So Troy is out again this week. We should be able to win without him, so I would prefer he stay out and get healthy. But damn, we do need to finish Q4!
I have people coming to watch, so I won’t be back until this evening.
Go Steelers!
I’m glad they’re keeping him out another week. We need him and Timmons at full strength to keep teams from going to the tight ends when we’re blitzing. Sweed is back in the line-up too. I think they’ll give him some shots deep and that Tomlin had his return planned for this game when he sat him down. The Lions are improved but still a good team to run Sweed deep against. Willie Parker is sitting again too, we’re not far away from the bye week so should be able to set everyone up for a good stretch run the way things are going.
The team released Redman again and brought back Nick Eason but he’s inactive today. I’m still waiting to see our first look at Ziggy Hood holding down the left side to see what he can do. Brett Keisel hasn’t looked strong on the right side, maybe they should give Hood some reps there to see how he looks. On the other hand you can tell Casey Hampton is in a contract year. Big Snack has been getting a nice push on passing plays and has been playing to the whistle lately. As always, Aaron Smith has been a rock on the left side.
This is the first game in a while where they won’t be forced to keep LaMarr Woodley in coverage for half the game, maybe this is the week we finally see the pass rush going at full strength.
Wow. Even against the Lions we tried to lose! But a win is still a win! Go Steelers!
The powerful Lions managed to hold the Steelers to a standstill. Hard to see that team as a Superbowl contender. Atlanta was much better.
I guess you have to look for any positives you can when you’re a Detroit sports fan these days. At least you can feel fairly confident that the Lions won’t end up choking at the end of the season.
No, we know better. It is the 2-3 Steelers that have to create a positive message as their season crumbles before them.
2-3? Hmmm. I suppose winning by only 8 points over a team as shitty as the Lions might be seen as a loss in some ways, but it does go down in the books as a win.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Lions played them to a standstill. The game was never really in doubt, not even at the end. I will say that the Steelers need to get back to closing out games, but they had the better of the play throughout the game.
The Lions were two plays from overtime. There certainly ought to be some doubt.
What happened to the defense? You’re starting to look like the '03 Buccaneers.
The '03 Buccaneers are our destiny. At some point this defense will get old faster than the front office can resign bodies. That doesn’t seem to be the problem right now. Is the secondary looking bad because of the lack of pass rush? Is the pass rush ineffective because receivers are getting open too quick?
I think teams have done their homework and know how to attack the D right now. The loss of Polamalu has been bigger than it should be because teams are going right after his replacements on third-and-long. Ratliff and Carter have been beaten like drums. Fans are clamoring for some of the young guys to be in there but if they were better they would be there. The depth just isn’t there at safety. Every team has depth issues somewhere and ours is being exposed right now. The D has been pretty good most of the team. Even the secondary has been good but teams have found a weak spot and until the Steelers respond there’s no reason for them to let up.
The really weird part is you’re 4th in total defense.
Whaaaaaaa??? :eek:
Holy shit you’re right. I didn’t even know that. I think Ben’s pick 6’s are making the D look worse than it is. I still don’t like the fourth quarter switch from cover-2 to 3-deep zone. They did it last year too but were successful at it then.
It does seem worse than that, doesn’t it? In part that may be due to what we expect from them - it’s shocking to see them giving up long drives for touchdowns so regularly.
However, I’m not actually terribly surprised that they’re still fourth overall - they remain simply dominating in the beginning of the game. I believe they’ve not allowed a point during the first quarter so far. The run defense also remains very, very good.
I’d also note that it should be the case that Ben has one pick 6 and Santonio has one.
I feel pretty good about the team despite the little problems that have been cropping up. The area I’m not feeling any optimism about is Aaron Smith going out late in the last game. He didn’t come back and now the team has sent him for more tests and he won’t be practicing this week. Anyone remember the last time he was injured? It wasn’t pretty, the Jaguars ran all over us. Smith missed a lot of practice time last year for his son’s cancer treatments and it didn’t affect his play any so we know he can sit out practice and play well but it sounds like he might have to miss some games for this.
You’re right, I forgot about Santonio’s. He’s looked more on the ball the past few weeks.
I’ll repeat what I said earlier: I think I like Mendenhall better than Parker (as long as he keeps holding onto the ball)
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It’s no secret I’ve long been a huge unfan of Parker’s. In fact, I’m honestly troubled by how accepting Steeler nation has been of his running style.
Just to repeat myself, a running game has to be relentless. It has to take control of the game, be able to kill the clock, and physically wear down the defense by the fourth quarter. The linebackers have to have their hands on their knees between plays because they are taking such a toll.
Parker goes down on first contact almost without fail, often in the backfield, and has never been reliable enough to build a drive around.
I hope better days are ahead.
He was reliable enough to win two Super Bowls around despite a so-so passing game.
I think Parker ran harder earlier in his career. He was never a tackle-breaker though and Rashard has gained 103 yards after contact in the last two games. What I like about Mendenhall is he reads the hole so fast the linemen don’t need to hold their blocks as long as they do with Parker. He’s a better receiver too. Willie picks up blitzers pretty well for a little guy though but it’s telling that he’s never been the third-down back. I still like him though, a lot of guys don’t play well when they aren’t being pushed; it’s not the way we want it to be but it’s the way it is. A little competition will help FWP. I think his pass catching ability is what will eventually get Mendenhall in the starting line-up ahead of Willie as much as anything else.
In 2005, it was Jerome Bettis and not Wille Parker who ran over Brian Erlacher and helped us get the wildcard spot. Ben Roethlisberger carried the team on his back to get us through 3 road playoff games. Go back and check out Parker’s stats for that Superbowl. Outside of one long run, how many yards did he get? His going down on contact killed drives and made that game closer than it ought to have been.
As for last year, go back and see how many TDs Parker had all year. Our inability to get the ball in the end zone on the ground almost kept us from making it through the playoffs. In fact, apart from one glorious season, he’s never gotten more than 5 TDs all year long. That ain’t Steeler football.
I really don’t think any case can be made for your argument whatsoever.