Let’s be realistic for a minute.

[johnsteeler]

Seriously. We Steeler fans are pretty ridiculous with our expectations. We just lost to three of the best (if not the three best) teams in football and we’re calling it a meltdown. We were not favored in any of the games and on paper and off, the three teams were considerably better. Let’s try to remember, we’re in the playoffs with 2 QBs who were considered dead in the water and we will probably face a really bad Texans team in the first round. Any of you who thought this was a Championship-level team are either delusional or know absolutely nothing about footballl. If we go 11-6 or even 10-7 and win one playoff game, this season was more successful than the last and a progression. When you always win at least 8 or 9 games, you never get premium draft picks and that shows in the mediocrity continuation. It’s the REAL STANDARD: NO LOSING SEASONS.

 

[speedicut]

I could take the losses if the team played well.
They didnt.

 

[johnsteeler]

I could take the losses if the team played well.
They didnt.

True. But I also think the players and coaches on the other teams were just better…

 

[SteelerFan448]

They lost by 14, 17, and 19 and weren't remotely competitive on either side of the ball in any of the three games. Absolutely a meltdown as they were out there looking like a bottom 5 team.

 

[BLITZ]

True. But I also think the players and coaches on the other teams were just better…

oh. ****. now I feel better. thanks

 

[ExUSAF]

When we lose to the Bengals and get smoked by that bad Texans team will you concede that we stink?

 

[JMM]

When we lose to the Bengals and get smoked by that bad Texans team will you concede that we stink?

Nevah

 

[JMM]

 

[Lloyd]

Seriously. We Steeler fans are pretty ridiculous with our expectations. We just lost to three of the best (if not the three best) teams in football and we’re calling it a meltdown. We were not favored in any of the games and on paper and off, the three teams were considerably better. Let’s try to remember, we’re in the playoffs with 2 QBs who were considered dead in the water and we will probably face a really bad Texans team in the first round. Any of you who thought this was a Championship-level team are either delusional or know absolutely nothing about footballl. If we go 11-6 or even 10-7 and win one playoff game, this season was more successful than the last and a progression. When you always win at least 8 or 9 games, you never get premium draft picks and that shows in the mediocrity continuation. It’s the REAL STANDARD: NO LOSING SEASONS.

Yea, that sounds great and all, but you're leaving out the part about not seeing a playoff win in 8 years. In other words, we sat stagnate for almost a decade without improving, is that OK with you? It must be. Us Steeler fans are OK with not winning every year, we really are, but what we are not OK with is seeing no advancement year after year AFTER YEAR. THAT IS WHERE TOMLIN HAS BROUGHT US: NO IMPROVEMENT, WE ARE JUST OK. We are just status quo. Tomlin represents no improvement, no advancement. You think from simple luck we would see some advancement, but no. 10-7, be happy with it. I saw The Herd today, he was saying how KC, Balt. and Buff. has passed us by and Chargers and even Denver made the list. He's not wrong. Some down seasons are inevitable, thats OK. Living endlessly in the Tomlin fraud is not.

 

[MT~Forged]

When we lose to the Bengals and get smoked by that bad Texans team will you concede that we stink?

They have to WIN to get a chance at Houston. Lose and they get either Balt or Buf.

 

[JMM]

We're going to win the next game against Cincy and the next. We'll get some confidence going, get a few players healthy and be playing in fuckivg February. Let's go!!

 

[stillwright]

At this point....I am just hoping for a competitive game against the Bengals. Baby steps at this point.

 

[TimesAreChanged]

They have to WIN to get a chance at Houston. Lose and they get either Balt or Buf.

Flashback to January in Buffalo isn't pretty and neither is the ending this season with 4 or 5 losses

The "reload" nonsense is great for marketing but has led to perennial mediocrity.

Watt is turning 31 with a $30M cap hit next season. Why keep him around? They need 2 or 3 stellar drafts to compete for a ring in 2027 or 2028

 

[Steelr4evr]

We're going to win the next game against Cincy and the next. We'll get some confidence going, get a few players healthy and be playing in fuckivg February. Let's go!!

I enjoy your enthusiasm. They need more than confidence. Mine is at 1% overall.

This is pretty much their ceiling without major tactical and schematic changes.


What they're doing over and over has completely run its course.

Last season they lost to not one but TWO 2-10 teams at home in consecutive weeks. Which was another ****** record they collected.

Highest paid defense in the league and you'd think it was the lowest.


