Your 2015 Pittsburgh Steelers...

Tunescribe said:

That's interesting, because I thought LeBeau's defenses always were very attack-oriented via zone-blitzing. I thought I'd heard that under Butler the Steelers wouldn't be as aggressive, but perhaps I'm mistaken.

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I didn't mean to imply LeBeau's defenses weren't attacking; they were...but they had also had some conservative aspects to them. Regarding the blitzing, I'm focusing largely on the OLB responsibilities, which has historically been the foundation of the Steelers' pass rush.

Those disclaimers aside, with regard to the OLBs in particular, on passing downs the LBs dropped into coverage far more than you'd expect, and frankly more than the average for the league 3-4 OLBs.

There's a web site (Steelers Depot) that does a great job of crunching these kinds of numbers, and they say it better than I could:

Worlids FWIW was arguably our best pass rusher the past two years. Prior to that, Lamar Woodley complained in 2013 that he was dropped too often as well.

It remains to be seen how much Butler deviates from this, or how effective the changes will be ultimately. But there have been comments out of camp that the linemen will have more freedom to push up the field, and that there will be more blitzing....We'll see.

MassPats38 said:

Welcome back, lillloyd.

I always pick the Pats, but this team has been a notoriously slow starter. During the 2001 - 2004 run, the team's core group seemed to remain intact. Whether you talk offensive line, receivers, defensive backs, running backs or front 7, what shows up may not be what stands on the field in 5 weeks or so. Always tough to predict what happens.

Last year was just painful, and I was personally happy to see Brady's head still attached to his neck after those 4 games. The Raiders looked all world against the Pats, and they were ranked below the Steelers last year. In that game, Justin Tuck hit Brady as hard as I think anybody has hit. That seems like every season of late, with all the moving parts and new pieces on the field.

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Certainly after last year I would never count the Patriots out, no matter how discombobulated they may look in the early weeks. But I can remember all the way back to the early 2000s--didn't they open one of their SB years with a 31-0 loss?(!) No matter what it looks like at the start, it always seems like you're a well-oiled machine by the end of the year.

It's so tough to read anything from the preseason, with so many starters not playing. But if the preseason form for both teams extends into Thursday, there may be a bit of stumbling around from both sides when the Pats' O and the Steelers' D is on the field. But I'd have far more confidence that the Pats' O will sort things out, than the Steelers' D will at this point.

I wish Bell were playing on Thursday...too bad we don't get to see one the NFL's rising superstars in the opener. Goodell should have to lineup as Pittsburgh's h-back as punishment for being an evil human being.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

I wish Bell were playing on Thursday...too bad we don't get to see one the NFL's rising superstars in the opener. Goodell should have to lineup as Pittsburgh's h-back as punishment for being an evil human being.

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ehh.... This one's on the NFLPA, which was stupid enough to allow the league to discipline for weed. At least the drug discipline has a structure in place that keeps it mostly on the up-and-up.

first of all, in my opinion, thc should be legal in the nfl. i would rather see guys smoke pot than take oxy for pain. so leveon and lagarette to me, should be playing. independent of that, goodell is a jackass.

i have a feeling that gronkowski's going to have a monster game.
seems like he always kills the squealers.

tuckeverlasting said:

first of all, in my opinion, thc should be legal in the nfl. i would rather see guys smoke pot than take oxy for pain. so leveon and lagarette to me, should be playing. independent of that, goodell is a jackass.

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Personally I think we should just ban milk. 99.99% of coke heads drink milk growing up. Coincidence?

Froob said:

Personally I think we should just ban milk. 99.99% of coke heads drink milk growing up. Coincidence?

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wow...now thats random science right there.

Can't wait.

My guess on this game

Brown will be put on Brown with McCourty over the top all day. Butler will take care of the #2 option whoever that is and the Steelers WRs will have a hard time getting a lot down considering the pass rush Ben will be under IMO. Heath Miller is going to have a big day. Pick him up on your fantasy team. Brown will get his but Ben will need to look to Miller a lot (I think 6 catches 70 yards 1 TD).

Collins will win some and lose some with Heath but also will be asked to pass rush and be taken off that assignment at times. Easley has his coming out party big time this game and abuses Pitt's backup center as does Collins when he attacks the A gap. Ben is hard to bring down but will be going down a lot this game. He will also make big plays happen cause he is Big Ben. Just how it is.

The run game for the Steelers will be shut down for the most part and Mayo/Highter/Brown/Siliga will be a big reason why. Without Bell their 2nd option is not that scary. They will have some success with passes out of the back field to RBs though but that is scheme related and BB does not mind giving those up provided big gains are not allowed.


