5 Steelers who need to step up their game.

[zulater]

1. Lawrence Timmons. Early in 2010 this guy was playing at close to All Pro level. But ever since his game has been up and down, with down being a lot more common. Particularly this season. The guy belongs on a milk carton. No sacks, no tackles for losss, no interceptions. Timmons is 26. These should be his prime years. where the hell are you Larry?!

2. Ziggy Hood. This guy has flashed brilliant at times in his first two seasons. I really thought with Aaron out of the way and the job of RDE his alone from the get go he'd emerge as a force this year. I may be wrong but I think the ability is there? Maybe the system isn't the best for him? Whatever. Look, no one's asking him to be Aaron Smith. The best 3-4 DE ever. But you got to start making some plays Z man. Teams are running on us entirely too easy, and this guy gets a big part of the blame for that.

3. Brett Keisel. I hate to call Brett out. One of the all time good guys on and off the field. But the dude isn't getting it done so far this year. And God only knows why? And that offsides penatly that he was duped into taking by Palmer! :doh: Come on Keis, you're better than that.

4. Willie Colon. I was really enthusiastic about Willie switching to guard. I thought he could be special there. He still might be, I realize it's early in the proccess, and in effect he hadn't played in two years. But regardless the penalties have got to stop! And he's doing virtually nothing to open up holes for the running backs.

5. Dick LeBeau. I know he's not a player. I also know he's forgot more about football than any of us have or will ever know. But football is a game of perpetual motion. Things never stay constant. You can't be predictable unless you're so brilliant that it doesn't matter. And for this team, with no James Harrison or Troy Polamalu, predictability means tragedy. The gig's up, they know where we're coming from and where we're going. You either adjust or move on.

[zulater]

By the way there's several under-achievers I didn't mention simply because I don't think they have the ability to step up their game. The one's I listed I believe to be capable of better.

[Devilsdancefloor]

1. To be honest i still think he is a beast, but if the Dline can not eat up blocks our ILBers are going to disappear, which is what is happening.

2. & 3 Agree totally!

4. i was really excited to think of our left side of our line i actually thought we might not run to the right all the time, but this far disappointed. Willie needs to step up big time as well as the rest of the Oline pretty good pass protection and getting 0 push for running.

5. I love coach dad, but the days of the big chushion and making folks drive a long field and force them into mistakes is over press coverage we have the DB's to do it. I am sure this will get fixed, if not then it will be a LONG season.

id like to ass Big snack to this list either he isnt 100% back or he is a far cry from what he used to be. id rather see the young guys in at NT

[Craic]

id like to ass Big snack

???

Do I even want to know??

[SteelerFanInStl]

I can't disagree with your list and I would also add Big Snack. At this point I'd rather see McClendon in there at NT.

Unfortunately I think that the game might have finally passed LeBeau by. Our D is not adjusting to today's NFL and LeBeau has been unable to make the necessary in-game defensive adjustments. He's doing the same thing that he's always done and every other team knows it.

[Devilsdancefloor]

???

Do I even want to know??

erm um ADD! :lol:

[zulater]

I didn't put Casey Hampton on my list for the simple reason that I don't think he's under-performing as per his current abilty. You can't ask someone to step up their play when their best just isn't good enough anymore.

Similar with Jason Worldis, Chris Carter, and Ryan Mundy, they're just mediocre players that really have no business starting.

Of course Big Snack in his day was one of the best NT's in the league. But I'm afraid this last knee surgery did him in.

[jb500ex]

1. To be honest i still think he is a beast, but if the Dline can not eat up blocks our ILBers are going to disappear, which is what is happening.




