kicked to the curb

Hartley will make everyone forget about suisham.

 

Just out of curiosity, what are you basing this on? I do hope you are right but Suisham has done well.

 

neither one of them can boot it through the endzone
hell, the backup kicker from jax kicked it into the up rights.
with our kickoff coverage we need to put it through the endzone

 

I am going to reserve judgement , he scares me, like most kickers.

 

I agree. If we can't cover, kick it so they can't return it.

 

Nobody wanted Suisham here when they signed him, myself included. but SS has been a nice surprise with his accuracy. I agree with others about reserving judgment on Hartley. Seems like it would still be worthwhile to go get a rookie to come in and compete as well.

 

This is one time we need to use a roster spot on a kicker with a big leg and no accuracy, just for kick offs. Hartley kicks field goals and extra points, other kicker just to kick off thru the back of the end zone. The Steelers special teams are not good and we need to limit returns.

 

He scares me as well. I personally don't feel all that safe with him. He was cut from the Saints and they're a dome team. Heinz is one of the hardest places to kick in the league and also you have to do a lot in very adverse conditions. I hope I'm wrong but I'm just feeling iffy at best right now.

 

the competition in camp can't hurt. why not have at least two? we have two punters that lead to zero points. this is a big deal and also your leading scorer during the year. ss cost us a game or two over his time here, but he's not the issue right now. i'd love a guy that could boot it out of the ez but i'd like a guy that could give you that last second shot before the half of 50+ yards too. what would it hurt with 3 games left in preseason? at least if hartley doesn't work out we would have another guy to call thats familiar to us during the year.

 

Not trying to call you out mac, but what games has SS lost for the Steelers? There have been many that the Steelers lose without him, but I don't recall any games over the past 4+ years specifically lost because of Suisham. BTW, I agree with what you're saying about bringing in another player to camp now.

 

I do remember one that came down to a missed FG, but can't remember who it was against. Damn you, disappearing brain cells.

Something you posted earlier was utterly true, though, Knox - Suisham wasn't exactly greeted with excitement when he became our kicker. I might be wrong here, but I'm not sure Suisham was ever shown this much love before he was injured...

 

Weren't there some occasions in which Suisham was expected to convert from 50+ yards? Could those be the instances? I only recall him missing one or two chip shots. I can't recall if those were for the game, or not.

 

I'll paint the picture:

It's the AFC Championship, Baltimore @ Pittsburgh.
4 inches of snow on the ground
We're down by 2
5 seconds left
4th and 10 at the 35

Superbowl hopes now rest in an old kicker who a domed team didn't even want.

 

Agreed. I like Suisham as a kicker. I do believe that situations in which he may have "lost the game" entailed instances in which he was asked to make kicks that are known to represent a low conversion percentage. I know he's missed a chip shot or two. That happens to all players in all sports, at some point. I have no gripes with this guy.

 

THIS!!!! 100% THIS. Yea he might get lucky and make it. But i dont like hanging my hat on a kicker that was released from a dome team, a dome team. Not saying hes the worst kicker around (hes not by far) but just dont have a great feeling about this one!

 

I don't think I've been happy hanging that kind of scenario on any kicker since Gary Anderson.

 

But WAIT! Brad Wing takes the ball on the bootleg.....Jesse James is running down the field uncovered! As he's hit, Wing uncorks a perfect spiral right on stride! And then......

 

the 53-yarder in the snow....

But seriously, yeah it's a definite advantage for those teams that have a kicker that can unleash the long ball....but they don't have our offense. When the game's on the line, we'd better find a way to not get zero yards on the 3 previous plays and rely on a 53-yarder in the snow....

 

There was a holding call on Mike Adams who subbed in for an injured Gilbert 2 plays prior.

 

Point is, our kickers see a lot of scenarios like this where we need a clutch kick to win the game. We were fortunate that Suisham came through for us. I don't imagine us getting THAT lucky with Hartley. But I'll keep my towel waving just in case.

 

Pretty sure SS missed one... maybe even 2 from 30 something yards against the Raiders, in Oakland 2 years ago. And that cost us. But he has, overall, been very reliable.

 

Hartley has a better percentage outdoors than indoors. It's in another thread somewhere. I believe he's like 88% outside. Just sayin'.

 

We lost a Titans game in 2012 because of Tomlin calling a timeout and icing him from like 52 yards out. I was on the 2nd row that night and the Titans fans were cracking up at me for saying "YEAH TOMLIN WAY TO ICE YOUR OWN KICKER!" Also that Raiders game where he, and the defense, and the offense, and the rest of us had a horrible day. It's not really "choking" though, in my opinion, when you are simply out of your range and that was the case in the Titans game. The Raiders game was just due to the fact that we always seem to play our worst football against them.