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The Steel Tradition
Steelers’ rose-colored glasses are getting foggy
Allow me to start by addressing those who’ve questioned those of us that have not been giving the rubber stamp praise to the Steelers this year. We’ve been some reading some comments that state if you doubt your team, you’re not a real fan.
Let me make this perfectly clear; When the Steelers have been on top of their game in recent years, I’ve been at the mountain top singing their praises. I love going to work talking smack to the hordes of Redskin fans around here in Virginia. And when the Steelers made their improbable run to the Super Bowl in ‘05, I milked that for all it was worth.
But when the Steelers’ performance has warranted it, in my opinion you should be just as generous giving criticism as you when you gave praise. It does not make you any less of a fan if don’t necessarily like what your team is not doing well. Moreover, the fact that there are forums such as these websites and message boards make those discussions that much better.
I can respect those that continue to look at the Steelers’ season to date and state that their glass is still half-full, after all they are still 9-5, but even those of you have to admit that the Steelers’ season is crumbling apart, and fast.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, onto the gut-punching that the Steelers received at the hands of the Jaguars.
Most alarming in my view was the utterly dominating fashion that the Jags’ running game performed over the Steelers’ defense. Not only did the Jags have an incredible 20 play drive to open the third quarter, but they completely squashed any momentum and adrenaline that the Steelers had after tying the game at 22 with a 73 yard drive that was ran right down the Steelers throat. That resulted in Steeler-killer Fred Taylor’s game winning touchdown with two minutes left to go. It was the worst rushing defensive performance the Steelers have had since, well, the last time that Fred Taylor shredded the Steelers back at Three Rivers Stadium in ‘00 for 234 yards and four touchdowns.
The problem is that this is not a one-time occasion for this defense this year. The exact same scenario occured in Denver, when after the Steelers’ offense came back from a two touchdown deficit to tie the game, the Steelers’ defense allowed the Broncos to drive right down the field, starting at the Denver 20 yard line with only 1:10 left in the game.
Perhaps the most glaring plays were the two successful draw plays that the Jags ran on a 3rd and 10 and 3rd and 11, respectively. In addition, it was yet another poor tackling performance by this defense. This defense is getting quite a reputation for making hits, but not wrapping up with those hits to make the tackles. Several times either Taylor or Maurice Jones-Drew spun off big hits, only to get several more yards.
The rushing defenders aren’t the only ones to get some blame though. The often-heralded linebackers, the ones that are supposed to be the playmakers in a 3-4 defense, are getting relatively no pressure on the quarterback. David Garrard is no Tom Brady, he doesn’t get rid of the football in under two seconds. However, even though Clark Haggans got a couple of good hits on Garrard (plus a 15 yard penalty for a hit to the knee), the Steelers as a whole have not gotten a sack in the last two games, and only one in the last three games.
In the secondary, while the return of Troy Polamalu was welcomed, another game, another blown coverage by Anthony Smith. Ryan Clark may not have been the most vocal player by a long shot on the Steelers defense, but he was consistent, that’s for sure.
Offensively, I don’t believe they did a bad job, per se, but the gameplan and playcalling left much to be desired. Despite rushing for 100 yards, Willie Parker got only 14 carries on a cold, very windy day. Conversely, Ben Roethlisberger had 33 pass attempts. Ben had three touchdowns, and had three dropped passes, but the fact that the Steelers had him passing that many times on a day like that. It was capped off by that wonderous call on 4th and 7 to have a TE rollout, although it was a valiant attempt by Heath Miller to get the first down.
Of course, perhaps those 33 pass attempts would have been more successful if Ben wouldn’t have to continue to run for his life every time he goes back for a pass. Marvel Smith especially had a bad game against the Jags, giving up four of the five sacks the Jags had yesterday. If it isn’t already, the woeful performance of the offensive line has become a major liability.
A few weeks ago, we were thinking that the Steeelers could possibly challenge the Colts for the #6 seed in the AFC. Now, even the AFC North Championship is not guaranteed, nor is even a playoff spot, although that’s a little more solid. The Steelers have a quick turnaround now and must go on the road for their last two games. They only have a couple of days’ preparation before flying to St. Louis to face the 3-11 Rams on Thursday night. I would think by now that no game can be thought of as a guaranteed win. After that, it’s a December 30th regular season finale to face the Ravens in Baltimore.
