The Answer's are,......

[SteelCzar76]

We're very unfocused and not playing to our potential right now as an ENTIRE team. But let's address the most glaring weaknesses. With that said,.....here are my "Solutions" so to speak.

QB: Ben's not playing well,.... but it's not as bad as some think. He just has to have the Rep's and playing time to establish rythym and consistencey.

SECONDARY: Clark is playing with a chip on his shoulder,.... and this is very good. But Anthony Smith should still get time on the field,...not only for expierience,...but to add some air of playmaking intimidation. (especially with Troy not being 100%) The same is to be said for B-Mac.
Ike can run with almost any reciever,... but he and Dshea both need to start trying to make plays on the ball while it's in the air,....ESECIALLY the DEEP ball. Coclough should see as little playing time as possible,....why waste anymore time,....he has made almost no improvement from his rookie season,....and that's ridiculous.

WR: The timing of Hines being back to full strength is crucial,.... as our next best receiver's are Rookies. Yes i said it,.... Santonio and Willie Reid should be getting Cedric and Nate's playing time respectively. There is no argument here,...Wilson and Washington are both undersized, weak, clumsy and inconsistent "Bandaid's on Bulletwound's" players. They're the offensive counterparts of player's like Chad and Dwayne.
You get Holmes, Reid on the field with Hines and Heath,... and let them develop cohesion with the rest of the offensive unit.

SPT: return game,..... C'mon,...... do i even have to say it ?

Bottom line,... you put the best personel on the field period,....and use the "fringe" players in moderation. (Washington, Coclough, Wilson, Carter etc,..) Once this is done we focus on fundementals at practice. And from a coaching stand point,..play with more aggression and a sense of urgency on offense for the entire game. And this doesn't mean a more "vertical" game,......but more so of playing with the intensity to score TOUCHDOWNS on every possesion. (Not just field goals or running to simply kill the clock)




"Hail Caesar,......Hail the Black and Gold"

[stlrtruck]

Nice assessment but I would have to disagree with completely throwing Reid and Holmes to the wolves. I think as a WR in the Steelers system, it takes more than running routes and catching balls. I do think they should both be given a chance to prove they understand the system and they can only do that in game situations. So give them more playing time but we have to realize that on any given Sunday a player or a team for that matter can have a bad day! Last Sunday, we had a bad day as a team!

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by SteelCzar76

WR: The timing of Hines being back to full strength is crucial,.... as our next best receiver's are Rookies. Yes i said it,.... Santonio and Willie Reid should be getting Cedric and Nate's playing time respectively. There is no argument here,...Wilson and Washington are both undersized, weak, clumsy and inconsistent "Bandaid's on Bulletwound's" players. They're the offensive counterparts of player's like Chad and Dwayne.
You get Holmes, Reid on the field with Hines and Heath,... and let them develop cohesion with the rest of the offensive unit.

Very good post, Czar, but I must take exception to the above in part. First - the team has only played 3 games together thus far - I think it is premature to tag any player at this point, especially any player on the WR corps. The offense has to be in sync as a unit - with Ben's problems and at present with 2 rookies- Holmes and Washington- being a part of that unit, they need time to gel and perform together as a unit, not so much as individuals. Our O last season had the rep, especially in the latter part of the season and on the road to the SB, of being versatile and unpredictable. This season, it seems they are just way too predictable and seem to lack that "oomph". The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing so to speak. These issues start at the top with the coaching staff and being the eternal optimist that I am, I believe these kinks will be addressed and ironed out in the coming weeks. Cowher and Wiz need to put some fire under this unit's behind and find a way to get them all on the same page, imo.

[Livinginthe past]

I would say Ben has been just as bad as most have been saying, some of the throws and decisions he has made have been truly awful.

However, I agree that he needs more reps to solve this - the future of this teams QB'ing sits on his shoulders.

I have mentioned before that I regard the WR corps to be the weakness in the Steelers but I dont think that promoting two rookies up the depth chart is the way to go - they both need to be broken in gradually.

There seems to be something of a 'John Kuhn' hysteria surrounding Willie Reid - alot of people think he is the answer to the teams problems on offense and the return game - based upon what?

The pre-season?

I think people, myself included, tend to over analyse every aspect of their team when things aren't working out on the field - the secondary certainly upheld their part of the bargain last week - Carson just made some spectacular throws for TD's.

