Does your perception of this team change if we win CIN & DEN

[Legacy User]

If we win the next 2 games against against the Broncos and Bengals...do you think we have a chance.

Going into the playoffs, it's likely we will have played all the full AFC Field:
1/2/3 seeds: NE, CIN (2), DEN
4/5: Indy and KC

Indy might be replaced by Houston.

In any case, we will hopefully have a healthy Ben...which we didin't in NE/KC/CIN.

[Jobu]

If we win the next 2 games against against the Broncos and Bengals...do you think we have a chance.

Going into the playoffs, it's likely we will have played all the full AFC Field:
1/2/3 seeds: NE, CIN (2), DEN
4/5: Indy and KC

Indy might be replaced by Houston.

In any case, we will hopefully have a healthy Ben...which we didin't in NE/KC/CIN.

Pretty sure Ben was healthy at NE.

[Legacy User]

To OP, yes, assuming no injuries.

[Legacy User]

Nope......

Great QB, plenty of weapons, young D which can actually turn you over. Idiot coach. Will always have to overcome him.....

Same whether they win or lose the next 4 games.....

[Stosh-67]

Pretty sure Ben was healthy at NE.

No Bell in that game........but the RB status will be the same as Dwill ran well in that game.
Bryant was not in that game as they will be better at the WR and TE spots in a rematch.

[Stosh-67]

Nope......

Great QB, plenty of weapons, young D which can actually turn you over. Idiot coach. Will always have to overcome him.....

Same whether they win or lose the next 4 games.....

Huge coaching handicap.
Is it a 2 or 3 point handicap?

[FC]

Does your perception of this team change if we win CIN & DEN

No.

I feel the Steelers are an elite team that has underachieved.

I expect they win out

The problem is not coaching
The problem is with the players.

A simple excuse would be injuries
Another excuse would be a poor fan base with unrealistic expectations

How many Steelers fans does it take to change a light bulb...10
1 to change the light bulb 9 others to tell you how great the old light bulb was

[Legacy User]

Yes. If we win the next two, I will consider us bona fide Super Bowl contenders. Right now, I'm in wait and see mode.

[Orangesteel]

It will show this team is firing on all cylinders, but again, winning out doesn't guarantee us a spot in the dance.

If we don't make the playoffs to me it will be the biggest disappointment out of a steelers season that I can remember.

[Legacy User]

Nope......

Great QB, plenty of weapons, young D which can actually turn you over. Idiot coach. Will always have to overcome him.....

Same whether they win or lose the next 4 games.....

Huge coaching handicap.
Is it a 2 or 3 point handicap?

If with our coaching we win the next two, I will feel very confident in this team, coaching and all.

[Stosh-67]

I will be pretty confident if they beat the Bengals and Broncos......if:

They put their best players on the field.
They put their best players in the best positions to excel.
The defense plays well again.
They start defending and deflecting more passes.
The pass rush hits Dalton and the Denver QB more often.
They eliminate the sugar in the gas tank part of the offensive game plan that forces sub-optimal packages with DHB, Will Johnson, Spaeth and Nix to be involved in the attack.

[Legacy User]

Nope......

Great QB, plenty of weapons, young D which can actually turn you over. Idiot coach. Will always have to overcome him.....

Same whether they win or lose the next 4 games.....

Huge coaching handicap.
Is it a 2 or 3 point handicap?

If with our coaching we win the next two, I will feel very confident in this team, coaching and all.

I just don't believe in the D yet. I think the Steelers offense will have to drop 40 burgers to make a SB run. The good news is they clearly can.

[Stosh-67]

Nope......

Great QB, plenty of weapons, young D which can actually turn you over. Idiot coach. Will always have to overcome him.....

Same whether they win or lose the next 4 games.....

Huge coaching handicap.
Is it a 2 or 3 point handicap?

If with our coaching we win the next two, I will feel very confident in this team, coaching and all.

