Keith Butler: ‘The Difference Between 13-3 And 9-6-1 Were Those Dropped Interceptions

[polamalubeast]

1135878991049633792

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The dropped interceptions are something that we have talked about a number of times this offseason. At least according to Pro Football Focus, no team in the league had more dropped interceptions than the Steelers did in 2018, something like 13 of them if I recall correctly by their count.

Crazy if this is true!

[polamalubeast]

Breakdown And Impact Of Steelers Failed Fumble Recoveries From 2018 Season

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/06/breakdown-and-impact-of-steelers-failed-fumble-recoveries-from-2018-season/


If the steelers would have been close to half of it (fumble recoveries and interception) it could have made a big difference.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I think that coaches cant catch the football, but they can develop coverages that don't have an ILB on the opponents best WR.....and that is what they should focus on how to impact the game instead of making excuses for guys dropping the football.

Same can be said for not having the most lopsided pass heavy offense in the NFL. Coaches need to own their mistakes.

[polamalubeast]

I think that coaches cant catch the football, but they can develop coverages that don't have an ILB on the opponents best WR.....and that is what they should focus on how to impact the game instead of making excuses for guys dropping the football.

Same can be said for not having the most lopsided pass heavy offense in the NFL. Coaches need to own their mistakes.

great point

[AtlantaDan]

1135878991049633792

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Crazy if this is true!

True as of week 15 last season - maybe there were more drops in the Pats, Saints or Bengals games :noidea:

1076160827391176705
https://steelersdepot.com/2018/12/pff-steelers-13-dropped-ints-the-most-by-any-defense-in-nfl/

[polamalubeast]

Never good when a defense has more dropped interception than interception!

A team as the Pats,they had 9 dropped interception,but they had 18 interceptions.

[steelreserve]

You know what else would've helped, a dozen or so lucky 50-yard bombs, or the opponents fumbling the snap a bunch of times, or a pigeon flying in the opposing QB's face and making him run the wrong direction.

Or maybe bitching about not getting all the lucky breaks as the reason why you consistently have trouble making the playoffs even when the competition in your division was horseshit, when other teams have no problem with this ... makes you sound like a dickhead who is just making excuses for himself.

[steel striker]

Or like in that Charger game where Hayden would have had a red zone INT but, Sean Davis knocked him out!

[tube517]

Was Ike Taylor holding some type of "clinic" for DBs last year?

[st33lersguy]

Difference was in 2017 big ben, ab, and bos bailed out the team nearly every week while the entire team as a whole let subpar and sometimes awful teams hang around with them for 60 minutes. This year that didn't happen

[FrancoLambert]

Having LB’s covering WR’s has nothing to do with it. :doh:

[polamalubeast]

Difference was in 2017 big ben, ab, and bos bailed out the team nearly every week while the entire team as a whole let subpar and sometimes awful teams hang around with them for 60 minutes. This year that didn't happen

Yeah .... And steelers need to have more often a blowout win , since they have not had many in the last few years....Dominations from start to finish, I have only two in my head (Titans in 2017 and Panthers in 2018,2 thursday night game)

The one-game score is often a coin toss game, so it's normal to lose it sometimes

[Fire Goodell]

the difference between my aunt being my aunt and not my uncle is...

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Was Ike Taylor holding some type of "clinic" for DBs last year?

Swaggin U graduates of the "Pass Droppin 101" program.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Was Ike Taylor holding some type of "clinic" for DBs last year?

always loved this pic:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1d/af/5d/1daf5d23a4068422a89dae13abbc4d75.jpg

[GoSlash27]

The difference between 13-3 and 9-6-1 was pretty much anything you care to point at. We lost a lot of very close games.

[polamalubeast]

The difference between 13-3 and 9-6-1 was pretty much anything you care to point at. We lost a lot of very close games.

And the steelers won a lot of closes games in 2017(8-2 in one score game in 2017 vs 6-5-1 in 2018)

[hawaiiansteeler]

And the steelers won a lot of closes games in 2017(8-2 in one score game in 2017 vs 6-5-1 in 2018)

Boswell actually used to make kicks back in 2017, not so much in 2018.

[Hawkman]

You know what else would've helped, a dozen or so lucky 50-yard bombs, or the opponents fumbling the snap a bunch of times, or a pigeon flying in the opposing QB's face and making him run the wrong direction.

