Remember Troy's early season comments?

[flippy]

Troy mentioned that for our defense to be great, our offense needed to be able to control the clock and consistently run the ball.

Well 13 games in, our offense is poor.

But our defense is playing great.

Would they be playing significantly better if the Offense helped out?

[TallyStiller]

Difference this year vs. last is the sacks and turnovers. Last year's D was sorely missing the big, game changing play... and wasn't able to produce the W's one would expect of a #1 D, despite having FWP lead the league in rushing prior to his injury and Ben throw a ton of TD passes. This year's version is ball hawking and bringing more pressure. I think they'd be this good no matter what - kind of like the '72 - '74 version of the Steelers when Bradshaw was terrible.

[ramblinjim]

I think if our offense could pound the football up and down the field we would be 13-0 as our defense hasn't let us down in a game yet.

Now I'm knocking on wood.

[mshifko]

i brought this up earlier: if we're winning and if our offense is underachieving is that good thing?

i believe it is...offense's are streaky...i could definitely see this offense begin to roll and continue rolling in the post season....

we have to run the ball and i believe it probably won't happen this week, but against the titans believe it or not i think we can run the ball on them...their dline is dominant, but don't see their linebackers being able to run sideline to sideline and shut down our running game all day...the ravens have the linebackers

[Steeler Shades]

I think that because our offense can't be counted on to score a ton of points, the defense has really needed to "dig in" and hold our opponents to relatively low scores. If the Steeler D could count on 30+ points from our offense they might be able to relax a little and might not have stats that are as good. Purely speculation....but it is possible. 8)

[Jooser]

The year we went to XL, our offense wasn't very impressive all season. We were just mediocre, but the offense got hot at the right time and we used that momentum all the way to a Championship. Of course, that was with Whiz as OC and we still had Bettis pounding teams into submission with Parker as the lightning strike in between. I hope our offense can catch fire, but I think alot is riding on the running game. :|

[flippy]

The year we went to XL, our offense wasn't very impressive all season. We were just mediocre, but the offense got hot at the right time and we used that momentum all the way to a Championship. Of course, that was with Whiz as OC and we still had Bettis pounding teams into submission with Parker as the lightning strike in between. I hope our offense can catch fire, but I think alot is riding on the running game. :|

Whiz came up with some exotic alignments in the playoff run that year that created a lot of confusion. I believe BA had a hand in it as well.

My biggest hope is we understand offenses are streaky and we really want the streak in the playoffs. So we're going a little vanilla right now at this point in the season to set some teams up for the playoffs.

I really think we've got a lot of alignments that we have shown to this point in the season. And out identity is going to change in 5 weeks.

[AngryAsian]

The year we went to XL, our offense wasn't very impressive all season. We were just mediocre, but the offense got hot at the right time and we used that momentum all the way to a Championship. Of course, that was with Whiz as OC and we still had Bettis pounding teams into submission with Parker as the lightning strike in between. I hope our offense can catch fire, but I think alot is riding on the running game. :|

Whiz came up with some exotic alignments in the playoff run that year that created a lot of confusion. I believe BA had a hand in it as well.

My biggest hope is we understand offenses are streaky and we really want the streak in the playoffs. So we're going a little vanilla right now at this point in the season to set some teams up for the playoffs.

I really think we've got a lot of alignments that we have shown to this point in the season. And out identity is going to change in 5 weeks.


BINGO!!! WE HAVE A WINNER!!! That is what scares the crap out me, flippy. I see no creativity from our offensive sets. Even our "trick" plays fool nobody... not that trickery will be the deciding factor, but during our 2005 campaign when we got hot, it was usually those trick plays that caused a momentum shift for us. Enough of a shift where our offense started to get rolling. We make too many mental mistakes and miscues on offense and to me that may be a sign that the players are confused. Yes we're winning, but caution and trepidation towards what's coming is wise, because the competition gets only tougher in the weeks again. The Cleveland game is the only slouch game on our schedule, then the rest are sick. Even if we were to make it out of the AFC, New York and Carolina look nasty and this will be no Over Rated, soft, one-dimensional Seattle team that we'll be facing... both have relentless defenses and both have sick tandem receivers, and both have punishing ground games that have multiple back systems that show no mercy. Yes, we need to start having our offense come to the games and show their mettle. All it takes is one poor defensive showing and it could mean our undoing.

[NW Steeler]

I think that because our offense can't be counted on to score a ton of points, the defense has really needed to "dig in" and hold our opponents to relatively low scores. If the Steeler D could count on 30+ points from our offense they might be able to relax a little and might not have stats that are as good. Purely speculation....but it is possible. 8)


I think you are dead on there. They KNOW that they can't allow a lot of points, so they bring it on almost every down (except for the end of the first half for some reason). All of these close, hard fought games should serve us well for a playoff push. If our offense would just put it together I'd feel real confident about us going ALL the way.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

Troy mentioned that for our defense to be great, our offense needed to be able to control the clock and consistently run the ball.

Well 13 games in, our offense is poor.

But our defense is playing great.

Would they be playing significantly better if the Offense helped out?
i actually think the offensive struggles are making the defense play better...
1. they HAVE to... somebody has to win the game, and

2. if you have a big lead, teams are more likely to pass and abandon the run quicker. if it's close (or they have the lead) they're more likely to try to stick to their normal offense. our d is better against the run. i still think we'd struggle against a team that could have the patience to throw 50+ passes like NE and Oakland did in back to back games a few years ago...

[Iron Shiek]

Troy mentioned that for our defense to be great, our offense needed to be able to control the clock and consistently run the ball.

Well 13 games in, our offense is poor.

But our defense is playing great.

Would they be playing significantly better if the Offense helped out?
i actually think the offensive struggles are making the defense play better...
1. they HAVE to... somebody has to win the game, and

2. if you have a big lead, teams are more likely to pass and abandon the run quicker. if it's close (or they have the lead) they're more likely to try to stick to their normal offense. our d is better against the run. i still think we'd struggle against a team that could have the patience to throw 50+ passes like NE and Oakland did in back to back games a few years ago...

This is very true. When the Buckeyes won the National Championship back in 2003, they had numerous down to the wire-close games that kept their defense on its toes all the time. And in the end their defense held down the Miami powerhouse offense for the most part, and look where all those hard fought games got them, a championship. I feel the same fate for our team. Only I don't expect Willie Parker to start bringing Grey Goose to practice and ride around with shotguns in his car on the way to threaten a witness in one of his court cases...