Once the Big Ben piece of the puzzle falls into place this year, then you'll find the offense stays on the field longer, which improves the effectiveness of the D, which puts less pressure on the offense......etc etc.

NM

[Lyn]

Ben does not look good to me, I think he is far from over the June episode, let alone the appendix operation. IMHO.

[Atlanta Dan]

The WR playing time puzzle is something that should have been anticipated during the draft or in preseason.

The Steelers decided to draft 2 WRs with a #1 and #3 pick. If the #3 pick makes the team (a #1 pick would never be cut in his first year if only because it would be such a blatant admission that the draft pick was a screw-up) then the #3 pick should be playing or at least dressing.

If only 4 WRs are used at any one time offensively and Moray (another WR) needs to play on special teams, I assume this is not something Cowher found out for the first time after the draft.

It is not Reid's fault, but that looks like a wasted draft pick for now. If Washington and Moray presumably were going to make the team then Reid should not have been drafted once teh Steelers committed to talking Holmes

As for other pieces of the puzzle, I believe Cowher has decided the post-injury coddling of Ben is over, as evidenced by the story in today's P-G that Cowher is telling Ben he needs to run more ("Cowher to Big Ben: Run more, puh-lease"). That presumably will proivide some downside to the DBs and LBs hanging back in pass coverage against a less than stellar group of WRs and forcing Ben to be threading the needle on his throws.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06271/725692-66.stm

[floodcitygirl]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Dan

As for other pieces of the puzzle, I believe Cowher has decided the post-injury coddling of Ben is over, as evidenced by the story in today's P-G that Cowher is telling Ben he needs to run more ("Cowher to Big Ben: Run more, puh-lease"). That presumably will proivide some downside to the DBs and LBs hanging back in pass coverage against a less than stellar group of WRs and forcing Ben to be threading the needle on his throws.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06271/725692-66.stm

Thanks for the link Dan. It seems to me that what Ben needs is more play time.....not rest. Hopefully he'll find a way to get the kinks worked out in practice and get back to playing football "his way". Sounds good to me.

[19ward86]

i agree with you untill you said washingtons job should be taken by santonio and willie, no that is not the anwer. nate is one of the best recievers on our team. the order should be hines and santonio, washington,willie,walter young(on practice squad), and sean morey. i dont like sean morey except for the fact he is on special teams. cedric wilson has ok hands but cant get open, he isnt a reciever like santonio, santonio can at least play the role of a distraction but without a good second guy hines will be doubled every day of the week.

[Haiku_Dirtt]

Originally Posted by Livinginthe past

I have mentioned before that I regard the WR corps to be the weakness in the Steelers but I dont think that promoting two rookies up the depth chart is the way to go - they both need to be broken in gradually.


NM

Reid is not to answer to our problems. It won't help Ben to have an injured Ward and two rookies to help him get IT back. Czar makes good points but that is premature.

But why cut Quincy Morgan if you aren't going to even dress Reid. What is Cowher afraid of? A critical turnover in the fourth quarter? Oooops.

Even Cowher is quoted as saying a big reason they took him in the 3rd round is essentially because he has sure hands. He did very well receiving in traffic. Then WTF is he doing in street clothes. You know. Hines Ward was a third round pick who they put on ice for too long.

And on another topic I thought Deshea played an excellent game against the Bengals.

[SteelCzar76]

Truthfully Fam,....i can understand your viewpoint's in regards to giving some players more of what you consider an opportunity, ie Washinton and or Wilson. (It's the nature of hope.)
But my reasoning is such,....if you have so called "seasoned" players, or players with at least some League experience that are perfoming on a "rookie" level or less in terms of production,.....you get them off the field.
Especially if the actual rookies have more ability. By no means do i consider Reid, Santonio or Anthony "Saviors" to any degree,....it's simply a matter of upgrading our personel in regards to skill and or talent.
Ben is an exception only because his play since he has been a Steeler,...though not Marino or Montana esque,.... has been of great benefit and contributed greatly to our success. In other words,... he's EARNED the right to work through setback's. (None of the other's i mentioned have done nearly as much)
Yes Holmes, Reid and Smith are rookies,....but exceptional coaching and Veteran on field leadership should offset the likely "Growing Pain's". I firmly believe that they (rook's) can't possibly be a bigger burden than the other cat's in question.
IMHO,......as long as one is trained and armed,........BRING ON THE WOLVES. (LOL) There's no better time than NOW to measure one's worth.



"Hail Caesar,.....Hail the Black and Gold"