Steelers need young defenders to step up

Steelers' young defenders must step up

Warren Sapp (playing to character) ruffled feathers last season when he tagged the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense as old, slow and on the way out. That war cry was premature.

The Steelers finished with the league's top unit -- easy to forget after the disaster flick we witnessed in Denver.

Tim Tebow, of all souls, fried Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card overtime thriller, sending the Steelers home as a confused bunch.

The offseason has brought change: Aaron Smith has retired; James Farrior is out the door, and cornerback William Gay won't be back in 2012. Many of the Steelers veterans are aging (Brett Keisel and his flowing beard are 33; James Harrison -- still terrifying -- is 34). This remains one of the NFL's best defenses, but the time is now for youth to fill in the gaps for coordinator Dick LeBeau.

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What I don't get is how misinformed Sapp and some other sports talk personalities are when they still think our defense is "old". I heard a sports talk radio host from Baltimore say yesterday that our defense is old. Apparently, these geniuses didn't pay attention after the season ended and we lost/unloaded some of the older vets like Farrior, Aaron Smith, and Chris Hoke. We have young guys taking over their spots in Hood, Heyward, Sylvester, and Spence.

I know Foote is slated as the next man up for Farrior's starting position and he's no spring chicken either, but I could see one of the younger guys stepping up to wrestle that spot away from him. At the very least, they are going to see more playing time on passing downs which makes us younger. We also lost McFadden and Gay and will be replacing them with younger, potentially better and effective CBs in Brown, Allen, and Lewis.

Furthermore, Hampton will probably be starting the season on the PUP list and being replace by a couple of young guys in Steve McClendon and the rookie Alameda Ta'amu who may just keep that starting job when he returns.

I'd say that if anyone has an aging/questionable defense it's the Ravens with old man Lewis and curmudgeonly Ed Reed. They lost a lot of guys in the off-season to free agency and will be plugging in unproven or lesser talent to fill the void.

Oh, and somebody tell Sapp to shut up. He's spitting Cheetos everywhere when he flaps his gum hole with that nonsense.

Buddha Bus wrote:

What I don't get is how misinformed Sapp and some other sports talk personalities are when they still think our defense is "old". I heard a sports talk radio host from Baltimore say yesterday that our defense is old. Apparently, these geniuses didn't pay attention after the season ended and we lost/unloaded some of the older vets like Farrior, Aaron Smith, and Chris Hoke. We have young guys taking over their spots in Hood, Heyward, Sylvester, and Spence.

I know Foote is slated as the next man up for Farrior's starting position and he's no spring chicken either, but I could see one of the younger guys stepping up to wrestle that spot away from him. At the very least, they are going to see more playing time on passing downs which makes us younger. We also lost McFadden and Gay and will be replacing them with younger, potentially better and effective CBs in Brown, Allen, and Lewis.

Furthermore, Hampton will probably be starting the season on the PUP list and being replace by a couple of young guys in Steve McClendon and the rookie Alameda Ta'amu who may just keep that starting job when he returns.

I'd say that if anyone has an aging/questionable defense it's the Ravens with old man Lewis and curmudgeonly Ed Reed. They lost a lot of guys in the off-season to free agency and will be plugging in unproven or lesser talent to fill the void.

Oh, and somebody tell Sapp to shut up. He's spitting Cheetos everywhere when he flaps his gum hole with that nonsense.

There isn't a Baltimore fan on this earth that can call OUR defense old. We've refreshed that department. If anything B-MORE's D is OLD.

bayz101 wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

What I don't get is how misinformed Sapp and some other sports talk personalities are when they still think our defense is "old". I heard a sports talk radio host from Baltimore say yesterday that our defense is old. Apparently, these geniuses didn't pay attention after the season ended and we lost/unloaded some of the older vets like Farrior, Aaron Smith, and Chris Hoke. We have young guys taking over their spots in Hood, Heyward, Sylvester, and Spence.

I know Foote is slated as the next man up for Farrior's starting position and he's no spring chicken either, but I could see one of the younger guys stepping up to wrestle that spot away from him. At the very least, they are going to see more playing time on passing downs which makes us younger. We also lost McFadden and Gay and will be replacing them with younger, potentially better and effective CBs in Brown, Allen, and Lewis.

