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suitanim
01-02-2012, 06:44 AM
I think our ride ends this year in the divisional playoff round. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a loyal and faithful fan, and will tune in and cheer my guts out for the B&G, but my pragmatic side (the same side that knew we were going to lose to the Niners) is telling me we aren't in a good position to win in either Baltimore or NE, and here's why:

A) Road games: We will take care of Tebow and win ugly next week because he's garbage and has never seen anything like our defense. BUT, based on our last two road games, we aren't equipped to beat good teams on the road THE WAY WE'VE BEEN PLAYING.

B) Passing game: Ben is clearly not himself. He's still missing wide open receivers, is barely mobile, and his accuracy is way off. I don't see him improving much over the next two weeks. Not his fault, just an "It is what it is" kind of thing.

C) Running game: Haters hate, but Mendy is a pretty good RB and his cut-back ability, shiftiness and speed will be missed. Our ground game was already a little shaky, and it's ESSENTIAL to be able to run on the road. Redman losing a couple balls hurts, too...once a team sees that, it's monkey see, monkey do, and they'll be going after the ball. He'll need to work on that this week...He can probably carry the load, but there are some question marks.

D) Kicker: In close games, you HAVE to be able to routinely knock in 45 yard FG's. Anyone notice that we skipped a couple attempts yesterday and just went for it on 4th? There's a reason for that...

E) Defense: We are better against the pass this year, but we miss Woodley. I think we match up better against the Rats then NE, and it's hard to beat a team 3 times in one year, but that 92 yard drive (which literally PUTS us on the road and #5 instead of #2) was on our home field. The Rats seem to play their best ball against us, and NE is scoring points in huge bunches now. I'm not sure our hobbled, injured, out-of-synch offense is capable of outscoring the Cheats even though their defense sucks.

I've got us winning ugly next week, and losing on the road the following week. If we're healthy, keep most or all of our guys, and shore up the OL, I see a legit super bowl run next year...

zulater
01-02-2012, 07:00 AM
Your concerns are all legit. Just a few thoughts to them.

I agree Mendenhall could be missed. But I'm pretty confident in Redman. If Ben and the passing game are more efficient then he'll be good enough.

As to Ben. I thought he played fairly well yesterday all things considered. The wind was pretty bad, so I think they were right to limit their downfield throws. I also thought he should have had two touchdown passes yesterday. Cotchery dropped one, and even though I wasn't able to confirm it, because the tv crew ignored it, and didn't ask for the replay, I thought Antonio could have caught one in the end zone too. Don't forget the Browns have a pretty good defense, and not many teams ran it up on them at home. If we can advance to New England I suspect our passing game will flourish.

My biggest concerns on defense are Woodley and Cortez Allen's health. To beat the Patriots or Ravens we'll need to see Woodley at or near his best. It's hard to imagine that being the case, since he's been a virtual zero since blowing up his hamstring. And Cortez allen was used quite a bit to control the Patriots tight end's the first time we played them. McFadden doesn't have his cover skills. I'm afraid he'll get exploited time and time again.

Anyway, let's take it a week at a time. First we need to beat the Broncos and then we can worry about the rest.

86WARD
01-02-2012, 07:04 AM
Same concerns here suit...nice breakdown.

polamalubeast
01-02-2012, 07:18 AM
My biggest concern is the turnovers battle(-13).

Roethlisberger needs to play much better than during his last two games.

BlastFurnace
01-02-2012, 07:37 AM
It's one game at a time cliche time

I'd rather them play New England in the divisional round than Baltimore, that is for sure. I look at it this way, Indianapolis in 2005 was a much larger foe than either Baltimore or New England this year.

Problem is, the injuries and the Steelers offense is terrible. It's the best 60 yard offense in the game, but one of the worst in the Red Zone.

If they are going to beat anyone, the defense will need to hold the opponent to 14 points or lower because the offense can't score.

GBMelBlount
01-02-2012, 07:49 AM
Playing Ben the entire game under the circumstances was a very bad decision imo.

If he has not significiantly improved our chances are not nearly as good.....

polamalubeast
01-02-2012, 08:00 AM
The Steelers can beat all the teams, if they win the turnovers battle and they do a better job in the red zone.

stillers4me
01-02-2012, 08:01 AM
I have concerns, as well. If we were healthier, we can beat anybody......in fact we'd be downright scary. And that's what really hurts.

