BR1986FB;920021 wrote:It was just a matter of time. With a $100 million investment (Roethlisberger) you'd think they'd use some 1st/2nd rounders (not including Pouncey) on O-Line? At some point they have to bite the bullet and do this or Roethlisberger will end up like Bernie Kosar...MUCH older in 'NFL years" than "chronological years."

Marcus Gilbert was their 2nd round pick back in April. But yeah, it needs addressed early in the draft/free agency on a yearly basis from now on.

Ironman92;919662 wrote:Good game Troy. Great toughness Ben.


That's it!

How many tackles did Troy miss?

James Harrison has a fractured orbital bone. Out at least 2 games.

^ Damn.

It figures. He was the only LB playing worth a shit on the team. For all of the "age" talk....our young guys (Woodley, Timmons) aren't doing shit either. I realize the guys upfront not playing well affects the LB's but come on.

killer_ewok;921646 wrote:James Harrison has a fractured orbital bone. Out at least 2 games.

This is just feeling more and more like one of those rare 6-10 to 7-9 seasons that Cowher would have. It just seems that everything that can go wrong is. Turnover margin is through the roof bad, the OL is finally REALLY hurting them (injuries, lack of depth, quality of play), run defense has gone from amazing to bad.

They are 2-2 with plenty of time to go. It's just a gut feeling "ain't our year" sort of feeling in my gut right now. I've had that since they barely beat Indy the week before. Last Sunday just added to it. Other team's uber-star receiver goes down in the first half, but running back still breaks huge game-winning touchdown and offense can't muster any late-game heroics like they've done so many times.

Bad omens a' plenty.

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU

What's going on with Ziggy Hood? In the preseason all the talk I heard was that he was playing great. How's hayward been playing also?

Heretic;921665 wrote:This is just feeling more and more like one of those rare 6-10 to 7-9 seasons that Cowher would have. It just seems that everything that can go wrong is. Turnover margin is through the roof bad, the OL is finally REALLY hurting them (injuries, lack of depth, quality of play), run defense has gone from amazing to bad.

They are 2-2 with plenty of time to go. It's just a gut feeling "ain't our year" sort of feeling in my gut right now. I've had that since they barely beat Indy the week before. Last Sunday just added to it. Other team's uber-star receiver goes down in the first half, but running back still breaks huge game-winning touchdown and offense can't muster any late-game heroics like they've done so many times.

Bad omens a' plenty.

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU

Totally agree. It's a little early to be waving the white flag but I think we're in store for a down year as well.

The steelers fell into the trap that so many teams have done in the past and something they typically havent done over the years.

The focus has gone toward bigger contracts for thie superstars and basically ignoring the OL and depth. The OL hasnt been the greatest and BR has been winning in spite of the OL in past seasons. The large $$ deals to him, some LB's, TP, etc has taken the focus off the OL for the team.

Friends of mine who are fans of other teams always marveled how the steelers stayed competitive over the years even when losing big names and the reason why they always could was that they took care of the OL and had depth on the roster. Now, they didnt go out and make a splash in FA with the OL, but they always put enough emphasis on it and let some of the older vets go when their contracts got too pricey. Right now the steelers playroll looks more like some of the other teams with alot of money going to too few people.

Remember the good ole days when the steelers could go to a backup and not miss a beat. Or in some games late in the year when some starters sit to get ready for the playoffs and the backups would come in and dominate, or even later in games when some starters were taken out the next guys stepped in and did the same job.

The depth on this team isnt there and much of that is because of a couple of things...they cannot pay some quality guys to stay and also from drafting lower for a number of years. Even at that, the scouting dept has always done a good job of finding hidden talent with only a few exceptions.


In many of past years the steelers did have some healthy contracts on the books, but the spike wasnt so much as it is now with money owed to guys. They always seem to have alot of guys making very good money, but rare for some guys from making great money and that allowed them to spread out the money under the cap to keep a solid roster. Now too much money is going to a select few and the neglect is there for alot of positions.

In years past it seemed that their median contract and average contract were closer to the same dollar amount than they are nowadays

They've won with patchwork o-lines before and decided to address other needs moreso than the line. Well, you play russian roulette over and over again.....odds are you're gonna get the bullet at some point.

killer_ewok;921831 wrote:They've won with patchwork o-lines before and decided to address other needs moreso than the line. Well, you play russian roulette over and over again.....odds are you're gonna get the bullet at some point.

In the last few drafts though they've picked a 1st round center and a 2nd round oline player and resigned a FA. I wouldnt call that playing roulette.

Their dumbest move on the line was signing ColonBlow to a big contract after a year he was injured most of the time. *BOOM* -- hurt again.

The saddest thing to me is that their depth is so bad that losing ColonBlow really hurts.

Agreed....Colon was a bad signing for all that jack. Pouncey was a good pickup but this OL hasnt been that great for some time now.

Yeah...they won a SB and last year went as well so I guess we cannot complain too much. I said this before and I will say it again....it is sad that our BEST offense is when BR scrambles around out of the pocket and makes plays. I cannot imagine what he could do behind an OL like Brady or Manning gets on a yearly basis.

thavoice;921867 wrote:I said this before and I will say it again....it is sad that our BEST offense is when BR scrambles around out of the pocket and makes plays. I cannot imagine what he could do behind an OL like Brady or Manning gets on a yearly basis.

