Are You Ready for Some Football - Steelers/Cowboys

[Malkamaniac]

I just hope that the Steelers either draft or sign a running back. Mendenhall being in the dog house and the other three not producing gives teams the ability to just pin their ears back at Ben. Replacing Arians with Haley so far has been a step back, because the initial plan to run has backfired and now nothing is clicking. Mendenhall was at least a threat to break it. With Ike and Dwyer in a tandem you can basically bank that there's no run 20+ if you don't respect it enough because you can catch both of those guys.

[Idoit40fans]

Wasn't the defense playing with its like 4th and 5th corners? The defense may be the problem, but its certainly not LeBeau.

[Tim Thomasen]

I just hope that the Steelers either draft or sign a running back. Mendenhall being in the dog house and the other three not producing gives teams the ability to just pin their ears back at Ben. Replacing Arians with Haley so far has been a step back, because the initial plan to run has backfired and now nothing is clicking. Mendenhall was at least a threat to break it. With Ike and Dwyer in a tandem you can basically bank that there's no run 20+ if you don't respect it enough because you can catch both of those guys.

I hope so too, but I wouldn't use the 1st round pick to do it. I would use that pick for the defense. But yeah something has to change, Mendy is done and the other two we got are nothing but curtain jerkers. It's frustrating to watch games where you see RB's like Rice, Richardson, Charles and Murray being able to break holes and change directions on a dime while our guys are luck enough to pick up three yards on a play.

[Bioshock]

Mediocre team is mediocre.

In my honest opinion, this isn't the coaches faults. Sure, the coaching hasn't been great but it isn't the reason for the Steelers coming up short. It's the personnel.

It doesn't matter how good of a scheme you have if your players can't execute and we have all seen how bad the execution has been lately. Beyond Heath, Clark and Ben, what players have been playing well that have been on the team for any long duration? This is what happens when you have a draft like 2008 and a couple misses here and there. The Steelers will bounce back but they really need to shed even more of the "old guard" to do so.

Also, DeCastro is a beast.

[Tim Thomasen]

Mediocre team is mediocre.

In my honest opinion, this isn't the coaches faults. Sure, the coaching hasn't been great but it isn't the reason for the Steelers coming up short. It's the personnel.

It doesn't matter how good of a scheme you have if your players can't execute and we have all seen how bad the execution has been lately. Beyond Heath, Clark and Ben, what players have been playing well that have been on the team for any long duration? This is what happens when you have a draft like 2008 and a couple misses here and there. The Steelers will bounce back but they really need to shed even more of the "old guard" to do so.

Also, DeCastro is a beast.

Oh that 2008 draft was terrible. Mendenhall never really lived up to the expectations of a 1st rounder and Limas Sweed was horrible and now is playing in the CFL for the Roughriders.

[Bioshock]

Mediocre team is mediocre.

In my honest opinion, this isn't the coaches faults. Sure, the coaching hasn't been great but it isn't the reason for the Steelers coming up short. It's the personnel.

It doesn't matter how good of a scheme you have if your players can't execute and we have all seen how bad the execution has been lately. Beyond Heath, Clark and Ben, what players have been playing well that have been on the team for any long duration? This is what happens when you have a draft like 2008 and a couple misses here and there. The Steelers will bounce back but they really need to shed even more of the "old guard" to do so.

Also, DeCastro is a beast.

Oh that 2008 draft was terrible. Mendenhall never really lived up to the expectations of a 1st rounder and Limas Sweed was horrible and now is playing in the CFL for the Roughriders.

Indeed, but hey, it happens. Just gotta hit on the next few drafts for the defense. I think that O-Line and offense overall is in pretty good shape outside of another guard (Colon is done) and another running back. And hey, you can draft effective backs all through the draft.

[Idoit40fans]

Yeah, you get a "good" back and a good O-Line with a QB that can win makes them great. They have the QB and the O-Line is pretty much in place. Gotta reset the D though. hah.

[Tim Thomasen]

Mediocre team is mediocre.

In my honest opinion, this isn't the coaches faults. Sure, the coaching hasn't been great but it isn't the reason for the Steelers coming up short. It's the personnel.

It doesn't matter how good of a scheme you have if your players can't execute and we have all seen how bad the execution has been lately. Beyond Heath, Clark and Ben, what players have been playing well that have been on the team for any long duration? This is what happens when you have a draft like 2008 and a couple misses here and there. The Steelers will bounce back but they really need to shed even more of the "old guard" to do so.

Also, DeCastro is a beast.

Oh that 2008 draft was terrible. Mendenhall never really lived up to the expectations of a 1st rounder and Limas Sweed was horrible and now is playing in the CFL for the Roughriders.

Indeed, but hey, it happens. Just gotta hit on the next few drafts for the defense. I think that O-Line and offense overall is in pretty good shape outside of another guard (Colon is done) and another running back. And hey, you can draft effective backs all through the draft.

It does, your right. Teams have bad drafts. Cowher had a few and so did Tomlin did as well. I'm confident we can turn it around through the draft because we have a management team that knows how to draft. I agree that our offensive line has improved this year. I like DeCastro and i've been impressed by Mike Adams so far. We got to improve on defense and at running back.

After cooling off, i'm not as mad as I was when we just lost because it makes me realize just how good we really have it as Steeler fans. Over the last 40 years we have consistently make the playoffs and have drafted well. We could easily be the Buffalo Bills where we haven't made the playoffs since 1999, have had bad draft after bad draft and have made stupid decsions (like giving all that money to Fitzpatrick halfway through last year just because he won a few games). Seeing dud franchises like that makes me really appreciate how good we have it despite the faults of this current club.

