Pittsburgh Steelers - Team Report - Chicago Tribune Version

[anger 82&95]

Seriously people? What is WRONG WITTH YOU.

Those are literally the worst looking uniform, not only in the HISTORY of SPORTS they are the worst looking uni in ANY PROFESSION I have EVER SEEN.

Seriously, one could TRY to make an uglier uniform and would FAIL to reach that level of ugliness. It CANNOT BE DONE.

If the SI swinsuit addition featured a tiny bikini featuring a top with the bumblebee print and a bottom with that literally "butt ugly" gross yellow color on the cover.....SALES WOULD DROP.

As a life-long and suffering San Diego Padres fan, I feel that some of their uniforms from the 1970s deserve at least an honorable mention in the “horrible uniform” competition.

[Oviedo]

Seriously people? What is WRONG WITTH YOU.

Those are literally the worst looking uniform, not only in the HISTORY of SPORTS they are the worst looking uni in ANY PROFESSION I have EVER SEEN.

Seriously, one could TRY to make an uglier uniform and would FAIL to reach that level of ugliness. It CANNOT BE DONE.

If the SI swinsuit addition featured a tiny bikini featuring a top with the bumblebee print and a bottom with that literally "butt ugly" gross yellow color on the cover.....SALES WOULD DROP.

Worst in hirtory. Not so sure. I think they give prison chain gangs quite a run for their money.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

When worrying about replacing former starters after a disappointing season, we only can really look at the 2012 version of those players to evaluate their loss on an 8-8 team. In losing Casey are we losing a 5 time pro-bowler, former starter, and once dominant anchor to our D? Yes. Is that the 2012 guy from our 8-8 team who we need to replace? Not even close. McClendon - or Fangupo, or Ta'Amu - only has to replace the older, slower, less-effective Big Snack that we saw last season. Considering how many people were complaining that Stevie M looked better last season and should have surpassed Casey as the starter, that should not be an issue.

IMO the only players worth talking about here are Wallace, Lewis, Deebo, and Starks - and possibly Heath.

Wallace was rarely in sync with the offense for most of the season. He accounted for 836 receiving yards and while his official "drop" number was not that bad, his "didn't go all out so he never got his hands on the ball" number was much higher. There are two factors that we will miss from Wallace. One is his speed and ability to take the top off the D, and the other is his knack for finding the end zone. He scored 8 times last season, and 32 in his four years in black and gold. While they can't replace the speed factor, both Brown and Sanders had down years last year, so their potential to pick up most of the slack, along with Wheaton. All in all, replacing Wallace 2012 - along with his attitude and laziness - should be very doable by what is already in-house.

Lewis is another story. Lewis 2012 is the very best we have ever seen from Keenan Lewis. I believe that he can be replaced quite well by Cortez Allen, however the more difficult job will be replacing the ball-hawk Allen in the nickel. IMO Allen is set to step up big. He has all of the physical tools of a young Ike Taylor but with hands. I have always said that Taylor is a pair of hands away from being on the level of a Champ Bailey etc., and believe that Allen has that potential. If Gay, Hawthorne, DVD, or even Shamarko can step in on the nickel then I can see the Lewis loss being minimal.

Deebo was one of the greats, but again, Deebo 2012 was nothing special. He missed a few games, and then came back lame. It wasn't until the last 6 games or so that we saw someone wearing #92 who even somewhat resembled James Harrison. Replacing the guy we saw at the end of the year (although still not as good as James in his prime) is a task, but replacing 6/16 of that player not so much. His full body of work last season was not that impressive, and I do believe that the combination of Jones and Worilds, along with the improvement we are expecting in Woodley on the other side, will more than make up for the 16 game loss of JH.

Finally we have the one loss that I can't really get a handle on. I have always been a big backer of Starks, going back to the trib days, through the job loss to Colon, for many years. We also have to count on two unknowns in replacing him - both Gilbert and Adams. Both of them must produce, and one of them is coming off of stab wounds to the belly. Gilbert was strong at RT his rookie year and then has fallen off with injuries to himself and those around him. Can he get back to his rookie form? Adams was in tough early, then showed much better, then hurt himself. Will he be able to heal, get into shape, and improve? That might be asking a lot for someone who was so recently lying in a hospital bed. To me this is the toughest loss to call. I would hate even more to be in a position where either Whimper or Beachum is a starter for more than a game or two.

