How many still believe this?

I agree totally about Ben. The 9ers play them tough and I think it's because Kap can move. However our line would've been so absolutely dominated even Ben might not have been able to shake the pressure. As far as my first thing you quoted I really think that's pretty accurate. He had less than 250yds and 1td, a pick 6, an int, and a fumble. Is that MVP-esque to you? I actually meant that as a compliment to him.

 

I took away a couple things for last evenings game.

1. The notion that defense wins championships holds true often. But a good defenses increased impact in the post season is more a product of how the post season is officiated. Not complaining—just stating the obvious. And, a good defenses impact is increased when playing an unbalanced offense, which the Broncos are.

2. There is no substitute for speed. And I'm not talking necessarily about how fast Seattle's players are. I'm not sure what they're 40 times were, but considering many of their contributors are UDFA and later round picks, I'd assume their measurable weren't off the charts. Regardless of how fast individual players are, when i say speed, I'm referring to the game action. Their defense speeds the pace of the game up in terms of decision making. To me, their front 4 won the game last night. I'm not blown away by their secondary guys, except may be Earl Thomas. The Steelers' pass rush used to make our secondary look awesome too. The key is to do this without blitzing. Seattle had the lowest blitz percentage in the league this year. So in essence, they speed up decision making, have more guys in coverage creating smaller windows, creating higher probability of mistakes/off target throws/missed blocking assignments etc...

3. The last takeaway. A defense built on fundamentals and less scheme is successful. Seattle doesn't blitz a lot, they tackle well, are in position and play fast (talking more swarming to the ball than individual speed). They've built a system where you can take young guys with less experience, and put them in a position to be productive, and turn them loose. It's simple run and hit football. Supposedly, Carrol's defensive philosophy is to keep it simple. And execute flawlessly, and take guess work out of the equation as much a possible for the player.

In my opinion, the biggest question the Steelers need to address this offseason, is the D line. Heyward is the only one, in my opinion, I see as effective in helping build another dominate defense. Fix the D line, and miraculously the backend will look better.

 

Avril and Bennett, my friends this is
how FA works. Now, that GM knows
what he is doing. As some other poster said earlier I am not sure MT and Colbert are up to
thinking out of the box. Granted Seattle's
day of reckoning is coming. These people will
WANT PAID.

 

Yes, they're not going to have a franchise QB for 600K after next year.

 

I think their day has come now. tate and Baldwin are not great but both are free agents. Thurmond, browner, and Bennett are too. they have a couple of olineman who are and they don't really have a whole lot of cap space. Wilson and earl Thomas need to be extended and that wont be cheap. I am sure Sherman and lynch will want some to. that's the bad thing about winning championship. it cost you in the long run. look at us and the last one we won. we spent money like it grew on trees

 

Couldn't agree more. We're doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We keep restructuring the same guys that aren't getting us to the playoffs. What's the point. I don't think Colbert is up to the job at all and I definitely don't think Tomlin is whatsoever. Those guys dont' seem to have an eye for talent.

 

Really? how many championships have the steelers won with Colbert?

 

The difference is we keep restructing hoping to hang onto the guys that won for us years ago; whereas I think you're going to see Seattle let go of some of those guys and bring in other guys to fill the void. What happened when Browner went out? They didn't miss a beat, they replaced him with someone that performed just as well, if not better. They seem to have an eye for talent and that system definitely helps guys excel.

We'll find out in a few years and I hope I'm wrong, but I think we're going to continue spinning our wheels and continue being a mediocre team, whereas they'll dump guys like Lynch and have no problem replacing him with someone just as good

 

lets pull back the reigns alittle bit on the seahawks. they won one championship. I know its a copycat league and they are the model this year but lets let them do it a few more years before we call them geniuses

 

I just think they have a real eye for talent and they appear to have no difficulty replacing talent with talent, but to be fair, I've been saying for years that we should switch to a system just like the Seahawks run. I've been posting on here for years that I would like to see a 4-3 that doesn't rely on blitzes, one that punishes receivers at the line. It really has nothing to do with Seattle, that's just the system I think would give us the best chance to win, as well as the best chance to replace talent with talent.

