The crazy thing is....

[rockonsteel]

I'm not so much upset that they loss yesterday. You can't realistically expect the Steelers to beat the Ravens twice every year. Would be nice, but not realistic. The two teams splitting more years than not, is a much more realistic view of it. So, the fact that they loss in Baltimore is not that bad in and of itself.

It's the way that they loss that's got me steaming. Had they lost 24-20, hell, even 24-13 in a tough hard fought game, my stomach wouldn't be twisted in knots almost as tightly as they were back on that Monday in February. But, they didn't show up and were whipped like they stole something from God.

That is quite disturbing for a team that's supposed to be hungry and focused in their dogged pursuit of redeeming themselves for what I'm sure they believe to a man, was a blown opportunity in Dallas. They lost that game because they made way too many mistake against a good team. So, they make up for that by coming out and yesterday a playing 10 times worse? That is where I have major issues with yesterday, not the loss itself.




Rockon

[Sonny]

Re: The crazy thing is....

So, you would rather lose a close, hard fought game? I always hear people say how they would rather get blown out, than lose a heartbreaker towards the end. I guess in the end, a loss is a loss is a loss. They all hurt.

[rockonsteel]

Re: The crazy thing is....

[quote="Sonny"]So, you would rather lose a close, hard fought game? I always hear people say how they would rather get blown out, than lose a heartbreaker towards the end. I guess in the end, a loss is a loss is a loss. They all hurt.[/quot

I just understand that it's not realistic to expect to beat a team the quality of the Ravens twice every year. So, I'm saying the fact that they lost in Baltimore is not the end of the world. The Steelers are not going to win every game they play. But, if they are gonna lose, I would feel much better if they competed and fought back, rather than laying down like dogs. And yesterday they laid down like dogs and let the Ravens just kick the crap outta them. That bothers me way more than the lost itself.



Rockon

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: The crazy thing is....

Labriola on loss to Ravens

By Bob Labriola - Steelers Digest

How bad is bad?

In terms of the statistical, there were the seven turnovers, the 5.5 yards per carry rushing average allowed, a points scored to turnover ratio of 1:1, the 44 percent conversion rate on third downs allowed, the respective passer ratings of 117.6 to 52.9. Or hey, let’s quit trying to get too creative and get right down to it – there was 35-7.

In terms of the physical, there was no hard evidence but rather the real sense that as the game wore on the Steelers were doing way too much of the receiving and not enough of the giving.

In terms of the historical, it was the second-worst loss in an opener in franchise history, with the bottom having been reached in 1997 when Troy Aikman brought the Dallas Cowboys to Three Rivers Stadium and laid a 37-7 horse-whipping on the home team. And remember that when the subject is the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise, second-worst represents the complete 78-season sampling.

In terms of the emotional, while there is no danger that this loss to the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium is going to cripple the Steelers’ confidence and ruin them for the rest of this 2011 NFL season, there is a sting that comes with a butt-kicking from a hated rival, and what happened here certainly qualifies as that.

* * * *

The Ravens are like the Steelers in that both are stable organizations believing in utilizing the draft primarily as a means of player acquisition. That lends itself to a higher-than-average amount of roster stability. So it’s a good bet that there are a bunch of players in purple this year who were in purple the night Troy Polamalu’s interception return for a touchdown sent the Steelers to Super Bowl XLIII, and even more of them were in purple at Heinz Field just this past January when their 21-7 halftime lead melted into a 34-27 ticket home from the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Ravens Coach John Harbaugh was there for both of them, and it sure looked like he was trying to even things up in one fell swoop.

* * * *

Hey, it’s professional football and there’s no such thing as running up the score, so there’s no complaining from the Steelers’ sideline allowed and there wasn’t any. For whatever reason, be it building his team’s confidence or rubbing the Steelers’ noses in it, Harbaugh was well within his rights.

Want to know how bad is bad? He was able to do both.

[url="http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Labriola-on-loss-to-Ravens/0e5b5eac-6f8b-473b-8356-d72481483c8c"]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/ ... 2481483c8c[/url]

[flippy]

Re: The crazy thing is....

My knee jerk reaction while watching the game was - How am I going to watch this for 16 games?

[rockonsteel]

Re: The crazy thing is....

My knee jerk reaction while watching the game was - How am I going to watch this for 16 games?

My knee-jerk reaction was-for a team that has had two different post SB slumps in recent years, this is not a good sign. People can be flippant and non-chalant if they choose to be, but that doesnt change the fact that a veteran, allegedly hungry team got destroyed by their division "non-rivals". Nobody is calling for them to go 0-16. We're talking about what happened on the field yesterday. And what we saw certainly cause for alarm.



Rockon

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: The crazy thing is....

My knee jerk reaction while watching the game was - How am I going to watch this for 16 games?

My knee-jerk reaction was-for a team that has had two different post SB slumps in recent years, this is not a good sign. People can be flippant and non-chalant if they choose to be, but that doesnt change the fact that a veteran, allegedly hungry team got destroyed by their division "non-rivals". Nobody is calling for them to go 0-16. We're talking about what happened on the field yesterday. And what we saw certainly cause for alarm.



Rockon

I just think it's funny that you said "People can be flippant" in a reply to flippy.

[steelblood]

Re: The crazy thing is....

I'm not upset either.

And, even if this is the beginning of a rebuilding period, I'm okay with it. I get to be the fan of a team that has won 7 superbowls (of which I've seen and enjoyed 5). Even if this is a down year (and I'm not convinced it will be), I still look forward to it. It is mid-september and football is here. It is to be celebrated not dreaded.

[Eich]

Re: The crazy thing is....