Furthermore, Hampton will probably be starting the season on the PUP list and being replace by a couple of young guys in Steve McClendon and the rookie Alameda Ta'amu who may just keep that starting job when he returns.

I'd say that if anyone has an aging/questionable defense it's the Ravens with old man Lewis and curmudgeonly Ed Reed. They lost a lot of guys in the off-season to free agency and will be plugging in unproven or lesser talent to fill the void.

Oh, and somebody tell Sapp to shut up. He's spitting Cheetos everywhere when he flaps his gum hole with that nonsense.

There isn't a Baltimore fan on this earth that can call OUR defense old. We've refreshed that department. If anything B-MORE's D is OLD.

Of course, Ed Reed is talking his yearly retirement threat so that could make them younger if he carries through on it.

Baltimore's star defense:

Ed Reed, 33 years old
Ray Lewis, 37.
Terrell Suggs, 29 (bad injury)
Brendon Ayanbadejo, 35.

There offense isn't getting any younger, either:

Outside of Rice, their best offense talent is aging. Hell, Anquan Boldin is 31. He's got some years left, but he's not going to excel. If Rice gets injured, the Ravens are fighting with Browns for fourth place.

Buddha Bus wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

What I don't get is how misinformed Sapp and some other sports talk personalities are when they still think our defense is "old". I heard a sports talk radio host from Baltimore say yesterday that our defense is old. Apparently, these geniuses didn't pay attention after the season ended and we lost/unloaded some of the older vets like Farrior, Aaron Smith, and Chris Hoke. We have young guys taking over their spots in Hood, Heyward, Sylvester, and Spence.

I know Foote is slated as the next man up for Farrior's starting position and he's no spring chicken either, but I could see one of the younger guys stepping up to wrestle that spot away from him. At the very least, they are going to see more playing time on passing downs which makes us younger. We also lost McFadden and Gay and will be replacing them with younger, potentially better and effective CBs in Brown, Allen, and Lewis.

Furthermore, Hampton will probably be starting the season on the PUP list and being replace by a couple of young guys in Steve McClendon and the rookie Alameda Ta'amu who may just keep that starting job when he returns.

I'd say that if anyone has an aging/questionable defense it's the Ravens with old man Lewis and curmudgeonly Ed Reed. They lost a lot of guys in the off-season to free agency and will be plugging in unproven or lesser talent to fill the void.

Oh, and somebody tell Sapp to shut up. He's spitting Cheetos everywhere when he flaps his gum hole with that nonsense.

There isn't a Baltimore fan on this earth that can call OUR defense old. We've refreshed that department. If anything B-MORE's D is OLD.

Of course, Ed Reed is talking his yearly retirement threat so that could make them younger if he carries through on it.

Oh yeah. He'll be looking for a 12 year, 100 million dollar contract every year until he's eating fiber crackers and drinking Metamucil power drinks.

bayz101 wrote:

Baltimore's star defense:

Ed Reed, 33 years old
Ray Lewis, 37.
Terrell Suggs, 29 (bad injury)
Brendon Ayanbadejo, 35.

There offense isn't getting any younger, either:

Outside of Rice, their best offense talent is aging. Hell, Anquan Boldin is 31. He's got some years left, but he's not going to excel. If Rice gets injured, the Ravens are fighting with Browns for fourth place.

I actually thought the Bengals would take a step back this season when I voted in the AFC North post season poll, but I'm beginning to believe that the Ravens may be in danger of assuming the 3rd place role in the North.

bayz101 wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

What I don't get is how misinformed Sapp and some other sports talk personalities are when they still think our defense is "old". I heard a sports talk radio host from Baltimore say yesterday that our defense is old. Apparently, these geniuses didn't pay attention after the season ended and we lost/unloaded some of the older vets like Farrior, Aaron Smith, and Chris Hoke. We have young guys taking over their spots in Hood, Heyward, Sylvester, and Spence.

I know Foote is slated as the next man up for Farrior's starting position and he's no spring chicken either, but I could see one of the younger guys stepping up to wrestle that spot away from him. At the very least, they are going to see more playing time on passing downs which makes us younger. We also lost McFadden and Gay and will be replacing them with younger, potentially better and effective CBs in Brown, Allen, and Lewis.

