Are we really this spoled and mental?

[RuthlessBurgher]

To be able to lead the league in defensive yardage allowed without very many turnovers or sacks is seemingly an even more impressive accomplishment if you think about it. The teams that get a ton or turnovers cut opponent's drives short, and the teams that get a ton of sacks put the opponent's in many third and long situations that are difficult to convert. We are not doing either of those things on a regular basis, but are still holding our opponents to less yards than those team that do.

[pittpete]

Any Steeler fan who watches every game can argue against this stat.
You know as well as I that the Steelers
-gave up 11 passing TD's(middle of the pack)
-are tied for 4th in the NFL with the worst 3rd down opponents conversion %
Do the stats look great on paper?
Hell yeah.....
Does a knowledgeable Steelers fan who doesn't miss a play see otherwise?
Hell yeah
The pass def. has room for improvement, always has always will

[feltdizz]

Any Steeler fan who watches every game can argue against this stat.
You know as well as I that the Steelers
-gave up 11 passing TD's(middle of the pack)
-are tied for 4th in the NFL with the worst 3rd down opponents conversion %
Do the stats look great on paper?
Hell yeah.....
Does a knowledgeable Steelers fan who doesn't miss a play see otherwise?
Hell yeah
The pass def. has room for improvement, always has always will

Bingo!!!! Solid post... The #1 ranking didn't stop Oakland, Tennessee or Denver when we needed it. Don't get me wrong.. I understand Denver has a great QB but the other 2 teams? Nah.. we didn't look #1.

I want our D to impose it's will on bad teams... until that happens I'm not going to celebrate.

[Oviedo]

Bingo!!!! Solid post... The #1 ranking didn't stop Oakland, Tennessee or Denver when we needed it. Don't get me wrong.. I understand Denver has a great QB but the other 2 teams? Nah.. we didn't look #1.

I want our D to impose it's will on bad teams... until that happens I'm not going to celebrate.

You can't impose your will unless you can get the opposing QB on the ground. We have become very mediocre in doing that. We can cite injuries all we want but the reality is you have to adjust because the need to sack opposing QBs doesn't go away because someone is hurt.

[Sugar]

You can't impose your will unless you can get the opposing QB on the ground.

Sorry, but that is simply not the case.

[lloydroid]

Ranking D's by yardage never tells the whole story. We may be #2 in yards, but we're #10 in points per game.

Look at it this way, do you trust the D on the field with the game on the line at the end of a game? Stats go out the window at that point.

All that said, I've said I hold Ben accountable. The offense is #13 in scoring afterall. So you could argue the D is holding up it's end of the bargain better than the O.

On the other hand, would you rather have Ben on the field with the game on the line? I would too. So again, stats are misleading.

Rankings by yards does not tell the whole story, but it certainly DOES tell some of the truth. They are #1 vs. the pass; you can't tell me that that's a completely irrelevant stat. Teams get less yards, per game, passing against the Steelers than any other team. You can't tell me that's not a reflection on our D at all. And all of this is without China Doll Troy on the field.

[lloydroid]

So let me summarize: If the Steelers' D doesn't lead the league in picks, fumble recoveries, sacks, points, yards against in passing and rushing, then it stinks and we should be unhappy? OK, got it.

Is this D the greatest of all time? Of course not. There are only 3 teams in that discussion: The 70's Steelers, the 1985 Bears and the 2000 Ravens. Is this D so bad that we should complain about it like it just stinks? No. Supposedly, this team has little hope of winning without Troy in the line up, and they are putting up these stats without him (and BOY, am I getting sick of seeing his lame arse on the sidelines.) My point wasn't that this D is perfect. My point was it isn't nearly as bad as many of us gripe about. There are probably 28 teams that would trade for our D right now. And if Pola-fragile ever comes back, it will be even more so.

[lloydroid]

You can't impose your will unless you can get the opposing QB on the ground. We have become very mediocre in doing that. We can cite injuries all we want but the reality is you have to adjust because the need to sack opposing QBs doesn't go away because someone is hurt.

Harrison isn't whole, neither is Woodley; they are our top guys to get to the passer. And, you are not correct: There have been many fabulous and effective Ds that didn't put up huge sack #s. Getting lots of sacks is sure fun and exciting, but not mandatory in creating solids Ds.

[feltdizz]

So let me summarize: If the Steelers' D doesn't lead the league in picks, fumble recoveries, sacks, points, yards against in passing and rushing, then it stinks and we should be unhappy? OK, got it.

Is this D the greatest of all time? Of course not. There are only 3 teams in that discussion: The 70's Steelers, the 1985 Bears and the 2000 Ravens. Is this D so bad that we should complain about it like it just stinks? No. Supposedly, this team has little hope of winning without Troy in the line up, and they are putting up these stats without him (and BOY, am I getting sick of seeing his lame arse on the sidelines.) My point wasn't that this D is perfect. My point was it isn't nearly as bad as many of us gripe about. There are probably 28 teams that would trade for our D right now. And if Pola-fragile ever comes back, it will be even more so.

hmmm... I don't think there are 28 teams who would trade their D for ours... probably 14 to 15 but not 28.

my biggest problem with our D is the lack of TO's... I remember when our D used to get game changing, game saving TO's.. that hasn't happened too often since 2008.

[lloydroid]

The 49ers have played 1 more game than us and have 3 more INTs, 2 fewer FFs, and 3 more sacks. Not that big a difference. Yet most think they have the best defense in the league.

They have given up 7.7 less points per game. Not sure those stats are driving the point differential.

And, as a support stat, SF has the #1 rated D by yards, so, in this case, the yards against stat actually are a perfect indicator to the quality of the D; I don't think many would argue that SF doesn't have a superior D to Pgh. The 7.7 points less per game is a pretty huge indicator that their D is better. SF is solid as hell on D. They got two huge play makers on the line and some of the most beastly LBs on earth, in their prime. And couple of DBs who are excellent. If there is a better LB than Pat Willis, I don't know who that would be. (I so wished we traded up to draft him.)