this week should help reveal this teams level

Particularly for the defense....the 49ers are going to hit them with a lot of tempo, stretch running, and PA.....much in the same ways the Browns did last year. If the Steelers let the 49ers do that to them like the Browns did,.....that's saying to me that they're still another year away from really contending.

If the Steelers are going to be a true contender this year.....I think they have to find a way to win this game and ultimately at least come out of these first four games 2-2.

Im sick of the early season hole bs.....thinking your going to be playing flawless down the stretch with this schedule is a recipe for disaster.

There better be a sense of urgency.

Steelers have a major problem scoring TDs and settling for FGs. That is what is killing this team. Everything else is adjustable. THEY HAVE to score TD's and score from the freakin 1 yard line.

I'm more worried about the Rams than the 49ers. 49ers looked sloppy in their win vs. Vikings. I'm glad Bell will be back for the Rams game. The Steelers need all the help they can get to offset the points given up by the inexperienced D.

OX1947 wrote:

Steelers have a major problem scoring TDs and settling for FGs. That is what is killing this team. Everything else is adjustable. THEY HAVE to score TD's and score from the freakin 1 yard line.

Yes it's plagued us for years....but I'm not going into panic mode on that until I see it happening with Bell and Bryant back....

In the now....if the Steelers defense gets steamrolled again with tempo and PA it's going to be hard to swallow...because it'll mean they haven't learned a thing since last year where the Browns destroyed them with it.

SteelerSpartan wrote:

OX1947 wrote:

Steelers have a major problem scoring TDs and settling for FGs. That is what is killing this team. Everything else is adjustable. THEY HAVE to score TD's and score from the freakin 1 yard line.

Yes it's plagued us for years....but I'm not going into panic mode on that until I see it happening with Bell and Bryant back

Bell should help us with red zone efficiency......when he gets back

Unless he went out for a smoke break during his vacation time...

The development of the defense is a process. It isn't going to transform into a good, consistent defense overnight. This is going to take some time as the all learn their assignments and learn to communicate. Only then will they be able to play fast and be aggressive within the system.

By midseason, we should see significant improvement in how this team works, thinks, and plays.

As for the offense, I think the comments about redzone failures after one game are silly. Let's get everyone back and see if they really get explosive. I think they will.

They had all last year to figure out the basics...And that's what we are talking about here.....

The defense last week wasn't even executing the basics....Butler simplified things and they still looked like they had just barely played NFL level football.


A defense that can execute the basics and fundamentals isn't going to get rolled like the Steelers did against the Browns last year, or let the 49ers do close to the same thing.

Sure it takes time for a defense to jell....but isn't training camp and 5 preseason games enough time to eliminate stupid mental mistakes and learn their assignments (10 men on the field, not covering the opponent's most dangerous weapon).

Better communication won't make up for a lack of talent or football smarts.

As for the redzone failures.....yep, it was only 1 game THIS YEAR....but it was a problem for the entire season LAST YEAR.  The criticism is justified especially when it was a point of emphasis coming into this season according to Ben and Haley.

Missing Bell and Bryant certainly hurts, but when they return the excuses end.

FrancoLambert wrote:

As for the redzone failures.....yep, it was only 1 game THIS YEAR....but it was a problem for the entire season LAST YEAR.  The criticism is justified especially when it was a point of emphasis coming into this season according to Ben and Haley.

Missing Bell and Bryant certainly hurts, but when they return the excuses end.

Actually it was more of a problem the 1st half of last year. Once Bryant started getting snaps our red zone offense wasn't so bad. We all know that Ben likes tall receivers, especially in the RZ. As much as I like Bell, I believe that missing Bryant hurts our RZ offense more so than Bell.

defense might be not as bad as we thought? the Pats* are putting up points on the bills defense, and they're not too shabby.

Fire Arians wrote:

defense might be not as bad as we thought? the Pats** are putting up points on the bills defense, and they're not too shabby.

I wanna shot at those POS in the playoffs. I feel the outcome will be different that time out.

OX1947 wrote:

Fire Arians wrote:

defense might be not as bad as we thought? the Pats**** are putting up points on the bills defense, and they're not too shabby.

I wanna shot at those POS in the playoffs. I feel the outcome will be different that time out.

I want the Pats** @ pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. We will have to earn home field advantage, with our schedule thats going to be tough.

ImperialFan wrote:

OX1947 wrote:

Fire Arians wrote:

defense might be not as bad as we thought? the Pats***** are putting up points on the bills defense, and they're not too shabby.

I wanna shot at those POS in the playoffs. I feel the outcome will be different that time out.

I want the Pats*** @ pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. We will have to earn home field advantage, with our schedule thats going to be tough.

