Can someone explain....

....to me why we still have 4 perseason games? With GODs "player safety first" stance he has taken since he has assumed control of the league.......WHY do we subject our players to a potential 25% more chance of injury?

I know SOME of these games are needed to determine roster spots.I understand that,BUT do we need 4 of them?

We all know the reason we STILL have four is $$$$$$$$$$$$ CASH MONEY!!!!!!!!

Guys are getting hurt in these meaningless games.

GOD....If you REALLY care about player safety knock these meaningless games back!!

Two will do!!!!

 

I didn't used to agree with this train of thought, but I am seriously coming around. We basically know who most of the starters are. Just use the 2 games to determine the what you are unsure of.

 

I love preseason games. The coaches determine who plays how many snaps. If you don't want your guys to get hurt, you don't have to play them. It's not like it's an issue with 90 dudes lying around. 4 games is perfect. You don't want to risk ______? Don't play him. There's no rule that says you have to. We could sit Ben every game if we wanted. Every single preseason injury that ever happened? It was the coach's decision to have him in. We can still watch to see the scrubs battle it out, which is actually a ton of fun for me. No reason to take away games.

I will say, however, that charging full price for the tickets is disgraceful. I would love to go and see our 3rd stringers play, but I absolutely understand that not everyone feels that way. They should be half price, or less.

 

If they did ever lower the preseason game number...they would add 2 games onto the regular season. Which would mean a higher chance for starters to get hurt/etc...so either way it can be a loose loose situation. Like Snack said...if you dont want a certain player out there they dont have to be....but thats not our choice.

 

If you dont place Chess you should lol

Bus

 

I say its part of the process. From grade school to high school to college you know what is expected so then you teach and coach toward the end game and goal.

Yeah its brutal and as we have witnessed as of late there are injuries but if you whine about injuries and the sport then your asking Godell to dampen it down, make it safer, sing kum bah yah

I say .. Lets go with what we got. Get angry and kill some freakin ponies come Sept 9th.. Who is with me?

Bman

 

First you dont know that....That would have to be bargained....

As snack said..

You are 100% correct....But how much pressure would be on our coaches if they did not atleast start the stars for most of these game????

And if they did not and said team started off slow???....Why didnt you start so and so in per game 3??? He needed the work!!...

Just saying opening up HUGH !!!

 

Any coach that puts that meaningless garbage ahead of what he thinks is best for his team is a pretty terrible coach. That's like GMs who draft someone to sell tickets instead of someone to help them win.

No coach should have trouble explaining that his job is to win regular season and playoff games, not to entertain crowds during preseason.

 

And THAT never happened?????

We DO NOT need 4 PS games....Enough work in OTAs and mini camps before the big dance....If coaches dont have a real good idea who will be on team by than.....well.........................

 

It does happen. My point is those guys are retards so they're doing it to themselves. And it's a choice they're entitled to make. I don't understand why people are taking it out on the game. A coach makes a decision you don't like so we should have canceled the game? Seriously, take any injury that ever happened in the preseason, whether it was on the opening kickoff, first play from scrimmage, or in the 4th quarter. The coach thought that it was worth the risk of injury to put that player in the game for that play. If he wanted him on the field for that play, that means he wanted the game. If he didn't want the game, he'd sit his player. Right? Who says, "Damn, I don't want this stupid preseason game... Okay Ben! Go play the first half, will ya?"

The players and coaches have total control over how much they play. No one is making them. If anybody decides they think 2 preseason games is the right amount, then they can just play their starters and key backups in 2 games only. There are plenty of scrubs to fill the rest of the spots. This argument coming from fans makes zero sense. It's just as stupid as saying you don't want to watch all the backups play, so they should just cancel two games (you didn't say that, but some people have). You don't like it? Don't watch. Don't mess it up for everyone who does like it, which obviously includes not only me, but any coaches that played starters today and throughout the preseason. That includes the Steelers.

 

I always enjoy this debate amongst fans. If it was left up to me they would play all year round but only because I enjoy watching football that much. I think you have to have the preseason games to get where you need to be at the start of the season. Players get hurt at OTAs and camp. Even then you have a fan that wonders why that hurt player was doing what he was doing when he got hurt. We all think we know better than the next guy. Heck I work a job where everyone always knows better than I do. How do I feel about that, ehh who cares...I still do what I think is best and I'm sure these coaches do too! I never want to see anyone injured, from any team, but they are a part of the game. The teams that can overcome the injuries and adversity usually are the winners at the end of the season. Makes football life very interesting!

 

No doubt, four preseason games is too many. For a time, they played six.

I think two is too few, so I'd suggest three and that all three be played at neutral sites (usually college stadiums) where fans don't get to see pro football. For instance, Steelers vs Panthers in Charlottesville, VA. Steelers vs Eagles in Morgantown, WV.

 

Or Steelers vs (Vikings/Chiefs/Packers/Bears) in Des Moines, Iowa...I really like your train of thought here! I think I'm going to call the Rooneys right now.
:swordsman:

 

Football is watered down enough,(See the CBA),they only put on pads
1day a week through the season. I am not sure of the regulations in preseason. Do you think this maybe a reason for
injuries? Hell man you could trip on the sidewalk and break your neck, when your ticket
is punched, it is punched. Don't sign on the dotted line if you are afraid you may get injured
or maimed. The size and speed of these great athletes is phenominal and the good lord didn't
make our bodies to uphold to these type of collisions that happen. By the way Sean Spence was just running after
the Carolina player, No CONTACT.

