I Got a Feelin.......

[LakecrestSteeler]

Too early?

[franco32]

Yes, with games at Jax, Chargers, at Saints, Pats, and Bengals still left....and two very long west coast trips to Oak and Denver. I think it's still a bit early.

Don't get me wrong. I like what I see. On D, Hilton and Haden are playing at a high level. Burnett is a nice add. Bostic is quietly having a good year. Davis has been excellent. Then you have TJ, Tuitt, and Heyward who are great players. Even Dupree seems to be playing better.

On Offense, what more can you say. Great play calling and design by Fichtner. Ben in a zone and Oline playing well. TEs playing well. Conner has been fantastic. The unsung hero as of late though is Ryan Switzer. He's really come on and his shiftiness on 3rd downs has been a HUGE asset as we keep drives alive. Very Edelman-esque

[Legacy User]

Yeah, way too early. We still have the Bell distraction to overcome if he signs. James now in concussion protocol. And tough games on the immediate horizon. But there certainly is cause for excitement.

Last night was what we always knew we were capable of.

[Donnie Brasco]

Do you know Mike "Playoffs" Tomlin still coaches this team, right?

[LakecrestSteeler]

Do you know Mike "Playoffs" Tomlin still coaches this team, right?

I am honestly starting to think Haley was worse than we ever knew. I think he hit his goals for the year and did his job to best of his ability, but he did it with the short term in mind and failed miserably with long term goals.

By short term I mean he exploited what ever was on the field and working. AB is hot, stuff his face with the football. Bell is hot, run his wheels off. All the rest of the plays are because those two aren’t open.

Fichtner has long term goals in mind. AB is hot? I don’t care. We need to distribute the ball for later on in the year. Running back is hot? I don’t care we need balance. Long term goals, how to diversify distribution of the football? Take your playmakers and make them into decoys in crucial situations stats be damned. Use the decoys in crucial situations to scheme open the rest of the offensive operators!

I am not sure how much Tomlin was saddled with TH, but he has been some what of an albatross around his neck. Why has game management improved so much this year?

I will take Tomlin in the playoffs any day. We will be in the Super Bowl this year.

LA is a paper tiger! LA is a paper tiger! LA is a paper tiger.

New Orleans is for real.

Kansas City is a paper tiger!

Patriots are for real.

We are going to Altlanta!

[Obviously]

The Steelers need to beat the Patriots in the playoffs. Period. And likely in Foxboro. Nothing else really matters. If the Pats get upset by KC or LAC before playing the Steelers then all the better, but how likely is that to happen?

[Havoc]

The team I saw last night looked like a legit contender. Yes, there is still a long way to go. We still have to play the Patrots, Saints, and Chargers.

Dupree is playing like a winning piece on this defense. Huge going forward if that continues.

[DP39]

The team I saw last night looked like a legit contender. Yes, there is still a long way to go. We still have to play the Patrots, Saints, and Chargers.

Dupree is playing like a winning piece on this defense. Huge going forward if that continues.

Has anyone else notice that is seems Bud has been lining up just a tad wider when rushing the QB? Kind of like the Eagles' rushers used to do. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems he has been, and it seems to have helped him not run himself out of the play by reducing the increased arc he was taking.

[Steeldrama]

Like many of you, I thoroughly enjoyed last night's ass kicking of the Cam and the Panthers.
However, like many of you, I don't allow myself to get too excited about playoffs and Super Bowls due to Tomlin's failure to figure out how to beat the Patriots.
So in perusing rotoworld during stupid Tide commercials last night I found this stat- Tom Brady’s 63.3 QB rating when blitzed is tied for dead last among qualified quarterbacks
The Steelers now lead the league in sacks
Not sure I have "a feelin" just yet but perhaps I'll open my mind to the possibility Tomlin can finally get past the Pats.

[bradshaw2ben]

Like many of you, I thoroughly enjoyed last night's ass kicking of the Cam and the Panthers.
However, like many of you, I don't allow myself to get too excited about playoffs and Super Bowls due to Tomlin's failure to figure out how to beat the Patriots.
So in perusing rotoworld during stupid Tide commercials last night I found this stat- Tom Brady’s 63.3 QB rating when blitzed is tied for dead last among qualified quarterbacks
The Steelers now lead the league in sacks
Not sure I have "a feelin" just yet but perhaps I'll open my mind to the possibility Tomlin can finally get past the Pats.

I look at it this way: Mike Tomlin's record vs the Patriots (.222) is pretty much the same as everyone else's record vs the Patriots (.226) since Brady got there. Not good, but hardly unexpected.