Heath's recovery is also huge. He had a breakout season last year (funny to say about a 30 year old guy who had been solid up until this point in his career) and his contributions will now be heaped onto the combo of Paulson and Spaeth. Unless those two can get onto the field at the same time and only count as one player, we will see a downgrade at TE. Hopefully they can carry the torch if needed short term, but I would have little faith in them filling in as starters for the bulk of the season.

[hawaiiansteel]

Love the bees.... no other uniform in the league catches the eye like them....

[Oviedo]

When worrying about replacing former starters after a disappointing season, we only can really look at the 2012 version of those players to evaluate their loss on an 8-8 team. In losing Casey are we losing a 5 time pro-bowler, former starter, and once dominant anchor to our D? Yes. Is that the 2012 guy from our 8-8 team who we need to replace? Not even close. McClendon - or Fangupo, or Ta'Amu - only has to replace the older, slower, less-effective Big Snack that we saw last season. Considering how many people were complaining that Stevie M looked better last season and should have surpassed Casey as the starter, that should not be an issue.

IMO the only players worth talking about here are Wallace, Lewis, Deebo, and Starks - and possibly Heath.

Wallace was rarely in sync with the offense for most of the season. He accounted for 836 receiving yards and while his official "drop" number was not that bad, his "didn't go all out so he never got his hands on the ball" number was much higher. There are two factors that we will miss from Wallace. One is his speed and ability to take the top off the D, and the other is his knack for finding the end zone. He scored 8 times last season, and 32 in his four years in black and gold. While they can't replace the speed factor, both Brown and Sanders had down years last year, so their potential to pick up most of the slack, along with Wheaton. All in all, replacing Wallace 2012 - along with his attitude and laziness - should be very doable by what is already in-house.

Lewis is another story. Lewis 2012 is the very best we have ever seen from Keenan Lewis. I believe that he can be replaced quite well by Cortez Allen, however the more difficult job will be replacing the ball-hawk Allen in the nickel. IMO Allen is set to step up big. He has all of the physical tools of a young Ike Taylor but with hands. I have always said that Taylor is a pair of hands away from being on the level of a Champ Bailey etc., and believe that Allen has that potential. If Gay, Hawthorne, DVD, or even Shamarko can step in on the nickel then I can see the Lewis loss being minimal.

Deebo was one of the greats, but again, Deebo 2012 was nothing special. He missed a few games, and then came back lame. It wasn't until the last 6 games or so that we saw someone wearing #92 who even somewhat resembled James Harrison. Replacing the guy we saw at the end of the year (although still not as good as James in his prime) is a task, but replacing 6/16 of that player not so much. His full body of work last season was not that impressive, and I do believe that the combination of Jones and Worilds, along with the improvement we are expecting in Woodley on the other side, will more than make up for the 16 game loss of JH.

Finally we have the one loss that I can't really get a handle on. I have always been a big backer of Starks, going back to the trib days, through the job loss to Colon, for many years. We also have to count on two unknowns in replacing him - both Gilbert and Adams. Both of them must produce, and one of them is coming off of stab wounds to the belly. Gilbert was strong at RT his rookie year and then has fallen off with injuries to himself and those around him. Can he get back to his rookie form? Adams was in tough early, then showed much better, then hurt himself. Will he be able to heal, get into shape, and improve? That might be asking a lot for someone who was so recently lying in a hospital bed. To me this is the toughest loss to call. I would hate even more to be in a position where either Whimper or Beachum is a starter for more than a game or two.

Heath's recovery is also huge. He had a breakout season last year (funny to say about a 30 year old guy who had been solid up until this point in his career) and his contributions will now be heaped onto the combo of Paulson and Spaeth. Unless those two can get onto the field at the same time and only count as one player, we will see a downgrade at TE. Hopefully they can carry the torch if needed short term, but I would have little faith in them filling in as starters for the bulk of the season.

Well written and right on the money. Agree with you on all points.

My greatest concern remains the OL and unfortunately it seems we have chosen the hope and prayer path to success since we added nothing in the draft that will help.

[Captain Lemming]

Worst in hirtory. Not so sure. I think they give prison chain gangs quite a run for their money.

We would not NEED PRISONS if thse unis were used for their proper use.
Murderers, rapists, the worst of criminals would STOP THEIR CRIMES if threatened with having to wear that ugly uni in public.

[Captain Lemming]

Was wondering where you got this.........
OK Hawaiian, NO MORE HANGIN AROUND RAT, Bengal, and Stain boards for you.