GM Colbert: Steelers are not old or in transition

[flippy]

But as it was the Ravens only had 10 wins, two more than us. What if they lost Flacco for three games? There wins were narrow as it was. They are 8-8 or even worse.

What if Ben was not injured? Not only did we lose two very winnable games in division (we win the north if that happens) Ben was not right after he came back.

Pre-injury Roethlisberger had completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 2,287 yards, 17 touchdowns and only four interceptions and had been sacked a surprisingly low 18 times.

It took Ben all of THREE GAMES after injury to throw as many picks as he threw all season prior to his injury.

The Ravens were horrible down the stretch, we easily win this division if not for the injury to Ben.

What if our ST didn't allow a TD return against Baltimore. What if our D wasn't owned by Carson Palmer? What if the refs spotted Ray Rice's missed 4th down conversion vs San Diego? What if the cops located Ray Lewis' bloody white suit?

We could what if indefinitely. And there's a million of them that were by the skin of the Raven's teeth. Same for us when we won our SuperBowls.

[lloydroid]

What if our ST didn't allow a TD return against Baltimore. What if our D wasn't owned by Carson Palmer? What if the refs spotted Ray Rice's missed 4th down conversion vs San Diego? What if the cops located Ray Lewis' bloody white suit?

We could what if indefinitely. And there's a million of them that were by the skin of the Raven's teeth. Same for us when we won our SuperBowls.

Exactly. We can do it all day, to either team's title runs. Like Jim Rome says, "SCOREBOARD." End of story. That's all that matters at the end of the season.

[Captain Lemming]

What if our ST didn't allow a TD return against Baltimore. What if our D wasn't owned by Carson Palmer? What if the refs spotted Ray Rice's missed 4th down conversion vs San Diego? What if the cops located Ray Lewis' bloody white suit?

We could what if indefinitely. And there's a million of them that were by the skin of the Raven's teeth. Same for us when we won our SuperBowls.

You are correct Flippy.
That is why the idea that we need to wholesale scrap this team for young scrubs has no validity. That is why DL is absolutely correct. There is a fine line between 8-8 and a 10-6 SB champion.

I'm not talking dozens of variables just one, Ben.

We had the number one defense and lost TWO GAMES where we gave up THIRTEEN POINTS to the victor.
Now is not the time to trash our defense for being"too old". Now is not the time to think this team is done.

DL is right, and it is not just excuses.

[lloydroid]

You are correct Flippy.
That is why the idea that we need to wholesale scrap this team for young scrubs has no validity. That is why DL is absolutely correct. There is a fine line between 8-8 and a 10-6 SB champion.

I'm not talking dozens of variables just one, Ben.

We had the number one defense and lost TWO GAMES where we gave up THIRTEEN POINTS to the victor.
Now is not the time to trash our defense for being"too old". Now is not the time to think this team is done.

DL is right, and it is not just excuses.

You are making a straw man argument. I haven't seen a single person advocate a massive, wholesale change of players any where in this thread. But the team is old. 11 starters from last year are now over 30. 11. And not only did we go 8-8 but it was an ugly 8-8, not the kind of 8-8 where the team was on the rise, but, conversely, kept getting more embarrassing. With loses to Cle, Oak, SD and TN, and with very losable games to Philly, KC and Jets, this team appeared fairly pathetic. One of the worst 8-8 seasons I have seen. While I, nor anyone I have seen, is preaching for a massive cut of players, as Colbert said, when you go 8-8 you are being delusional if you think that same cast of characters will make a run for a title. Let's not be delusional. Hampton and Colon are no brainers. Casey can barely walk, and I mean that literally. Colon is a fatso with a body that will keep breaking down forever (3 years in a row now?). Will Troy EVER have a healthy season EVER again? Doubt it. Clark is old. Harrison might be able to squeeze one more season, or at least, I hope so. We don't need to cut a dozen starters on a youth movement, but they sure as sh-t better get rid of some of the old guys, or we have no chance at contending for a ring for many years. Zero.