If you go back and take a closer look: Of those 9 games, how many times did these two teams face each other when the rosters/talent level was pretty similar? I think they're closer to 50/50 when talent is close. We were soooooo undermanned on offense in AFCCG, which is the only playoff game Tomlin has lost to NE. Denver, same thing. Baltimore the year before, we SHOULD have been able to overcome Bell's absence but since we didn't have him, that greatly hurt.

If you're going to root for anything the rest of the season, root for health, because the Steelers stay healthy, they're going to be in it to the wire.

[jeemie]

Just saw a tweet from Kaboly that the Steelers are now number 1 in the NFL in red zone efficiency.

[Legacy User]

The team I saw last night looked like a legit contender. Yes, there is still a long way to go. We still have to play the Patrots, Saints, and Chargers.

Dupree is playing like a winning piece on this defense. Huge going forward if that continues.

Has anyone else notice that is seems Bud has been lining up just a tad wider when rushing the QB? Kind of like the Eagles' rushers used to do. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems he has been, and it seems to have helped him not run himself out of the play by reducing the increased arc he was taking.

You mean like how he wouldn't set the edge and played so wide that Mccaffrey ran right by him about 6 times in a row?

He IS playing better, but he was woefully out of position a good portion of last night.

[COR-TEN]

Just saw tomlin's post game presser. He summed it up nicely.

Nice win. Everybody made plays. So far escaped without major injury.

But they probably aren't as good as they (or we) think.

Carolina had a bad day, and most everything was working against them from their last sunday game.

Coaching and scheme worked yesterday and players executed. Not to mention football luck. The fumble in the red zone was a gift from the football gods.

[Ice]

I will take Tomlin in the playoffs any day. We will be in the Super Bowl this year.

LA is a paper tiger! LA is a paper tiger! LA is a paper tiger.

New Orleans is for real.

Kansas City is a paper tiger!

Patriots are for real.

We are going to Altlanta!

There's sort of a zen-haiku aesthetic to this that I can definitely get behind. My new pregame mantra.

[Suwanee88]

The Steelers need to beat the Patriots in the playoffs. Period. And likely in Foxboro. Nothing else really matters. If the Pats get upset by KC or LAC before playing the Steelers then all the better, but how likely is that to happen?

I am hoping they play in Foxboro-

[jeemie]

The team I saw last night looked like a legit contender. Yes, there is still a long way to go. We still have to play the Patrots, Saints, and Chargers.

Dupree is playing like a winning piece on this defense. Huge going forward if that continues.

Has anyone else notice that is seems Bud has been lining up just a tad wider when rushing the QB? Kind of like the Eagles' rushers used to do. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems he has been, and it seems to have helped him not run himself out of the play by reducing the increased arc he was taking.

You mean like how he wouldn't set the edge and played so wide that Mccaffrey ran right by him about 6 times in a row?

He IS playing better, but he was woefully out of position a good portion of last night.

His job was Cam, not the RB.

[bradshaw2ben]

His job was Cam, not the RB.

You're yelling into a void.

[COR-TEN]

His job was Cam, not the RB.

You're yelling into a void.

Well, there are those of us that are in the void that agree. But yeah. There aren't many of us here.

[DP39]

Has anyone else notice that is seems Bud has been lining up just a tad wider when rushing the QB? Kind of like the Eagles' rushers used to do. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems he has been, and it seems to have helped him not run himself out of the play by reducing the increased arc he was taking.

You mean like how he wouldn't set the edge and played so wide that Mccaffrey ran right by him about 6 times in a row?

He IS playing better, but he was woefully out of position a good portion of last night.

His job was Cam, not the RB.

Exactly, he and Watt both were assigned Cam on all those zone-read plays. They went after the head of the snake leaving others to worry about the body, and it worked beautifully!

[bradshaw2ben]

Exactly, he and Watt both were assigned Cam on all those zone-read plays. They went after the head of the snake leaving others to worry about the body, and it worked beautifully!

The pick 6 was basically directly related to this plan of attack. Watt wasn't fazed by any play fake, because he simply had Cam as a target.

The strategy was built to stop Carolina's amazing success using play action AND to stop Cam's running. It gave a little in McCaffery running the ball off tackle, but he who tries to stop everything stops nothing.

[Jobu]

Exactly, he and Watt both were assigned Cam on all those zone-read plays. They went after the head of the snake leaving others to worry about the body, and it worked beautifully!

The pick 6 was basically directly related to this plan of attack. Watt wasn't fazed by any play fake, because he simply had Cam as a target.

