OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: Sneaking up onto training camp

[bigdaddyk88]

Without going to the huge effort of looking at individual schedules, how is the Bengals (6) so different from the Ravens (29), Browns (30) and Steelers (32).

Bengals finished 4th so they get Carolina out of the south Pats out of the east Titans from the south
We have colts Atlanta and jets
Ravens buffalo Texans and Tampa
Cleveland Miami Jacksonville and saints

 

[JTG]

So anyone feeling any different about the Steelers after pre-season, or everyone feel pretty much the same as when it started?

I think this is going to be a growth year. If they get Aiyuk he may be able to bring them up a notch.

This defense should be top 10. Offense is going to struggle but I think they can do enough offensively to have a winning record.

 

[Al Smith]

I think this is going to be a growth year. If they get Aiyuk he may be able to bring them up a notch.

This defense should be top 10. Offense is going to struggle but I think they can do enough offensively to have a winning record.

FWIW, I was listening to some "experts" on ESPN Radio today predicting the Steeler win total; went 4, 6, 9, and 10. The guy predicting four wins said they've actually gotten worse at QB.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

FWIW, I was listening to some "experts" on ESPN Radio today predicting the Steeler win total; went 4, 6, 9, and 10. The guy predicting four wins said they've actually gotten worse at QB.

On Cowherd show the guy filling in said we should trade tj for multiple picks everyone is saying we have the worst Qb in the division the worst receiving room
I believe September is going to be ugly tv and right up Tomlin alley to start 4-0 on defense and running game field position

 

[bigdaddyk88]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1827816164795253076

 

[Factorial]

FWIW, I was listening to some "experts" on ESPN Radio today predicting the Steeler win total; went 4, 6, 9, and 10. The guy predicting four wins said they've actually gotten worse at QB.

He's an idiot.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Its so stupid the NFL allows teams like the Redskins to have black uniforms..... What happened to branding??

 

[Night Shift]

Unless Wilson becomes something of his former self, they are worse at QB. I think 6 wins is a fair prediction. 4 would be hilarious (i.e. Tomlin) Another 9 win season would not suprise me either

Its so stupid the NFL allows teams like the Redskins to have black uniforms..... What happened to branding??

Come to think of it alot of teams have black alternates.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

Unless Wilson becomes something of his former self, they are worse at QB. I think 6 wins is a fair prediction. 4 would be hilarious (i.e. Tomlin) Another 9 win season would not suprise me either

No chance they are worse at QB. Wilson's worst season is still way way better than KP.

 

[Night Shift]

No chance they are worse at QB. Wilson's worst season is still way way better than KP.

True but I say that because of Canada. Wilson is probably just as bad with Canada

 

[pistolpete11]

Unless Wilson becomes something of his former self, they are worse at QB. I think 6 wins is a fair prediction. 4 would be hilarious (i.e. Tomlin) Another 9 win season would not suprise me either

Compared to who? There's a debate to be had with Rudolph I suppose, but I'd take Wilson over Pickett or Trubisky easily and they combined for 14 of 17 starts. Given his legs, I'd take Fields over either as well.

This team is the same or better in every aspect of the game except for WR. I'm convinced this talk of them being a 4-6 win team is the media setting it up so they can still heap praise on Tomlin when he goes 9-8 and misses the playoffs.

 

[Night Shift]

Compared to who? There's a debate to be had with Rudolph I suppose, but I'd take Wilson over Pickett or Trubisky easily and they combined for 14 of 17 starts. Given his legs, I'd take Fields over either as well.

This team is the same or better in every aspect of the game except for WR. I'm convinced this talk of them being a 4-6 win team is the media setting it up so they can still heap praise on Tomlin when he goes 9-8 and misses the playoffs.

They are worse now at QB than Tribisky/Pickett/Rudolph. I've been saying that for the last 2 months. Welcome back to the board.

Fields is (I'll keep it within the context of good taste this time) not the answer nor is he good. He'll be run out of town as well.