While talking about playoff seeds to some is kinda irrelevant considering how the Steelers are playing, it’s looking right now that the Steelers may have a rematch against the Jags at Heinz Field. If the Steelers win the AFC North, they can finish no lower than 4th in the AFC (thanks again to those who corrected me before). The Jags can finish no higher than 5th since they can’t catch the Colts. However, if the Steelers don’t win the AFC North, but get the last wild card seed at #6, they’ll have to probably go to San Diego to face the red-hot Chargers.
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on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Opinion.
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17 Responses to “Steelers’ rose-colored glasses are getting foggy”
December 17th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Tony, nothing aginst you and all that, but I think I am going to stop reading all of these blogs and scouting reports (maybe even for the rest of the season). I just can not handel all of the disapointment and let down this close to the holidays!!!
It is just that every so often we put together a great team and do something great and then it seems like we just self distruct. Quite franckly I am getting tired of it!!
December 17th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I can understand that, especially when it comes to Steeler Blogs, talk about saturation….
December 17th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Can you say the J-E-T-S how many times did the mighty Steelers throw the ball in that awful game to the Jets years ago when they still had the bus, and lost the game. 14 carries = 100 yards why no more runs? And why not try the two young draft picks to rush the passer, maybe they can wrap up their tackles, but fresh legs might also get to the passer. I live in Raven country, how bad is it when I can’t even rag on the Steelers greatest rivals who lost to winless Dolphins cause the Jags out Steelered the Steelers?!? New game plan, please!!
December 17th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I thought I just said all of that Scott, but I catch your drift….
Hopefully my son and I will be at the Ravens game on the 30th…
December 17th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
I’ve been offered tickets, but am a little leary to go
never know who will show up, and if they start Troy Smith, who knows what can happen.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
it is not what you do with the ball , its how much you score when you got it, how can the steelers run alot with out blocking , also the steelers were down by 3 scores at one point that just about scrapes your running game , the steelers lost because they got knocked around by J,ville all day long, lets hope they can get the last laugh in the play-offs most likely rematch.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
TOMLIN NEEDS TO START STARKS AT LT,PUT FANECA AT RT,MOVE SIMMONS TO CENTER,CUT MAHAN,COLON AT RT,AND THE SAMOWAN GUY AT LG.THE ROONEYS NEED TO SPEND MONEY OR SELL THE TEAM TO SOMEONE WHO ISN’T AFRAID TO SPEND MONEY,THEY NEED STUD FREE AGENTS NOT DRAFT PICKS THATS GONNA TAKE 3YRS TO DEVELOP.THATS THE ONLY WAY TO COMPETE WIT THE PATS .
December 17th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
WHY AREN’T MY POST SHOWING UP
December 17th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
SOMETHINGS WRONG I CAN’T PUT UP COMMENTS
December 17th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
The Steelers will never be a dominant team again as long as Tomlin is involved. He cannot inspire this team to perform and will constantly be out-coached in big or important games. Notice the trend already this year! Did you hear Cowher’s comments at half-time of the New England game. He said NE would come out in the second half and spread out the Steeler defense and indeed they did. Why couldn’t Tomlin figure that out? He is quick to place the blame on “fundamentals”. Sorry, but the Steelers know how to play; they have WON a Super Bowl. The only difference now is that someone else is calling the shots. Maybe he should start taking some of the blame rather than laying it at the feet of the players. Oh, by the way, has anyone noticed how well the Minnesota defense is playing since Tomlin left?
