Why are you even here?

[NorthCoast]

Vegas, and the majority of pundits put the Steelers at 7.5 wins for 2022. By this measure they exceeded expectations. Have not seen the 2023 over/unders yet but I expect a slight bump up.

Things are directionally improving. They've shown they can compete in the division.

Knock it out of the park in the coming draft, the QB makes a sophomore jump in his play, and it's reasonable to believe there will be a few extra Steeler games at the beginning of 2024....

that's why I'm here

[WindyCitySteel]

Vegas, and the majority of pundits put the Steelers at 7.5 wins for 2022. By this measure they exceeded expectations. Have not seen the 2023 over/unders yet but I expect a slight bump up.

Things are directionally improving. They've shown they can compete in the division.

Knock it out of the park in the coming draft, the QB makes a sophomore jump in his play, and it's reasonable to believe there will be a few extra Steeler games at the beginning of 2024....

that's why I'm here

We'll see - I still contend the "turnaround" was mostly because of scheduling, and Kenny erased a lot of bad feelings with two last minute drives. I don't think anyone felt great about this team's chances for next year when they were sitting on 6 and 9 points late vs. LV and BAL.

[Northern_Blitz]

We'll see - I still contend the "turnaround" was mostly because of scheduling, and Kenny erased a lot of bad feelings with two last minute drives. I don't think anyone felt great about this team's chances for next year when they were sitting on 6 and 9 points late vs. LV and BAL.

Again...we did better against mediocre teams at the end of the season than we did against mediocre teams at the beginning of the season. I think this is in large part because Kenny was better than Mitch. But Harris also got healthy. The OL got better. And Watt came back (even though I don't think he was at 100%).

If you want to put some "context" around the wins, then look at similar opponents.

It's got to be a tough tight rope to walk to strongly praise KP while at the same time saying that the team didn't get better vs. when MT was QB.

If you really think that the team didn't get better, you're pretty much arguing that KP isn't any better than Mitch. Although I thought someone on he said that Mitch had a better PFF grade than Kenny, so I guess you're being consistent?

[WindyCitySteel]

Again...we did better against mediocre teams at the end of the season than we did against mediocre teams at the beginning of the season. I think this is in large part because Kenny was better than Mitch. But Harris also got healthy. The OL got better. And Watt came back (even though I don't think he was at 100%).

If you want to put some "context" around the wins, then look at similar opponents.

It's got to be a tough tight rope to walk to strongly praise KP while at the same time saying that the team didn't get better vs. when MT was QB.

If you really think that the team didn't get better, you're pretty much arguing that KP isn't any better than Mitch. Although I thought someone on he said that Mitch had a better PFF grade than Kenny, so I guess you're being consistent?

You're ignoring the biggest factor in winning those 2nd half games. The outside linebacker around whom they built their entire identity returned. Do they beat Indy, Balt, and LV without him, or are those late drives by Kenny merely for cosmetic purposes, as was the last drive vs. Cincy?

Kenny got better at not turning the ball over but by and large his entire rookie season was smothered under the lead blanket of fear that Tomlin throw over it. Unfortunately, we're looking at much of the same in 2023.

[whisper]

I believe the bigger key to coaching is what play should be called based on a team's tendencies on offense or defense?

People complained about Lebeau plenty as good as he was I remember the constant complaints about the LeBeau cushion.

LeBeau's entire system was archaic, antiquated and outdated by the time he left. But prior to that? He was dead on, won Super Bowls. But his entire system was based on hitting, where he taught his players that a good hit was better than an interception - according to Ryan Clark. Well, with the rule changes, that certainly was no longer the case. 1.) You can no longer lay out WRs, period. 2.) Better than turnovers? I don't think so.

[whisper]

I find all the negativity perplexing.

If I had the level of despair of some of you I would not even bother.

Even back in the Bubby days, Mark Malone etc, I "chose" a hopeful outlook.

I WANTED CANADA GONE. But since he is here I hope that he is better than I think.

If you TRULY think the team is hopeless, the draft, free agency... none of it matters. Why do you even care?

Day after day, nothing but whining about things you have no control over.

