Why The Steelers Still Have A Chance
After the Steelers throttled the Colts 51-34 on Sunday evening in Pittsburgh, it became apparent that there is one Big reason the Steelers still have a chance at something special this season; Big Ben. All he did Sunday was throw for record setting numbers with 522 yards, six touchdowns and an impressive 81.6% completion percentage (40 of 49 balls completed).
In doing so, Roethlisberger became only the fourth quarterback in NFL history to win at least 100 games in his first 150 starts, improving to a career mark of 100-50. The guy has never had one losing season since entering the league in 2004 and he’s poised to continue that streak in 2014 as he has his Steelers at 5-3. They are 5-3 largely due to the play of their franchise quarterback, who’s a fierce competitor and clearly can’t stand losing, to anyone, at anything.
To anyone saying he was in the beginning of his demise, he shot that down in 60 minutes of brilliance. His throws were perfect, his reads spot on and his ability to extend plays unmatched. Coming into the game; many people were talking about the rise of Andrew Luck and rightfully so but Big Ben showed why he’s still the class of the NFL and why he is a two time Super Bowl champion. There are so many plays that this guy makes that nobody else can. He’s impossible to bring down with one man, he’s impossible to rattle and he’s impossible to break. He is truly a once in a lifetime player that the Steelers must reward massively this offseason.
Yes, the offense is stacked with talent like LeVeon Bell and Antonio Brown but Big Ben helps make those guys who they are. Everyone likes to say how great Peyton Manning makes his receivers; you don’t think Ben has something to do with the success of the receivers here? What has Mike Wallace done since leaving? What about Jerricho Cotchery? Yea, Emmanuel Sanders has had a great year but he went to play with Manning. Furthering my point, often times the QB makes the receiver.
Many will take Manning, Brady, Brees or Rodgers as the top QB in the league and it’s hard to argue with the numbers they put up. But if you want a guy who can put up elite numbers as well as fit the blue collar working style of the Steel City, then you have to take Big Ben all day long. You can have your Mannings, Brady’s, Bree’s or Rodgers because for this team and this city, Big Ben is the one and only and should never be questioned. All the guy does is win and that’s the number that matters most.
What We Know So Far
The Steelers improved to 4-3 after beating the Houston Texans on Monday Night in a must win game. In doing so, many things were further proven if not brought to light after the victory.
First and foremost, this team is still not consistent. Their season continues in an every other week fashion as they have not won or lost two consecutive games yet.
They showed they have the ability to look extremely bad, as they did at the start of the game, falling behind 13-0 but then showed they have the talent to be really good, scoring 24 unanswered points to go up 24-13 and ultimately winning 30-23. All of this further illuminated that this team does not have an identity yet.
It was also proven that the defense lacks significant depth across most positions. The linebackers in particular seem to be in big trouble with Jarvis Jones and Ryan Shazier out. Nobody has been able to fill those positions adequately yet and that’s a testament to the lack of talent at the position. Lawrence Timmons is a phenomenal player and Jason Worilds has a lot of talent but beyond that, the black and gold have very few options to play the position at the moment.
We also continued to see that the signing of Cortez Allen to a long term deal was a mistake. For some reason Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin elected to let Keenan Lewis walk before last season in favor of Allen. Allen has done nothing but get beat over and over again to the point where he has lost his starting job. Now as a reserve and coming off the bench vs. Houston; he still couldn’t make a play when necessary. He’s so bad that he shouldn’t be on this roster in 2015, at least not at this salary.
On the offensive side of the ball, the talent is there, LeVeon Bell, Antonio Brown and Big Ben are all studs. They can play with anyone in this league and just need others around them to do their jobs, occasionally, to provide some help.
With all that said, Antonio Brown is one of the most dynamic players in the league and it’s time Tomlin takes him off punt returns. Sure, he’s an All Pro return man but they black and gold cannot afford to have him hurt in a wild play like a punt return. He’s far too valuable. They need to put Dri Archer back there or anyone else really. If they don’t, they could pay dearly.
Brown is the clear number one receiver but the number two spot needs to go to Martavis Bryant. I’ve been calling for that move since training camp. He reminds me a lot of Plaxico Burress and he can not only stretch the field but he can go up and get the ball in the red zone or third down. He’s a true threat and finally the Steelers activated him and he caught a touchdown on his first NFL reception. He must start from here forward because Markus Wheaton has proven over the last few weeks that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He and Big Ben are not on the same page, at all.
The team is very young and needs leadership. They have the ability to be good if they can gel and the veterans show the young guys what it takes to win. But with the youth on this team and the apparent lack of depth, without leadership, should this team lose a few games in a row, they could completely come off the tracks.
