Pittsburgh Steelers 2012

[rthomas]

I know that there are many Steelers fans on board and, like me, they must be greatly dismayed and crying in their beer.

Losing 5 in a row. Losing to Cleveland? Losing to the Raiders and the Chiefs?

Can one defensive player mean so much? O-line? Rothlisberger?

Ugh. I see that some assistant coaches are about to lose their jobs. Special teams? O-line? Offense?

It's very hard for me to take: Last year playing the hardest schedule and winning the SB to this year playing an easy schedule and taking a dive.

[DukieInKansas]

I know that there are many Steelers fans on board and, like me, they must be greatly dismayed and crying in their beer.

Losing 5 in a row. Losing to Cleveland? Losing to the Raiders and the Chiefs?

Can one defensive player mean so much? O-line? Rothlisberger?

Ugh. I see that some assistant coaches are about to lose their jobs. Special teams? O-line? Offense?

It's very hard for me to take: Last year playing the hardest schedule and winning the SB to this year playing an easy schedule and taking a dive.

I just need to correct your spelling - it is the chefs this year (again). They have to play better to deserve their i and capital letters back.

I hate that the Steelers are losing games. It really stinks!

[Reisen]

I'm just glad we went to our games earlier in the season (including the Vikings game) when the Steelers were playing excellent football.

My wife is a huge Steelers fan, and I'm a Skins fan. We're both crying in our beer these days.

[hc5duke]

There is still a 1.8% chance that they'll make the playoffs, 0.3 percentage points better than my Texans!

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NFL.html

[roywhite]

I know that there are many Steelers fans on board and, like me, they must be greatly dismayed and crying in their beer.

Losing 5 in a row. Losing to Cleveland? Losing to the Raiders and the Chiefs?

Can one defensive player mean so much? O-line? Rothlisberger?

Ugh. I see that some assistant coaches are about to lose their jobs. Special teams? O-line? Offense?

It's very hard for me to take: Last year playing the hardest schedule and winning the SB to this year playing an easy schedule and taking a dive.

Thanks for the thread, rthomas. I've been suffering in silence, but I'm glad to see a place to commiserate.

It's been a startling fall. My take is:
The Steelers were not a dominant team last year and did not have a great margin of superiority over other teams
Troy P. is almost indispensable; just makes so many plays that other defensive backs do not
The offensive line has performed okay at times, but is not one of the best in the league
Special teams are poor; kick coverage has been awful and Jeff Reed has gone from very good to below average
There's some age on the team, esp. on defense; they run out of gas in the 4th quarter
I'm not a fan of offensive coordinator Arians
Ben holds on to the ball too long
There's a hangover from the Super Bowl win; some of the guys are not as hungry or playing like they were; example: Lamar Woodley
Overall not enough fire or emotion

Don't have much hope for the playoffs, even if there is still a remote possibility. I'd like to see the team play hard in the last 3 games and regroup in the off-season.

Thanks. I feel better now.

[weezie]

We're both crying in our beer these days.

Crying in your beer?! Sheesh, a little adversity and it's hankie time?

We don't dilute our beer with tears in Detroit...we drink the beer and keep growling.

Imagine being slightly pleased that your team beat the Browns!

[roywhite]

Crying in your beer?! Sheesh, a little adversity and it's hankie time?

We don't dilute our beer with tears in Detroit...we drink the beer and keep growling.

Imagine being slightly pleased that your team beat the Browns!

Good point, Weezie. Being a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers with their success and Super Bowl titles has made me spoiled. Kind of like, oh maybe...Duke basketball fans? :)

[calltheobvious]

Thanks for the thread, rthomas. I've been suffering in silence, but I'm glad to see a place to commiserate.

It's been a startling fall. My take is:
The Steelers were not a dominant team last year and did not have a great margin of superiority over other teams
Troy P. is almost indispensable; just makes so many plays that other defensive backs do notThe offensive line has performed okay at times, but is not one of the best in the league
Special teams are poor; kick coverage has been awful and Jeff Reed has gone from very good to below average
There's some age on the team, esp. on defense; they run out of gas in the 4th quarter
I'm not a fan of offensive coordinator Arians
Ben holds on to the ball too longThere's a hangover from the Super Bowl win; some of the guys are not as hungry or playing like they were; example: Lamar Woodley
Overall not enough fire or emotion

Don't have much hope for the playoffs, even if there is still a remote possibility. I'd like to see the team play hard in the last 3 games and regroup in the off-season.

Thanks. I feel better now.

I think your first two factors are far-and-away the most significant factors in the collapse. The Steelers had a ridiculous record in close games last year, and you simply can't expect the breaks to continue to go your way forever. This is a classic regression-to-the-mean season. (I put the kick coverage in this category. No team is as bad as the Steelers have looked on 'teams this year. A chunk of this is just bad luck.)