It cannot be fun to do nothing but wallow in a state of perpetual hopelessness.

I got a question: Why are you here? You seem to be here to only complain about those who bring up negative issues. Why bother?

[Oviedo]

I find all the negativity perplexing.

If I had the level of despair of some of you I would not even bother.

Even back in the Bubby days, Mark Malone etc, I "chose" a hopeful outlook.

I WANTED CANADA GONE. But since he is here I hope that he is better than I think.

If you TRULY think the team is hopeless, the draft, free agency... none of it matters. Why do you even care?

Day after day, nothing but whining about things you have no control over.

It cannot be fun to do nothing but wallow in a state of perpetual hopelessness.

Great post and the $50,000 question. If you hate what the team is doing and who is running it, why are you here? The constant negativity isn't going to cause the Rooney's to do anything different. The notion that the organization doesn't care about winning is just plain stupid. They have one of the highest win percentages, if not highest, since the merger. Winning is hard in the NFL and we consistently put a winning product and compete pretty much every year. That's what the vast majority of the fans want. Most fans want to have an expectation of winning each game, not go for the brass ring once every five years and struggle in between. For the most part, that is what we get...in the conversation every year.

I can only assume that most of the extremely negative posters are really just here to troll and could care less about the Steelers and definitely the level of vitriol in their posts shows they ARE NOT fans.

[WindyCitySteel]

Great post and the $50,000 question. If you hate what the team is doing and who is running it, why are you here? The constant negativity isn't going to cause the Rooney's to do anything different. The notion that the organization doesn't care about winning is just plain stupid. They have one of the highest win percentages, if not highest, since the merger. Winning is hard in the NFL and we consistently put a winning product and compete pretty much every year. That's what the vast majority of the fans want. Most fans want to have an expectation of winning each game, not go for the brass ring once every five years and struggle in between. For the most part, that is what we get...in the conversation every year.

I can only assume that most of the extremely negative posters are really just here to troll and could care less about the Steelers and definitely the level of vitriol in their posts shows they ARE NOT fans.

I agree with you 100%, and furthermore will add that anyone complaining about America in any regard is not a Real American (tm).

Fall in line, support the colors, imprison the heretics.

[Northern_Blitz]

You're ignoring the biggest factor in winning those 2nd half games. The outside linebacker around whom they built their entire identity returned. Do they beat Indy, Balt, and LV without him, or are those late drives by Kenny merely for cosmetic purposes, as was the last drive vs. Cincy?

Kenny got better at not turning the ball over but by and large his entire rookie season was smothered under the lead blanket of fear that Tomlin throw over it. Unfortunately, we're looking at much of the same in 2023.

I don't get why you think it's shocking that having the team's best player on the field led to more wins. Particularly when he plays the 2nd most impactful position in the sport. Especially when the play on the other side of the ball has been bad for most of his career. All teams build their identity (i.e. marketing strategy) against their best and most impactful player.

You wouldn't be surprised if it was a QB, right?

Why are you so high on Kenny if you don't think he got better?

Weren't you consistently arguing that the improvement in his PFF ratings was a demonstration that he was getting significantly better at the end of the season? I thought PFF was about way more than box-score stats like INTS?

When you say that the only thing he really got better at was not turning it over, is really the only thing that drove the improved PFF ratings? If so, why pay for PFF when you can just look at turnovers?

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Here is a question on a different, but similar idea.

If you just started getting interested in football now, and you have no influences or ties to fans, teams, or cities.

1) Do you think you would be a fan of the Steelers - even not as your #1 team, but would you find this team likeable or not?

2) Which NFL team do you think you would become a fan of?

As tough as this is to say, I think that one possibility would be the Bengals. Good on both sides of the ball with young playmakers on offense. KC is an obvious choice with the best (and most exciting) player in the game. San Fran with a lot of talent.

Teams I'm pretty sure I would dislike include Cleveland, Denver, Tampa Bay.

Just the ones I can think of right now.

[Captain Lemming]

I got a question: Why are you here? You seem to be here to only complain about those who bring up negative issues. Why bother?

Not really.
Most of the threads "I start" are not like this one.

