AAron will be talking to the Steelers today

It was a different era

 

There was a reason for playing Fields the way the Steelers did and it actually worked quite well. Fields was a turnover machine in CHI and they had to reset his game in PIT. They did this by favoring outside routes, half field reads, and simplified progressions. It's not such a mystery that Fields looked better than he ever did in Chicago. The real question is whether that offense designed for him was truly sustainable for an entire season. His last two games looked like teams were starting to catch up with the tape on him. The HC felt there was more in the offense than Fields was giving them. That was the reality. Even still, there were reports that some coaches (Smith? Arth?) wanted to keep Fields on the field. So, a good argument might be made for either choice but obviously the HC ruled.

 

The Steelers had their choice of every QB in the draft sans Ward. They passed on every one of them. Their plan clearly did not include a QB this year. Once they got to their throwaway picks, they grabbed a backup QB. Their actions tell us it's 2026 or bust.

 

June 10 mandatory ota

That’s the date to poop or get off the pot

 

So, they don't have a franchise QB but you want them to play in shootout games ?

 

No, but even in the killer B's era, Tomlin wanted a ball-control offense with few turnovers and winning the time of possession....that's his style.

 

hey hey hey


http://thesteelersfans.com/forums/threads/rodgers-throwing-to-metcalf-today.34589/

 

Considering the Steeler culture of wanting defense and a decent run game, that is a team trait not just a Tomlin trait.

I'll disagree on a specific point.
It is anecdotal, but when the Steelers were nursing a small lead (like 3 points) with only a few minutes left in the 4th quarter, how did they play?
With Cowher: safe runs 3 times, punt the ball deep, and expect the defense to stop the opposing offense.
First few years of Tomlin, when the offense was average and the defense top-5: safe runs 3 times, punt the ball deep, and expect the defense to stop the opposing offense.
2012 and after ("killer B era") when the offense was top-10 and the defense (still under LeBeau) was declining: play for the offense to get first downs and control the clock.

 

You are right for the end of the games but I was mainly talking about the first quarters... Too often, the Steelers start games slowly, and Tomlin doesn't seem to care about that(read the link below when Tomlin had said after a game that the game are rarely decided in the first quarter and he is not that wrong about that but it also shows a lack of urgency when starting games)... Often, a bottom-half offense in the first quarter, and in the Killer B era, most of the damage they did was in a 2-minute offense, like at the end of the first half.

https://steelersdepot.com/2023/10/m...tinued-first-quarter-futility-out-of-offense/

Under Cowher in 2004 and 2005, the Steelers were in the top 3 offenses in the first quarter each of those years, and when the Steelers had a good lead, that's when they played Cowherball with great success, since the Steelers under Cowher were 110-1-1 with an 11-point lead or more!

 

That stat smells a little funky. Are you sure it is right?

Cowher's complete record is 149-90-1.
So when the team doesn't have an 11+ point lead, he went 39-89? That sounds awful.
I'd probably need some context to know if that is statistically expected from the way we are filtering the games.

 

This also includes the playoffs....To be exact, it's 108-1-1 according to this and his career record is 161-99-1 including the playoffs,best record in the nfl from 1992 to 2005

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cowher

 

2026 or bust for what though, selecting who they hope will develop into a franchise QB? That's fine, but no matter where they pick it's not a sure thing, and even if they pick the right one it will still take a season or two for them to adjust to the NFL level. So why sign Slay this offseason? Or make the splash for a WR who will be 30/31 by the time the QB develops?

I think you need to be more aggressive in free agency if you're trying to bounce back from a string of bad drafts. Khan seems to be playing closer to 50/50, which even if he continues to draft (seemingly) well is leaving a lot to chance given the lack of return over the final five with Colbert. It's risky business to lean on the draft to fill specific needs at the skill positions that you're counting on in order to compete within a specific window of time.

Typically the strategy is to do the opposite - build a core through the draft and fill the gaps with pieces from outside the organization.

 

Their plan make no sense....Half rebuilding,half the other way

 

This is what I was saying too!

 

The one glaring problem with FA is all the players have warts. Otherwise they would not make it to FA. That could be as minor as age and the team has a younger replacement, to as major as end game AB. Meaning, I don't know how aggressive we have or have not been in FA. Especially with WRs who seem to be 99% diva/problem child anymore.
I like the FA moves we have made on OL. Seumalu and Daniels were excellent gets. Bought us time to draft some guys.

 

Jaxson Dart was drafted before the Steelers drafted.

 

No he wasn't Dart was taken at pick #25.

 

I thought Giants took him with their first pick of the 1st round. Maybe they traded down? I didn't pay much attention to the draft. My mistake.

Giants always seem to be picking before the Steelers so I assumed Dart was taken before the Steelers pick.

Honestly.... I only care about Steelers draft picks. Don't pay much attention to anyone else's picks unless it's a player that Steelers should have taken... like Dobbins instead of Claypool in 2020.

 

Steelers drafted Troy Edwards instead of Jevon Kearse in 1999.

Imagine Gildon and Kearse at OLB. That would have been insane at the time. It all worked out.... we got Peezy that year and ended up winning lots of playoff games and a Super Bowl with him.

 

The giants trade up with their second round draft pick....

 

Elite-level players aren't going to be seeing the open market too often, but most years there are an ample amount of players with above replacement level talent in the pool. The warts argument is relative to what you're looking for to best fit your system, the size of contract they're looking for, your team's cap health, depth, draft class, etc.

Still, free agents are more of a known commodity than draftees in general. That's not throwing shade on either - teams need a good combination of both. Free agents are more expensive and older with a safer floor; draftees younger, cheaper, higher ceiling.

 

Yet Ben has the most 500 yard passing games in NFL history with 4, and the only QB to throw 6 TD passes in consecutive games. Guess who the HC was for all of those games ?

 

Agreed on all points. I think with WRs we haven't found that sweet spot in FA. We did better with OL. I think we did well at ILB too. How well tbd. Same with the secondary.