They've been running the same crap for so long,other teams don't really need to prepare all that much.

The offense has looked awful for 5 years or since they went to that stupid 2-5 yard passing game, which was complete trash.


I'm in a good place with it all because I know what their ceiling is. Mediocrity. Nothing will change,not this year or next year. It doesn't really matter who they draft. They're fatally flawed in schematics,preparation and most of all, coaching!

There's a very large body of work over many years that confirms that.

I've been waiting for a long time for this team to look like a well oiled machine. It consistently looks like it has no oil,the heads are warped,two pistons have snapped and it threw 3 rods through the block.


This script sucks. They need to buy a new one.


Anyhow, go Steelers! ..lol.


p.s. And **** that ****** ***** *** zone they run, they're terrible at it.
Nobody is ever in the right place and they tackle like absolute trash. They will NEVER beat the top teams with that crap. Even the so called bad teams enjoy success against it.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Seriously. We Steeler fans are pretty ridiculous with our expectations. We just lost to three of the best (if not the three best) teams in football and we’re calling it a meltdown. We were not favored in any of the games and on paper and off, the three teams were considerably better. Let’s try to remember, we’re in the playoffs with 2 QBs who were considered dead in the water and we will probably face a really bad Texans team in the first round. Any of you who thought this was a Championship-level team are either delusional or know absolutely nothing about footballl. If we go 11-6 or even 10-7 and win one playoff game, this season was more successful than the last and a progression. When you always win at least 8 or 9 games, you never get premium draft picks and that shows in the mediocrity continuation. It’s the REAL STANDARD: NO LOSING SEASONS.

Expecting a playoff win every here and there is far from ridiculous in the realm of expectations

Noll went 4 years as his longest playoff win drought
Cowher went 3 year as his

Tomlin is in what? 7 and counting…

It’s way past due and the bar should imo be higher

Answer this question as you putting money on the Steelers to beat any playoff contender this year? I’m talking win the dang game/money line not taking a boatload of points and covering a spread…which they couldn’t even cover vs the last 3 contenders they faced.

The expectations should be higher than the current pile of that is being brought forth year after year.

Thats not ridiculous at all imho

If you watched the games and saw how uncompetitive the Steelers were it is/was a meltdown. That’s just being realistic.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

They lost by 14, 17, and 19 and weren't remotely competitive on either side of the ball in any of the three games. Absolutely a meltdown as they were out there looking like a bottom 5 team.

The dumpsta fire Panthers were much more competitive vs Chiefs and Eagles

That’s a pretty sad indictment on the current state of the Steelers

 

[SteelerSask2]

True. But I also think the players and coaches on the other teams were just better…

Ok some were. Certainly the key one. Steelers got better edges, linebackers, running backs, safeties (well minkah maybe not) the big one is they function as a team. Steelers do not because of the coaching staff.

 

[Troglodyte]

Seriously. We Steeler fans are pretty ridiculous with our expectations. We just lost to three of the best (if not the three best) teams in football and we’re calling it a meltdown. We were not favored in any of the games and on paper and off, the three teams were considerably better. Let’s try to remember, we’re in the playoffs with 2 QBs who were considered dead in the water and we will probably face a really bad Texans team in the first round. Any of you who thought this was a Championship-level team are either delusional or know absolutely nothing about footballl. If we go 11-6 or even 10-7 and win one playoff game, this season was more successful than the last and a progression. When you always win at least 8 or 9 games, you never get premium draft picks and that shows in the mediocrity continuation. It’s the REAL STANDARD: NO LOSING SEASONS.

They weren’t 17 point underdogs which was the average margin of defeat. The Steelers have the leagues highest paid defense and it allowed an average of 30 points and 400+ yards. The premium draft picks argument is an insult being that the current Steelers players that are headed for Canton weren’t premium draft picks and one of the worst players was traded up for. The second first round trade up bust in six years. The Steelers would’ve been better off keeping the non-premium picks they traded away.

 

[Punxsutawney]

I've never really accepted the lack of high draft picks as a valid excuse, especially considering the likes of Watt and Heyward were drafted at the end of the first round. Going back further, Polamalu and Pouncey were drafted in the middle of the first.

It's not the NBA where each draft produces only a handful of star players.

An NFL team cannot use first round picks on Devin Bush, Najee Harris, Kenny Pickett and Broderick Jones over a five year period and blame it on draft position.

How much did the trade up for Bush set the franchise back, considering the Steelers spent 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks on it?

