what this superbowl has shown us....

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

I don't think that will be the case if we draft NT in the first. I'm not opposed to an ILB at #15 but I'm dead set against a TE this year... no need for that until we get rid of Miller.

If the Steelers sign a FA FS & starting caliber CB...I think the Nix pick will be a 50% - 50% pick against a WR. I agree about TE. They will pick a TE 3rd on back.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Copied some of my post from other topic...Call me lazy today.





I'm a football guy & I will be the first to say you build in the trenches on the Offensive side of the ball & front 7 on the defense. The Steelers have addressed it. This isn't a Madden draft or fantasy draft. You have people in place & you scale out to them. The Steelers have to retain their investments & develop the younger ones. The guys here just have to get better & that is the story on every team. Over the last 7 drafts the Steelers have invested 4-1st rounds & 2-2nd rounds in the front 7. All of them are starters. Over that same period the Steelers invested "0" on the DBs. That's building your front 7. That's being complacent with your DBs because of their success. They also invested a 3rd over that period to fill the other ILB with Spence. If Spence is over 6' he is a 2nd round talent. The Steelers have made a full investment in building their front 7. The only spot they haven't addressed early is NT because Hampton was in place. They did spend a 4th on Ta'Amu & gave up too soon. The slab of granite doesn't always chip away to usable piece. Talent equals talent...End of story.

These quotes about fix the pass rush & that will solve everything are blind. You could put the Pro Bowl front seven in Steeler uniforms next season & a 35 year old Clark, a 34 year old Taylor, & a 33 year old Polamalu will still get lit up and there will still be guys in here banging the table about fixing the front 7 & fix the pass rush. The Steelers will be #1 against the rush & 32nd against the pass. Here's the bottom line. In '14...You give me Heyward, McClendon, Hood, Worilds, Williams/Foote, Timmons, & Jones in the front 7...And C Allen, a new CB, Troy, and a new FS....This team is going into the playoffs & a contender. You give me any revised variation in the front 7 you want and Ike, C Allen, Clark, & Troy in the secondary...This team will struggle to hit 8-8 again. Clark is gone. This will be Taylors last year & he has to take a 4 mil paycut and will be challenged to start. Troy can be extended for "0" additional dollars to help that cap and he has only 1 or 2 years left in him.

If you watched all the Steelers games in 2013..Took into consideration a 1st year starter at NT & 2 rookies in the front 7... And still came away not seeing the secondary is old & slow and the Steelers biggest problem...Then you are looking at this team with your heart. It's so easy to point your finger at a new face than players that have been he for nearly a decade & given us 3 SB appearances. Sorry guys...I saw the jerseys with Clark, Taylor, & Polamalu across the back trailing the guy with the ball too much in 2013. It's a young mans game and Clark, Taylor, & Polamalu look like old men on a playground. Just look at the passing stats below. Fall off isn't in the front 7. The Steelers could use an upgrade at NT & there in uncertainty with Spence...But giving up the big play is the Steelers poison.Big Plays = Speed.

Passing
2013: 9th passing D-34 sacks (25th)- 46 passing plays over 20 (8th) -12 passing plays over 40 (26th)
2012: 1st passing D-37 sacks (15th)- 31 passing plays over 20 (1st) -2 passing plays over 40 (1st)
2011: 1st passing D-35 sacks (17th)- 34 passing plays over 20 (1st) -2 passing plays over 40 (1st)

Rushing
2013: 21st against rush 1,849-4.3 avg (21st)-7 plays over 20 (8th)-5 plays over 40 (28th)
2012: 2nd against rush 1,450-3.7 avg (3rd)-6 plays over 20 (3rd)-1 play over 40 (7th)
2011: 8th against rush 1,597-4.0 avg (9th)-9 plays over 20 (8th)-1 play over 40 (7th)

Scoring defense over that span was '13 (19th), 12' (6th), '11 (1st).

17 plays allowed over 40 yards. You have to go back to 1999 to find that bad of a season. You look at those 5 run plays over 40 alone. Forte 55, Peterson 60, Pryor 88, Tannehill 48, & D Thomas 48. That's 5 plays of 299 yards that pushed the Steelers rushing defense from 5th to 21st. You can watch ever one of those plays on nfl.com. Everyone of them show missed tackles & no speed to chase.

We weren't talking blown coverages or getting man handled at the LOS. We are talking about missed tackles & no chase. We are talking about Safeties taking bad angles & not having enough speed to make a play. We are talking about old & slow DBs that can't take a false step or take a bad angle or miss a tackle because there is nobody that can run a play down. Speed. Speed doesn't get better with age.

Pass rush doesn't fix that. If the QB is taking 3 & 5 step drop and throwing his 1st or 2nd read because he is open...Pass rush won't get there. Look at '11 & '12 when we had the best passing defense...We were middle of the pack in sacks. Last time the Steeler led the league in sacks '10 they ranked 12th against the pass at 214 yards per game. Interesting enough, the Steelers ranked 9th against the pass this year at 221 yards per game with 14 less sacks but gave up 11 more plays over 20 yards & 5 more plays over 40 than 2010.

There is no way a DB playing off coverage is going to react to a 3 step drop. You have to tackle the catch. The reason our CBs are in off coverage is they don't have have a Safety capable of playing Cover 1 to bump or in Ikes case the speed anymore. That's the reason why you see the Steelers jumping into nickel when they should stay in base Cover 1 to protect against the run. Offensive personnel packages dictate our sub. The reason why you have to fix the secondary FIRST is all of the above. You get the secondary fixed...You could inject whatever you want in the front 7 & that will have an impact on the entire defense.

