Negative Comments About the Steelers

[Steel Maniac]

I will say this - those are the two teams I fear the most, only because they have no fear when they play our team. It seems the ravens and pats know exactly where to hit us. In fact, the ravens have pretty much built their entire team/organization around stopping the Steelers.

Exactly. That's why I want to actually beat the Ravens early and set them back. Seems we always lose the first meeting to them in Baltimore.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I'm not as concerned about how they look against certain teams as I am with how they start to gel. This is a team that has championship caliber personnel that needs time to sync. I'm not surprised, disappointed, or worried. I fully expected that they would not be on target at this point in the season, for several reasons.

1. The team uses training camp and pre-season as a way to figure out who their backups will be for the most part. Josh Dobbs probably saw the most camp action. A host of running backs saw significant time and are no longer on this team. Same thing with several other positions.

2. Every year it seems they start off slow, maybe even get into some trouble, and then rattle off a bunch of wins starting late October or November. By playoff time you barely remember the September losses, but wish there were a few more wins stashed away for HFA in the playoffs.

3. Bell missed all of camp and the pre-season, Bryant was not allowed to play or practice much until close to the end, Ben barely played in the pre-season and shared a ton of snaps with Dobbs. That's three guys. Add to that assorted injuries here and there and it is no surprise that the team has yet to hit it's stride.

4. I expected them not to look great. I'd say the team needs about four games to show that they are headed in the right direction. Until that point I am not happy with how they've played so far but nothing that you couldn't predict.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

I agree with what you wrote steeler-fan-in-t.o. We're pretty fortunate that our first three games are against bottom feeders, gives us a chance to gel while still giving us a chance to win.

[Furious]

Ravens and Pats always play us tough..

I don't care what the records of these teams are or who they beat or lost to because none of that matters when we play them.

Logic in excess, sir. The familiarity of these two teams with our play calling and tendencies renders our team less likely to execute or impose our will. I think KC will be formidable as well this season.