Give Ben the O-line like the so called other Elite QB's AND a back that can carry the rock without a blow and you will see a difference.
Any OC system requires a good O-line to work no matter who is the coach, when things were going well the Line seemed to block better and Ben was better as a result. Then the injuries to the line and Ben hurt them, plus you add injured backs and it spells trouble.
If we don't get good production from our O-line then we have issues, but we have to wait and see them play healthy as a group before we write them off.
Hey folks, I hate to say this but our Steelers will probably be more competitive next season and win a few more games. However, if you are dealing in reality we have too many issues to get resolved to be a championship team, no one draft will fix it.
I think the "we aren't doing enough to fix the OL" excuse is officially played out. In the last 3 drafts, we used 4 out of the 6 "premium" picks in the 1st or 2nd round on o-linemen. A first round center, a first round guard, and two second round tackles. Plus, after using these premium picks on the OL, we also attempted to solidify our OL depth with another 7th round OL pick in 2012, another 6th round OL pick in 2011, another 5th round OL pick in 2010, and also 3rd & 7th round OL picks in 2009, a 4th round OL pick in 2008, etc., etc., etc. We are not ignoring the OL...far from it. With Kugler now at UTEP, we need to find an OL coach that can turn these guys into the players that we thought we drafted.
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
I disagree with this. A healthy Steelers team is better than the Ravens team playing in the AFC Championship this weekend. IMO, drastic changes aren't needed. Get healthy and continue to make the additions needed via the draft and a couple solid free agents. In other words, what they usually do.
I don't think we are that far off either but we are seriously lacking in a few areas.
I would add kicker to the list. Mark my words, we will NEVER win a Super Bowl with Suisham as a kicker. So, every year that we go into the season with him as our kicker, I am willing to guarantee that we won't win a SB.
Tomlin: Let's unleash hell and "mop the floor" with the competition.
I don't give a rats azz how many picks we have 'used' on the OL. I look at the players themselves. I see Gilbert who missed half the season, DeCastro that missed most the season, Adams that missed 1/4 of the season, Pouncey that has missed parts of every season, and I say keep drafting them cause these guys aren't reliable. I'm also all for competition for the starting job and have no problem taking an Eric Fisher to push Gilbert and Adams. I have no issue taking a Chance Warmack to push DeCastro and Belchum or Foster. I wouldn't even have a problem trading down and taking that OC from Alabama (can't recall his name at the moment) to push all of them including Pouncey.
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