I Realized What It Is That I Hate: "Steelers Football"

[MJG75]

Personally I love Steelers football! Do you hear them say "let's see some Cowboys football "? There IS an identity for this team and it extended back long before the glory days of Emperor Noll. The only other player besides Mean Joe to have their jersey officially retired was a representative of "Steelers football ". John Henry Johnson, Bullet Bill Dudley, Jack Butler to name a few who join Ernie Stautner in exemplifying Steelers football: hard-nosed physical kick your ass . THAT is Steelers football. It isn't always lived up to but to me THAT is what it means and THAT is the standard.

[955876]

Problem MJG is that this team is neither hard nosed nor finesse.

They excel at nothing. Trying to gain 10 yards feels like an epic struggle.

Top that off with a dipshit roaming the sidelines that can’t count to 2 to manage the game clock and well,,,,

[bradshaw2ben]

I actually watched every second of the game. What does that say about me?

STD's post about the three ways to win was spot on. Denying that Watt fits on there some way took a perfectly fine thread and set it on fire.

[Havoc]

I think we can thank Jerome Bettis for this identity thing because I never heard this shit before him. Yinzers bought into it because it aligns with their hard-scrabble blue collar identity. You know, the same nimrods who said 20 years ago that using a first round pick on a QB was a wasted pick. But even worse is that Art II buys into it and by extension the chain of command under him including Colbert, Tomlin and Canada. The mantra in Chuck Noll's day wasn't Steelers identity, it was Whatever It Takes. Too bad Dan Rooney had to age and pass away because now we're stuck with his idiot son and Steelers identity.

I agree 1000%

[ToddHaleysNineIron]

3) Scheme lesser players into advantageous situations. The essence of Noll’s trap blocking. I am at a decided physical disadvantage matched up head to head but I’ve got a scheme that compensates for that and I execute it to a T.
I have zero faith in the Steelers to outscheme anyone on any level. In fact they seem to take pride in eschewing any kind of advanced football thinking

In returning to STD's 3 points.... point 3 is coaching, coordinators.

The steelers have sucked at this for a long time. You watch other games, there are plays that you can tell were set up, and a guy was schemed open. It's an easy pitch and catch and it gets the yardage needed.

The Steelers haven't really had much of that the past 5 years. This year, heck even last year - every throw and catch is contested, close.

How many times have teams brought offensive lineman in off the street only to have those guys stone the Steelers defensive front. Those guys should be both inferior physically, and be confused by what they are seeing.

I just do not see enough examples of a coaching staff that puts their players in positions to succeed in comparison to the rest of the NFL. The games they win they win because they just happened to be better that day. There are teams you should beat 9 out of 10 times... with the Steelers I feel that should have been this Seattle game... yet I bet if those two teams play 10 times, it's 5-5 or 6-4.

[StillMadAtSlobber]

The epic incompetence in the coaching and game management has made me pretty apathetic while watching. It's actually safer not to watch them in real time. I find my frustration and blood pressure levels decreased.

I have also come to expect coaching failures so am pleasantly surprised when they don't happen.

Yeah its tragic, but it's the truth. This team is being run in a manner that sucks a lot of the joy out of watching them.

And who called that play action pass Sunday and have they been fired yet?

[Suwanee88]

“Steelers football” meaning having a team that dominates the line of scrimmage and can successfully run the football is a good thing because it has a high correlation with winning. The risk aversion is they employ goes to stupid extremes under Tomlin.

The AFC North has always been dominated by the team that controls the line of scrimmage. The Steelers have increasingly fallen far behind the competition in that aspect.

I agree but would like to add a few things.

Offensively- being able to run when everyone in the stadium knows you are going to run. No Tom Foolery, No Fucking Jet Sweeps to pick up tough yards near the goal line. Just brute steroid strength.

This coupled with PA deep big play passing.

On defense, I think it’s a lot harder to dominate the line of scrimmage in 2021 with a 3-4 base or a Nickel/Dime package with 2 traditional defensive lineman and 2 OLB’s.

That’s why I love a 4-3 with traditional 4-3 DE’s who can pass rush and or stop the run. That is a critical must if you want to dominate the line of scrimmage defensively.

