It's better then most think! Right now just doing enough to win games and working. Will come a game where they will have to show their hand.Originally Posted by Fire Goodell
Calling it now this offense is a sleeping giant. There's gonna be a game where Washington/DJ/Juju all play their best games and then we jutermp at least 4 spots on the power rankings
Are We Undervauing This Team?
Me personally no. We have a top defense that forces game-changing turnovers, an excellent kicking game, and suddenly a good return game.
The offense is good enough to make key plays to score points when needed.
However, the media is vastly underestimating us. Remember what they said? We won't go to the playoffs without Brown and Bell. Where are those losers now? Exactly. Fear not, as soon as Duck wins his 4th game as a starter in a row, this time vs. a team with a winning record, they ( The media ) will take notice and forget their stupid comments before and jump on the bandwagon.
I would, however, like to hear from one of the many X NFL QB's on the air give Duck the praise he deserves. If it doesn't happen, so be it! A no-name high school coach once said one of the best things before or during a game is to be underestimated. Catch them with their guard down, and double it up when they act surprised at what just a happened.
A bit of a personal anecdote if I may. Way back when yours truly coached football for a high school team. I was the offensive coordinator. The head coach wanted his best friend's son at quarterback. 100% he looked the part. The trouble is he wasn't the sharpest, and though he could throw the ball a mile wasn't accurate either. Too often the ball came out early or late, and with too much heat on it. Even passing out of a winged T formation was a challenge for him. As a result, we started the season 0-3, losing 3 very close games thanks to the defense. We had one back up QB. A kid who looked like he was bound for Harvard who had a first name or Royce ( I think his parents were wealthy ) that saw some practice time, albeit very limited at quarterback. Tennis was his Royce's game, and he was too small to play anything on offense except for kicker or quarterback. He stood about 5'9 inches tall, maybe 165 pounds. So F'n what. I had a feeling he could play. A day came when the #1 QB came to school hurt on Monday due to a bike accident, and then it happened. Royce had his shot. Boom, suddenly, the ball came out quickly and accurately. And then it happened again in practice leading to talk amongst the players. We had a quarterback. The decision was made to start Royce the next week. Who cares if he could only really throw the ball 25 yards I said to myself, you only throw it that far maybe once a game anyway..at least at this level. We moved the former #1 QB to TE, where he ended up making all-county.
Friday night had come. Initially, the other team mocked our new QB. Look at his runt at QB, one of the other team's players said. We got the ball first. After three straight runs that lead to a first down, we tried a pass, and it was terrible. And they laughed some more. We ran running play for nearly no gain. My call for 3 and 9?, A play-action pass. The head coached looked and me and said it better work. They didn't respect us and had a bullseye on our running back. Their softies were up. BOOM ball fake was perfect, the pass was on the money to the former QB ( Now the TE ) who pretty much was the fasted kid on the team. TD. Caught them completely off guard. At the end of the game, our new guy was something like 9-11, with 2 passing TD's. As the season when on, I took advantage of Royce's quick feet and accuracy to make the passing game even better. The team finished up 5-3 overall, winning 5 games in a row.
Flashbacks from the past, shifting to present day. The Steelers are on a roll. Who cares what the media thinks. Who cares if other teams underestimate us. Make them all pay.
Last edited by Six Rings; 12-12-2019 at 06:35 PM.
The problem with the Ravens is their front 7 on defense. They rank somewhere near the bottom in pass rush but they are able to make up for it with their DBs. If you can pass minimally on them, you can beat them on the ground. On offense, they are opposite. They can run the hell out of the ball but they don’t have a great pass game.
For me, surprisingly, the 49ers appear to be the best team in the league. Either way, neither team is a bad choice IMO. I do think both of those teams are beatable on any given Sunday. I don’t think there is a runaway dominant team this year...which plays into the Steelers favor...it’s gonna be about what team can get hot come playoff time...
Cool story and thanks for sharing.
One thing not mention is the Steelers are winning the TO factor! Why Turtle ball on offense is good enough for now!
^^THIS^^Calling it now this offense is a sleeping giant. There's gonna be a game where Washington/DJ/Juju all play their best games and then we jump at least 4 spots on the power rankings
So... you’re suggesting that we dink-&-dunk and/or use the wildcat against the Ravens.
If they had not handcuffed Rudolph, we beat the 49ers. (The good news, they don’t seem to be handcuffing Duck.) Even of we turtle (again), if Conner doesn’t fumble, we beat the 49ers.
SUMMATION:
I’m not afraid of ANYBODY.
I agree, honestly right now I think it's about showing their hand. They know they have a defense that can close games, so they're looking to run out the clock once they get a 7 pt lead. It's not good for our stress levels but they keep showing they can do it. But they also have shown that they could score points when it's needed. The one time they took the handcuffs off Hodges, he put up 20 unanswered vs Cleveland.
This is where I think stats and rankings don't tell the whole story. Sure Hodges CAN throw for 300 yards, but with this defense, will you need to do that? The only thing I'm concerned with, is if we make it to the playoffs, I hope that changes. We'd be facing offenses where it wouldn't be safe to sit on a 3-6 point lead. I mean we could do it against Mayfield and Murray, but someone like Mahomes I'm not sure that's a great idea.
Agreed and if the Steelers face KC or Houston in the playoffs they will need to put up points. I think they can beat the Pats with turtle ball though.
So the plan is to only convert 1 in 3 third downs and 1 in 5 red zone trips in order to lull teams into a false sense of security? Then they can pounce?
C'mon. This team has a great defense and a horrible offense. They are finding ways to win with that formula, but lets not turn this into a whole 4th dimensional chess thing.
