Fear not the Bungles (or Ravens...and definitely not the Browns).
by twault on Jul 30, 2010 4:50 PM EDT
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PrintRight now, the Bengals and Jets are the media darlings, or the flavors of the week. Sportswriters are getting horny for the unstoppable T.O./Ocho love fest. "How will teams prepare?" says ESPN. How could any team deal with Batman and Robin? We all know that the Super Bowl is not won in the preseason. I can assure you the sky is not falling. First, Ike's got Ocho's number...and it ain't 85, heck it's not even 8. Ike has been pretty consistent at making Ocho a non-factor. Ocho Stinko hasn't dropped a 100 yard game on us since 2003. More importantly, he's only scored 3 touchdowns on us EVER in 18 games. Owens is old, and not "as good as he once was" (to quote Toby Keith). Bryant is coming off knee surgery, and has never been consistent. Secondly, it's the Bungals! Surely a few players will probably get suspended. I say that in jest, but it's been a common theme amongst the team over the years. It's always possible. Thirdly, their defense isn't as good as advertised. Roy Williams (the safety) seemingly had a good season, but was a liability to the Cowboys for two years prior to that. I doubt he will replicate that "success" this season. The Browns are terrible, the Ravens were beat up, and the Steelers ran out of gas. These 3 teams made Cincy's "D" look good, and attributed for 6 of their wins. The Jets showed the Bengals that they were who WE thought they were...a bunch of bums who got lucky at our misfortunes. Now, that's not to say that they aren't legitimate, because they are, but I just don't think they can win the division 2 years in a row. They seem to have trouble handling success.
Now, on to the Ravens.
Adding Boldin was a "bold" move (get it). It gives the Ravens the best WR they have ever had..no disrespect to Mason. Boldin is a tough, athletic WR, who is not afraid to go across the middle or throw a block on a 300 pounder. I'd say he's the toughest WR in the league, but he's not, that would be our own Hines Ward. Flacco is coming into his own, Ray Rice is ridiculous, and the Ravens front 7 is as dangerous as ever. However, insanely awesome safety Ed Reed is having some injury woes, and starting corner Dominque Foxworth is now out for the season. The Ravens now have problems in the secondary, which is a major concern in a pass-happy league.
There isn't much to say about the Browns except they had to have gotten better. I don't want to see another multiple sack game from them, so hopefully, the Steelers did too.
Ultimately, the Steelers have to overcome their own problems to be successful. Ben's gone for 4-6 games (which is still in limbo...c'mon Goddell!). Colon is out for the season. Holmes is gone. Gay was a liability. Most importantly, the Steelers seem to have a defense that "ran out of gas" at the end of the game. How has this problem been addressed?
I think the first issue here is: are Leftwich, Dixon, and Batch good enough to get us through 4-6 games? These guys can't do what Ben can. If we can run the ball efficiently and our defense plays as tight as it's capable, then surely, these guys can get the job done.
We already had a line considered to be pretty bad entering the season, and losing Colon didn't help. However, Pouncey should be a major upgrade on the interior, and the signing of Flozell the Hotel could be enough to be at least as good as we were last year.
Holmes is gone, but even if he stayed, he would have been no good to us for 4 games anyway. Then, he would have been a free agent and left at the end of the season anyway. If Wallace has a quick learning curve, it might not be too big of a drop-off. He showed us his skills last year, but he's not the #3 WR anymore, so the pressure is on him to perform.
Essentially, we traded Holmes and got Bryant McFadden back. Gay got burned, and he didn't have much help behind him with Troy out of the lineup. The Steelers now have 3 young CBs fighting for roster spots, and picked up Will Allen, who has to be an upgrade over Ty Carter. Overall, the unit should be better.
As far as the D running out of gas.....rumors of the Steel Curtain's demise have been exaggerated. Ok, Farrior looked bad midway through the season. The secondary was pretty bad without Troy. However, Hood is ready to roll. He can spell Smith and Keisel to keep them fresh. We have reloaded our LB corps. Welcome back Larry Foote, give Mr. Farrior a break. Worlids...all eyes are on you, rookie. Really, the only position that didn't get any younger was the D-Line.
