Fact or Fiction - 2007 Pittsburgh Steelers

[BettisFan]

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers defense will be a top 5 defense
Fact or Fiction.......Ben returns to his old self -
Fact or Fiction.......Willie Parker will make the Pro Bowl again
Fact or Fiction.......Troy Polamalu will lead the AFC North in INT's
Fact or Fiction.......Santonio Holmes will have 1000 recieving yards
Fact or Fiction.......Hines Ward will have 1000 recieving yards
Fact or Fiction.......Ike Taylor plays much better than last season
Fact or Fiction.......Oline will perform better than last year
Fact or Fiction......Steelers will sweep the Bengals
Fact or Fiction.......Steelers make the playoffs

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by C-BusSteeler

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers defense will be a top 5 defense
Fact or Fiction.......Ben returns to his old self
Fact or Fiction.......Willie Parker will make the Pro Bowl again
Fact or Fiction.......Troy Polamalu will lead the AFC North in INT's
Fact or Fiction.......Santonio Holmes will have 1000 recieving yards
Fact or Fiction.......Hines Ward will have 1000 recieving yards
Fact or Fiction.......Ike Taylor plays much better than last season
Fact or Fiction.......Oline will perform better than last year
Fact or Fiction.......Steelers will sweep the Bengals
Fact or Fiction.......Steelers make the playoffs

I have to agree... the ONLY place I would wonder about is Willie Parker and teh pro bowl. Yeah, he may make it this year... but if Sant. and Holmes get a 1000 yards both, there may not be enough yards for Willie.

[BettisFan]

do u all think holms is taking over as our main wide out over ward??

[FastWillieParker39]

Nope, no way. I like the guy but he's in his second year while Ward has been with the Steelers for many, many years.

When Ward leaves though Holmes will be the #1 WR.

[BettisFan]

yea but not now it seemed like ppl thought that he was now

[FourThreeMafia]

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers defense will be a top 5 defense

Fiction....Im willing to go a step further and say they wont even be a top 10 defense this year. Its a little far fetched considering we always have a top 10 defense, but there are alot of things that scare me.

Kiesel lost some weight, has had a bad TC and looked awful on Sunday.

James Harrison is only good at one thing. Rushing the passer. Joey lost a step but he is still great in box play, run support and coverage, three things Harrison is below average at.

Lawrence Timmons is hurt and I doubt he make much of an impact on the defense this year.

Woodley looked good, but he got eaten up at the line a few times. He has alot to learn.

If the pass rush isnt improved, I dont see the secondary being much better either.

Fact or Fiction.......Ben returns to his old self -

Fact...but he wont have a GREAT year, because the OLine is still pretty bad. Starks was terrible on Sunday and needs to be given the heave ho. He doesnt play with a mean streak and gets humilated on a consistant basis. I know I said I liked him, because he does have a great frame...but after seeing him play this past weekend, I lost what faith I had in him.\

Funny, I was thinking that Simmons was the lost cause and Starks was a keeper...that may have been backwards because Simmons has been excellent. Completely different player.

The center position is a mess.

Faneca is claiming to be injured...hmm.

Fact or Fiction.......Willie Parker will make the Pro Bowl again

Ehh...fiction, IF LJ plays. If not, fact. If LJ plays, him, LDT and Lawrence Maroney will probably be the pro bowlers, Maroney will have a huge year IMO barring injury.

Fact or Fiction.......Troy Polamalu will lead the AFC North in INT's.

Fiction...no chance.

Fact or Fiction.......Santonio Holmes will have 1000 recieving yards

Holmes may be the best reciever on the team right now. Ward is going downhill. He is still a good possession reciever, but his best days are behind him. Ward will draw double coverage, but Holmes will burn some guys and find the holes in the defense, He is a playmaker.

Fact or Fiction.......Hines Ward will have 1000 recieving yards

Fiction...only chance it will happen is if Ben has a huge year and ward is healthy for all 16 games. Neither will happen.

Fact or Fiction.......Ike Taylor plays much better than last season

Fact...Tomlin knows DB's and their strengths and weaknesses. Tomlin will put Ike in Man to man situations which he excells at.

Fact or Fiction.......Oline will perform better than last year

I sure the hell hope so, they will determine the success of the 2007 season.

I say fiction. Too many questions. Hartings was a huge loss. Much bigger loss than Porter or even Cowher.

If Starks is on the line, Ben will be on the ground. He has looked terrible.

Marvel Smith is the only sure thing. Faneca is, but I could see him being a bitch and sitting out with a papercut since he didnt get a new contract.

Fact or Fiction......Steelers will sweep the Bengals

I think we will sweep them or they will sweep us. It depends how good our defense is. If our defense plays well, I could see Ben tearing them up twice. I think they will both be shootouts, but it depends. its a push.