Overall Pitt will drive but a big play or negative play will stop them on most drives. On the occasions they get into the red zone they will do okay but not great. Probably 2/4 and put up 20 points total.

On offense the Patriots running game will stop and go. Mostly stop. But when they gain they will gain big. They are going with shifty RBs and when the holes are there they will be able to make plays happen. What will be the big suprise this game is the Patriots backs out of the backfeild will look extra deadly. Between Lewis/White/Cadet the Patriots get 10 catches for a good chunk of yards. The Patriots leave this game happy with the 3rd down back situation but concerned with the ability to run between the tackles.

The Patriots passing attack does well and the line holds up surprisingly well vs the Pass. Jackson may have a few hiccups but I predict everyone else to be solid in pass protection when all the starters are in (Wendell starts this game btw). Edelman/Gronk do well but i think BB and McD tries to limit them a bit. BB knows what he has here and is in the mind set of if they are to catch 10 passes each in the playoffs they can't do that in the regular season. Brady has a shake first game at times and probably throws a bad pick due to rust. Still a good game and the O scores 35-40 points.

"Considering Brady's fiery on-field persona, that seven months could be important to the Steelers -- as in, he's letting out seven months of aggression on the field.

When asked about that, Brady simply said, "It's time for me to do my job."

Pretty much says it all...

Deus Irae said:

ehh.... This one's on the NFLPA, which was stupid enough to allow the league to discipline for weed. At least the drug discipline has a structure in place that keeps it mostly on the up-and-up.

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Here's my understanding of how the drug testing policy is actually administered for marijuana: essentially, they don't test during the regular season--a tacit nod to the players that either there is a medicinal benefit to marijuana, or that marijuana simply isn't that big a deal. However there is a 3 month band in the offseason when they will test...so essentially, players need to have THC out of their system for a grand total of 3 months.

If true (and I'm basing this on radio discussions of the Bryant suspension in Pittsburgh--so correct me if I'm wrong here), it basically means that Bryant tested positive 3 or 4 times in that 3 month window. Forgetting for a second the underlying debate about marijuana and whether it should be legal or tested, this was an incredibly irresponsible (and frankly unintelligent) act by Bryant. So while I agree this is a silly policy that results in some unusually draconian penalties for weed (which only makes the league look more ridiculous, considering its disciplinary 'policy' for vastly more serious violations), it's nonetheless pretty outrageous for any player to actually violate the rules to the degree that they receive significant suspensions. Very disappointed in Bryant here.

Bell made a statement to the effect that weed simply isn't important enough to derail his career, and he's swearing off the stuff. He seemed believable. Bryant -- who could have made a serious difference in the upcoming game with his size and explosiveness -- well, maybe not so much. I hope he doesn't go the Josh Gordon route with his career, it would be a terrible waste of a significant talent.

Halifax_Pats_Fan said:

"Considering Brady's fiery on-field persona, that seven months could be important to the Steelers -- as in, he's letting out seven months of aggression on the field.

When asked about that, Brady simply said, "It's time for me to do my job."

Pretty much says it all...

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IMO Brady is such an extreme competitor that he would come out just as motivated even absent the whole DG mess.

And while I think emotion does play a big part in these 'sacrificial lamb' Thursday openers, if NE wins by 40 it will probably have a lot more to do with Pittsburgh's inability to cover Patriots TEs and WRs, than pent-up aggression over DG.

Froob said:

Personally I think we should just ban milk. 99.99% of coke heads drink milk growing up. Coincidence?

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Don't touch the stuff myself, and I've never used coke, so that's some more proof. Pretty much seals it, I'd say.

I'm generally OK with the idea of humans drinking milk from another animal, but would like to have seen the person who was so desperate as to be the first to try it for our species. Yuck.

My guess/hope:
- Gronk and Chandler turn out to be more disruptive than anyone hoped for, make TDs look easy
- Pitt's offense looks busy and productive all night, but at around 50 minutes into regulation everyone looks up at the scoreboard and they've only mustered 10 points.

(Armchair speculation, I don't know what will happen)

lillloyd said:

Is Butler the #1 corner at this point?

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Yes. And it's not all that close. What is not known yet is how the Patriots will utilize Butler. He may take the opponent #1 or, as they often have done even with guys like Revis and Law, have Butler take the opponent #2 and roll coverage to #1.

lillloyd said:

· What is the best approach, in your opinion, to attack NE offensively and defensively?
· Do you have any significant concerns going into this game? (Not necessarily just in the matchup with Pittsburgh per se, but for the team as a whole?)
· Just curious: who, exactly, is playing early running back for NE these days?

