will the Steelers be better or worse this year? [POLL]

There is reason to believe our offense will be better... even without Decastro.

Its all on the D. To me the pressure is on whoever starts at NT and both ILB spots. They need to stuff the run. If we get run on it will be a long season.

Don't know what to say about special teams. Not a good sign we fired the SP Coach.

 

I'm thinking 10-6/11-5. Chargers/Giants/Cowboys/Raisins/Broncos/Eagles are games where I could see us batting about .500 and then I am throwing in another 1-2 losses due to key injuries.

 

As much as I enjoyed reading all the well reasoned out responses... I`m going with "BETTER"!!!
It`s "addition by subtraction"...
Get rid of Bruce Arians... =.... Instantly become a better team!
At least that`s the magic I am hoping for!!
Realistically, I dunno... 12 wins is a pretty good record, without actually breaking down all our opponents, I think we should be able to equal that, or surpass it, which should win the division.
And, as long as we stay relatively healthy(which is never a given), and get back some of our currently injured players, there is no reason we shouldn`t bring home our Seventh Lombardi!!!
Then again, my crystal ball is broken... If Ben gets hurt, we are done... :-(
Sad but true... We will go as far as he takes us... As usual...
They say one person doesn`t make a team, and that is certainly true in our case. We have a ton of talent, and a new O.C., who could hopefully make the best of it, if Ben is done for the year in week one or two, that would STILL be a big, uphill battle...
My Magic 8ball says... "Lombardi #7"... WOOO HOO!!!!

 

I think due to the act that DD will be out for a good portion of the year and we'll have to shuffle the lineup BB and the gang having to adjust to new system,MW needing time to get into game shape,running game questionable,"D" missing a few clogs,I could go on ,but you get the picture.I think (hope) that Steeler pride kicks in for a couple or 3 wins keeps us for going 8-8,I'm going to have to say a wee bit worse........11-5

 

As much as I liked Hines and Aaron Smith, they really didn't contribute to our success last year. Farrior had to split time with Larry Foote because his age finally caught up with him. All 3 of them were great Steelers, but hardly the huge loss that some people are making them out to be. They were veteran leaders and helped "coach up" the youngsters, but collectively didn't do much for us on the field.

Our defense has the potential to be better...definitely the D-Line. The linebacking corps will be better if they can all stay healthy (somthing they couldn't do last year). My only concern is with the DBs. Troy and Ryan Clark are still good to go, but aren't getting any younger (you never know when they will finally have "that season" and fall off the face of the earth). Ike has either been lazy this preseason or forgotten how to tackle people. We'll see how the Lewis/Allen team on the other side and at nickle will pan out. History has proven that a better pass rush has covered up less than adequate DBs before...lets just hope that our front 7 steps it up this year.

Our offense will be about the same as last year...perhaps a little better during the 2nd half of the season. Even though the OL has been battered, it is still overall slightly better than last year. We remember last year's OL from how they played at the end of the year. Our guys will gel and improve. I think the new offense will be better...if nothing else, different and something the other teams will have to adjust to. Same QB and receivers...improved running backs (especially when Mendenhall returns).

Overall, we definitely need to get healthy and smooth out some rough edges, but what team doesn't have to do that? By mid-season, we should be healthy and running on all 8 cylinders. We will be tough to beat. Yes, we have a tougher schedule, but so do the other teams in our division. We have as good a chance as any top team to win it all. We just have to make it to the playoffs healthy and get on a roll!

 

Lets hope we can squeeze out 11.This should get us in the playoffs MAYBE? Lets see,NE, Denver,
HOUSTON, and pick the next three, are we one of them?

 

Hey the offense is what it is.I can remember having a great oline,talent filled offense,and dominating,defense BUT not a good QB.Now we have a great qb,talented offense,mediocre oline,and defense with alot of question marks.Do you remember when Ben was suspended for those four games and our defense dominated? We are gonna need that style of play from the defense starting off this season.

 

11-5 is my prediction

 

10-6 with the tougher schedule. We really don't know if DeCastro was going to be able to cut it as a starter based on camp reports and the little bit we saw in preseason. Adams .... the defense could be good but a couple of injuries could change that a bit. As usual, the team will go as far as Ben can take it.

 

I don't think we get to 12-4 this year. That said, I don't think the Pats or Ravens will do as well either. I am hearing that the Pats O-Line is terrible and the Ravens have had a lot of turn over and key injuries too. I just don't see 3 teams having such great records like that again.

 

I voted we'll have the same record but the difference is we'll beat Baltimore so we'll win the division instead of being a wild card.