So, how are we all feeling?

Preseason over. Final 53 named, practice squad listed.

How are we all feeling about the new season? What are our prospects?

After the draft, there was a huge wave of enthusiasm - great draft picks, new OC, clearing out dead wood, new focus and drive.

Are we still as enthusiastic about our chances this year?

Thoughts, please.

 

i am. i think we have a nice mix here. 9 rookies made the team. we know about two others . injuries hit big before practice even started and alot of guys that we may depend on are coming back rather quick. if we can get healthy and stay healthy we have a great chance of winning the afc. we have weapons now that wallace is back. the last piece of the offensive puzzle. we should be able to put up points and our defense is still potent enough to keep us in them.

 

I'm thinking it may be a usual season for us - nailbiting finishes, just getting the edge over teams, clutch plays when they're needed. It's how we've done it for the last few years, let's be honest.

I'm hoping we get a more dominant offense that can stay on the field and control the game... but I'm less enthusiastic about the chances of that happening than I might have been a few months ago.

 

i think we moved the ball pretty well with the first unit. now we are adding wallace. i don't think we have seen a 1/4 of what haley wants to do with these weapons. wallace,AB,sanders,heath,redman,dwyer,johnson,rainey, who do they cover? i think we have plenty on defense with the young db's added. i'm excited to see it. do i think they will make mistakes? absolutely, but there are plenty of vets still playing at a high rate around them. health is the issue.

 

cautiously optimistic

 

fairly optimistic, obviously with a bunch of conditions ...

if
- Ben smarted up and realized (or has his wife beating it into him ) that he doesn't have to make every play and starts throwing the ball away before he gets crushed by opposing players
- the OLine gives him decent time (and by that I mean not 10sec per play ...) to throw the ball
- Haley calls smart plays and is not as maddening predictable as BA
- the D can play at the level of last year with the addition of more turn-overs (looked better this preseason)
- no important players get hurt (badly) and miss significant time
- ST coverage is better than what it looked to me on the few pre-season snaps I saw them

if all (or at least most of them) of the above come true (yes, there is more stuff, but that's the most important things to me) we should have a good chance of watching our boys play in January and - if everybody peaks at the right time - also on February 3rd in NO

But yeah, I'm hyped and can't wait for the season to start

 

I never read the other replies but I am on fire and I wish I would Steeler football everyday for the rest of my life

Any yes I believe in the tooth fairy lol

Bman

 

I dont think there was a wrong move in preseason. Wow I am really drinking that kool aid lol

There were some questionable officiating calls and some coaching decisions which I don't agree with but generally I believe the organization did a good job

Who knew Castro and Spence would get injured?

There are alot of questions at this point and IMHO they will be answered Sept 9th... With Clark out it might take until the next game until we really see what we have

Bman

 

This is pretty much how I feel also.

 

X3

My enthusiasm has gone way down since DD's injury. I'm thinking we are in a similar ball park as last year. maybe not as many wins but the Ravens don't sweep us and we make it to the playoffs and get 1 or 2 wins tops. We always play to our competitions level. So a harder schedule doesn't bother me too much.

 

A lot more UDFA's could make an impact this year, which is something a little bit new?

 

I feel like #7 will lead us to Superbowl #47 and we will hoist Lombardi #7 have to admit we been knocking on the door pretty hard the last couple years now its time to solitify it and get #7 its going to happen begining in Denver. :swordsman:

 

I am feeling good about the season, I like our players that we have on the team.
I would have liked to have a full compliment (DD) but thats the way it goes. If we
play agressive attacking football , create TO and don't turn the ball over
we should be in the mix come playoff time.

 

i have only two problems , o line and larry foote (and people behind them ), the rest should be good

 

You know its funny, we used to be one of the most physical and feared teams to play but right now I'm not even afraid of us.I believe once lil ray ray and reed retires then this will truly be the end of a true rivalry.

 

I'm ITCHING for next SUNDAY! I hate this limbo between Preseason 4 and Regular Season 1. Just PLAY already!

As far as our prospects go, I think we have a really good team. Once again, I think we're going to surprise people and sometime in October, the talking heads are going to be mentioning he Steelers again no matter how badly it hurts to talk about them. While the injuries to DeCastro and Spence have been a bit disappointing, I think it may end up helping the Steelers in the end because when DeCastro comes back, he'll be fresh and ready to push us into and through the playoffs. Spence is a lost cause, so he gets a year to rehab and watch - making him more valuable next year, assuming he's able to make it to the first day of camp next year.

Our defense should be solid - as usual - and they'll hear the "old and slow" comments over and over again as they stay near the top of the league.

Our offense will be more productive and continue to improve as the season goes on and Haley's terminology becomes second-nature. I'm still predicting 12-4 or 13-3 with a #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs, which I never predict because the playoffs are anybody's game.

