Enigma869 wrote:YoungJRNY wrote:
I just don't like how the Steelers are entering the playoffs whatsoever. I feel they are going on a downward spiral as far as health is considered. The Steelers have some more significant injuries to their list after today. Leading tackler on Special Teams and a standout player on our dime defense, Cortez Allen may have a torn bicep. Rashard Mendenhall may have torn his ACL and FS Ryan Clark may not play in Denver due to his sickle cell trait that almost left him dead in 2007 in Denver's high altitudes. The Steelers should be able to handle Denver on paper but it'll be a tough game knowing we will probably have to travel to Baltimore in the Divisional Round and that is always a bruiser. The Steelers lack of production this season on the road is a concern but BRING IT ON, no room for error now.
While I don't disagree with your assessment of the Steelers, there is ZERO chance they're not beating Touchdown Jesus! Boston College could beat the Broncos. I feel very differently about the Steelers now than I did about a month ago. I don't see them winning their second round game, and a month ago, I thought they were the favorite from the AFC to get to (and get smoked) in The Super Bowl. The Mendenhall thing really isn't an issue, at all for me. The reality is that Pittsburgh doesn't run the football, so it doesn't matter who their running back is. Not to mention, Mendenall really isn't anything special. The Steelers run for 8 more yards a game than the Patriots do. The problem for the Steelers, as I see it, is that they simply can't score enough points to beat any team who can actually score. They are in the bottom third of the league when it comes to scoring points, and if you really look at their schedule, they really haven't even played any teams (beyond the Patriots) who can score points the entire season. If you're a Steelers fan, you can still hang your hat on the fact that they give up the fewest points per game, but when you look at most of the teams they played, most of those teams simply cannot score points.
John, that was AWESOME. Pretty refreshing to see a post from you to not see "Shitsburgh" or "Rapistberger" in there somewhere regarding the Steelers. That's pretty much spot on & exactly how I see the Steelers and how I feel as a diehard Steelers fan entering the 2011 playoffs. The last impressive win on the season for me for the Steelers was against the Patriots. Since then, they haven't been that great, kind of up and down with chemistry due to severity with injuries at elite positions (they DID put together a perfect game against the Bengals at Heinz Field a couple games ago but the overall up and downs started when Ben and Pouncey got hurt against the Browns on that Thursday Night matchup.) The offense hasn't been on the same page as of late, hence, Ben playing the entire game yesterday against the Browns to build that back up and also get familiar with playing with his ankle sprain (atleast Ben seemed mobile again.)
If you're a Steelers fan, you can still hang your hat on the fact that they give up the fewest points per game, but when you look at most of the teams they played, most of those teams simply cannot score points.
Yep, also agree. The other side of that, I STILL don't trust this defense against elite offense's or in crunch time. Time and time again, we've seen the likes of Joe Flacco, Blaine Gabbert, Curtis Painter, and even Tyler Palko have chances to win the game in regulation and even Colt McCoy some weeks ago put up numbers on the #1 passing defense in the NFL. That defense has produced only 35 sacks and 15 turnovers. To compare, they had 48 sacks and 35 turnovers last season. Their four miserable fumble recoveries will set a new franchise low by far. I just think out of the 3 elite teams right now in the AFC (Patriots; Ravens; Steelers) the Steelers rank 3rd under Baltimore (balance in running game) and New England (one of the top scoring offense's.)