Crow-Magnon
01-02-2012, 08:04 AM
I was not able to watch any of the Steelers-Browns game yesterday. How is Ben's ankle? I'm no head coach, but I would have probably started Batch and let the chips fall where they may, knowing Pittsburgh was a WC team no matter what. But, as I said, I'm no HC. I guess Tomlin figured a Steelers win and a Ravens loss gave them a division championship (nice) and a first-round bye (nicer), so the risk vs reward was in his favor.

Losing Mendy is a blow. But being a pragmatic Ravens fan, I would never count the Steelers out of any post-season game, unless their charter got stuck in 22" of snow at the airport and they had to forfeit. There is a ton of playoff experience on the Steelers, and sometimes, that's all that matters.

polamalubeast
01-02-2012, 08:04 AM
each team has weaknesses.

the two weaknesses of the steelers is the ratio of turnovers and red zone offense.

Chidi29
01-02-2012, 08:09 AM
I'm still focused on Denver before anything else.

I don't trust the Broncos' offense but am going to be wide awake all week thinking about that pass rush. They change the field position battle, create turnovers, they'll have some components to overcome an anemic offense.

stillers4me
01-02-2012, 09:09 AM
I have no problem with playing Ben the entire game. He was obviously rusty at the beginning...he always is after not playing. Better to shake it off against the Browns than in the playoffs. And there's just nothing anyone can do at this point about his ankle but suck it up.

steelerdude15
01-02-2012, 10:32 AM
I'm not too worried about the Broncos (and I'm not overlooking them in anyway), but I will be worried after that game if we advance.

Steeldude
01-02-2012, 10:41 AM
Playing Ben the entire game under the circumstances was a very bad decision imo.

If he has not significiantly improved our chances are not nearly as good.....

agreed.

st33lersguy
01-02-2012, 11:00 AM
My concern is when was the last time the Steelers scored a single point on the road in the 4th quarter? I think it was against the Cardinals, game 7, during the Cardinals 6 game losing streak. Overall on the road, the Steelers have been terrible all year, 0-3 against teams with 10 wins plus being outscored 72-20. One victory by double digit points, (the aforementioned Cardinals game), and went toe to toe with the NFL's worst teams. When the Steelers won 3 road playoff games and the Super Bowl in '05 they were way better on the road than this team as evidenced by their impressive victory in Cincinnati in the regular season and 41-0 drubbing over a Browns team that was better than the one the Steelers beat by 4 points yesterday

Hindes204
01-02-2012, 11:05 AM
The second we beat Denver Ill be worrying whats next. We are a banged up team, limping into the playoffs. Denver I think we can take, Tebow is awful, but if we do advance I agree that the next game will be a difficult one.

polamalubeast
01-02-2012, 11:11 AM
one game at a time.

It is certain that the steelers have some problems lately, but I believe in the team until they are eliminated.

In 2005, I thought he would not win against the Colts after losing 26-7 in the regular season, but they did it.

Its will be very difficult, but you never know.If the Steelers win the turnovers battle, the Steelers have a good chance of winning.

siss
01-02-2012, 11:30 AM
It ain't over till we say it over!

Ben is made of Steel and this is his favorite time of year. I have faith in my franchise pro bowl 102 million dollar QB.

I have faith in the defense.

I have faith in Mike Tomlin.

Everyone get out your lucky shirts and Tim Tebow Voodoo dolls...ITS PLAYOFF TIME!!!!!!!!!!

tube517
01-02-2012, 11:31 AM
My concern is when was the last time the Steelers scored a single point on the road in the 4th quarter? I think it was against the Cardinals, game 7, during the Cardinals 6 game losing streak. Overall on the road, the Steelers have been terrible all year, 0-3 against teams with 10 wins plus being outscored 72-20. One victory by double digit points, (the aforementioned Cardinals game), and went toe to toe with the NFL's worst teams. When the Steelers won 3 road playoff games and the Super Bowl in '05 they were way better on the road than this team as evidenced by their impressive victory in Cincinnati in the regular season and 41-0 drubbing over a Browns team that was better than the one the Steelers beat by 4 points yesterday

Yes, 6-2 on the road that year. Losses to the Ratbirds in OT and the Colts. Also, they had a +7 TO differential.

polamalubeast
01-02-2012, 11:32 AM
Yes, 7-1 on the road that year. Only loss was in OT to the Ratbirds. Also, they had a +7 TO differential.

