As the saying goes.....

[madtowndrunkard]

" The best defense, is a good offense"


That certainly proved to be the case yesterday. If our offense would have faltered in the 1st half, I have little doubt we lose that game. Brady has proven many times that if given the chance he'll have little problem beating our defense.

This also brings up the issue of Bruce Arians. On the rare occasion when he gets it right we win....and our defense usually looks darn good in the process. Our SB loss to the Packers comes to mind. Next week vs the Ravens...we'll kill them if we can sustain drives and keep the Ravens off the field.....which is exactly what they did to us in the first matchup.

Imagine how good our defense would be if we could consistently score 21 points or more every week?

[Quasar]

Originally Posted by madtowndrunkard

Next week vs the Ravens...we'll kill them if we can sustain drives and keep the Ravens off the field.....which is exactly what they did to us in the first matchup.

If it weren't for those 7 turnovers, the Steelers would have sustained drives.

[FanSince72]

Originally Posted by madtowndrunkard

" The best defense, is a good offense"


That certainly proved to be the case yesterday. If our offense would have faltered in the 1st half, I have little doubt we lose that game. Brady has proven many times that if given the chance he'll have little problem beating our defense.

This also brings up the issue of Bruce Arians. On the rare occasion when he gets it right we win....and our defense usually looks darn good in the process. Our SB loss to the Packers comes to mind. Next week vs the Ravens...we'll kill them if we can sustain drives and keep the Ravens off the field.....which is exactly what they did to us in the first matchup.

Imagine how good our defense would be if we could consistently score 21 points or more every week?

I rarely listen to (and much less care) what Phil Simms has to say, but yesterday he made one very good point.

He said that everybody talks about what "Steeler Football" is as the camera was focusing on Ben yukking it up with some of his receivers and Phil said, "You're looking at it".
To paraphrase what he said, Phil basically pointed out that this team's identity is wrapped up in Ben and what he can do in the PASSING GAME and that the notion of the Steelers being a running team is basically old news.

I agree.

I've been saying since last season that we are better equipped to be a more West Coast style team where the passing game sets the tone rather than the old "three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust" image we've had in the past.

We have all the tools now to be that team and if Arians/Tomlin are smart, they'll let things evolve in that direction.
Think about it, we have Wallace, Brown, Sanders, Miller, Hines and now Cochery all very good pass catchers and route runners and we have a QB who LOVES to throw the ball, so why on Earth would we insist on still being some kind of running team?

We have three solid running backs (four if you count Dwyer) each of whom have a special set of skills and can be used in very specific ways and in the last two games we used them very well and most importantly as an ADDITION to the passing game instead of as the main event.

We need to keep developing this and when it all clicks into place (it hasn't quite done that yet) we will be unstoppable. Not only that, but this quick-release/pass as a run approach takes a tremendous amount of pressure off of the O-line to the point where the injuries there don't seem as dire as they would be if we were a run-first/between the tackles team.

The old hard-nosed grind it out image is great, but it's also ancient history and deserves to be given the passing talent we have now.

[theplatypus]

One of these days y'all need to share where you find those crystal balls.

[Sixburgher]

Originally Posted by madtowndrunkard

This also brings up the issue of Bruce Arians. On the rare occasion when he gets it right we win....and our defense usually looks darn good in the process. Our SB loss to the Packers comes to mind.

Yes, because goodness knows, the three turnovers and our secondary getting absolutely torched in that game all fall on Arians. How about the fact that LeBeau FINALLY deviated from the ten yard cushion game plan he usually employs to zero effect against the Patriots (and other prolific passing offenses) for a change? Maybe a little more press man coverage against the better passing attacks in the league is called for? Zone coverage for the most part is fine against the Flaccos and Sanchezes of the world, but it generally isn't worth shit against the likes of Rodgers, Brady and Brees.

[JustinM]

Nah. B Roth + 5 Grade-A Wide Recievers + 2 TE's that never miss catches + 3 solid RB's is a good offense