hawaiiansteeler
09-09-2015, 12:25 PM
Ron Cook: With injuries, suspensions and a porous defense, Steelers likely a .500 team
September 8, 2015
By Ron Cook / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/image/2015/08/23/ca0,7,2483,2587/20150823pdSteelersSports09-1.jpg
The Steelers' defense must step up if this team is to have a chance at success this season.
I know how good Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown are. That’s why I want to predict a winning record for the Steelers and another trip to the playoffs with maybe even a shot at getting to Super Bowl 50. But I can’t. Not with the broken-leg injury to Maurkice Pouncey, who will miss at least half the season. Not with suspended Le’Veon Bell, who will miss the first two games, and suspended Martavis Bryant, who will miss the first four. Certainly not with the defense, that poor, poor, potentially pathetic defense.
8-8.
No playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
It’s hard to get past that defense.
“I’m not as concerned as you might imagine,” Mike Tomlin said.
Really?
Here it is, two days before the opening game at New England, and the Steelers still don’t appear to have a clue about who to start in the secondary. They were counting on cornerback Cortez Allen to bounce back from a miserable 2014 season, but he showed nothing in the preseason and could be replaced by Antwon Blake. They thought Shamarko Thomas could step in at safety, but he showed even less than Allen and appears to have lost his job to Will Allen.
What a mess.
The Steelers absolutely have butchered the cornerback position. They gave Allen a four-year, $24.6 million contract extension before last season and, even though he was awful, decided to bring him back to play opposite William Gay despite having to pay him a $3 million roster bonus. That’s big money that now appears wasted. The Steelers drafted Doran Grant in the fourth round in May and released him Sunday. They had some bad luck with second-round pick Senquez Golson, who showed up at training camp with a bad shoulder, had surgery and is lost for the season. They had to trade for Brandon Boykin from the Philadelphia Eagles and sign Ross Cockrell after he was cut by the Buffalo Bills.
The safety position is just as unsettled. Mike Mitchell should be fine in his second year with the Steelers if he’s healthy, but Thomas, starting his third season here, has been a major disappointment. Special-teams ace Robert Golden is the depth. The team cut seventh-round pick Gerod Holliman.
Do you think Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is eager to line up against the Steelers Thursday night?
to read rest of article:
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2015/09/08/With-injuries-suspensions-and-a-porous-defense-espcially-in-the-secondary-Steelers-likely-are-a-500-team-this-season/stories/201509080045
September 8, 2015
By Ron Cook / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/image/2015/08/23/ca0,7,2483,2587/20150823pdSteelersSports09-1.jpg
The Steelers' defense must step up if this team is to have a chance at success this season.
I know how good Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown are. That’s why I want to predict a winning record for the Steelers and another trip to the playoffs with maybe even a shot at getting to Super Bowl 50. But I can’t. Not with the broken-leg injury to Maurkice Pouncey, who will miss at least half the season. Not with suspended Le’Veon Bell, who will miss the first two games, and suspended Martavis Bryant, who will miss the first four. Certainly not with the defense, that poor, poor, potentially pathetic defense.
8-8.
No playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
It’s hard to get past that defense.
“I’m not as concerned as you might imagine,” Mike Tomlin said.
Really?
Here it is, two days before the opening game at New England, and the Steelers still don’t appear to have a clue about who to start in the secondary. They were counting on cornerback Cortez Allen to bounce back from a miserable 2014 season, but he showed nothing in the preseason and could be replaced by Antwon Blake. They thought Shamarko Thomas could step in at safety, but he showed even less than Allen and appears to have lost his job to Will Allen.
What a mess.
The Steelers absolutely have butchered the cornerback position. They gave Allen a four-year, $24.6 million contract extension before last season and, even though he was awful, decided to bring him back to play opposite William Gay despite having to pay him a $3 million roster bonus. That’s big money that now appears wasted. The Steelers drafted Doran Grant in the fourth round in May and released him Sunday. They had some bad luck with second-round pick Senquez Golson, who showed up at training camp with a bad shoulder, had surgery and is lost for the season. They had to trade for Brandon Boykin from the Philadelphia Eagles and sign Ross Cockrell after he was cut by the Buffalo Bills.
The safety position is just as unsettled. Mike Mitchell should be fine in his second year with the Steelers if he’s healthy, but Thomas, starting his third season here, has been a major disappointment. Special-teams ace Robert Golden is the depth. The team cut seventh-round pick Gerod Holliman.
Do you think Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is eager to line up against the Steelers Thursday night?
to read rest of article:
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2015/09/08/With-injuries-suspensions-and-a-porous-defense-espcially-in-the-secondary-Steelers-likely-are-a-500-team-this-season/stories/201509080045