[supersteeler]

You are making a straw man argument. I haven't seen a single person advocate a massive, wholesale change of players any where in this thread. But the team is old. 11 starters from last year are now over 30. 11. And not only did we go 8-8 but it was an ugly 8-8, not the kind of 8-8 where the team was on the rise, but, conversely, kept getting more embarrassing. With loses to Cle, Oak, SD and TN, and with very losable games to Philly, KC and Jets, this team appeared fairly pathetic. One of the worst 8-8 seasons I have seen. While I, nor anyone I have seen, is preaching for a massive cut of players, as Colbert said, when you go 8-8 you are being delusional if you think that same cast of characters will make a run for a title. Let's not be delusional. Hampton and Colon are no brainers. Casey can barely walk, and I mean that literally. Colon is a fatso with a body that will keep breaking down forever (3 years in a row now?). Will Troy EVER have a healthy season EVER again? Doubt it. Clark is old. Harrison might be able to squeeze one more season, or at least, I hope so. We don't need to cut a dozen starters on a youth movement, but they sure as sh-t better get rid of some of the old guys, or we have no chance at contending for a ring for many years. Zero.

Getting younger won't guarantee the team will be better, what makes a team better is the talent they have producing on the field.
We haven't seen that from several young players this season, don't need to mention names we know who they are.
When an older player can't perform his duties then I agree, the team has to make changes, however it still comes back to performance not age.

[lloydroid]

Getting younger won't guarantee the team will be better, what makes a team better is the talent they have producing on the field.
We haven't seen that from several young players this season, don't need to mention names we know who they are.
When an older player can't perform his duties then I agree, the team has to make changes, however it still comes back to performance not age.

Of course: Getting younger is no guarantee of getting better, but at some point, it's your only option. Had they wasted a few more years keeping your Gildongs, Kirklands, Chad Scotts, Steeds, Thigpens, etc. they time needed to get a team back to contention would have taken longer. Since the Cowher era, they are 16-5 in winning seasons vs. non winning seasons. They have done an incredible job of not allowing many down seasons for more than 1 season in a row, having only had 2 non winning seasons in a row in all that time.

[url]http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/[/url]

Only the Brady/Belichick Pats can boast of a run like that, and they haven't done it as long and with only 1 QB; let's see how consistent they are when they lose Brady. The question is: Is last year our 1 down year, or will we have 2 down years for the first time since 1998-1989 seasons?

[Oviedo]

Getting younger won't guarantee the team will be better, what makes a team better is the talent they have producing on the field.
We haven't seen that from several young players this season, don't need to mention names we know who they are.
When an older player can't perform his duties then I agree, the team has to make changes, however it still comes back to performance not age.

You think the performance of Harrison and Troy match the resource investment in them? Woodley? Ike? The issue is are we getting a return on the investment from these older guys who are limiting our personnel flexibility because of how much of the cap they consumes.

[Sugar]

You are correct Flippy.
That is why the idea that we need to wholesale scrap this team for young scrubs has no validity. That is why DL is absolutely correct. There is a fine line between 8-8 and a 10-6 SB champion.

I'm not talking dozens of variables just one, Ben.

We had the number one defense and lost TWO GAMES where we gave up THIRTEEN POINTS to the victor.
Now is not the time to trash our defense for being"too old". Now is not the time to think this team is done.

DL is right, and it is not just excuses.

Right you are. The Defense came into their own as the season was winding down. A healthy Ben and just a little better running game change the equation entirely. Unfortunately, the Steelers are in a position where they can't simply make a few tweaks and hope to stay healthy. The cap situation seems to indicate major changes regardless of last years record.

[Oviedo]

You are correct Flippy.
That is why the idea that we need to wholesale scrap this team for young scrubs has no validity. That is why DL is absolutely correct. There is a fine line between 8-8 and a 10-6 SB champion.

I'm not talking dozens of variables just one, Ben.

We had the number one defense and lost TWO GAMES where we gave up THIRTEEN POINTS to the victor.
Now is not the time to trash our defense for being"too old". Now is not the time to think this team is done.

DL is right, and it is not just excuses.

So being young makes you a "scrub?" I think we have very good young players many of whom would step up and play well if they were in full-time roles versus bits and pieces here and there. It's not like the vets who can't play 16 games are making a difference and they are sucking up a whole lot more in financial resources that is crippling our ability to make personnel moves.