My take on the season...

[The_WARDen]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

First off, this will piss many, many people off. Too bad.

The season was not as bad as you think. Why? Well, for starters, we have a new head coach, and, since we aren't exactly the Arizona Cardinals, it's kind of a big deal. We also had a new OL coach and a new OC. 9 out of 10 NFL teams go through that transition and they lose 3-5 more games then they did the year before. We won 2 more.

10-6. Playoffs. For almost any other team in the NFL a two game improvement and a playoff trip is a successful season when balanced against the previous years failure. Not in Pittsburgh! Yeah, we are a little greedy, and any season where we don't ultimately hoist a Lombardi seems a little lacking, but, you know, we actually only win one out of every 8 on average, and we DO have 5, and only one other team has that distinction. How many Lombardi trophies are there in Cleveland again?

My point is that you grade the season on a curve. We improved. We won 2 more games. We should have won at least 2 more than that (Jets, Broncs and Cards should have all been victories).

The defense, for the most part, played well and we suffered two HUGE losses in Smith and Clark, and Troy was gimpy too.

The Offense showed some good. We have a horrible OL, yet Willie really produced. Ben really came into his own.

The special teams are awful. We need to play starters next year if there isn't improvement.

Next year we should win 2 more. 12-4. That'll get us a bye and homefield for at least one game. And 12-4 with our schedule next year will be truly amazing.

2 problems:

1) Why are you comparing the Steelers to the Clowns?

2) Unless the Oline gets fixed, there will not be 12 wins.

[TackleMeBen]

Originally Posted by SteelCityMan786

Hey TMB, I'm a Penn State fan, don't you think that's kind of hard for us to? lol.

Anyway, yeah pretty much nothing I can find wrong.

i am trying to forget that you are a penn st fan.. at least duke won last night in basketball..

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

That's kind of a cop out, Dan. I expected stronger language.

Check some of my other posts today if you are looking for stronger language

Any prediction for next year obviously is guess work, but I was wondering where you come up with 12 wins with a schedule next year that includes the other 5 AFC playoff teams this year + the NFC East teams.

[revefsreleets]

Easy. The offensive line is the most prominent problem and will be addressed. The Steelers will add a couple key free agents, make a couple good moves in the draft, build on momentum and improve next year. They have a very solid core of players and only need tweaking to get to where they need to be.

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

Easy. The offensive line is the most prominent problem and will be addressed. The Steelers will add a couple key free agents, make a couple good moves in the draft, build on momentum and improve next year. They have a very solid core of players and only need tweaking to get to where they need to be.

But this year's schedule to next year's schedule is like moving from playing the ACC (i resisted the temptation to substitute the Big Ten for the ACC here) to the SEC in football - the team can improve but have a much worse record as its steps up in class.

In addition to the six division games, the Steelers get the 2 best divisions this year - NFC East (Dallas, Giants, Redskins, Eagles) & AFC South (Colts, Jax, Tennessee, and an improving Houston team) - the Chargers & the Pats

I suppose Brady could get arrested on a morals charge and Peyton become an alcoholic in the offseason, but I do not see 7-1 at home or 5-3 on the road with that lineup.

[Rotorhead]

I am certainly happy for the season as a whole. I do feel we could have been alot better record-wise and certainly we have the talent to push for the lombardy, which is probably why I feel a little let down. I certainly hope Arians grows as an OC this offseason. I think he has some good ideas about the offense, what I really dislike is his inability to adjust his gameplan on the fly, and even during halftime most of the time. It is probably just something all the coaching staff needs to adjust to, so I will look forward to next season.

[revefsreleets]

Good teams always drop off from year to year, and go through slumps. Look at the Bears from last year to this year. San Diego was a pushover early in the season and got a lot better. The ravens looked like a team to fear preseason, and they ended up winning 5 games. It might also actually do the Steelers good to play a harder schedule, as they clearly took whole weeks off this year (Cards, Jets, Broncos). I think they are a few players and another year under consistent coaching away from returning to elite status.

[sherlock]

This was my first ever season of following the Steelers and the NFL and I found it a truly amazing experience!
Who would have thought that at 44 yrs I`ve found a new sporting obsession in life ....I only wish it had started 20 years ago.
It`s all to new and confusing at the moment to offer any meaningful insight into the season( I`ll leave that to you guys) so I`ll just say thanks Steelers,thanks NFL and thank you Steelers fans everywhere.
Only 8 months till the next season!

[CASTEEL]

Originally Posted by sherlock

This was my first ever season of following the Steelers and the NFL and I found it a truly amazing experience!
Who would have thought that at 44 yrs I`ve found a new sporting obsession in life ....I only wish it had started 20 years ago.
It`s all to new and confusing at the moment to offer any meaningful insight into the season( I`ll leave that to you guys) so I`ll just say thanks Steelers,thanks NFL and thank you Steelers fans everywhere.
Only 8 months till the next season!

Welcome to the Steelers family!!!

The more the merry eh! :)