December 17th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
AJ you can’t blame tomlin forthe bs play calling on both sides of the ball,offense we already no ,defense after you tie the game up you let jville march right down yhe field sounds like lebeau is to blame,got beat on draws twice on 3rd and long,lebeau is past his time,maybe we should switch to cover 2.lord knows this 3/4 defense cant pressure my GM.As to cowher he’s 2 for4 in championship games who got out coached by lesser teams in those games not tomlin.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
We all knew this was coming. The Jags have always played us tough. Couple of quick things. Yeah, Willie didn’t get many carries but to get to his 100 yards it was toss from Ben that gave him the big run otherwise he is about 50-60 yards again. The offense did a poor job of getting it going and left the defense out on the field too long. When we had everything going our way, looking at the schedule, most of us saw 2 losses back to back coming with the Pats and Jags. NOBODY saw the mess with Jets!!! I am steeler through and through and we should win the next two weeks. I am sure Ben, Hines, even Faneca will get the team fired up and ready to play. I still marvel at how long they left Marvel in there when he was getting beat so bad. Let’s beat the lambs on Thursday. Weather will not be a factor dome sweet dome
December 17th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
First off, steelers-fan-in-new-england, the CAPS LOCK key is over by the letter “a” key, and yours appears to be stuck on. You should look into that.
As for Tomlin, we need a couple years before we know what his impact is on the team. Let’s face it, we got the same personnel across the board, and for the most part the same or similar assistant coaches.
However…
Remember when Tim Lewis had his stint as DC? Like sitting in the back seat of a car and being helpless while a totally unneccessary car wreck takes place - but the car crash went all season long. I get the same feeling with Bruce Arians as OC. I feel like the games we won were despite his playcalling. And now we simply cannot overcome that glaring weakness. Last time I saw so many people in total agreement was when we had Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington getting torched weekly at corner.
Yikes. Bruce, I really want to see you get a fair shot, but I’m worried that your shot is going to end up in your very own private parts.
Yeah the offensive line is, er, offensive, but so are the plays being called. And you can’t really beat up on a defense when it is spending like 200% more time on the field than it is used to, no thanks to a three-and-punt offensive strategy.
1st down: run
2nd down: run
3rd down: desperation pass (incomplete)
PUNT!
Rinse and repeat for an entire season. Makes me want to sing “hey diddle diddle, Rogel up the middle”, know what I mean, old timers?
Honest, it seems to me - and I know, I don’t even play an NFL coach on television - that some common sense playcalling on the offensive side of the ball would do a wonder of good for this team.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
When it all comes down to it…its about winning the battle within the trenches and putting pressure on the quarterback. To break it down we can start with the Offensive Line which are undersized.
LT- Marvel Smith….Just terrible he has played decent but his game play against the pats and the jags was just awful. He is terrible and should be benched for the rest of the season. Max Starks looked really good out there!!
LG- Alan Faneca….ok people he is a decent guard but when you watch the films he gets beat just as well. I have seen him get muscled around a few times AND miss assignments.
C- Sean Mahan….good center just not in this time period. he would be great like 6-7 years ago when D-lines were 15-20 lbs lighter. He just gets bullied and that head count thing he is doin needs to STOP.
RG- Kendall “Get Beat” Simmons I am not even going to waste my time on this guy. He is terrible and the resigning of him is the worst in franchise history. He gets beat every play and is weak and a terrible player. Why do you even breathe…go sell insurance with Tommy Maddox SERIOUSLY
RT- Willie Colon He had a bad game but who doesnt…he doesnt consistently have bad games as does the rest of the other bums.
The whole line needs to be restructed and we need Max Starks at LT and Willie Colon at RG…everyone else can be replaced with TOP NOTCH Free AGENTS!! They are going to get Ben killed out there…no other quarterback could survive that jailbreak they try to so call “block”
As for the defense Casey Hampton needs help….Brett Keisel is not the answer….he is an average DE very average. He has done nothing this season…We need a DE!!! Aaron Smith is a great player and was dearly missed last game. We have no one to replace him. LB’S James Harrison is the only one making noise out there Farrior and Foote are playin OK. They need to get woodley and Timmons in there ASAP! Those two were getting TRUCKED by Fred Taylor what in the world was goin on. They are getting zero pressure on the quarterback and that is very sad. We can never penetrate anyone else OL but ours gets ran through like a vegas prostitute. Tomlin needs to make some serious decisions and they need to be addressed immediatly and during the offseason mainly focusing on free agency.