Overall, there is a lot of adversity to overcome, but there are some positives to all the negatives that happened during the offseason. Here's hoping for Super Bowl #7.
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You should fear the Ravens, we might be signing a former Steeler CB, Nashville Dyer. Got anything on him guys?
uh never heard of him
and thats not a good thing
Steelers football is 60 mins.
by tannofsteel84 on Jul 30, 2010 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Nashville who?
google search says he came out of Kent State as an undrafted FA in 2003, signed with the Steelers but got released after camp, then in January 2004 was signed again and shipped to the NFL europe in Amsterdam. Then in September 2004 released again. Now you just gotta find some 2003 training camp articles about the Steelers to know how he did :p
yes another reason to fear the ravens...
N. Dyer! lol
"In Hoc Signo Vinces!" (With this as your standard, you shall have victory!) -Constantine I
+1
Fear paralyzes. Respect prepares you. Overlooking any opponent potentially puts 1 in the L column. (See 2009: KC, Oakland and Cleveland)
When the tailgate drops, the BS stops. Shut up and play!
+1
all the respect in the world!
"In Hoc Signo Vinces!" (With this as your standard, you shall have victory!) -Constantine I
Now that I've actually read this
I think that you are really optimistic, and not necessarily seeing things with much objectivity. You’re love for the Steelers is so coloring your viewpoint that you see everything through black and gold colored glasses. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of truth to everything that you said. And I certainly hope everything does turn out as you predict. But I gotta say, I don’t think it is very likely. There will be some of what you say that will indeed come true, I feel confident about that, but unlikely to the extent that you say. The Bengals in particular I think are a very solid team in which you just didn’t give enough credit. Just yesterday I felt stronger about the Ravens but losing Foxworth really hurts them.
Anyway, hope you’re right, not optimistic that you are, but did enjoy you’re writing, even though I tend to find overly biased fans to be incredibly annoying.
Btw, I also find overly negative fans every bit if not more annoying. Overly anything fans annoy me, frankly. Perhaps I should talk to somebody about that.
ok, got it
nothing but carefully neutral statements ;)
"You know how football is - if your mother's on the other team and you're coming out to play football, you're gonna hit momma" --L.C. Greenwood
It seems to me
that you are being overly sensitive… : )
"You learn more in failure than you do in success." - Mike Tomlin
by Rebecca Rollett on Jul 31, 2010 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions
apparently
Redman can outstare himself, and klompus can out-annoy himself…
"You learn more in failure than you do in success." - Mike Tomlin
by Rebecca Rollett on Jul 31, 2010 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions
No suspension for benson
I’m pretty pissed off about this.
"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."
OUCH another Ravens DB bites the dust
Maybe they’ll pick up Deshea.
by SteelerMessican on Jul 30, 2010 8:14 PM EDT reply actions
oh no that will suck
Healing from my new tattoos
Franco made that play because he never quit on the play. He kept running, he kept hustling. Good things happen to people who hustle."
About the quarterbacks
I argue to not buy the hype that only Ben can lead us to the promised land. This is the key difference between Pittsburgh and some of the other elite teams. Take away Brady, Manning and Palmer and the Pats, Colts and Bengals become rather ordinary in a hurry, perhaps non competitive. In ‘04 the Steelers lost only one game and came within one game of the Super Bowl. Ben was a rookie and certainly did okay, but most would agree that the team carried him, not the other way around. This is what distinguishes the Steelers (and the Ravens) is that they do not need a great qb to excel. Indeed, the Ravens won a world championship with an offense that flat out sucked. Leftwich, Dixon and even Batch are more than capable of keeping this team competitive. Hell, you might be able to get away with putting Randle El, even Hines Ward (both college qbs) under center and you might eke out a win or two. High quality qb play has been a luxury over the past 20 years of Steeler football, but no franchise has been as consistently competitive in that time frame. That’s not pollyanna worldtrip. That’s structure and culture.
