What really hurts

Ok now we’re getting somewhere. So do you have an X-ray, MRI, CT scan of Muth’s knee?

 

It is now. Lol

 

I stand by my statement.

 

Why are people assuming the Steelers would have needed to score over 30 points against the Bills? The game would have taken a completely different shape, in part because the Steelers have a better running game and a better defense than the Dolphins. I'm not saying they would definitely have won if they got that far, but they would have had a chance.

 

indicative of coaching and game prep.

 

I never heard it phrased that way

Or was that spellcheck

 

Yep. Anterior Tibialis Tendon lifts the foot. It has been 20 years so I forgot. I tore that completely. The ACL and MCL are the ones that cross like an x.
I do not wish that stuff on anyone.
ACL tear was also bad enough they replaced that too. It took a year to learn to walk without a limp. If I run, there is definitely a limp.

 

They still aren't relevant to what would have happened this year if the Jets had somehow won Week 18.

 

Exactly. Who actually thought the ACL had something to do with raising the foot?

I strained that tendon to the point that it no longer functioned years ago and needed surgery to repair it. (This was part of a foot reconstruction. They detached the tendon, fixed what they had to fix on the foot, then re-attached and tightened it.) Not fun, but having it strained that badly was miserable. I had days when walking 20 feet was agony. No way I could have gone without fixing that, but there are definitely cases in which someone with an ACL tear is told not to bother fixing it. Hell, we've seen guys walk off the field under their own power with a torn ACL. That's what Rod Woodson did when he tore his in 1995.

 

Hines Ward did ok without a left ACL.

 

We are all speculating, so it's more for fun than a serious debate, and I really wish Steelers played yesterday, but I don't think Steelers had a chance against the Bills. I don't think the D is that much better than Dolphins that it would have kept the game close. The running game would have needed to be shelved as soon as Bills take a 2 TD lead - likely in the first quarter.

The only way Steelers would have had a chance is if they came out scoring early and often (like 2005 game at Indy). However, I don't believe that's how Steelers would have approached the game - this version of Steelers wants to keep games close and win it in the 4th. You know: "we are going to do what we are going to do, and not change it, because changing our approach means we've already lost before the coin flip".

Even if Steelers game out with a plan to score early and often, I don't believe for one second they could have succeeded. The O was just way too crappy this past year.

Again, this is all speculation.

 

They scored 30 points against the Bengals in their second meeting this season, the Bengals only scored 24 against the Ravens, and of their TDs was a defensive score.

 

You do understand that Kenny Pickett's best game this year was 1 TD. So, if he goes out there and has his best game and scores that 1 TD, you think we can beat the Bills at Buffallo?

No offense, but until we get the RedZone problem fixed we are not winning any playoff games. Do they have a Drill for the RedZone in Camp? Something like give the offense the ball on the 10 yard line and see if they can score a TD in 3 plays.

 

ex·quis·ite·ly
/ekˈskwizətlē,ˈekˌskwizətlē,ˈekskwəzətlē/
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adverb

1. 1.
   in an extremely beautiful and delicate manner.
   "exquisitely crafted sculptures"
   
   
2. 2.
   in an intensely felt manner.
   "the exquisitely painful portrait of a marriage collapsing"

 

The Dolphins managed 31 points against the Bills with Skylar Thompson at quarterback, so yeah, I have faith that the Steelers could do the same.

 

You don't know what WOULD HAVE HAPPENED?? How do you know the game would have taken a completely different shape?? Have you ascended to God status now?

 

Any two games are going to take a different shape. There are too many variables for them to be the same, even in the cases when the same two teams play. Just because the Dolphins scored 31 points and it wasn't enough against the Bills doesn't mean things would have gone that way if the Bills had played the Steelers instead. I don't need to be a deity to know better than to accept that false premise.

 

False premise?? Fact is some teams could have other teams number especially when the talent is one-sided...subsequent matchups could be close between the two same teams, but it could also be much of the same just like it was with the Steelers and Chiefs last year. I think people were looking at what the Bills did to the Steelers earlier in the season (38-3), they were looking at the fact that most teams don't change from regular season to playoffs (you're going against a team that avg over 28 pts a game and were playing on their home field), and they were looking at the QB matchups (no comparison especially when you have a rookie QB who averages less than a TD a game). Are we to assume Kenny was going to go beast mode all of a sudden? So they have a legitimate reason for thinking the game could get out of hand. Not just based on what happened between the Dolphins and Bills. So no, you don't know what WOULD have happened.