6-2....and loss 26-7 vs colts too

tube517
01-02-2012, 11:33 AM
6-2....and loss 26-7 vs colts too

Yes, I corrected that.

Edman
01-02-2012, 11:42 AM
The Steelers have been miserable on the road even with Woodley, Allen, and Lewis on Defense. With all three hobbled/out, it's going to be even more difficult. The Broncos are built to take advantage of bad offense, keeping the game close so Tebow can save the day in the 4th quarter. Our Offense with it's crap scoring ability plays right into their hands.

The best thing we can hope for this playoffs is Ben plays above and beyond.

fansince'76
01-02-2012, 11:42 AM
I have to agree. I don't think we get past the divisional round this year either. We go as far as Ben takes us and his ankle is still obviously all screwed up. I'll be more than happy to eat crow for this, though.

7willBheaven
01-02-2012, 01:44 PM
D) Kicker: In close games, you HAVE to be able to routinely knock in 45 yard FG's. Anyone notice that we skipped a couple attempts yesterday and just went for it on 4th? There's a reason for that...


Yeah the reason was the wind!

Count Steeler
01-02-2012, 01:50 PM
As Ben goes, so goes the Steelers now that we are in the playoffs. He has to step up and play somewhat better than he has played in big games this year. Denver is not a real "test", the game after will be the tell.

fansince'76
01-02-2012, 02:01 PM
My concern is when was the last time the Steelers scored a single point on the road in the 4th quarter? I think it was against the Cardinals, game 7, during the Cardinals 6 game losing streak. Overall on the road, the Steelers have been terrible all year, 0-3 against teams with 10 wins plus being outscored 72-20. One victory by double digit points, (the aforementioned Cardinals game), and went toe to toe with the NFL's worst teams. When the Steelers won 3 road playoff games and the Super Bowl in '05 they were way better on the road than this team as evidenced by their impressive victory in Cincinnati in the regular season and 41-0 drubbing over a Browns team that was better than the one the Steelers beat by 4 points yesterday

Comparing different teams from different years is kind of irrelevant, IMO. That being said, I don't see the 2011 Steelers going past the divisional round due to injury. The Steelers teams that went to the SB in '08 and last year were healthy. This one isn't.

XxKnightxX
01-02-2012, 02:14 PM
Weve got a ROUGH road ahead. Im seeing us Beating Denver, but that TO prone offense on the road can change the game. Divisional round were gonna play NE or Ravens. All sides point to us playing the Ravens. The Media darlings would get a Boner from that. If we make it Past that, were most likely gonna be at NE or well miraculously be hosting a game at Heinz field. Even if we do make it to the Super Bowl. IF we face the Saints or Packers, were still underdogs. Like I said, tough road ahead. I Believe every second. And if we pull of a SB win this postseason. It will be the BEST Steelers Postseason Ive ever been a part of.

steelpride12
01-02-2012, 02:15 PM
First I don't think the Denver game will be a cake walk. Yes Tebow blows and will be no match for our defense, but he wants to prove to the world how good he can be and wouldn't beating the Steelers in the playoffs be a huge step, yes and I know he will bring his best.

Second the biggest thing that hurts us is Bens injury. We could be down 20 men and if we had a healthy 100% Ben I wouldn't be concerned one bit, but he is not 100% and his performance is lacking because of that ankle. He will need to play like super man to get us past the divisional round.

suitanim
01-02-2012, 02:18 PM
Yeah the reason was the wind!

