Is next week a MUST win now ?

I know if we lose we would only be 2-3
but losing back to back to winless teams
Would really screw up this teams moral

 

Well said. I hope we lose down in Jacksonville,
maybe just maybe ART II will talk to his father
and we will see a change, a return to STEELER
FOOTBALL.

 

for what ?

 

It may not be a must win, but a loss at Jax would be a pretty bad one. You'd surely have to revise downward the hopes for this season if they're 2-3, with losses to TB and Jax.

 

Every game must be played as a must win, statistically... No, it's not a must win, but for every other reason mentioned above; it is.

 

The next 2 games are must win games. We can't play Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and Cleveland, back to back to back and come out the other side 3-3 or worse. If we do that, we may as well fold up our tents before mid-season.

 

I agree ... and I blame the head coach. He can't seem to keep their focus.

 

Bingo. I hate hearing stuff like "it's still early in the season so this wasn't a must win game" and crap like that. I haven't heard Tomlin say it this year (course I couldn't bear to watch the post game stuff yesterday, so I don't know what he said then), but I've heard him say things like that in the past, and it really irritates me, especially when at the end of the season it comes down to missing the playoffs by one game or because of needing another team to win or lose to get the Steelers in.

 

THIS!!!!!
Every game is a must win. If you dont you have to win every game whats the point.

 

Unfortunately I said this very thing after the Carolina game. That Carolina team is not the same team as last year. We got them at the right time and we took advantage of it. That doesn't mean we are suddenly a great team that can easily walk over TB. I can't help but wonder if some of our guys were overconfident going into the game yesterday

 

I have never understood the over confidence thing in the NFL. The other team gets paid also. I expected Tampa Bay to give a much better effort yesterday than they did against Atlanta. The frustrating thing is this team is just not motivated or built to bury teams in the new NFL. This whole bend don't break defense doesn't work when you don't have a good pass rush. We seem to go away from our strengths on offense and get super conservative when we have a minimal lead.

I understand dialing it down a little when you have a lead but it was like they acted like the we were up 21 points. This team was not prepared to play in any phase of the game and that lies with the coaching staff first and foremost. The 2nd part is this team needs to find a vocal young leader. I have been saying this for two years there does not seem to be any sort of leadership from the younger guys. It is time for the Troy's, Ike's, Keisel's, etc. to move over and allow this team to transition to the younger guys in terms of leadership.

I am hopeful we see more of the young guys playing the rest of the year. This way we know what we have going into the draft. This season is not yet over but yesterday put me on the side of 8-8 is pretty probable again this year...

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

At the quarter season mark we are 2-2, the next 4 games are Jacksonville, at Clev, Houston & Indy. I can easily see us being 4-4 at the midway point of the season. Every game is a must win game until you lock into the playoffs.

 

This is a great point - and yet another thing that hearkens back to how this team has continually kept one and a half feet in the past as opposed to moving forward. When you continually place an emphasis on re-signing old guys on defense as a crutch you have a harder time moving on and getting new leadership.

This game is pretty much a must-win. I actually think Tampa Bay, though not good, is not as awful as their 0-3 record had suggested. I think they will find a way to win 5 or 6 games, maybe even 7 before the season is done. The loss to them was really bad, but I could see it happening especially with how bad the Steeler corners matched up w/their WRs.

Jacksonville on the other hand is awful, really awful and they are probably going to win a maximum of 4 games this season, more likely 2-3. Hopefully we won't be one of those victories. I know one thing, my guess is it is going to be a very, very close game and hopefully the Steelers will pull it out.

 

Yes it's a must win.

 

This is a 500 team same as they have been for two years in a row, Lebeau was bragging last week about how well his defense played against the panthers, so this week they saw this game against a team that was coming off a 56 point beat down as a time for them to coast, never mind lovie smith had 10 days to fix his problems, so mentally the coaches and players are not where they need to be to get to that elite level and contend to be division champs, and dont count on the jags to lay down sunday, they are thinking right now that if the bucs could beat the steelers, why not us..

 

I agree with your points, but the thing I highlighted is something I just don't understand. I'm a competitive person, and as such, I don't believe in 'letting up' when you have a decent lead. So you scored 24 in the first half? Great! Come out and score 24 more in the second. Heck, score 35 if you can. Class doesn't win championships - being dominant does. Send a message, let the rest of the teams know who they have to beat. Right now, it ain't us.

 

I played recreational adult soccer last night..... our team was up 10-0.... when the opposing goalie walked off the field pouting.... we still scored 2 more goals. Not sure why this Steelers team feels like they need to hold any effort back. Sheesh.