And that is what the fuck I want to do. Dominate and build a DYNASTY team. That may only be a ndow but it sure as hell beats this new version of Steelers football.

Fuck being competitive every year. I welcome losing to reload if your system is about building dynastic type teams. These guys want to stay competitive every year and hope it’s enough to win a ring.

[bradshaw2ben]

Don’t know if you’re old enough to remember the 70s Steelers, who dominated in the run game with cutting-edge tomfoolery—the trap game. They almost never had their OL line up and just power block and run straight at you. Their entire offense was built on misdirection and getting you to move the wrong direction.

[MJG75]

Don’t know if you’re old enough to remember the 70s Steelers, who dominated in the run game with cutting-edge tomfoolery—the trap game. They almost never had their OL line up and just power block and run straight at you. Their entire offense was built on misdirection and getting you to move the wrong direction.

For the youngsters, I believe that YouTube still has the network broadcast of SB IX. Watch how frustrated were the D Linemen of the vaunted Purple People Eaters D during that game. That defense was definitely no slouch, and yet they continually found themselves out of position to make plays. Noll loved the undersized guys because he was at heart a teacher and he loved teaching them the techniques that would make them successful against far larger and stronger opponents.

[SteelPro]

Personally I love Steelers football! Do you hear them say "let's see some Cowboys football "? There IS an identity for this team and it extended back long before the glory days of Emperor Noll. The only other player besides Mean Joe to have their jersey officially retired was a representative of "Steelers football ". John Henry Johnson, Bullet Bill Dudley, Jack Butler to name a few who join Ernie Stautner in exemplifying Steelers football: hard-nosed physical kick your ass . THAT is Steelers football. It isn't always lived up to but to me THAT is what it means and THAT is the standard.

You can be tough and not be a caveman. Steelers wouldn’t have won 4 Super Bowls in the 70’s if Chuck Noll wasn’t the smartest head coach in football. Why can’t that be what Steelers Football is all about?

[MJG75]

Personally I love Steelers football! Do you hear them say "let's see some Cowboys football "? There IS an identity for this team and it extended back long before the glory days of Emperor Noll. The only other player besides Mean Joe to have their jersey officially retired was a representative of "Steelers football ". John Henry Johnson, Bullet Bill Dudley, Jack Butler to name a few who join Ernie Stautner in exemplifying Steelers football: hard-nosed physical kick your ass . THAT is Steelers football. It isn't always lived up to but to me THAT is what it means and THAT is the standard.

You can be tough and not be a caveman. Steelers wouldn’t have won 4 Super Bowls in the 70’s if Chuck Noll wasn’t the smartest head coach in football. Why can’t that be what Steelers Football is all about?

We might be sparring over how we define "identity". Identity alone won't win football games. We lost a shit ton of games until 1972. To illustrate your point, Pro, Joe Greene was physically able to beat just about anyone across from him. He would do it 8 or 9 times out of 10 and make big plays. In order for the entire D to be more dominant, they decided to sacrifice his playmaking ability a bit because they knew he could successfully tie up 2-3 blockers allowing others to make the plays, and the overall D to be more dominant. Joe was not only fully on board with this, some stories say it was his idea. Point being it was an example of smart over brawn winning the day. Or 4 Super Bowls in 6 seasons!

[Jobu]

You can be tough and not be a caveman. Steelers wouldn’t have won 4 Super Bowls in the 70’s if Chuck Noll wasn’t the smartest head coach in football. Why can’t that be what Steelers Football is all about?

(Hand Raised) Oooh, oooh….Mr. Kotter, Mr. Kotter…

[Steeldrama]

The AFC North has always been dominated by the team that controls the line of scrimmage. The Steelers have increasingly fallen far behind the competition in that aspect.

I agree with this premise but the modern football player is so fragile I think it comes down to the teams that have the best depth, scheme, and coaching.

Few if any teams ever get to play with their projected starters.
Take the Browns who clearly have the best offensive line talent and are coached in the Bill Callahan system.
But their two tackles Conklin and Wills miss as many games as they play.

