Realistic Expectations?

[Oh wow]

They could go after 2/3 of his signing bonus. But they won't. It's just not the way this team does business. Just like the Colts didn't go after Lock.

Man, not trying to be that guy but so hope Ben does the right thing.

I thought the Colts did it to make sure Luck couldn’t change his mind and come back on another team.

That’s a lot of money for 1 bad game vs the Pats.

[Sugar]

Man, not trying to be that guy but so hope Ben does the right thing.

Out of curiosity, what do you think "the right thing" is here?

[Steel Maniac]

Hopefully a little adversity brings out the best in everyone. But I think its not unrealistic for them to possibly be 1-5 heading into the bye week. Certainly hope I'm way off.

Who’s the one team we beat?

[Northern_Blitz]

Who’s the one team we beat?

The Bengals have to be the best chance, right?

[Ernie]

Out of curiosity, what do you think "the right thing" is here?

weve already given ben 9 digit wealth.. at some point weve gotta do whats best for the franchise.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Baltimore, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh are now all starting 2nd year QB's.

Who's to say that Mason Rudolph can't be the best AFC North QB from the 2018 rookie draft class over Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield?

[Ernie]

Baltimore, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh are now all starting 2nd year QB's.

Who's to say that Mason Rudolph can't be the best AFC North QB from the 2018 rookie draft class over Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield?

it certainly didnt take balt long to reload... same with KC.

[Terrapin]

We weren't going to the SB this year, regardless of who's QB. Soooo,

1. Rudolph is for real, and shows he's the QB of the future
2. Rudolph sucks, we finish around 4-12, and get a top 10 pick (to draft a QB)

Both are positives. The worst thing that could happen is Rudolph does 'ok', and we finish around 7-9

[Ghost]

This is encouraging:

As guard Ramon Foster walked out of the locker room after a second-straight loss for the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was asked about quarterback Mason Rudolph taking over the offense if Ben Roethlisberger's elbow injury keeps him sidelined.

His answer was blunt: Rudolph prepares like a mad man.
"He wants this," Foster added.

The Steelers are sold on Rudolph for one prime reason: He grinds.

DeCastro said he is up to the challenge.
"We’ll see what this team’s made of," he said. "I don’t expect any drama. I expect guys to shut up and go to work.”

https://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/31196/what-steelers-offense-looks-like-with-mad-man-qb-mason-rudolph

[NJ-STEELER]

best case scenario for the future is we go 3-13 and we get a top 5 draft pick.

if rudy doesn't show he is franchise QB capable, then you're in position to draft one (lawrence?)

If he does show he's capable, now you have maneuverability in the draft. Can take a stud prospect at #5 or less or trade down to a QB hungry team and accumulate picks
with this defense and staff, we may need 12 #1 picks starting on that side of the ball to have a good unit

[Oh wow]

This is encouraging:

As guard Ramon Foster walked out of the locker room after a second-straight loss for the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was asked about quarterback Mason Rudolph taking over the offense if Ben Roethlisberger's elbow injury keeps him sidelined.

His answer was blunt: Rudolph prepares like a mad man.
"He wants this," Foster added.

The Steelers are sold on Rudolph for one prime reason: He grinds.

DeCastro said he is up to the challenge.
"We’ll see what this team’s made of," he said. "I don’t expect any drama. I expect guys to shut up and go to work.”

https://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh...-mason-rudolph

Well DeCastro, we may want some drama because this quiet offseason did nothing for us.

[Ernie]

Well DeCastro, we may want some drama because this quiet offseason did nothing for us.

drama didnt seem to help us last year.

[skyhawk]

I think the best case would probably be 8-9 wins. And that is far from guaranteed. The Steelers haven't won in San Fran since 1984. And they haven't done well on the west coast recently. There is a very real chance they go 0-3. The Steelers would have to go 9-4 just finish 9-7. I'm not sure that I see this team winning better than 2 out of 3 games for the rest of this season. They already have a razor thin margin of error, and now a backup QB.

I remember that game. It was San Fran's only loss that season. That D was damn good.

[RuthlessBurgher]

The Steelers haven't won in San Fran since 1984.

We are 0-0 on the road vs. the Niners since they moved out of the old Candlestick Park and over to Santa Clara instead.

This will be our first road game there since Levi's Stadium was built.

[Steeler Mafia]

Tomlin hasn't had a losing season with Pittsburgh. This will be his first. We will see what they made of after that.

Nothing drives change more than losing. My bet... we finish dead last in the AFC North.