What are your expectations for this season?

Not sure if this has been posted, but considering the tougher schedule this year, how do you think the season will go? For a laugh go over to the Ravens forum and see how proud they are for beating us being the 4th best fans. I hope they not only get demolished by the Steelers, but every team they play this year. I would rate them as the team and fans I can't stand the most. I think it all depends on how this defense pans out-the offense is good to go.

11-5.

I expect Jarvis Jones and Ryan Shazier to be healed and improve.  I expect Mike Mitchell and Cortez Allen to get better.  Cam heyward gets more dominant, and Tuitt and McCullers grow and have more impact.

I dont see anywhere defensively that we should fall off from where we were a year ago (except maybe Shamarko in and Polamalu out).

The offense will remain a juggernaut.

19-0

Offense - looks to be set and possibly ready to peak this year or next. No worries here, outside of injury. I'm not even worried about the biggest weaknesses: O-line depth and RB depth. I think the O-line is solid, and the backups are more than capable. With a fresh, but older, Williams, I am not concerned. Bell should be rested well into the season due to his 3 game layoff.  

Defense - The D (and season) boils down to 3 players: Jones, C. Allen, and Thomas. D-line is looking good, short of depth. OLB is a major concern. Jones needs to step up in year 3 in a big way. I don't think we can rely on a 37 year old Harrison or a rookie Dupree to take over full time if Jones doesn't develop or Moats doesn't pan out. As for ILB, I'm not as concerned. We have plenty of quality depth. Timmons should be stout again. Shazer is predicted to breakout this season. As for the backups, I think Williams and Spence are more than capable of handling backup duties. The CBs are another concern. I'm not ready to turn the D over to the rookies, so Allen needs to show why he signed the contract. Gay needs to continue to be reliable (yes, I just typed that). I think Blake will be fine as a 3rd corner. I'm OK with Mitchell at safety, so it comes down to Thomas (a virtual unknown).

As an extra point, a lot of sports fans / writers are saying that the D is going to flop with the loss of Lebeau. I do not agree with this in the least. It's not like Butler was selling cars yesterday. He was the assistant for years, and probably was whispering in Lebeau's ear. I'm not worried about Butler. He will add some fresh ideas into the scheme.

If Jones flames out, Allen busts, and Thomas doesn't develop, this could easily be the one of the worst Ds in the league. That's 3 critical positions that we don't have a lot of replacements for. As I said, I think this is the year Harrison begins to break down and really lose production (time catches up with everyone). I don't see Gay being a true #1 starter, and I don't think Golson is ready for a #1 or #2 CB position. I don't see W. Allen as being a 16 game starter either. Too old.

With that, I think we are looking at 9-7 to 11-5. If the D pans out, 11-5. If not, 9-7 and missed playoffs.

i expect good things

offense will be top 3. defense cant get any worse(knock on wood). if the defense can play just a half step better than they did last year this team can go far.

Super Bowl Winners.

teegre wrote:

19-0  

We'll show that pansy-ass cheater Tom Brady how to do it right!


I expect some early defensive struggles with a new coordinator at the helm and some new faces in the starting lineup. I think they will improve dramatically as the season progresses and begin to gel and find their rhythm.

The offense will be damned near unstoppable as long as we aren't hit heavy by the injury bug. If we keep Ben, Le'Veon, and the o-line healthy, there's no limit to what this offense can do.

The team will go around 10-6 and deep into the playoffs.

Buddha Bus wrote:

teegre wrote:

19-0  

We'll show that pansy-ass cheater Tom Brady how to do it right!


I expect some early defensive struggles with a new coordinator at the helm and some new faces in the starting lineup. I think they will improve dramatically as the season progresses and begin to gel and find their rhythm.

The offense will be damned near unstoppable as long as we aren't hit heavy by the injury bug. If we keep Ben, Le'Veon, and the o-line healthy, there's no limit to what this offense can do.

The team will go around 10-6 and deep into the playoffs.

