What we have lost or what has changed?

I am a bit confused around here lately. Not by the never ending conflict surrounding Ben but rather the attitude towards the team that some of you are posting. Lets rewind the way back clock to the off season before the 2012 season. The team has key veteran losses in Smith, Ward, and Farrior. Gone amid a swirl of controversy is Arians and in is just as controversial Haley. A solid draft class is rocked by injury and camp is marred by the Mike Wallace hold out which leads to the shocker of Brown receiving a huge deal and Wallace signing his one year tender. Despite all of this fans on the board are saying the team goes 12-4 and deep into the playoffs. Many dispute the Haley run the damn ball mandate from the Rooney's saying that the WR corp is perhaps the biggest weapons they have, they should be throwing the ball often, that they are perhaps the deepest of any team in the league. I suggested that 1 million for a year wasn't a bad price to keep Ward around for veteran leadership which many thought was ludicrous since Wallace, Brown and Sanders were so much better and Cotchery was still better than Ward who was done. Mendenhall was ailing but on the mend even though many thought his off the field antics were making him a distraction to the team. We all know how the story ends the team everyone said was stacked in so many positions goes 8-8 and limps to the off-season.

What has changed?

1.)Gone now are Starks and Colon, two of the boards favorite whipping boys for poor oline play. Legs is gone and he was criticized for not being good enough for anything more than a backup.
2.) Wallace signs moster deal with Dolphins and gone is the guy most call a one-trick pony but who at least blows the top of coverage and opens up the underneath stuff. fans moan about no deep threat now even though the Steelers never really had it before Wallace and won games but apparently can't live with out it.
3.) Mendenhall is not resigned and signs a one year deal with the cardinals. Gone is the anti-American fumbler that most say was just never that good, but lets face it anyone not named Bettis will never be good enough.
4.) Mac points out the lack of TD production losing 2 and 3 will bring but most don't listen or pay attention.
5.) Harrison is cut, but good riddance cause he wouldn't take a pay cut, was over 34 and breaking down, besides Woirlds is better anyway.

Did I miss anyone? What happen from the 2012 team to the 2013 team that has made the deepest Wr corp in the league now suck? THe talent that has them going 12-4 a year ago in most people minds to being just not talented? Surely Mike Wallace wasn't that big a piece? Max Starks, Legs and Colon? Elite linemen? Veteran leadership? What was lost?

 

Yeah...we did get rid of two of our most explosive guys on offense (Wallace, Mendy) We kind of ran them out of town.

Time will tell I guess. Between the two I wish we could have kept Wallace. Wallace and AB are a good combo. They both bring something different. Sanders is a lot like AB, except not as good.

On defense we lost our most explosive player (Harrison).

Its not enough to have just good players, you need a few special ones too.

Troy was special, and he has been doing stuff so far this year that looks good, but in reality it is all show, it is not game changing type stuff.

THere are so many great players we are missing right now. Farrior is another. Our ILB is sub par with out a guy like him.
And as much as I hate to say it. Big Snack was washed up, but man it just doesn't look the same on that line with out him.

 

playmakers are missing. BUT, I do think we have a few that could turn this around before it's over. JJ, wheaton, moye, bell, Thomas, Williams. i'm really hoping their roles increase and they start letting their football talent come out, now that we have some key guys back and getting better every week. heath and allen come to mind. Fernando has brought some attitude to the line and helped tighten up the interior. i'm banking on beachum at LT and levi on the right. I believe they can help if they do this.

 

Get rid of the anti american crap surrounding Mendy.. It's political and is not something you want to enter into on a message board.

 

I still believe they made a bad choice in releasing Ward.

 

I am not making a political statement Busman nor am I stating my own personal belief that is what he was labeled by many on this board. His off the field attempts to provoke public discourse and understanding led to him being seen as such.

 

I do as well I believe my thoughts were at the time and I posted as such that worse case scenario Wallace holds out and isn't ready for game one, Brown is stable, Sanders is often injured and unknown and Cotchery is a slot possession guy who just really signed with the team, Ward at the vet minium or even at 1 mill was a steal just for what he brings in leadership and he had enough left for one more year on his terms, wasn't looking for starter time.

