League, Steelers have grown too soft

[K Train]

Hell, the Offense quit after a fumble on the first drive of the game. Talk about a total lack of resilience.

I think it looked like that, but i just dont know about ben. He was so off on so many of his throws

[feltdizz]

This comment made me throw up in my mouth a little. This right here is the problem. The current NFL appeals to a new type of fan...people who like soft, NBA-like, no D...all O styles of sports. I think they should just change the name of the sport.

nah... I think it's a case of older fans wanting the game to remain like "the good old days" but fans complained back then about all the changes too. I'm not a fan of all these flags but I'm also one who believes this game is for Vegas and not for our enjoyment.

I still watch because there isn't anything more enjoyable to watch on Sundays when it comes to sports. I watched the Monday Night game and it was entertaining and everyone is complaining about the "no call" on the INT. Everyone wants less flags until it's their team not getting a call. If the Steelers figure things out and we go on a tear he game will be more enjoyable IMO.

I have to watch the Carolina Panthers due to living in Charlotte and it's entertaining football. Their D is a joy to watch. I watched them DESTROY the Lions and shut them down with hard hitting and forced fumbles.

We can stop watching at any time but it's a little "elitist" of fans to poo poo the new viewers because they aren't as angry as the fanatic fan. Sometimes I think that's the problem.. "real fans" aren't fun to be around and are always mad. Anytime I watch with fans like us it turns into a shouting match and someone challenges a fan to a fight over something stupid. It's a game.. and while the game isn't what it used to be it's still entertaining if you watch teams who have adjusted to the rules and are taking chances and bringing more college play calling to the NFL.

Anyone who watched Philly last night was entertained. Fast play calling, McCoy and Sproles running wild on short screens(the C for Philly was 15 yards down field SPRINTING to block a DB), a lot of blitzes by the D, an AWESOME INT by a DB... it was a great game. On the last 2 drives I watched OLD football (2 runs and a pass incompletion sue to a blitz) vs NEW football. Philly flipped the field in 3 plays on a screen pass to Sproles and kicked the GW field goal.

Maybe if our plays didn't take 10 minutes to develop on offense and our D actually attacked with new blitzes we would like this game a little more. Instead of pouting for the old game to return how about getting some young fresh talent at OC and DC? The problem is our coaching staff, shawn.. until we move into the 21st century with our scheme I fear we will continue to stank up the place.

[BURGH86STEEL]

This comment made me throw up in my mouth a little. This right here is the problem. The current NFL appeals to a new type of fan...people who like soft, NBA-like, no D...all O styles of sports. I think they should just change the name of the sport.

If the league allowed defenses to get away with murder there would be an out cry that games are boring, bad, ect. I've witnessed fans complain about low scoring games in the past. Most fans love scoring and offense. That being said, there are defensive battles. The league is also attempting prevent a death out on the field. A player might die on the field if the NFL didn't adapt it rules to compensate for the size and speed of today's NFL players. The league is always in a state of evolution. Some changes are good and some are not so good. The league isn't going to please everybody. The fans that don't like the changes don't have to follow the sport. I am sure some fans have stopped watching and others come on board to watch for different reasons.

Even with your complaints you are here and continue to like and follow the sport.

[K Train]

I think it looked like that, but i just dont know about ben. He was so off on so many of his throws

@rayfitt1: Ben said on his radio show the shot to his ribs by Upshaw remains painful five later. Says it ranks up there with the Bart Scott hit.

[steelsnis]

I agree, it boils down to execution. All the pride and heart in the world doesn't win games if the players don't execute.

Exactly. Fans can b*tch and moan all day about immeasurable things like pride and want-to and heart, but if you don't execute, you get beat. When you get beat, people (fans) start using things like "the eye test" to judge the team and come up with things like "they have no heart" or "they just gave up out there."

