The Pittsburgher Thread: Steelolers and PSU/OSU Week

[Al Smith]

Wait I know the answer...

Tulane stadium and rain?

All part of Noll’s game plan.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Media so desperate to keep this drama about Bell going, TMZ seeks out the damn mayor for his opinion lol. And write an article saying "Steelers dont need Bell to win Superbowl".

Tomlin shuts reporters down...and they find another way to keep this going. Lol f***ing leeches.

 

[JTG]

So I don't feel like combing the closed thread - what do we get exactly for Bell if he walks? 3rd in 2019 or 2020?

 

[SouthGeorge]

Mark Madden the only one with the balls to call out James Traitorson

 

[Dick Sledge]

What are everyone's thoughts of coach Randy?

 

[Pens x]

The person that filmed the Bell jet ski video is so friggin obnoxious, my gosh. Hopefully Bell ate him after coolin’ out there on the jet ski.

 

[mynameisnick4]

Agent: Le'Veon Bell wants to play football this year


I said if we start winning , this would happen. When we were losing, things were looking good for him...had no problem sitting out. But we start winning without him and he continues to sit? All of a sudden GMs question if its more system than just him. Obviously they know hes still a great back...but im talking about the amount of money hes trying to get. Anyone would take him for a reasonable contract. But 15-17 mil a year like he wants? Not if he sits all year and we win without him

We need to keep winning. Id welcome Bell back . So would the players. Our coach better change his philosophy tho and be creative finally...you dont have to use just one back.

Personal feelings aside, who wouldnt want to see Conner and Bell out there for this season? Conner in the backfield with Bell lined up wide at times? Defenses wouldnt know what to do..and we already have a ton of weapons. Could even switch it up during the play...Bell starts out wide, and switches to backfield with Conner moving out wide. Cant tell me that wouldnt get in the defense heads...making them hesitate..and thats all it takes..make the D hesitate for that second or two and it opens things up.

I just wish our coaching would think like that. We didnt take advantage when we had both Bell and Williams. Could have done that then. Instead Bell got 40 carries a game in the playoffs while Williams had a total of 2 going into the Pats AFCC game. Then Bell tweaked his hammy. Game over.

We could really take advantage of this situation this year, Bell is a rental at this point anyway. If we cant get anything good in return...lets use it to our advantage and try to win it all. Again, personal feelings aside.

All depended on us winning tho...if we lost again the drama continues. We got that first win, now keep it going.

If anyone believes this or that Bell has any desire to play another snap for the Steelers are lying to themselves. He is done with this team. If he does come back Week 10 he will half ass it to preserve his body. Like most are speculating now, I bet he doesn't come back at all this year and dares the Steelers to tag him again next year.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

If anyone believes this or that Bell has any desire to play another snap for the Steelers are lying to themselves. He is done with this team. If he does come back Week 10 he will half ass it to preserve his body. Like most are speculating now, I bet he doesn't come back at all this year and dares the Steelers to tag him again next year.

We'll see

 

[Andy99]

Thought we might need a good chuckle...

 

[Al Smith]

We'll see

Maybe it’s hitting LB that the 850k a week is real money. I think if he came back and really wanted to play, the Steelers would play him and all would be ok through the end of the season. But I don’t think he really wants to play this year. And if he comes back it will be to collect a pay check. I don’t think he has any interest in helping the team win and I doubt he’s going to come back nearly ready to play. If he comes back in week 10 and they exempt him for a couple a weeks, the team might be better off just sitting him the last few weeks and holding their nose while they sign his checks.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

 

[USMC607]

Harrison is now in a twitter war with Mark Madden, and for the first time in my life I agree with madden.

Yuck...

 

[Pens x]

Are there any decent RB’s available out there? If we are done with Bell then we need to bring in another RB. But I suspect the Rooneys will just sit on their hands and not do a damn thing, as usual.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Are there any decent RB’s available out there? If we are done with Bell then we need to bring in another RB. But I suspect the Rooneys will just sit on their hands and not do a damn thing, as usual.

Why do we need to bring in another RB? Have you not watched Conner thus far? Ridley is more than capable as a backup.

We need defensive help. Pretty much everywhere.

Call up Seattle. Bell for Earl Thomas. Thomas wants out of Seattle badly. Boom.

 

[Pens x]

Are we going to continue to rush for 60 yard a game? It would be nice to have a running back by committee approach. It’s Conner or nothing, and he has no track record of being the go to guy in the NFL.

 

[OnMyOwn]

Get Coleman from ATL in the off-season.

 

[Al Smith]

Why do we need to bring in another RB? Have you not watched Conner thus far? Ridley is more than capable as a backup.

We need defensive help. Pretty much everywhere.

Call up Seattle. Bell for Earl Thomas. Thomas wants out of Seattle badly. Boom.

Steelers need defensive help, but they don’t need another player who doesn’t show up for practice when he’s unhappy.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Are we going to continue to rush for 60 yard a game? It would be nice to have a running back by committee approach. It’s Conner or nothing, and he has no track record of being the go to guy in the NFL.

