Not so fast

[DanRooney]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

when you say "our" and "us" in this context, are you referring to the players or the fans (or do you consider them one in the same)?

because the REAL (meaning things that really happen in the real world according to people tapped into reality) victory for the team and players was beating the seahawks.

Right the Ravens losing to the Titans was meaningless. We should have rooted for them to win. Go Ravens? I guess REAL people like you do that.

[ZoneBlitzer]

Originally Posted by WickedSteel

I know I will get flamed for this and ripped up and down but I'm saying it anyway.

A lot of you are going on about how the Steelers are "back to form" and that last week was just a "off day".

I'm here to say that there was nothing impressive at all out there today. The Seahawks are BAD, really bad. They have little in the way of offense and even less in the way of defense.

Mendy and Redman broke some runs today but they got stuffed quite a bit too. Mendy was dancing around in the backfield a lot, looking for a hole that wasn't provided by the O line. The Steelers were inside the 10 twice and came away with 3 points. They continue to struggle near the goal line and have no answers for it.

Ben got beat up again today. I didn't watch last week's game but from what I have heard, Ben was destroyed handily by the Ravens. He goes from one of the best defenses in the league to one of the worst and continues to get pounded. Your $100 million QB should not be taking that abuse. He is one blindside sack away from another concussion or major injury that could end his season or career.

Sure, the D got a shutout but it is Seattle that we are talking about! It is extremely difficult to shut out any NFL teams but it is far from being really impressive. I mean, we're talking about Tavaris Jackson and Golden Tate here! I'll give them props but it was nothing earth shattering.

Receivers looked good today in spite of Ben throwing numerous high balls their way. Wallace's impressive finger tip catch and Ward's tip toe catch were especially impressive. Sanders also had a good game again and Brown was visible.

The whole point is that Seattle is NOT Baltimore. Baltimore is a contender and Seattle is not. If Flacco could carve up the secondary like that, how are they going to stop Brady when he comes to town? He may well set the single game passing record against us! They will also have to face Shaub and a new Matt Hasselbeck, not to mention the Titans' front 7 which will likely be in Ben's grill all day.

The Steelers have MAJOR issues right now and it doesn't look good. Maybe they will find ways to fix them but then again, maybe not. They will have serious problems against contender teams if they can't find ways to correct their shortcomings. The "explosive offense" that was supposed to take pressure off an aging D is not looking very good right now. The O line was a concern all through the off season and it is rearing it's ugly head already just two games in.

Wow. I couldn't agree any more. Very well said. If the Steelers offense doesn't pick up the pace, it's going to be a tough year and an early out in the playoffs. The offense needs to be explosive and they need to be able to finish drives and put up major points. 24 points against Seattle is pedestrian.

[Dodens Grav]

When are the Steelers ever "in form" in week 2? They always take time throughout the season to get the kinks out of their gameplan and progress. Steelers fans are such god damn whiners, I swear to god.

[pancake]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

well said, mr trout.

i think some people are hoping for, or waiting for a single win that will erase the horrible pain and humiliation they feel from losing last week to the ravens.

but theres not a single game that can do that, and mike tomlin acknowledged as much in his post game presser.

ultimately we're fans of a team where the superbowl is the standard. we could go undefeated for the rest of the regular season and it wouldnt mean jack squat towards erasing the week one loss, if we didnt win it all.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

I also love seeing ratbirds lose. We are not as bad as we showed week 1

[pete74]

Originally Posted by Dodens Grav

When are the Steelers ever "in form" in week 2? They always take time throughout the season to get the kinks out of their gameplan and progress. Steelers fans are such god damn whiners, I swear to god.

Go check out any nfl team forum and you will notice the same thing. All people are saying is don't get overly excited about this win. Once we start beating teams in our division we can start looking towards the future.

[Rick5895]

Originally Posted by tanda10506

I don't think the Steelers are "back to form" just yet, but they played pretty well and got back to winning. We should beat the Manningless Colts and back to back wins against any team will give you confidence. As far as saying that there was nothing impressive, there was, it's just not deemed impressive because it's against the Seahawks. Anytime you shut out an NFL team that's impressive, Lynch is a good RB and he had no success today, and the offense played pretty well. 22/30, 298 yards, a touchdown and no picks, that's pretty good passing. Mendenhall and Redman played well. Overall, I'm still worried about our O line a lot, Foster had a great block and it seemed like they are getting better run blocking, but the pass blocking is still horrible. The only reason we weren't getting hurried and sacked more is because Seattle isn't that good, if that was the Jets or Ravens Ben would have been running a lot more. It's possible that the line will improve the more they play, and Gilbert played well, the more he plays he might turn into a solid point on the line like Pouncey is now. Another thing I'm still worried about is the lack of pass rush. Polamalu looks to have his timing back, Gay played pretty well and Taylor has been playing well so far, if we can get some pass rush from our heavily payed outside backers that are known for getting pass rush, then we will play much better against passing teams. It still didn't seem like the team was playing with any passion/intesnsity, even the announcers mentioned that. I know it's hard to get pumped up for the Seahawks, but this team has to get back to playing "pumped up" football where everyone is flying around cracking heads and making plays. All that said, I'm pretty happy about today's game. We missed a few opportunities but overall we handled the game the way we should and made progress.

You are right the Steelers aren't back to form, but it's week two, so as others point out, I would rather be playing the best football going into the playoffs. They shut out a team they should beat. So thats a good start. I do disagree with you on a couple of points, our run blocing was not good, if it was we would have had 14 points instead of 3 on two goal to go possessions inside the 5. I thought our pass protection was better, but you say if we played the Ravens or Jets Ben would be running a lot more, perhaps he would have, but, we played the Seahawks today and not the Jets or Ravens. IMO by the time we play Ratbirds again our OL will be better.
Our non existant pass rush from the backers in the 1st half was due largely infact to them being in coverage. I think the defensive game plan was focused on keeping Jackson in the pocket . which was done. When pressure was needed in the second half the result was 5 sacks.

As with you I am happy we had a shutout, because this is the NFL and that is hard to do, and I am happy we shut down the run. Overall a good effort that hopefully starts a long winning streak.

[Steelerfreak58]

It was a win over a crappy team but it was a win none the less. The first and one step closer to the playoffs and that is all that matters.

[grward]

Seattle may not be the greatest team but they are a PROFESSIONAL team. Give the Steelers credit for doing what they were supposed to do ... walk away with a W. That is the bottom line here. We've lost many games over the years to these bottom tier teams, but not yesterday. Yesterday they did what the should have ... WON the game. If you are going to berate them for winning then maybe you should strap on your helmet and pads and go show them how its done.

[gloydfan]

24 - 0 W sounds good to me. Sure beats losing... as long as they make the playoffs anything can happen. Doesn't matter as much how you start, but how you finish.

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

when you say "our" and "us" in this context, are you referring to the players or the fans (or do you consider them one in the same)?.

When the Steelers win "we" win and when the Steelers lose "they" lose