When I enter the negative threads YOU start, it certainly seems that way though. I am a pro-Steelers guy at my core. Like it says below I'm a Steeler defender.

But why am I here?

My pov js hopeful. I enjoy speculating with my fellow fans about how one move or another might bring us closer to a ring. It is fun doing that.

I LIKE THE STEELERS. It is perfectly logical that I'd be drawn to a place filled with others who like the Steelers.

You on the other hand clearly DONT LIKE THE STEELERS.

Therefore my original question.

[WindyCitySteel]

I don't get why you think it's shocking that having the team's best player on the field led to more wins. Particularly when he plays the 2nd most impactful position in the sport. Especially when the play on the other side of the ball has been bad for most of his career. All teams build their identity (i.e. marketing strategy) against their best and most impactful player.

I don't know why you're encouraged by a team that couldn't beat some of the league's worst teams without TJ Watt. They designed a team to score 18 PPG and depend 100% on TJ Watt to win and most of you just shrug and say "Yeah, checks out."

Why are you so high on Kenny if you don't think he got better?

He did the most with what he was given, unfortunately that won't be enough to beat the better teams. We'll see much of the same next year as they double down on their philosophy of hiding on offense and playing great D, as long as TJ is healthy that is.

[whisper]

Not really.
Most of the threads "I start" are not like this one.

When I enter the negative threads YOU start, it certainly seems that way though.

It just seems that way from your perspective because those are my replies to YOU.

Sure, keep telling yourself that, and keep up with your endless complaining. We'll leave the light on for you.

[feltdizz]

You're ignoring the biggest factor in winning those 2nd half games. The outside linebacker around whom they built their entire identity returned. Do they beat Indy, Balt, and LV without him, or are those late drives by Kenny merely for cosmetic purposes, as was the last drive vs. Cincy?

Kenny got better at not turning the ball over but by and large his entire rookie season was smothered under the lead blanket of fear that Tomlin throw over it. Unfortunately, we're looking at much of the same in 2023.

Why do you keep saying we got Watt back like dude isn’t supposed to play all 17 games every year? He’s our highest paid player. Of course he returned. That’s his job, we drafted him and signed him to play for us to help us win games.

You act like we had some cheat code in a video game.

and be honest, Watt was a shell of himself until the last week or 2 of the season.

Newsflash Windy, Watt is coming back next year too and the gear after that.

[Northern_Blitz]

Here is a question on a different, but similar idea.

If you just started getting interested in football now, and you have no influences or ties to fans, teams, or cities.

1) Do you think you would be a fan of the Steelers - even not as your #1 team, but would you find this team likeable or not?

2) Which NFL team do you think you would become a fan of?

As tough as this is to say, I think that one possibility would be the Bengals. Good on both sides of the ball with young playmakers on offense. KC is an obvious choice with the best (and most exciting) player in the game. San Fran with a lot of talent.

Teams I'm pretty sure I would dislike include Cleveland, Denver, Tampa Bay.

Just the ones I can think of right now.

I'd imagine that TO is like me in that he didn't come to be a Steelers fan by birth.

I became a Steelers fan because I've always admired good defense in sports. I love the non-flashy guys that end up being big reasons that their team wins.

I started watching the NFL in Noll's last year and the beginning of the Cowher era.

Because the Steelers ended up being a good team over the next few years, they were on TV a lot.

Great defenses with bad-asses like Lloyd and Woodson. And a history that included Mean Joe and Lambert.

My brother was 2 years older than me, and he ended up cheering for Marty's Chiefs. A similar brand of football (and he was a Royals & George Brett fan).

If I was that same kid growing up now with the same access to games (I know games are more accessible now), I don't know who I'd end up rooting for. It probably wouldn't be the Steelers because (as North Coast reminded us a lot this year) the Steelers weren't usually on outside of a small area.

For me, growing up outside of Toronto...I'd probably end up being a Bills fan. They'd be the local team so they are always on. They are good with a good QB. They have a good D with some history of good D (B. Smith).

If I wanted to buck the trend of the local team...I don't know. Maybe SF? A system team with a great D and can win with just about any QB. Sounds kind of like what we were trying to do in the Cowher era. SF also has a storied history.