On Forsett's long run late in the second half of the Baltimore game, Cam Thomas got stood straight up at the LOS and essentially took out the other D-Lineman who were sliding down the line to make the play. One guy messing up caused a huge gap that allowed the RB to run through untouched. It's stuff like this that allows huge plays by the opposing offense to occur and leads to fans saying inflammatory things like "they have no heart, they just gave up!!!" That's why I called BS.

[steelz09]

If people don't have pride in their work then their execution suffers because they don't give a $hit about the outcome / final product.

I have replaced people on my teams at work for that exact same reason. I don't want people on my team that have no or minimal pride in their work and don't strive for perfection. That type of attitude and work ethic produces average or below average results. I'm not happy with that. Our team and especially our defense is becoming content with being below average. That attitude needs to change.

[BURGH86STEEL]

If people don't have pride in their work then their execution suffers because they don't give a $hit about the outcome / final product.

These players have pride. Come on man, these players are the best of the best at what they do. Many of these people are bad asses. Very difficult to make it to the highest level of the football profession without pride. Not only that but jobs and millions of dollars are on the line.

[BURGH86STEEL]

Exactly. Fans can b*tch and moan all day about immeasurable things like pride and want-to and heart, but if you don't execute, you get beat. When you get beat, people (fans) start using things like "the eye test" to judge the team and come up with things like "they have no heart" or "they just gave up out there."

On Forsett's long run late in the second half of the Baltimore game, Cam Thomas got stood straight up at the LOS and essentially took out the other D-Lineman who were sliding down the line to make the play. One guy messing up caused a huge gap that allowed the RB to run through untouched. It's stuff like this that allows huge plays by the opposing offense to occur and leads to fans saying inflammatory things like "they have no heart, they just gave up!!!" That's why I called BS.

Yeah, they had losing season with players like Ward, Porter, Bettis, Smith, ect that appeared to have plenty of heart and pride.

"This game is about execution" Bill Belichick

[steelz09]

Yeah, they had losing season with players like Ward, Porter, Bettis, Smith, ect that appeared to have plenty of heart and pride.

With or without a healthy Ben? Or the season after Ben implanted his face into a windshield?

If you think this team is even close to the caliber of a team with those players than you my friend are freakin' delusional.

[feltdizz]

What happens when the players don't execute for consecutive weeks or consecutive seasons?

I think it's time to execute some players and staff...

tI'm tired of hearing all these execuses for why we can't play sound football for 60 minutes.

[BURGH86STEEL]

With or without a healthy Ben? Or the season after Ben implanted his face into a windshield?

If you think this team is even close to the caliber of a team with those players than you my friend are freakin' delusional.

My point was that Steelers teams in the past lost with prideful players. This "prideful issue" from a fan's perspective can change based on the w vs l record. Pride issue may also change on a week to week basis. For instance, if a team wins the players are prideful. If the team loses, the team has no pride.

You brought up pride as to suggest a reason why this team isn't executing. I don't buy that line of thinking after all these years of paying attention watching, listening to professionals, and to a lesser extent studying the game. What I do buy is that if a team executes by limiting mistakes, taking care of the football, and by being good on 3rd down offensively and defensively, then team increases it's chances of winning. Those are things that can be measured and proven. Pride cannot be measure or proven by fans that are looking from the outside in. People that play sports at any level are competitors. Players must be competitors to play sports at the highest level. IMO, by nature of being a competitor one must have pride.

You apparently admit that this team doesn't have the same caliber of talent of the team/teams in the past. IYO, how can this team execute as well as the teams in the past if they don't have the same caliber of talent? How can the coaches be as successful if they don't have the same caliber of talent?

The Steelers have enough talent to win in this league. What will generally separate them from other teams is their ability to execute on game days. The execution by just about every player on this team was terrible vs the Ravens.

[BURGH86STEEL]

What happens when the players don't execute for consecutive weeks or consecutive seasons?

I think it's time to execute some players and staff...

tI'm tired of hearing all these execuses for why we can't play sound football for 60 minutes.

