Five reasons Steelers will be even tougher contenders in 2016

Five reasons Steelers will be even tougher contenders in 2016

Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer

PITTSBURGH -- Sunday in Denver was a lost opportunity, but there won't be many teams with more 2016 upside than the Steelers.

Here are five reasons:

No major free-agency issues: The Steelers can keep the core of their roster intact for next season, and decisions to keep valuable veterans -- cornerback William Gay and offensive guard Ramon Foster, for example -- wouldn't be costly. While they've been pressed against the cap in previous years, the Steelers should have breathing room this offseason. David DeCastro and Le'Veon Bell each have a year left on their deals, but otherwise most of the Steelers' top options have at least two years left. The roster won't be stripped.

The Steelers should be able to re-sign key veterans, like cornerback William Gay, this offseason. AP Photo/Gary Landers

The obvious one -- health: The Steelers are high on Fitzgerald Toussaint, but his late-game fumble in Denver reminded that injuries finally caught up to this team. Put Le'Veon Bell or DeAngelo Williams in that situation and they probably aren't fumbling there. The Steelers still put up 396 yards on the league's best defense without those two backs or Antonio Brown. This offense still occasionally stalls in the red zone, but moving the ball is rarely a problem. With a full arsenal next year, yards and points will continue to pour in.

Young core developing on defense: The first-round trio of Jarvis Jones, Ryan Shazier and Bud Dupree looked inspired in two playoff games. So did Stephon Tuitt, a second-round pick. Jones made a late-season push, and Shazier showcased his range. He's settled down a bit after struggling with the intricacies of the defense early in his career. There's enough evidence that the defensive rebuild is working. I've been hard on the secondary at times, but they held their own over the last month. The Steelers' defense played well enough to win each week late in the year, giving up three touchdowns in its final three games.

Easier schedule: This one's dangerous because previous-year performance always seems like a bad barometer for future success. But playing the AFC East and NFC East seems like an easier climb than in the 2015 regular season, when the Steelers played five of the seven other teams from last weekend's divisional playoff. Two of the best teams on the schedule -- New England and Kansas City -- play in Heinz Field next season...

to read rest of article:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/17552/five-reasons-why-steelers-will-be-even-bigger-contenders-in-2016

Indeed that does make a lot of sense that they will be even tougher in 2016.

I see this year as being like 2007 where we simply were beat up at the end of the year but still fought hard. I really like what we may have with the defense. A healthy Golson and a Grant who's had a year to learn the offense and possibly a day 1 or 2 safety and this D could be special. I liked what I see for the future.

Add to how the defense has really grown and put the upcoming draft into the equation and this team could be a really scary competitor next season.

Arrow is pointed up.

We had the toughest schedule. We had our QB out for weeks. We lost our no.1 RB for most of the season and the no.2 out for the play offs. We started the season with a defence we had no confidence in and ended it in the play offs largely on the back of the defence mid season.

Already looking forward to next season, it can't come soon enough.

I was very impressed with Coates last night. We have 2 super star receivers, a sold number three, and a new kid who seems to be able to catch and run hard and fast. DHB aint bad either but nobody cares about him I guess.

I'm not saying to get rid of wheaton but if we had to get rid of one we could probably go with out wheaton.

I mean its not a bad problem to have, too many wide outs.

The D has definitely been getting much better, add a good corner weather it be in the draft or free agency and another year together, much excite! The softer schedule is also complimented by the fact that the team doesn't travel out West at all is a huge plus. Can't wait til this draft!

Still devastated by the way this year developed. All I ask for next year is no season ending injuries for once to our superstars. If they had had all their guys playing, I believe we would have been a #1 seed and hosting the AFC Title game. This sucks.

There's no reason 2016 shouldn't be a Super Bowl or bust year for the Steelers. I've said it all this year and I'll say it all next year, ain't no one in the NFL scares me.

Next year is probably going to be the most likely year for us to win it all. I have a feeling it may be Ben's last "prime" year, and we wont be losing anyone important to free agency. I just hope Bell comes back the same RB he was before he got taken out.

ImperialFan wrote:

Next year is probably going to be the most likely year for us to win it all. I have a feeling it may be Ben's last "prime" year, and we wont be losing anyone important to free agency. I just hope Bell comes back the same RB he was before he got taken out.

Agreed. The stars have aligned perfectly, if we don't get one for the other ring finger next year, we may be in for another looooong wait.

Steelers will need young stars to emerge

Bill Barnwell
ESPN Staff Writer

The Steelers find themselves in perennially interesting times. This isn't the most successful run of the storied franchise's history, with the controversial wild-card win over the Bengals serving as their first playoff victory since beating a Mark Sanchez-led Jets team in the 2010 AFC Championship Game. But they've consistently been in the swing of things in the AFC. This season marked their second consecutive postseason berth, and even though the start of that streak came after a two-year drought, the Steelers were the last team eliminated from contention in the AFC in both of those seasons. It's hard to remember the last time the Steelers were irrelevant.

The good news is that Pittsburgh should continue to be an above-average football team. You can make a case that the Steelers were held back in 2015 in ways that are unlikely to repeat themselves in 2016, that it was the dawn of a much-improved defense to go along with one of the league's most devastating offensive attacks. And yet, at the same time, the Steelers may also find themselves subject to the same concerns about depth and roster construction, which might have capped their ceiling in both 2014 and 2015. Here's what Steelers fans should both love and fear about Pittsburgh's future.

