BTSC Daily Six Pack - The Steelers Were A Successful Short Yardage Team Edition?

The O Line’s not great by any means, but its not total dogmeat imo either. Ben makes them look much worse than they are.

But according to ProFootballFocus.com 28 of the sacks were on the OL (possibly a few more on TEs or RBs). How accurate is that? I don’t know.

However, I can most definitely say that not all of the sacks were on Ben. Just look at the Browns game, all 8 of those seemed to be OL problems.

As far as the Ravens game goes, what was the split in that game? 34 runs and 20 passes or something? Additionally, Dixon was not going through progressions and only making one or two reads. Ben is a more prolific passer because he is able to make reads better, but that takes a tiny bit more time. Unfortunately, sometimes he is too stubborn to abandon a route he likes and that results in sacks. We may have given up 3 sacks in that Ravens game, but I think we woulda won it with Ben behind center.

our disappointment.

Never seen an interview or anything like that with him, so I will take your word. Just based on his style alone I think we should invest in a young back, maybe not this year, but in 2 years or so.

And yes, I hope you’re wrong too.

He’s a different sort of dude. He’s real introspective and is supposedly very into art and jazz and books.

I agree with you on Mendy’s disposition based on what I’ve gathered about him. I believe Franco was kind of an introspective hippy too. And that’s back in the 70s when hippies were Hippies, man! Old # 32 didn’t like contact either. He could still tote the rock. Mendanhall just needs to watch that spike lee movie about basketball. He needs to see the game as an art form. He needs to paint his masterpiece on the gridiron. If Rashard can get all philosophical about taking a ball and pounding it into a pile of men trying to rip his head off, he might be a good back.

I can see him going Barry Foster and losing his taste for the game, or wanting to take up something else ala Ricky Williams.

You might be right on that. That’s why it’s up to Tomlin to keep him motivated and in the right mindset because the kid can get some yards, and he can catch out of the backfield well too. He could be very dangerous. He’s had about 102 starts or so, right? He’s still so young.

I think the fans and media get too attached to this idea of the idiot football savant that lives to play football. In fact, I think the perspective of not always taking football too seriously is something the Steelers have thrived with. Troy obviously has an extensive interest in non-sports related pursuits, same with the great Chuck Noll.

Ricky Williams is an isolated case: the second I see Mendy wearing his helmet to a press conference, then I will begin to worry. Same with how they criticized him when he was injured for not coming to practice sometimes and going to art museums. Personally, I thought that was awesome. A little balance ensures that when you are on a football field then your mind is not elsewhere. And last I checked, Barry Foster is a RB coach somewhere now, so he can not have lost his taste for the game too match.

Having said this, and pointing to the Steelers desire to have well-rounded individuals, a solid pat on the back to whomever can tell me which current player in the draft that sounds like….

No Steeler fan does. We don’t need it anyways, we’re all confident enough with ourselves. We also don’t have other teams fans narcissism, because we KNOW we’re better. :)