Dawson looked pretty okay to me in that same wind...Suisham just sucks in general. WAY too inconsistent. What a shame it would be if we beat the Tebow's, then lost on a last second missed chip shot FG to the Rat's....

steel striker
01-02-2012, 03:11 PM
I think like most we will beat Denver but, it is going to take a complete team game to win the next game. The rats are a different team at home but, they like every team has flaws. Ben will have to play perfect on a 60-70% ankle and, without Mendy it is going to be tough. Who knows if Woodley is going to be playing or effective but, I would like to be wrong about Lamar. We all know it the defense must contain Rice and, if they can force a couple TO's we have a chance. Not going to be easy but, atleast we still have a chance.

fansince'76
01-02-2012, 03:14 PM
Dawson looked pretty okay to me in that same wind...Suisham just sucks in general. WAY too inconsistent. What a shame it would be if we beat the Tebow's, then lost on a last second missed chip shot FG to the Rat's....

I don't recall Suisham shanking any chip shot FGs lately. They've all been well over 40 yards. But we definitely need to upgrade at PK come next season.

stillers4me
01-02-2012, 03:16 PM
I don't recall Suisham shanking any chip shot FGs lately. They've all been well over 40 yards. But we definitely need to upgrade at PK come next season.

That's because Tomlin doesn't trust him over 40 yards.

Dino 6 Rings
01-02-2012, 03:26 PM
I think the ride is just starting for real with new hot young talent on offense like Wallace and Brown and on defense like Hood and Hayward, I think we can beat any team left. All of them have major flaws. Packers let up 500+ yards passing to the Lions, Patriots are the 31 st ranked defense...Saints look like the best team right now but they also got Stomped by the Rams...RAMS! LOL.

No, I think we are in for YEARS of The Awesome. And it should start with a beating of Tebow so awful this weekend that the only team willing to give the fool a roster spot next season are the desperate for ticket sales Jaguars!

steelreserve
01-02-2012, 03:48 PM
I can't be nearly that pessimistic about things. It's easy to look at all the injuries and throw your hands up, but the fact of the matter is that, despite how beat up we are, this team has won 6 of its last 7 games, and Troy and the starting defense are mostly intact. Our last five wins we've given up 9, 7, 3, 0, 9, which is 5.6 points per game. We've only give up more than 20 points twice all year, both times to the Ravens.

In other words, we talk about living and dying because of Ben and our offenseive struggles or lack thereof - and that may have been the case through the first several games. But it's the defense that's been carrying us for the entire second half of the season, and not a lot has changed there. Then when we get down to games like NE or Baltimore at the end, it comes down to who gets the breaks. And lord knows we're due for some.

XxKnightxX
01-02-2012, 05:24 PM
I can't be nearly that pessimistic about things. It's easy to look at all the injuries and throw your hands up, but the fact of the matter is that, despite how beat up we are, this team has won 6 of its last 7 games, and Troy and the starting defense are mostly intact. Our last five wins we've given up 9, 7, 3, 0, 9, which is 5.6 points per game. We've only give up more than 20 points twice all year, both times to the Ravens.

In other words, we talk about living and dying because of Ben and our offenseive struggles or lack thereof - and that may have been the case through the first several games. But it's the defense that's been carrying us for the entire second half of the season, and not a lot has changed there. Then when we get down to games like NE or Baltimore at the end, it comes down to who gets the breaks. And lord knows we're due for some.

Not with Der Komissar and his Blind Minions making one sided calls.

SteelGhost
01-02-2012, 09:06 PM
I think our ride ends this year in the divisional playoff round. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a loyal and faithful fan, and will tune in and cheer my guts out for the B&G, but my pragmatic side (the same side that knew we were going to lose to the Niners) is telling me we aren't in a good position to win in either Baltimore or NE, and here's why:

A) Road games: We will take care of Tebow and win ugly next week because he's garbage and has never seen anything like our defense. BUT, based on our last two road games, we aren't equipped to beat good teams on the road THE WAY WE'VE BEEN PLAYING.

B) Passing game: Ben is clearly not himself. He's still missing wide open receivers, is barely mobile, and his accuracy is way off. I don't see him improving much over the next two weeks. Not his fault, just an "It is what it is" kind of thing.

C) Running game: Haters hate, but Mendy is a pretty good RB and his cut-back ability, shiftiness and speed will be missed. Our ground game was already a little shaky, and it's ESSENTIAL to be able to run on the road. Redman losing a couple balls hurts, too...once a team sees that, it's monkey see, monkey do, and they'll be going after the ball. He'll need to work on that this week...He can probably carry the load, but there are some question marks.