This season has been shaky thus far and despite the good looking win on Monday, it appears to me it will continue to be an up and down ride. The upcoming game against the Colts is very critical in measuring just how quickly this team can grow, gel and learn from success or fail from arrogance.
They’re Terrible
At 3-3, the Steelers record indicates they are an average team, still alive for all their hopes and dreams. Well, they’re not. They are a horrible football team right now, incapable of beating the Buccaneers at home or the Browns on the road. They’re a team who is playing like one of the worst in the league and it’s time to really start questioning where the issues really are.
You have to start at the top. Kevin Colbert must be questioned at this point. There needs to be a microscope on how he’s evaluating talent. The bulk of his draft picks have not panned out over the last five years or so, save a few exceptions; and the first round picks have largely failed to live up to expectations. One must also wonder how he’s assessing talent in his current locker room as it appears he’s decided to pass on need areas over the past few years for some unknown reason. This past draft is a prime example as he passed on grabbing a top Corner in favor of taking Ryan Shazier. I don’t know what type of player Shazier will turn out to be but the secondary is atrocious. Instead, he gave Cortez Allen, who’s a marginal player at best, an extension. The 2013 off season saw him let Keenan Lewis, a top corner, walk away via free agency. What is he doing and why is he doing it?
It’s not just Colbert; what are the coaches doing with the players they have? I’m tired of hearing that the players aren’t able to execute the schemes. Well, that may be because Colbert isn’t drafting the right talent but the coaches jobs are to scheme for the talent they have. So if the schemes aren’t working, change them. It’s an indictment on the lack of ability that the coaching staff has. People like to point out that aside from Tomlin, the Steelers have three other coaches on the staff that have been head coaches in the league. That’s true; Todd Haley, Dick LeBeau and Mike Munchak have all been head coaches in the league. All were fired, for their inability to win. So what’s the value there? One thing these guys have proven is they are either unwilling or unable to make any kind of adjustments and the league has not only caught up to them, they’ve passed them, by leaps and bounds.
The theme remains the same, big plays aren’t happening, discipline is missing, the talent is lacking, the schemes and game plans don’t change and the Steelers keep getting beaten and beaten badly.
With the next two games against the Texans and Colts, the best case scenario is a 4-4 record but don’t be shocked to see them at 3-5 and essentially out of the mix.
The bottom line is this, they aren’t good, they haven’t been in a couple seasons and instead of hitting the plateau and heading back up, they are going down and the ship appears to be sinking fast.
3-2 And Going Nowhere
Sure, the Steelers beat Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon and improved to 3-2 on the season but were any of you impressed? Do any of you trust that this team has what it takes to win enough games to be in the playoff mix? I sure don’t.
Something has to change.
I’ve seen nothing out of these guys thus far. Sure, they had a great first half against the Browns and a great second half vs. the Panthers but that’s about it.
There are several guys I trust individually, Big Ben, Leveon Bell, Antonio Brown, Heath Miller, Troy Polamalu and Lawrence Timmons for example. However, I do not trust the team collectively. They don’t seem to have the right chemistry. They don’t make the right plays, they look lost, confused and overwhelmed. They could very easily be 1-4 right now.
Something has to change.
The play calling hasn’t been effective enough. Why isn’t LeVeon Bell carrying the ball more than 15 times, as he did in Jacksonville? He needs it at least 20 times a game, if not more. Why isn’t that happening? The deep ball needs to be thrown more often to the explosive Antonio Brown; why isn’t that called often enough? Heath Miller should be more of a focal point on offense, where are the plays specific to him?
The team has a top 10 quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end, as mentioned above yet they struggle to move the chains.
Something has to change.
The defense isn’t good, period. Yes, they came up with a couple of turnovers and scored vs. Jacksonville but they were playing Jacksonville so very little credit will be given from me for doing what every other team in the league does. When it was 10-9 did you ever trust that the defense was going to get it done? I didn’t. Yes, they did get it done as it turns out but I still don’t trust them.
Something has to change.
The penalties were still plentiful, another seven for 50 yards. Sure, that’s an improvement, but I’d ask you if you think that’s good? It’s not, it’s simply not. It’s unacceptable and it will ruin any goals this team has if they don’t get things in order.
With 11 games to go, there is plenty of time to turn things around but do you trust the coaching staff? At this juncture, I certainly don’t. They’ve proven they don’t make in game adjustments and it’s hard to say they even make in week adjustments. There doesn’t appear to be any upside to what these guys can bring.
They play the Browns this week, on the road, a game we’d all normally chalk up as a ‘W’. Can you really say that now?
Something has to change….