Manning Hasnt had an O-Line in YEARS. In fact, last season was probably the worst in the league.

Laley23;921881 wrote:Manning Hasnt had an O-Line in YEARS. In fact, last season was probably the worst in the league.

Huh?

Peyton stands back there and rarely gets pressure on him. Yeah, he has a quick release and audibles to what he needs, but man that guy rarely has a guy in his face when he goes pack to pass.

I have to admit though that last year I couldnt watch, listen to or read about any NFL games until late december so maybe last year was different, but for the most part he has been able to stand back there and eat dinner if he wanted to.

Commander of Awesome;921847 wrote:In the last few drafts though they've picked a 1st round center and a 2nd round oline player and resigned a FA. I wouldnt call that playing roulette.

I know that. But they've needed to address it more than that for for starters AND depth. They hit a homerun with Pouncey but Gilbert was no sure shot. When the likes of Jonathan Scott is one play away from being a starter (and unfortunately that happened)....you probably should've put more resources into your o-line. But, since they've managed with it the way it's been....they musta figured they could continue to do that. To be honest, I thought they could too although I would have liked them to improve it a little more over the last few years.

Commander of Awesome;921675 wrote:What's going on with Ziggy Hood? In the preseason all the talk I heard was that he was playing great. How's hayward been playing also?

I am wondering the same.

killer_ewok;921908 wrote:I know that. But they've needed to address it more than that for for starters AND depth. They hit a homerun with Pouncey but Gilbert was no sure shot. When the likes of Jonathan Scott is one play away from being a starter (and unfortunately that happened)....you probably should've put more resources into your o-line. But, since they've managed with it the way it's been....they musta figured they could continue to do that. To be honest, I thought they could too although I would have liked them to improve it a little more over the last few years.

Its only a matter of time before BR is hurt seriously due to the trainwreck of an OL.

True, there are times he tempts fate by holding the ball too long but there are way too many times the OL lets the flood gates open. It just so happens that BR makes so many big plays when he is scrambling and with his size is a bitch to bring down. THAT has been the saving grace for this team over the years and has led the organization to not focus on the OL position.

thavoice;921906 wrote:Huh?

Peyton stands back there and rarely gets pressure on him. Yeah, he has a quick release and audibles to what he needs, but man that guy rarely has a guy in his face when he goes pack to pass.

I have to admit though that last year I couldnt watch, listen to or read about any NFL games until late december so maybe last year was different, but for the most part he has been able to stand back there and eat dinner if he wanted to.

As Tom Jackson said, the greatest stat Peyton Manning has in his career is the fact he only got sacked 16 times last year. Just trust me, his line has been horrific since Tarik Glenns last year (2006). 07-10 has been a train wreck. Notice how shitty they have been in the running game? Notice how Peyton has had to go to a bunch of quick routes in these years and the deep ball isnt used nearly as much? The line is badddddd. They spent their first 2 picks on OL this year. They were down to their 3rd string LT 3 seasons ago.

You state that Manning audibles and has a quick release but say that can only be part of it....Ive watched every game. It is 95% of it.

I will take your word for it. As i said, I saw zero NFL last year and of course PM is out this season.

Part of the Colts not having a running attack in recent years I think partly goes to the lack of commitment to it, plus the league has been evolving to a pass first.

I guess maybe my analysis comes from what I saw two years ago and before when I would see PM be able to stand back there and do whatever he wanted.

Judas Priest. It just continues...

James Harrison--orbital fracture, according to the Post Gazette, out for several weeks.
Aaron Smith--foot sprain, extremely doubtful for this week
Jason Worilds--quad sprain, doubtful for this week (Harrison's backup)
Mewelde Moore--ankle sprain, may be out this week
Rashard Mendenhall--right hamstring, limited in practice but may play.

On the bright side..
Ben--sprained foot, limited practice but should play.
Legursky, McFadden, and Scott all should be back

thavoice;921964 wrote:I will take your word for it. As i said, I saw zero NFL last year and of course PM is out this season.

Part of the Colts not having a running attack in recent years I think partly goes to the lack of commitment to it, plus the league has been evolving to a pass first.

I guess maybe my analysis comes from what I saw two years ago and before when I would see PM be able to stand back there and do whatever he wanted.

He can do whatever he wants because he's one of the best quarterbacks of all time. That doesn't mean his line's good. Jeff Saturday is the only above average NFL lineman they have on offense.

thavoice;921964 wrote:I will take your word for it. As i said, I saw zero NFL last year and of course PM is out this season.

Part of the Colts not having a running attack in recent years I think partly goes to the lack of commitment to it, plus the league has been evolving to a pass first.

I guess maybe my analysis comes from what I saw two years ago and before when I would see PM be able to stand back there and do whatever he wanted.

You know your line is bad when Bill Polian, the GM of your team, dodges questions about them before the Super Bowl (2009) and doesnt back them up when the media rips them....only to come back post Super Bowl (when they were awful) and rip them and call for replacements. Saturday, Johnson, and I think Ryan Diem were all called out by him for bad years. It has only gotten worse since then.

They also havent aborted the Run game. They did last year, because it was soooo bad the only chance they had was for Peyton to throw more passes than anyone else in history. It was pathetic.

Timmons will move to the outside to play in Harrison's spot and Foote will start in the middle since Timmons is moving.