Almost 30 on offense; held 'em to 9 on defense ... are we living up to potential?

[RuthlessBurgher]

When we beat a decent team, I'll let you know.

We beat a decent team last weekend when we beat ourselves.

[Steel Maniac]

Hahahahahahahahhahaahahhahaha...

[NorthCoast]

We beat a decent team last weekend when we beat ourselves.

That sir, emoted a belly laugh...

[NJ-STEELER]

Again, I believe that to be an erroneous ruling. I understand that, to some, tucking the ball and taking two steps before being knocked to the ground can be interpreted as "not completing the catch"...one of those people made the ruling yesterday...but, I think it's wrong. Completed pass, "football move" (totally arbitrary), down by contact.

yeah, that'swhat I hoped they would rule, but it looked like he was being contacted (and thus going down) before his 2nd step

[NJ-STEELER]

There's still a lot to work on a quarter into the season. Too many penalties. Too many missed tackles. A QB that seems to be out of sync and off on a lot of his passes. An OLine that needs to play together. Etc. We've talked about them all.

We need to stop calling running plays on 2 and long. Especially in and around the RZ. Haley is not surprising anyone. If I can sit on my couch and pretty much know what play is coming 95% of the time, I'm guessing our opponents who get paid to notice our tendencies know what's coming 100% of the time.

Clearly our strength on D is turning out to be our pass rush and pass defense. Let's help them out with our O putting up some points to assist the D. Let's get leads and force teams to pass which will force mistakes and lead to more point which should be a vicious cycle for our opponents.

As it stands now, our D has to do everything. If we're going to have a chance at a SuperBowl, it's not going to be because of our QB and offensive weapons. Looks like a lot of wasted dollars on that side of the ball right now. So the D needs to step up and consistently tackle. If we can do this, no reason we can't be a top 5 D and compete for the Lombardi. We've got to carry a game managing QB and hope he doesn't make mistakes that cost us. However, if our QB gets his heart back into the game and on the same page with his OC, maybe this offense can do something. With as much talent as we have on O and a guy at QB that many would call a HOFer, it's inexcusable that we can't put 30+ on the board with all these weapons.

The only thing Ben is doing at this point is proving that he might not be as good as we give him credit for being.

who are you and what have you done with flippy?

[Starlifter]

Finally had a chance to watch the game yesterday. I've certainly been critical of the team's performance so far this year, but that was a quality win. Baltimore may have had some injuries - but that's a team that knows us well and they still have playmakers on both sides of the ball. Flacco can be streaky and he's certainly picked us apart before - who can forget that drive last December when we almost lost at home? My frustration has stemmed from the fact 2 of our first 4 games were against arguably the worst 2 teams in the league - and we failed to dominate cleveland and actually lost to chicago (who just got blown out again and will begin the Trubisky era next week). That being said:

We're 3-1, lead the division and our schedule is pretty favorable as the season progresses.

I don't know if the plan was to give LB 35+ touches this game, but he looked much better than the first three weeks. The O-Line played stronger and asserted themselves. I thought Ben was competent - but not earth shattering, and it was fun to watch JuJu. Which also brings me to a small point. Many complain that Tomlin is too much of a players coach and coddles his team. I'm not sure Eli Rogers would agree with that.

So, it's way to early to start booking trips to Minny - and we have a challenging test against a very good jags defense. That being said, Bortles looks awful this year and so IF IF IF we can bottle up Fornette and prevent him from gashing us (let's not use the bears game plan again please) we have a very good chance of leaving Heinz Field on sunday at 4-1.

With the parity in the NFL you can take one or two teams that usually reside at the margins. Cleveland is obviously dead last. You'd have to defer to the Patsies as being #1 though man are they struggling this year. But for the other 30 teams, the margin between them is pretty thin. Who else can explain the jags putting up 44 last week - or the Texans with a rookie QB putting up 57? In any season there will likely be losses that should have been wins, and wins that you probably weren't counting on. The bottom line is will this team put itself in a position for the Bye week and home field through the playoffs?

Too soon to tell, but if they keep improving and take advantage of this schedule - 11, 12 or more wins seems plausible.

No matter how you get there - a 12 win season is a great achievement in the NFL, and we have had a Sept that while sloppy - has set us up for just that.

Glass is half full for me this week. But if they tank on the Jags - I'm sure my depression will flip the switch again.........

[feltdizz]

Great post but the Pats* definitely aren't #1. It's time for people to admit this team isn't that good right now and may have the SB hangover.

[Slapstick]

yeah, that'swhat I hoped they would rule, but it looked like he was being contacted (and thus going down) before his 2nd step

Again, it's an arbitrary ruling...one that could have screwed us much worse than it did...

[Oviedo]

Too soon to tell, but if they keep improving and take advantage of this schedule - 11, 12 or more wins seems plausible.

No matter how you get there - a 12 win season is a great achievement in the NFL, and we have had a Sept that while sloppy - has set us up for just that.

Unless we achieve 12 wins this year (my bet) then the narrative will be about how Tomlin underachieved.

[birtikidis]

Unless we achieve 12 wins this year (my bet) then the narrative will be about how Tomlin underachieved.

As long as we knock the snot out of the Rats and Stains again.. AND kick the crap out of the bumgals, we should win the division. As long as we get a shot at the playoffs and play winning football at that point, I could care less what people think of Tomlin. If they keep improving as they have been, and if they make the playoffs, we have a legit shot at #7

[Shawn]

I do think it's now or never. The Pats are beatable. We are not playing consistent ball but I see enough to know we could peak just at the right moment. If I were a betting man, my money would be on the Steelers to make it to the SB.

[birtikidis]

I do think it's now or never. The Pats are beatable. We are not playing consistent ball but I see enough to know we could peak just at the right moment. If I were a betting man, my money would be on the Steelers to make it to the SB.

I'm mostly worried about the offense. They've been under performing significantly.

[feltdizz]

I do think it's now or never. The Pats are beatable. We are not playing consistent ball but I see enough to know we could peak just at the right moment. If I were a betting man, my money would be on the Steelers to make it to the SB.

Pats may not make the playoffs this year.

All this yapping about the Pats and we may have to worry more about our run defense than our pass defense when the playoffs roll around.

[Starlifter]

History has shown you can’t judge a team by sept. Many have started strong only to fade and many have started weak only to go on a run.

That being said - right now - the pats look beatable and the chiefs look unstoppable. But ask me again later in the year.

[feltdizz]

History has shown you can’t judge a team by sept. Many have started strong only to fade and many have started weak only to go on a run.

That being said - right now - the pats look beatable and the chiefs look unstoppable. But ask me again later in the year.

correct, however... I think this year is different. Unless they make a dramatic change he Pats are probably going to need to score 30+ every game just to have a chance to win. The D is awful, they lost their best possession WR and didn't resign their best short yardage battering ram who had 18 TD's last year. I could see if these were road losses but they are getting beat at home.

Im not counting them out but I'm also not going to crown them.