Expectations for the offense

[RunNGun]

What does everyone think this offense's potential is? Imo, we are in the 15-20 range. With Ben back at the helm, the offense is obviously better. Another reason the offense will be improved is Chase Claypool. Imo, the biggest asset missing last season was a deep threat. Hopefully, Claypool is ready sooner rather than later and can be that guy from the jump. He can definitely stretch the field and help to keep the safeties out of the box. The addition of Ebron should also help in that regard.

Claypool should also assist in the running game not only by making the defense respect the deep ball, but his run blocking as well. Everyone witnessed defenses loading the box last year on a consistent basis. I believe teams will be a little more hesitant once they see Claypool make a few Mike Wallace/Martavis Bryant type plays. Claypool will be a huge factor in how well this offense can produce. He's really going to help open everything up.

[Butch]

No the biggest asset missing last year was a capable QB. As long as Ben is healthy the offense will be vastly improved from last year. If we had competent play from the QB position we make the playoffs. Last year we basically had 2 rookies.

[polamalubeast]

I believe in the first month the offense are going to be average, because of the rust of Ben and our new players since the last 2 years, but at least the steelers will have a chance to win with our defense, but the more the season goes, the better. Ben and the offense will be better, like a bit in the 2017 season

Something that is going to be important also it will be to limit the turnovers(fumble and interception) .... They have like 25 games in a row or something like that with at least one turnovers ..... The best offenses and the championship teams are able to protect the ball.

[RunNGun]

No the biggest asset missing last year was a capable QB. As long as Ben is healthy the offense will be vastly improved from last year. If we had competent play from the QB position we make the playoffs. Last year we basically had 2 rookies.

I should have worded that better. Obviously, Ben was what we missed the most. Not having a guy who could stretch the defense definitely didn't help out the 2 bums that took Ben's place though.

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I believe in the first month the offense are going to be average, because of the rust of Ben and our new players since the last 2 years, but at least the steelers will have a chance to win with our defense, but the more the season goes, the better. Ben and the offense will be better, like a bit in the 2017 season

Something that is going to be important also it will be to limit the turnovers(fumble and interception) .... They have like 25 games in a row or something like that with at least one turnovers ..... The best offenses and the championship teams are able to protect the ball.

Agreed. I think they start slow. Hopefully, they turn up at the right point in the season to make a run in the playoffs. Turnovers are definitely an issue. There's no doubt Ben needs to clean up the ints. As long as Ben stays healthy though, I could see the Steelers being a top 10 offense after week 10, but middle of the pack until that point.

[Butch]

I don't think the offense will be bad out the gate as has been stated. I think just the opposite, that the time off and the surgery will make all the difference. I believe Ben has been in pain for some time.

As for stretching the field the QBs didn't have the confidence to make those throws. Sometimes the WR is wide open other times the QB needs to have the skills to throw them open. I do not rank anything the offense did last year as a true measuring stick due to how horrible the QB play was. I like all the doubting that "experts" are using against this team if other teams buy into it they will be in for a rude awakening.

[polamalubeast]

I don't think the offense will be bad out the gate as has been stated. I think just the opposite, that the time off and the surgery will make all the difference. I believe Ben has been in pain for some time.

As for stretching the field the QBs didn't have the confidence to make those throws. Sometimes the WR is wide open other times the QB needs to have the skills to throw them open. I do not rank anything the offense did last year as a true measuring stick due to how horrible the QB play was. I like all the doubting that "experts" are using against this team if other teams buy into it they will be in for a rude awakening.

I said average, not bad but I hope you are right on that!

For your second point, I believe that if Ryan Fitzpatrick would have been our QB last year, the steelers would have made the playoffs as the 5th seed with 10 wins and they would perhaps have a playoff win in Houston .... I mean in the last 9 games the steelers had only 10 offensives TD and they won 5 of his games!!!...2 of his losses were by only 6 and 7 points

I know our offense was depleted, but in 2019 in the second half of the season, the Dolphins had a good offense with Fitzpatrick even if outside of Parker, it was not a good offense on paper!

[polamalubeast]

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the addition of Matt Canada helps the steelers for the running game and the playaction ... It could have an impact like Teryl Austin had on the turnover in defense last year ... We will see.

[Mojouw]

The offense just needs to be middle of the pack with no crippling turnovers and they likely win 8-9 games and make a wildcard.

Better than that with a high efficiency on converting drives to points and you have a 10 win squad and who knows?

To really make a deep playoff run, gotta scare people and demonstrate you can put up points on anyone. Do that, ans teams will start taking chances, making mistakes, and allow the defense chances to create havoc.

[Born2Steel]

This year's offense will be a difference maker. Ben with JuJu, Johnson, Wash, and Claypool. Add in the run game with a healthy Conner, Snell, and McFarland. Plus the addition of Ebron to go with McDonald. This offense will produce early and often. Expect the defense to continue being dominant and the offense to surprise everyone.

[Mojouw]

This year's offense will be a difference maker. Ben with JuJu, Johnson, Wash, and Claypool. Add in the run game with a healthy Conner, Snell, and McFarland. Plus the addition of Ebron to go with McDonald. This offense will produce early and often. Expect the defense to continue being dominant and the offense to surprise everyone.

I think the see defense falls off a bit this year. Last several years, no one's really sustained dominance season to season on that side of the ball. Say they tumble to top 12, as long as the offense climbs to 15-20; it balances out.

[polamalubeast]

I think the see defense falls off a bit this year. Last several years, no one's really sustained dominance season to season on that side of the ball. Say they tumble to top 12, as long as the offense climbs to 15-20; it balances out.

Too much talent in defense to not be in the top 10 ... I agree with the turnovers, but they were elite even without the turnovers, like in yards, yards per play, etc.

The 2018 Jaguars and the 2019 Bears had still an elite defense after their big year on defense the season before(top 4 defense in PPG) but their problem was that their offense was dysfunctional and a laughing stock.So if they were just fine on offense, they would have been fine but instead the frustration started..... If our defense has any help from our offense , they'll have a good chance of being in the top 5 again.If not, the frustration will start, but it's the worst case scenario.Last great defense that had help with their offense(more that one year) was the Seattle Seahawks in 2012 to 2015 and they've had their number year after year.

The 2016 Broncos were also elite on defense especially against the pass even if they had lost some player like Malik Jackson but their problem was their offense

It is possible for a defense to be in the top,2 or more years in a row, but for the success of a team, it is possible to win a lot of game in a season without much help from your offense for one year , but without help from your offense for mutiple years it is almost impossible .... A team can win mostly because of a defense in mutiples years but you need help from your offense.

[Butch]

Too much talent in defense to not be in the top 10 ... I agree with the turnovers, but they were elite even without the turnovers, like in yards, yards per play, etc.

The 2018 Jaguars and the 2019 Bears had still an elite defense after their big year on defense the season before(top 4 defense in PPG) but their problem was that their offense was dysfunctional and a laughing stock.So if they were just fine on offense, they would have been fine but instead the frustration started..... If our defense has any help from our offense , they'll have a good chance of being in the top 5 again.If not, the frustration will start, but it's the worst case scenario.Last great defense that had help with their offense(more that one year) was the Seattle Seahawks in 2012 to 2015 and they've had their number year after year.

The 2016 Broncos were also elite on defense especially against the pass even if they had lost some player like Malik Jackson but their problem was their offense

It is possible for a defense to be in the top,2 or more years in a row, but for the success of a team, it is possible to win a lot of game in a season without much help from your offense for one year , but without help from your offense for mutiple years it is almost impossible .... A team can win mostly because of a defense in mutiples years but you need help from your offense.

I sorta agree with this. The D was great last year with a horrible offense. I believe that will change with the addition of Ben. This year the offense should be able to sustain drives and score when the defense gets them the ball deep in enemy territory. Both of those things will help the D to catch their breaths and not wear out at the end of the season. I think it is possible they will improve this year.

[Mojouw]

Too much talent in defense to not be in the top 10 ... I agree with the turnovers, but they were elite even without the turnovers, like in yards, yards per play, etc.

The 2018 Jaguars and the 2019 Bears had still an elite defense after their big year on defense the season before(top 4 defense in PPG) but their problem was that their offense was dysfunctional and a laughing stock.So if they were just fine on offense, they would have been fine but instead the frustration started..... If our defense has any help from our offense , they'll have a good chance of being in the top 5 again.If not, the frustration will start, but it's the worst case scenario.Last great defense that had help with their offense(more that one year) was the Seattle Seahawks in 2012 to 2015 and they've had their number year after year.

The 2016 Broncos were also elite on defense especially against the pass even if they had lost some player like Malik Jackson but their problem was their offense

It is possible for a defense to be in the top,2 or more years in a row, but for the success of a team, it is possible to win a lot of game in a season without much help from your offense for one year , but without help from your offense for mutiple years it is almost impossible .... A team can win mostly because of a defense in mutiples years but you need help from your offense.

I sorta agree with this. The D was great last year with a horrible offense. I believe that will change with the addition of Ben. This year the offense should be able to sustain drives and score when the defense gets them the ball deep in enemy territory. Both of those things will help the D to catch their breaths and not wear out at the end of the season. I think it is possible they will improve this year.

I think the sacks will stay around the same (45-50) but the turnovers come down by about 6 and the yards per play given up creeps up a bit. I just don't think that those last two numbers are sustainable at their league leading rates from last season. Will the defense still be good? Absolutely. Last season they were between 4-6 overall from most of the rankings I can find. A couple of slippages in some of the stats I pointed out and that pushes them down to the 10-12 range. They could be better; it isn't impossible.

I just predict that the defense will not get 2-3 turnovers per game. They will not pull a rabbit out of their hat at every critical moment and this board will be flooded with calls for heads on spikes ranging from Tomlin to Butler and Colbert for not getting a "true" NT. Dupree will be lit up by fans after every game for his contract. And on and on. Meanwhile, the defense will be basically 80-90% of what it was last year; but last year was just one of those seasons. 38 turnovers? I believe they are capable of that, but I would never ever count on it happening.

On balance, they may totally be a better team record wise for the reasons you two have pointed out.

[polamalubeast]

I have said several times including in my last post that I agreed with you for the turnovers.20-25 is possible, but the good news is that this defense does not rely only on turnovers ... That's my point ... The turnovers were more important in 2019 for our depleted offense than for our defense.

My only concern with this defense if they are healthy is our run defense but outside of that our pass defense has a very good chance of being great and if our defense has any help from our offense, outside of the top 10 would be a major disappointment(I mean they were in the top 12 in PPG in 2015 to 2017 and 16th in 2018 because of more turnovers on offense, not because they were good, but they had help from our offense), especially the steelers have investing so much in defense for a very long time. ..I mean, they have at least 3 all-pro caliber players in their defense in Heyward, Fitzpatrick and Watt, 2 good corners with depth behind that, Bush could be better in year 2 too.

The only problem this defense might have is some players are injured in positions where they have less depth.

Nothing wrong with having big expectations on our defense.It's not like our defense, outside the turnovers had a historic year for this era.

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To be honest, I expect at least top 5 in defense this year ... To be the best is not impossible...The steelers have invested so many first round pick and even in the free agent for the CB position in the last few years, so last year it was about damn time to get results on that and they need to continue on that this year

[polamalubeast]

To be back in the topic,what are the expectations for Ebron in 2020?

[RunNGun]

To be back in the topic,what are the expectations for Ebron in 2020?

I like the idea of having Vance, Ebron, Claypool, and Juju on the field at once. Imo, they can create a lot of mismatches with that personnel in the passing and running game. I'm definitely skeptical of what I believe Ebron can do. He's a piss poor blocker, but he can get vertical up the seam. Like I mentioned before, adding him and Claypool should really help to open things up underneath for Juju and Diontae. I don't look for Ebron to be all that productive, but I think he helps Diontae and Juju get some open space to operate.

[Edman]

The Steelers need an average Offense. Put up points, take time off the clock. Do the basic fundamentals right. They could not do any of those things last season no matter who was under center. Ben included.

Hopefully Canada is able to add some wrinkles to open up the receivers and prevent the offense from getting stale and weak.

[RunNGun]

The Steelers need an average Offense. Put up points, take time off the clock. Do the basic fundamentals right. They could not do any of those things last season no matter who was under center. Ben included.

Hopefully Canada is able to add some wrinkles to open up the receivers and prevent the offense from getting stale and weak.

Imo, they aren't built for a time control offense. They're not going to win a lot of games playing smashmouth football. The oline isn't what it was 2 or 3 years ago. They're an offense that will have to use the pass to set up the run and not vice versa. Of course, we want a competent running game, but our running game depends on Ben's arm, as weird as that sounds. If Ben is slinging the rock and the safeties are respecting him, then the running game will be productive. If he's off, you will see a lot of what we witnessed last year..IMHO.

[polamalubeast]

An offense can control the clock with a good passing game .... What kills a defense are the 3 and out and the turnovers.

[Butch]

The Steelers need an average Offense. Put up points, take time off the clock. Do the basic fundamentals right. They could not do any of those things last season no matter who was under center. Ben included.

Hopefully Canada is able to add some wrinkles to open up the receivers and prevent the offense from getting stale and weak.

LOL yeah Ben played 1 whole game and part of another before having season ending injury, but let's not let facts get in the way when trying to take a pot shot at Ben.

[polamalubeast]

I like the idea of having Vance, Ebron, Claypool, and Juju on the field at once. Imo, they can create a lot of mismatches with that personnel in the passing and running game. I'm definitely skeptical of what I believe Ebron can do. He's a piss poor blocker, but he can get vertical up the seam. Like I mentioned before, adding him and Claypool should really help to open things up underneath for Juju and Diontae. I don't look for Ebron to be all that productive, but I think he helps Diontae and Juju get some open space to operate.

Our TE coach (James Daniels) said that the blocking for Ebron is correctable ... I hope he is right ... Ebron will never be a great blocker but if at least he is not bad and he make an effort on that, we're gonna be fine .... But it's as receiver which is at its best.

[polamalubeast]

Be at least in the top 10 need to be the goal.This is possible too!

Kovacevic: Offense won’t just rebound …
it’ll roar back into form

https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2...ining-camp-dk/

[pczach]

I think the see defense falls off a bit this year. Last several years, no one's really sustained dominance season to season on that side of the ball. Say they tumble to top 12, as long as the offense climbs to 15-20; it balances out.

That's possible, but if the offense is more efficient this year the defense won't need to be on the field as much. My biggest concern is replacing Hargrave. If they get solid play by his replacements, I think this defense and this team will have a very good year.

[RunNGun]

Our TE coach (James Daniels) said that the blocking for Ebron is correctable ... I hope he is right ... Ebron will never be a great blocker but if at least he is not bad and he make an effort on that, we're gonna be fine .... But it's as receiver which is at its best.

Imo, they will utilize him in what he's good at. Can't teach an old dog new tricks. I think at this point in his career he is what he is. He's basically a big WR. Does anyone know who the #1 TE is? I assume Vance?

[RunNGun]

An offense can control the clock with a good passing game .... What kills a defense are the 3 and out and the turnovers.

100%. Very difficult to do though. Brady and Manning were/are great at it. All comes down to those 3rd down conversions that we were so terrible at last year with MR and Duck.

[polamalubeast]

100%. Very difficult to do though. Brady and Manning were/are great at it. All comes down to those 3rd down conversions that we were so terrible at last year with MR and Duck.

This is possible to do this if your QB completes 67-68% of his passes like Ben has already done multiple times in the past, since a complete pass does not stop the clock .... The key is not to be too much pass happy and as you say to be good in 3rd down.

[Steeler-in-west]

I expect the steelers offense to be very good, maybe not great because of Ben's age and his declining mobility but he still has the offensive line (better than average), an improved wr corps with Ebron and McDonald at TE (i would say much better than average) and the RB's (better than average - if Conner stays healthy). Ben is still the Cadillac, last year we had a couple pintos.

with the defense carrying on from last year - i have a hard time seeing this team less than 10-6 and more likely 11-5 or 12-4.

[Born2Steel]

I believe in the first month the offense are going to be average, because of the rust of Ben and our new players since the last 2 years, but at least the steelers will have a chance to win with our defense, but the more the season goes, the better. Ben and the offense will be better, like a bit in the 2017 season

Something that is going to be important also it will be to limit the turnovers(fumble and interception) .... They have like 25 games in a row or something like that with at least one turnovers ..... The best offenses and the championship teams are able to protect the ball.

The lack of preseason games is going to have several offenses slow out of the gate. Teams like the Chiefs who are returning 10 starters on the offense are going to have an early advantage. The Steelers have enough returning they should be better than most. Ben, the OL mostly, McDonald, JuJu, Wash, Switzer, Conner have all played together and have been within the system long enough. There will be some growing pains with some of the others but the nucleus should be solid by now. I think that the second half of the season this Steelers' team can be elite.

Turnovers and penalties lose more games than anything else. I was coached that growing up and coached that myself to every team I was part of. MUST protect the ball.

[Mojouw]

The lack of preseason games is going to have several offenses slow out of the gate. Teams like the Chiefs who are returning 10 starters on the offense are going to have an early advantage. The Steelers have enough returning they should be better than most. Ben, the OL mostly, McDonald, JuJu, Wash, Switzer, Conner have all played together and have been within the system long enough. There will be some growing pains with some of the others but the nucleus should be solid by now. I think that the second half of the season this Steelers' team can be elite.

Turnovers and penalties lose more games than anything else. I was coached that growing up and coached that myself to every team I was part of. MUST protect the ball.

I think that more so than a "typical" season, the first few weeks will be a ramp-up for teams. If they can go no worse than 2-2; that should be a decent table setter for a run to the playoffs.

[polamalubeast]