Is there a silver lining?

In all likelihood, if the Steelers are going to win the AFC, they will need to defeat the Pats in the post-season, a tall order for sure.

I NEVER like having to defeat a team twice in a season, especially the Pats. 2004 is a perfect example.

So if the Steelers need to go 1-1 against the Pats, we want that win to come in January, not this Sunday. And what this game will do for New England is...NOTHING. It will do nothing for them AT ALL. It won't allow them to game plan for a potential game in January, won't allow them to scheme, won't give them any kind of competitive edge.

It is a nothing W.

The Steelers will lose on Sunday knowing their key parts were not place. What happens in Janiary IF those parts do get in place?

Just food for thought.

 

If those parts get in place? We win

 

Personally, I don't believe in the notion that you can't beat a team more than once in a year.

I don't think the Patriots are any better than they were game 1 last year...and we should have destroyed them then.

If we were healthy this wouldn't be a contest.

 

Winning a game your not suppose to win is always a bonus. We shouldn't win this one, but if we could find away it would be huge.

But, it pretty obvious the the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC, goes through New England.

 

If we had charlie batch...yes!!

 

Lol you all are silly. Brady owned us even when our D was good lol

 

I say we forfeit. It goes as a 2-0 loss. It would deprive Brady of stats, give them nothing to go off for potential post season meeting, and best of all make Goodell's head assplode. I am only half kidding about this

 

you forgot that we'd have more time to rest players and wouldn't risk any injuries

 

I would be fine forfeiting just because damn injuries. Loser mentality but who cares

 

If all players were healthy, this game could've decided where the AFC Championship was played. Now it pretty much goes thru New England.

 

Where the cheats don't lose

 

I don't know, I'm sure Shazier would find a way to get injured...

 

Well that is a given ^^

 

Legitimate question here: If you were a professional Football player for the Pittsburgh steelers in its current situation and you knew your best chance to beat the Pats or any team for that matter would require you to come out and play like your life depended on it...what would be going through your head about right now as the game approaches??? For me I would be thinking like...their coming into my house and they ain't leaving without getting my best shot!!! in 60 minutes anything can happen like injuries on either side of the ball we got the bye to slick our wounds and get healthy so let's roll!!!

 

People saying we should forfeit need to put down their crack pipes. Good grief.

No! They need to go out there and fight to the death. Put Brady on his dupa a few times and get him rattled. This is war, damnit!

 

I know...seriously. I hope Lambert crawls out of their closet in the middle of the night and gives them the Cliff Harris treatment.

 

Here's a silver lining... in week 8 the Patriots play the Bills who blanked them 23-0. Maybe we are the Patriots trap game with Ben out.

 

In the post-season they have.

 

We well not live in our fears!!! Yes the Quarterback is like...the most important part of a Offense, but there are 10 other players that need to step up and rally around Jones in order for him to any success....just saying!!!

 

We're not built to beat New England. They have a 10-point builtin advantage because of coaching. We'll either need Brady to get injured, or someone else to do the dirty work for us.

 

While that is true, and we will get some guys back, we still don't have a pass rush and the coaches seem obstinate in coaching around that by blitzing.

Teams with defenses that have surrendered a lot of yards have won the Super Bowl, but they got to the QB and forced turnovers.

We're on pace for 21 sacks and 16 TO's, which will be near the bottom of the league in both categories.

 

I know your kidding but no team in the NFL can forfeit a game, only the league can cancell a game and reschedule it at the end of the season after they play their remaining schedule, and that would only happen if the field is too unsafe to play on or some other catastrophic event...

 

There is silver lining... maybe more pieces than others are giving it credit for..


For one.. the AFC as a whole is weak. While New England is the clear favorite... it is not like Denver gives them any issues. A fully healthy Pittsburgh team has the highest ceiling of any of the favorites. It just comes down to simply playing the fundementals. Then there is the AFC South, whose winner is clearly a toss up now that Jacksonville's defense is finally starting to gel.



Two, things will get better for Pittsburgh before they get worse. No Ben, no Ryan, no Cam, no Dupree, possibly no Green and no Gilbert hinder this teams' abilities; players playing through pain like Sammie Coates no less. Good news is that the bye week is coming up and we should see this team get back to near full strength for the second half of the season. As the old saying goes, "it is not how you start but how you finish".



Three and most importantly;


"Anything can happen on any given Sunday."



While we know the Patriots are the clear favorites... this variation of the Patriots does not feel as invincible as their 2014 counterpart to my eyes. Yes, both Bennet and Gronk are nightmare issues and Brady is... well.. the same Brady many of us either respect or hate. However, their defense, while good, is not as formidable save for their PPG rank. In addition, many people have Pittsburgh losing this contest before it even started. So to say this could be Belichek's trap game is not ludicrous given the Bills dismantled them at Gillette Stadium where the Patriots are seemingly unbeatable.




In the end though, next week is going to be more telling of this team now that Ben is out for a while. Even with Ben is was going to be difficult. Without him, time to find out how true is Tomlin's ethos is:


"The Standard Is The Standard"