Or maybe bitching about not getting all the lucky breaks as the reason why you consistently have trouble making the playoffs even when the competition in your division was horseshit, when other teams have no problem with this ... makes you sound like a dickhead who is just making excuses for himself.

Feel better?

[GoSlash27]

And the steelers won a lot of closes games in 2017(8-2 in one score game in 2017 vs 6-5-1 in 2018)

Exactly. So you can point to everything that went right in 2017 but fell short in 2018 and say "that's the reason" and not be wrong. My point is that there's no one specific shortcoming that can be blamed solely, or can be fixed with the expectation of turning things around this season.

[polamalubeast]

Exactly. So you can point to everything that went right in 2017 but fell short in 2018 and say "that's the reason" and not be wrong. My point is that there's no one specific shortcoming that can be blamed solely, or can be fixed with the expectation of turning things around this season.

Yes, but if the steelers would have more blowout win, that would help.We can not relies too much on the coin-toss game.We need to be more dominant.

Very few blowout win for the steelers in the last two years .... Earlier in this thread I said that the steelers had only 2 since 2017, but it's at least 3, since I forgot the game against the Falcons ... maybe I forget about it but it's still not many.

[GoSlash27]

Yes, but if the steelers would have more blowout win, that would help.
It comes back to what I just said: I can't say you're wrong because *of course* you're not wrong... But if the Steelers had just a little more (insert random other improvement here) that would've helped too.
There were simply too many things that were barely not good enough to point at just one of them as the main problem.

[Hawkman]

Yes, but if the steelers would have more blowout win, that would help.We can not relies too much on the coin-toss game.We need to be more dominant.

Very few blowout win for the steelers in the last two years .... Earlier in this thread I said that the steelers had only 2 since 2017, but it's at least 3, since I forgot the game against the Falcons ... maybe I forget about it but it's still not many.

Very few blowout wins any year. Take a look back. Particularly years when we’re built on defense. We just don’t blowout other teams very often.

[steelreserve]

Feel better?

Why do you ask? Did they fire Butler or something in the meantime?

[Shoes]

I think we have a better chance of being 13-3 if Austin takes Butlers job.

[hawaiiansteeler]

I think we have a better chance of being 13-3 if Austin takes Butlers job.

Austin probably doesn't think it's okay to cover the other team's #1 WR with an ILB...

[pepsyman1]

Very few blowout wins any year. Take a look back. Particularly years when we’re built on defense. We just don’t blowout other teams very often.


This ∆∆∆. We're always playing with no margin for error because even when we are dominating another team we rarely put them away. This coaching staff needs to have a killer instinct in their approach. Belichick never hesitates to bury a team that they are ahead of.

[Shoes]

Austin probably doesn't think it's okay to cover the other team's #1 WR with an ILB...

:chuckle:

[st33lersguy]

The 2017 team was worse than their 13-3 record would suggest. A lot of close calls against teams that missed the playoffs (7 wins by 5 points or less against teams that missed the playoffs) and they had a point differential of +98 (typically a 13-3 team will exceed 100 no problem). By comparison, the Ravens who missed the playoffs had a +92 point differential. Teams like that tend to regress more towards the mean the following year, because the breaks don't tend to go your way like that 2 years in a row.

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I think we have a better chance of being 13-3 if Austin takes Butlers job.

I don't know, last year he was coordinator of the NFL's #32 defense (a team that was ranked 18th in total defense the year before he got there) and was fired after 9 games by a team that kept Marvin Lewis around for 16 years

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

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I don't know, last year he was coordinator of the NFL's #32 defense (a team that was ranked 18th in total defense the year before he got there) and was fired after 9 games by a team that kept Marvin Lewis around for 16 years

Yeah, I would take the fact that Cinci let him go as a vote of confidence. That place is a dumpster fire and that defense just got worse without Iloka at Safety, Pacman Jones at Corner and Burfict at LB. Other than Geno Atkins, I don't know if anybody else isn't worth replacing.

Austin is a great DB coach and I think the secondary is going to improve with him around. The problem still remains if Vince Williams ends up covering WR's in Keith Butlers system and if the D line doesn't play up to their talent level....then something is either wrong with the job Carl Dunbar is doing, or the culture Keith Butler has created on defense.

[polamalubeast]

Very few blowout wins any year. Take a look back. Particularly years when we’re built on defense. We just don’t blowout other teams very often.

