AFC North

A lot will depend on Thursday. I don't trust that game. Not because I fear we will play down to the Browns (they are still talented btw), but because of the short week. The defense just played a hell of a game, but I fear that they will be exhausted after the effort they've put in. On top of that is was a 4.25 pm game instead of a 1 pm game and they will have to travel now. I know it's only to Cleveland, but still. I just fear they will not be ready 100% physically to bring their A-game.

I see us ending 9-7 or 10-6. 9-7 might be enough for a wild card, 10-6 surely is. I don't see us catch the Ravens, they are too good of a team right now and Lamar Jackson is playing out of his mind. He's already second in the MVP talks after Russell Wilson. I know I'm in the minority, but I see him having a long career. He's one of the least hit QB's in the NFL, despite all the running. He's just so great at avoiding contact. He's exciting to watch, it's a shame he's a Raven. We will just need to find a way to beat him the coming years.

Stella Nation wrote:

A lot will depend on Thursday. I don't trust that game. Not because I fear we will play down to the Browns (they are still talented btw), but because of the short week. The defense just played a hell of a game, but I fear that they will be exhausted after the effort they've put in. On top of that is was a 4.25 pm game instead of a 1 pm game and they will have to travel now. I know it's only to Cleveland, but still. I just fear they will not be ready 100% physically to bring their A-game.

I see us ending 9-7 or 10-6. 9-7 might be enough for a wild card, 10-6 surely is. I don't see us catch the Ravens, they are too good of a team right now and Lamar Jackson is playing out of his mind. He's already second in the MVP talks after Russell Wilson. I know I'm in the minority, but I see him having a long career. He's one of the least hit QB's in the NFL, despite all the running. He's just so great at avoiding contact. He's exciting to watch, it's a shame he's a Raven. We will just need to find a way to beat him the coming years.

I think we'll be fine. With Tomlin rotating guys in on the D front they seem to stay fresh.I agree we're not catching the Ravens. I was saying LJ is just an athlete playing QB but I was wrong. After watching him last Sunday I'm a fan. He makes it look easy too. As far as a long career I think he better learn to step out instead of turning back up field or someone is going to end his career. Not everyone fears getting a fine or suspension.
I think we finish 11-5 and we beat the Ravens in Baltimore. I know I'll be in the minority there. This is not the same defense they beat the first game and MR is getting his legs under him.

Stella Nation wrote:

A lot will depend on Thursday. I don't trust that game. Not because I fear we will play down to the Browns (they are still talented btw), but because of the short week. The defense just played a hell of a game, but I fear that they will be exhausted after the effort they've put in. On top of that is was a 4.25 pm game instead of a 1 pm game and they will have to travel now. I know it's only to Cleveland, but still. I just fear they will not be ready 100% physically to bring their A-game.

I see us ending 9-7 or 10-6. 9-7 might be enough for a wild card, 10-6 surely is. I don't see us catch the Ravens, they are too good of a team right now and Lamar Jackson is playing out of his mind. He's already second in the MVP talks after Russell Wilson. I know I'm in the minority, but I see him having a long career. He's one of the least hit QB's in the NFL, despite all the running. He's just so great at avoiding contact. He's exciting to watch, it's a shame he's a Raven. We will just need to find a way to beat him the coming years.

Although Jackson is electrifying in his runs, the ratbirds aren't unbeatable. We were one cheap shot away from taking them down. And even with Duck Dynasty at the helm, we still had a chance in OT to beat them.

IMO, Jackson can be mirrored by a LB'er and it will prevent a lot of his scrambling. Tackling needs to be solid on him, and once you do that, then he'll need to be more of a passer. While he can throw the ball, I've seen him in games where he's unable to use his motor skills and he becomes less of a threat - a lot less.

Looking at the remaining schedule, I don't see a team we can't beat. I believe the Bills defense will be a problem to contend with, and so will the ratbirds entire scheme. Even taking a L in those two games, and winning out puts us at 10-6. We hold the tie breaker over the Colts and Chargers.

stlrtruck wrote:

Stella Nation wrote:

A lot will depend on Thursday. I don't trust that game. Not because I fear we will play down to the Browns (they are still talented btw), but because of the short week. The defense just played a hell of a game, but I fear that they will be exhausted after the effort they've put in. On top of that is was a 4.25 pm game instead of a 1 pm game and they will have to travel now. I know it's only to Cleveland, but still. I just fear they will not be ready 100% physically to bring their A-game.