Tits very funny that you blame timmons sucking on the dline and claim he's a beast. a beast wouldnt get flat stopped in his tracks 5x against denver blitzing by a rb whos standing in place. there was no one blocking him when mcfadden ran for 60 yds through his spot. all ilb's deal with blockers and traffic but none of the starters in the league are as bad as timmons is and get blocked as easily as he does. for such a big good athlete the dude is weaker then the water boys. he stinks because hes not very good not because of the dline

[st33lersguy]

Another one, Lamar Woodley, hasn't provided much of a pass rush and unless Worilds and Carter do something (doubtful), he has to play much better. Keenan Lewis/Cortez Allen, any particular reason why these guys got burned repeatedly by the Raiders batch of crap receivers? They need to stop allowing such open space? The entire D-line, all this sorry bunch has done all year is look like Albert Haynesworthless playing for the Redskins. It is time this group step up their play.
Special: Player that needs to be benched, Ryan Mundy: One reason why the defense struggles when Polamalu is out other than the massive void his absence leaves is because Ryan Mundy is left in the game to blow a dozen coverages every game he starts. This guy can't play and it is time to try a new backup safety if Polamalu can't play against Philly

[GBMelBlount]

LeBeau needs a shot of testosterone.

[Moose]

Can't agree more. I hate saying anything negative about Coach LeBeau, but I am starting to wonder about some of his defense tactics. I was never, never, ever a fan of the cushion he has his CB's give. Way too many times the 3rd and longs are converted to 1st downs, and then afterwards we hear them say that we couldn't get our defense off the field ! Duh, you think !

[tube517]

???

Do I even want to know??

:rofl:

[Butch]

???

Do I even want to know??

Preach ya' gotta learn the Don't ass don't tell policy.

[suitanim]

Colon is the only name on this list I agree with. The DL is what it is in a 3-4, and these guys aren't on the filed to sack the QB or record 10 tackles a game. They are there to occupy blockers. Period.

[Lou Donny]

Kiesel DEFINITELY deserves to be on this list.
54 snaps vs Oakland.....0 tackles, 0 assists, 0 anything.....oh he did have 1 HUGE encroachment penalty on 4th down that led to 7 points!
He has stunk this whole season. No pressures. No Hurries. No run stuffs. No passes batted down. NOTHING!!!!
His beard is more productive than he is.

I respect Suit's opinion....and I understand the responsibilities of the 3-4 lines....but #99 should be embarassed by his play and any discussion intended to hand out blame MUST involve #99

[suitanim]

Kiesel admitted he had a bad game. But, again, it's only one game. You don't call out players and question them after one bad game. Let's see what kind of effort we see Sunday when Troy is back in the line-up. I think they will look much better.

[cold-hard-steel]

Special teams and all who plays need to step up their game. Whoever is on the defense,and i mean all of them, needs to step up their game as well. Our defense lost both of our games. Face it fellas,and fellets!

[Edman]

Casey Hampton, and it's not on mere performance level. He needs to step up by stepping down. He's simply not effective. I agree with zulater when he says his best just isn't good enough on a near-dead knee and age. Our Run Defense will continue to suffer with him out there.

Brett Keisel I'd hate to say it is much in the same boat as Casey. No fault on him, it just happens. Heyward and McClendon need be on the field as soon as possible.

Dick Lebeau. This is his last year in Pittsburgh, but he can salvage himself from embarrassment by doing one simple thing. Cut it out with the Passive read-and-react Defense and start being aggressive. If the Defense is going to get burned, make the other team earn it. The sit-back-and-wait tactic is doing nothing but inviting offenses to carve you up.

You're not getting James Harrison back anytime soon. You're stuck with Jason Worilds in the mean time and he's a big dropoff from Harrison in terms of skill, I don't care about standard is the standard, he's not as good as Harrison. Compensate and adjust by let the D-Line attack gaps instead of gap control.

You want your linemen to draw Double Teams? Attacking, Disruptive Linemen are more likely to draw double teams instead of those who play paddy cake at the line. Case in point, Haloti Ngata. Aaron Smith in his prime didn't play stand-up paddy cake. He didn't get his rep as an elite 3-4 lineman by doing that, he was allowed to attack at one point in his career (8 sacks in 2001 and 2004), why can't you let Ziggy Hood do likewise?

[zulater]

Casey Hampton, and it's not on mere performance level. He needs to step up by stepping down. He's simply not effective. I agree with zulater when he says his best just isn't good enough on a near-dead knee and age. Our Run Defense will continue to suffer with him out there.