 

The problem with this team is that they have held onto older players on defense who do not create turnovers anymore and suck up too much of the salary cap. Troy, Ike, Woodley, Timmons, Keisel and Clark take up approximately $44MM of the cap. None of them are playing at their salary level anymore. Couple that with mediocre drafts and you have the team we see on the field. It is time to clean house and rebuild. We were an 8-8 team last year and will probably be worse this year. We just don't have the personnel anymore to compete for a championship.

 

So in short: a lot of folks around here got exactly what they wanted, and the result is the record we have this season.

 

Great observation.

 

Mendenhall for all of his opinions is a very intelligent and no casual observer to world politics. As for his football acumen that indeed comes into question. Personally if it was my team I would try to encourage staff to tone down the amount of social media and concentrate on football. That is afterall what we pay them for.

Bman

 

you also missed lewis thorn. our best cb last year.

I sure would have liked to see what he and cortez could have been together. for the next 5-6 years. nothing against ike here, but these two could have been a good future for this team at cb.

 

What happened? In my eyes, it's not a lack of talent, it's a lack of coaching. I believe our absolute biggest problem is coaching, period. We have plenty of talent, probably more than half the league. Like I said, bring in Belichek and dump Tomlin and I believe we're 4-0 right now and not 0-4. Belichek makes his players excel, whereas Tomlin doesn't seem to have any idea how to get the most of out his guys. Under Tomlin, almost every one of our draft picks have not lived up to expectations.

Nothing changed this off season though. I didn't think we were a good team in 2011, didn't think we were a good team last year and I don't think we are a good team this year. With that said, I don't think we're among the bottom 3 teams in the league either. We'll win some games this year, but just enough to miss the playoffs and screw up getting a high draft pick, although it probably wouldn't pan out anyway.

Tomlin's on borrowed time. The guy is living on reputation because he managed to win a SB with a team that was a contender regardless of who was the coach. That won't last forever. Tomlin will be fired, not this year, and probably not in the off-season, but no way he lasts past the end of the 2014 season.

 

Anybody that comes out and "seemingly" supports or defends OBL runs the risk of being labeled un-American. That shouldn't surprise anybody.

Having said that, I actually supported the Steelers re-signing Mendy to a vet min contract for one year. I thought he was still better than anybody else we had. Bell does offer some hope, though. Our WR corps doesn't suck. AB is having a great year and Cotchery is coming on. Sanders is just ok but Wheaton can be special. Our offense needs to develop a rhythm and it would be nice to not be playing from behind.

To cut to the chase, the fact that we've lost A LOT of veteran leadership over the last two years, and we don't have a HEAD COACH whose strength is coaching young players up, is the major contributor to our downfall.

 

Let me ask you this, BF, serious question. Dan Rooney (and Art too, for that matter) is getting older and as you age you start to realize your mortality more and more. Do you thing that might prompt them to make a coaching change more quickly than they ordinarily would to turn the team's fortunes? Dan is getting up there and I'm sure he'd like to see another Super Bowl or two before his time on earth is through. If the team continues to spiral downward under Tomlin's leadership, I think their patience could wear out quicker than you might think.

 

I don't disagree with that and stability is one of our strong suits, but if the Rooneys start to feel that Tomlin has lost the team they could be compelled to make a change and move on. I think they felt that Cowher still had the team's respect even when they had a couple of tough seasons. Something Tomlin has that Cowher didn't have is a franchise QB in Ben. When you have a franchise QB, you can't afford to waste too many seasons.

 

Bingo, we have a winner.

 

omg that's twice in the same week that I completely agree with you. The tides are turning!

 

No they didn't he couldn't play anymore Ward played 14 yrs even the 49ers let Jerry Rice leave.

 

Part of the reason the Steelers are struggling is that they made the same mistake they made in the 1980's by hanging on to declining vets when they should have been replaced.

 

they also let their franchise qb go.

 

like ben?

that knee is still giving ben trouble and the less he can move around that pocket the more tee offs he will take.

I hate to say it but I watched hines try to keep playing and I watched lambert try to keep playing and it was sad. I think ben is soon to follow. that will be equally sad. it happens to the best of them.