D) Kicker: In close games, you HAVE to be able to routinely knock in 45 yard FG's. Anyone notice that we skipped a couple attempts yesterday and just went for it on 4th? There's a reason for that...

E) Defense: We are better against the pass this year, but we miss Woodley. I think we match up better against the Rats then NE, and it's hard to beat a team 3 times in one year, but that 92 yard drive (which literally PUTS us on the road and #5 instead of #2) was on our home field. The Rats seem to play their best ball against us, and NE is scoring points in huge bunches now. I'm not sure our hobbled, injured, out-of-synch offense is capable of outscoring the Cheats even though their defense sucks.

I've got us winning ugly next week, and losing on the road the following week. If we're healthy, keep most or all of our guys, and shore up the OL, I see a legit super bowl run next year...

Great post Suit, very accurate and realistic IMHO, I agree with you.

That being said, always there's HOPE for the B&G like in 2005 (this time is tougher due to the bunch of injured players though)

:tt03:

SteelerEmpire
01-02-2012, 10:13 PM
I kind of put this idea forward in another post but using different words... and caught heat. But I hope the team can go all the way, but I'd be surprised of they do. Playoff play is different than reg. season play... that mere facet is my hope with this team going forward. Everyone is 0-0. Lets see what happens...

X-Terminator
01-02-2012, 10:56 PM
I have to agree with Suit. I think they beat Denver, but struggle to do so, then lose either at Baltimore or New England in the divisional round. They have too many key guys hurt right now for them to make a serious run. If they were healthier, I'd be more confident. The sad thing is this may be our last shot for a bit, because there will be a lot of turnover this off-season.

steelerdude15
01-02-2012, 10:58 PM
Believe!

steelreserve
01-02-2012, 11:47 PM
I have to agree with Suit. I think they beat Denver, but struggle to do so, then lose either at Baltimore or New England in the divisional round. They have too many key guys hurt right now for them to make a serious run. If they were healthier, I'd be more confident. The sad thing is this may be our last shot for a bit, because there will be a lot of turnover this off-season.

Who? Most of the key guys we're likely to lose, we've been playing without already. I can't think of one player who's been central to our success that isn't going to be back, unless possibly Mendenhall isn't ready.

Smith, Ward ... we don't rely on them too much as it is anymore. Farrior (if he goes) we have a replacement for. Hoke may be the biggest loss if he has to retire.

Craic
01-03-2012, 01:49 AM
The only place I think you're wrong suit... is that you missed the idea of two weeks before we play Baltimore or New England. As we stand right now, I can't agree with you more. But I want to see how Redman plays next week. Did he learn his lesson about fighting for yards when there is no reason to fight for 'em? Will Ben have two good weeks for that ankle to heal without any kind of setback? Will Woodley be ready in two weeks? A Grade 3 Hamstring injury usually takes 3-5 weeks to heal.

As far as running the ball is concerned, it's a tried and true mantra, but it really isn't true in today's playoffs that you have to be able to run the ball. It's more important in the season than the playoffs (because most playoff teams are good against the run).

Kicker? Yep. Nothing to say there.

But all in all, our issue is, how much can we heal.

GodfatherofSoul
01-03-2012, 03:08 AM
It's hard to tell if the team is really struggling or holding back the playbook. I got the impression they were holding back on the defensive side the last 3 games. IMO when they say a team is gaining "momentum" at the end of the season it means they're opening up the playbook and other teams don't have film to prepare.

pepsyman1
01-03-2012, 04:06 AM
I just hope LeBeau doesn't come out soft against Tebow like He frequently does against young QBs and makes them all look like Joe Montana. The last thing we need is for Tebow to get some early momentum and confidence because he completed a bunch of first quarter passes against us.

Steeldude
01-03-2012, 05:18 AM
I just hope LeBeau doesn't come out soft against Tebow like He frequently does against young QBs and makes them all look like Joe Montana. The last thing we need is for Tebow to get some early momentum and confidence because he completed a bunch of first quarter passes against us.

lebeau will play a passive defense, as he usually does.

fansince'76
01-03-2012, 06:33 AM
I kind of put this idea forward in another post but using different words... and caught heat.