I thought so, too. That a Bell trade that brought back a depth RB would be a good thing. But I tend to agree that with Ridley and the Samuels behind Conner they're fine.

To your point about rushing for 60 yards a game, here are the yardage totals for Leveon Bell last regular season, per NFL.com:
32, 87, 61, 144, 47, 179, 136, 76, 80, 46, 95, 76, 48, 117, 69

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Are we going to continue to rush for 60 yard a game? It would be nice to have a running back by committee approach. It’s Conner or nothing, and he has no track record of being the go to guy in the NFL.

Hard to rush for over 100 yards when Hes only getting 10-15 carries. Conner has been fine. We have been throwing the ball alot more than ever. And have to, considering our defense being questionable right now.

You could say.." why arent they being more balenced and keeping the D off the field". Well what if that leads to us not scoring as many points..stalling on drives? I like that they are being aggressive on offense and throwing this much so they can get that 30-10 lead like they did in the first half last game.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Hard to rush for over 100 yards when Hes only getting 10-15 carries. Conner has been fine. We have been throwing the ball alot more than ever. And have to, considering our defense being questionable right now.

You could say.." why arent they being more balenced and keeping the D off the field". Well what if that leads to us not scoring as many points..stalling on drives? I like that they are being aggressive on offense and throwing this much so they can get that 30-10 lead like they did in the first half last game.

Precisely.

This isn't the 90's NFL. Rushing yards as a stand alone is such a poor way of looking at how effective a back is.

You have to consider how many touches a guy gets. Who makes up the offensive line. Who the QB is. Game flow. Opponent. Etc.

Conner had 192 yard from scrimmage in his first ever start. On 36 touches. That's basically 5 and half yard per touch. Elite. Against a really solid D, on the road, in terrible weather.

Only had 66 total yards against KC. But then again he only touched the ball 13 times. Still, it's 5 yards a touch. And we were behind all game so it's no wonder he didn't get more carries.

Last week, 20 touches for 95 yards. Just under 5 yards a touch. No DeCastro or Gilbert either. That matters. But down the stretch Conner iced the game with multiple huge runs. Something we needed to see (him getting the ball late, with the game on the line, coming through) and we got it in spades.

He's shown solid pass catching abilities. His blocking is worlds better than it was last year (not on Bell's level but certainly more than acceptable).

Conner is not doing anything that would lead me to believe he can't be a 3 down back. He may never reach Bell's ceiling, but what he's shown thus far doesn't lend itself to us needing a full on committee approach to the position. He'll need to be given a breather from time to time, and I personally think Ridley is fine for that...for now.

 

[SouthGeorge]

Tepper making big moves. Steelers could have used Reid.

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

Tepper making big moves. Steelers could have used Reid.

Absolutely they could have, but were probably living in their fears with regards to how people may have reacted. I could just hear the sports talk yinzers bitching and moaning about it.

 

[NMK11]

Why do we need to bring in another RB? Have you not watched Conner thus far? Ridley is more than capable as a backup.

We need defensive help. Pretty much everywhere.

Call up Seattle. Bell for Earl Thomas. Thomas wants out of Seattle badly. Boom.

I like this. Then Bell can smoke in his car as much as he wants.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Steelers brought in a safety FA, drafted a safety in the first round, and somehow it's a good move to trade the best skill position player in the league for a safety? Come on. Earl Thomas + 1st & 3rd.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Vikings get blown out by the Bills...now win tonight against Rams.

Rams with the top offense in the league right now, averaging more points and yards thru first 3 games than the Rams of 99. Crazy how much Goff turned it around after a bad rookie season.

Favored to win Superbowl..but in todays game..never know with injuries. Season ending injuries every week now. All about who stays the healthiest(for impact players) going into the playoffs imo.

We know all about that, yeah Tomlin hasnt been great but 2014(Bell out, lose in first round) , 2015(Bell, Brown, and D Williams out, beat Bengals lose to Broncos with Fitz Toussaint as starter), 2016( Bryant suspended, Bell leaves AFCC in first quarter), 2017( Lose Shazier in week 13 and Defense never recovered). We havent had a ton of injuries but the last 4 years were screwed by key injuries to impact players at the end of each season.

Have to stay healthy..we did during those Superbowl wins until the Packers game..losing Pouncey in the AFCC and Aaron Smith a few weeks before. Huge impact. Especially Pouncey...it ruined our whole game plan. All of the talk leading up to it .." How will the Steelers stop Raji with Pouncey out?" Got into the Steelers heads, instead of lettting Ben hang onto the ball and do his thing , they drew up a game plan to have him get rid of the ball quick and it backfired.

This is why I dont want to trade Bell unless we get a solid return, which we wont. If Conner goes down, we can plug Bell right back in there. We finally have depth at RB(if we keep Bell) at WR and TE.