Thursday Night Football: Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans

[juny]

steelers - not elite
it's a 3 horse race in the afc - pats ravens texans

in general the afc is not that good compared to the nfc.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

steelers - not elite
it's a 3 horse race in the afc - pats ravens texans

in general the afc is not that good compared to the nfc.

If SD beats Denver..you could also say SD...We all probably know Houston will get a 1st round by..with the Ravens in a good lead for the second one. but i don't think the pats need the by to make it to the SB again

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I have never seen the AFC race more predictable at this early point in the season.......ever.

Unless one of these teams loses its QB AND another top player or two,the LOCKS to make the postseason are the Texans,Ravens and Patriots.....I give the Chargers a 'likely' postseason spot because I think they will win 9 or 10 games and win that division.

As always there will be a team that did not make the playoffs last year making it this year....my picks for that spot is the Bills....yes,I think the Bills will right the ship on defense and grab a 6th seed at 8-8,Denver or Cincinnati rounds out the conference as the #5 wild card at 9-7.

The Steelers will go about 8-8 and lose on a tiebreaker.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Wildcard will come out of AFC West..denver/san diego...Maybe AFC North is Cincy still play well

 

[ATippett56]

As always there will be a team that did not make the playoffs last year making it this year....my picks for that spot is the Bills....yes,I think the Bills will right the ship on defense and grab a 6th seed at 8-8.

Put down the bong and step away from the keyboard!

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

but if it was dmac everyone would say it was an underthrown ball and took no skill


Posted from Patsfans.com App for Android

Well I would have said it was great technique and a nice play on the ball, just like I did for DMC's picks. But assume all you want brother.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The Steelers are down but they're not out yet guys. Let's not forget just how banged up they are, if they can at least get Polamalu back (THE most important player for them) that itself makes them that much better. It's still VERY early.

But yeah it doesn't look good for them. Titans and Raiders are very bad teams.

 

[upstater1]

I'd rather take on the Ravens than the Broncos in the playoffs.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Does look like the Steelers on on their last legs of this run. As I said, now we'll get to see how good Tomlin really is because IIRC most of the key guys on this defense are Cowher's boys (Troy, Harrison, Woodley, Taylor, Clark, etc) and it's time to see how Tomlin rebuilds.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I'd rather take on the Ravens than the Broncos in the playoffs.

We've beaten the Broncos quite comfortably 3 straight times now. Really outplayed them and the last game was closer than it really was. We haven't comfortably beaten Baltimore since 2004 and that was obviously a completely different team. Sure week 3 probably should've been a comfortable win for us but we'll never know. Plus we're essentially 2 games behind Bmore as far as that potential matchup being on our home turf. Denver most likely would be at home.

 

[SVN]

We've beaten the Broncos quite comfortably 3 straight times now. Really outplayed them and the last game was closer than it really was. We haven't comfortably beaten Baltimore since 2004 and that was obviously a completely different team. Sure week 3 probably should've been a comfortable win for us but we'll never know. Plus we're essentially 2 games behind Bmore as far as that potential matchup being on our home turf. Denver most likely would be at home.

I would take any team over the broncos in the playoffs .Manning factor trumps over schaub/flacco/kubiak and all these teams.

 

[Big-T]

I would take any team over the broncos in the playoffs .Manning factor trumps over schaub/flacco/kubiak and all these teams.

Manning factor?

Under .500 in the playoffs and a tendency to choke?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Even in Zone, the idea is still to cover someone. McCourty is struggling at present.....Griffin just sucks.

Yeah he does, and the contract that he signed this past offseason is a primary reason why I think Chung and any other upcoming FA safeties are going to price themselves well beyond their on-the-field value.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I would take any team over the broncos in the playoffs .Manning factor trumps over schaub/flacco/kubiak and all these teams.

One man won't get it done. If you look at the teams who have traditionally given us trouble in the playoffs it's been teams that can punch us in the face and have a decent enough offense to make just enough plays. Giants twice, Jets, Ravens might've done it twice if not for a miraculous FG botch.

The Broncos do NOT match up with us, they have no answer to Brady and the up tempo offense. Manning is amazing but he cannot keep up. We have destroyed that defense each of the last 3 meetings, against them we dictate the flow of the game, against the other teams they've been able to make it their game. I'll easily take Denver here.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Does look like the Steelers on on their last legs of this run. As I said, now we'll get to see how good Tomlin really is because IIRC most of the key guys on this defense are Cowher's boys (Troy, Harrison, Woodley, Taylor, Clark, etc) and it's time to see how Tomlin rebuilds.

If he is gonna rebuild its going to be through low priced signings and the draft. I can't imagine they have any kind of serious money lying around after not having enough to sign Wallace and then scraping to get Brown that deal.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

If he is gonna rebuild its going to be through low priced signings and the draft. I can't imagine they have any kind of serious money lying around after not having enough to sign Wallace and then scraping to get Brown that deal.

Yeah but that's how the Steelers have always done it with Cowher. They've never gone after big money free agents, they draft well, make underrated moves in FA, and eventually those guys are the ones that get the big $$.