I don't think there is a team in the league that plays sound football for 60mins on a week to week basis. I think it's an unrealistic expectation but I wish you luck finding that team.

[feltdizz]

My point was that Steelers teams in the past lost with prideful players. This "prideful issue" from a fan's perspective can change based on the w vs l record. For instance, if a team wins the players are prideful. If the team loses, the team has no pride.
You brought up pride as to suggest a reason why this team isn't executing. I don't buy that line of thinking after all these years of paying attention watching, listening to professionals, and to a lesser extent studying the game. What I do buy is that if a team executes by limiting mistakes, taking care of the football, and by being good on 3rd down offensively and defensively, then team increases it's chances of winning. Those are things that can be measured and proven. Pride cannot be measure or proven by fans that are looking from the outside in. People that play sports at any level are competitors. Players must be competitors to play sports at the highest level. IMO, by nature of being a competitor one must have pride.

You apparently admit that this team doesn't have the same caliber of talent of the team/teams in the past. IYO, how can this team execute as well as the teams in the past if they don't have the same caliber of talent? How can the coaches be as successful if they don't have the same caliber of talent?

The Steelers have enough talent to win in this league. What will generally separate them from other teams is their ability to execute on game days. The execution by just about every player on this team was terrible vs the Ravens.

I think a lot of the pride talk has to do with who is talking for our team...

We used to have a Peezy, Ward, Clark and even JH's presence spoke volumes.

Now all we get is Ben telling us how everything will be fine...

[BURGH86STEEL]

I think a lot of the pride talk has to do with who is talking for our team...

We used to have a Peezy, Ward, Clark and even JH's presence spoke volumes.

Now all we get is Ben telling us how everything will be fine...

Fans are so wishy washy with their thinking. The thinking may change based on a Win vs a Loss. The thinking may change based on the opposition's record or the idea that the opposition was or wasn't a formidable foe. Some teams have better records than other teams. Under the right set of circumstances, any team can win. For myself, every team is a formidable foe at the highest level.

[steelz09]

My point was that Steelers teams in the past lost with prideful players. This "prideful issue" from a fan's perspective can change based on the w vs l record. Pride issue may also change on a week to week basis. For instance, if a team wins the players are prideful. If the team loses, the team has no pride.

You brought up pride as to suggest a reason why this team isn't executing. I don't buy that line of thinking after all these years of paying attention watching, listening to professionals, and to a lesser extent studying the game. What I do buy is that if a team executes by limiting mistakes, taking care of the football, and by being good on 3rd down offensively and defensively, then team increases it's chances of winning. Those are things that can be measured and proven. Pride cannot be measure or proven by fans that are looking from the outside in. People that play sports at any level are competitors. Players must be competitors to play sports at the highest level. IMO, by nature of being a competitor one must have pride.

You apparently admit that this team doesn't have the same caliber of talent of the team/teams in the past. IYO, how can this team execute as well as the teams in the past if they don't have the same caliber of talent? How can the coaches be as successful if they don't have the same caliber of talent?

The Steelers have enough talent to win in this league. What will generally separate them from other teams is their ability to execute on game days. The execution by just about every player on this team was terrible vs the Ravens.

Pride does have a relationship with execution. Anybody can "execute" something but that doesn't mean it's done at the desired level. They don't need to just execute at a high level. They need to execute better than players at their same level. Yes, they got to the NFL but so is everyone else they are facing. I don't need to listen to the talking heads, read books on the NFL and watch games to know this. I've lead teams both in sports but more applicable, in my professional career. Just because I've had a qualified candidate on my team doesn't mean that he/she executes that the level they should and a lot of times its simply because they don't care if their product is just ok or average. Some of the best people I've had on my teams were better because they wanted to provide the best support and deliver the best product because they had pride in themselves and their work. It translated into high motivation, better work ethic and likewise better deliverables than people that were "more qualified" on paper. That is what pride can do.

On Thursday night, I saw a defense that quit. Quitting is not an execution problem. Quitting on the football field is having zero pride.