No, what you said was quite different, sorry. If you meant to convey the same feelings that are in the OP of this thread, then you articulated it very badly.

fansince'76
01-03-2012, 07:14 AM
The sad thing is this may be our last shot for a bit, because there will be a lot of turnover this off-season.

I have to disagree with that. When Ben hangs it up for good, that's when I'll start to worry about the team's prospects to seriously compete for championships.

PalmerSteel
01-03-2012, 07:33 AM
after the 2005 superbowl run, i dont think any playoff run is too big for this franchise but having said that, they have a tall order with key injuries to RB's (mendy, dwyer, mewelde), secondary (lewis, allen,clark), wood, and ben. i wouldnt be shocked if we went all the way but i also wouldnt be shocked if we lost sunday. for one, its the playoffs and they are on the road. for two, denver defense is damn good and that whole city has a very sour taste in their mouth from the last time they were in the playoffs (when we beat them).

NCSteeler
01-03-2012, 07:39 AM
For all the people whoa re not "worried" about Denver. Seriously, do you remember how this defense plays against running QBs, do you remember the last game our defense got pressure on a QB(minus Rams) Do you remember the last time our Tackles had decent performances against serious probowl pass rushing talent.

I by no means am counting the Steelers out, I never do(for everyone already chalking NE or Balt as a loss). I don't expect and easy game this weekend but I am hopeful they can win a tough game.

Dino 6 Rings
01-03-2012, 08:22 AM
I have to disagree with that. When Ben hangs it up for good, that's when I'll start to worry about the team's prospects to seriously compete for championships.

Ding Ding Ding

zulater
01-03-2012, 08:37 AM
I have to agree with Suit. I think they beat Denver, but struggle to do so, then lose either at Baltimore or New England in the divisional round. They have too many key guys hurt right now for them to make a serious run. If they were healthier, I'd be more confident. The sad thing is this may be our last shot for a bit, because there will be a lot of turnover this off-season.

When hasn't there been turnover? That's never stopped us in the past, so why it should it now? We've got as much good young talent as any team in the league imo. Guys like Pouncey, Woodley, Timmons, antonio Brown, Mike Wallace, are proven young stars. Guys like Marcus Gilbert, Ziggy Hood, Cameron Heyward, Keenan Lewis, Curtis Brown, Cortez Allen, Emanuel Sanders, etc are young players who have flashed star potential, and will only get better.

Sure we have to think about replacing Troy and Potsie soon, but the Steelers have a great orginization form top to bottom, we aint going away anytime soon my friend.:drink:

SteelerEmpire
01-03-2012, 08:49 AM
No, what you said was quite different, sorry. If you meant to convey the same feelings that are in the OP of this thread, then you articulated it very badly.

I don't mean that post... lol.

Dino 6 Rings
01-03-2012, 09:13 AM
When hasn't there been turnover? That's never stopped us in the past, so why it should it now? We've got as much good young talent as any team in the league imo. Guys like Pouncey, Woodley, Timmons, antonio Brown, Mike Wallace, are proven young stars. Guys like Marcus Gilbert, Ziggy Hood, Cameron Heyward, Keenan Lewis, Curtis Brown, Cortez Allen, Emanuel Sanders, etc are young players who have flashed star potential, and will only get better.

Sure we have to think about replacing Troy and Potsie soon, but the Steelers have a great orginization form top to bottom, we aint going away anytime soon my friend.:drink:

I agree 100%

suitanim
01-03-2012, 09:59 AM
As for Denver, I worry about their defense a lot more than I worry about their offense. The Steelers have a veteran squad on defense, even if they are running some subs, and no matter WHAT looks they give Tebow, he's just not up to the task. He can't read a defense, and he's not accurate. If I was a Bronco fan I'd be scared shitless of the match-up between Troy and Tebow. I posted something awhile back where Aaron Rodgers talked about, after reviewing an entire season of Brady's passes, one-by-one, there were very few occasions where he did NOT look-off a safety. Tebow is incapable of looking off a safety. If he throws more then 15 passes, I'd be surprised, because I think he'll have another 3 INT day. Bear in mind, Tebow has looked like crap for 95% of the time he's played, and he has NEVER experienced anything like what were going to throw at him Sunday. We have actually confused Peyton Manning before, and he's on the complete opposite end of the football IQ spectrum from Tebow, who is currently running a High School offense.