 

[MrBrightside]

Compared to who? There's a debate to be had with Rudolph I suppose, but I'd take Wilson over Pickett or Trubisky easily and they combined for 14 of 17 starts. Given his legs, I'd take Fields over either as well.

This team is the same or better in every aspect of the game except for WR. I'm convinced this talk of them being a 4-6 win team is the media setting it up so they can still heap praise on Tomlin when he goes 9-8 and misses the playoffs.

I don't know that the media is that savvy or calculated, but (a) the Steelers are annually underrated in terms of predicted finish and (b) there's no real reason to think they won't win between 8-10 games this year.

 

[pistolpete11]

They are worse now at QB than Tribisky/Pickett/Rudolph. I've been saying that for the last 2 months. Welcome back to the board.

Fields is (I'll keep it within the context of good taste this time) not the answer nor is he good. He'll be run out of town as well.

I didn't say Fields is the answer or good. I said he's better than the QB's who started 80% of the games last year....and he's almost surely going to be the backup anyway.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

View attachment 903179

I say this every year. Make a chart about preseason SOS vs actual SOS for each team.
There are always teams that surprise (in a good AND bad way)

 

[MrBrightside]

I say this every year. Make a chart about preseason SOS vs actual SOS for each team.
There are always teams that surprise (in a good AND bad way)

Sure, but this is based on projected wins and not just last year's W/L so presumably it's a little more accurate than the normal assessment of schedule strength. Injuries obviously will matter but it's pretty hard to see any of the teams they play the last 8 weeks being bad barring catastrophic injury runs.

The Steelers made their first wave of roster moves as they work to get to the mandatory 53-man roster by Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 4 p.m.
The Steelers released eight players, including the following:
Offense: Offensive lineman Tyler Beach, receiver Jacob Copeland, running back Daijun Edwards, offensive lineman Devery Hamilton and receiver T.J. Luther.
Defense: Defensive lineman Marquiss Spencer, linebacker Kyahva Tezino and defensive back Kiondre Thomas.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I didn't say Fields is the answer or good. I said he's better than the QB's who started 80% of the games last year....and he's almost surely going to be the backup anyway.

Define "better". And I'm not being pedantic here.

KP was told to be a game manager/not turn the ball over bc Mike Tomlin's philosophy is that any possession ending in a punt or a FG is a good one. So you never saw KP take risks (which lends itself to more turnovers).

RW and JF are objectively better QB's on paper vs KP or even Mason. But I fear that the type of QB this team needs isn't those types of QBs. They've been in this league for awhile and their previous coaches have let them make mistakes. JF is a turnover machine with his fumbles and INT's. How long will Tomlin stand for that?

I still haven't seen enough of Wilson in Denver or even in a Steelers uniform to see who he is today vs what I've come to see in Seattle.

In short, from an individual standpoint we're likely to see more positive production from RW/JF compared to last year. But be prepared to see more negative plays (fumbles/INT's/dumb decisions) too. How does that parlay into team success? Guess we'll find out...

He had BA and Haley

That's cute you think golfer Todd Haley was a legit OC.
And can you explain how BA "retired" from the Steelers when I saw him on the sidelines in TB? I'm sure Tomlin had no say in that either...

 

[MrBrightside]

If it's Wilson it'll be pretty similar to Pickett in terms of risk aversion. The real upgrade from Pickett to Wilson is that Wilson is significantly more accurate, but they both really seem to hate intermediate routes and throwing over the middle of the field - it's dump offs or chuck it deep.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

Ownership didn’t want to bring BA back. BA himself said his friendship to Ben got him let go because they didn’t want Ben to retire early because of the sacks.
Haley was a very good oc they set records with him in charge

Wilson can win at the line of scrimmage he can process the field and get us to better plays if needed. He will throw on time and good anticipation thats a major upgrade over Kp.

