Can't Live in a Bubble

GO STEELERS!!!

 

You hit the nail on the head with what I been feeling all off season.

Offensive line and how TE can't block. And big Ben I just don't see doing better under those conditions and with him looking like he can't physically handle it anymore.

I do disagree with you on the rookie RB. Since I do a lot of fantasy football, I see a ton of rookie RB who hit the field that go on to be amazing. Even RBs who are selected in round 3 and sometimes 4.

 

I’m not nearly as concerned with Bens elbow, although his lack of deep ball accuracy and success do carry red flags, I think that may have been more to do with the offensive philosophy and Bens lack of mobility. The lack of any mobility at all is much more concerning he literally cannot move at all in the pocket anymore. This is a two part affect because A. It makes him want to get rid of the ball within 2 seconds not allowing for deep routes to avoid hits. And B. With this offensive line, specifically tackle play, I don’t see anyway he makes it out alive very long. You look at a guy like Brady who is also very limited mobility wise yet his understanding of the game and study at his craft is on another level from what Bens is, or most for that matter which allow him to avoid injury year in year out.

 

i can see certain players being bubble wrapped for the preseason. ben, i would limit. najee, i would limit. d-line, i would limit. OLB, i would limit. ILB, i would limit. wr, i would limit. haden, i would limit. minka, i would limit. the rest especially the o-line would see some action in most preseason 1st qtr's. the rest of these guys i listed know their positions and probably need little in the way of reps every week. slight field time yes but they are needed for the season. the couple of guys we have added on the o-line should see where they are like banner and okrafor. turner and dotson. and of course our rookie green. we also need the first backups to get some time with the starters just to see where they are together. i wouldn't overplay banner, schobert, bush, highsmith, TJ, alualu, heyward, tuitt, juju, claypool, DJ, ebron, minka. the rest at least a half.

who knows the right call in these games. wouldn't we think the second game would be the one to do this in instead of the 3rd game giving them more time to heal if they get dinged up. we have 4 which gives us extra game time to see things. we should have taken advantage of this gift this year. it does two things, gets us ready on the road to play and gives any dinged up player an extra week to heal.

 

They should have taken care of his knees, ankles and shoulders while they were at it

 

Just like Young Frankenstein where they had all the parts except a brain.

 

Boo. Hiss. Boo. LoL

 

Sorry,But the answer is Moops

 

He has a heart for the Steelers & their most-maligned coach of all time, just sayin.

 

Not with TB they didn't, but now we'll see how it goes. I hope Mac Jones sucks.

 

AB Normal. Except of course, AB ain’t been normal for years.

 

Sure did. Go look. They usually started slow, and finish strong.

 

Hey Disco.

Good to see that you are still around. Just wanted to say What's Up my friend? The Steelers 1st Team Offense (and Defense) looked very good tonight. Ben played as I was Hoping. Admittedly, in my initial post on this thread, I had him as a question mark but it was an optimistic (?). As you, and others may recall, that before I got "lost" here for a while I tried and tried to explain to folks, over & over, that his elbow injury was Major Reconstructive Surgery and that it fell within more of a Two Year Healing Time Frame. I was cautiously optimistic that he would return better than last year given the extra off-season of rest and rehabilitation. Well, he did not disappoint my expectations and honestly again, I was not completely surprised by the way he threw the ball tonight.

I tell you Disco, the way he threw that ball tonight, especially with the "Zip" and Accuracy on the two Touchdowns, Wow! He looked pretty "rehabbed" to me. How about you?

Of course, we all had to endure the whole off-season from all of the talking heads out there as to how Ben is the "worst" QB in the division and that he is "washed up". Again, it never ceases to amaze me all of the "Steelers' Hate" that is out there. Man, how do I get one of those jobs. Making millions of dollars a year to just stir up the pot and provide useless and biased insight. Now wait for Monday morning and all of the same butt-heads "reversing course" and slob-jobbing Ben.

Many of these analysts seem to operate off of emotion rather than looking at things rationally. What may bother me a bit more is the Steelers' fans that let these analysts get under their skin. We are the PITTSBURGH STEELERS. I have been a fan since 1972. Nearly half of a century. I understand the jealousy and hate from those that display it. It is so obvious as to how they cannot keep a lid on their emotional dislike for our team. I remind myself that it is a form of flattery.

Last thing, your/our boy "Popcorn" has a good team here, AGAIN. I think if the Offensive Line can hold up its end of the bargain we are in the mix of Super Bowl conversations. My bigger point here is Coach Tomlin had a good team when we had Bell, Brown, Bryant, Heath and JuJu all playing together and the results were obviously very disappointing. We have "recalibrated" in a sense. The Offensive skill pieces are in place. The Defense looks very good; especially with the off-season acquisitions. This is His Team. Not Cowher's guys anymore, except for Ben. Again this is His Team. If he wants to get out from behind the shadows of winning Super Bowl XLIII with Cowher's players then he has to do it once and for all with His Team. This team. NOW! I see this current team as more than capable of doing it.