At least we aren't playing a bunch of scrub teams, because then we'd be really screwed. This team always plays down to a lesser opponent.

We did a better job covering Gronkowski and Edelman with 10 men on the field then the bills did with 11. We gave up 28 points to the Patriots* and are clowned as the worst defense ever. Bills give up 40 and are still called one of the best in the NFL.

Oh fickle media and player contract worshippers...

An encouraging week for sure.....now as Tomlin would say...let's start stacking these kind of performances up.

Holding a team under 20 is like holding them under 10 used to be a few years back considering how much the rules have changed and promote scoring. That has to be considered a solid effort and I don't think fans have caught up to that fact yet.

The defense gave up 28 points to Marsha and company on opening night at their home still a commendable effort when you really sit back and look at it. Minus a few mistakes on defense they did a good job over all that night.

I hope more fans give DHB some respect he is a solid 4th guy and his speed still has to be respected.

Yeah last week was expected to be a loss, I was surprised it was as close as it was. I think today that we were expected to win but I don't think anyone expected that type of performance from our defense. Shazier and Dupree made some really good plays Shazier preventing the touchdown by Caepernick where the call was overturned near the end of the game Dupree had a sack for the second game in a row. Our pass rushing is looking a lot better than I expected. Our pass coverage on the other hand still was clearly the weak point of the team. It was nice to see Boykin in there making some plays he and Blake looked like they were putting in maximum effort, it was overall a good defensive performance.

Offensively I am in awe of what this team is capable of. We put up 43 points against a 49ers defense that held the Vikings to 3 points last week. This is without Bell and Bryant. Next week when we have Bell back that is another RB and WR to add to the mix.

I'd have to say the most improved player on offense this season is Wheaton, he has been making some great catches. When Bryant is back and we have Bell, Williams, Brown, Wheaton and Bryant as weapons for Ben. Wow... just wow. We are going to have the best offense in the NFL. If the defense can grow together we have a legit shot at the superbowl. Im trying not to make too much out of this one victory but if we can continue to build on this weeks performance and with the return of a couple of our best offensive weapons it could be a very fun season, especially with the tough schedule we could have some really entertaining games. This is probably going to be better than to 2010 team that lost the superbowl to the packers but not as good as the team that beat the Cardinals in 2008. Ill take Brown, Wheaton, Bryant and Bell/Williams over Wallace, Brown, Sanders and mendenhall/Dwyer ANY DAY.

ImperialFan wrote:

Ill take Brown, Wheaton, Bryant and Bell/Williams over Wallace, Brown, Sanders and mendenhall/Dwyer ANY DAY.

You may have forgotten, Hines was still on the team in 2010, although a shadow of his former self and not the #1 WR. However I agree wholeheartedly, our list of offensive weapons is one of the most potent I've ever seen for this team.

Offense looks unstoppable at times and then we get to add add LeVeon and Martavis.
Best defensive performance in a while: aggressive attitude, swarming to the ball, pressure on the QB, and much better tackling.
Very encouraging.

Steel Peon wrote:

ImperialFan wrote:

Ill take Brown, Wheaton, Bryant and Bell/Williams over Wallace, Brown, Sanders and mendenhall/Dwyer ANY DAY.

You may have forgotten, Hines was still on the team in 2010, although a shadow of his former self and not the #1 WR. However I agree wholeheartedly, our list of offensive weapons is one of the most potent I've ever seen for this team.

Ward was still on the team? All I remember was Young Money. Lol. I have to credit the FO with identifying the best talent out of the group, I was a big Wallace fan, boy am I glad we dumped him now, and I bet he regrets being so greedy. I wouldn't have minded keeping sanders but I am fine with who we got to replace him, I am astounded with the amount of progression Markus Wheaton has made from last season to this season, he looks so much more comfortable and poised out there, and he is making much more athletic plays. Its unfortunate that Bryant has the suspension but we have enough depth to get by and when we comes back oh boy.

This game is what I was expecting the team to be like this year.

I was VERY impressed with the way the Defense has stepped up and of course the Offense is becoming a work of art!

In fact, this is the first time I can remember (possibly going as far back as the late '70's) where I really have no worries at all about our being able to score points.

Maybe Heyward-Bey's end zone grab while wearing No.88 had something to do with that, but not since the "Real" 88 played for us have I felt this good about a Steeler Offense!

We'll see...

Imagine if we had deangello Williams last year in the playoffs (even that quitter fuktard blount would've helped).

That was Bradshaw connecting with stallworth and swann out there today. It's looking like 1978 revisited.

Maybe even better? This is probably the best steeler offense since that year....

I think the defense will only get better