I expect a better look this week.

Ben says we should all R-E-L-A-X and that tells me that he is ready to take the offense on his shoulders.

It will be hard to create a running game if Fucthner hasn't game planned for it but I expect Ben to step up and show us a better offensive effort tomorrow night!

 

It's against the bungals, they could make the jets look better.

 

This should be a get right game for the Steelers. I dont care what the score ends up being, I just want them to..

Catch the ball
Run the ball
Finish drives
Play solid run defense
Look like the team that was 10-0 after Jax.

If they do all that and win I'll be happy.

 

Well, if they don't look better against a 2-10-1 team starting a 3rd string QB, they'll never look better.

 

Me too!

 

I was looking for something else on YouTube and found the highlights package from the victory over Cleveland. That team was a real Super Bowl contender. That team had a running game. They hit deep passes. They used play-action. They also had a better defense with Dupree and Bush.

I don't know if they can reclaim any of that. The injuries up front make the return of the running game seem very unlikely. We've only seen the defense without Dupree for two weeks, but the results aren't promising. The pass rush was good but diminished against Washington. It relied on all-out blitzes against Buffalo, and the Bills eventually took advantage.

Monday night will tell us a lot. It should be a get-well game. Maybe all the Steelers really needed was a full week of rest between games. Maybe they needed some time to adjust to all of the recent chaos. Even with the injuries, they should be able to handle the Bengals. If they still look bad, and certainly if they lose, I think this team is going to end its season with a six-game losing streak, including a first-round playoff exit.

 

I hate to sound like a broken record but I refuse to believe that our running backs who have been good at times, and our O-line who is made up of respected veterans, have all just gone down the ****ter. I believe our ineptitude falls right back to Fitchner.

And if Tomlin allows another colossal cluster **** to rear it's ugly head because he doesn't know how to focus on the ultimate prize, I am going to have @SDOT boycott!

 

Yup... exactly. Struggle or lose everyone should pack it in lol.

 

Well if that would even dare happen then heads need to roll within the organization from a coaching staff standpoint. You don’t start a season 11-0 and then lose your next 6 games. There needs to be major consequences from this front office if something like that would happen which I don’t expect it too. I still think this team is too good to not at least win one playoff game and make it to Divisional weekend and the final 4 in the AFC. This season will be extremely disappointing if they can’t at least make it to Divisional weekend. There is really no excuse for this team not too.

 

I agree with you when I think this offense struggles a great deal because of Coach Randy. Which is why I just mentioned in another thread if this offense looks bad tonight even if they win and can’t figure some things out against a very bad Bengals team then Tomlin needs to consider long and hard about firing Fichtner as early as tomorrow morning and having Canada be the O Coordinator the rest of the season. My patience with Coach Randy has just about run out and I don’t care if he and Tomlin go way back in college together and are buddies If he is not getting the job done on this team that has Super Bowl potential he needs replaced period.

 

To me it's clear what has happened to our offense. Until we start throwing the ball consistently 15-25 yards to the middle of the field then nothing much is going to change. Defenses are crowding the line of scrimmage with 8-9 guys to defend the short passing game and they get the bonus of having those guys there to stop the run. Back these guys off the line of scrimmage and watch the running game get back on track. Why they're not changing it up is beyond me. Is it RF's inability to adapt? is it Big Ben's Knee/Elbow? Is it something else that we don't know about?

 

And I don't get why? We all know a few key things, or at least I think it's pretty obvious:

1. Ben is getting rid of the ball quickly to avoid potential injury.
2. We have pretty good deep ball receivers.
3. We have respectable O-linemen.
4. We have respectable running backs.
5. And the big anvil hanging over the head of all of that? .............. We have a suspect OC!

So why isn't Ben willing/able to call a few plays which will loosen up the D as you pointed out?

Why isn't Tomlin able to see what glares him in the face week after week?

Why hasn't "someone" stepped in and said we need to change this up....it isn't working? And we won't make it past week 18 with the offense we've been running.

 

New haircut?

 

Those respected veterans are past their prime and they are down to their third-string left guard, but yes, the running game should be better. It was better the first half of the season, so part of it has to fall on coaching.

 

The excuses will be the schedule crap forced upon them by the league and the injuries that ruined this season. Both are legitimate points. The loss of the bye and the league moving the Ravens game did hurt the Steelers. So did the losses of so many starters, especially Dupree and Bush on defense.

 

Randy looking over Matt Canada's gameplan.

 

If they lose to a team as bad as the Bengals, there really is no reason to think they can beat good teams such as the Colts, Browns, or whoever they would face in the playoffs. If they play poorly but sneak by, there is room for a glimmer of hope, but not much. that would be four consecutive poor efforts with little reason to expect a turnaround. They aren't suddenly going to get that much healthier. Who could they get back for the Indy game? Williams and Dotson? That's helpful, but do those two turn things around?

 

I get that they are aging, but they are still respected and they do okay in the passing game.

If someone can convince me that wiley veterans can pass block okay but can't run block to save their life, I will look at it differently but I think we have a game plan, or lack thereof, which focuses and one thing, and one thing only.

And if our game plan is singly focused, I'm guessing that practice doesn't put much emphasis on the run game and it's techniques.

And if game plan and practice don't address a specific aspect of the game, it will probably show on the weekend.

Think about the stud baseball player who was a great pitcher and a great batter in high school, then he goes to college and all the focus is on his pitching, and then he makes it as a pro pitcher. He soon becomes a liability when he has to take his turns batting......because he doesn't work on it.

 

My worry is after watching yesterday's Jets/Rams they tell LA to hold their beers...

That shouldn't be the case. It should go down 31-9 or so, but i can't shake that fear.

 

If our coaches had a clever brain ( which they don't) i would try the same dink and kerplunk garbage tonight thinking it should only work against the useless bungals. This way it would make the colts and Browns think they're sticking to it and will prepare the same way as the no names and bills did. Then come out with something totally different. But I know that's expecting too much from dumb and dumber.

 

I'm not sure they are pass protecting ok or if it is a combo of them doing enough, Ben getting rid of it quick and poor push by opposing defense. You look at the season and AV has been getting blown back on runs and passes. JC's first game in for Pouncey he lets a Blitzer through untouched except for shoving him as he goes by trying to dbl Decastro's man. Fieler had no idea who to block on zone reads and when your run blocking scheme ends the play with two guys out of frame, one guy behind Ben(AV) and only one in front of the running back, id say there is a problem.

 

So far so good...go deep and miss,,run nowhere, and almost another drop for DJ

 

I WAS WRONG!