I see us ending 9-7 or 10-6. 9-7 might be enough for a wild card, 10-6 surely is. I don't see us catch the Ravens, they are too good of a team right now and Lamar Jackson is playing out of his mind. He's already second in the MVP talks after Russell Wilson. I know I'm in the minority, but I see him having a long career. He's one of the least hit QB's in the NFL, despite all the running. He's just so great at avoiding contact. He's exciting to watch, it's a shame he's a Raven. We will just need to find a way to beat him the coming years.

Although Jackson is electrifying in his runs, the ratbirds aren't unbeatable.  We were one cheap shot away from taking them down.  And even with Duck Dynasty at the helm, we still had a chance in OT to beat them.

IMO, Jackson can be mirrored by a LB'er and it will prevent a lot of his scrambling.  Tackling needs to be solid on him, and once you do that, then he'll need to be more of a passer.  While he can throw the ball, I've seen him in games where he's unable to use his motor skills and he becomes less of a threat - a lot less.

Looking at the remaining schedule, I don't see a team we can't beat.  I believe the Bills defense will be a problem to contend with, and so will the ratbirds entire scheme.  Even taking a L in those two games, and winning out puts us at 10-6.  We hold the tie breaker over the Colts and Chargers.

One cheat shot is right but we also had Jackson in the backfield more than once and didn't bring him down. We have to tackle when we get the chance. We are not the same defense they played last game and that's why I think we go in there and beat them the next time.

The Ravens play the Texans,Rams and 49ers. We play the Browns,Bengals and Browns. I think the Ravens have a better shot of at least one,maybe two losses over the next 3 games. Maybe I'm overly optimistic but I like our chances.

Getting tired of the Jackson media hype. We did ok with Jackson the first time.... he had 1 TD and 3 INTS, a QB rating of 54.9. Also sacked him 5x and held to 70 yds on the ground with a long run of 9. The argument will be: well he's playing better now than then. I would say: so is our D. He also was playing better against his previous opponents than he did against the Steelers game 1.  

I'll agree he's playing at a high level but the NFL generally has an adjustment period when you get these running QBs. They only come up so often but guys like RG3, Vivk, Kordell, seem to fizzle out after a while.

They fizzle because they can only take so much punishment. Wait till he gets hurt, it will be just a matter of time. None of tmhis type last a whole season usually maybe a few but look at RG3 a couple of years now a backup why because of injuries...

We lost to the Seahawks by a few points we lost to the 9ers by a few points we lost to the Ravens in OT.

This team is better then what its record says. Considering all of the injuries and the youth of many of the players I really think this next half they are going to shock the NFL and us fans.

SteelerFreak58 wrote:

We lost to the Seahawks by a few points we lost to the 9ers by a few points we lost to the Ravens in OT.

This team is better then what its record says. Considering all of the injuries and the youth of many of the players I really think this next half they are going to shock the NFL and us fans.

The Steelers' 4 losses were to teams with a combined 31-6 record ...

Patriots* (8-1)
Seahawks (8-2)
49ers (8-1)
Ravens (7-2)

And 3 of those losses were very close to being wins.

Duck was driving the Steelers toward victory over the catbirds until the fumble.

Our defense beat the 9ers up - definitely should have won that game. As Wallace points out, 3 of those looses could have been wins. And those are 4 of the best teams in football.

This may be Tomlin's finest hour if this team continues at this trajectory.

This team is so much like the 2004 team it's eerie. Maddox got hurt, in steps Ben. Ben gets hurt, in steps Rudolph. Stat lines are very similar through the first eight games. Ben wasn't asked to do much, and could lean on the running game with Jerome Bettis, and a stellar defense. Rudolph actually has much less talent around him offensively than Ben did, has been asked to throw the ball more, and he too is leaning on the defense a lot to help keep us in games.

I think the key difference has been the running game. Ben had Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley to rely on. Rudolph has the oft-injured James Conner, and Jaylen Samuels. Ben had quite a bit more talent around him than Rudolph did and the offensive line was much better in the run blocking department.

All of that being said. It's on to the Brownies, and if we want to stay in the race for the AFC North we'll need to beat the Browns twice, the Bengals one more time, and the Ravens, and hope that the Ravens start to slip up as well.

