I find it very odd -- that no matter how poorly the Offense plays it never seems to be their fault that they lost the game on most message boards I've been apart of.
If our offense can only score 3 points in a game -- it's expected that the defense perform a shut-out.....rarely is it seen the other way -- that if our #1 Defense allows 16 points in a game the offense should be able to score 17.
Spoiled has always been a problem for most Steelers fans IMO ---- However I will say this --- I think Steelers fans (and "real" football fans) are having some adjustment issues with the "New" NFL.
The NFL right now is (IMO) a hybrid between what it was up to the mid-90's and Arena style football scoring. 5,000 passing yards had only been achieved once in NFL history when Dan Marino did it in 1984 and for the next 16 seasons the leading QB in passing yards fell about 300 (or more) yards short of 5,000.
In the past 5 seasons 5,000 yards has been eclipsed twice and last season Brees threw for an additional 476 yards on top of 5000 --- which equates to almost 350 yards a game.....when you consider that 300 yards used to be kind of big deal -- that's a sizeable change in the way the game is being played. Also you have to keep in mind that Personal Fouls and Pass Interference are called far more often and that just makes it more of an offensive game.
I understand that certain fans "hear" that the Steelers Defense is #1 in the league and just don't care.....I read one poster here who said that "Our defense was the kind that looked good statistically, but in reality wasn't very good".....and I'm thinking HUH??? Granted the team is only as good as their record, but the numbers you produce are all you can really show at the end of the day.
I think many fans (especially Steeler fans who have come to enjoy great defensive play) are waiting to see defense like they remember it.....but in reality the NFL isn't the same league as when guys like Rod Woodson and Greg Lloyd were playing....let alone going further back to the days of Jack Lambert and Mel Blount.
And in no way do I believe those players from the past were simply better, or better coached -- the league has simply changed.
Like it or not the NFL likes being a Peyton Manning kind of league -- squeeky clean players, lots of endorsement possibilities, and lots of passing yards.....perhaps their is some irony in the fact that an offensive Quarterback from today is matched with a star defensive
player from the past. Where the league is now....and where it was.
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