Good win but..

the answer is "yes"... as we've witnessed the last few weeks.

 

I think we are toast. The defense has fallen apart. That show yesterday was about as bad as it gets. If you actually looked at this team with an honest unbiased eye, you'd see that we are not good. We are sloppy and we can't stop the run. The playoffs have an uncanny way of exposing these kinds of weaknesses.

Maybe Tomlin and Butler benched them selves against the Browns to keep their brains healthy for the playoffs? Two weeks in a row we've shown no ability to stop the run. Thankfully we must have found a 4 leaf clover because it was nothing but luck to beat the Browns. The browns should have blown us out. 3 of the most ridiculous fumbles you'll ever see allows us to a win a game that we deserved to get destroyed in. The "streak" is the most hollow steak I've ever seen. Our schedule has been a blessing and the last 7 games against mostly garbage teams. 5 of the 7 games were against the worst in the league and we managed to barely squeak out wins in most of them. If you just look at wins/losses then it would appear we are hot...but if you actually watched the games and dissect the #'s it's obvious we have serious issues.

If you can't stop the run, you will lose in the playoffs. I'll be shocked if the Dolphins don't beat us next week. I'm expecting an NFL record day from Jay Ajayi. He's basically put up the exact same numbers as Bell has this year on the ground. He'll have a career day unless Ben can suddenly wake up from his slump and light up the score board early. On paper it's a game we should most definitely win so we shall see. Look at the last 10 SB winners. Not one of them was bad at stopping the run. In fact I think 9 of the last 10 winners were in the top 10 stopping the run. Packers being the only other team. I'd be willing to bet we'd be the worst run defense to ever win a SB if that were to happen. So I don't like our chances.

 

It's the playoffs,which means a whole new season. At least we won't have to worry about us looking past any of our opponents. Everything is right there in front of us. It will come down to the execution and eliminating stupid mistakes that are usually the difference this time of year. Like MT says "iron sharpens iron". It won't be easy for sure but it won't be impossible either. Get us to a AFCCG against the cheats and we will take our chances....sometimes the hard way is the best way....it should keep them laser focused and every win will build confidence for the next game. If we are gonna go anywhere it will be on the Os shoulders. That is where all the talent is,they are the ones that can make our D effective enough to make the crucial stops when needed...time for the killer Bs to put up some Ws...

 

I did some quick research. There were 5 defenses worse at stopping the Run then the 2016 steelers that won SB's. (Colts, Giants x2, Saints, and Packers) The one thing I see in common with these teams is they had great offenses. Funny thing is I think our run defense ranking is better than we actually are. We started out bad, seemed to have figured it out, and now we are terrible again. I guess this kind of goes with the personality of this team. Jekyll and Hyde.

 

The defense hasn't fallen apart. I'm sure the defense kept it pretty Vanilla yesterday. The intensity wasn't there since it was supposed to be a meaningless game. This was even brought up by Shazier. I don't like that, but understand it.

We have a makeshift D-Line. Harrison didn't play. That will change in the playoffs. With so many players out on offense i'm sure that put some extra pressure on the D since they were on the field more than they should have been.

If you're truly looking at this with an Honest Unbiased eye you'd recognize that the D has struggled at times, but been good enough to win us the Division and get us into the playoffs. You'd recognize the situation with the game yesterday and how that pertained to our health going into the playoffs.

 

Are people really worried about Jay Ajayi again?


People do realize this team is a farcry from the first time they faced Miami...



.... Oh.. and Bud Dupree has been on a roll with his sack count since coming back from injury.

 

Pretty much it haha. The people who believe a loss is coming due to a game that happened at a point where this defense was still attempting to gel is hilarious. Here are my reasons that day will not repeat itself from a defensive standpoint.


Artie Burns is not going to get fooled by a double like he was against Terrell Pryor again.


Sean Davis is much improved; Tuitt the same.


Javon is much better.


and


Bud Dupree is back and coming in hot for the playoffs.




This defense is ready for the playoffs whether people make it out to be or not. Yes, they did not look as impressive against Baltimore last week... but rival teams generally give their opposition issues anyway due to familiarity. Mike Tomlin and the resurgent defense will not fluke a 200 yard rushing day this time.

