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Thread: 2019 NFL preview: Let's not give up yet on calmer, happier, drama-free Steelers

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    2019 NFL preview: Let's not give up yet on calmer, happier, drama-free Steelers

    Yahoo Sports is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per weekday in reverse order of our initial 2019 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on July 31, the day before the Hall of Fame Game kicks off the preseason.

    The Pittsburgh Steelers, held up for decades as the standard of stability and poise in the NFL, became something else the past couple years.

    Team Turmoil. Team Drama.

    “Ah man, we are — Kardashians. We have, I mean, we’re something,” tight end Jesse James, who left for Detroit in free agency, said after last season.

    While there has been a steady dissection of Ben Roethlisberger’s leadership and a breakdown of a social media feud between Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster — the Steelers might have the most volume written on them of any NFL team other than the Cowboys, and you need something to talk about — the theme of the Steelers’ offseason seems to be that everything has calmed down.

    Le’Veon Bell, whose holdout last season created a season-long debate, is off to the Jets. Brown was traded for quarters on the dollar to the Oakland Raiders, while the Steelers took on a huge salary-cap hit in the deal. Giving away one of the greatest receivers ever makes no sense from a football standpoint, but the Steelers had to fix the locker room. After Brown had a confrontation with Ben Roethlisberger and practically went AWOL before a Week 17 game, the Steelers felt they had to move on.

    You can’t assume the Steelers are better on paper without Brown and Bell, two generational talents. But they might be a better team.

    “Things have changed pretty well around here,” guard David DeCastro told the Tribune-Review before minicamp. “Just coming back and seeing it, talking to people. I’m excited. I really am – just to play football.”

    “We want to show we are here, dedicated to this team, dedicated to having a great season,” Roethlisberger said, according to the team’s site. “We are all about each other.”

    “I feel like we are closer now than we ever have been,” offensive guard Ramon Foster said, according to the Tribune-Review.

    Chemistry can’t necessarily replace talent in football, but it’s important. And it’s not like the Steelers don’t have talent.

    Smith-Schuster’s numbers were better than Brown’s last season, aside from touchdowns. James Conner did a good job in Bell’s tailback role. Roethlisberger had a 5,000-yard season and talk of his retirement seems like it never happened. The offense is one of the league’s best. The Steelers weren’t bad on defense last season and perhaps fixed a lingering problem by trading up to draft inside linebacker Devin Bush 10th overall.

    This is Mike Tomlin’s biggest test. Many Steelers fans have turned on him. On one hand it’s unfair. Among coaches with 100 wins through NFL history, Tomlin’s .654 winning percentage ranks eighth. Six of the seven ahead of Tomlin are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the seventh is Bill Belichick.

    Yet, Tomlin hasn’t been able to get command of a locker room that was out of control at times. The Steelers have a high standard and since making Super Bowl XLV at the end of the 2010 season, Tomlin has just three playoff wins. Not making the playoffs last season, with a roster that underachieved, wasn’t a good look.

    Now the Steelers turn the page, with less talent but (hopefully) less drama too. A lot falls on Tomlin, and Roethlisberger too. Roethlisberger has had to fight criticisms of his leadership, and seemingly wanted to change that image. He hosted a bonding trip at his lake house in Georgia, for example. Roethlisberger is likely going to the Hall of Fame no matter what else happens in his career, but winning after Bell and Brown have departed would add a huge chapter to his legacy. It’s his team now, there can be no doubt about that. His huge offseason contract extension drove that point home.

    The Steelers are happier. Calmer. Quieter. That could change once the season starts or Brown sends some more mean tweets, but for now this seems like a better mix for Pittsburgh. We’ll find out if addition by subtraction works for the Steelers.

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    https://sports.yahoo.com/2019-nfl-pr...123620111.html

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    Re: 2019 NFL preview: Let's not give up yet on calmer, happier, drama-free Steelers

    nobody gave up on the steelers, except the media which pretty much knows nothing but is willing to say anything to get more mouse clicks

    i mean what are people more likely to click on: 1) Steelers outlook positive going into 2019, 2) ZOMFG NO MORE AB, TEH SKY IS FALLING<!!!! STILLERS SUCKKKKK!!!!!! SLAVE MASTER OPPRESSORS SHOULD HAVE PAID HIM $40M/yR!!!!!!! POOR GUY CANT SUPPORT HIS FAMILY MAKING PEANUTS, signs with Raiders for $19M/yr while sporting a tattoo saying 'life sucks' on his forehead

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