1,640 Days Later

[tbsteel]

The date was December 4, 2017. The 9-2 Steelers were riding a six game winning streak and were getting ready to battle the Bengals in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. The Steelers and Patriots were neck-and-neck for the rights to the #1 overall seed in the AFC and it seemed clear one of those two teams were going to represent the AFC when it was all said and done. And that night, here were your starting Pittsburgh Steelers along with a few other key pieces:

QB - Ben Roethlisberger
RB - Le'veon Bell
RB - James Conner
WR - Antonio Brown
WR - Martavis Bryant
WR - Juju Smith-Schuster
TE - Jesse James
LT - Alejandro Villaneuva
LG - Ramon Foster
C- Maurkice Pouncey
RG - David DeCastro
RT - Chris Hubbard

DE - Cameron Heyward
DE - Stephon Tuitt
DT - Javon Hargrave
OLB - Bud Dupree
ILB - Ryan Shazier
ILB - Vince Williams
OLB - TJ Watt
CB - Artie Burns
CB - Coty Sensabaugh
CB - Mike Hilton
S - Sean Davis
S - Robert Golden

First of all, outside of that secondary, what an incredibly stacked roster. It's no surprise this was one of the best teams in the league that season. But man, what an absolute bummer this is. Of 24 total starters and key contributors, many of them young or in their prime, we've got 2 guys left in Heyward and Watt. We lost Shazier that night and that guy should still be in his prime. Same goes for Tuitt. So many awesome and young skill players and all of them are gone. It was expected the o-line would not last that much longer as a unit, but who would have thought DeCastro would be out of the league now?

I know the NFL jokingly stands for Not For Long, but today's Tuitt news made me reminisce and really drove that point home for me. That is an incredible amount of turnover. That's basically a total roster rebuild whether we realize it or not. Do the 2022 Steelers look nearly as talented this team? I don't see it. I think we've got some lean days ahead for this year and probably longer...

[Ice]

Wow.

[langer]

A few ham-and-eggers on that roster honestly.

[franco32]

That was a great team but that secondary was a dumpster fire. Too much of a weak link.

[Stillchest]

That was a great team but that secondary was a dumpster fire. Too much of a weak link.

But how?!

Mike Tomlin is a defensive wizard.

[AirRescueFF]

https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2022/06 ... utType=amp

[JackLambert58]

https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2022/06 ... utType=amp

A lot of truth in that article including the part where we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for him to leave. It all falls at the feet of EMR, the POS.

[yygy]

This was my point about not waiting around and building the trenches for multiple seasons. Too much flux these days.

Used to be cowher would return 22 starters and the news was the new guy if any. Now almost the opposite. It’s news when the same player is back in same spot.

Just a reality of how the game roster works these days.

I’d venture this factored into the Kahn hiring. Successful teams will have a core yet be flexible enough to flip half a roster. Almost more a financial puzzle than a player puzzle.

Kahn is a numbers guy and the best thing they can have is historical data. He’s seen firsthand what worked and what didn’t. Take away the sentimentality and it’s all about maximizing value from year to year

[jeemie]

The date was December 4, 2017. The 9-2 Steelers were riding a six game winning streak and were getting ready to battle the Bengals in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. The Steelers and Patriots were neck-and-neck for the rights to the #1 overall seed in the AFC and it seemed clear one of those two teams were going to represent the AFC when it was all said and done. And that night, here were your starting Pittsburgh Steelers along with a few other key pieces:

QB - Ben Roethlisberger
RB - Le'veon Bell
RB - James Conner
WR - Antonio Brown
WR - Martavis Bryant
WR - Juju Smith-Schuster
TE - Jesse James
LT - Alejandro Villaneuva
LG - Ramon Foster
C- Maurkice Pouncey
RG - David DeCastro
RT - Chris Hubbard

DE - Cameron Heyward
DE - Stephon Tuitt
DT - Javon Hargrave
OLB - Bud Dupree
ILB - Ryan Shazier
ILB - Vince Williams
OLB - TJ Watt
CB - Artie Burns
CB - Coty Sensabaugh
CB - Mike Hilton
S - Sean Davis
S - Robert Golden

First of all, outside of that secondary, what an incredibly stacked roster. It's no surprise this was one of the best teams in the league that season. But man, what an absolute bummer this is. Of 24 total starters and key contributors, many of them young or in their prime, we've got 2 guys left in Heyward and Watt. We lost Shazier that night and that guy should still be in his prime. Same goes for Tuitt. So many awesome and young skill players and all of them are gone. It was expected the o-line would not last that much longer as a unit, but who would have thought DeCastro would be out of the league now?

I know the NFL jokingly stands for Not For Long, but today's Tuitt news made me reminisce and really drove that point home for me. That is an incredible amount of turnover. That's basically a total roster rebuild whether we realize it or not. Do the 2022 Steelers look nearly as talented this team? I don't see it. I think we've got some lean days ahead for this year and probably longer...

Losing Shazier killed that defense, and the Steelers have been dealing with the effects of that ever since.

I honestly believe had the refs not screwed us with the James call (and then Haley/Tomlin/Ben not screwed the aftermath of that call by being unprepared) and Shazier not been injured, the Steelers win the Super Bowl that year.