I know, but it's not always easy when you have no room for error in the fourth quarter.And yes in 2008 the steelers had a lot of close game and close win, but for the most part it was against very good teams, especially in the second half of the season.If we just look at the points differential, it was still better in 2008 and 2010 than it was in 2017.

As another said, a 13-3 team finished without a problem with a points differential over 100.It was not the case for the steelers in 2017.

[Mojouw]

So what no one wants to admit is that despite all the players we see as super awesome, every metric pegs the Steelers as a 9-10 win team.

Until they generate about a dozen more turnovers on defense, have a few less on offense, and get a functional kicking game that's all they are going to be.

The defense can bleed yards all day and even allow points but they must generate turnovers and about 4 punts a game. The offense needs to score around 28 per week. And have an effective 4 minute offense.

Do all that and you can find those extra 2-3 wins to be a SB contender.

[polamalubeast]

So what no one wants to admit is that despite all the players we see as super awesome, every metric pegs the Steelers as a 9-10 win team.

Until they generate about a dozen more turnovers on defense, have a few less on offense, and get a functional kicking game that's all they are going to be.

The defense can bleed yards all day and even allow points but they must generate turnovers and about 4 punts a game. The offense needs to score around 28 per week. And have an effective 4 minute offense.

Do all that and you can find those extra 2-3 wins to be a SB contender.

If we look in the yards, the steelers are easily a super bowl contender .... But they have never been in the top for the turnovers differencial or for the field position for a very long time, which is the problem ....

It's not the talent the problem...I mean, a team normally does not finish at 9-6-1 when you have a differential of -11 in the turnovers .... Normally it's 4-5 wins max.

[zulater]

The difference was the dropped ints, several questionable calls that went the wrong way, and several missed kicks and a handful of critical fumbles.. Seriously you could easily make the case the only two 'clean losses' last season were the Chiefs game and the first game against the Ravens. In the other 13 games (subtracting the Jags win) the Steelers straight up outplayed their opponent or played them to equal terms outside the outlier plays that have been noted time and time again. In a normal year of the 7 games the Steelers failed to win at least 3 or 4 would have gone their way. Of the games they won the Jacksonville game stands out as the one they lucked into the win and didn't play well enough to expect to win. So to me they should have been a minimum +2 on wins based on the usual norms. An 11-5 season gets them a first round bye. \

Conversely you could make the same argument about the 17 season. They could have easily gone anywhere from 10-6 to 14-2 dependent on random luck.

End of the day it was probably the best thing that could happen missing out last season. The way things broke down gave them the chance to get Devin Bush, the one position that was most lacking on this team. Also the personal breakdown of AB will give them the locker room cleansing that will hopefully result in a more focused team. One that puts team before self for a change. Last thing the luckiest break the Steelers have gotten over the past couple seasons was when Leveon Bell turned his dumb nose away from the ridiculous contract's they offered him the past two summers. He in a sense saved them from themselves. Yes he's a top tier back, and a valuable receiver. But you look around the league at the teams that have had the most success they past half dozen years or so and you see running back by committee with a minimal cap investment in the position. The 3 primary backs the Steelers will put on the field this season (Conners, Samuels, and Snell) will outpace Bell's production with the Jets at 1/5 the price.

[Rotorhead]

The difference is Boz, 2017 he made those game winning kicks, 2018 he did not. He makes those kicks like 2017 and we have a first round bye.

[polamalubeast]

The difference was the dropped ints, several questionable calls that went the wrong way, and several missed kicks and a handful of critical fumbles.. Seriously you could easily make the case the only two 'clean losses' last season were the Chiefs game and the first game against the Ravens. In the other 13 games (subtracting the Jags win) the Steelers straight up outplayed their opponent or played them to equal terms outside the outlier plays that have been noted time and time again. In a normal year of the 7 games the Steelers failed to win at least 3 or 4 would have gone their way. Of the games they won the Jacksonville game stands out as the one they lucked into the win and didn't play well enough to expect to win. So to me they should have been a minimum +2 on wins based on the usual norms. An 11-5 season gets them a first round bye. \

Conversely you could make the same argument about the 17 season. They could have easily gone anywhere from 10-6 to 14-2 dependent on random luck.

End of the day it was probably the best thing that could happen missing out last season. The way things broke down gave them the chance to get Devin Bush, the one position that was most lacking on this team. Also the personal breakdown of AB will give them the locker room cleansing that will hopefully result in a more focused team. One that puts team before self for a change. Last thing the luckiest break the Steelers have gotten over the past couple seasons was when Leveon Bell turned his dumb nose away from the ridiculous contract's they offered him the past two summers. He in a sense saved them from themselves. Yes he's a top tier back, and a valuable receiver. But you look around the league at the teams that have had the most success they past half dozen years or so and you see running back by committee with a minimal cap investment in the position. The 3 primary backs the Steelers will put on the field this season (Conners, Samuels, and Snell) will outpace Bell's production with the Jets at 1/5 the price.

Many good points, especially on Bell, that the steelers were lucky and that it is a good thing that the steelers miss the playoffs since the steelers would have never won the super bowl with a locker room way too loose and it was time for a change.

Also, very often the steelers seem to dominate a game (especially for the yards) but it was not the case for the scoreboard because often our field position was awful and the turnovers have rarely been in favor of the steelers ... it needs to change.

[86WARD]

I think most of us knew that if somethings break the right way they win 2-3 more games last season...

Ie) Turnovers, bad calls, etc.

[Mojouw]

Ok. So spread across several threads, I have seen the following (paraphrasing so I could be getting it wrong):

1. Winning regular season games is meaningless and pointless.
2. Winning regular season games just allows a badly coached team to fail in the playoffs.
3. No point in making the playoffs because the locker room has been too toxic for several seasons to win anything meaningful.
4. Anything short of a serious SB run that ends in a victory is a failed season and should lead to consequences for players and coaches.

This causes me to wonder two things:

1. Why do some of you even watch prior to the AFC Championship game? Everything before that is just pointless.
2. Why even try to win games? The Steelers should just do "the Process (Sam Hinkie died for our Sins!)" for a few seasons and restock the roster with enough cheap talent to win a few SBs.

[polamalubeast]

That's when the team underachieve,this is the most frustrating thing!

It's not so like the steelers had often lost against the Pats in the playoffs or in the AFC title game in this decade It's not also like the steelers had been dominant in the killer B's era.

Only one season between 2014 to 2018, the steelers have made the playoffs easily ... One playoffs bye and they almost missed the playoffs in 2015 and 2016 ..... It was so frustrating that I am happy that this era is over.... This team may have had more talent than the steelers in the 2000s (2004 to 2010), but the performance on the field was much better in the 2000s

For the process ... No, I would only agree to that if the team was mediocre (like a team as the Buffalo Bills,Miami Dolphins for several years, or yes the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA before their rebuilding in 2013).

[86WARD]

Underachieving is the problem. There’s probably much less expectation going into this season than any of the last 3...and this roster may turn out to be better than any of the last three.

[Steeldude]

Or blown defensive coverages.

[st33lersguy]

I know, but it's not always easy when you have no room for error in the fourth quarter.And yes in 2008 the steelers had a lot of close game and close win, but for the most part it was against very good teams, especially in the second half of the season.If we just look at the points differential, it was still better in 2008 and 2010 than it was in 2017.

As another said, a 13-3 team finished without a problem with a points differential over 100.It was not the case for the steelers in 2017.

2008 and 2010 steelers both had better point differential, more double digit wins, and fewer 1 possession wins against teams that missed the playoffs than 2017. Also the 2008 and 2010 steelers did not lose to a team that missed the playoffs, 2017 steelers lost to a 5-11 team.

[st33lersguy]

People forget how close the 2018 team was to a losing season as well. First of all, they still had a winning record in one possession games, despite missing the playoffs. Then there is the fact that the 2018 Steelers won 4 close games against teams that not only missed the playoffs but finished with double digit losses. One less Fitzception INT away from losing to the 5-11 Bucs. One less 1 in 100 comeback and they lose to a 5-11 circus show in Jacksonville. They were also dangerously close to losing twice to a 6-10 Bengals team. AB bailed them out the first time with an amazing run in the final seconds out of field goal range and then the last week of the season, at home, season on the line, with basically half the Bengals starting line up injured, they fall behind by 10 and are basically Matt McCrane of all people bail them out.

[teegre]

Last season, the Taperiots won the Super Bowl. But, they also lost to...

...a 5-11 team
...a 6-10 team
...a 7-9 team
...a 9-6-1 team
...a 9-7 team

None of those five teams made the playoffs.

QUESTION:
I’m not sure if that means that the Taperiots “actually” sucked... and/or, if their Lombardi somehow “doesn’t count” because regular season wasn’t “dominant” enough. By what subjective means do they get measured?

[polamalubeast]

Last season, the Taperiots won the Super Bowl. But, they also lost to...

...a 5-11 team
...a 6-10 team
...a 7-9 team
...a 9-6-1 team
...a 9-7 team

None of those five teams made the playoffs.

QUESTION:
I’m not sure if that means that the Taperiots “actually” sucked... and/or, if their Lombardi somehow “doesn’t count” because regular season wasn’t “dominant” enough. By what subjective means do they get measured?

The Patriots had their worst regular season since 2009 ... Still pretty good for an 11-5 season!

[teegre]

The Patriots had their worst regular season since 2009 ... Still pretty good for an 11-5 season!

But... is it “good”???

I really don’t know any more. :noidea:

[polamalubeast]

But... is it “good”???

I really don’t know any more. :noidea:

It's not like that happens to the patriots in every year, losing several times against bad teams

We can not compare our situation to the patriots .... Never the pats would have lost against a weak Raiders team at the worst possible time.

[teegre]

It's not like that happens to the patriots in every year, losing several times against bad teams

We can not compare our situation to the patriots .... Never the pats would have lost against a weak Raiders team at the worst possible time.

Oh... okay. Got it. Raiders games are the only losses that count. Whew!!!... thank you for clarifying.

[Born2Steel]

Defense makes the INTs instead of dropping them the season ends with a 13-3 record for the 2nd straight year. You can point to a thousand other grievances with the Steelers but that statement still holds true. This over here could have helped win games, that over there could have helped win games. Maybe all true. But the statement DC Butler said about dropped INTs is a true statement. What is the point other than just being negative and argumentative?

Can we expect to improve the turnover differential this season and why?

I believe we can and should expect it to get better. I believe this is exactly why players like Bush, Layne, and Gilbert were drafted. This is why the secondary now has 2 coordinators to work directly with players. The fact that the DC and HC have both addressed this as a main point of focus for the upcoming season is exactly why we can expect the Steelers to improve in this area DC Butler is talking about.

[polamalubeast]

Oh... okay. Got it. Raiders games are the only losses that count. Whew!!!... thank you for clarifying.


No, but it does not happen to the patriots every year(losing to bad team often).

But yes the Pats had not been a dominant team in the regular season in 2018 ... The Chiefs, Saints, Rams and even the Bears and Chargers were for the most part been better than the pats in the regular season.

But yes I would have been happy if the steelers would have won a super bowl in this way

[teegre]

But yes I would have been happy if the steelers would have won a super bowl in this way

I call “bullshit”.

Sorry. I do not believe you.

[polamalubeast]

I call “bullshit”.

Sorry. I do not believe you.

I do not understand why you say that .... I mean I was proud of the steelers even after the super bowl loss of the steelers in 2010 .....

[Mojouw]

Don't the Patriots annualy lose to lesser teams? I mean I know the entire internet has the usual October freakout that "this is the year the dynasty ends". Then they go 11-5 and no one cares.


Meanwhile...Steelers fans are analyzing the dominance level of individual plays to assess if a playoff appearing team was actually worthy.

Good to know that style points are important. Guess this is like gymnastics or something.

[AtlantaDan]

It's not like that happens to the patriots in every year, losing several times against bad teams

We can not compare our situation to the patriots .... Never the pats would have lost against a weak Raiders team at the worst possible time.


but it does not happen to the patriots every year(losing to bad team often)

This linked article was written before the Pats lost again to a chronically underperforming Dolphins team in Miami last season

Brady is 7-9 vs. the Dolphins in Miami.

https://www.espn.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/28282/how-miami-has-been-a-danger-zone-for-patriots-and-tom-brady

Now 7-10 :coffee:

The Pats almost always get the first round bye to set up playoffs success but there have been recurring head scratching regular season losses during their run

[teegre]

This linked article was written before the Pats lost again to a chronically underperforming Dolphins team in Miami last season

Brady is 7-9 vs. the Dolphins in Miami.

https://www.espn.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/28282/how-miami-has-been-a-danger-zone-for-patriots-and-tom-brady

Now 7-10 :coffee:

The Pats almost always get the first round bye to set up playoffs success but there have been recurring head scratching regular season losses during their run

Losses to the Dolphins don’t count.

Only losses to the Raiders count.


C’mon, pay attention.

[polamalubeast]

This linked article was written before the Pats lost again to a chronically underperforming Dolphins team in Miami last season

Brady is 7-9 vs. the Dolphins in Miami.

https://www.espn.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/28282/how-miami-has-been-a-danger-zone-for-patriots-and-tom-brady

Now 7-10 :coffee:

The Pats almost always get the first round bye to set up playoffs success but there have been recurring head scratching regular season losses during their run

I knew that the pats were bad in Miami ...... But outside at Miami, it does not happen often that the pats lose against horrible teams.



Don't the Patriots annualy lose to lesser teams? I mean I know the entire internet has the usual October freakout that "this is the year the dynasty ends". Then they go 11-5 and no one cares.


Meanwhile...Steelers fans are analyzing the dominance level of individual plays to assess if a playoff appearing team was actually worthy.

Good to know that style points are important. Guess this is like gymnastics or something.

I just do not think the steelers were good like the 13-3 record in 2017 ... I was still happy after every win that year .... I can not believe a few think I would not have been happy if they would have won the super bowl.

[Mojouw]

I knew that the pats were bad in Miami ...... But outside at Miami, it does not happen often that the pats lose against horrible teams.



I just do not think the steelers were good like the 13-3 record in 2017 ... I was still happy after every win that year .... I can not believe a few think I would not have been happy if they would have won the super bowl.

Fair enough. But you paint yourself into a corner a bit. I mean we all do, but you are posting in multiple threads about how this or that win was not dominating enough. Or this playoff appearance doesn’t really count because the team only made it after barely winning against some lesser team or whatever. It gives off the impression that anything other than 14 win season with the only two loses being last second heart-breakers to whatever team you deem worthy to beat the Steelers and all the victories being by 3+ touchdowns is a failure. On top of that, only SB victories matter and other outcomes are the disappointing results of poorly coached under archiving rosters.

I do not think this is your intention, just as it is not often my intention to come off like a jerk — but it happens! No big deal, but there just seems to be a line of argument around here that anything less than a SB victory is a meaningless waste of a season. Then after that gets established, people start in on qualifying playoff seasons and appearances as not really that good because this or that should have happened that didn’t.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but that is just a hard argument to take because it starts from a false premise. We see and hear this premise all over sports that such and such team is a “championship team” and they “should win multiple titles”. But this is just a doomed argument from the start. Sports is incredibly unpredictable. Championships are almost impossible to win. Injuries and random events happen every game. No team is destined or just ordained to win a championship. But each season several fan bases in every sport talk about how anything less than a trophy is a failure and a letdown. I can’t and don’t get it.

[polamalubeast]

I would have liked to see the steelers won a super bowl in the killer b's era, but what who has disappointed me the most in this era, it is that the steelers would have to accomplish more than that .... too much Drama, lack of focus, injuries at the worst possible time, lack of leadership were problems.

For the blowout win,the steelers need to have more, especially against weak teams .... it's always dangerous when it's a close game especially against his teams .... I understand that you can not always won by 10 points or more and when you play against very good teams, I understand that the games are close, but it's also true that steelers rarely win by 10 points or more ..... That's true also that steelers rarely lose by 10 points or more (it only happens twice in the last 2 years)

[EzraTank]

And if my aunt had a dick she'd be my uncle.

[86WARD]

And if my aunt had a dick she'd be my uncle.

In this day and age...not necessarily true...lol

[EzraTank]

https://media.giphy.com/media/O5NyCibf93upy/giphy.gif

[teegre]

I remember back in 2010, DeSean Jackson was with the Eagles, and he had that miracle punt-return against the Giants. If the Giants had won, it would have knocked the Packers out of the playoffs. Instead, the Packers snuck into the playoffs.

Those silly Packers fans though... celebrating that Super Bowl as if it “counted”. :toofunny: Everyone knows that if a team “sneaks” into the playoffs (and/or doesn’t “dominate” in the regular season) then it doesn’t actually “count”. Yet, those Packers fans celebrate that Lombardi like it means something. tsk, tsk

[zulater]

I remember back in 2010, DeSean Jackson was with the Eagles, and he had that miracle punt-return against the Giants. If the Giants had won, it would have knocked the Packers out of the playoffs. Instead, the Packers snuck into the playoffs.

