does this team have a small window?

Was listening to the radio and some fill in guys were talking nfl football. They got to the steelers and they started talking about this year and next year being their best shot. One guy, I am sorry I didnt catch many names, said that this team is not rebuilding fast enough to not have a few bad years and they could be bens last few years. I guess they were talking about age, but I completely disagree. I think we look good for several years. anyone think that I am wrong?

 

If I had a nickle for every time heard this or something similar to this over the past 20 years, I'd be a rich man.

It may not be the case here, but its usually wishful thinking on the part of those who are saying it.

 

I agree w/BobbyBiz.

Remember the tagline, at the beginning of the 2011 season was, "The Steelers defense is old and slow."

Just keep enjoying your team. The Steelers continue to get it done.

 

our rookies don't get on the field enough for the average joe to know what we have behind our starters. unless you follow the steelers closely, you may make that assumption. carter,cam,brown,allen,gilbert,batch,dwyer,clay all may turn out to be very good for us. lewis is starting to come forward. gay is actually getting it after some ups and downs. sanders and saunders could become very good players that the average joe doesn't see coming. corbin bryant, mclendon, even ivy will help this team in years to come. we make our young guys wait and learn like no other team i have ever seen.

 

Most teams almost never have a window.
BECAUSE THERE IS ONE HECKUVA 'CURTAIN' IN FRONT OF IT!

 

they are old on defense as far as starters go, but they have a lot of young guys ready to replace the older guys.

they are in great shape at most of the skill positions. wr (Wallace, Brown, Sanders), rb Mendy, Dwyer, Clay), qb (Ben), te (Miller and Sanders), lbs (Woodley, Timmons, Sylvester, Clark, Worilds), dbs (Ike, Gay, Lewis, Butler, Brown) and dline (Hood, Heyward, McClendon). the biggest issue they have and have had is at the oline. their not real old there, but they dont have many guys that are worth even talking about.

 

Nice one!

 

For anyone who does not follow the Steelers it is very easy to say that window is closing, but don't buy it. We have young talent at all of the skill positions. In addition we have quality young depth at LB and CB. The only thing I worry about is DL depth, since it looks like both Hoke and Smith are done after this year.

Now the one item that must be addressed this off-season is finding quality OL personnel. I think we have a good start with Pouncey and Gilbert. Not sure what to think of Colon and Starks. I like what Starks has done for the most part this year. Can Colon ever get healthy??

Our OL is what is truly holding us back in my opinion from being a dominant offense.

 

Totally agree. the oline of starks, kemo, pouncey, foster, gilbert with reserves legursky, scott, essex, mediteh and malecki are below average. I would build around Starks, pouncey and gilbert. i would keep legursky just as a backup center. All others would be gone.

 

We'll be competetive every year if we follow the same formula that got us to this point: strong defense and coaching consistency. We need to be able to replace Ben in order to remain Super Bowl contenders every year. Without a quality QB we're playoff contenders. With a QB, Super Bowl contenders. Won't change.

 

......
EXACTLY!!!! :hello:

 

I get sick of hearing it as well. I just thought I might be missing something. I like to think I know the roster and the way the front office operates well enough to know that is not the case. I agree the o-line has to be addressed in the draft this year. I think mclendon has bought some time with the d-line. I think he has played very well and if ziggy gets any bigger he will have to play nose. is it me or does he look as big as casey

 

I agree and the media really does want some other team in there (the playoffs and Super Bowl) besides us. It makes most people I know crazy that year after year we are in it, often until the end.

As we are know, we draft well and have a classy organization. I do think we need more speed on defense in the upcoming years. (It is hard to complain when our defense is still ranked #1 in the NFL right now.) Still, I have never seen teams run on us like this year, but then again our passing defense is so much better. I guess that is a wash, right?

 

Here is the thing nobody really talks about much. You ever notice with the exception of ben and troy no matter who is in there the level of play pretty much stays the same. Worilds is showing he will be ready when his time comes. I think saunders is going to be a beast hand will replace miller when the time comes.

 

I hope you are right about Worilds and Saunders. I know Jason W. has had a few sacks this year, but I thought he would step right in and shine last week, but I felt he was invisible against the Rams with so much focus on Harrison.

Saunders has held onto the ball much more lately when thrown to him. At the start of the year, I thought he never could hold onto the ball. I know he is a beast though and hope that they both turn into great players.

 

if starks doesn't get his weight back down and keep it there, he would be gone too. if sanders can't stay on the field, we will need another playmaker at wr. a backup qb to groom to eventually take over shouldn't be far off either. ilb, K are needing upgraded.

 

Thanks Mac for setting the record straight, I live in the PGH metro area and we
are bombarded with Steeler coverage. I have become as, ART II has said and commented on
disgusted with how the Steelers bring their players along so slowly. I believe that
some of them (Heyward, Stevenson, Brown, Allen, Mcclendon) should get more game reps
against real game situations. Look what they did against the Pats, these players
all stepped up against a very good passing team. Will there be mistakes, absolutley but
come playoff time they will have some REAL game experience to feed off of and help us out.
See GB packers of last year.

 

as for the small window, yes. they had it installed in the lockeroom a couple of weeks ago. it was a little stuffy in there. casey farted.

 

this team will be fine as long as Ben is here....after that I am not so sure

 

The Sports pundits have been talking about a Steelers decline for the past several years. Heck - it probably goes back even further than that. One thing that the Steelers do well is rebuild on the fly. Free agents - retirements - other situations - come and go and the Steelers are still in the conversation when it comes to the top teams. While some may say that young guys don't get enough time on the field, that's because we don't see what is going on behind the scenes. It would be my bet that those young guys are being well prepared by their veteran teammates and by the coaching staff to step in when the time comes and meet the expectations that we have become used to.

I agree with you faninky when you mention that things are more iffy when we get to the end of Ben's career. Quarterback is a difficult position to prepare the next starter for. It's not as if you can rotate someone in and out. The key will be timing - and finding the next guy before Ben is done, but after it becomes apparent that his time is limited. Even AFTER Ben's career is over, I have no doubt that we'll be competitive, but I envision a decade like the 90's unless they find "the" guy to replace Ben when the time comes to start looking.

The best part of being a Steelers fan is that the "window" is always there. Sometimes it's a little less open than others, but it is rare that they are not in the conversation.