Offense isn’t as horrible as it was though...lol
Yep. Got a lot more faith in Hodges than I did with Rudolph
Well, no. The offense *used to be* horrible. Now it's just average, still trending up. Average offense and great defense is enough to win a superbowl.
"You've heard people brag about 'being in the zone'. They don't know what the Hell being in the zone is about. I played in the NFL for 15 years and I was only in the zone that one time." - "Mean" Joe Greene on the 1974 playoff victory over Oakland
Trent Dilfer and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens approve this message...
The numbers I provided are with Duck at the controls. This offense is still looking up at average.
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But if you watch them, they indeed are trending up. Some of the poor stats is the conservative play-calling when they have a lead. Just like many the top yardage passers are playing for teams that fall behind.
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3 Reel Treasure Slots Champion!Remember, they don't ask how; they just ask how many. Wins are wins. I don't need eye popping stats to give me confidence. What I've been seeing is a group of men playing together with passion and energy and its inspiring the fan base. That's what I need to see because it means they are doing the not so glamorous work in the background that brings the average to good teams up to the level of great teams.
Stats can lie. This offense is trending up.
SUMMATION:
No one likes playing the Steelers right now.
Duck and the fellas move the ball, sustain drives, and score points on the BIlls and I will stop posting about any of this for the rest of the regular season. But limited offensive success against the Browns, Bengals, and Cardinals still gets an incomplete in my book.
Confidence sometimes outweighs talent. Winning against those three scrubs turned the offense from timid to aggressive. They may not be any “good”, but they’re not playing scared.
All true. I love watching this team, I support the switch from Rudolph to Hodges. I have just always believed a serious (for whatever that term is worth) playoff team needs to be able to win 3 ways:
defensive struggle
shootout
out execute the other team
Steelers can and have done 2 of those 3. It is what happens when there is a small slip and the defense gets lit up for 25+?
That is what me and a few others have been saying in this post. We think they are capable of putting up points but it hasn't been needed yet. If they make the playoffs the time will come where the O will have to step up. Right now they are playing safe ball and getting the win.
You mean 1 in 3 and 1 in 5?
League wide 3rd down completion is 40% on average. Steelers are at 35% with Duck under center. So... average.
Red zone TD percentage is awful the last 3 games, no question.
I'm sure all of this will improve with the return of Conner, JuJu, and McDonald. Our TE cupboard is pretty bare.
"You've heard people brag about 'being in the zone'. They don't know what the Hell being in the zone is about. I played in the NFL for 15 years and I was only in the zone that one time." - "Mean" Joe Greene on the 1974 playoff victory over Oakland
Not average for either stat and both provide last 3 games broken out separately.
Red zone chances turned into TDs - https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/sta...ne-scoring-pct - 20 percentage points behind the #16 team.
Third downs converted - https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/sta...conversion-pct - 3-5 percentage points off 16th place depending if you look at all games or just the last 3.
Almost one less TD per game than the top half of the league - https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/sta...downs-per-game
It all looks better with Hodges, but the production is still not totally on-line. They are still 5-7 plays per game away from average. That doesnt sound like a great deal, but without the defense playing out of their minds every week, it means losing on an almost weekly basis.
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I just don’t buy that the offense is capable of laying it on anyone right now. When you need either defensive stands or final minutes field goal drives to week in and week out beat some of the bottom tier defensive teams in the league, that seems pretty clear you are a team with a not very good offense.
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Yet somehow so many people expected the Steelers to win a super bowl the past few years when it was the defense that sucked.
I harped on the offense failing at key moments in quite a few posts in previous years. They simply didn't produce up to expectations much of the time, and the defense wasn't able to carry the day when the offense didn't put up 27+ points. Which wasn't going to work with the team as it was configured then. Now they have flipped the talent switch, and we are joyfully animated about the defense, but if we are to actually have the full on Cinderella story, then the offense IS going to have to take strides forward.
The good news is that the arrow is pointing up. The bad news is that they are going to have noticeably and measurably improve. We might find out a lot about the team tomorrow. I am hoping it is good.
Yeah, but I think that's the point. The defense *is* playing out of their minds, and that's the only reason we're even talking about the playoffs. This team would be dead in the water without them.
But we *do* have them and they *are* playing out of their minds. So long as they continue to do that, we can continue to win games.
I maintain that 35% vs 40% 3rd downs is marginal, and the offense is average. Red zone TDs are awful, and I'm not sure why or what needs to be done to correct it. Any thoughts?
I'd say punts per scoring drive would be a better indicator of how the offense is faring overall. Steelers are average for the year (1.1), slightly above average over the last 3 games (1.0) and trending the right way (0.4 in the last game).
"You've heard people brag about 'being in the zone'. They don't know what the Hell being in the zone is about. I played in the NFL for 15 years and I was only in the zone that one time." - "Mean" Joe Greene on the 1974 playoff victory over Oakland
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The Steelers are on pace to lead the league in sacks, QB hits, and takeaways. Only one team since the merger accomplished that feat. The 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers. The original Steel Curtain defense.
That would be some amazing company.
https://steelerswire.usatoday.com/20...s-nfl-defense/
It's awesome because everybody thought that defense was dead and the only way forward was a high flying offense. Turns out the more things change, the more they stay the same.
"You've heard people brag about 'being in the zone'. They don't know what the Hell being in the zone is about. I played in the NFL for 15 years and I was only in the zone that one time." - "Mean" Joe Greene on the 1974 playoff victory over Oakland
That is amazing and look for them to pad their stats tomorrow and don't think the Bills offense is all that.
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