Five Reasons Why The Steelers Are Stronger In 2010

[Sugar]

Re: Five Reasons Why The Steelers Are Stronger In 2010

I don't know a team in the league that would not suffer greatly if they lost their starting QB and their number one WR. Throw in the fact that Ward is getting older and more injury prone and you are looking at some significant problems in the passing game.

Would the Colts be better than 9-7 if Manning missed a month and Reggie Wayne was traded? Would the Saints be better than 9-7 if Brees missed a month and Colston was traded? Would the Ravens be better than 9-7 if Flacco missed a month and Mason were traded?

I will all but guarantee that the Steelers will suffer in the win/loss column without Ben and Holmes playing. I don't care how much better you project the Steeler's aging defense.

What an amazingly sensible post. My hope is that they can play over their head until Ben gets back and that we actually have something special in Sanders or Wallace.

[Oviedo]

Re: Five Reasons Why The Steelers Are Stronger In 2010

I don't know a team in the league that would not suffer greatly if they lost their starting QB and their number one WR. Throw in the fact that Ward is getting older and more injury prone and you are looking at some significant problems in the passing game.

Would the Colts be better than 9-7 if Manning missed a month and Reggie Wayne was traded? Would the Saints be better than 9-7 if Brees missed a month and Colston was traded? Would the Ravens be better than 9-7 if Flacco missed a month and Mason were traded?

I will all but guarantee that the Steelers will suffer in the win/loss column without Ben and Holmes playing. I don't care how much better you project the Steeler's aging defense.

Makes sense but the question becomes can the defense get you two to three wins that they gave away last season.

On the surface though I think you are right and no way do I see more than a 10-11 win season. A 7-8 win season would not surprise me if we start slow in Ben's absence.

[frankthetank1]

Re: Five Reasons Why The Steelers Are Stronger In 2010

I don't know a team in the league that would not suffer greatly if they lost their starting QB and their number one WR. Throw in the fact that Ward is getting older and more injury prone and you are looking at some significant problems in the passing game.

Would the Colts be better than 9-7 if Manning missed a month and Reggie Wayne was traded? Would the Saints be better than 9-7 if Brees missed a month and Colston was traded? Would the Ravens be better than 9-7 if Flacco missed a month and Mason were traded?

I will all but guarantee that the Steelers will suffer in the win/loss column without Ben and Holmes playing. I don't care how much better you project the Steeler's aging defense.

Makes sense but the question becomes can the defense get you two to three wins that they gave away last season.

On the surface though I think you are right and no way do I see more than a 10-11 win season. A 7-8 win season would not surprise me if we start slow in Ben's absence.

i would be ecstatic with 10-11 wins. i think 7-8 will happen unfortunately. the passing game was by far the best part of the offense last season and we wont have been for a while and no tone.

the defense is a year older. im glad they have foote back because i thought farrior showed a lot of age last season. bmac is a lot better than gay, but he isnt an elite cb or anything. hopefully woodley's second half of last season will carry over to the first half of this season and harrison has a better year. if they have a pass rush as consistent as 2008 then i think we will win 10-11 games. if the pass rush is like last season i think we will have another dissapointing season.

[Snatch98]

Re: Five Reasons Why The Steelers Are Stronger In 2010

Lest we forget, this team lost by a touchdown or less EVERY time it was beaten last year... literally a handful of plays change the season from 9 - 7 to 14 - 2. It won't take a whole lot to dramatically alter the results in a positive direction, IMHO.

Further taking into account the Steelers' historical penchant for performing abysmally when expectations are high after a great season (2002, 2003, 2006, 2009 recently) and tremendously when they're sneaking up on people (2001, 2004, 200, I fully expect them to defy the expectations of most outside of the fan base and have a strong season... I think Ben gets the suspension reduced, we go 3 - 1 during (losing to either the Titans or Rats) on our way to 12 - 4 and winning the division.

Simply improving our special teams which we did is going to make a enormous difference. We have great LB depth and hopefully the addition of Pouncey really solidifies our offensive line. We could be in for a pretty special year even with Ben down for 4 games.