The strategy was built to stop Carolina's amazing success using play action AND to stop Cam's running. It gave a little in McCaffery running the ball off tackle, but he who tries to stop everything stops nothing.

It was evident on the first series of the game that the OLBs assignment was the QB. It was the perfect defensive game plan to combat the zone read/RPO attack. I was afraid that we would see the LeBeau ass backwards method of defending it...Tyrell Pryor anyone? But once I saw how they were attacking Cam off the edges, I knew they were gold. Kudos to KB...

[Havoc]

This team is together, talented, and focused. I love the response by Decastro and Pouncey to Reid's hit on Ben.

The OL is kicking ass.

We are loaded with weapons on offense.

Last night it looked to me like Ben had a little more zip on the football, like he was throwing with more authority.

Coaches have made defensive adjustments that seem to be helping.

The defense is getting pressure.

Fichtner has been a beast the last 2 games. That is what this offense needs to look like most of the time. I hope it continues.

[Legacy User]

We will still get bent over by Tom Brady again this season, after the last game against them I'm convinced we just can't beat that team, we're just cursed.

Saints in the dome...gulp..I'm not expecting us to win that game either, I'll be pleasantly surprised if our defense limits the Saints to under 28 pts.

Don't forget Jags next week that we somehow inexplicably always seem to lose to.

Two long trips to Denver and Oakland as well with both teams reeling...they might put up a fight.

Chargers have been good this year but at least we get them at home, that game might be tough to win.

The only game I'm confident we win is our last one at home against the Bungles...we own them and that is not going to change this season, another sweep.

[Jobu]

Waaaaay too early....stick a pin in it.

[jeemie]

Meh- message board denizens can be overconfident. We ride the roller coatser of emotions and love it.

Let’s hope TOMLIN and the TEAM learned their lesson from last year and aren’t looking more than one game at a time.

[Havoc]

Chances are if we played them again it would be a more competitive game. We got back to back game changing TD splash plays (from scrimmage) after they marched down for 7 on the opening drive.

Still, it was an impressive win all the way around. Many reasons to be encouraged.

We have won 5 in a row and appear to be picking up steam.

[955876]

Saints in the dome...gulp..I'm not expecting us to win that game either, I'll be pleasantly surprised if our defense limits the Saints to under 28 pts.

Given what our offense has shown they are capable of I’d be very disappointed if we lost a game to the Saints in a done after giving up but 28 points.

This is the modern day NFL. You should expect to need to put 35 on the board to beat the top tier teams because that is what they will do.

We kicked ass last night because we steppped out of character and attacked from the get go.

Had we eased into the game with a plan to “keep it close” we would have found ourselves down early and playing catch-up all game.

It would have changed the dynamic.

Our D couldn’t stop shit to start the game. Our offense changed the tone of the game.

Had we come out and sputtered we would have found ourselves playing catch-up.

[Legacy User]

We will still get bent over by Tom Brady again this season, after the last game against them I'm convinced we just can't beat that team, we're just cursed.

There is no magic to beating the Patriots. If you have the right pieces, you can beat them. We haven't had the pieces. Do we this year? Maybe. I don't know. We'll find out soon enough.

[Kodiak]

This is the modern day NFL. You should expect to need to put 35 on the board to beat the top tier teams because that is what they will do.

I think this is something NE has done over the years to really help their defense. They put tremendous pressure on the other offense - there's always that expectation they'll score TD's on their next two drives. So they pin their ears back and get after the passer. Might also be why that defense has normally been had over the years by teams who run the ball well and commit to it.

It's true of any team when you get a good lead - the other team is in catch-up mode and you can play the pass aggressively. That's what happened with PIT last night. In today's NFL, you probably should just play defense like that every snap because most teams now throw at least 60% of the time. Attack the pass, and then maybe tighten up against the run in the RZ and try to force a FG.

[Legacy User]

We will still get bent over by Tom Brady again this season, after the last game against them I'm convinced we just can't beat that team, we're just cursed.

There is no magic to beating the Patriots. If you have the right pieces, you can beat them. We haven't had the pieces. Do we this year? Maybe. I don't know. We'll find out soon enough.

Don't know how you can say that. It's far more about coaching than pieces. There have been, and are, vastly superior groups of athletes out there who can't beat them any more than we can.

It takes adherence to an expertly crafted scheme and the ability to make adjustments to the scheme throughout the course of the game to have a chance to beat them.

We just might have the right wizard on the offensive side to construct something they aren't prepared for, but what remains to be seen is if our new wizard can adjust on the fly to their adjustments. It's basically having multiple game plans at the ready to jump to when the previous one has been figured out. Because 'thecheat WILL figure them out and counter them.