 

Claiming that the Steelers' game against the Bills would be like the Dolphins' game against the Bills is a false premise. That is what I was talking about because I've seen much of that argument on this thread.

Now if you want to talk about rematches, by all means, let's do that. There was no reason to think the second meeting with the Chiefs would go any differently from the first last season. The games were just three weeks apart and nothing much had changed in the Steelers' favor. When you have rematches from the regular season, you have to look at what might have changed, if anything, since the first meeting. As Steelers fans, we have seen plenty of instances of a team getting its ass kicked in the first meeting only to turn around and beat that same opponent in the playoffs. What people missed going into those second games was how circumstances might have changed.

The 2004 Steelers saw that when they soundly beat the Patriots during the regular season, then lost to them in the playoffs. There were reasons to see that happening. The Patriots were missing a few key guys in the first meeting who returned for the playoff game. Roethlisberger seemed to hit a bit of a rookie wall and just wasn't playing as well. You also had the Belichick factor. He was sure to see things he could exploit in the second meeting after the first.

The 2020 Steelers absolutely obliterated the Browns during their first regular-season meeting, then lost to them in the playoffs. Again, there were signs of that coming. Teams had figured out the short passing game. Roethlisberger wasn't playing as well as his body broke down. The defense wasn't the same after losing Bush and Dupree to knee injuries. Those were known factors going into that game.

We've seen it in a more positive direction as well, such as 2005. The Steelers played the Colts in Roethlisberger's first game back from injury and lost badly, but with a healthier Roethlisberger getting them off to a fast start, they beat the Colts in the playoffs.

Of course, the current Steelers aren't as good as that team, but there were reasons to believe things are different from when they played the Bills the first time. The loss in Buffalo was in early October, right in the middle of the Steelers' 2-6 start. Also, that meant a second meeting would be three months after the first, not three weeks as it was with the Chiefs last year. In October, Najee Harris was still slowed by the foot injury that ruined the first half of his season. Pickett was making his first NFL start, yet they seemed to be asking him to carry the offense because they had no running game. The defense wasn't just missing T.J. Watt. Minkah Fitzpatrick also missed that game.

The version of the Steelers that finished the season was much better. Watt started to look like his All-Pro self the last few games. Fitzpatrick was healthy and playing well. Bush had been banished to the bench where he belongs. That was a much better defense than the one the Bills faced. It was also a better offense, with the line playing better and Harris healthy and attacking opposing defenses, they had a strong running game to take pressure off Pickett. Pickett wasn't great, but he was certainly playing better than he did the first time around.

The Bills had lost some key players on defense, most importantly Von Miller, since that first meeting. Allen had seemingly recovered from a rough stretch due to a sore elbow, but he was still not protecting the ball, something that could be trouble against a defense that led the NFL in interceptions.

You mentioned the quarterback matchup, but the Bills have been vulnerable to even some lousy quarterbacks late in the season. I certainly trust Pickett more than I do Skylar Thompson.

The Bills were still more likely to win because Allen can just be unstoppable at times, but there was ample logic to suggest a second meeting between the Steelers and the Bills would have been vastly different from the first.

 

Well J. Allen won with 3 tds, 2ints, and 3 fumbles. So basically if You score only one td, and no turnovers....wouldn't that be a wash, or dang close to it???

 

Kenny's best game this year was 1 TD and 0 Ints,so I was going to say he plays his best game and gets that 1 TD and doesn't throw any interceptions against the Bills and we loose 41 - 18.

I assume we are playing the Bills in Buffalo on a beautiful day like last weekend.

 

Repeating the same point over and over doesn't make it any better than the first time.

Skylar Thompson sucks. He had been largely terrible when forced into the lineup due to injury this season, yet the Dolphins ended up with 31 points against the Bills this past Sunday with Thompson at quarterback.

Simply put, you are just assuming the result would be the same as three months ago while ignoring that the Steelers are much better and the Bills are worse than they were at the time.

 

But we got a better draft pick……….

 

I think the key word here is could, not would. I think they had a shot against anybody that played last weekend. The 49ers might be an exception. Their defense is just dominant. Maybe the Steelers could have kept the score down, but I'm not sure they could have put up enough points against that group.

The next-best team that played last weekend was the Bills, and I already explained the many reasons I think they would have had a shot. It's frustrating that they didn't get that chance, but that's the price of not getting their act together until the second half of the season.