Steelers future

Pats vs Ravens is lose lose to watch. If I root for the Ravens to win and they do, I’m still not happy after the game.

I remember the one year they played in the AFC championship and I was still in college. I was rooting for the Ravens at a Primantis. The Ravens missed a FG to lose the game. And everyone around me was like, that’s why you don’t root for the Ravens. Well I’m not rooting for Patriots either lol

 

It's possible to be a championship caliber team without a really good QB, but it's not likely. It might happen once every 5-7 years at most. Even with a great QB it's not easy to get to the SB, much less with an average QB.

Off the top of my head here's the list of QBs in recent years with multiple SB appearances:

Brady
Ben
Peyton
Eli
Wilson

(Am I missing anyone?)

I wouldn't be surprised if all five of those guys end up in Canton.

If you don't have a high quality QB, you might reach the SB, but it will be more fluke than anything else these days.

The future of the Steelers will be determined by how quickly it will take to find the next franchise QB.

 

I agree that dual threat qb's have double the threat of injury. It's only a matter of time.

But what I've seen from LJ the past couple games is an accurate passer. Pinpoint in or out of the pocket, stationary or on the run. I don't see that changing any time soon. Only thing slowing the ratbirds down is an injury.

 

Agree, and in all probability he'll run less as he gets more confidence with his passing. Basically, the same development path as McNabb or Russell Wilson, although neither of those guys ran for a 1000 yds as Jackson looks like he's going to this year. Wilson did run for over 850 yds back in 2014, but hasn't come close since.

As for the injury thing, I'm not sure how much greater it is for a running QB vs a pocket QB. Neither Wilson nor Prescott for example have ever missed a game in their careers. I do think the cumulative hits take their toll after awhile, more on effectiveness, but that's a little different from injury. I sort of think either you have a tendency to get injured or you don't. Guys like Rivers or Matt Ryan never seem to get hurt, but others always seem to be dinged up.


edit: Going way, way, way back, Steve Grogan was a terrific running QB who eventually stopped running altogether after about five years in the league. Never missed a game in his 16 year career. Pretty remarkable.

 

The threat of the run is a lot to do with that though, he is throwing to wide open guys a lot of the time as teams set up to stop the run. Without his rushing threat I’m not sure he is that special.

He is a much better passer than a lot of us initially thought he would be though.

 

Look at some of his throws Monday. He wasn't always throwing to wide open receivers. He was threading the needle. He was as accurate and decisive a qb as I have ever seen. And yes, I said ever. And being a dual threat doesn't make or break accuracy, accuracy does. He's accurate.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000001080928/Ravens-vs-Rams-highlights-Week-12

 

Yes he made some excellent throws Monday, probably his best game yet, one in particular was in to heavy coverage for a TD. I do still maintain that his rushing threat is opening games up for him generally speaking. There is nothing wrong with that as long as he can stay healthy.

Its looking like a Ravens v Pats AFCCG at this stage, they are the form teams. I expect BB and the Pats to have a plan for him if that game does transpire, if they can’t stop him then yeah, it’s time to start getting really worried about the medium term future of the division.

 

nevermind

 

I happen to think the Ravens are the best team
in football right now. I guess we will see a good barometer
this Sunday when we get to see Niners against them.
I dislike the Ravens as much as the Patriots but feel
they are well coached in all 3 phases of the game.
And usually play sound fundamental football.

 

We must face the fact that we got screwed big time and misfortune has fallen upon us. This is just my perception of why we went down hill so fast.
1) It started with L. Bell and him holding out. Drama going into that season.
2) The next year AB has his meltdown. That is taking away at the time, the best receiver and running back in the game away from your offense. What did we think would happen to this offense? AB taking double teams made juju a star. Not so much anymore. Half ass running game. Conners good when he is healthy but a china doll. Our tight ends are pretty much worthless. I think Ben is pretty much washed up. Mason R. & Duck don't have what it takes.
We finally get a defense that is playing good and our offense is pathetic. We are in for some lean years my friends. How did Baltimore retool so fast? They just got lucky?

 

Speaking of Lamar Jackson, I remember back in 1997 watching Kordell do his thing. He had 21 passing td's and 11 rushing td's that year. I thought to myself, this guy is unstoppable, we can't lose with him. You seen how long that lasted.

 

Yea 21 tds and 17 interceptions with a 53 completion percentage and 75 rating lol.

jackson is 24 tds 5 picks 66% and 111 rating.

Stewart= dobbs
Jackson= wilson

 

You make good points, but the key is not to overreact. The Rams went all in, gave Gurly and Goff, and Donald big contracts (Donald warranted), have traded away how many future high picks. They had 1 SB appearance and not the future looks bleak, Houston looks to be in the same boat. Besides the Pats (what they do is insane), there are just a few teams have produced consistency though out the years. The basic level of competition in the NFL from 6 win to 11 win teams is really not that substantial from year to year. Every team has the same amount of cap space, it is how you spend it, how well you draft and develop around the core you have invested in, and filling those specific FA spots with the right talent at the right price. The Steeler model that kept them competitive for years broke down a few years ago. We had an awesome O, but nearly every top pick for our secondary was a bust, quality players never seemed to develop, and a lot (if not most) of the recent mid level FA signings have been huge disappointments.

