How can you watch the PB, with all those Steeler helmets....

...and not conclude this team didn't underachieve??????????

Even the announcers said the offense was "virtually all Steelers."

Two things are impossible to avoid realizing:

1.) They have failed on drafting defenders, not in the sense that they didn't put enough priority on defenders (except CB's perhaps), in as much they made s---t decisions on the players they did draft.

Among the recent defenders drafted:

Burns
Davis
Hargrave

None panned out if you ask me. I remember feeling like Burns and Davis were both reaches, too raw to be picked that high. I had Burns late 2nd to mid 3rd, and Davis in the 4th. everyone told me I can't know more than our front office, but it looks like I did. The team touted Hargraves as the next Hampton, which I scoffed at, and it looks like scoffing was appropriate. He's just not advancing at all.

Dupree - 1st round pick not playing like one at all. Plays on roller skates all the time.
Golson - Never was able to get healthy, complete waste of a 2nd round pick.
Grant - wasted pick.
Walton - OK, for when he was picked, but not great.
Chick - Ham and egger, OK back up.

Shazier - Brilliant until he got hurt. That isn't anyone's fault.
Tuitt - Solid pick, I think he played hurt all this season.
Richardson - bust
Zumwalt - bust
McCullers - Might as well put an oak tree out there.

Jarvis Jones - Worst 1st round OLB pick since Huey. A horrid, complete waste of a 1st rounder.
Shamarko - bust
Hawthorne - who? Was around for 10 minutes.
V Williams - good for this late.

Sean Spence - Terrible injury
Ta'amu - bust
Frederick - who?

Heyward - One of only good D pick in recent years
Brown
Allen

Worilds - worthless
Gibson
Butler
Sylvester

I could go on and on; the point is this team has blown so many picks on D, the list never ends.

2.) Coaching. You have to wonder what former players, with no coaching success has done with the players we do have.

However you cut it, the failure on drafting and coaching defenders is why this team has grossly underachieved. Rooneys need to fix this long period of stinking it up on D players. I'm not sure the front office knows what it is doing when it comes to this area.

 

No one said all that when the defense played well earlier in the season. People like to base their opinions of players, units, or coaches based on one game or a handful of games. Overall, the defense played mostly well this season. The defense needs to improve in a few areas ie getting better at consistently stopping the run and by giving up less big plays. It wasn't all doom and gloom like some people like to believe.

 

I don't know but there are a lot of LBs and secondary in those picks that's for sure.....
Munchak seems to be able to turn all of our OL into studs or very serviceable players.
Richard Mann turns our WRs into studs.
Mitchell and Saxson seem to be doing their jobs...
So either we got real lucky picking those positions or our coaches have done a nice job at developing them. I'm sure it's a combination of talent,luck and development...

I'm looking at you Porter and Lake and Tomlin and Butler. Tomlin was a secondary coach and Butler the LBs...

 

Defense wins Championships. This will be proven once again when the Eagles beat Pats. This could be the weakest team the Pats have sent to the SB. 31-17 Eagles, ugh!! Have had to listen to that damn fight song hundreds of times now.

Shazier injury really hurt.

 

smoke and mirrors got us again lol.

our defense can certainly be decent, but no way shape or form can take over a ball game and shut down when it needs to in the playoffs. Not just yet

 

This article says it well...

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...zier-tj-watt-artie-burns/stories/201801290092

Another wasted year with some of the best talent in the NFL!

 

OK, Burgh, so look at the list and tell me what isn't accurate. Now, if you agree it is accurate it is impossible to deny that this team has s--t the bed in drafting defenders in recent years. And we aren't just talking 7th rounders here: Hood, Jones, Golson, Dupree, Burns, Davis, Worilds were all damaging misses, not to mention not finding any hidden gems hurt us as well. What happened to the days of drafting players like Lloyd, Lake, Aaron Smith, Hampton, Ike, Porter, woodley, Timmons, Troy, Keisel and guys like that?

