We're doomed

Well, they are in better shape right now than we are!

 

It’s almost like the NFL is designed to promote parity and every team at the bottom will eventually get better. It’s a conspiracy!

Seriously, the Steelers have had a good run. Every team is going to suffer some bad stretches. That’s how the NFL is designed.

 

Doom and Gloomers are within every team.

Pittsburgh has been good for a long time, just 3 8-8 seasons in Tomlin's career.
Fans are pretty lucky here.
Yes, Super Bowl should be the aspiration every year.
But teams like "The Bungles" have stunk for entire decades. I think they won 3 games during the 90's.. (I joke)

If this team came with up say a Josh Allen, it is a pretty damn good team right away.
But Franchise QB's are like that 6lb Brown Trout I can never seem to catch despite owning $12,000 in lures. (Friggin thing has the brain the size of a pea, but outsmarts me every stinking weekend)
Anyway, QB is tough to find and finding one that "fits" a team is harder.

 

All that is nice. Hanging your hat with pride on never having a losing season when the AFC north has been garbage for years (except the ratbirds) don't mean alot to me, especially when you see what this team became after cowherd players left. Tomlin is on record as being the one who insisted on Fitzpatrick and well Miami won that trade in a landslide. I've been up and down on Tomlin but come one this dude has blown this team up and has had a fall guy in place to save his job. I'll stand by my statement that unless a franchise QB falls into their laps tomlin will be gone before 2 seasons are up. Iron heads son will be in his 12th season and hanging your season on an injury prone watt ain't gonna get you far. I think holding onto Colbert till after the draft is a huge tell. Maybe the Rooney's love coach T but they ain't he only owners anymore and from what I've heard the others(owners) aren't happy at all. They want winning Steeler football. You think Tomlin wanted Harris? I can all but guarantee he didn't

 

The worst Steelers team in years finished 1/2 a game behind the best Bengal team in 3 decades...... and now everyone wants to be more like them?

You all might get your wish over the next decade

HACK

 

Based on what?

 

Running backs, o line, yes, I'll say it, even QB, most defensive positions, payroll...... and IMHO, coaching staff.

 

Whew.... that's tough.
Bill Cowher was a friend back in the day. Very good synergy back then though tough times with O'Donnel and maybe tomczak... Slash sucked at QB.
I'm not going to defend Tomlin but he does field a competitive team every year.
Fitzpatrick.. lol, well Washington got 6 passes out of him. I don't dislike him and I do sort of recall Pittsburgh having ties to him. (I can dig around and find any details if I were inclined)
And he might be a better backup than Mason. I am unclear on Tomlin's intentions at the time.
How is Colbert a telling move? You don't want a brand-new GM muddling things up and I sure don't subscribe to Tomlin playing Bill Belichick. I think they've organized this move nicely.
Now there will be a question with a new GM, can he work with Tomlin or is it time to move on? Pittsburgh likes a system, so I can't speculate on it. I have my suspicions on how it will work out though.
I also think that's not accurate on Harris... but say it is, no coach is against a guy that help you win.
You also ding TJ which is kind of odd, why? That kid is a monster, he makes game changing plays every game. If anything, I'm going to find guys that force pressure off him so I can get him in better positions that QB's don't like.

But if you're going to make a move at Head Coach, you should have a good plan B?

 

If the Browns had drafted Josh Allen, they would be the Bengals. Unfortunately, they picked their QB in 2018 instead of 2020. Both QBs were Heisman trophy winners, both cocky, both kinda shunned, Baker being a walk on, Burrow losing his job to, ahem, HAHA, Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State. One is great the other isn't. How do you know in the end? You don't. Such is life....

 

Hmm.. interesting.



Much of those very same Running Backs, Offensive Line, Defensive Line, Secondary and Coaching Staff have also contributed to a 7-10 record this season after reaching the playoffs the previous season. If anything, that very same Coaching Staff played a bigger part in the Browns late season collapse than others are willing to admit. Compared that to the Steelers Coaching Staffs, who took a team with one of the worst Point Differentials to ever make the playoffs; an inferior roster talent wise to boot. For that matter, how on Earth did the Steelers take..... whatever the hell was left of Big Ben into the playoffs is nothing short of an accomplishment.