For example, say the Steelers retain Worilds & Hood. The Steelers sign Malcom Jenkins to play FS & say Antoine Cason to push Taylor for starting if he takes a cut. Then they draft Nix in the 1st...Van Noy in the 2nd...And Desir in the 3rd. You just finalized a championship D for years to come. There is a real possibility that by mid season that Cason/Desir & Allen are you starting CBs with Jenkins & Polamalu at S. The LBs would be Worilds, Timmons, Van Noy, & Jones. DL would be Heyward, Nix, & Hood. I would be interested to know if anyone would object to that Defense & keep everyone happy!

[phillyesq]

From Dale Lolley's blog:

[URL="http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/2014/02/super-bowl-proves-one-thing.html"]Super Bowl proves one thing[/URL]



Many will point to the outcome of the Super Bowl and say it shows that defense and running the ball still matter in the NFL.

While that might be partly true, to me it also shows that teams who are not paying their quarterback big money - yet - have an advantage.

Seattle has done a good job drafting over the past few years. But, because it doesn't have $10 to $20 million tied up in the quarterback position, the Seahawks were also able to add some key players last offseason in free agency.

In fact, take a look at this list of players Seattle had the cap space to sign in the offseason:

Wide receiver Percy Harvin, defensive end Michael Bennett, defensive tackle Tony McDaniel, defensive end Cliff Avril, cornerback Antoine Winfield and cornerback Marcus Trufant

Harvin didn't play much this season because of a hip injury, but made a huge impact in the Super Bowl, while McDaniel, Avril and Bennett were all key players in the defensive front rotation.

Harvin counted $13.4 million against the team's salary cap this season, while Avril was $9.25 million, making them two of the team's top five-paid players (Harvin was first, Avril fifth).

Quarterback Russell Wilson counted just over $800,000, and that number goes up to just over $950,000 next season.

In fact, it won't be until 2016 when the chickens really come home to roost for Seattle, though a number of key players off that stellar defense will become free agents before that.

But once it has to pay Wilson, who has won more games in his first two seasons than any other quarterback and is signed through 2015, Seattle is going to be in cap hell like everyone else who has a star quarterback.

[feltdizz]

From Dale Lolley's blog:

the difference though is Seattle actually won a SB with their 800K QB and will be in position to win another one next year as well.

[phillyesq]

the difference though is Seattle actually won a SB with their 800K QB and will be in position to win another one next year as well.

Like the Steelers in 2004-05, with an AFCCG appearance and a SB win with a young Ben...

[feltdizz]

Like the Steelers in 2004-05, with an AFCCG appearance and a SB win with a young Ben...

Yep... but the difference is Wilson is a 3rd rounder while Ben was the 11th pick...

[squidkid]

You will see a slight drop off but nothing as severe as we have seen in Pittsburgh because these other teams use FA.

These other teams go out and aggressively pick up cast offs and players with a few setbacks who want to prove they still have it. We pick up a Cotchery once every few moons while these other teams pick up 4 Cotchery's on D and 3 on offense every year or 2.

obviously you just started being a steelers fan the last few years. probably when they won their 6th superbowl.
the steelers have used FA the same way as they always have and there was never 'this severe dropoff' in the past as you proclaim there is now.

[Oviedo]

From Dale Lolley's blog:

Greg Cosell said the same thing on "The Herd" today during lunch time. Seattle's big advantage is not having $15M tied up in a franchise QB. He said there is a lot of debate among the professional football guys whether the model is a "good" Qb and surround him with weapons and have depth at every position.

[phillyesq]

Greg Cosell said the same thing on "The Herd" today during lunch time. Seattle's big advantage is not having $15M tied up in a franchise QB. He said there is a lot of debate among the professional football guys whether the model is a "good" Qb and surround him with weapons and have depth at every position.

It is kind of interesting. I am in no way advocating that the Steelers do this, but I wonder if you'll see a team take the gamble and trade a young franchise QB for a bunch of picks before he gets paid.

[flippy]

Greg Cosell said the same thing on "The Herd" today during lunch time. Seattle's big advantage is not having $15M tied up in a franchise QB. He said there is a lot of debate among the professional football guys whether the model is a "good" Qb and surround him with weapons and have depth at every position.

That was pretty much the Bill Cowher Steelers for many years.

[feltdizz]

obviously you just started being a steelers fan the last few years. probably when they won their 6th superbowl.
the steelers have used FA the same way as they always have and there was never 'this severe dropoff' in the past as you proclaim there is now.

Be quiet kid....

[feltdizz]

It is kind of interesting. I am in no way advocating that the Steelers do this, but I wonder if you'll see a team take the gamble and trade a young franchise QB for a bunch of picks before he gets paid.

I doubt it.. but I think you will see more teams move on from the Schaubs and Alex Smiths if a young QB shines in camp or midseason.

[Ernie]

It seems to me like the QB position pays a premium for even average starting veteran QB's.. ie. Cutler, Romo, etc..
If Russell Wilson continues to play at his current level, Seattle will either pay big money to keep him, or somebody else will.

I am with Flippy all the way on the steelers during the Cowher years.

[Ernie]

The Steelers x Cowboys SB in the mid 90's is a classic example of that. I mentioned it the other day... it was said to see such talent out there...with O'Donnell at QB.

[feltdizz]

The Steelers x Cowboys SB in the mid 90's is a classic example of that. I mentioned it the other day... it was said to see such talent out there...with O'Donnell at QB.

Hmm... O'Donnell wasn't bad he just had a tendency to throw high over the middle and he had debt.

I will always believe he was paid off. I think he flew on a private jet to NYC instead of flying back with the team to Pittsburgh. Not sure if thats true or a rumor....

Here is another funfact/rumor.... Wikipedia says Bill Cowher offered the job to Neil after Tommy went down in 2004 but Neil turned him down. Is this true?