The good

You can make a realistic case that the 2015 Steelers were actually a more impressive team than the 2014 edition. Their record dropped from 11-5 to 10-6, and they fell from the catbird seat in the AFC North to the No. 6 seed, but on a play-by-play basis, the Steelers actually played better. They outscored their opponents by 104 points in 2015, a rise from their 68-point margin the previous year. The Pythagorean expectation suggests that that's a difference of almost exactly one win over 16 games (10.6 wins vs. 9.6 wins).

A quick survey of advanced metrics also pegs the Steelers as an improved team...

to read rest of article:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14602611/pittsburgh-steelers-need-young-stars-emerge-nfl

win without Cowhers players?

yea right.

If this past season did nothing else, I hope that it made Tomlin & Co. realize that we need to get away from the "superstar" mentality at the skill positions and to develop multiple players at such positions.

For too long we've depended too much on "THE" Wide Receiver or "THE" Running Back and we need to develop MULTIPLE WR's, RB's, TE's DB's and so on so that when someone gets hurt we don't have to panic.  I mean, if DeAngelo Williams didn't fall into our lap this year, where would we have been at RB when Bell went down?
Or what would have happened if TNT weren't available after Williams went down?

I think all four of those players should have been part of the deal since day one and rotated on a regular basis or based upon opponents.
The same thing needs to go for WR's, TE's and any other skill position.

Years ago it may have been possible to build a team around certain players but those days are gone and now the successful teams have not just depth at skill positions but first-string talent as well.

The only position that requires constancy is at QB.
But every other skill position needs many players all coached-up to play at starter levels and we need to use ALL of those players on a regular basis so that if someone gets hurt it just means a minor adjustment to a game plan rather than some urgent treasure hunt for someone to replace him.

My Response To Bill Barnwell’s Annual Slamming Of The Steelers

Originally posted on Steelers Depot
By Dave Bryan | Last updated 1/19/16

You know the drill at this time of year, right? The Pittsburgh Steelers get eliminated from the playoffs and one-by-one the major media experts hacks write about how poorly the organization manages their salary cap. The year, Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com is the first one to nationally take a swing...

to read rest of article:

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/01/my-response-to-bill-barnwells-annual-slamming-of-the-steelers/

I hope so. They've got to get their Super Bowl run achieved in the next two years, in my opinion: with the way Ben takes punishment I don't know how many good years he has left, two or three maybe?

Health and Red Zone efficiency killed us this year. If we can stay healthy, and score TD'S in the Red Zone more, this team could be primed for not just a SB, but multiple before Ben hangs it up. It seems for some reason we've abandoned throwing to the TE. I always said, with Bell,  the WR's we have, the TE should be easy pickings in the Red Zone. Might be time to unleash The Outlaw next year. Looked like he can get open, and has soft hands. Heath does alot of the little things that get over looked cause hes not involved in the offense alot, but The Outlaw looks like he can give opposing LB's fits, expecially in the Red Zone.

There's really no saying how much longer Ben has. But offensive line seems like a strong correlation. Just look at Brady. He's near Peyton's age and outperforming him in just about every way possible.

Ben's early years are the worst part, but getting injured twice in one season doesn't say too good of things about the offensive line. Then again, they were out a couple starters but excuses need to end.

Then you got people like Harrison, at the age of 37 and not slowing down. QB is obviously different.

I feel like as long as the pressure stays off of Ben in the next season or two, we can still get a few good years with him. I am concerned about the team's awareness of this though, and think they need to start seriously looking for QBs.

I would love it if Landry would step up and be his very best but you don't always get that by being a backup for a long time. Guy might be the next Charlie Batch. He gets thrown in a big game and throws an interception, yet can beat a team like the Cardinals, yet still isn't more than backup material.

Which is sad because he seems like a very good person and I'd like to see him get his time in this league.

And I also feel for Suisham. There's no way you don't keep Boswell. We found a gold mine among the cave of turds

Art Rooney II Says Pass Defense Needs To Be Main Focus In 2016

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/01/art-rooney-steelers-pass-defense-2016-interview/

Art Rooney II Hints That Steelers Might Be More Active In Free Agency This Offseason

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/01/art-rooney-interview-steelers-2016-free-agency-salary-cap/

Hawaii 5-0 wrote:

Art Rooney II Hints That Steelers Might Be More Active In Free Agency This Offseason

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/01/art-rooney-interview-steelers-2016-free-agency-salary-cap/

Really the team's ONLY weakness right now. If they can improve that this team will be unstoppable. The offense will continue to score, and if the opponent's can't score on us. well, we'll see a lot of blowout wins which I don't mind at all.

6 NFL Teams We’re Betting on Next Season

by Jeff Smith
February 09, 2016

Pittsburgh Steelers

Not only did the Steelers go 10-6 and make the playoffs last season, but they did so without Le’Veon Bell for the bulk of the year, and without Ben Roethlisberger at times as well. To top it off, if Roethlisberger was playing during the second half of the year, it was usually with some type of an injury impacting him. Regardless, the Steelers still got to the postseason. Now, imagine a healthy Roethlisberger, Bell, and of course Antonio Brown running wild through secondaries. Pretty scary to think about, and this team will once again be one of the most dangerous offenses out there. To top it off, their defense stepped up quite often in 2015, allowing just 319 total points last season.

http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/6-nfl-teams-were-betting-on-next-season.html/2/