Trade the opposing Coaching Staff's and I guarantee that the 2021 Pittsburgh Steelers have a far worse record and the 2021 Cleveland Browns may just win the AFC North. Kevin Stefanski has yet to show me anything resembling the abilities of a Top 15 Coach and never mind Top 10. Mike Tomlin has shown me that in back to back seasons.

 

How?

We beat them twice.

 

They got most of their cap room when they released DeCastro, then they signed Turner, and Ingram. The cap was reduced by 16 million, they didn't have the cap space to sign Hilton at the start of free agency.

 

Bengals won at least 10 games from 2012-2015. I don't see how you can compare regular season to post-season.

This Bengals team is better than any Steeler team in the last 11 years is more accurate.

 

Where does she live? Closest good trout fishing to me is 6 hours away!

 

Ever hear of "Cheat River?" or "Shavers Fork?"

 

No, what state?

 

West Virginia.
I am mostly a Saltwater guy but grew up in Pittsburgh (McKeesport) so I fished around Morgantown WV a lot.
I still wander over there from time to time.

 

Here is my prediction of one of two directions for the Bengals. If they win, they will top the AFC North for the next 5 years. If they lose, they will be somewhat of a one-hit-wonder much the way they were after their last two SB losses.

 

Gotcha. I'm in Southern CA. Not a lot of fresh water around here!

 

And they won 10 games this year... its the post season run that makes this their best team.

Teams make a run all the time. The Ravens won 2 rings over a decade apart then never made it again. I think this Bengals team is set up better than those... but until they do it consistently they are just on s good run.

Its very hard to sustain greatness and win consistently in the NFL...free agency and the cap are designed with the very purpose of parity.... . For the first time in decades other teams will try to raid the Bengals talent. They rarely had to balance the cap while keeping their big guns loaded.

As of right now they look like the new king of the north.. but just one year ago they said the same of the Browns

HACK

 

I disagree. The Browns have been overhyped since OBJ got there. It's a big joke. Their drafting has been as bad as always- 3 blown drafts in a row.

The Bengals are overhyped also but they have a better QB than the Browns and some good pieces. The reality is that none of the AFC teams were very good this year other than the Bills who choked.

 

Are they though? A team that spent a bunch of money on one year contracts trying to build a contender who had to eat a losing season? They are now wondering if their headcase #1 overall QB is even an NFL starting caliber player, they have holes in the lineup left by Clowney, Walker, among others. They have all their money tied up in the OL and RB's and only have an aging Landry as a viable WR. Hooper hasn't worked out as planned an Njoku was a bust. They just have so many issues... Idk man. I think there are a lot of questions in Cleveland right now. I'd rather be us to be honest.

 

They "Found" Hilton! He wasn't even a camp invite to other teams and he made the roster while carving out a niche for himself. They we'rent

That's what I'm not getting! They Finished 1/2 a game behind a team that somehow have been anointed as being a solid franchise after one year of success after winning just 4 games the previous year!

As crappy as some of these guys think they were, they were they were never crappy enough to sniff a top 10 pick! Let's not even think of a #1 and a #5 in back to back years! That they appear to have nailed!

 

If you're in PA, you don't even have to leave the state to get to two of the most famous trout waters in the entire US. The Letort and the Upper Delaware are legendary. (Further away than WV, at least the Upper Delaware.)

The Letort in particular is steeped in fly fishing history. Lefty Kreh, Ed Koch, Bob Clouser, and others all cut their teeth on the Letort.

http://www.letortspringrun.com/The-Letort-in-Fly-Fishing-History.html

 

Not so much a ding at TJ as much as a concern with the injuries and with Tomlin all but on record as saying he is not concerned with stopping the rush.