I get to be the fan of a team that has won 7 superbowls (of which I've seen and enjoyed 5).

Still in denial about last February, Huh?

[Chadman]

Re: The crazy thing is....

Steelers got beat up by a good team...or shall I say...a great organisation.

We hate 'em, probably because we know that they are 'like' us- strong organisation with similar philosophy on football.

Not too upset- only 1 team turned up to play. If the Steelers do this for the season, things might be different- but I've not ever experienced this organisation doing that, have you?

[NWNewell]

Re: The crazy thing is....

Labriola on loss to Ravens

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In terms of the historical, it was the second-worst loss in an opener in franchise history, with the bottom having been reached in 1997 when Troy Aikman brought the Dallas Cowboys to Three Rivers Stadium and laid a 37-7 horse-whipping on the home team. And remember that when the subject is the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise, second-worst represents the complete 78-season sampling.

.
.
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I love how people shape the statistical sample to make things as dramatic as they can.

They us the term "franchise history" and through out 94% of the franchise's sample size. And looking at only 6%, it is still only second worst.

Sensationalism at it's best.


PS Don't get me wrong. Yesterday, we were out coached, out played, out hustled. Tomlin, LeBeau, Ben, and right on down the line. It was a horrific, pathetic performance. But I just do not believe that means the wheels fell off and it's time to blow-up the team. Time will tell whether or not the ship is righted or if the season goes down the drain. All I'm saying is these same coaches and personal have righted the ship much more often that they've let it go down the drain. Let's see how they handle this adversity.

[rockonsteel]

Re: The crazy thing is....

Not too upset- only 1 team turned up to play. If the Steelers do this for the season, things might be different- but I've not ever experienced this organisation doing that, have you?

Well this current group doesn't exactly have a stellar post-SB season resumé. Like I said losing that game is not what's got me concerned. It's the way they lost combined with their track record following the previous two SB appearances, that gives me an uneasy feeling.

That and the fact that they saw no need to try to make any improvements whatsoever, like the Steelers ran through every team in the playoffs 45-6. They dug a huge whole against the Ravens, where some fortunate bounces helped them climb out. They did the opposite versus the Jets, where they nearly blew a huge lead. Then in the SB they played sloppy and undisciplined, much like yesterday, and the secondary was scorched.

I told a few people in my circle, the worse thing that happened was for the Steelers to get to the SB and lose, because it convinced them they are that close, so let's stand pat. Several areas of this team needed to be upgraded so standing pat wasn't the best plan in my eyes.


Rockon

[chiken]

Re: The crazy thing is....

Not making any excuses for last Sundays performance, that was some very very bad football we played. But there was really no way we were suppose to beat those guys the first game of the Season, not at their place, not after sending them home for the winter with yet another Crushing defeat. not with -

*A. Smith - starting after not having played a game in almost a Year.. he is old and not deserving of being a Starter on THIS team. Especially not with Z Hood behind him.

*J. Harrison still doesn't have his wind yet.. He has most of his strength and speed but his conditioning is way off.. its not going to come for a least 4 or 5 games.. We saw him "jogging" in pre-season and we saw him on the side lines sucking Air in the game.

*Sanders is our 3rd Receiver and he has not played a complete games since the AFC championship game - this was his first complete game action after only a half of Pre-season football under his belt.

*We talked about the Ravens Offensive line having never played a single snap together this year.. well our line is not to far behind that -

*Bmac - the sorry Sack that he is - this was still his first Game action of the year..

its going to take a bit of time to get up to speed. This Team needs time to Gel. Starting with the Ravens was a tough tough tough task. Had we thumped them Sunday we would have had nothing else to do but go undefeated because this team is only going to get better from there.

The loss was ugly and there are no excuses - but come on guys... Realistically we were suppose to get drug in that game. Next game - different Story.

[steelblood]

Re: The crazy thing is....

I get to be the fan of a team that has won 7 superbowls (of which I've seen and enjoyed 5).

Still in denial about last February, Huh?

I guess so. I am old.
Make that 6 and 4.

[shutout]

Re: The crazy thing is....

Labriola on loss to Ravens

.
.
.

In terms of the historical, it was the second-worst loss in an opener in franchise history, with the bottom having been reached in 1997 when Troy Aikman brought the Dallas Cowboys to Three Rivers Stadium and laid a 37-7 horse-whipping on the home team. And remember that when the subject is the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise, second-worst represents the complete 78-season sampling.

.
.
.

I love how people shape the statistical sample to make things as dramatic as they can.

They us the term "franchise history" and through out 94% of the franchise's sample size. And looking at only 6%, it is still only second worst.

Sensationalism at it's best.


PS Don't get me wrong. Yesterday, we were out coached, out played, out hustled. Tomlin, LeBeau, Ben, and right on down the line. It was a horrific, pathetic performance. But I just do not believe that means the wheels fell off and it's time to blow-up the team. Time will tell whether or not the ship is righted or if the season goes down the drain. All I'm saying is these same coaches and personal have righted the ship much more often that they've let it go down the drain. Let's see how they handle this adversity.

Ravens fan here. And I did not come here to troll or act like a jerk. Just to talk football. I hardly think this is indicative of the Steelers team.

They are better than the performance Sunday and I am not yet convinced the Ravens can be as good as they played Sunday on a consistent basis. Somewhere in the middle is reality for both teams. But the rivalry is great football in almost every game.

There are 15 more opportunites for eveyone to sort it out and become playoff worthy.
I would not want to be a Seahawk next week. And Indy can only hope that NCAA B-ball starts early. Of course Brady and the Pats have already been annoited after MNF. But I would be worried about givign up 28 to the Dolphins.