OT: OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: Stillers and our pointless bowl games we got!

[Shockmaster]

I never said that scenerio is better but #1 or 2 seeds have laid eggs right and lost in round 2. The Steelers are hot and if they stay hot the bye could could hurt their momentum.

It's been 5 years since a team that didn't get a first round bye made it to a Super Bowl. This team has injuries and will desperately need a bye when the regular season ends.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Haden could be back for the NE game which would be fairly huge.

 

[ColePens]

Id rather him stay out one more week and then we have a new gameplan if we can get to the AFC title game.

 

[Ogrezilla]

It's been 5 years since a team that didn't get a first round bye made it to a Super Bowl. This team has injuries and will desperately need a bye when the regular season ends.

I obviously want us to have a bye, but 5 years isn't exactly a long time when there is a theoretical 1 in 6 chance of making the Superbowl if you make the playoffs.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Id rather him stay out one more week and then we have a new gameplan if we can get to the AFC title game.

I agree, however several of the usual talking heads suspects have mentioned the possibility.

 

[edog37]

As usual, a lot of beaten down mindsets after a win. Does this team have warts? Of course. But everyone has warts this time of the season. We had far worse warts in 2005 & that turned out just fine. They'll be fine. I want that #1 seed. Let New England or whomever come to Heinz Field instead of us going on the road.

 

[edog37]

Haden could be back for the NE game which would be fairly huge.

Even if he does come back, he won't be at full game speed. Getting JuJu back is more important & relevant....

 

[edog37]

Well, New England won it all last year without Gronk, and they’re without Edelman and Hightower the rest of this year. Granted they are a team that can seemingly lose anyone but Brady and still be fine.

And Not that I have confidence in being able to beat them twice like I feel they’ll need to do to get to the Super Bowl... but just find a way.

Losing Hightower is pretty significant, much more than losing Edelman.

 

[Rossi Rat]

Losing Hightower is pretty significant, much more than losing Edelman.

You know what’s scary though is that while the Steelers’ defense has seemingly regressed throughout the year, New England’s has improved. I’m not even too familiar with many of their current defensive players other than like Patrick Chung, Malcolm Butler, whichever McCourty... but Matt Patricia is simply a brilliant defensive mind. Bet there will be a plan for AB/Bell.

And the Steelers may get their points. It’s just the problem is keeping up with Brady - they could end up being mostly garbage time points. They can’t settle for field goals and go MIA in a whole quarter like they did last night, or the game will get out of hand with Brady delivering death by 1,000,000 paper cuts.

 

[Andy99]

Id rather him stay out one more week and then we have a new gameplan if we can get to the AFC title game.

I'd agree with this if we had a coaching staff even half as clever as Belichick. I don't trust them to be able to come up with one game plan against the Pats, let alone two. This great idea requires a coaching staff who can come up with one dummy game plan that sets them up for the next game. If there's a playoff game, they then would also have to have a Plan B for the second half once Belichick starts to make adjusts. Do you really see Tomlin et al doing this?

 

[Shockmaster]

I obviously want us to have a bye, but 5 years isn't exactly a long time when there is a theoretical 1 in 6 chance of making the Superbowl if you make the playoffs.

Having to play in the Wild Card round is the path harder traveled though.

 

[Joejosh999]

What's maddening about this D is the lack of so many fundamentals. Poor tackling, poor communication, lousy coverage, poor discipline (idiot penalties).
If we kept the personnel identical and improved simple fundamentals, what a world of difference it might be.
But Brady is going to feast on this group.

 

[TNT87]

What's maddening about this D is the lack of so many fundamentals. Poor tackling, poor communication, lousy coverage, poor discipline (idiot penalties).
If we kept the personnel identical and improved simple fundamentals, what a world of difference it might be.
But Brady is going to feast on this group.

It's especially frustrating since that has been going on for years now.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

What's maddening about this D is the lack of so many fundamentals. Poor tackling, poor communication, lousy coverage, poor discipline (idiot penalties).
If we kept the personnel identical and improved simple fundamentals, what a world of difference it might be.
But Brady is going to feast on this group.

Of course he is, that's why they need to outscore them.

There are only a small handful of teams that have the offensive firepower to outscore the Pats, and give them a huge dose of their own medicine.

The Steelers happen to be one of those rare teams, but that basically means Tomlin and Haley have to get out of Roth's way.

How many people feel confident that will happen... ?

 

[Coastal Kev]

What exactly has Butler brought to the defense??? It doesn't look much more than a watered down version of Lebeau's defense. Not crazy with his hire.

 

[Joejosh999]

Yep I do not see what benefit Butler has brought.
And the worst part is, even if we matched well v Pat's, we know that BB will out-coach us embarrassingly.
Are we going to see another soft-zone scheme v Brady?
Prolly Yes.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

For your listening pleasure.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Pats will crush Pitt. Brady's numbers against us and Tomlin are borderline unbelievable. Not being a grouch, just stating the obvious.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

As an aside, THIS is why the NFL and NHL face some real challenges in the coming decade. They still have no grasp of sensible rules changes and adjustments, or even following those put into place, that need to be done to keep the sports viable even after an almost billion dollar settlement.

 

[Smoke]

Lets hope they don't have to throw 60+ on Sunday. If they do that against NE, they will lose badly.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Lets hope they don't have to throw 60+ on Sunday. If they do that against NE, they will lose badly.

That's the kind of mindset that prevents them from beating NE.

 

[Smoke]

That's the kind of mindset that prevents them from beating NE.

I just don't see it, but what the hell do I know. Care to explain?

 

[Joejosh999]

I just do NOT want a repeat of last year's soft-zone, hoping inexperienced (but athletic) secondary can out-think Brady. Let them be athletic, play to their strengths. Blitz, bump the line hard, play man. Mix it up. Use the demographic (young/athletic) that you have.
Not saying it will win, but sitting back hoping to beat Brady in a game of zone chess was an embarrassing fail last year. Really awful to watch.

 

[Joejosh999]

At best, we might have a chance in a Score O Rama game.
D keeps it under 30.
O puts it over 30.
All I got.

 

[PensandCaps]

hope and pray a team beats NE in round 2.