Doom and Gloom or Positive outlook ? explain your position .

I ll go with a positive outlook .


1. Our line is due to stay healthier and gel in our new zone blocking scheme

2. Ben stays healthy

3. Bell will surprise the naysayers and bring home offensive rookie of the year honors.

4. Dick lebeau will finally integrate younger players in the rotation and in sub sets.

5. Jarvis and the Shark bring the heat in special sub packages. Woodley shows up to camp and can see his feet , Timmons continues getting better , thus our sacks increase . we finish back in the top 5 for sacks where Blitzburgh should always be.

6. troy stays healthy all year and with the addition of cortez as a full time starter , our turnovers increase again due in part to our blitz being effective again.

7. the locker room unites

8. our draft class looks real good at least on paper.


Im sure i could come up with more but Im about to leave the office.

add your reasons for optimism or argue and state your doom and gloom prognostications.

Come on down , you doom and gloomers you know who you are !!! bring it !

I'll be coming into this season the same way I have every other season in the past few decades ... optimistic and realistic. There are some concerns, but there are concerns every year. This team has the potential to win the Super Bowl. But it also has the potential to finish 8-8 again. The pieces are in place ... now they have to go out and get it done.

steelstoned1972 wrote:

1. Our line is due to stay healthier and gel in our new zone blocking scheme

2. Ben stays healthy

It's impossible to predict injuries, so all we can do is hope for the best. Colon is gone, so we can cross off one guaranteed injury.

steelstoned1972 wrote:

3. Bell will surprise the naysayers and bring home offensive rookie of the year honors.

That would be fantastic.

steelstoned1972 wrote:

4. Dick lebeau will finally integrate younger players in the rotation and in sub sets.

We're guaranteed to get two new young(er) starters: Allen and either Worilds or Jones. I hate to say it but I'd like to see Heyward replace Keisel.

steelstoned1972 wrote:

Woodley shows up to camp and can see his feet

steelstoned1972 wrote:

6. troy stays healthy all year and with the addition of cortez as a full time starter , our turnovers increase again due in part to our blitz being effective again.

This is the only thing you said that I question. I don't have confidence that Troy can stay healthy all season. I'll be thrilled to be wrong though.

steelstoned1972 wrote:

7. the locker room unites

I said it a few weeks ago ... Ben is in a much better place right now than he was this time last year. The shock of losing Arians has worn off, and he now seems accepting of Haley's offense (factors that I believe led to locker room tension last season). Plus, the Wallace distraction is gone. My one concern is Antonio Brown, who has showed signs of possibly being a little too talkative. I'd like to see him be more like Troy and a little less like Clark.

steelstoned1972 wrote:

8. our draft class looks real good at least on paper.

Agreed.

Antonio is a hard worker just needs to shut his mouth n play !

steelstoned1972 wrote:

Antonio is a hard worker just needs to shut his mouth n play !

Yep. No one can question Brown's work ethic.

I enjoy players who like to talk to the media and don't give one- or two-word answers to every question. But Brown needs to learn that what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room.

The Oline need to stay healthy if not it'll be a long season
Troy needs to play at least 13 games to really make a difference back there
Stay away from Gilbert if not he'll fall on you and you'll be out for a looooong time

I think, although it is my first time thinking this, that this years draft will have an immediate impact to our season. And we need them to. Jones, Bell, and Wheaton are all first year starters and impact players. I think the key to us having a successful 2013 campaign lies in them.

I personally have high hopes for our draft class, but we will have to see how it pans out. I'm predicting an 8-8 season, but I hope I'm wrong.

This team will win the Super Bowl! I say that at the start of every damned year and I'm saying it again. It's up to them to show me they suck and they have the entire season to do so. For instance, they could lose to the Chargers, Browns, Bengals, Raiders and Titans and it becomes obvious the season is over.

Here’s my 2 cents on their talent:

1. OLB - Harrison was a non-factor – Worilds had 5 sacks in fill-in duty and he should know that defense by now. If not, Jones will step in. Woodley was a non-factor – He was called out by his teammates for essentially being out of shape and lazy. If that doesn’t motivate him, nothing will.
2. The O-Line can’t be worse – Sorry guys, but I wasn’t on the Colon bandwagon. I liked his fighting spirit, but the coaches claiming he was their best lineman sure explains a lot. Starks was very much underappreciated, but it’s time to see Gilbert and Adams step it up. And don’t forget DeCastro … this kid is awesome. Pouncey = Stud. Foster is the one I’m unsure of. He has something to prove since he’s the only non-first or second round draft pick on that line.
3. QB – Hopefully, the above group can keep Ben in the game. This will be his 2nd year with Haley and one would hope they can gel. The backups have more talent, although you do lose that experience Batch had.
4. Defensive secondary – The greatest asset in this group may not be Troy, but Carnell Lake. He’s found a way as a coach to put the clamps down on the opposing passing game. If Lake and Lebeau have crafted a system where they can take a specific skill set at each position and get great results, then it becomes a plug-n-play defense that doesn’t depend on Pro Bowl talent to work. This may be why Willie Gay looked good before going to the Cards and Lewis looked good enough to leave. This is just a guess on my part, but it may be why Cortez Allen will look good this year.
5. D-Line – The biggest change (pun intended) will come at NT. Hampton is gone and the duties fall on McLendon. John Mitchell, D-Line coach, raved about McLendon’s abilities and he did so when Hampton was the starter. Unlike a lot of people, I’m not seeing anything in the DE’s that has me worried. You’ll never replace Aaron Smith, but it’s not like Hood, Heyward and Keisel are chopped liver. Let me explain here: if the D-Line does its job well, a linebacker makes a play. So you should be able to look at how well the LBs played last year to know if the guys in front of them did their jobs. Hard to tell when looking at the OLBs. Harrison took a while to come off his injuries. Woodley was called fat and lazy. But the ILBs had good years … Timmons had a very good year and Foote was surprisingly good. Answer this: What was Aaron Smith’s best game? Hard to answer that isn’t it? When he did a great job, very few people knew it. You’d just see him get up from underneath a big pile of O-linemen.
6. RBs – Mendenhall moves on, which I think is a good thing. Redman and Dwyer are tough runners who can wear down a defense and pick up the short yardage. I can’t wait to see what Baron Batch can do. Bell is the real deal guys, and my pick to have the best chances of being a rookie starter on day 1 (barring injuries at other positions).
7. WR – I explained my position on this group in another post. But I think they can be just as effective, if not more than last year.
8. ILB – This is my biggest concern. Timmons has been solid and Foote outperformed my expectations. I really thought Foote wasn’t the answer and he played very well last year. But, those two guys are an injury away from Stevenson or another little used and inexperienced backup from sitting in the hot seat. I do like rookie Vince Williams, but don’t expect him to be a starter in his first season.
9. TE – Yep, Heath is coming off knee surgery and isn’t expect to start the season. I think the Steelers have a hidden gem in David Paulson. For a rookie picked in the 7th round, thought he did well to become Heath’s backup.

There’s not a big talent gap between the NFL teams (of course there are always a few bottom feeders every year). The team that wins the Super Bowl will come from an organization that has a solid front office, great coaches, makes the right moves, and finds a way to pull their players together to form that tight-knitted group seen in every SB winner. The Steelers have done this more than any organization in pro football and can do it again ... hopefully this year.

Well put.


" we don't host Superbowls , we win em ! "

DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!


No, seriously, I believe somewhere in the middle. I don't think we will make it past the first round of the playoffs -- I think this is a year of adjustment. Plenty of talent, but most of it has to be developed. Very rare to have a lot of new faces and gel perfectly the first year. I think 2014 season will be much brighter.

I am just hoping James Harrison doesn't try to kill everyone when we play the Bungles.

kirklandrules wrote:

This team will win the Super Bowl! I say that at the start of every damned year and I'm saying it again. It's up to them to show me they suck and they have the entire season to do so. For instance, they could lose to the Chargers, Browns, Bengals, Raiders and Titans and it becomes obvious the season is over.

Here’s my 2 cents on their talent:

1. OLB - Harrison was a non-factor – Worilds had 5 sacks in fill-in duty and he should know that defense by now. If not, Jones will step in. Woodley was a non-factor – He was called out by his teammates for essentially being out of shape and lazy. If that doesn’t motivate him, nothing will.
2. The O-Line can’t be worse – Sorry guys, but I wasn’t on the Colon bandwagon. I liked his fighting spirit, but the coaches claiming he was their best lineman sure explains a lot. Starks was very much underappreciated, but it’s time to see Gilbert and Adams step it up. And don’t forget DeCastro … this kid is awesome. Pouncey = Stud. Foster is the one I’m unsure of. He has something to prove since he’s the only non-first or second round draft pick on that line.
3. QB – Hopefully, the above group can keep Ben in the game. This will be his 2nd year with Haley and one would hope they can gel. The backups have more talent, although you do lose that experience Batch had.
4. Defensive secondary – The greatest asset in this group may not be Troy, but Carnell Lake. He’s found a way as a coach to put the clamps down on the opposing passing game. If Lake and Lebeau have crafted a system where they can take a specific skill set at each position and get great results, then it becomes a plug-n-play defense that doesn’t depend on Pro Bowl talent to work. This may be why Willie Gay looked good before going to the Cards and Lewis looked good enough to leave. This is just a guess on my part, but it may be why Cortez Allen will look good this year.
5. D-Line – The biggest change (pun intended) will come at NT. Hampton is gone and the duties fall on McLendon. John Mitchell, D-Line coach, raved about McLendon’s abilities and he did so when Hampton was the starter. Unlike a lot of people, I’m not seeing anything in the DE’s that has me worried. You’ll never replace Aaron Smith, but it’s not like Hood, Heyward and Keisel are chopped liver. Let me explain here: if the D-Line does its job well, a linebacker makes a play. So you should be able to look at how well the LBs played last year to know if the guys in front of them did their jobs. Hard to tell when looking at the OLBs. Harrison took a while to come off his injuries. Woodley was called fat and lazy. But the ILBs had good years … Timmons had a very good year and Foote was surprisingly good. Answer this: What was Aaron Smith’s best game? Hard to answer that isn’t it? When he did a great job, very few people knew it. You’d just see him get up from underneath a big pile of O-linemen.
6. RBs – Mendenhall moves on, which I think is a good thing. Redman and Dwyer are tough runners who can wear down a defense and pick up the short yardage. I can’t wait to see what Baron Batch can do. Bell is the real deal guys, and my pick to have the best chances of being a rookie starter on day 1 (barring injuries at other positions).
7. WR – I explained my position on this group in another post. But I think they can be just as effective, if not more than last year.
8. ILB – This is my biggest concern. Timmons has been solid and Foote outperformed my expectations. I really thought Foote wasn’t the answer and he played very well last year. But, those two guys are an injury away from Stevenson or another little used and inexperienced backup from sitting in the hot seat. I do like rookie Vince Williams, but don’t expect him to be a starter in his first season.
9. TE – Yep, Heath is coming off knee surgery and isn’t expect to start the season. I think the Steelers have a hidden gem in David Paulson. For a rookie picked in the 7th round, thought he did well to become Heath’s backup.

There’s not a big talent gap between the NFL teams (of course there are always a few bottom feeders every year). The team that wins the Super Bowl will come from an organization that has a solid front office, great coaches, makes the right moves, and finds a way to pull their players together to form that tight-knitted group seen in every SB winner. The Steelers have done this more than any organization in pro football and can do it again ... hopefully this year.

Another superb analysis, Captain. I don't see much of anything I can disagree with. The one area where we might not see eye-to-eye is with the defensive line. I don't have quite as much confidence in them as you do.

Wallace108 wrote:

The one area where we might not see eye-to-eye is with the defensive line. I don't have quite as much confidence in them as you do.

We will both agree that you can't replace an Aaron Smith. Hood probably won't post 8 sack seasons like Smith did on two occasions. That's amazing as those sacks largely came after he buried the offensive linemen on the way to the QB.

However, last year with Hood as the starter, McLendon and Heyward both rotating in and out of the lineup, the Steelers managed the 2nd ranked rush defense (the Super Bowl Ravens were ranked 20th). Since Smith really hadn't been a factor his last 3 years and he wasn't on the roster in 2012, the Steelers have dealt with this for 4 years. I guess my thinking is that the 3 younger guys should only get better.

More than anything, I think it's a front 7 issue and those problems last year were largely with the OLBs.

Having applied what little logic I can , just watch this line turn into a pile of crap next year

kirklandrules wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

The one area where we might not see eye-to-eye is with the defensive line. I don't have quite as much confidence in them as you do.

We will both agree that you can't replace an Aaron Smith. Hood probably won't post 8 sack seasons like Smith did on two occasions. That's amazing as those sacks largely came after he buried the offensive linemen on the way to the QB.

However, last year with Hood as the starter, McLendon and Heyward both rotating in and out of the lineup, the Steelers managed the 2nd ranked rush defense (the Super Bowl Ravens were ranked 20th). Since Smith really hadn't been a factor his last 3 years and he wasn't on the roster in 2012, the Steelers have dealt with this for 4 years. I guess my thinking is that the 3 younger guys should only get better.

More than anything, I think it's a front 7 issue and those problems last year were largely with the OLBs.

Having applied what little logic I can , just watch this line turn into a pile of crap next year

The more I've thought about it, you might be right. I was looking at it more like the line wasn't freeing up the linebackers. But Harrison wasn't 100 percent, and Woodley was too busy cutting in front of Big Snack in the food line. So lets see what happens this year. It's probably not wrong to be optimistic about the line.

Every off season I have a positive outlook for the Steelers. Why else be a fan? On paper I believe us to be one of the more talented teams in the NFL and our draft this season filled some needed gaps. Yes, I know it didn't fill all of them, but it still got the job done.