The Enigmatic Game of Ben Roethlisberger

[NJ-STEELER]

The offense didn't do much with the few turnovers the defense forced because instead of trying to make the other team pay, the offense was too concerned with time of possession. They never went for the jugular, every drive had to be 10 minutes long and it really worked against the Steelers last year.

Ben's never had a top-10 offense because the Steelers don't play want to play like that. They want to be known as a defensive-minded team that grinds out low-scoring wins.

certainly explains why the cap is always tilted to the defensive side.

not only that but we spoend #1 oicks on D guys to sit for 2 years(on an already top ranked unit) when clearly the offense was in bigger need

[flippy]

certainly explains why the cap is always tilted to the defensive side.

not only that but we spoend #1 oicks on D guys to sit for 2 years(on an already top ranked unit) when clearly the offense was in bigger need

If Bell ends up starting 7 of 11 guys on O are 1st or 2nd round picks.

On D, only 5 of 11 starters are 1st or 2nd rounders.

I think our needs on D are bigger than on our O. We need to generate pressure and create turnovers. Granted, I'm not a big fan of picking DEs with our 1st pick in back to back years. Same thing with the OLine. I think we should be doing a better job of developing 2nd or 3rd day picks in the non skill positions and there should be more emphasis on going for big impact skill players on both sides of the ball early in the draft.

Cowher/Colbert seemed to do a better job of hitting big on 1st rounders. We've slipped a little on that front over the last few years. And not getting those big impact players may be one of the biggest reasons we're in this mediocre transition mode last year as we've lost a lot of team leaders/key starters.

We need a lot of guys to turn the corner and play up to their potential. And figure out how to start conditioning players so we slow down all the injuries.

[RuthlessBurgher]

certainly explains why the cap is always tilted to the defensive side.

not only that but we spoend #1 oicks on D guys to sit for 2 years(on an already top ranked unit) when clearly the offense was in bigger need

When your offense is young and your defense is old, how is offense clearly the bigger need? Seems like the aging D could use more of an injection of youth to me (with Aaron Smith, James Farrior, James Harrison, and Casey Hampton already gone, and guys like Brett Keisel, Larry Foote, Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor, and Troy Polamalu nearing their expiration dates). On offense, Pouncey has been here the longest among o-linemen. Plax and Cotch aren't spring chickens, but they are merely role players at this stage in their careers, and we already have multiple young bodies like Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, and Markus Wheaton in place. Other than that, the oldest guys on offense are Ben and Heath, neither of which is nearing retirement.

It's not as if we lean heavily to one side or the other with our top picks anyway. In the Tomlin era, we have alternated offense and defense every year in all 7 drafts. In odd numbered years, we draft defense first (2007 Timmons, 2009 Hood, 2011 Heyward, 2013 Jones) and in even numbered years, we draft offense first (2008 Mendenhall, 2010 Pouncey, 2012 DeCastro).