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Thread: So easy to blame, So hard to face facts

  1. #11
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    before the season started, every steeler message board had at least 1 topic that said, "guess our record". i would bet that most fans thought we had enough talent to win a minimum of 10 games and go deep in the playoffs, and they predicted as much. i know we have had more than out share of key injuries, but we also had more than enough talent and were healthy enough to beat the likes of raiders, titans, chargers, cowboys and bengals( at home with everything on the line). this team was softer, more undisciplines and more unprepared than i can ever remember a steeler team being. that has to fall on coaching

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by squidkid View Post
    before the season started, every steeler message board had at least 1 topic that said, "guess our record". i would bet that most fans thought we had enough talent to win a minimum of 10 games and go deep in the playoffs, and they predicted as much. i know we have had more than out share of key injuries, but we also had more than enough talent and were healthy enough to beat the likes of raiders, titans, chargers, cowboys and bengals( at home with everything on the line). this team was softer, more undisciplines and more unprepared than i can ever remember a steeler team being. that has to fall on coaching
    those same message boards also predicted the Bumgals would finish last or next to last in the division, yet they are playing for the title this weekend.

    i guess that's what makes the NFL the No. 1 sport in the nation...

  3. #13
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    You have to have a bad season sometimes. A few spots up in the draft make all the difference. Sometimes it's the difference between a Cam Hayward and a JJ Watt. I always hate the 'bag the rest of the season for a draft pick' talk, I'd rather see the playoffs than anything, but when that doesn't happen, it's just part of what's needed every so often.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by JAR View Post
    You have to have a bad season sometimes. A few spots up in the draft make all the difference. Sometimes it's the difference between a Cam Hayward and a JJ Watt. I always hate the 'bag the rest of the season for a draft pick' talk, I'd rather see the playoffs than anything, but when that doesn't happen, it's just part of what's needed every so often.
    This. The NFL is built to be self-correcting, but only if teams pick wisely. Sadly, a JJ Watt probably only comes around once a decade.

    Look what has happened to the Bengals defense with the addition of a single dominant player. It has tipped the balancing point of winning vs losing.

    If Atkins doesn't play in last week's game, do you not think that would have made a difference ( 2.5 sacks and numerous pressures)?

    People act like the Steelers are a crap team, but I just don't see it. They could be one player away from being on the winning side in some of those games.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by blitzburg2013 View Post
    Every year that goes by, theres always that thought in a fans head saying "what was the reason we didnt win the Super Bowl this year?" and it usually ends up in the blame of thinking that our coordinator sucks, we got screwed by the refs, our head coach isnt that good, our line stinks, our defense is aging. Ive been hearing it all the past couple years. Whenever there isnt a Super Bowl victory, there is always a barrage of the blame game blaming someone or something for the failure of the season. What baffles me is why is it that some fans just can't face facts of reality.

    It almost seems that no matter what, some fans think that we are superior to every team in the NFL every year and that we should be expected to beat everyone and if we dont, theres always a reason behind it other than the other team just being better than us. This year as painful as it was, im going to face reality and just say we arent the best team in the NFL and didnt deserve to make it to the playoffs. I can think of a handful of teams that were just flat out better than us this year. Im not going to blame it on the coordinator, coach, o-line, etc. Its easy to make excuses. Im sorry to say but the Pittsburgh Steelers cannot be the best team in the NFL every year. Do they have extreme talent? Did they underachieve? Ofcourse. Were they the best team? Im afraid to say we were not. There were alot of teams that were just flat out better this year.

    im hearing most of the blame on the coaches and its fair at times but to an extent. Coaches can only do so much and put us in a position to win. Did our coaches throw a pick-six for a touchdown last game? Throw an ill-evised interception late in the game that should never of been thrown by a veteran pro-bowl qb like we have late in the game? Did they give up a pass late in the last minute to secure the team a game winning fg?

    Was it their fault Mike Wallace dropped deep balls this year? That our line gave up sacks like nothing? That our best defensive player was banged up most of the year? That our running back had attitude problems? That Emmanul Sanders couldnt hold on to the ball with no one even touching him on a breakaway> That they gave uo the ball 9 times to the Browns?......ok you get my point by now

    The point is there is only so much blame you can put on the coaches. This team just flat out had a bad year, underachieved, and was not the best team in the NFL. I know the blame is usually shedded out to someone and its easiest to blame the coaches but lets just try to face reality.