Furthermore, Hampton will probably be starting the season on the PUP list and being replace by a couple of young guys in Steve McClendon and the rookie Alameda Ta'amu who may just keep that starting job when he returns.

I'd say that if anyone has an aging/questionable defense it's the Ravens with old man Lewis and curmudgeonly Ed Reed. They lost a lot of guys in the off-season to free agency and will be plugging in unproven or lesser talent to fill the void.

Oh, and somebody tell Sapp to shut up. He's spitting Cheetos everywhere when he flaps his gum hole with that nonsense.

There isn't a Baltimore fan on this earth that can call OUR defense old. We've refreshed that department. If anything B-MORE's D is OLD.

Of course, Ed Reed is talking his yearly retirement threat so that could make them younger if he carries through on it.

Oh yeah. He'll be looking for a 12 year, 100 million dollar contract every year until he's eating fiber crackers and drinking Metamucil power drinks.

Don't forget yelling at kids to get off his damn lawn! He'll probably be screaming that at the Steelers' young WRs as they are blowing past him in the secondary this year.

Buddha Bus wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

Baltimore's star defense:

Ed Reed, 33 years old
Ray Lewis, 37.
Terrell Suggs, 29 (bad injury)
Brendon Ayanbadejo, 35.

There offense isn't getting any younger, either:

Outside of Rice, their best offense talent is aging. Hell, Anquan Boldin is 31. He's got some years left, but he's not going to excel. If Rice gets injured, the Ravens are fighting with Browns for fourth place.

I actually thought the Bengals would take a step back this season when I voted in the AFC North post season poll, but I'm beginning to believe that the Ravens may be in danger of assuming the 3rd place role in the North.

I honestly (and not just in my hate for B-More) think they'll have the biggest meltdown in YEARS next year. We'll sweep them, and they'll be fighting to keep up with Cincinnati, or maybe even Cleveland.

bayz101 wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

Baltimore's star defense:

Ed Reed, 33 years old
Ray Lewis, 37.
Terrell Suggs, 29 (bad injury)
Brendon Ayanbadejo, 35.

There offense isn't getting any younger, either:

Outside of Rice, their best offense talent is aging. Hell, Anquan Boldin is 31. He's got some years left, but he's not going to excel. If Rice gets injured, the Ravens are fighting with Browns for fourth place.

I actually thought the Bengals would take a step back this season when I voted in the AFC North post season poll, but I'm beginning to believe that the Ravens may be in danger of assuming the 3rd place role in the North.

I honestly (and not just in my hate for B-More) think they'll have the biggest meltdown in YEARS next year. We'll sweep them, and they'll be fighting to keep up with Cincinnati, or maybe even Cleveland.

I can see them falling behind Cinci, but let's not get crazy and start claiming they'll be worse than the semi-pro Cleveland Brownstains. That pseudo-JV team is just bad on a whole different level of suck.

Buddha Bus wrote:

What I don't get is how misinformed Sapp and some other sports talk personalities are when they still think our defense is "old". I heard a sports talk radio host from Baltimore say yesterday that our defense is old. Apparently, these geniuses didn't pay attention after the season ended and we lost/unloaded some of the older vets like Farrior, Aaron Smith, and Chris Hoke. We have young guys taking over their spots in Hood, Heyward, Sylvester, and Spence.

I know Foote is slated as the next man up for Farrior's starting position and he's no spring chicken either, but I could see one of the younger guys stepping up to wrestle that spot away from him. At the very least, they are going to see more playing time on passing downs which makes us younger. We also lost McFadden and Gay and will be replacing them with younger, potentially better and effective CBs in Brown, Allen, and Lewis.

Furthermore, Hampton will probably be starting the season on the PUP list and being replace by a couple of young guys in Steve McClendon and the rookie Alameda Ta'amu who may just keep that starting job when he returns.

I'd say that if anyone has an aging/questionable defense it's the Ravens with old man Lewis and curmudgeonly Ed Reed. They lost a lot of guys in the off-season to free agency and will be plugging in unproven or lesser talent to fill the void.

Oh, and somebody tell Sapp to shut up. He's spitting Cheetos everywhere when he flaps his gum hole with that nonsense.

I can't think of a single thing to add to that. Well said, Buddha.

And as far as where the Ravens will finish in the division, as I've said .... lucky for them they've got the Browns to cushion their fall.