Silver lining. It's not over. Part III

[Iron Steeler]

I was going to see the outcome of MNF between the Brown's and the 49ers first , but I wanted to give you all a morale boost!

There is a lot to be excited about with this team. I wanted to point out a few.

1. The Defense :
We are getting sacks and turnovers in bunches. Also the secondary is getting slightly better each game on 3rd down. I had low expectations since we have never defended running QBs very well, but wow we made Lamar Jackson look mediocre at best.

If we could improve our man coverage skills , this defense would be Chicago or New England type of dominate. Dare I say steel Curtain or 04 Dick Lebeau's defense?

2. Mason Rudolph:
First I'm happy to see he is ok . That scared me to the core when his arm and finger went stiff. Kept thinking about his parents watching, praise God hes ok .
He has my vote of confidence to carry this team as a starter in the post Ben era. The play he made on third down was Big Ben circa 2007. If not for him getting knocked out by a dirty hit, I believe we were about to witness the drive that was going to kickstart his career.

Devlin "Ducky" Hodges:

Ducky looked better than any backup we have had in awhile. I know it's one game, but he was not timid to throw at all or run for a first down. He did a great job when his number was called in the 3rd quarter on.

Jaylen Samuels:

Jaylen looks like he could become a serious threat if we continue to use him . The wildcat throw interception was a risky play call when we are our side of the field. Jaylen needs to learn he could throw it in the ground if the play is not there. I forgive him. I think it was a bad call asking him to throw there, wait until we are away from our redzone .

Boswell:

I am holding my breath less and less he has to make a FG. Keep up the good work.


Silver Lining:
We are not a bad team and still extremely competitive. We have been on the raw side of 6-8 bad plays or Penalties have made us 1-4. The luck has not bounced our way in these close games yet.

Ravens are 3-2 and 1-1 In the division
Browns are 2-2 and 1-0 in the division
Steelers are 1-4 and 1-1 in the divison
Bengals are 0-5 and 0-1 in the division.

The division is still up for grabs since the AFC North is collectively all going through growing pains. Rooting hard for 49ers tonight! And next week maybe the Bengals can steal one from the Ravens.

We go 9-7 or 10-6 this could win the division if we secure our inter division wins from here on out.

Team Culture:
This team has that never day die attitude. I LOVE IT. This is where Tomlin shines in keeping the team morale high. As long as they dont give up on the season I will not give up rooting for them.

LETS GOOO!!!

[DesertSteel]

I'm looking forward to part IV.

[Fire Goodell]

The defense is starting to gel, I honestly think they can become a special unit. As soon as Devin Bush gets really comfortable in his role, watch out. That interception he snagged was seriously something else, haven't seen that kind of play since Troy

He might be a few inches shorter than ideal, but he uses it well (thats what she said )

[Rotorhead]

I was looking at the schedule and 9-7 is not out of the picture. The difficult games are Chargers (Broncos showed they are not last years team), Colts, Rams and Bills. We would need to win one of those and our division. I think we could beat the Chargers or the Bills. The rest of the games are Bungles, Phins, Cards, Jets, Rats and Browns 2X. The Browns and the Rats are the other ones we have work on, but they are all beatable by this team with MR at QB. If we do that we are 9-7 and probably win the division. All is not lost, but we need to clean up the mistakes and play to win.

[dislocatedday]

I was feeling down after the game yesterday, and in the Goats thread I expressed my feeling that maybe it is time for an all new coaching staff. While I do think the current staff lacks in some areas (just based on what I have seen on the field over the last few years), the one thing I can say is that I never see a Steelers team just quit trying or turn on each other (..minus AB's individual drama last year..). Tomlin consistently has this team putting forth effort, and that is definitely a strong point in his favor.

While this is no consolation for being 1-4, the team could very easily be 4-1 right now as well. I'm finally feeling confident in the defense overall, and the secondary in particular has taken a big step forward. The additions of Steven Nelson and Minkah Fitzpatrick have been huge positives for the secondary.

The team overall is very young, with players who are still ascending. I don't think this team lacks in talent. I think we need some of the other young receivers to develop more, and I think the team will need to start looking to re-stock the O-line starting next year. Those are the only two position groups where I have lingering concerns.

[Fire Goodell]

I honestly feel like this team has nothing to be ashamed of yesterday. They're young and inexperienced, but in every game (except week one), they were in the mix.

They went down 10-0 and fought back, even down to their 3rd string QB, were in a good position to win the game. Sure it's 1-4, but it's easier to cheer for a scrappy 1-4 team than ones like the Jets, Bengals, or dolphins who basically already gave up.

[ALLD]

Hahahhaa, okay Baghdad Bob.

[FrancoLambert]

I'm looking forward to part IV.

Part IV: It’s over.

[EzraTank]

Steelers: LAST Blood ... Rated R.

[Iron Steeler]

The defense is starting to gel, I honestly think they can become a special unit. As soon as Devin Bush gets really comfortable in his role, watch out. That interception he snagged was seriously something else, haven't seen that kind of play since Troy

He might be a few inches shorter than ideal, but he uses it well (thats what she said )

As soon as I hit enter I said to myself, "how did I forget to highlight Devin Bush" He looks like he is something special. Combined with Fitzpatrick behind him and TJ Watt in front of him you have 3 game changers in on players of our defense. Exciting times.

- - - Updated - - -

Steelers: LAST Blood ... Rated R.

You beat me too it, I was going to respond with a Sly Stallone movie reference.

I was going to say, Just like a Sly Stallone sequel it will get more ridiculous and less believable . Haha!

Until we are officially out of playoffs, it's not over!

[Hawkman]

I know how much many of you dislike the Pollyanna type, and this won’t change the fact that we are 1-4, but we have lost to four teams that have a combined record of 15-3 and two of them are undefeated. All but one of them, we had a chance, and three and a half of them we had a backup QB.....and all of you Smith HATERS, tell me the weakness on STs. Bos is perfect, penalties? Not much on run backs, but no gaffes....and many of you want to blow up everything. We could be the Redskins. We will not get rid of Tomlin......and we shouldn’t.

[st33lersguy]

Even with turnovers, this defense is surrendering 22.8 points per games this year (27.75 points per game if you take away the Bungles who are serious contenders for picking in the top 3 and who had basically given up late in the 3rd quarter). Also Fichtner needs to stop waiting until the 2nd quarter to utilize such concepts as "passing the ball beyond the line of scrimmage". Plus this team seems to find ways to lose and will make mistakes at critical times. Theoretically they can clean this up but that would require some actual coaching.

[DesertSteel]

As long as we can avoid a tie, we make the playoffs!

[86WARD]

Nelson hurt, Samuels out, Washington out...lol.

Here comes the tarnish...

[Born2Steel]

How can you not be glued to watching wtf can happen to this season next? Next up, west coast trip to play snake bit Chargers in a high school stadium.