    I truly believe we will have a comback season next year and play anger and hopefully make a run in the post-season and get that number 7.
    Excellent post. Fans unfortuinately develop love affairs with players because they wish they were them. Not so with coaches so the coaches become the easy targets. Some try to make it seem like they teach players how to make bad plays, miss blocks, drop balls, etc. The reality is that the player have to execute and it is player execution that wins or loses games. The last two are perfect examples. Ben throws interceptions and we lose.

    What is even more laughable are those who think a middle aged coach needs to "motivate" well payed professional athletes. Really? This isn't Pee Wee where the coach can terrorize the kids and scare them. These guys are in the highest level of their chosen profession and they need motivated? If so, we have the wrong players. I think we have clearly seen this season that money is what motivates these players. Just ask Mike Wallace. A coach doing rah rah and yelling on the sideline isn't going to modify their behavior.

    What we see is that our success works against us. The years of continually drafting at the bottom if each round is catching up with us. Other teams have a chance at the premier talent in each round and we get the left overs. Some turn out great and others don't. It is no accident the Bumgals are on the rise with the large number of high picks they have at every position on their roster. The NFL has designed the system to punish success and reward failure in terms of talent replacement.
    "My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oviedo View Post
    Excellent post. Fans unfortuinately develop love affairs with players because they wish they were them. Not so with coaches so the coaches become the easy targets. Some try to make it seem like they teach players how to make bad plays, miss blocks, drop balls, etc. The reality is that the player have to execute and it is player execution that wins or loses games. The last two are perfect examples. Ben throws interceptions and we lose.

    What is even more laughable are those who think a middle aged coach needs to "motivate" well payed professional athletes. Really? This isn't Pee Wee where the coach can terrorize the kids and scare them. These guys are in the highest level of their chosen profession and they need motivated? If so, we have the wrong players. I think we have clearly seen this season that money is what motivates these players. Just ask Mike Wallace. A coach doing rah rah and yelling on the sideline isn't going to modify their behavior.

    What we see is that our success works against us. The years of continually drafting at the bottom if each round is catching up with us. Other teams have a chance at the premier talent in each round and we get the left overs. Some turn out great and others don't. It is no accident the Bumgals are on the rise with the large number of high picks they have at every position on their roster. The NFL has designed the system to punish success and reward failure in terms of talent replacement.
    you've never played a competitive sport if you dont think the ability to motivate isnt a huge resposibility of being a head coach..........at any level

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by squidkid View Post
    you've never played a competitive sport if you dont think the ability to motivate isnt a huge resposibility of being a head coach..........at any level

    You are obviously lacking something if you need another man to tell you to do your best!
    "My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"

  8. #18
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    The job of a head coach is to deliver victories. This team was not motivated to play on a consistent basis for the games they were "supposed" to win. That is on coaching no matter what anyone says. It was a predictive, repetitive and inexcusable failure of the coaches and whoever the team leaders are, and that includes Ben.

    This thread started with a discussion of the Steelers missing the playoffs with the observation that there were several superior teams. Well, yeah. But that's what seasons are about and this team wasted its season. There is no real reason why they could not have been in the playoffs. They simply underperformed in a pathetic way for virtually the entire second half of the season.

  9. #19
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    I saw the Steelers as a 8-8 - 9-7 team with the ability to win 10 games. I didn't think that b/c "the defense is old" either. I almost didn't get the NFL Sunday Ticket this year.

    I had questions about our O-Line establishing a running game, a new offense and our lack of INTs on Defense.
    Didn't like the DEPTH on the team either.

    Knowing this ahead of time makes this an easier pill to swollow.
    Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go...
    Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go...
    Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go...!!!

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by SidSmythe View Post
    I saw the Steelers as a 8-8 - 9-7 team with the ability to win 10 games. I didn't think that b/c "the defense is old" either. I almost didn't get the NFL Sunday Ticket this year.

    I had questions about our O-Line establishing a running game, a new offense and our lack of INTs on Defense.
    Didn't like the DEPTH on the team either.

    Knowing this ahead of time makes this an easier pill to swollow.
    I believe I do recall you saying we would have an average record. You hit the nail on the head about the OL. The OL remains problem #1. Fix that and the offense will roll.

    Problem #1a is a defense that can no longer sack the QB or force turnovers. That will require a more signifcant change to fix and get our defense back to one that opponents fear.
    "My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"

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