Offensively, it comes down to Ben. If he plays the way he has against the 49ers and Browns (two teams with very good defenses, and Denver is also a very good defense), we will need OUR defense to score to win.

Put another way, I have absolutely zero fear of Denver. What I fear is us playing like shit against Denver. They have a good defense and a terrible offense with a RB playing QB. Under no circumstances should we EVER lose to a team like that.

BlacknGoldBabe
01-03-2012, 10:47 AM
Comparing different teams from different years is kind of irrelevant, IMO. That being said, I don't see the 2011 Steelers going past the divisional round due to injury. The Steelers teams that went to the SB in '08 and last year were healthy. This one isn't.

^^ This.

Add to the mix the fact that all teams coming up against the Steelers always seem to find their "A" game. It certainly doesn't bode well for an injury-riddled team.

steelerdude15
01-03-2012, 11:12 AM
Tomlin's conference right now:
Mendy- out
Ryan Clark- out, Mundy starting in his place
Woodley- "back in action" his own words :chuckle:
Legursky- "back in action"
Ben- fine
Mewelde- "we'll see what happens this week"
Cortez- questionable

polamalubeast
01-03-2012, 11:15 AM
2011=2007 for the steelers

too many injury right now

steelerdude15
01-03-2012, 11:19 AM
2011=2007 for the steelers

too many injury right now
The only reason why Ryan isn't playing on Sunday is because of Sickle Cell.

Dino 6 Rings
01-03-2012, 11:24 AM
I'm confident this team has the ability and the talent, right now to beat any of the following teams:
Broncos, Ravens, Texans, Bengals, Patriots, Saints, Lions, 49ers, Falcons, Giants, Packers, so lets see what happens.

I called Steelers over Giants in the SB at the begining of last season and this season. Lets see if it happens.

The Duke
01-03-2012, 11:26 AM
2011=2007 for the steelers

too many injury right now

everyone has injuries. The pats have like 12 of their players on IR right now. Last year the packers had more than 1/4 of their roster injured. What matters is who steps up. In 2007 nobody stepped up when injuries happened, while this year we've had players doing that since week two!

Really cannot correlate one year to another

steelerdude15
01-03-2012, 11:27 AM
I'm confident this team has the ability and the talent, right now to beat any of the following teams:
Broncos, Ravens, Texans, Bengals, Patriots, Saints, Lions, 49ers, Falcons, Giants, Packers, so lets see what happens.

I called Steelers over Giants in the SB at the begining of last season and this season. Lets see if it happens.
Believe!!! I say Steelers over Saints.

Dino 6 Rings
01-03-2012, 11:36 AM
HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!!

HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!!

steelerdude15
01-03-2012, 11:37 AM
HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!!

HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!!
BELIEVE!!!!

BnG_Hevn
01-03-2012, 11:43 AM
^^ This.

Add to the mix the fact that all teams coming up against the Steelers always seem to find their "A" game. It certainly doesn't bode well for an injury-riddled team.

Not for nothing, but if "every team find their A game against the Steelers", would this not suggest the Steelers are not a very good team?

Tugger
01-03-2012, 01:09 PM
Hi guys, I think that the Ravens started the season with 2, possibly 3 must win games... they've won two of those games against the team that they wanted to beat. If somehow the Ravens end up playing the Texans, they may not be ready. They would have of course missed their white whale. We've seen twice this season when the Ravens couldn't get up for an opponent after the Steelers. If we play N.E. we will be in for a tough revenge battle, but I definitely feel that we are ready for the challenge of stopping their offense, our offense will be a different story. And then...

Iron Steeler
01-03-2012, 01:19 PM
The packers of last almost lost there whole team do to injuries ... the great teams can still find a way to win!

Positive thoughts: We still have Ben, Healthy or unhealthy I still trust him to lead our team.
2 we have Troy Polumalu playing great.
3 Isaac remand finally has chance to really step up and surprise everyone. And of you a big red fan like ai am you are extremely excited

Let's go Steelers!