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1) I don't know. The front seven looks deep and strong, but is still in flux. Passing against the secondary seems like the obvious choice but the DL might be more exploitable with the run. A lot of it will come down to whether Butler is a legit #1 CB. If he isn't, then NE won't be able to slow down Brown without creating a lot of running room for everyone else. If he is, then it is going to be tough to score a lot of points on them.

Offensively, it is pretty simple, get to Brady or expect to allow 30 points. Even with lots of questions around the outside receivers, NE is so dominant in the middle of the field that Pitt will get steamrolled if they don't knock Tom on his ass. The good thing for Pitt is that the OL might be the biggest offensive question mark and it isn't clear if NE will have a legit rushing attack for game 1.

2) Not really. I'm unsure about the OL, the outside receivers and the secondary, same as everyone else, but I don't think those concerns will manifest too much in this game. Brady and the banner are going to have the stadium so amped that losing feels like a near impossibility.

3) For this week, who knows? I won't be surprised if Lewis, despite his size, gets a lot of early down work. That kid is stronger than he looks and runs with endearing ferocity. Lots of people keep pointing to Bolden, but I thought he looked terrible in the preseason, frankly, and his resume doesn't inspire too much confidence even beyond that.

Once Blount returns, you have to think he'll get most of the early down snaps.

You are my favorite troll, Lloyd. Hopefully you understand that I use that term endearingly.

Mike the Brit said:

Great to have you back, lillloyd!

What others have said. As I see it, Pitt's best chances are:

1. The NE O-line

2. The secondary

3. The fact that many key players haven't played in the pre-season and others, what with some (*cough*) "distractions", may not be at full-season intensity.​

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Yeah, our offense is pretty much guaranteed to be rusty.

If Pitt gets out early with Antonio Brown burning us in the first half, it could get pretty ugly.

Brown is the best receiver in the game right now IMO, love to watch him play against everyone except us. Will be a very tough test for Butler, really wish we had an easier test for our home opener frankly. Watch his route running. It is otherworldly. His ability to change directions is better than Welker in his prime. If they had a Brown-cam that just followed him every play, I would pay to watch it. I am just in awe of that guy.

Because of the rust factor, I see a low scoring game; with Edelman/Gronk having no snaps in the preseason, I cannot imagine us putting up a 40-bomb.

Speaking of which, Alamo....predict the score contest time?

Oswlek said:

Yes. And it's not all that close. What is not known yet is how the Patriots will utilize Butler. He may take the opponent #1 or, as they often have done even with guys like Revis and Law, have Butler take the opponent #2 and roll coverage to #1.

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Were I to guess, I'd say he's going to play the traditional LCB spot, Asante Samuel style, at least for the first few weeks. He may be the third Belichick son, but I don't think he's trusting him to follow Antonio Brown around all night, just quite yet.

TommyD4207 said:

Were I to guess, I'd say he's going to play the traditional LCB spot, Asante Samuel style, at least for the first few weeks. He may be the third Belichick son, but I don't think he's trusting him to follow Antonio Brown around all night, just quite yet.

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You are right. I should have said that as well. Thanks for the supplementation!

Glad to hear some football being talked about. time to get into season form.

I'm curious to see what the offense will be like with little playing time for our starters. Will they start out rusty or come out on fire.

To me the Gronk/Chandler dynamic might be insane. Gronk and Chandler are similar in that they are both all purpose TEs (with Gronk being a unique talent, but Chandler doing well in an offensively challenged system). The fact that they can both block/catch should allow McD to be very creative with personnel/formations and hopefully keep D Coordinators up all night trying to figure out what to do. That's my hope and I look forward to seeing how that plays out.

RelocatedPatFan said:

Glad to hear some football being talked about. time to get into season form.

I'm curious to see what the offense will be like with little playing time for our starters. Will they start out rusty or come out on fire.

To me the Gronk/Chandler dynamic might be insane. Gronk and Chandler are similar in that they are both all purpose TEs (with Gronk being a unique talent, but Chandler doing well in an offensively challenged system). The fact that they can both block/catch should allow McD to be very creative with personnel/formations and hopefully keep D Coordinators up all night trying to figure out what to do. That's my hope and I look forward to seeing how that plays out.

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Eh.

Chandler's not the best blocker.