OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: Sneaking up onto training camp

[bigdaddyk88]

I'm saying Tomlin/Rooney rule the roost. Or circus if you like.

So do you think Jones is the LT of the future?
If Khan says he traded up for Jones because he is the LT but Tomlin isn’t committed to it who has final say.
Cam and TJ recruited RW he chose us

 

[Night Shift]

So do you think Jones is the LT of the future?
If Khan says he traded up for Jones because he is the LT but Tomlin isn’t committed to it who has final say.
Cam and TJ recruited RW he chose us

Yeah exactly, so why hire Khan then? Tomlin should just be the GM then, why waste this guys time when he can have full reign in another organization that will let him run things?

But when you have an owner showing early signs of dementia, things get whacky, unorganized and incompetent.

 

[Night Shift]

Hey, who deleted our comedy skit with @Factorial

its always a good time when the Tomlinites attack the Tomlin haters and vice-versa.

 

[Andy99]

Just how inconsequential the Steelers are can be seen in this article…zero folks from our team lol…our roster is much worse than Atlanta’s…they should be favored by more than 3 lol

2024 NFL Season Preview: 59 People Who Will Impact Who Wins Super Bowl LIX

We’ll see 32 teams play 272 regular season games before the field narrows to 14 for the playoffs. Here’s who we think wins the Lombardi Trophy.

www.si.com

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

The Steelers are starting the season with:

A new Starting QB
Probably 3 new starters from last year, all of whom are rookies, and one of whom is coming off injury
Only 2 returning WRs from last year, one of whom got 20 targets in 17 games
A WR expected to add value to the position group also coming off injury
A starting RB or at least 1A injured
A TE-centric offense with a QB who doesn't throw to TEs nor to the middle of the field
A TE-centric offense with 4 TEs who averaged roughly 1.5 targets per game last year and a TE1 with concussion history
A HC who is doubling and tripling down on attrition, TOP, keep it close, "Any drive that ends in a kick is great" football.
A rookie NCB with zero depth behind him at the position
A downgrade in cover ILB from where they started last year (Holcomb and Alexander)
Wafer-thin EDGE depth and a starter coming off injury
A suspect IDL, especially vs the run and who's best player has one foot in retirement

 

[The Old Master]

The Steelers are starting the season with:

A new Starting QB
Probably 3 new starters from last year, all of whom are rookies, and one of whom is coming off injury
Only 2 returning WRs from last year, one of whom got 20 targets in 17 games
A WR expected to add value to the position group also coming off injury
A starting RB or at least 1A injured
A TE-centric offense with a QB who doesn't throw to TEs nor to the middle of the field
A TE-centric offense with 4 TEs who averaged roughly 1.5 targets per game last year and a TE1 with concussion history
A HC who is doubling and tripling down on attrition, TOP, keep it close, "Any drive that ends in a kick is great" football.
A rookie NCB with zero depth behind him at the position
A downgrade in cover ILB from where they started last year (Holcomb and Alexander)
Wafer-thin EDGE depth and a starter coming off injury
A suspect IDL, especially vs the run and who's best player has one foot in retirement

looks like we are good to go.

 

[TooManyHumans]

The Steelers are rebuilding. It had to happen eventually. They will not be serious contenders until they find a QB, and no, neither Wilson nor Fields is the guy.

 

[ImporterExporter]

This team will never win a meaningful game until Tomlin and the entire staff is nuked. It's that simple. The past decade leads you to this conclusion. The last playoff win was during the f***ing Obama admin.

 

[xlm34]

Wafer-thin EDGE depth and a starter coming off injury
A suspect IDL, especially vs the run and who's best player has one foot in retirement

Pretty strongly disagree with these — their EDGE group is one of if not the best groups in the league. And their DL will probably be one of the strongest units on the team. I would bet a lot of money on Benton becoming a pretty well known name this year.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Pretty strongly disagree with these — their EDGE group is one of if not the best groups in the league. And their DL will probably be one of the strongest units on the team. I would bet a lot of money on Benton becoming a pretty well known name this year.

Watt/Highsmith are probably the best duo in the league. I'm not sold on Herbig being a reliable piece should those guys go down. Every team would run right at him if forced into a starting role.

I hope I'm wrong about the DLine, but outside of Benton this group is pretty meh.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

Watt/Highsmith are probably the best duo in the league. I'm not sold on Herbig being a reliable piece should those guys go down. Every team would run right at him if forced into a starting role.

I hope I'm wrong about the DLine, but outside of Benton this group is pretty meh.

Larry o is finally healthy adams is an above average run stuffer cam is healthy and playing for his last contract

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

This team will never win a meaningful game until Tomlin and the entire staff is nuked. It's that simple. The past decade leads you to this conclusion. The last playoff win was during the f***ing Obama admin.

Here's a sobering reminder
The Steelers have lost 5 straight playoff games with their opponents scoring 40.4 points per game

1/22/2017 -- Steelers 17, Patriots 36

1/14/2018 -- Steelers 42, Jaguars 45

1/10/2021 -- Steelers 37, Browns 48

1/16/2022 -- Steelers 21, Chiefs 42

1/15/2024 -- Steelers 17, Bills 31

Average points against: 40.4 per game.

Our last playoff win was over 7 years ago in a game where we didn't score a single touchdown.

Can anyone find anything in NFL history even close to this?

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Can anyone find anything in NFL history even close to this?

It's not worth trying because the definition of "even close to this" is so rickety.

There are teams that don't have five playoff appearances in that time frame. Or any given eight-year time frame, since we're talking about NFL history. It's just different ways of measuring suck.

I know the issues. I share the concern. I know we wat to be measured differently, because the organization suggests we should.

