Attitude, Aggravation, and Leadership that's what we're missing

So I was watching the replay of the 2005 Steelers season. You remember the one where they had to win the last 4 games to get in to the playoffs, then made the 3 road trip games en route to Detroit where they beat the Seahawks.

Ok, now that we're all on the same page, let's revisit what was truly the heart and soul of the team. More to the point, WHO!

You can talk about the emotion of Jerome Bettis, the rawness of Roehtlisberger, the energy of Troy Polamalu, as well as hundreds of other variables, but in my opinion what our team is missing most of all these days is what Joey Porter brought to the table. His emotion, attitude, aggravating personality (to the opposing team), and his get it done leadership is truly what we are missing on the field. It was apparent the last few years, and it's even more so this year. Throughout the entire roster, I don't see that type of person on the roster.

If you look at the seasons when our Steelers were dominant they had that emotional spark:
In the 70's it was Lambert
In the 80's we didn't have it
In the 90's we had Lloyd and Greene
In the early 2000's we had Porter and Harrison
Since 2011 we haven't had that leader...it's time we get it back

Porter is working with Jones and Worilds now so maybe one (or both) of them will channel that energy. My problem with Porter was sometimes I felt like he crossed the line to where it was counter productive.

I welcome the energy and fire as long as it produces wins.

Don't forget Farrior! He was quite the leader. Maybe not as outspoken as Porter, but effective nonetheless.

I have sat here and racked my brains as to who is Porter or Farrior-like that is presently on the team and came up blank.

I agree Truck. We need that spark to light the fire.

We've talked about lack of leadership on this team, especially the defense, for a few years now. Guys like Troy and Timmons lead by example, but sometimes you need a player like Lambert, Lloyd, or Porter to fire up everyone around him. For a while now, our defense has played without the emotion and fierceness that we're used to. Entering his second season and feeling more comfortable, hopefully Jarvis ends up being that guy. I don't see Worilds or Shazier filling the role.

Wallace108 wrote:

We've talked about lack of leadership on this team, especially the defense, for a few years now. Guys like Troy and Timmons lead by example, but sometimes you need a player like Lambert, Lloyd, or Porter to fire up everyone around him. For a while now, our defense has played without the emotion and fierceness that we're used to. Entering his second season and feeling more comfortable, hopefully Jarvis ends up being that guy. I don't see Worilds or Shazier filling the role.

Hopefully having Porter back in the mix will influence an attitude.

Like Richard Sherman... (groan)... or Ray Lewis (groan groan).... they fired up their teams and that can help you win games more often than just pure skill. Not saying we need a guy to run his mouth like that, just someone that gets the troops fired up and all on the same page.