Okay, take care my friend.



STEELWINDS The East Side Kid

 

Yes Sir, very good my friend! A real good O, and a real good D...Plus balance and depth! No excuses, LETS GO!

 

you mean like our slow start last year???

 

one of the best scenes in any movie ever

 

Hey Rollers.

I do not think that you and I have ever talked before so "Hello" there.

Please re-read my original post, better yet here is the actual quote:

"However, like clockwork we come out of the gates with a slow start per se when the regular season starts. Not always but usually."

My point is, you have to look at the broader picture or "Work Sample". One season (last year) does not make a case for us coming out fast. I would have to do some research to see maybe the last 5-10 seasons to see how we have started. From, memory only and I am sure with many around here, we know all too well about the "slow start" syndrome that our Steelers have gone through over time. My point, and you should know this, again one season (one of anything) does not represent a big enough "work sample".

In addition. you have to think a bit deeper on this when analyzing W-L statistics. Just because a team may start 3-1 or 4-0 does not always equate into playing "sound" and "quality" football. Do not get me wrong, I would be doing cartwheels down the street if we started 4-0 again (smile). My goal as I have always stated is to never lose; otherwise why show up for the game.

Again the bigger point to my post is that we have to develop Chemistry and Continuity with our Offense. Every season brings new dynamics to the Team. Players, Coaches, Systems, hey even Fans (smile) change year after year. I would bet that the Coaching Staff never approaches each season the same way except for the goal to win the Super Bowl. When you have these dynamics and things are always changing then YES you need as much playing time together as possible to develop this chemistry. And as always noted, because Football out of all of the major sports plays the fewest games, it is imperative to play and practice together as much as possible.

Again look below at the bullet points that I stated in my original post that relate to this seasons NEW DYNAMICS.

• Ben and his elbow are still a question mark.
  
  
• A revamped Offensive Line.
  
  
• A new Running Back who is a rookie.
  
  
• A new Tight End (rookie) that we need desperately to be able to block because Ebron can/will not.

Not included:

• A new Offensive Coordinator

Personally, I was not impressed with our running game last night. Not at all and because we have a revamped Offensive Line and a new starting RB most likely (Najee), we have to get things together and fast.



STEELWINDS The East Side Kid

 

Here are the first six games of each season from 2015 - 2020
2015 - 4 - 2
2016 - 4 - 2
2017 - 4 - 2
2018 - 3 - 2 - 1
2019 - 2 -4
2020 - 6 - 0

So except for 2019 they had a decent win loss record. you can go back further but I think this is a fair representation of recent seasons. I won't argue with you that all these could have been better but these starts except of 2019 were decent starts.

 

Hey Rollers.

Honestly, I was a bit lazy in looking it up. I was pretty much going off of an "Internal Instinctive Memory (IIM)" and hearing it over the decades from other Steelers' fans as well as from my own moaning about it.

Like how I tried to create my own technical data and analysis terminology there? IIM (smile).

Again, being a fan for nearly 50 years now, the "rap" on the Steelers is that they typically get off to what is deemed as a "slow" start.

Now, we have to decide what "slow" means. Well, from my perspective I would deem anything that is a start of .500 or below is considered "slow". I use this metric because if you continue on that pace, in reality you will not make the playoffs. You have to ask yourself:

"How often do teams that finish .500 make the playoffs?"


So again my metrics are:

• The first 4 games (first quarter) of the season.
• Must have an above .500 winning percentage for those first four games.

Okay, so I picked up where you left off and finished at the beginning of Bill Cowher's Coaching Career (1992 Season).


2014: 2-2

2013: 0-4

2012: 2-2

2011: 2-2

2010: 3-1

2009: 2-2

2008: 3-1

2007: 3-1

2006: 1-3

2005: 3-1

2004: 3-1

2003: 2-2

2002: 1-3

2001: 3-1

2000: 1-3

1999: 2-2

1998: 3-1

1997: 2-2

1996: 3-1

1995: 2-2

1994: 2-2

1993: 2-2

1992: 3-1

Now let's break it down using my metrics from above. Remember I am looking for anything better than a .500 start for the first four games. In this case, it only happened nine times from where you left off as I covered from 1992 (Cowher's first season) to 2014 seasons. In those 23 seasons, we started the season above .500 for the first four games 9 times.

Doing the math: 9/23 = 0.391 = 39%. About 40%.

So, we started the season above .500 about 40% of the times under my metrics which is well below half of the time. So, what does this all mean? Well, again it is about perspective. Again, my metrics are a bit different than yours as you used a six-game baseline and me a four-game parameter. Who is to say which provides a better picture for "Steeler Starts"? For me, I like the four game parameter because at that point we are 1/4 of the way through the season. Personally, I feel this is the right amount of time for the team as a whole to start feeling comfortable with the "new adaptions" per se (new players working together, new coaching strategies, etc.) and the sloppy/lethargic/rusty play out of our system.

Hey, good stuff Rollers.



STEELWINDS The East Side Kid