There’s a reason that Cincy has not been able to compete at a high level. Their culture is fragile and they are easily distracted by things they can’t control and shouldn’t be concerned about. Check the video of when the Steeler took them out in the playoffs in ‘05. They were crying and whining about the refs while the outcome of the game was still in doubt. When have the refs ever reversed their behavior because someone bitched? (this is for you Seattle too!) They didn’t lose because of the refs, they lost because they lost focus. And the way they are currently structured, and their current leadership they remain at risk. Look at the leadership of the Steelers and the Ravens and how they conduct themselves. Cincy’s leader thinks he can afford the luxury of playing the clown and then has the nerve to wonder why they never win.
by Ivan Cole (RickVa) on Jul 30, 2010 8:47 PM EDT reply actions
The first thing I thought
when I spotted the item about Foxworth is that now they’ll know how it felt to play with a piece of swiss cheese for a backfield.
And RickVa, I see the point you’re making about the QB issue, and I agree, but to be fair, when Brady was down the Pats still did quite well. I think that the Pats are probably more solid as a team culture than the Bengals, though. But I don’t think we can write off the Bengals by any means. I am hoping, of course, that they write themselves off, as they are so experienced at doing.
And I wholeheartedly agree with your general assessment of the Steelers’ team culture, and I suspect that the fact that things were on shakier ground last year, because of various factors (Ben? Santonio? who knows what else) explains a lot about that season. If we can correctly assume that the team culture is in much better shape at the moment, then I think we can look for much better things from the Steelers than the media (including our own local sportwriters) are predicting. And to all you media types, I will gladly laugh in your collective faces as we collect that 7th Lombardi. (Excuse me while I use my Terrible Towel to polish up my black-and-gold glasses… : )
"You learn more in failure than you do in success." - Mike Tomlin
by Rebecca Rollett on Jul 31, 2010 9:39 AM EDT reply actions
i love swiss cheese
Pats were lucky that year
Healing from my new tattoos
Franco made that play because he never quit on the play. He kept running, he kept hustling. Good things happen to people who hustle."
Objectively optimistic
I’d like to think that I’m objectively optimistic about our chances. There is no doubt that there is a lot to overcome, but the front office has always came through in giving Tomlin and Cowher enough tools to get the job done. I think our D will be top notch. We are stacked at LB, and I think there is enough competition and talent at CB to have 3 quality starters. Hood can step in for Smith and Keisel from time to time, but there is no one to replace Troy if he goes down.
The line isn’t that big of a concern for me, because it hasn’t been stellar in a while, getting Pouncey only helps.
On offense, my biggest concerns are qb play and wr. Expecting a backup to win every game is just being a Steeler fan, but the reality is that it’s unlikely. Most WRs have a 3 year learning curve, but Wallace seems talented enough to step in and fill the spot. El knows the Steeler way, but may be a tad slower than his first run with us. Beyond that, we don’t really know what we have. There’s going to be some mistakes with backup QBs. and WRs with little experience.
Mendy and Moore are solid, Dwyer was a great pickup in the late rounds. Will Redmond make the team and go on to break the single season record for most rushing yards in season and most TDs in a season? I don’t know, we sit from the couch and criticize Arians about his lack of committment to the running game, but we ran effectively at times, and suffered in others. Was it the call or the execution? Perhaps a little of both. Several plays last year busted from a missed block, a fall, or a penalty that could have resulted in huge gains. Hard to tell.
Anyways, didn’t want to not give credit to the Bengals, but they didn’t beat us or the Ravens at their best, and they absolutely choked against the Jets. I’m just sick of the Ocho/TO love fest, if anything made the Bengals better, it was the draft, not TO! If he was that good, he wouldn’t have been a free agent all summer. I really think their DBs can be had.
by twault on Aug 1, 2010 11:04 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Malor
Hopefully, the Ravens will cut Nashville, so we can sign him back…there’s some rule about us re-signing someone the Ravens cut after we cut him several times before…in the end we get a future defensive player of the year. I’m all for that.
by twault on Aug 1, 2010 11:15 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
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