Are the Steelers officially irrelevant?

We are in a very competitive division/ conference. I will be happy with
a 10-6 record which should put us in the playoffs from there get on a hot streak
you never know? I hope there is a season, I have my doubts.

 

Sweep bengals browns and split with ravens while beating cowboys, I’ll be good

 

irrelevent is a strong word...the team may be out of it from one year to the next but irrelevent is definitely not fitting imo. Its called a down year, every team has them..and we rebound quicker, (or as quick) than most others. Opponents are still taking notice of when they play the Steelers.

 

I love it when we are under the radar it feels like we always do better like that. When you look at us you have to understand what people see. First off we have our most important piece of this team coming off injury....big questions there. We also did nothing to bring in anything to protect that position in case Ben doesn't rebound. Then you have to wonder can the defense repete the performance of last season, it will be very hard to do that. Throw in the defending SB champs and the flavor of the year Rats and I can see why the media feels like they do.

With that said I am hoping additions like EE, Claypool and return of Ben puts us right there. I will say one thing, last season when we played the Rats the first time LJ had one of if not his worst game of the season. You can throw the 2nd game out the window imo. Also love or hate it we are returning a very veteran staff and with all that is going on right now that might be an important fact. jmo

 

I have no confidence in Ben being a pro bowler this year, he has a full year of rust to shake off and at 38 thats not going to be an easy feat, even when he was younger and healthy he wasnt a work horse in training camp, thats why he always started the season slow......

 

Steelers are average. They won't completely implode as in 11 or more losses, but they probably won't make the playoffs even with an added 7th seed. There's really nothing they've done in the off season to put them over the top.

 

Then you would know Ben has showed up to camp in great shape the last few seasons.

 

Their defense carried them to 8 wins last season, with 2 of the worst QBs, a healthy Ben should be able to get them 2 or 3 more wins this season. This offseason they added Ebron, Watt, Wormley, Claypool Super Bowl bound

 

Ben didn't have the more serious Tommy John surgery, so his elbow should be fine. Peyton Manning was able to win a Super Bowl after neck surgery at about the same age as Ben, Manning was a shell of his former self, but he had a great defense.

 

Weren't the Browns pre-season super bowl champs last year? I don't give analysts much respect, it's just their opinion while nobody is actually playing. At the same time, if the team wants to stay relevant.... maybe they should win some playoff games year in and year out.

 

The idiot media will have the Cowgirls winning the Superbowl every year. Hell, even when the GIrls are out of the playoffs, which is most of the time, the shows still fill a lot of their time covering that team whose season is already over. They have to or their fair weather fans won't follow them. Last year when they were out of contention, it was all about Jerry and what they were going to do with Gak. That is one reason why I haven't watch them for years. For a team that has sucked so bad for so long, they get everything Jerry asks for and then some. I feel better when we are not looked all that highly for two reasons. First, we usually play better playing better teams and against the odds. Second, the let down isn't so bad when the team fails. So, relax. We're in a position that is more advantageous for how we roll. JMO.

 

Didn't you have the Steelers 3rd or 4th in the division last year?
My prediction:
Ravens - split
Browns- sweep
Bungles - sweep
Steelers - 5-1 in the division

3-7-1 out of the division, because Tomlin unleashing hell

 

Who cares what they say

 

We aren't guaranteed to overcome 2 of our biggest offensive problems from last season, QB and OL. Our defense should be as good if not better than last year. That will keep us at or above .500. But unless our OL gets fixed, Ben won't make it through the season even with a healthy arm. Before the season starts, we have a top 5 defense, average special teams, and a giant question mark. That makes us irrelevant until we define all three phases.

 

Pittsburgh is not going to become irrelevant anytime soon. The Steelers are a flagship NFL Franchise that the NFL needs to sell their product. There is way too much money to be made with the Steelers for the NFL in terms of marketing alone.



Since 1970, the Steelers are the only team to not post a losing decade. Even during the 1980s, Pittsburgh record was still .507; four playoff appearances to boot the same. Contrary to what others say, history is very important to the NFL as they will not allow something that impressive be simply swept under the rug.



Regarding Big Ben, I concur with Blast. While I doubt we are seeing 2011-2015 Big Ben, having Big Ben operating at least 85% of his maximum ability is better than what we currently have at the moment. For that matter, if leaves Pittsburgh in better standing than in 2019. 2020 however should by no means be the only talking point here though.



Mason Rudolph deserves a lot more attention. Matt Canada was brought in to speed up Mason's development a bit. Time to see if he really is Big Ben's heir apparent. If not, search for a QB in 2021 as that class is a heck of a lot better than the previous three classes in my opinion.

 

Outside of Alejandro Villanueva, who else constitutes as a weak aspect of the Offensive Line?! Regarding Special Teams, Pittsburgh was ranked 9th in Special Teams DVOA by Football Outsiders. Personally speaking, I expect the Special Teams to get better in 2020.

 

The Steelers have been in most games during the past three years. 2017 their offense was great, but the defense was brutal, but they won a bunch of games on Boswell's leg at the end. 2018 the offense was still good; the defense could not get a stop when it needed one, and Boswell stunk. Last year the QB play and injuries cost them, even with Boswell back to being good and the defense finally arriving.

So this tells me the Steelers will be competitive. If things fall apart, Tomlin will rally the team to mediocrity. If things go well, Tomlin will be outcoached and fall to mediocrity. If Ben calls more plays than Fichtner, then he may be able to bail Tomlin out, to where it looks better than it really is.

 

Did you watch the center play (either one) last season? Did you not notice Foster retiring? Losing Finney? Are you telling me you're sold on Al, DeCastro, Pouncey, Feiler, and Banner making holes for our backs and giving Ben time to not die? I'm not.

And no offense to Football Outsiders, but I don't care who they rank and where. Their metric is not mine. Our Special Teams very well might be better this year. I won't argue the hypothetical. We might even deserve a top 10 ranking. But until the rubber meets the road, I'll still say we're average.

 

Pouncey

 

To answer your questions in order;


1.) Yes


2.) Yes.


3.) Yes

 

Hey bigbenhotness.

Look at the response from jeh1856 below your initial post. The "Ben Factor". It is that simple as I have stated this several times now myself; especially the past few weeks. We are stacked on the Defense. We are stacked on the Offense contrary to what some may think here. It all comes down to what jeh1856 and I have being saying. The big elephant in the room. With Ben, we are the centerpiece within many Super Bowl conversations. Without Ben, and no viable back-up, we will in all likelihood see a repeat of last season's movie. It is a shame that so much is contingent upon the QB play but it is the truth BBH. It stinks because again, IMO, we are STACKED all the way around minus the uncertainty of the QB situation. However, and again, it all comes down to Ben.

This is why I was advocating hard for the picking up of Andy Dalton as a realistic contingency plan. I do not see Mason or Duck as viable plans; at least not now even it is to be. It is a shame because nothing lasts forever and that holds true for the NFL. What we have now on the "O" and the "D" is very, very good! It will all be for not without Ben or a competent back-up. I hope that Mr. Rooney and Ben speak the truth regarding to how comfortable they feel with Ben's progression. We have never been this complete of a team under Tomlin IMO. Nonetheless, we need Ben.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid