If we can get our run D sewn up, we should win handily. Otherwise, it could be one and done.
With how atrocious our defense has been the past 4 weeks, I don’t see that happening.
Of course, Ben could always have a career day, passing for 380 yards with four touchdowns. That’s pretty much what we’ll need.
I am from Detroit. What are these things you guys refer to.
Pass protection. by 17 sacks you mean per game right
Balanced attack. We got it. We ran 7-8-9 times in three different games this year.
Playoffs I hear things of playoffs . My son is 25 and is not sure we are allowed
Superbowl-Something other teams do in Feb. Since its inception we have not been there
Must be nice to have interest after mid season.
Tickets are still available for your playoff game. What’s with your fan base?
Um, it’s arguably the biggest fan base in the country? We routinely pack stadiums everywhere with black and gold? The Black and Gold Brigade has chapters everywhere? Is that what you mean?
What’s up with yours?
I went off just now to check and see if I could find tickets to the Browns playoff game. For some reason, there were no tickets available for that one. Even Stub Hub didn’t have any! That’s impressive!
Are the Steelers not sold out yet? Because that would be pretty damn pathetic.
The Chargers haven’t sold out yet, and are in danger of being blacked out in the home market. The NFL extended the blackout deadline for 24 hours out of pity for the pathetic Charger “fans,” as if they even exist. Wonder if Pittsburgh will need similar help…
This is the first I’ve heard anything about it. I’m sure there is no way that the game will not be sold out. People aren’t on fire around here, but they’re excited. I think that people do realize that the Steelers aren’t particularly dominating. Maybe in Cleveland they’d be thrilled to have been playing like we have been, but in Pittsburgh we expect a bit more. If others are like me, they are a little shellshocked by watching other people run against us. RUN. Against. the. Steelers? I was talking with colleagues who share my feelings about two instances of an opposing back moving the pile in recent weeks. You cannot know, being fans of wussy teams with suck defenses, what it is like to even write those words. It’s shameful to us.
I don’t have any concerns about the state of Steeler Nation, however. We’ve been through an 8-8 season, and even a (shudder) 6-10 season in recent memory, and still will have opposing cities worried about our ability to pack their stadiums.
Is this directed at me? Spare me your drama, with your #1 ranked defense, and spare me your snide insults. Giants are a perfectly respectable #7 ranked defense this year, so don’t lump them in with the 30th ranked Browns. It just makes you sound ignorant.
As far as franchises go, I’d pick the 86 Giants defense ahead of any Steelers defense.
It was a bit of hyperbole about how we regard our defense around here. Believe me, I wouldn’t lump anyone in with the Browns. (I thought for some reason that you had switched allegiances to the Patriots? I must have had you confused with someone else.)
The fact that you can pick one particular year kind of illustrates my point. We pride ourselves on our perennial ability to completely stop the run. It’s part of our essence. Having our overall D ranked #1 is quite unusual for us. I’ll take it, but it embarrases me that our run defense is not number 1. People in Baltimore might understand this somewhat, but I’m not sure about that.
By the way, I finally saw some local discussion about tickets being available: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_545875.html
Yikes! What’s up with our fan base! The end of Steeler Nation is nigh! Run out and switch from the Black and Gold Brigade to the Brown and Orange Brigade!
Packing your own stadium for a playoff game seems a bit more important.
Nothing, as far as I can tell. They’re quite healthy.
What does this have to do with fanbases?
Oh, sure, our team is in the playoffs, but they haven’t been blowing teams out, so they don’t really hold our interest. We only pay attention when our team is dominating, otherwise, meh.
You’re actually using your fair-weather fickleness in defense of your fanbase.
I hope there’s another mass exodus of your fans in the third quarter like the last time you played Jacksonville.
heh, no worries. I’m mildly curious how you could characterize the Patriots as a wussy team with a suck defense, but no skin off my nose.
Fair point. I do understand, btw, as the Giants had a similar track record in the 80s. The Steelers have kept it going for decades, but a half-decade span in my formative football years sure felt like a history. (I’m talking about specifically shutting down the run. That’s what made the way the Giants beat the Bills in the Superbowl so notable.)
Strahan’s great and all, but the 90s and 2000s haven’t exactly been a banner era for Giants defense.
Check your link again, big guy. “No tickets are available. Some of the possible reasons might be: You’re living in Cleveland. The Mistake on the Lake, where one of the football teams located here has never been to a Superbowl, let alone won one, and has only ever even made it to three AFC Championship Games, where it is, of course, O-fer. Where the fan base is so great that a team had to move out of town entirely. Of course, once doing so, it proceeded to go on to win a title.”
Look, your little attempt at smack failed. A few tickets were returned by the Jags. They were snatched up within 24 hours. Those fans will be at a championship game. You will be left to pout about how much more the Browns deserved to be in instead of the Titans.
I know you’ve only been paying attention to football for a few years, but I’m starting to wonder if that applies to all sports in general. Are you only 12 years old? Let me help you out: A fair weather fan is one whose allegiance to a team lasts only as long as they are winning. A die hard fan remains a fan even if they are unhappy with the team’s play. I think even a casual observer would be able to figure out which category I fall in.
Well, if you get your wish, at least you and the Browns will be able to watch it happen. On television.
Ah, that’s just bitterness because they appear that they would be able to play football without a defense at all. Of course, any top 10 defense is a good one. I just hate this kind of all-passing football. St. Louis was worse, because they had no defense, but at least they could run the ball a bit. I think there should be a rule that no pass play can gain more than 20 yards. That oughta make the games a bit better.
You’re confused. There was no professional football played in the 80’s. (Poor Louis Lipps. The guy could have possibly had a hall of fame career, but he just picked the wrong time to be on the Steelers offense.)
ETA: I notice that above, I said that the Steelers fans would be at a championship game. I’m obviously getting a bit ahead of myself. We’ll just have to see what we see.
You and me both, brother.
On a related note, I agree completely with the concept that pass blocking isn’t what makes an OL good. As Mark Schlereth is quick to point out, pass blocking sucks balls from the perspective of the OL. Because you move backwards, you can’t impose your will on the opponent; can’t take over and dominate a game.
He has always railed against the concept of “short passing game as a substitute for a running game.” Half the point of the rushing attack in the first place is to impose your will on, dominate, and demoralize the defensive front, none of which can happen from pass blocking.
I have (and will continue to) lay the blame for this passing era directly at the feet of Peyton Manning whining like a bitch after the Patriots beat up his receivers in the playoffs several years back. That spurred the NFL to tighten up PI calls, and – surprise, surprise! – teams have been breaking all-time passing records ever since.
Sometimes I wish the NFL were more like hockey. Nobody watches hockey, so the league panders to only the hardcore fans, meaning things like sanctioned fighting are still part of the game. If it were the same in the NFL, there might not be any PI rule at all. Fuck the prissy passing game that wows the slack-jawed yokels. Gimme a solid defense and a strong running game any day of the week.
The only thing I like about this new passing era is that because of the PI enforcement, rushing the passer is highly prized, and as a result we’re seeing more and more effective pass rushers in the league.
Absolutely! There was nothing like watching a team in the fourth quarter after Bettis had been running over them all day long. They generally had nothing left, and it looked like their hearts just weren’t in the game any longer. Conversely, that’s what the Steelers looked like last time we played against the Jaguars. After our offense fought back to tie it up, our defense just had nothing left to stop their running game.
I was mostly joking about making a rule against any passing play gaining more than 20 yards, but I would very, very much like the NFL to adopt the college rules about pass interference.
You’re preaching to the choir, my brother. Your words bring tears to my eyes.
I would love it, if I ever saw it here. Now I’m just envious. I do love seeing Casey Hampton blowing the shit out of the center of the line, but I’ve been thinking that Pittsburgh needs to go back to the 4-3 in order to get more big guys crushing the pocket in.
I’m hoping just once to see, during the post season, Tom Brady get absolutely blown up by somebody. Please! Anybody.
This part is absolutely moronic - there was never lack of fan support in Cleveland, there was a decades-long season ticket waiting list, merchandise sales were always in the top 5. The move was due strictly due to a stubborn owner who was such a poor businessman that he was in financial trouble despite having among the most financially supportive fanbases in the NFL. And there was a city willing to bribe him.
I wasn’t attempting to talk smack. If I had, I might’ve, you know, threw an insult in there somewhere. I was genuinely curious WTF was up with Pittsburgh fans.
A fair weather fan is a fan whose interest and loyalty is determined by the success of a team. You essentially tried to justify the lack of interest in the Steelers due to their recent poor performance.
It’s funny that you keep wanting to work my age into this as implied proof of my knowledge inferiority, as if you can’t learn anything about football in 5+ years of watching. I can almost guarantee you that if we watched game film of a game, I could point out twice as much in terms of scheme, technique, etc.
It’s also amusing that you accuse me of “talking smack”. Find somewhere in this thread where I was even remotely hostile with anyone other than you. You’ve been a willfully ignorant, aggressive dick towards me, and even then I’ve been restrained in my responses towards you.
I’d like to remind, in case it wasn’t clear, that that entire line of logic was a straw man - no one ever disagreed with the idea. He disingenuously twisted my argument after repeatedly pointing out that it was never the argument. See here and the links within.
Sorry to interrupt - please continue to jerk each other off.
There is no lack of interest in the Steelers. Never was. It was a figment of your imagination. Your brilliant football strategery imagination.
Sweet! A very nice start to the game. I was a little worried about the challenge, but over all it was a good drive.
Cut the entire special teams.