Now take the 1st place Ravens.
They traded Orlando Brown and have lost Ronnie Stanley two straight seasons due to injury
Sooo fragile
Sooo many injuries
The rest of their line is nothing special
They’re bailed out by Lamars elite escapability

The state of the Steelers offensive line has been beat to death but it’s clear to see that injuries/mental health have depleted the defensive line
Of course if the Steelers had their full complement of players the line would perform much better

We’re in a pandemic alright
Pandemic of soft, injury prone football players

[bradshaw2ben]

I'm going to tell them you called them soft and give them your address.

[DP39]

The AFC North has always been dominated by the team that controls the line of scrimmage. The Steelers have increasingly fallen far behind the competition in that aspect.

I agree with this premise but the modern football player is so fragile I think it comes down to the teams that have the best depth, scheme, and coaching.

Few if any teams ever get to play with their projected starters.
Take the Browns who clearly have the best offensive line talent and are coached in the Bill Callahan system.
But their two tackles Conklin and Wills miss as many games as they play.

Now take the 1st place Ravens.
They traded Orlando Brown and have lost Ronnie Stanley two straight seasons due to injury
Sooo fragile
Sooo many injuries
The rest of their line is nothing special
They’re bailed out by Lamars elite escapability

The state of the Steelers offensive line has been beat to death but it’s clear to see that injuries/mental health have depleted the defensive line
Of course if the Steelers had their full complement of players the line would perform much better

We’re in a pandemic alright
Pandemic of soft, injury prone football players

You're so right, Drama.

Crazy, easy money will make almost all men soft(er).

Let's face it, 85% of NFL players are probably looking at making a lifetime annual salary of less than $30K a year if they couldn't/didn't make into the league. You give them millions a year (and guarantee a lot it) and you've got yourself a formula for a bunch of soft, injury prone, baby-men.

While many NFL players may be superior athletes to a lot of the Tier I soldiers I've been around, most possess less than 10% of their mental fortitude -- it's not even close.

[955876]

Got that right.

Most are mentally weak babies.

[Pabst]

I always feel like those who complain about 'soft' NFL players in 2021 really don't appreciate how much bigger/faster/stronger players are today vs 30 or 40 years ago.

In 1987, the fastest 40 time among DEs was 4.76 and the average was a hair under 5.0. In 2021, the average 40 time was 4.77

In 1987, the average # of reps on the bench was 17. In 2021, it was 23.


Players of today aren't softer. The difference is that "unathletic" players like Pat Freiermouth and Vince Williams would have been absolute freak athletes in the 1970s.

[955876]

I referring to the softness of their minds Pabst, not the size or strength of their bodies.

[Pabst]

I was replying to "soft, injury prone football players"

[955876]

Ok

[Texas Steel]

Don’t know if you’re old enough to remember the 70s Steelers, who dominated in the run game with cutting-edge tomfoolery—the trap game. They almost never had their OL line up and just power block and run straight at you. Their entire offense was built on misdirection and getting you to move the wrong direction.

That's one of my strongest memories of the Steelers growing up. How the offensive line would trap block and you'd see the hole open up like a zipper. It was a thing of beauty.

[COR-TEN]

Don’t know if you’re old enough to remember the 70s Steelers, who dominated in the run game with cutting-edge tomfoolery—the trap game. They almost never had their OL line up and just power block and run straight at you. Their entire offense was built on misdirection and getting you to move the wrong direction.

That's one of my strongest memories of the Steelers growing up. How the offensive line would trap block and you'd see the hole open up like a zipper. It was a thing of beauty.

I also remember Franco Harris dancing waiting for a hole to open, and then diving for the LOS when nothing happened. He was often criticized for "dancing" instead of "hitting the hole." How many plays did Franco bounce it outside and do more "dancing" before running OOB? I also remember Rocky Bleier running into stacked boxes.

They just happened to win more battles than they lost. Which was a good thing. But everybody was trap blocking, and still do. Shit, we were trap blocking in pickup games, running stunts on the DL to screw up the trap. But WTF do I know.

[955876]

How many plays did Franco bounce it outside and do more "dancing" before running OOB? I also remember Rocky Bleier running into stacked boxes.

How many times were those Steelers dead fucking last in the league in rushing yardage??

[Roeth2Rudolph]

Gots to have a QB capable of throwing it over the middle, or the run game will never improve. That was the diff.