We went from 13-3 (with a 1st round play off loss), to 8-6-1 (no play off). The biggest difference in those 2 season was Bos not kicking well. In the 13 win season many of those wins came with a last second FG, last year many of those losses came because of missed fg's. While many will claim you are what your record shows you are, the previous 2 seasons show how the difference between wins and losses does not really show the whole story. The Steelers chose to invest a lot of guaranteed money in an aging QB coming off one of his best statistical seasons. That investment tied their hands from being able to move forward if something drastic happened to him (it did). I do not blame them for making that choice, but hindsight is a ***** sometimes. If Ben returns to even 85% of his best, with a few tweaks this team could win the division, conference and go to the SB. That will be the big if for next year.

 

I’d agree with a lot of that and I have stated on another thread that there is an opportunity to be very competitive in 2020 if they keep the Defence together and retool effectively on Offence. They’ll need a bit of luck with injuries and players coming in to form at the right time of course. After that it’s rebuild time because they will likely lose Ben, Cam, Foster, AV, Haden and Vance in a relatively short space of time.

The Pats have skewed people’s view of what success is. They are so far ahead of everyone else in terms of roster building and working the cap, game planning and coaching its crazy. The reality is that it’s incredibly difficult to build and maintain a championship level roster. As much as we get frustrated the Steelers have done it as well and probably better than anybody bar NE. They really should have won a SuperBowl this decade, the talent was there.

 

Man, we have some pessimistic fans when it comes to Ben. He’ll be back. He’ll be top 10. Ben will not let himself go out like this.

 

He is under contract for 2 more years. I believe he will be back. Barring a setback he will be under center. Fitchner has to go.

The 2021 season will have to be the year for the 1st round pick at QB. This will be Bens last season. I had hopes for Rudolph but man he has reqressed. And Duck who knows. Paxton?

As far as being optimistic I have been waiting for years now for this team to get back to a deep playoff run. How crazy is it the this season the defense has finally gotten above the line and the offense has been below. If Ben was healthy their would be a real possibility for a deep playoff run.

Lamar Jackson is showing superstar qualities. The crows will be dangerous for years to come. The clowns are coming into their own. The bungles well you know.

Like said it could be a bumpy ride for a bit. I will bleed Black & Gold till the coffin.

 

Ben "may" be back, but I don't think it will be the Ben we're used to seeing. Sadly. As far as the person who made the statement about Ben "not wanting to go out like that", I'd rather see him go out that way, than hang on, and just be a shadow of his former self, and listen to the "he should hang it up" comments from all the sports talk shows. IMHO, he'd go from being a great QB, to one of those guys who didn't know when to quit, which would be what a lot of people would tend to remember about him, instead of the good years.

 

Really hope you are right. I don't see it. He also won't have the surrounding cast he has had most his career. To me he looks like he is letting himself go. I'm worried the front office is counting on having him for a few more years and won't think about trying to get a top tier QB for the future because I'm also pessimistic about Rudolph and Duck. No way those two are going to be anything but average at best QB's.

Here's hoping you can gloat next year when Ben wins comeback player of the year.

 

Hairball is reviving brother Jim's SB run.

 

I echo BK99's comments about Jackson. I'm not sold on him even though he's lighting things up early on. He's an injury waiting to happen and I'm not sold that he can throw with accuracy over the long haul.

With Baker, he seems inconsistent to me.

Duck is Duck. He's a stopgap at best. No better than any of the other dozen or so back-up QBs we had hopes for between Bradshaw and Ben.

 

While I want to see this, it is now really all about Ben. He has some determination in the outcome, desire, will to get back into shape, but as we have seen with nearly every other player..age comes quickly. The drop off with most of these guys is dramatically evident with time. Some can compensate from experience and quality talent (and right scheme) around them. Right now the young talent on the O is not showing much, and the older talent is rapidly showing their age..not a good combo for Ben.

 

Hey Vox.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Yes, age is creeping up on Ben. However, IMO, I think he returns okay. This is just based, on again, IMO. He is a competitor and I do think that he wants to prove himself on many levels to the "nay-sayers". He is 38 I believe. Yes that is "old" to a degree. However, I do believe that he still has some juice left in the tank. Also, it is going to be up to him on how bad he wants a successful return, providing #1 the arm cooperates.

The young talent is definitely a factor but they are potentially all very good. He will have lost a whole season to build chemistry with the new faces on the "O".

CRITICAL HERE: If he is ahead of the "Healing Time Table", and serious about a great return, then he needs to put in all of extra time as possible in the off-season with these new "O" guys if he wants to maximize a successful and productive return next season. Not just a weekend here and there at the vacation home in Georgia or wherever he invites these guys to hang out occasionally. This means a real regimented and structured commitment to get up to snuff. Then during the next pre-season he really needs to get reps in just about every game. Again, IMO.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

Yes.. Double yoi... If they are not the best they are second to San Fran. I guess we shall see this coming weekend with niners meet up with ravens

 

Would not surprise me to see the 9ers thrash the Raisins like they did the rest of the AFCN.

 

Not this week.