 

This guy feels different.

 

We were playing the 1-14 Browns dude. James Harrison is not the difference between us being solid and the worst in the league. The only other thing worth consideration IMO is the fact that Tomlin has consistently been terrible against really bad teams over the last 6 years. So maybe this was part of it. Not having a 38 year old OLB was not the problem. Sloppy play, poor tackling, and mental errors was the problem. Our defensive stats starting looking better when we started playing the worst offenses in the NFL.

 

These people believe a loss is coming every week. It's pathetic.

 

True...Ajay is no Isaiah Crowell.

 

........


Four and a half sacks in six games while your abdominal will not be healed until after the season is unimpressive?


If he has that pace for a 16 game season, we could be looking at ten sacks.

 

Well Steel... it was a "Good Win But.."

 

This defense is not the same as the one Miami saw months ago either.


Refer to my response to SteelerGlenn for more.

 

You Cherry picked Harrison. What about all the other points I made?
I know, you're another one of those guys trying to convince everyone how bad we are.

We're in the playoffs where anything can happen. Enjoy it.
It's ok to support the team and be happy.

 

There's 2 kinds of steeler fans it seems.

#1 Die hard cheerleader - This type of fan consists of relatives of the players and those that just cheer on their team no matter what the result. "oh shucks fellas, you just lost to a terrible team again. Don't worry keep your head up, you'll get em next time! go steelers!"

#2 Die hard realist - This type of fan has expectations that directly correlate with the talent on the team. These fans pay attention to X's and O's. When Kordell made it to the AFCC it was impressive. When Ben has 1 playoff victory in 5 years it's an epic failure worthy of firing coaches. " yes we beat the Browns, but it was by total luck they fumbled the ball twice inside the 5 yard line and they racked up 200 yards rushing!"



I enjoy wins as much as anyone. Especially playoff wins. This should be a SB contender. I don't care about wins against 1-14 teams. I expect us to win those games. When my steelers fail play up to their level of talent it drives me nuts. I can deal with sucking if your players suck. I can't deal with sucking when you have talent all over the field but can't get it together. This is not the type of football I'm ok with. Sloppy play and not stopping the run is what really bad teams do. Why am I critcal? Because I expect to win playoff games and I know that's not going to happen if we play like this. 1 playoff victory in 6 years is unbelievable with Ben as our Qb. oh and that 1 win was a gift wrapped present from the moronic Bengals. I'm well aware of the fact that the steelers are the best franchise in the NFL. 6 Lombardi's says it all. Maybe it's a generational thing? There is no A for effort. There is no participation trophy in my book. IMO not winning playoff games is failure for a Ben Roethlisberger led team. When we kick a good teams ass, I can guarantee you I'm the loudest cheerleader in the stands.

 

Whats really mind boggling is SteelerGlenn was the person who hated these "Good Win But" posts the most out of the gate and now he is the one making the most comments on them.

 

Glenn's essentially saying:

 

Meh, neither of those two is a "realist". Both ends of the spectrum ignore contexts and details. Their lack of realism is what lets them adopt extreme positions.

 

Apparently there's another kind of fan.

 

These so called realists are anything but that n most cases.
They tell us all the reasons why we'll lose because they're realists and know, then come on here after a loss and complain about not beating a team we should beat.
It's gotten so bad that now they're complaining after every win too. A 7 game winning streak at that.

 

I still think they're silly. If it wasn't this thread it'd be another that some would be trying to convince us how bad we are after a win.

 

I might be a little biased because I have a man-crush on Harrison but I think he makes a huge difference. His ability to set the edge is a big difference maker...he not only sets it ,he is the edge. Some of their biggest runs yesterday were to Jarvis's side and his ability to flow down the line to make plays is just as great and important. Once a team realizes running to his side is mostly a losing proposition,they will look to run right where we can concentrate our efforts especially with a healthy Tuitt and Dupree now manning that side....what happened in the first meeting I feel has no bearing on the upcoming game.....many underestimate how emotion plays a huge role for a team especially on defense. We will be fired up and ready for the challenge,trust me.

 

yay
thanks
you opened up another area for rant
Tomlin and his sillyass drafting ability
he was supposed to be of a defensive minded coach yet.......