 

[Deus Irae]

If he is gonna rebuild its going to be through low priced signings and the draft. I can't imagine they have any kind of serious money lying around after not having enough to sign Wallace and then scraping to get Brown that deal.

I've brought this up in another thread, and I think it fits this:

If you start with 2000, the Steelers have had four 3 year cycles where they've missed the playoffs and then made it twice. This is the year they would be due to miss again. I find this significant because of the first round picks they've been able to make following those "off" years:

Casey Hampton
Ben Roethlisberger
Lawrence Timmons
Maurkice Pouncey

That's not to say that they've drafted poorly in the first round of other years, but those are major pickups gotten because they were able to draft a little higher than they otherwise would have. A top 2-3 NT, a top 5 QB, a center who's on the way to being the best in the league if he's not already there, and a very good overall LB for a system that revolves around that LB position (Woodley was gotten in that same 2007 draft that brought in Timmons).

Polamalu was gotten at #16, for that matter, again showing their ability to take advantage of being a bit higher up in the round.

 

[lillloyd]

Does look like the Steelers on on their last legs of this run. As I said, now we'll get to see how good Tomlin really is because IIRC most of the key guys on this defense are Cowher's boys (Troy, Harrison, Woodley, Taylor, Clark, etc) and it's time to see how Tomlin rebuilds.

This particular season may be a lost cause, but I wouldn't throw dirt on Pitt long-term just yet. I think as long as they have Ben, and don't suffer an inordinate amount of injuries, they'll be back in the mix again next year...and likely, for the remainder of Ben's career. (I would say this about *any* team with a very good, SB veteran QB and a solid franchise btw--for example I would never declare the Giants "done" if they finished 8-8 this year).

BTW Tomlin, not Cowher, was the one to let Joey Porter go and anoint Harrison a full-time starter. And Woodley was a Tomlin pick, not a Cowher pick. On Steelers boards after a tough loss, there's always a revisionist history thing that goes on suggesting that Tomlin has simply been riding Cowher's coattails. People forget that team that Tomlin inherited was an aging 8-8 squad with a ton of question marks; he deserves credit for right that ship (and of course winning the SB in his second year). For whatever reason, people also tend to overlook that very good players have also been added under Tomlin's tenure (Woodley, Timmons, Brown, Wallace, Pouncey), and that Cowher had his own questionable personnel issues (he famously had to be talked into drafting Roethlisberger over Shawn Andrews by Dan Rooney). But the grass is always greener, right?

So I'm not quite ready to abandon ship and start clamoring for the organization to fire everyone and start over (even after last night, and even if I'm in the minority among Steelers fans right now LOL). Not every year can be a Super Bowl year, but I remain pretty optimistic about the next 6-8 years or so.

lillloyd

 

[lillloyd]

I've brought this up in another thread, and I think it fits this:

If you start with 2000, the Steelers have had four 3 year cycles where they've missed the playoffs and then made it twice. This is the year they would be due to miss again. I find this significant because of the first round picks they've been able to make following those "off" years:

Casey Hampton
Ben Roethlisberger
Lawrence Timmons
Maurkice Pouncey

That's not to say that they've drafted poorly in the first round of other years, but those are major pickups gotten because they were able to draft a little higher than they otherwise would have. A top 2-3 NT, a top 5 QB, a center who's on the way to being the best in the league if he's not already there, and a very good overall LB for a system that revolves around that LB position (Woodley was gotten in that same 2007 draft that brought in Timmons).

Polamalu was gotten at #16, for that matter, again showing their ability to take advantage of being a bit higher up in the round.

They actually traded up in 2003 to grab TP btw.

I sometimes wonder if these cycles aren't somewhat inevitable. Teams that go deep in the playoffs for 2 or 3 years running are essentially adding another half season of games to that period. It's well-documented that teams that lose the SB tend to struggle the following year. Maybe frequent contenders just get tired and beat up at the end of these cycles, and use the off year to rest up and reload (with slightly higher draft position to boot).

As you've said, certainly it fits Pitt's MO over the past decade or so.

 

[lillloyd]

One man won't get it done. If you look at the teams who have traditionally given us trouble in the playoffs it's been teams that can punch us in the face and have a decent enough offense to make just enough plays. Giants twice, Jets, Ravens might've done it twice if not for a miraculous FG botch.

The Broncos do NOT match up with us, they have no answer to Brady and the up tempo offense. Manning is amazing but he cannot keep up. We have destroyed that defense each of the last 3 meetings, against them we dictate the flow of the game, against the other teams they've been able to make it their game. I'll easily take Denver here.

I think I've said this on this board before -- this year shapes up amazingly well for you guys in the AFC, and not just due to the schedule.

I really believe that even if Balt and/or Houston finishes ahead of you, that won't discount the *massive* advantage you'll have at QB. It simply cannot be overstated how important it is to have a veteran, SB QB (not to mention coaching staff). Flacco and Schaub are still guys that are trying to figure it out; Brady has been there, done that. I'm not saying these guys can't break through, but the vet SB winning QB can erase a lot of other potential playoff deficiencies IMHO (byes/home field, etc.)