Troy's loss has been huge, and has been made bigger by the fact that it comes alongside the biggest off-season loss for the Steelers, Bryant McFadden. One more solid corner would have made Troy's loss absorbable, but as it stands, everybody seems completely lost without Superman in the secondary.

Ben does sometimes hold the ball too long, but isn't that outweighed by how many big plays he makes by keeping plays alive rather than running for three or four yards or throwing the ball away?

As for Arians, his brain-cramps are becoming more and more alarming (going shotgun on 3rd and 1 vs. Cleveland?!?!), but I'm not sure who's responsible for the fact that they can't decide who their running back is. It seems clear to me that Mendenhall has arrived. It's time to start playing him as such. I can only conclude that Tomlin or Arians feels like they have to give snaps to Parker and Moore out of loyalty, because they clearly aren't producing like RM is at this point. And it's not like Mendenhall doesn't understand blitz pick-ups, which would be legitimate reason not to make him the clear #1 back.

If the Steelers can shore up their offensive line in the draft and get Troy completely healthy, they're going to be scary, scary good next year. Holmes, Miller, and Ward as your top three wide-outs, Miller at tight end, Mendenhall at RB, and Ben at QB? Frightening.

[roywhite]

Great win for the Steelers vs Green Bay today. Big Ben had over 500 yds passing and made a great throw on the last play for the touchdown.

Odds are still against the Steelers for the playoffs (and they have significant problems on defense) but Pittsubrgh showed plenty of guts to come back for the win.

[bigj4194]

As a packers fan that was painful. good win for the steelers though. i didn't get to watch the game as I'm home in san francisco for the holidays but it seemed like a great game from the gamecast that I watched.

[roywhite]

An old thread, but a new "ugh" for us Stiller fans.

Big Ben has a rib injury that is even more serious than the shoulder injury he suffered in the Monday night game vs KC...not the most compelling contest I've ever watched, by the way.

ESPN report on Roethlisberger (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8631491/ben-roethlisberger-pittsburgh-steelers-says-dislocated-rib-biggest-worry)

[hurleyfor3]

Like there weren't enough injuries already. Didn't this happen last year too, except mostly with the offensive line?

Byron Leftwich's performance on Monday night did not instill a whole lot of confidence. Apparently there's no third qb on the roster with Batch injured too. Can we sign Brett Favre or trade for Tim Tebow?

[BD80]

An old thread, but a new "ugh" for us Stiller fans.

Big Ben has a rib injury that is even more serious than the shoulder injury he suffered in the Monday night game vs KC...not the most compelling contest I've ever watched, by the way.

ESPN report on Roethlisberger (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8631491/ben-roethlisberger-pittsburgh-steelers-says-dislocated-rib-biggest-worry)


All Roethlisberger knows for certain is that doctors are concerned the rib -- which he injured while getting sacked by a pair of Kansas City linebackers in the third quarter on Monday -- could puncture his aorta if jostled around.

Sounds serious.

At least he'll get to be there for his baby's birth without missing PT.

[rthomas]

I can't believe that I wrote that in 2009.

And Roethlisberger is my only QB in Fantasy. So I quickly picked up Foles - do you think he will start for Vick?

[Reisen]

I can't believe that I wrote that in 2009.

And Roethlisberger is my only QB in Fantasy. So I quickly picked up Foles - do you think he will start for Vick?

Reid has said he will. I don't think there's any chance Vick plays.

[JasonEvans]

I can't believe that I wrote that in 2009.

And Roethlisberger is my only QB in Fantasy. So I quickly picked up Foles - do you think he will start for Vick?

Wow-- I would be really scared of going with Foles. Are there no other QBs in your entire league? Surely you can get someone like Fitzgerald or Bradford or Schaub off the waiver wire, right?

-Jason

[Reisen]

Wow-- I would be really scared of going with Foles. Are there no other QBs in your entire league? Surely you can get someone like Fitzgerald or Bradford or Schaub off the waiver wire, right?

-Jason

Yeah, but Foles is playing the Skins, and their non-existant secondary. I agree Schaub would be a better play, but I don't think Foles is a horrible one. I'd probably take him over Bradford.

Then again, the Skins are coming off a bye, so maybe their defense will improve this week. One can hope.

[rthomas]

Surely you can get someone like Fitzgerald or Bradford or Schaub off the waiver wire, right?

Not really. I'm in a big league and not much out there.

Weeden, Gabbert, Sanchez, Kolb, Tannehill, Hasselback, Cassel?

I thought I'd take a chance on Foles.

And now...Is Julio Jones OK for this weekend? My team is falling apart.