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers make the playoffs

Fiction...8-8 again, give or take a win. I coulld see 10-6 if everything goes right. If we come out of the first game with 4 wins, its possible. Those first five games are pretty easy, so if we cant win 4 of them, I dont see us making it.

[Livinginthe past]

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers defense will be a top 5 defense

Fiction.I guess its depends what you look at to rank your defenses - total yards or points conceded?

Teams with explosive offenses tend to play a little softer on defense when they have a sizeable lead and therefore leak yardage to prevent the quick score.
The Steelers have been consistently good at shutting down the run in recent years but not quite so hot at stopping the pass.
Im sure the run D will remain excellent (top5) but I have my doubts as to how much pressure Pittsburgh can generate without Joey Porter (sure he wasn't great last year but he was still the top sack getter).
The DB's have plenty of question marks that need to be answered and the new coach/scheme is bound to have some teething issues.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Ben returns to his old self

Fact. I think Ben will be alot more composed this year, but I don't think he is going to have the comfort zone of such a punishing running game and defense as he did in 2004/5.

Can he step up? I think he will.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Willie Parker will make the Pro Bowl again

Fact. I think Willie still possesses tremendous upside despite such a good year last year - he is still learning the subtle nuances of the game.

If the Steelers can be successful at their spread formation offense Willie could run riot.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Troy Polamalu will lead the AFC North in INT's

Fiction. As the teams SS Troy will be spending alot more time near the LOS than the defensive backfield.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Santonio Holmes will have 1000 recieving yards

Fact. I was impressed with Santonio last year I think this is the year he gradually takes away the No.1 slot from Hines.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Hines Ward will have 1000 recieving yards

Fact. I think that Holmes and Ward will be reponsible for the large majority of the Steelers receiving yardage this year.

I dont particularly rate anyone else below them on the depth chart.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Ike Taylor plays much better than last season

Fact. Ike will play much better than last year because that would probably still only be an average year.

A better question would be - 'Will Ike justify his fat contract?'

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Oline will perform better than last year

Fact. Again. The O-line can't get a great deal worse so an improvement is almost unavoidable.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers will sweep the Bengals

Fiction. I love the Bengals/Steelers rivalry - I expect the series to be split again this year.

Originally Posted by Steelers123

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers make the playoffs

Fact. I see 10-6 or 11-5 and a wild card slot. Then I see the Steelers putting up a good fight as the away team in the divisional round but being out matched.

[Black@Gold Forever32]

Originally Posted by Preacher

I have to agree... the ONLY place I would wonder about is Willie Parker and teh pro bowl. Yeah, he may make it this year... but if Sant. and Holmes get a 1000 yards both, there may not be enough yards for Willie.

Preacher......Ward had 975 yards last year...Holmes had over 800.....To go along with Willie's 1494 yards.....So its not crazy or impossible for Willie to rush for 1500 yards this year and make the Pro Bowl...Plus both Hines and Santonio to have over 1000 yards....

[HometownGal]

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers defense will be a top 5 defense
Fact or Fiction.......Ben returns to his old self (In fact - I think he will be even better!)
Fact or Fiction.......Willie Parker will make the Pro Bowl again (sorry)
Fact or Fiction.......Troy Polamalu will lead the AFC North in INT's
Fact or Fiction.......Santonio Holmes will have 1000 recieving yards
Fact or Fiction.......Hines Ward will have 1000 recieving yards
Fact or Fiction.......Ike Taylor plays much better than last season
Fact or Fiction.......Oline will perform better than last year
Fact or Fiction.......Steelers will sweep the Bengals (I predict a split.....again)Fact or Fiction.......Steelers make the playoffs

[4n2t0]

I like this thread, surprised it hasn't pulled more participation. Here's what I got:

Fact or Fiction.......Steelers defense will be a top 5 defense (Top 5 is hard any year, top 10 yes.)
Fact or Fiction.......Ben returns to his old self
Fact or Fiction.......Willie Parker will make the Pro Bowl again (Not easy to make it there year after year, we'll see)
Fact or Fiction.......Troy Polamalu will lead the AFC North in INT's (Not his type of game, unfair question)
Fact or Fiction.......Santonio Holmes will have 1000 receiving yards (On the upswing)
Fact or Fiction.......Hines Ward will have 1000 receiving yards (Opposite of up is down, sorry Ward I still love you)
Fact or Fiction.......Ike Taylor plays much better than last season (The whole secondary was to blame, "fall guy")
Fact or Fiction.......O-line will perform better than last year (I hope so)
Fact or Fiction.......Steelers will sweep the Bengals (Split)
Fact or Fiction.......Steelers make the playoffs (This one's too close for me, "or" it is)