Over on SF, I had broken down how the offense and defense had both improved over the course of last season.  These numbers aren't exact, but... basically...  

The offense improved by scoring 3 more points in each half of the season (from 27 at the beginning, to 30 by mid season, to 33 by the end of the season).  WHY?  The O-line gelled as the year went on.  

Likewise, the defense improved by allowing 2 less points in each half of the season (from 24 at the beginning, to 22 by mid season, to 20 by the end of the season).  WHY?  The young defenders improved as the year went on.

If that same amount of improvement continues, I expect this Steelers team to average:  
36 ppg on offense  
18 ppg on defense  

Ergo, 19-0 is not that unrealistic.  

I expect the fans and media to hype Holliman until he ends up on the practice squad. I expect Dupree to get hyped, but start fewer than 5 games. I expect Mike Adams and Jarvis Jones under the microscope for every snap and Beachum and McCullers to be folk heroes because they are late round picks.

I expect sappy underdog articles for Ventrone, Fogg, Lemon, Blake and Villenueva... but only Blake making the 53. I expect everybody to hate on Cam Thomas, but he makes the 53 as veteran depth. I expect Chickillo to surprise and be the 5th OLB on the roster.

I expect the "Fire Haley" threads the first time the Steelers score 17 points or less. I expect "Fire Butler" threads the first time the Steelers give up 28 points or more. Finally........10-6 and battling for a playoff spot, with a tough schedule.

I think this will be the reverse of 2008 where the D was the catalyst most weeks.
in 2015 the O will (I hope) make the scoreboard light up like a Christmas tree.

It's going to be a fun year plus I'm going to the XLIII rematch and the Colts game in December :)

0 - 16

JonM229 wrote:

0 - 16

Lets hope that holds true for the Ravens.

Jon has been cooking up some meth and sampling the goods I see.

I think 11-5 sounds right. Offense is too explosive not to make up for some defensive short comings here and there...

Here we go...

S
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P
E
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B
O
W
L

Offense can be spectacular if there are no major health issues.
The season will rest on how much the D improves.
Lots of questions to be answered: does Cortez rebound, is Shamarko ready to step in as a full timer, Shazier and JJ, more contribution from the DL: Tuitt and McCullers.
Factor in the rough schedule.....team could improve, record may not.

I'm expecting the Steelers to go 4-2 to go start and 7-3 the rest of the way. Offense should be spectacular and defense should be better than expected. I'm really expecting the Steelers to at least make it to the AFC Championship game. Believe it or not, the only threat I see in the AFC are the Colts.

teegre wrote:

19-0  

That's what I'm talkin' bout. i'd love to see the old Dolphin players smashing their champayne bottles on the wall.

Seriously I think if Shemarko and Shazier stay healthy plus Jones coming on like we all hope he will we have enough other talent on that side to be a top 5 defense.

3 things need to happen on a regualr basis that didn't the last few years.

1) We need to stop the run
2) We need to either sack the QB or put enough pressure on him to cause disruption.
3) We have to force turnovers We must be on the plus side.

If these happen and the offense plays like they did last year there is no reason we can't be 12-4 and win both the division and have a great shot at #7.

I would like to see Holliman take over for Shemarko on special teams because that would mean he has learned how to tackle.

If Ben, Bell and Brown can stay healthy I expect somewhere between 9-7 and 11-5 depending on how fast the young D will pick things up and if they can improve. Honestly I'm afraid that this season will be too early to make it to the superbowl. I would be happy if they would make it to the play-offs and win the wild card game.
I have great hope for the next 2 seasons however as I think that the D will be fine by then and the O still will be the absolute top. Then I see us at least once in the superbowl.

JonM229 wrote:

0 - 16

Youuuuuuu Crack me up!!!

11-5 I think. Offense will be steady and I think the D will improve. So I honestly wouldn't be surprised. I know it's a tough schedule but I'd honestly be more worried with a "soft" schedule.

History suggests that the Steelers play 'better' against better teams.
Should be an interesting season to say the least and I'm excited!