 

I have that same cautious optimism that some have, the offense looks good as far as ball control but I see the same redzone problems, especially with DD going down. The defense is scaring me, it was alwys tough watching teams being able to throw but now they can run too. I do feel better about the way McLendon has come on in the preseason, now if Ziggy Hood can show the ability to shed a block once in awhile the team should do well.

 

Not feeling pumped because I just cant afford NFL Sunday Ticket this year.

 

Defense so far very basic and without Harrison, will be a top D in the league once again. Offence has also been plain without Wallace on the field. After Ben, these are arguably our two biggest weapons. This gives me much reason to believe. So long as the secondary can put on a solid game without Clark and against Peyton, then they should win. This will be another playoff season.

 

I think this will be the first time in decades where the offense out shines the D. There's so much more to talk about on the offense. Very happy that we've gone back to the smash mouth running, as in Dwyer and Redman, and so many receivers. Who needs an O-line when you have so many weapons to chose from, it's up to Ben to look around more instead of going into tunnel vision.

 

I'm feeling good about it all for the most part. We had sort of an injury plagued camp and preseason. I'm hoping this does not carry into the regular season.
I'm excited for our special teams return game, Rainey has shown he can take it to the house at any given moment, so its nice to have that in your pocket. I'm hoping the defensive side of special teams looks a little better, I really liked Hrappman over Suisham. I just dont trust #6 and we just dont see many touchbacks out of him.

But all in all I'm excited to see the new offense at work! We have so many weapons on offense, and our d should be solid again. I just want to get the season started so I dont have to hear these analysts keep talking about how old our D is and blah blah blah!

 

I hear ya, But I think we have less than 5 games that will not be either Primetime, or Nationally televised games this year...
So... Even tho I will have to stay up a lot later than I like...
I will be spending less at the bar!!
As for the original question...
I won`t take a stab at the regular season record... 11 or more wins... And our SEVENTH LOMBARDI at the end of the year!!!
WOOO-HOOO!!!!
I ain`t takin those Black-n-Gold glasses off, just because of some key injuries, retirements, and "older" players!!!
We got rid of Bruce, we should put up 30+points a game, and Lebeau`s "old" Defense will still hold our opponents to less than that!!!

 

I waited until after I got a chance to see the Carolina game to make my comment. First I wanted to say Johnson looked good at QB in the game and I don't see why he wasn't put on the PS. I think he at least earned that. Hopefully he will sign a contract after the season and be with the team next year. To me he was better then Dennis Dixon. He could possibly be the back up next year.

Also, I don't see what they see in Will Allen. The only reason I think he is still on the team is because he played for Tomlin in Tampa. Tomlin must feel a need to help this guy support his family by keeping him on the team. He would not be on any other nfl teams roster if we cut him. Now on the other hand, Damon Cromartie-Smith should be on the team instead of Will Allen, that would provide a spot for another young player on the PS is Cromartie-Smith was on the 53. He can play special teams to, plus he is younger. If Allen was cut, that could have been Johnson's spot on the PS. Allen was called for holding on one of Rainey's punt returns for a TD in the Carolina game. I know Cromartie-Smith is better then Allen but Tomlin is Allen's hold card!

I have some doubt in my mind about Redman at this point. Dwyer has shown that he deserves a shot at starting now. Redman did nothing in the pre-season to show that he should be the starter. He was hurt most of the time. At this point, until Redman shows that he can stay healthy, Dwyer should be the starter. When Redman gets in the game he must put in work and show that he should be the starter. So whoever produces the best, should be the starter. Even when Mendenhall comes back, it should be the top producer who takes the top spot. There should be no give me just because!

I have serious doubts in my mind about the o-line. Gilbert did not have a good pre-season, Starks is just an injury away from not being out their, Foster as a starter just average, and Colon has not played in two full seasons. That leaves Pouncey as the lone solid spot. We will just have to hope and pray and see what happens.

The defense, the big question is the LB position. How can we be happy with all the questions. First Harrison, will he be ready, what is the deal with Worlids? Will Foote hold up, can Carter be the one if Harrison is not ready, and God forbid Woodley to get hurt! Timmons is the lone solid spot at the position and hope that Woodley has an injury free season. Also, with only four corners on the 53, lets hope that their is no serious injury to any of them.

My hope is that our offense takes off in the Denver game and puts up big points, especially since Wallace is back. I think the offense will have to put up big points this year for us to win. At this pooint I don't have a hole lot of faith in the defense, especially since their are serious questions about the LB position!

 

i agree at 99 % , i like c.carter

 

I'm generally a pessimist anyway and with all the injuries that have been plaguing us and with Redman, Mendy, Hampton, and Harrison not what they ought/used to be I'm just hoping we come away with our dignity in tact. I wanna see us do good obviously. I'm just thinking that we've not really upgraded the D from last year and we all know as true fans that we were not as good on the field as the paper made us sound. We were not that good. Others were just that bad. I'm still pumped for the season and looking for my tickets now as a matter of fact. I'm just trying not to get my hopes up too high. I've found I cope better that way.