I could go on more and more about that team but those are the two main things that are causing the “L’s” Special Teams….just bad…and needs major work. We always talk about talking which is awful but what about blocking for Rossum…and why the hell is NICK F**KING EASON OUT ON KICK RETURN!!!!!
December 18th, 2007 at 9:49 am
let me preface this by stating i am a DIE HARD Steelers fan. i live in Cleveland, born and raised here, but have been a loyal Steeler fan my whole life, all 37 years of it.
you have to admit, we didn’t play anybody the first part of the season. we beat a Browns team on opening day that is nowhere near where it is now. granted, we beat them again here at home, but that outcome wasn’t decided until late in the game. what team can you say we beat that is anything of a contender this year? only Seattle, and we did beat them up, shutting them out. but they were in a bit of a funk when we played them. and they just lost to Carolina?!? The same can be said for beating Buffalo, early in the season, nowhere near as competitive as they are now. San Francisco, please. we have beaten a Cincy team that is totally broken twice and we beat Baltimore who are just as bad this year. i am willing to give the Steelers a pass, though a very skeptical one, for the Miami game. the field conditions were deplorable, but you still should beat a team who hasn’t won a game by more than a last second field goal!
we have, statistically, a great defense. but i am inclined to say that we basically padded those stats by playing terrible teams. look at what happens to us when we play a good team? our defense gets shredded. i know we have had some injuries, but still. where is our pass rush? our offensive line has been horrible in pass protection as well. no continuity. Ben is running for his life back there. we have got to give him more time. i know Willie is leading the league in rushing, or close to it, but it just doesn’t seem like we can rely on our rushing anymore. very sporadic.
the drive the defense gave up at the end of the Jacksonville game, as horrible as that was, wasn’t the worst series by our defense. the 20 play drive to open the 2nd half that Jacksonville layed on us was just disgusting. that killed us and was just a harbinger of things to come, hence the drive at the end of the game. it’s not like Jacksonville is some powerhouse offense. we have got to tackle better. it just looks like we are playing with no heart or fire.
right now, Thursday’s game is a must win. i hope we show some life. we should beat the Rams pretty easily, but then again, if we are as good as we thought, shouldn’t we have beaten the Jets, Cardinals, and Denver?!?
December 18th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Great comments here and I agree with most. NO ONE has the right to question anybody else’s steeler fan loyalty simply because we hold this team to a higher standard (because of their historic success), and we are sick of seeing (and often paying for seeing) BAD FOOTBALL out of them! These are basically the same group that went 16-1 a couple years ago, followed up by a world championship. How is it possible they fell apart last season and are only a little bit better this one?! That’s what I want to know. No one is describing them as “old” - like they do the NE defense, and look how THEY still play!! How can an O-line, made up of players with so many years of NFL experience, SUCK so bad (oh, I forgot, Jeff Hartings blocked 4 guys each snap with his bad knees). I blame it all on lack of leadership, from coaches on down to vet players. Joey P. may’ve been getting old but there is no more “swagger” left in this team.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Opinion from a Steeler fan stuck in Patsland
To add a few more comments, that no one is saying but should.
1: Whiz was a great OC…gone, what has Arians done in the past (Cleveland??)
2: Multiple choice question: What is hurting the line most?
a. Ben is now calling the blocking assignments.
b. Russ Grimm was a great Oline coach.
c. Sean Mahan sucks, Tomlin isn’t pulling a hurt Marvel early enough, Faneca has slipped.
d. all of the above.
3. Another multiple choice question.
The defense is now performing at a lower level because…
a. The linebackers/dbs had their arms amputated before the Jets game.
b. Anthony Smith has no discipline (come on the Jag pic was a gift)
c. Too many inside blitzes (look at the lineman splits of NE and Jax, clog up the middle, no one gets a free shot)
d No one on the d-line plays well enough to deserve a double team (except maybe Casey), therefore the Oline gets to block the iILB’s
e. All of the above
Personally, I think it is all of the above. As one famous “:Burgher” used to say…
“That’s just my opinion…I could be wrong”!
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