Why Steelers Fans - Even Before Last Sunday Night - Need To Settle Down About Trajectory Of 2009 Season

thanks for the helpful perspective, here, blitz. i love tomlin’s mantra of not riding the emotional roller coaster, but i find it very difficult to actually put into practice as a fan. still, this hard evidence is very helpful. but it doesn’t exactly solve the problems in our secondary….

Looking at the remaining schedule, I think getting to 4-3 going into the bye is more important than having a win in San Diego was. The remaining games:

Should be ‘easier’ wins: Cincy, at KC, Oakland, at Cleveland, at Miami
9-3 if they play up to their potential.

‘Tougher’ home games: Green Bay, Baltimore

‘Tougher’ road games: at Denver, at Baltimore

Split those four and they’re 11-5. Go into the bye 3-4 and at 10-6 they might be a probably wild card, but a doubtful lock.

So San Diego was big: it give them a little breathing room if they stumble in one of the next three games. But they really needed to go 3-1 in the four game stretch from San Diego to Minnesota. It’s a good start!

You know, for those two weeks, I found it very difficult to visit BTSC because of all of the negativity and chicken little mentality. A couple of times I really had to hold my tongue. I really don’t come to this blog to get in arguments or shouting matches. But, the “level-headed thinking” clearly disappears after a loss. One of my favorite Tomlinisms, and one I have incorporated into my everyday vocabulary is “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

I’d rather not bank on being the “one team” this year, and fortunately I don’t have to.

It’s not the record that makes a team likely to make the playoffs, it’s the quality of the team.
This year, for example:
The Bills are 1-3
the Lions are 1-3
the Raiders are 1-3
These are bad teams, it really doesn’t matter what their records are, they have a low chance of making the playoffs.
So when stats get thrown around like a team that is 1-3 is only x% likely to make the playoffs, that is because most of the teams that have that record are bad teams so they shouldn’t make the playoffs.

Sometimes good teams, especially early in the season, have worse records because the sample size is so small.
But barring injury, good teams almost always make the playoffs, and it is very, very rare that a truly bad team has made the playoffs at the expense of a good team.

The Steelers have put such a superior defensive product on the field for so long that when they allow what they did against Cincinnati and Chicago, the fans get a little nervous. The neurotic “sky is falling” chatter on here after a loss makes for good entertainment.

I am confident the STEELERS are going to be playing in SB XLIV, so all of the negativity that abounded in these post for two weeks affect me not. Actually though they go in the loss side of the ledger I think those two games were a valuable lesson for the team, and I’m positive Mike and Bruce garnered a lot fron the San Diego game to keep the teams perspective on an even keel

but I’m glad for the win because it takes pressure off having to rush Troy back from an injury. I love him, but if we can make it to the bye without bringing him in, I’ll feel better about the rest of the season.

Only one Super Bowl winner in there though. In fact, only one team even made the SB. In fact, only 4 of the 22 made their conference championship game. That says something about slow-starters I think. There is a terminal flaw in slow starting teams that keeps them from maxing out their potential in time. I, for one, was gratified to see the Steelers beat a vengeful Tennessee team. That game was the defining moment, even though it was at the very beginning. I also think that playing against two pro-bowl caliber quarterbacks without Polamalu has helped our defense to gain a little resiliencef, even though we lost. This 2-2 start is loaded with upside.

Big Ben has turned into a superstar quarterback and as long as he’s healthy we have a better than average chance to make it to another SB

I can remember when I was little (70’s) and watching the Steelers with my Dad~ I’d be beside myself when they lost and he always reminded me that we can’t win every game and sometimes; it’s a motivation builder to lose. GASP! Makes you work a little harder… stay on task a little longer… pay a little closer attention to details etc. I get a little sick when we lose the heartbreakers but you’re right Blitz, it’s not the end of the season.

To me there is no other coach in the NFL I want steering this ship. I have watched many seasons of Steelers football, and despite the 4th quarter collapses we have seen, I am still very optimistic. We have a guy who occasionally goes to the games who is that chicken little guy, and it does get old. Other teams have playmakers too. We are not going to beat everybody, we are not blowing everybody out. The key is to be playing your best football at the right time.

Remember 04? We go into the playoffs 15-1, but we played our best football midseason. There is nothing wrong with struggling early, as long as you have the ability to right the ship, which we do. Right now the Saints, the Giants, and the Colts seem to be everybodys favorite SB teams, but I guarantee that will change, it almost always does. We need to get to 11 or 12 wins, which is very possible.

Actually, after the Steelers lost to the Bears and Bengals, only a handful of people were truly ready to write off the entire season. But a lot more said they didn’t think a championship team should be playing down to the level of teams that the Steelers should beat handily. For example, the Bengals nearly blew their latest game in Cleveland. That’s how good they are.

By not riding the emotional roller coaster, I wonder if Tomlin means that fans should continue to expect the same inconsistent play week after week, regardless of the competition? If so, then maybe playing with more emotion is exactly what this team needs. Tomlin is a good coach, but he inherited a much better football team than most other rookie NFL coaches when he took over for Cowher.

The true test of a coach and a team is what you do when the wheels start to fall off. So before pronouncing Tomlin a coaching legend, let’s not forget that no coach is immune from letting a championship team slide into mediocrity. Even the great Chuck Noll was guilty of some poor personnel decisions and he ultimately failed to adapt to 1980s changes in the game. But it’s the entire body of work that counts and Tomlin is certainly off to a very good start in that regard. But he still has a long way to go.

But making the playoffs? Of course! How on earth can they miss unless Ben goes down for the year or some similar catastrophe? No panic here, but if this is Steeler football, I don’t like the new brand. I want to see some kick-ass performances and I don’t think they can wait until December to put the pedal to the metal.