Uh-oh ... Steelers in a heap of trouble
Yes, the Steelers beat the hapless Rams last night in St. Louis. Yes, they got to 10 wins. Yes, Ben Roethlisberger had another efficient game (3 TDs, 0 INTs).
But they lost Willie Parker for the season with a fractured fibula - the injury du jour this season in the NFL (the Giants have lost 3 players to the same injury this season).
And their defense, once the most feared in the NFL, showed further signs of slippage. Injuries are a problem, to be sure, but this certainly does not bode well moving forward.
Hmmm ... I seem to remember some of our beloved Steelers fans on this blog whining about our characterization of the Steelers' defense during a stirring comeback win over the Browns earlier this season. Maybe it was a sign of things to come?
What say you, BBiB!, Steel Curtain, Black N Gold?
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Comments (7)
Wow, BG claiming he knew months ago that after the Steelers Special Teams and an intercepttion gave the Browns 21 points that the 'D' was in trouble. That's some stretch. Check the box score of that game and tell me again how the D looked.
Now, having said that your prognostication skills stink, it is true that the last 3 weeks have been quite disturbing defensively. Losing Aaron Smith was a huge blow as the D Line just can't generate any pressure any more and his replacements simply do not comand double teams that free up the LBs on the blitz.
I, dare I say 'we', love Parker and all, but he'll be missed less than you think. It's sort of like how Lance knows when one RB gets hurt in Denver the machine keeps chugging along. Same thing here.
Hope you saw the post game pressers yesterday. Mike Tomlin is the Man! He says the right things and means it. He's polite, commanding, tough, realistic, -- a breath of fresh air in this NFL full of blowhards like Parcells, jerks like Belicheat, and morons like Edwards. Oh wait, ER didn't show the post-game so you must have missed it.
What the hell is up with entering a 'security code' now?? Is you blog getting so popular you need to keep out spammers?
Well, well. What a surprise. We take a poke at the Steelers, and BBiB! is right there with a long, defensive rant. btw, BBiB! WE just pointed out that Steelers fans got all freaked out when WE worded that Browns item the way WE did. Lo and behold, you remain true to form!
So, are you saying right here, right now, that the Steelers won't miss Willie Parker now that he's done? Surely you realize that Najeh Davenport looked so good last night because he was playing one of the worst run defenses ever!
Guess how well WE ran the ball against the other 'worst' run defenses when we played them? Broncos? Stunk. Jets? Stunk. Cards? Stunk. So, no matter how you slice it, it's a win to run well against anyone on the road for a change. Sure, we'll miss Parker a lot. But the sky hasn't fallen as your post suggests.
You can take pokes all you want so long as they are based in fact. The D played a great game against the Browns earlier in the year so we need to stick up for them.
Lucky # this time: 706287
At least we won't have to hear the annoying talk about what happens the year after a running back gets more than 370 carries.
Parker 337 last year will still be his high water mark as he has only 321 this year.
And Bob, I second BBiB's comments. You can't claim credit for knowing that Aaron Smith would be hurt, or Troy for that matter.
Steelers lack of depth, on both sides of the ball - outside of the 'skilled positions' - has been an issue the last couple of years.
It's been fun watching the Steelers. Any year that they win the division and beat the Browns twice is a good year. No matter what happens in the playoffs, it's good to see Tomlin having more success than anyone expected.
The future looks bright for Steelers fans!
B N G:
Couldn't resist the tweak, and certainly wasn't claiming at the time of the initial dis of the defense that I knew bad things were coming.
And I agree with your overall assessment of the team, and applaud you for seeing all the good in the Steelers this year. It's certainly been a refreshing one.
I like Mr. Tomlin quite a bit.
Blogger Nation and Glauber the Blogger,
Merry Christmas, Hanny Hanukkah, Happy New Year! It's been a pleasure moving into your friendly neighborhood this year! Here's to a bloggin' good 2008!!
BBiB!
#838767
I posted this earlier, but with the new security codes and everything, I guess it didn't get posted.
I would be very concerned if I was a Steeler fan. Big Ben was sacked 4-5 times last night, giving him a total of around 50 sacks on the year. Right before the 1st half ended he went down in a way that looked very painful. With Parker hurt, they will be throwing more in the playoffs. Davenport played admirably last night, but he certainly is not a Parker or a Bettis.
Hey, maybe TIki will join the Steelers for the playoffs.
But back to Big Ben, if you look at Favre, Manning, Brady, they get sacked 14-18 times a year. That is an amazing statistic. Who has started the most consecutive games at QB today? Favre, Manning, and Brady. If I was a Steeler fan, I would be considered with the amount of sacks. Is it O-line's fault or Ben holds ball too long?