smith, and Hines last year who lasted a while before permanently riding the pine/getting demoted. They did their jobs. They had great careers in Pittsburgh. It's over for them. Hampton was well on his way out for years, but Keisel plummeted off a cliff. McClendon and Heyward are ready to go.

2) The Classic Lebeau Zone Defense needs a spot on the shelf as well. It's getting us nowhere. Not only does there need to be a personnel change, there needs to be a scheme change as well.

3) Running game is going to be fine with Mendenhall coming back. I used to think he was soft, but he's surprising me with his determination to get back on the field.

4) Todd Haley is awesome.

5) Ben R is well on his way to an MVP season. He is tearing it up.

As horrible as the Raider loss was, it isn't like games like this happen every year. It was just one of "those" games. The Steelers always have them. Just hope this team can regroup during the bye week and stay the course. Still a long ways to go.

[grward]

The Good ... We are finally gaining yardage on the bubble screen. I no longer scream at the TV when they dial up that play.

The Bad ... When you have an aging group of guys, injuries will mount. Expect many more throughout the season.

The Ugly truth ... You need a DEFENSE to win games!! It's been said a million times over the years and now we know why!

[tanda10506]

Originally Posted by Lord of Lombardi

THE GOOD: The Offense. With how bad our D is they obviously can't score enough
THE BAD: LB Corp is our weak spot, Troy-Retire already, No Young Casey
THE UGLY: Watch our DB's play
The UGLY II: We've lost 2 4th qtr leads to suck teams. See you around pick #12 in the draft.

Troy retire already??? What has he done this season to make you want him to retire? Injuries happen to the young and old, two of our youngest players may be out for the season, so you can't blame him for that. With the lack luster performance we're getting out of almost everyone on D, the last thing we need is Troy to retire.

[tony hipchest]

Originally Posted by StainlessStill

That said, go back and look at the Steelers playing down to their competition. Not only are they NOTORIOUS by doing so, but they are notorious for a struggling players breakout performance.

I remember in '02 against the Falcons, Vick was a struggling quarterback, putting up AWFUL numbers the week before, only to have a breakout game against the Steelers.

I remember in '09, when we visisted the Bears. Cutler threw like, 4 interceptions against GB the week before and looked downright PUTRID. Next game, Cutler has one of the best games of his career against us.

Bruce Gradkowski had the game of his life against us in '09.

We all know the Tebow debacle.

Peyton Manning tossed his 400th TD pass against...you guessed it....us.

McFadden, up to this point, was having a VERY HARD TIME finding any types of running lanes. The Raiders ground game was worse than ours entering yesterdays game.

What happens? A 64 yard jaunt to the endzone and a breakout performance for McFadden against our defense, rushing for over 100 yards of offense and putting the ball into the endzone.

We are notorious for it. I expect us to tighten up.

not to pick scabs off old wounds but i'll add [pardon the fuzzy details] losing to the worst team in the league 2-10 jets led by clemmens/clement(?), worst team in the league 1-11 browns led by brady quinn, and barely eeking out a win vs the 1-15 dolphins 3-0 (God knows who their qb was).

all critical games when we were a damn good team with SB champions on the roster.

teh steelers defense definitely relies on an aura of invincibility far to often proven by the fact that they are at their best when they play on edge.

thats the only explanation i can come up with and im sticking to it.

also i will credit the other suck ass, bottom feeding teams for playing their best when they have absolutely nothing to lose, and the steelers playing their worst when they are over looking ahead to the playoffs and superbowl, taking suck ass opponents lightly as a mere roadbump along the way.

[steelfury02]

as I've brought up in other threads, there really is something unorthodox about this team as a whole - they have played their best when their backs are against the wall and somehow fall flat on their arse to lowly teams when their sitting pretty and riding a big win or a winning streak.

Some are banking on a strong performance against the Eagles as a sign of good things to come, and mostly because they want the "3" back with a win as proof as that is all it was. I expect a win at home and being 2-2 is no real measuring stick as far as I'm concerned.

I'm really concerned about the defense. I'll believe that Troy and James are the cure when we see the D tightening up, contributing to at least getting off the field on third down, and getting on a winning streak. Also, I am scared about their ability to play more than 3 or 4 games without getting injured again and then we'll be back to square one. I hope that doesn't happen, but as previously mentioned - I'd expect it over not expecting it based on recent history.

Sorry for beating a dead horse and being a killjoy. If they have the same spunk as previous squads, then maybe they are feeling the heat, and will respond.