 

[Peat]

I can see that disaster season pretty easily tbh. It's not like this team has been a rock solid 9-10 win team over the past couple of seasons. It's been a slow starter that's been very reliant on coming together against an easy back end of the schedule and winning an extremely high percentage of one score games. All it takes is another slow start, running out of a bit of luck on the one score games, and not being able to get the season back because this time they're slated to be murderer's row. And I know, projections and reality are different - no one predicted that Bengals/Seahawks/Ravens to close out last season would actually be a cakewalk of two teams that couldn't play run defence and a reserve team - but that was a lucky break for the Steelers.

I can also see a great season if the offence comes together quick and a bunch of the changes meet the hype. The offensive line would be key to that scenario to me (and would be key to a disaster too).

It's probably an 8-10 win season, but there's so many question marks I can see it both ways.

No chance they are worse at QB. Wilson's worst season is still way way better than KP.

The numbers for Wilson's first season in Denver line up right in the Pickett ballpark.

That shouldn't happen because Arthur Smith should be way better than Hackett but at the same time, the numbers are right there.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

Wilson is exponentially better in the Redzone. Russell Wilson threw 20 Redzone TDs last season. KP threw 3.

KP threw 6 TDs total last season....6!

Russell Wilson threw a TD in every game he played last season and threw 2+ Tds in 8 of the 15 games he played.

If Russell Wilson does half of what he did last season it will be equal to what KP has done in his entire career........

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

If it's Wilson it'll be pretty similar to Pickett in terms of risk aversion. The real upgrade from Pickett to Wilson is that Wilson is significantly more accurate, but they both really seem to hate intermediate routes and throwing over the middle of the field - it's dump offs or chuck it deep.

IDK, like I said, I'm trying to reserve judgement/predictions with RW until I see him more in this offense.
But I remember him being much more aggressive vs KP (but that's not a high bar to reach). So I'll stick w/ the below prediction. Feel free to throw it in my face later in the year

1. RW has a rough stretch of turnovers
2. Tomlin turns to JF
3. JF is infinitely worse at taking care of the ball
4. RW gets reinserted to finish the season and we see JF sprinkled in, but RW remains the starter

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

What many of us have been trying to say for the past 5+ years. Dude is a fraud

Kyle Brandt Pans Mike Tomlin: 'If He's One Of The Best Coaches, How Come He Never Wins Playoff Games?'

Mike Tomlin is a highly accomplished head coach. A Super Bowl champion, Tomlin has made a name for himself based on his reputation with players as well as his impressive win-loss record. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but the age-old stat of never having a losing season still reigns true...

steelersdepot.com

 

[bigdaddyk88]

RW averaged more ypg then are entire room combined and was the 3rd leading rusher in Denver. He doubled the passing tds as the entire room. His leading receivers had 700 yards and they traded Juedy in the off season only Sutton actually got to 10 tds.

 

[MrBrightside]

I can see that disaster season pretty easily tbh. It's not like this team has been a rock solid 9-10 win team over the past couple of seasons. It's been a slow starter that's been very reliant on coming together against an easy back end of the schedule and winning an extremely high percentage of one score games. All it takes is another slow start, running out of a bit of luck on the one score games, and not being able to get the season back because this time they're slated to be murderer's row. And I know, projections and reality are different - no one predicted that Bengals/Seahawks/Ravens to close out last season would actually be a cakewalk of two teams that couldn't play run defence and a reserve team - but that was a lucky break for the Steelers.

I can also see a great season if the offence comes together quick and a bunch of the changes meet the hype. The offensive line would be key to that scenario to me (and would be key to a disaster too).

It's probably an 8-10 win season, but there's so many question marks I can see it both ways.



The numbers for Wilson's first season in Denver line up right in the Pickett ballpark.

That shouldn't happen because Arthur Smith should be way better than Hackett but at the same time, the numbers are right there.

I mean, I'm no Wilson supporter and I realize this fits in with your pro-Pickett stuff from last year and your gloom and doom from this year, but the bolded part is not remotely correct.