Agree.
If we take the next 2 games.............it will mean beating two teams that have played much better and more consistent ball all year.
Will be pretty impressive.

[Legacy User]

If you think this team is winning in spite of Tomlin, you are fucking stupid. That is all.

[JackLambert58]

Yes. If we win the next two, I will consider us bona fide Super Bowl contenders. Right now, I'm in wait and see mode.

Exactly where I'm at.

[Joe Steeler Fan]

Perceptions are meant to change. If we beat Cincy and Denver that would be great and would certainly add some excitement to the season, but truthfully ...

The situation we face is that we have a secondary that has an overall lack of talent. Sure ... they're going to play some good games now and then and win a few, but it does lack talent. That's just a fact.

[Stosh-67]

The problem is not coaching
The problem is with the players.

50/50

Coaches put players in spots to succeed or fail.
Coaches continued to roll out Blake over Boykin.
And continued to trot out Archer and worse yet Jacoby Jones over Wheaton and Toddman.
Coaches continued to let a game changing punt returner watch from the sidelines as a bumbling, fumbling, walking-on-eggs punt returner, continued to kill field position.
May have AB made a difference returning punts vs. Seattle.

As you mentioned in the podcast. JJ had the worse ball control you ever saw? And sounded like you would have cut him before the game.
Yet coaches continued to run him out there............returning both kicks and punts again......... then after yet another fumble.......sent back out............. to fumble again.

I get coaches coach and players play.
Its not at all that black and white.

[Legacy User]

In terms of actual betting hcp, 2 or 3 pts

In terms of actual point differential I'm guessing closer to double digits. The Seattle game may have been closer to 20......

[zeke5123]

Does your perception of this team change if we win CIN & DEN

No.

I feel the Steelers are an elite team that has underachieved.

I expect they win out

The problem is not coaching
The problem is with the players.

A simple excuse would be injuries
Another excuse would be a poor fan base with unrealistic expectations

How many Steelers fans does it take to change a light bulb...10
1 to change the light bulb 9 others to tell you how great the old light bulb was

Ehh. Mikey T. has made some questionable decisions:

-His time management has been suspect all season long.
-He has often played worse players in front of better players.
-Worse, he has trusted lesser players over better players in crucial situations (e.g., Baltimore, Seahawks).

Add all of that up and the Steelers probably have at least one more win. We'd be sitting pretty comfortable with another win and would have a real shot at the division.

Add up those coaching decisions, injuries, some poor execution (e.g., Brown's drop against the Ravens, Ben's game against the Bengals) and you are probably looking at another 2 wins minimum. Steelers should be up for a bye. Regardless, I am optimistic this team can pull a 2005. I might wager some money on that...

[COR-TEN]

Depends.

If Cincy or Denver shoot themselves in the foot and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, then I won't be as confident.

If the steelers out physical their opponents and dominate both sides of the ball, well, then yes. My perception will change. Closely contested games without mistakes would also change my perception.

Right now, I don't think the defensive secondary can win match ups consistently enough.

[FortyThree]

Does your perception of this team change if we win CIN & DEN

No.

I feel the Steelers are an elite team that has underachieved.

I expect they win out

The problem is not coaching
The problem is with the players.

A simple excuse would be injuries
Another excuse would be a poor fan base with unrealistic expectations

How many Steelers fans does it take to change a light bulb...10
1 to change the light bulb 9 others to tell you how great the old light bulb was

Ehh. Mikey T. has made some questionable decisions:

-His time management has been suspect all season long.
-He has often played worse players in front of better players.
-Worse, he has trusted lesser players over better players in crucial situations (e.g., Baltimore, Seahawks).

Add all of that up and the Steelers probably have at least one more win. We'd be sitting pretty comfortable with another win and would have a real shot at the division.

Add up those coaching decisions, injuries, some poor execution (e.g., Brown's drop against the Ravens, Ben's game against the Bengals) and you are probably looking at another 2 wins minimum. Steelers should be up for a bye. Regardless, I am optimistic this team can pull a 2005. I might wager some money on that...

