Steelers Quietly Became the Team to Beat After the 2018 NFL Draft

Now we're talking

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ame-the-team-to-beat-after-the-2018-nfl-draft

 

Good article. I doubt it will convince the naysayers, but the comparison with the Pats is food for thought.

 

Steelers are definitely not the team to beat in the AFC, IMO. Steelers are 3rd, at best, behind Jacksonville and New England. One can argue that the Texans, Titans and Raiders are up-and-coming AFC teams that could win playoff games. Patriots are and will be the team to beat until Tom Brady retires.

 

Agree with this article. Did not like New England's draft even though many of the pundits thought they did.


This key aspect is something that was, has been and will always be a point of emphasis:



"The Steelers didn't put together a draft class that sizzles. They put together one that matters."



Competing for the Super Bowl does not begin in March to May. Competing for the Super Bowl begins in November to January.

 

This thread shouldn’t be allowed. It’s not negative and it isn’t chastising Tomlin or Colbert. Shame on you

 

Sorry AQL but the season starts in September like everyone else's.....the Pats go 12-4 -13-3 every year and if we don't get home field against them our chances of beating them at home are slimmer.....

 

Notice how I stated "compete for the Super Bowl" and not when the season starts.


The real season "officially" begins in November where the playoff race heats up; the playoffs in January soon thereafter.

 

While being optimistic about our draft and a couple of our UDFAs the realist in me is saying we are relying a awful lot on rookies. To me our success hinges more on how well Bostic and Burnett fill in and play. Our two most glaring weaknesses were at FS and ILB and we will be relying heavily on those two guys. To think these rookies are gonna step right in and be difference makers is asking a lot. Chances are they won't be able to hit their strides until the season is at the half way point. That's why B and B need to hit the ground running. While it's nice to have our hopes up for the new guys and our future with them ,it's going to be the guys that are already here and the two newcomers that will be critical to our success right now...

There aren't a lot of holes on the team to fill. There are really only a few spots available. While we have high hopes for our rookies and some of the UDFAs there's only room for 53 and of those only 46 will get a helmet. That leaves quite a few guys we like on the outside looking in...

 

My point is a loss or two in September counts just as much and are just as important at the end than a loss in November....No?

 

Depends on how the rest of the season plays out. We cannot say that definitively for certain. What we do know, however is that starting strong is just as important as finishing stronger.

 

Question is does Allen get a helmet as a 4th ILB or 5th Safety which we don't typically dress. Our breakdown typically is 5-DL. 5-CBs. 4 OLBs and 4 ILBs and 4Ss sometimes last year we even went with 3
Every spot is pretty much spoken for except the 4th ILB or SS/ILB role. Berhe who fills a special role on STs is very likely in the Safety numbers. I doubt he gets a spot just on STs without counting as one of the the safeties as well. Should be interesting.....going with 5 Safeties would eliminate one of the ILBs and I know guys have high hopes for Michael Thomas....

 

I generally think the team to beat is the team that won.

 

The season starts at training camp in July. Building a winner.

 

I don't know I look back at last season and see us losing to the Jagoffs early in the season and we were in the hunt for home field in the end no? If it weren't for a crap call we beat the Cheats and the playoffs would of went through da burgh. Yes the jagoffs did beat us at home but that isn't the point the point is we lost an early season game to a playoff contender early on and still have a chance until we lost late in the year.

 

Very good article the part that really sticks out to me:

A team like the Steelers doesn't go into the draft with the same priorities as the Browns or Colts. It's easy for terrible teams to get better by just hoovering up talented bodies. Finding the marginal values that turn 13 wins and playoff disappointment into a Super Bowl victory is much trickier.

A 13 win team with only 2 starting spots to fill which was done via FA so going into the draft it was about the future starters and depth. Hard to prove to people how great of a draft it is when guys aren't coming in to start right away, of course that says something about how good the current team is!

 

To quote Kevin Colbert:


"The only way you know if the draft class was a success is if they help you win championships."


All the more reason these "draft grades" are nothing more than a comical affair.


To dictate the outcome of the team's season based on a draft that these "experts" do not admire and give "grades accordingly" is the prime cognitive biases of both the Travis Syndrome and Hasty Generalization.

 

Well like I have said before Rich Eisen had a good statement the other day on his show. He talked about how you really can't grade a draft until 3-5 years however it don't mean you can't talk about it. Throw in we are all sitting here on a message board and of course things are going to get talked about.

 

As Yoda says....there is no try...it's do or do not. All losses count the same at the end there are no woulda ,shoulda ,couldas. At the end of the regular season the team with the least amount of losses gets home field. In a 16 game season it's more likely one game can make a difference....it's all I'm saying.

 

I agree and yes the least amount of losses get the home field but since very few teams go undefeated you are going to have a loss here and there. The loss to the Pats is more important cause if we would have won that game we had home field wrapped up, we couldn't say that about the Jagoff game right? A loss at the end of the year stands out more cause all of what rides on it, jmo.

 

Even if the Steelers had won that game vs. Patriots... they would have squeaked by the Titans in the divisional and then lost to the Patriots at home in the AFC Championship game. No way the Steelers were gonna beat the Patriots twice in one year without Shazier and with Mitchell at FS and Spence at ILB.

 

Yes it will definitely stand out more but 4>3 that will never change so at the end of the year a loss in September will have the same effect. Head to head will only count in a tie breaker scenario....

 

A wise man whose name rhymes with steelerhim once said, "All this talk don't matter much, the winner wins and the loser doesn't!" Let that sink in a while!

 

Or they could have smoked the Titans giving them more confidence as they advanced. I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion on a game that was never played? Sometimes Heinz I think you would complain if they hung you with a new rope lol God bless ya you crazy son of a gun!