I'm still not on the Ravens bandwagon. I think the best defensive unit they've played this season is the Steelers. Everyone thinks the Ravens are sooooo good because they beat New England. I think the Patriots** were living off of the cupcakes on their weak schedule until they played the Ravens. The Steelers and Browns are really the only defensive units to give the Ravens a run for their money so far. That being said, I think the Ravens have also played a pretty weak schedule this season and some of their games have shown they have weaknesses. The Chiefs aren't as good as advertised with a very suspect defense, the Ravens lost to them. The Ravens also lost to the Browns who obviously aren't a very good or consistent team either. They also struggled in their first match-up against the Bengals who are probably the worst team in the league right now. They also arguably should've lost to us in OT if it wasn't for an ill-timed mistake from Juju Smith Schuster. They're far from perfect to say the least, and I'm not sold on Lamar Jackson just yet either. He runs up his stats against terrible teams, but has struggled against good defensive units. I'll believe he's good if he take what he did this season, and comes out next season without missing a beat. I just have the feeling he's going to be a flash in the pan just like RGIII was but I could be wrong.

AFC North is still winnable, and we are still very much in the running for a wildcard spot. Tomlin needs to put it across to the guys to treat every game like a playoff game. If we end up having a winning season after all the adversity this team has faced, I'd be happy with that. If we make the playoffs, then this may just be the finest coaching job Tomlin has done in the big picture of his career.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

This team is so much like the 2004 team it's eerie. Maddox got hurt, in steps Ben. Ben gets hurt, in steps Rudolph. Stat lines are very similar through the first eight games. Ben wasn't asked to do much, and could lean on the running game with Jerome Bettis, and a stellar defense. Rudolph actually has much less talent around him offensively than Ben did, has been asked to throw the ball more, and he too is leaning on the defense a lot to help keep us in games.

I think the key difference has been the running game. Ben had Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley to rely on. Rudolph has the oft-injured James Conner, and Jaylen Samuels. Ben had quite a bit more talent around him than Rudolph did and the offensive line was much better in the run blocking department.

All of that being said. It's on to the Brownies, and if we want to stay in the race for the AFC North we'll need to beat the Browns twice, the Bengals one more time, and the Ravens, and hope that the Ravens start to slip up as well.

I'm still not on the Ravens bandwagon. I think the best defensive unit they've played this season is the Steelers. Everyone thinks the Ravens are sooooo good because they beat New England. I think the Patriots*** were living off of the cupcakes on their weak schedule until they played the Ravens. The Steelers and Browns are really the only defensive units to give the Ravens a run for their money so far. That being said, I think the Ravens have also played a pretty weak schedule this season and some of their games have shown they have weaknesses. The Chiefs aren't as good as advertised with a very suspect defense, the Ravens lost to them. The Ravens also lost to the Browns who obviously aren't a very good or consistent team either. They also struggled in their first match-up against the Bengals who are probably the worst team in the league right now. They also arguably should've lost to us in OT if it wasn't for an ill-timed mistake from Juju Smith Schuster. They're far from perfect to say the least, and I'm not sold on Lamar Jackson just yet either. He runs up his stats against terrible teams, but has struggled against good defensive units. I'll believe he's good if he take what he did this season, and comes out next season without missing a beat. I just have the feeling he's going to be a flash in the pan just like RGIII was but I could be wrong.

AFC North is still winnable, and we are still very much in the running for a wildcard spot. Tomlin needs to put it across to the guys to treat every game like a playoff game. If we end up having a winning season after all the adversity this team has faced, I'd be happy with that. If we make the playoffs, then this may just be the finest coaching job Tomlin has done in the big picture of his career.

At the end of last season I would have been OK if Tomlin got fired. I now know and admit I was wrong. He has done a great job of turning this team around this year. I agree Iowa if and I think we will make the playoffs Tomlin should not only get credit,he should be in the running for coach of the year. Having said all of this I would not be against firing Fitchner at season's end. He just has no imagination at all. Maybe he gets a pass because of the immaturity of the WRs and gets one more year but I don't think he's the man for the job.

first the Ravens knock Rudolph tf out now Garret rip Mason's helmet off then hits him over the head with it, the other AFC North teams sure hate Mason Rudolph.