Change nothing about Tomlin's decisions and instead add a healthy Ben and either Bell or Bryant not suspended for Week 1 and this team likely has 2-3 more wins.

[Legacy User]

Does your perception of this team change if we win CIN & DEN

No.

I feel the Steelers are an elite team that has underachieved.

I expect they win out

The problem is not coaching
The problem is with the players.

A simple excuse would be injuries
Another excuse would be a poor fan base with unrealistic expectations

How many Steelers fans does it take to change a light bulb...10
1 to change the light bulb 9 others to tell you how great the old light bulb was

what's your expectation if you think they are elite?

[Legacy User]

Nope......

Great QB, plenty of weapons, young D which can actually turn you over. Idiot coach. Will always have to overcome him.....

Same whether they win or lose the next 4 games.....

Its infuriating if we win with Boykln over Blake, AB and anyone else over Elf and Jacoby, anyone over Cam Thomas, Bryant over heavy package


What could had been without the dumb, smh

[W&M_Steeler]

It would change my opinion somewhat. The losses to the Bengals and Seahawks- close losses to playoff teams, but games the Steelers were in the position to win- has made me skeptical about whether the team has the will to win that the recent Super Bowl teams had.

Right now I still see this team as a continuation of last year. It's a team that on any given day can beat anyone, but on any given day can lose to the Mike Glennon lead, ultimately 2-14 Buccaneers. Even if the Steelers beat the Bengals and the Broncos, I will need to see them beat the Ravens and Browns to remove all of my skepticism. The Steelers haven't yet lost a game this year to a clearly, significantly inferior opponent, but I still don't trust them completely with "easy" games.

[Legacy User]

Nope......

Great QB, plenty of weapons, young D which can actually turn you over. Idiot coach. Will always have to overcome him.....

Same whether they win or lose the next 4 games.....

Its infuriating if we win with Boykln over Blake, AB and anyone else over Elf and Jacoby, anyone over Cam Thomas, Bryant over heavy package


What could had been without the dumb, smh

I still don't understand how obvious changes like these were avoided by those "in the know", yet armchair QB fans can see the need for a change. Boggles my mind.

[Legacy User]

Does your perception of this team change if we win CIN & DEN

No.

I feel the Steelers are an elite team that has underachieved.

I expect they win out

The problem is not coaching
The problem is with the players.

A simple excuse would be injuries
Another excuse would be a poor fan base with unrealistic expectations

How many Steelers fans does it take to change a light bulb...10
1 to change the light bulb 9 others to tell you how great the old light bulb was

You can't beat incandescent! I have a two bulb adapter in the garage with two100w bulbs!

[Legacy User]

Only 2 things can derail the Steelers from a deep playoff run, injury and themselves, by themselves im referring to caliber of play and coaching/in game decisions.

[Legacy User]

These next two are gonna be battles. This might be harder than the actual playoffs. Because teams always fall off at some. Nobody gets through spotless, ask the patsies.

Cincy on the road is tough. Broncos D is nasty. I like us at home in that one. Bengals game is huge. Ben needs to summon his Ohio farmboy mojo.

[Legacy User]

Players are always going to have responsibility in winning and losing.

However - good coaches put players in the position to succeed. They recognize strengths and weaknesses. They understand when to take a risk and who to take it with. Those are the little things that determines who wins and who loses in a league this close.

I'm sure Tomlin tries to put players into position to succeed based on their strengths and weaknesses despite his "next man up" mentality given during press conferences. I just don't think he's done a good enough job in that regard, and some of his in game decisions (and Haley too) have been downright detrimental to this team winning close games.

[bradshaw2ben]

It will show this team is firing on all cylinders, but again, winning out doesn't guarantee us a spot in the dance.

um, actually I think it does guarantee us a spot