 

Well sounds like you are calling out the talent acquisition. That is Colbert's job.

Also, didn't we lose one of our head scouting/player personnel guys a couple years ago ... was it this guy?:

http://pghsportsdaily.com/exclusive-with-doug-whaley-steelers-director-of-personnel-1999-2010/

 

Like I said, 9 Steeler helmets at the Pro Bowl and we were 1 and done in the playoffs? That might be a new record.

 

Well, it's definitely partly Colbert's fault, but read my post on protecting egos for more on that.

 

I thought the same thing. I turned the game on at the start of the 3rd. quarter. The center, RG and RT were Steelers with Bell at rb. They scored and Boswell kicked the xp. I was like WTF, why aren't we playing in the super bowl again. I;m still pissed off about this.

 

Worilds picks up 8 sacks in his first year as a starter and 8 the next , but was a bust?

 

Somebody watched the Pro bowl?

 

I don't believe it was smoke and mirrors. It was a bad day. The Jags defense had a bad day too. One big difference is that the offense turned the ball over twice which lead to 14 points for the Jags. Oh well that's how it goes sometimes.

 

There's a difference in the Jags defense having a bad day against the most talented group of offensive players in the NFL and the Steelers defense having a bad day against Blake Bortles and that *ahem* high powered attack that managed 10 whole points against the Bills the week before.

 

The draft can be hit or miss for different reasons. Some times a draft isn't particularly strong because the prospects for any give year may not be as good as past years. That's is life in the NFL. They missed on Hood, Jones, and Worilds. I wouldn't call Golson a miss because the injury factor could not be predicted. Dupree is still a question mark. He's show flashed but injuries have hurt his development a bit. Burns is a solid player that is still developing. Jury still out on Davis. It's not all doom and gloom.

The league was a different place when the organization drafted some of the players you listed. Not many teams ran the 3-4 defense. As a result, the Steelers were able to get quality players late in the draft.

The defense showed some growth this year. Injuries hurt a bit. They had a bad day vs the Jags. I don't know what to tell you if you can't recognize that.

 

Play well one week and stink it up the next week. That happens for different reasons. Match ups, adjustments, and other variables are factors. The Jags probably knew they needed to score points vs the Steelers. So as a result they took more chances. Vs the Bills they probably didn't feel the need to take as many chances. It certainly didn't help that the Steelers offense turned the ball over that lead to 14 points for the Jags. That's life in the NFL.

 

Some of those in the Pro Bowl were alternates.

 

With all due respect, our defense absolutely crapped the bed against the Jags. I don't think there's any way to justify that pathetic defensive performance in which, amazingly enough, not one single defensive player stepped up and made a play all freaking day. Try as you might to explain it away, that was the worst defensive performance in Steelers post-season history. I'm a little surprised, quite frankly, that you seem to be wanting to justify it. The only negative statement you've made is regarding the offense and the two turnovers. Did we watch the same game?

 

The Pro Bowl is a hype game for players on bad to avg. teams to find an "extra outlet to get paid"... the extra dose of showmanship by said players doesn't motivate me what-so-ever

 

I was just about to start a thread on how many Steelers were in the Pro Bowl, but yet we didn’t even reach the AFC Championship Game. I mean we were 13-3, which is a great regular season, but we play for SB’s right?

Maybe it’s just me, but it “seemed” like after the Jags game that some guys weren’t that upset they lost. Like Ben didn’t seem to bothered, because he did threw for 469yd and 5TD’s. So I guess the this season was a success? Or not? What do we have to look forward to next year? The same thing?

 

Ah, but did you notice what that spectacular, mostly Steeler offense did at the pro bowl? Typical underperformed and underthrew a long bomb to Brown that was intercepted and returned for a TD. Lots of talent, not always lots of good plays, or at least not enough.

 

This, exactly. Our defense was worthless against the Jags. Piss poor coaching never made any adjustments to stop mvp and future HOF'ER blake bortells.