Brett Keisel I'd hate to say it is much in the same boat as Casey. No fault on him, it just happens. Heyward and McClendon need be on the field as soon as possible.

Dick Lebeau. This is his last year in Pittsburgh, but he can salvage himself from embarrassment by doing one simple thing. Cut it out with the Passive read-and-react Defense and start being aggressive. If the Defense is going to get burned, make the other team earn it. The sit-back-and-wait tactic is doing nothing but inviting offenses to carve you up.

You're not getting James Harrison back anytime soon. You're stuck with Jason Worilds in the mean time and he's a big dropoff from Harrison in terms of skill, I don't care about standard is the standard, he's not as good as Harrison. Compensate and adjust by let the D-Line attack gaps instead of gap control.

You want your linemen to draw Double Teams? Attacking, Disruptive Linemen are more likely to draw double teams instead of those who play paddy cake at the line. Case in point, Haloti Ngata. Aaron Smith in his prime didn't play stand-up paddy cake. He didn't get his rep as an elite 3-4 lineman by doing that, he was allowed to attack at one point in his career (8 sacks in 2001 and 2004), why can't you let Ziggy Hood do likewise?

Great post! :applaudit:

[Lou Donny]

Kiesel admitted he had a bad game. But, again, it's only one game. You don't call out players and question them after one bad game. Let's see what kind of effort we see Sunday when Troy is back in the line-up. I think they will look much better.

with all due respect....kiesel has 5 total tackles in 3 games (thats solo's and assisted tackles COMBINED).
He has played "below the line" every game so far this season.

[suitanim]

with all due respect....kiesel has 5 total tackles in 3 games (thats solo's and assisted tackles COMBINED).
He has played "below the line" every game so far this season.

When we start running a 4-3, I'll start counting DE sacks and DT tackles. Until then....nope.

[zulater]

1. Lawrence Timmons. Early in 2010 this guy was playing at close to All Pro level. But ever since his game has been up and down, with down being a lot more common. Particularly this season. The guy belongs on a milk carton. No sacks, no tackles for losss, no interceptions. Timmons is 26. These should be his prime years. where the hell are you Larry?!

2. Ziggy Hood. This guy has flashed brilliant at times in his first two seasons. I really thought with Aaron out of the way and the job of RDE his alone from the get go he'd emerge as a force this year. I may be wrong but I think the ability is there? Maybe the system isn't the best for him? Whatever. Look, no one's asking him to be Aaron Smith. The best 3-4 DE ever. But you got to start making some plays Z man. Teams are running on us entirely too easy, and this guy gets a big part of the blame for that.

3. Brett Keisel. I hate to call Brett out. One of the all time good guys on and off the field. But the dude isn't getting it done so far this year. And God only knows why? And that offsides penatly that he was duped into taking by Palmer! :doh: Come on Keis, you're better than that.

4. Willie Colon. I was really enthusiastic about Willie switching to guard. I thought he could be special there. He still might be, I realize it's early in the proccess, and in effect he hadn't played in two years. But regardless the penalties have got to stop! And he's doing virtually nothing to open up holes for the running backs.

5. Dick LeBeau. I know he's not a player. I also know he's forgot more about football than any of us have or will ever know. But football is a game of perpetual motion. Things never stay constant. You can't be predictable unless you're so brilliant that it doesn't matter. And for this team, with no James Harrison or Troy Polamalu, predictability means tragedy. The gig's up, they know where we're coming from and where we're going. You either adjust or move on.

Timmons stepped up big time! Keisel and Ziggy, better, but still not quite there. LeBeau, the defense looked prepared and if there was a little better tackling they would have held the Eagles to single digits.

And speaking of "held" that covers Willie Colon's game in a nutshell.

[zulater]

Dick LeBeau finally stopped yanking Lawrence Timmons 10-15 yards off the line and cut him loose to spy on Michael Vick, the running backs and the tight ends. He did so to the tune of nine tackles, two hits on Vick and a forced fumble.
Never mind why Timmons looked lost in the first three games. That’s a nice find.
At least assuming LeBeau keeps him in that type of role.


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