 

But this where we will see if the GM for Seattle can say "now for my 2nd act" - kind of like the Patriots. The Seahawks if they are smart will not try to pay everybody, rather they will pick and choose a select a few to get paid and keep looking for the value free agent or the solid 3rd, 4th, 5th round pick who can either be good or at least be a complement to how they want to play. That way you avoid cap hell ala the Steelers. I know one thing - I don't know if he is worth $20M per year, but I would be far more willing to pay Russell Wilson than give that same amount to Joe Flacco, Wilson is a leader and at times a dynamic playmaker. He to me is far more than a game manager.

 

I still think our 2008 defence deserves to be mentioned with the all time great defences, but it never is.

 

what
i find outstanding is that all the defense position are playing great , i mean dline lbs and dbs

 

-
I think part of what hurt that defense a little in the eyes of the judges is the D did not perform overly great in the playoffs. The San Diego game was pretty much dominated by the Steelers offense, especially the run game as I am pretty sure the Steelers held the ball for 14 of 15 minutes in the 3rd quarter. The Baltimore game was largely won by the defense - but Baltimore wasn't an offensive juggernaut. And in the SB the defense to some extent almost blew it if not for the Ben/Holmes heroics. I know Harrison did have that unbelievable interception return, but in the 2nd half Arizona literally lit up that defense when they realized the corners and safeties were playing 10 yards off the ball and it became pitch and catch with the AZ receivers.

 

Steelers could use a big splash in Free agency to help them, but they kept the core team of guys from our Title Runs together for a number of years and all our money is tied up in them. We probably should have gotten rid of a few players much earlier than we did or will.

There is really not a whole lot the Steelers can do until a lot of the big contracts come off the books and Ben gets restructured. The best thing we can hope for is a great draft this year and hit on on 3 or 4 guys.

 

This is why the Seahawks are currently better off that the Steelers. This won't be the case forever.

2014 Cap Numbers

Steelers:
Lamar Woodley - $13,590,000
Ike Taylor - $11,942,404
Troy Polamaly - $10,887,500

Three Starters = 36,419,904

Seahawks:
Russell Wilson - $817,302
Richard Sherman - $1,434,606
Earl Thomas - $5,473,212
Kam Chancellor - $5,825,000

Four better players (I threw Wilson in there but Ben > Wilson): 13,560,120

Sources:
http://overthecap.com/teamcap.php?Team=Seahawks&Year=2014
http://overthecap.com/teamcap.php?Team=Steelers&Year=2014

 

Woodley caused the fumble. I think the beard recovered it.

 

I think they pretty much lit em up in the 2nd half. Arizona put up over 400 yards on that defense, most of through the air. They had 3 WR with 6+ catches. It wasn't just Fitzgerald's one play - Warner was moving the ball at will starting mid way through the 2nd quarter. It's a good thing that Harrison did pick off that pass, because if that is a TD pass by Warner they maybe lay 30+ on the Steelers. It wasn't a great defensive performance.

In comparison to last night where Seattle's defense put their foot on Denver's throat and didn't let them up for air, the Steeler D in that game nearly gave it away. They were a great defense that year, statistically one of the very best of all time, but they didn't play like it in that Super Bowl.

 

Arizona had one of the greatest offensive coordinators calling that game too. LOL. Just trying to raise your blood pressure a little. But I really do remember during the actual broadcast when Fitz scored that late td and Madden started already dogging on the d and saying something like "when you needed them to play they couldn't do it..." or something and that got me really irritated because that d had been awesome all year and bailed us out a lot actually.

 

2014 Cap Numbers

Steelers:
Lamar Woodley - $13,590,000
Ike Taylor - $11,942,404
Troy Polamaly - $10,887,500

Three Starters = 36,419,904

cut them all eat the dead money use the next year to rebuild with young rookies , then use the 2015 draft plus the salary cap open to build a contender team

 

so just so I understand. now keep in mind I aint picking a fight. our 2008 defense is one of the all time greats but u have been saying for years you want to be like the seahawks. I know that has been 5 seasons ago but two years ago the seahawks were far from being dominate