Maurkice Pouncey: Sometimes ‘You Think You’re Better Than You Are’ When You’re Hyped From Outside

[polamalubeast]

As a flagship franchise for the NFL, it’s virtually impossible for the Pittsburgh Steelers not to have high expectations placed on them from the outside on a near-yearly basis. That has been the case for most of the past two decades, even with a bit of a lull here and there in between.

Expectations are somewhat lower heading into 2019 after they went 9-6-1 in 2018 and missed the postseason, only to follow that up by trading Antonio Brown in the offseason. Conversely, the exciting new quarterbacks in the AFC North, with Lamar Jackson with the Baltimore Ravens and Baker Mayfield with the Cleveland Browns, a lot of the spotlight this offseason has been redirected.

Seven-time Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey is not complaining, however. In fact, if anything, he finds it to be a nice change of pace. Asked about all of the attention that the Browns are now receiving, even being named favorites to win the AFC North after placing third last season, he was unconcerned.

“Sometimes, when you get too much praise, you think you’re better than you are”, he told Aditi Kinkhabwala during the spring workouts earlier this month. “Everyone kept saying we’re going to the Super Bowl”, he added, suggesting, “maybe you don’t work as hard as you should” under those expectations.

Surely this will conjure up some memories of the 2017 season. The Steelers went 13-3 that year, realistically even capably of going 14-2 and with homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, had one particular rule been on the books a year earlier than it was.

That didn’t matter, because they ended up hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Round and lost in what ended up being a points-fest. Prior to that game, there was a sense that the Steelers were overlooking their AFC South adversaries, even though they were the only team to beat them in the regular season without the benefit of overtime or a misguided rule. In fact, the only team to beat them by more than one possession.

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https://steelersdepot.com/2019/06/ma...-from-outside/

[Steeler-in-west]

There’s a reason why the media were making those predictions for the Steelers; cause they actually were that good. It’s the coaching staffs responsibility to get those stars and all that talent focused on the game ahead (with a good game plan) and block out the media hype. What else are coaches paid to do, stand around and stare into space?

[munchy]

i too think this has been a problem for almost the last decade or so.
you believe the press clippings and assume that just walking out on the field in a steelers uniform is gonna be good enough to beat most teams
add in a HC that knows that his job is secure and it spells major under achieving.
so far this off season, the players and HC are not reading the news clippings they want to. lets see if it lights a fire under them
of course, if tomlin gets his extension, you can forget about him being motivated. it will be up to the players

[polamalubeast]

Very important for a team to never be too high after a huge win or too low after a loss .... Sometimes after a big win, the steelers lack focus or think they're too good as Pouncey said .. ..After the game of 52-21 against the panthers last year, the steelers were awful for the next 4 week....

[teegre]

Flavor Flav was the best hype man ever.

/thread

[hawaiiansteeler]

Flavor Flav was the best hype man ever.

/thread