I just get upset because we had this game and lost because of stupidity and because the loss was to "America's Team".

[Tim Thomasen]

Yeah, you get a "good" back and a good O-Line with a QB that can win makes them great. They have the QB and the O-Line is pretty much in place. Gotta reset the D though. hah.

You say reset the defense and I agree, but if it was up to you what position would you upgrade with the first pick?

[Idoit40fans]

Yeah, you get a "good" back and a good O-Line with a QB that can win makes them great. They have the QB and the O-Line is pretty much in place. Gotta reset the D though. hah.

You say reset the defense and I agree, but if it was up to you what position would you upgrade with the first pick?

Linebacker is gonna thin out really quick...though tackle is going to need addressed any minute now as well.

[ulf]

I think we need a safety fairly quickly, and a MLB. Harrison has another couple years, and Woodley and Timmons are younger. Woodley might need replaced just based on performance though. I think Worilds is a serviceable 3rd OLB. Ta'amu was supposed to be the next nose guard, so we'll see if he keeps his life in order.

[Steve]

Yeah I think a lot of it is going to depend on those recent high draft picks spent on the offensive and defensive line. I am looking forward to seeing what pouncey & decastro can do in the inferior of the line.

[TheHammer24]

It's really hard for me to comprehend the D complaints when the D is #1 in the league. Today was realistically their worst game of the season and I recognize that it needs rebuilt in the coming years, but only Steelers fans are so spoiled to think the #1 D in the league is inadequate because it doesn't get enough sacks/turnovers.

[PhantomJB93]

Yeah, you get a "good" back and a good O-Line with a QB that can win makes them great. They have the QB and the O-Line is pretty much in place. Gotta reset the D though. hah.

You say reset the defense and I agree, but if it was up to you what position would you upgrade with the first pick?

I would take a safety (Matt Elam would be my first choice) if we were drafting in the 20's or by some miracle the thirties, but if we lose again next week and draft within the top 20, I would give some serious thought to trading up for Te'o. Te'o is obviously not a realistic pick if we sneak in the playoffs but if this season goes from bad to worse and we draft high enough, trading into the 7-10 range wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. I know he has a lot of hype but I don't think he'll end up going top 5.

And I'd just like to throw in that I really don't think the D is the problem, the injuries are but when everyone is healthy the D is fine. I just think the only offensive position worth upgrading with an early pick is RB and that's not worth a first rounder in this next draft.

[Rocco]

LaMichael James stayed in bounds there to keep the clock running, and earlier covered up during a big kickoff return. Wonder if Antonio Brown noticed, or if he's too busy figuring out what he'll do next time he catches a 7 yard pass.

[TheHammer24]

Ben critical of Haley after the game. "We didn't call tr right plays to get Heath the ball." and "we didn't run the no huddle enough and that's disappointing" these were both in response to questions on the points.

[Tim Thomasen]

Ben critical of Haley after the game. "We didn't call tr right plays to get Heath the ball." and "we didn't run the no huddle enough and that's disappointing" these were both in response to questions on the points.

Who's in the wrong here? I want to say Ben is because although Haley isn't perfect, he's here to stay and he should grow up and make the best of it. But is Haley not doing enough. I think he is, but we always hear Madden harping on him saying he doesn't untilize the full potential of Ben and that he wants Ben to control the game like Mike Tomczak.

[bhaw]

It was known ahead of time that Ben and Haley would clash. I would assume this was expected and they have a plan to deal with it and move on.

[TheHammer24]

Both reporters goaded him, to be fair. He also said things like "we called a lot of right plays but I didn't execute

[Bioshock]

Ben critical of Haley after the game. "We didn't call tr right plays to get Heath the ball." and "we didn't run the no huddle enough and that's disappointing" these were both in response to questions on the points.

Who's in the wrong here? I want to say Ben is because although Haley isn't perfect, he's here to stay and he should grow up and make the best of it. But is Haley not doing enough. I think he is, but we always hear Madden harping on him saying he doesn't untilize the full potential of Ben and that he wants Ben to control the game like Mike Tomczak.

I completely ignore anything Madden has to say on the subject. Ben could commit a war crime and Madden would say it was other peoples fault.

As for dealing in reality, only time will tell if Haley and Ben are a good mix. I think it's just too early to make any decisions on how good or bad things will be. Hell, we are only 14 games in.

[Troy Loney]

Young Money crew is killing this team with fumbles and drops. They needed woodley and harrison to step up and be more disruptive to give the corners more time.

Defense is old and needs to be overhauled. Should have started that years ago, but no, they're depending on Harrison, Hampton, Foote, Keisel and Polamalu. These guys are passable, but I think if you watch some snaps from the 2008 defense and then watch this one....it would be telling.

[Froggy]

I really think that our defense being #1 in yardage the last couple years ties directly to the fact that Ben has been really good at keeping the team on the field on 3rd down. Yardage is one of those soft stats that I hate.

I can't consider this a top defense based solely on that. Especially when we are near the bottom of the league in sacks and takeaways.

[ExPatriatePen]

Could be worse, imagine being a Buffalo or Seattle or Jacksonville fan

[viva la ben]

As for Haley being here to stay, I saw reports that he would be the leading canidate for Arizona if Whiz were to be fired.

[Letang Is The Truth]

on the bright side, aside from a few gaffs which would be expected for a first time nfl starter, i thought decastro played pretty well