How many years have the same weaknesses at OL and DB persisted?

The Steelers have become mediocre because they've been constructed and led that way for too long. It's really that simple.

Though I believe Tomlin is a big part of the problem, it's reached the point where a lot of blame needs to placed on the other people of influence in the organization from the front office to ownership.

I thought the change at GM would potentially be a positive development, but with the struggles of Broderick Jones and JPJ and the way the WR position was handled during the off-season, a lot of the luster has already come off of Khan.

It might have been a better idea to go for a fresh perspective outside the organization to replace Colbert. Khan has been too conditioned in the "Steelers way" which may not be as conducive to building championship teams as it once was.

 

[Confluence]

Read above, and many other threads.

Simplified, most are saying that:

The standard is substandard.

It has been like this for some time, even if a few of us thought "this year might be different" a few weeks back.

The stress comes from the Steeler's poor decisions in making their football product. Yes, they make a lot of money because the NFL dominates global sports, but so do the stains, the bungles, the Jags, the jests, etc.

It is tough for diehard Steeler fans -- like me -- to accept that Steeler leadership starting with the Deuce really does not care about the football team's performance. Sure, they care about being part of the hugely profitable football business, but not about winning the SB, like the diehard fans do.

 

[bigben]

Ok some were. Certainly the key one. Steelers got better edges, linebackers, running backs, safeties (well minkah maybe not) the big one is they function as a team. Steelers do not because of the coaching staff.

Better RB?? We just played the #1 and #2 RB in the league. I'd take pacheco over Harris any day.

 

[bigben]

I've never really accepted the lack of high draft picks as a valid excuse, especially considering the likes of Watt and Heyward were drafted at the end of the first round. Going back further, Polamalu and Pouncey were drafted in the middle of the first.

It's not the NBA where each draft produces only a handful of star players.

An NFL team cannot use first round picks on Devin Bush, Najee Harris, Kenny Pickett and Broderick Jones over a five year period and blame it on draft position.

How much did the trade up for Bush set the franchise back, considering the Steelers spent 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks on it?

How many years have the same weaknesses at OL and DB persisted?

The Steelers have become mediocre because they've been constructed and led that way for too long. It's really that simple.

Though I believe Tomlin is a big part of the problem, it's reached the point where a lot of blame needs to placed on the other people of influence in the organization from the front office to ownership.

I thought the change at GM would potentially be a positive development, but with the struggles of Broderick Jones and JPJ and the way the WR position was handled during the off-season, a lot of the luster has already come off of Khan.

It might have been a better idea to go for a fresh perspective outside the organization to replace Colbert. Khan has been too conditioned in the "Steelers way" which may not be as conducive to building championship teams as it once was.

Exactly

Its not even the lack of Talent. Tomlin failed miserably and repeatedly with the best Offense the Steelers ever fielded.

 

[Drink IRON City]

How much did the trade up for Bush set the franchise back, considering the Steelers spent 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks on it?

How many years have the same weaknesses at OL and DB persisted?

The Steelers have become mediocre because they've been constructed and led that way for too long. It's really that simple.

Though I believe Tomlin is a big part of the problem, it's reached the point where a lot of blame needs to placed on the other people of influence in the organization from the front office to ownership.

I thought the change at GM would potentially be a positive development, but with the struggles of Broderick Jones and JPJ and the way the WR position was handled during the off-season, a lot of the luster has already come off of Khan.

It might have been a better idea to go for a fresh perspective outside the organization to replace Colbert. Khan has been too conditioned in the "Steelers way" which may not be as conducive to building championship teams as it once was.

This is the big one, get this changed and many other things will self right.!!!


Salute the nation

 

[paperclip]

i went from having my hopes up to "well, there are only a few NFL games left this season, better just enjoy watching them."

these (continual) types of off seasons are soooo long.

 

[Punxsutawney]

Exactly

Its not even the lack of Talent. Tomlin failed miserably and repeatedly with the best Offense the Steelers ever fielded.

I think talent is part of it as well, as Watt is the last first round pick that they really hit on and that was nearly 8 years ago.

As I said, Tomlin has had a big hand in it, but so have the other major decision makers in the organization.

Khan was basically Colbert's protege, and the combination of him and Tomlin might not have been enough of a change from the Tomlin/Colbert era to really expect different results.

The Steelers are just set in their ways because it worked so well for them in the past. There was a time when the way Jerry Jones and Al Davis ran their franchises worked too.