 

[Ulf5]

Watt/Highsmith are probably the best duo in the league. I'm not sold on Herbig being a reliable piece should those guys go down. Every team would run right at him if forced into a starting role.

I hope I'm wrong about the DLine, but outside of Benton this group is pretty meh.

I agree on Watt/Highsmith and the DLine.
I think Herbi is the real deal. Possibly better than Highsmith.

 

[Ryder71]

The Steelers are rebuilding. It had to happen eventually. They will not be serious contenders until they find a QB, and no, neither Wilson nor Fields is the guy.

I don't think it's as dire as your suggesting. Wilson is a borderline HOFer and it's not like he's 40. I think the Steelers will be better than you allege. This QB room is decidedly better than last years.

 

[UnrealMachine]

I agree on Watt/Highsmith and the DLine.
I think Herbi is the real deal. Possibly better than Highsmith.

Herbig already has excellent pass rushing skills - which shows up in the stats as well. Question is whether or not he can set the edge against the run? If he can’t, he tops out as a rotational piece - but potentially a very good one.

 

[TooManyHumans]

I don't think it's as dire as your suggesting. Wilson is a borderline HOFer and it's not like he's 40. I think the Steelers will be better than you allege. This QB room is decidedly better than last years.

So you think they are serious contenders in the AFC with all the actually great QBs? I hope that is the case but I just don't see it.

 

[Peat]

There are defence concerns but I can't say I feel het up about them. Everyone's got a starter or two just back from injury. Everyone's got an only moderately tested rookie or two in back-up, I'll take the pass rush potential Herbig has shown (and I don't think teams have really exposed him in the run game yet and they've had opportunity). Queen and Wilson as cover ILBs strikes me as fine. DL, I feel fine about Cam this season. I wish they had a better plan than Bishop for half a season but I suspect you're going to see a lot of three safety and maybe even three ILB looks.

Even with all the question marks, I suspect the majority of the league would still take the Steelers defence over theirs.

 

[Ryder71]

So you think they are serious contenders in the AFC with all the actually great QBs? I hope that is the case but I just don't see it.

There's great QB's throughout the NFL. We're a decided step closer now than we were without the hacks from last year. Also we're going counter to the league norm and are gonna feature the run. So having an exceptional QB is less important IF we can dominate the line of scrimmage. We need to win in the trenches on both sides. We need to effectively use play action to keep the oppositions defense honest, while getting to the QB on Defensive side. I feel very confident in our front seven there. We looked like world beaters last preseason, this one we were awful. But with a bunch of new guys coming in there's gonna be a learning curve. Fortunately the schedule isn't daunting early but we absolutely need to get off to a good start which I believe we will.

 

[TooManyHumans]

I think the o-line is a mess right now and will likely have several new, young and inexperienced guys on it. The secondary is thin as heck. The QBs are an over the hill Wilson and a never arrived Fields who turns it over way too much for Tomlin to trust him. Idk. If everything breaks right I could see making the playoffs and maybe winning a game. I don't see this team as a serious contender in the AFC. I would love to be wrong though.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I think the o-line is a mess right now and will likely have several new, young and inexperienced guys on it.

This is not wrong but I'd rather see it suck with new guys we think are the answer rather than guys who just suck. The line has been bad for some time now. I know they had some plans to mitigate the exposure of all the young players, but I'd rather accidentally be playing all the kids than on-purpose not plying any of them (a false dichotomy, I know, but just pointing out given the injuries).

 

[bigdaddyk88]

I think the o-line is a mess right now and will likely have several new, young and inexperienced guys on it. The secondary is thin as heck. The QBs are an over the hill Wilson and a never arrived Fields who turns it over way too much for Tomlin to trust him. Idk. If everything breaks right I could see making the playoffs and maybe winning a game. I don't see this team as a serious contender in the AFC. I would love to be wrong though.

Yeah if you’re expecting a sb your going to be disappointed. If your expecting something like a wc win then you should be happy.
I took the +800 on draft kings for them to win the division because Bmore has an extremely tough 4 and they are rebuilding their defense and lost multiple o line starters in FA.
Cincinnati is going to have to get bye without Chase and that rebuilt O line and no running game.
Cleveland doesn’t trust Watson is rebuilding its o line and lost the o line coach
I think we go to Atlanta with Moore Mason Fraizer Daniels and Troy and I expect by the buy Jones takes over LT

 

[pistolpete11]

They aren't a serious contender, but they are the same or improved at every position except for WR (that is if they don't get Aiyuk) and Smith is better than Canada. Less than 10 wins is a failure. Maybe 9 if their schedule ends up being as hard as projected.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think this team is in a weird no-man's land where they're not really a "contender" nor are they a "rebuilder". They're simply looking to maintain the same level of mediocrity that they've been at for the past few years.

The roster isn't good enough to contend but they're also not making any efforts to build a roster that can contend. It's just stay the course and keep trying to win 9-10 games a year and make a wildcard game.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Yeah if you’re expecting a sb your going to be disappointed. If your expecting something like a wc win then you should be happy.
I took the +800 on draft kings for them to win the division because Bmore has an extremely tough 4 and they are rebuilding their defense and lost multiple o line starters in FA.
Cincinnati is going to have to get bye without Chase and that rebuilt O line and no running game.
Cleveland doesn’t trust Watson is rebuilding its o line and lost the o line coach
I think we go to Atlanta with Moore Mason Fraizer Daniels and Troy and I expect by the buy Jones takes over LT

Hahaha- did you see the playoff stats I posted above? That ain't happening with Tomlin. He may never well win another playoff game.

Buuuuuut....This is the weird thing about the Steelers the past year or so:

They seem to struggle against all teams OUTSIDE the North. But they seem built to beat every other team in the division. I could easily see them repeating that this year. They appear to have their divisional opponents' number lately.