 

The New CBA really limited the offseaon workouts.
They cut the OTA's down to 10
CBA eliminated two-a-day contact practices. Players must now walk through plays during one of the workouts, with a 3 hour break between them.
Limited how long they can practice each session to 2 hours.

I know there is more but cant recall them now.

 

I have NEVER NEVER EVER EVER agreed more with you. There really is a chance for world peace.

Cajun-

 

:o

 

They could play a game at Cleveland State U.

I just think 4 is to many.Almost half of the players we are watching after half time will most likely never be on a NFL reg season 53 man roster. The organization needs 4 games to determine who those players are????

Teams should not force season ticket holders to buy tickets to these games.

As far as adding 2 reg season games Im all for that!!!

 

O.K. I have waffled back and forth on this issue forever, and I'm probably never going to get off the fence - especially when I see a top prospect go down with 1 minute left of the 3rd quarter of the 4th preseason game. As long as we have to have 4 preseason games, the simple solution is that coaches need to play things smart. By the end of he 3rd quarter, what else does a HC, OC, DC or ANYONE need to see in order to make a roster decision? The smart move would be to fill the 2nd half of the last preseason game with players you are almost certain will not be on your roster. Make them earn their preseason game checks and give them snaps on film so that they might be noticed by other teams. You've got 75 on roster for the 4th preseaon game. Look at that - that leaves 22 players - 11 offense, 11 defense for the 2nd half of game 4. If your 22 is unbalanced - just pick the 11 who will play offense and the 11 who will play defense. Run vanilla both ways and get the game overwith. Fans might not like it, but they'll sure appreciate it when their #3 draft choice makes it to game 1 of the regular season.

I'm a HUGE Tomlin supporter, but I don't think he played the 2nd half all that smart. There was no reason Spence needed to be in the game with one minute left in the 3rd quarter. He had made the team. Tomlin knew it. LeBeau knew it. The WATERBOY knew it. No need to see any more reps from him. Get someone else out there whose chances are slim to none and see if he can change your mind.

 

preseason stinks for season ticket holders. beleive me. it is however a nescessary evil in the football process.

have you ever heard them talk about a guy in his rookie year that by the middle or end of the season they say he's not really a rookie anymore, he has a whole season under his belt? thats why guys like spence were in there. he's not the starter, but was going to be part of the equation. we are not going to risk the starter to long, and spence needed reps against live fire, it helps his learning process for when they start counting. these guys are hammered so much more imformation then you can imagine, or that they ever learned on a college field. thats just what their own team is teaching them. it may look totally different run by another team, so it is used as a learning tool.

nothing can simulate a game condition in practice as well as a game against different looks and different faces. it's not just about evaluating whose going to make the team, it's about getting the team ready for the season. cuts are just a small part of that process.

 

It's not just about deciding who will make the team and who won't. We knew Spence would make the team in April, so by that logic, why put him on the field at all? There's also wanting to get guys as much work as possible. Spence is probably a perfect example. He will be looked at as a possible replacement at ILB next year. They want him to be a starter at a new position that he might be too small for and will definitely have a ways to go before he's ready. He probably wasn't going to get many, or maybe any snaps in on defense during the season. So besides special teams, this was likely the last chance to get next year's hopeful starter some game experience. Mike Adams is another guy that I would play a ton in preseason, since he's not the current starter. Big hopes, important that he succeed, won't play once the season starts... get him as many reps as possible. And they did that. He played a lot.

 

It's not as simple as having OTA's and then throwing these guys out into regular season games. Look at what happens historically when players hold out, miss camp and pre-season and then come back for the regular season. They almost always struggle (look at CJ2K last year). Players need reps in real games to get them ready. Camp is not the same thing as pre-season games where the pace and intensity is almost that of a regular season game. The playcalling may be vanilla, but the intensity is there and that gets these guys ready for the regular season.

If you take out pre-season, you'll have guys getting hurt in the first couple regular season games while their bodies adjust to the abuse they're receiving. There's a reason so many guys get hurt in pre-season and the first couple weeks of regular season, it's because their bodies just aren't used to the wear and tear. Take out pre-season and just as many guys will get hurt, they'll just get hurt in week 2-4 of the regular season instead of the pre-season.

 

I don't mean that they shouldn't play at ALL in preseason. Of course they should get reps through MOST of preseason. However, in the 2nd half of the 4th preseason game, not much "good" can happen to one of the 53. There are all kinds of combinations out on the field that are a recipe for disaster. Spence did not need to be out there with 1 minute left in the 3rd quarter of game 4. Those reps weren't helping him or the coaching staff at all. If they want to prepare him to be starting ILB NEXT year - then once you get to the 2nd half of the 4th preseason game - pull him and get him MEANINGFUL reps in the regular season THIS year. Oh - that can't happen now because he lost his season to the other team's future McDonald's flippers. Want fries with that?