[COR-TEN]

That was a great team but that secondary was a dumpster fire. Too much of a weak link.

I was going to highlight the same thing. It's like almost everybody else were starters and the secondary was a collection of bench warmers.

[Mick]

Part of the Shazier issue is it wasn’t just that he was one of the best defensive players in the league, problem was his backup was one of the worst players in the league to get snaps that year. Just a massive swing from “good defense with a few scrubs in the backfield” to “nothing but hot garbage behind the defensive line” after taking one player out.

Honestly, no one (Haden excepted) on that postseason team could cover at all.

[Suwanee88]

Great post.

One point. I remember that year on this message board ripping on Art2 because that team was a CB away from being a serious contender.

If you remember, Patrick Petersen was available for a high pick from Arizona and that conservative smiley ass milk toast sat on his ass and we got crushed in the offs.

[955876]

Great post.

One point. I remember that year on this message board ripping on Art2 because that team was a CB away from being a serious contender.

If you remember, Patrick Petersen was available for a high pick from Arizona and that conservative smiley ass milk toast sat on his ass and we got crushed in the offs.

They’ll pull off a trade for a DB after losing their starting QB to preserve an 8-8 campaign but not a trade to push the team over the top to win a SB.

This team revels in mediocrity.

[El Kabong]

Great post.

One point. I remember that year on this message board ripping on Art2 because that team was a CB away from being a serious contender.

If you remember, Patrick Petersen was available for a high pick from Arizona and that conservative smiley ass milk toast sat on his ass and we got crushed in the offs.

They’ll pull off a trade for a DB after losing their starting QB to preserve an 8-8 campaign but not a trade to push the team over the top to win a SB.

I remember that being the charge at the time, but if you'll notice, that DB is still on the team, so it wasn't just "to preserve an 8-8 campaign", but to pick up a great player who can help the team for years.

[bradshaw2ben]

Great post.

One point. I remember that year on this message board ripping on Art2 because that team was a CB away from being a serious contender.

If you remember, Patrick Petersen was available for a high pick from Arizona and that conservative smiley ass milk toast sat on his ass and we got crushed in the offs.

They’ll pull off a trade for a DB after losing their starting QB to preserve an 8-8 campaign but not a trade to push the team over the top to win a SB.

I remember that being the charge at the time, but if you'll notice, that DB is still on the team, so it wasn't just "to preserve an 8-8 campaign", but to pick up a great player who can help the team for years.

Would you rather have Justin Herbert or Minkah? That was kind of the choice. Maybe be in a position for the second-best QB or take a stud safety.

[955876]

Great post.

One point. I remember that year on this message board ripping on Art2 because that team was a CB away from being a serious contender.

If you remember, Patrick Petersen was available for a high pick from Arizona and that conservative smiley ass milk toast sat on his ass and we got crushed in the offs.

They’ll pull off a trade for a DB after losing their starting QB to preserve an 8-8 campaign but not a trade to push the team over the top to win a SB.

I remember that being the charge at the time, but if you'll notice, that DB is still on the team, so it wasn't just "to preserve an 8-8 campaign", but to pick up a great player who can help the team for years.

Sure the trade upgraded the position. But, this team hasn’t sniffed a playoff win during his tenure here.

Now I’m not in any way stating that is his fault. But reality is that this team these past few years and at present are not contenders.

Not even really close actually.

So ya, he can help us for years to come. Will see how that plays out and how we do.

That doesn’t really have anything to do with my original statement. That being, this team will pull these type of moves off in a year there is zero chance of a championship but not when the team is loaded minus maybe a single piece. In those instances they sit on their hands.

So while on one hand they are trading for a Minkah the other hand has them putting an aged QB behind one of the worst olines in the league the following years which got us nowhere.

There is no way they were serious about winning.

My criticism wasn’t that they traded for Minkah, my criticism is they sat in their hands in other instances when the team was actually in a position to do something.

And as B2B said, I’d rather have had that luck and a shot at Herbert.

Huge arm and mobile.

Hopefully KP is the real deal. At this point however I see mediocre measurables so hoping his intangibles are good enough to make up the difference.

[Valentino_Blake]

Hey, that was Sean Davis's best year

[El Kabong]

What I was responding to was the idea that the only reason the Steelers traded for Minkah was to avoid a losing season in 2019.

[955876]

Well if you are going to be literal with the word “only”….

I don’t think it was literally the “only” reason.

Was really just saying it’d be nice if they were aggressive in getting a DB back when we were loaded with the exception of the secondary vs when the team was going nowhere fast.

So nice trade. We still sucked though.

Myself personally would have rather not finished 8-8 that year. Greatly aided by the addition of Minkah.

[Ice]

Once we traded that first rounder, every win was a plus from a value standpoint. Top five pick for Minkah and middling first rounder for Minkah are two very different animals.

[955876]

Still looking at the trade in a vacuum.

I’m asking the team to be more aggressive when they are within reach of being a serious contender.

In those instances they seem content to maintain status quo and hope for the best which for a long time hasn’t been enough.

I dont have an issue with Minkah.