Those silly Packers fans though... celebrating that Super Bowl as if it “counted”. :toofunny: Everyone knows that if a team “sneaks” into the playoffs (and/or doesn’t “dominate” in the regular season) then it doesn’t actually “count”. Yet, those Packers fans celebrate that Lombardi like it means something. tsk, tsk

The 68 Packers were 9-5. Everyone knew they were a declining team. But they did enough to qualify and once there they finished their dynastic run with their 5th title. No one ever tried to cheapen it.

By a similar token I truly believe if the Steelers had made it into the playoffs they would have had a great chance to make a run. Don't believe me? Look at how they played the Patriots and Saints in weeks 15-16 last year. They were the last team to beat the Patriots and they did so convincingly ( not to be confused with overwhelmingly) and they went into New Orleans and had the Saints on the mats.


Yeah I know they sucked against Cincy in the finale. But I attribute that to AB. Not his physical loss, though that was part of it, but more the taint he put on the team with his week long drama.

Anyway long story short it's really not about your record so much as it is how you're playing when you hit the post-season. Health, match-ups, it all factors in.

Give you one last thing so people can't claim I'm strictly being a homer. In 79 the single greatest thing that happened to the Steelers was the Oilers taking out the
Chargers in the divisional playoff game. Not only did it bring the AFC champ to Pgh ( Chargers were the 1 seed) it also saved the Steelers playing a team they didn't match up with well. We got destroyed by that Charger team in the regular season. That doesn't mean that would have been the case in the playoffs. But still was a team that would have been a nightmare matchup for that particular team.

[polamalubeast]

The 68 Packers were 9-5. Everyone knew they were a declining team. But they did enough to qualify and once there they finished their dynastic run with their 5th title. No one ever tried to cheapen it.

By a similar token I truly believe if the Steelers had made it into the playoffs they would have had a great chance to make a run. Don't believe me? Look at how they played the Patriots and Saints in weeks 15-16 last year. They were the last team to beat the Patriots and they did so convincingly ( not to be confused with overwhelmingly) and they went into New Orleans and had the Saints on the mats.


Yeah I know they sucked against Cincy in the finale. But I attribute that to AB. Not his physical loss, though that was part of it, but more the taint he put on the team with his week long drama.

Anyway long story short it's really not about your record so much as it is how you're playing when you hit the post-season. Health, match-ups, it all factors in.

Give you one last thing so people can't claim I'm strictly being a homer. In 79 the single greatest thing that happened to the Steelers was the Oilers taking out the
Chargers in the divisional playoff game. Not only did it bring the AFC champ to Pgh ( Chargers were the 1 seed) it also saved the Steelers playing a team they didn't match up with well. We got destroyed by that Charger team in the regular season. That doesn't mean that would have been the case in the playoffs. But still was a team that would have been a nightmare matchup for that particular team.

What is frustrating with the steelers is that they can give a fight against every team (like week 15 and 16) but they can also lose against everyone like against the Raiders in week 14 in a must win game.

It's always all or nothing with the steelers .... They never have middle ground

[teegre]

Anyway long story short it's really not about your record so much as it is how you're playing when you hit the post-season. Health, match-ups, it all factors in.

Great post.

This part, in particular, needs to be pinned.

[pczach]

Great post.

This part, in particular, needs to be pinned.



Don't ruin it for all the negative thinkers.

They need to be able to say that Tomlin and the Steelers always underachieve and don't deserve to make the playoffs if they don't win at least 11 games, and they want to be able to say the team always loses to inferior teams with worse records when they do make the playoffs.

Making the intellectual leap that getting hot at the right time just might mean a run in the playoffs doesn't compute to them.

Giving them hope or optimism isn't what they are looking for. It's just another reason for them to bitch.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Don't ruin it for all the negative thinkers.

They need to be able to say that Tomlin and the Steelers always underachieve and don't deserve to make the playoffs if they don't win at least 11 games, and they want to be able to say the team always loses to inferior teams with worse records when they do make the playoffs.

Making the intellectual leap that getting hot at the right time just might mean a run in the playoffs doesn't compute to them.

Giving them hope or optimism isn't what they are looking for. It's just another reason for them to bitch.

https://pics.me.me/you-can-tlosea-big-game-in-the-playoffs-gmemesofnfl-penin-38553224.png