NCSteeler
01-03-2012, 01:23 PM
As for Denver, I worry about their defense a lot more than I worry about their offense. The Steelers have a veteran squad on defense, even if they are running some subs, and no matter WHAT looks they give Tebow, he's just not up to the task. He can't read a defense, and he's not accurate. If I was a Bronco fan I'd be scared shitless of the match-up between Troy and Tebow. I posted something awhile back where Aaron Rodgers talked about, after reviewing an entire season of Brady's passes, one-by-one, there were very few occasions where he did NOT look-off a safety. Tebow is incapable of looking off a safety. If he throws more then 15 passes, I'd be surprised, because I think he'll have another 3 INT day. Bear in mind, Tebow has looked like crap for 95% of the time he's played, and he has NEVER experienced anything like what were going to throw at him Sunday. We have actually confused Peyton Manning before, and he's on the complete opposite end of the football IQ spectrum from Tebow, who is currently running a High School offense.

Offensively, it comes down to Ben. If he plays the way he has against the 49ers and Browns (two teams with very good defenses, and Denver is also a very good defense), we will need OUR defense to score to win.

Put another way, I have absolutely zero fear of Denver. What I fear is us playing like shit against Denver. They have a good defense and a terrible offense with a RB playing QB. Under no circumstances should we EVER lose to a team like that.

The big thing to me is all of our secondary guys were selected for thier ability to play the run to close down and make stops. Because of this they drop of WRs pretty quickly when it looks like run or the QB is gonna scramble. They must have a good gameplan in place to combat against mental mistakes involving dropping routes to cover the run

NCSteeler
01-03-2012, 01:27 PM
Hi guys, I think that the Ravens started the season with 2, possibly 3 must win games... they've won two of those games against the team that they wanted to beat. If somehow the Ravens end up playing the Texans, they may not be ready. They would have of course missed their white whale. We've seen twice this season when the Ravens couldn't get up for an opponent after the Steelers. If we play N.E. we will be in for a tough revenge battle, but I definitely feel that we are ready for the challenge of stopping their offense, our offense will be a different story. And then...

I wouldn't bet on that. One thing is Belichecheat will bring them prepared for what we threw at them last game and if we go into it thinking that we did it once so we'll do it again, they will likely find a way to beat it for a lot of points.

fansince'76
01-03-2012, 01:29 PM
I wouldn't bet on that. One thing is Belichecheat will bring them prepared for what we threw at them last game and if we go into it thinking that we did it once so we'll do it again, they will likely find a way to beat it for a lot of points.

Not if we keep the ball for 40+ minutes again. I'm confident that we can do whatever we want whenever we want against that defense. And since we finally beat them with Brady behind center earlier this season, the "mystique" and the very obvious mental block this team has had when playing them should be gone.

Crow-Magnon
01-03-2012, 04:18 PM
Hi guys, I think that the Ravens started the season with 2, possibly 3 must win games... they've won two of those games against the team that they wanted to beat. If somehow the Ravens end up playing the Texans, they may not be ready. They would have of course missed their white whale. We've seen twice this season when the Ravens couldn't get up for an opponent after the Steelers. If we play N.E. we will be in for a tough revenge battle, but I definitely feel that we are ready for the challenge of stopping their offense, our offense will be a different story. And then...

I think the Titans played one helluva game against Baltimore in Week 2; Hasselbeck and Britt looked like two All-Pros that day. The Ravens IMO did take the Jags and the Seahawks too lightly and they paid for it with two losses. The Chargers just played well and exploited the Ravens secondary and the loss of Webb for that game. But I think you are off-base if you think Baltimore is going to take any playoff team lightly. A win against the Texans/Steelers/Broncos in the divisional playoff (coupled with a Pats loss) puts the AFCC game at M&T Bank. There is no way on God's green Earth Baltimore will take Houston lightly...even if Delhomme is the QB.

I don't think ANY team in the playoffs is taking any other team lightly. I guarantee Pittsburgh is not taking Denver lightly; even after that craptastic performance against the Chiefs.

Count Steeler
01-03-2012, 05:31 PM
Not for nothing, but if "every team find their A game against the Steelers", would this not suggest the Steelers are not a very good team?

I think it means that we are a team that everyone wants to beat. Everybody gets "up" for the Steelers. It's not like Buffalo is coming to town, it is the big bad Pittsburgh Steelers.