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2023 Pittsburgh Steelers. Banged up team loses to Buffalo. Looking ahead to 2024 now (7 Viewers)

On an unrelated note:  5 Steelers have been nominated for the HoF class of 2022:

WR Hines ward, PK Gary Anderson, TE Heath Miller, LB Hardy Nickerson, NT Casey Hampton

All very good to great players but I don't think any of them get in...

 
If Bush, Haden, Watt, and Big Ben play this week I think we have a 50/50 shot to beat the Bengals. 

If Mason or Dwayne start, I think that drops to 25%. Similar drop if Watt and Bush or Haden miss. 

 
Godsbrother said:
On an unrelated note:  5 Steelers have been nominated for the HoF class of 2022:

WR Hines ward, PK Gary Anderson, TE Heath Miller, LB Hardy Nickerson, NT Casey Hampton

All very good to great players but I don't think any of them get in...
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Agree although I think Hines, Anderson, and Hampton should be HOFers.

Hines did things as a blocker WRs rarely do. The Steelers really used him as a TE often. This is a big part of who he was as a player and his greatness.

Anderson is among the all time kickers easily. If kickers get into the HOF, he should. 

Big Snack's greatness was to make others look better than they were by occupying blockers. He did this as well as anyone ever. He was hard to move in the run game.

All of them were great Steelers though. 

 
steelers1080 said:
If Bush, Haden, Watt, and Big Ben play this week I think we have a 50/50 shot to beat the Bengals. 

If Mason or Dwayne start, I think that drops to 25%. Similar drop if Watt and Bush or Haden miss. 
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Bush fully practiced today, Watt & Haden were limited.   Ben did not practice but never does on Wednesday.

The surprise to me was that Highsmith did not practice, leaving Ingram and Jamir Jones as the only healthy OLB that practiced in full.

To your point I think if Bush, Haden, Watt and Ben play I think our chances are considerably better than 50%.  
 

I know everyone is down on the Steelers and fir good reason but they played two pretty tough opponents, the second game with a severely hampered defense, and are 1-1.

As Bill Cowher used to like to say: don’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows.  If they can get healthy on defense this is not a bad team.

 
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belljr said:
I said last year, we need to wish Ben well and move on.

Sadly that's not an option now
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If Ben had retired or parted ways with the Steelers our starting QB for 2021 would be Mason Rudolph backed up by Dwayne Haskins.   Now they could have moved up and drafted Mac Jones which would have cost them their 2022 #1 and more but I'm not sure that would have been a good thing.

I think the Steelers made the right move unless you are suggesting they should have tanked 2021 in an effort to get a top 3 or 4 pick.  

 
Roethlisberger (pec) and linebacker T.J. Watt (groin) were limited during the team's second practice of the week. Cornerback Joe Haden (groin) was a full participant after being limited on Wednesday. Linebacker Devin Bush (groin) was full-go for a second day. 

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson (knee), linebacker Alex Highsmith (groin) and defensive lineman Carlos Davis (knee) did not practice. None of the three have practiced either day this week. 
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Not exactly what we wanted to hear but the injuries are trending in the right direction

 
Thursday practice report:

CB Joe Haden, LB Devin Bush, TE Eric Ebron: Full practice

QB Ben Roethlisberger, LB TJ watt:  Limited

WR Dionte Johson, LB Marcus Allen, CB Justin Layne, LB Alex Highsmith, DE Carlos Davis:  Did Not Practice

 
Godsbrother said:
Love Claypool but he had some key drops last week that really hurt.  
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Yes - still a work in progress.

And I'm not expert but there was a play against the raiders where he ran what I think is called a deep post or skinny post.  Coverage was outside and good but Claypool had perfect inside position to utilize his size.  He just needed a throw with velocity.

Ben 2021 arm not equal Ben 2021 arm

Gotta rip the band aid off.  We had to keep him - it was $20 mil either way.  But he should be holding a clipboard and managing the contest between Mason and Haskins.

Even with our crappy OL imagine Mahommie, Hurts, Jackson, Murray and our weapons.

Instead we have to wait till he gets knocked out of the lineup.

 
I still can't believe Dionte Johnson got hurt on that meaningless last play of the game.  Should have taken a knee since there were only seconds left.... dumb.

 
How on earth did this team beat buffalo? They are atrocious in every facet. Where has minkah been? Invisible,  he can say goodbye to any big contract. This is a bad team.

 
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Godsbrother said:
If Ben had retired or parted ways with the Steelers our starting QB for 2021 would be Mason Rudolph backed up by Dwayne Haskins.   Now they could have moved up and drafted Mac Jones which would have cost them their 2022 #1 and more but I'm not sure that would have been a good thing.

I think the Steelers made the right move unless you are suggesting they should have tanked 2021 in an effort to get a top 3 or 4 pick.  
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Yes? Lol

 
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This team is bad in so many ways but # 7 is problem numero uno.  Needs to be fixed next year.  Fortunately they’ll have a very nice draft pick.

 
It’s a good thing they had the foresight to draft a RB in the first to kick start the running game. 

 
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Drunken Cowboy said:
This just isn't true. There is the biggest problem.  The fixable problem is Canada. Fire him tomorrow. 
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Everything runs through Ben.  He has zero accuracy on anything over 10 yards.  He’s pretty inaccurate even under 10 yards.  He has no escapability and making poor decisions.  As I said, they have lots of problems but he’s the biggest IMO.

 
Drunken Cowboy said:
This just isn't true. There is the biggest problem.  The fixable problem is Canada. Fire him tomorrow. 
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Did everyone just watch the 4th down play. A dump off at the 20 yard line, inexcusable. I'd be happy if they just mailed it in the rest of the year like they did today. And clean house including Tomlin, this team is toast.

 
This team is a combination of injured, unlucky, washed up, inexperienced, talented and lousy.

Throw in a brutal schedule coming up and we should be looking at a top 5 pick.

 
Wingnut said:
Their O line is terrible with a capital T. Horrible pass protection, and not creating any running lanes. 
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This might have been the most brutal showing by a Steeler offensive line in the past 30 years.

im not sure how many times Ben was hit but it was a lot.  Four sacks against, 8 penalties, less than 50 rushing yards.  
 

Pathetic 

 
Blick said:
It’s a good thing they had the foresight to draft a RB in the first to kick start the running game. 
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He is their best player on offense. They need to use him like Bell. 
 

Ben looked bad today. Play calls aren’t better than last year. 
 

But all of these injuries are a killer. 
 

KC is 1-2 as well. Long season. 

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
He is their best player on offense. They need to use him like Bell. 
 

Ben looked bad today. Play calls aren’t better than last year. 
 

But all of these injuries are a killer. 
 

KC is 1-2 as well. Long season. 
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14 for 40 is not going to cut. Even for their best player.  He had 19 (let that sink in a minute) targets. Not a winning combination. 

 
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Blick said:
14 for 40 is not going to cut. Even for their best player.  He had 19 (let that sink in a minute) targets. Not a winning combination. 
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I agree the play calling was bad, really bad.  There were also some awful drops, Ben was lousy, offensive line terrible and then of course the injuries.

 
tangfoot said:
I haven’t seen any of them, but were they big plays because his team cheated?
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Maybe but there were a couple that occurred after Harris was through the hole.

In any case  :rolleyes:  of referring to a holding call as a team cheating.   I guess every team in the league are cheaters.

 
Unfortunately I was at the game yesterday.  Given that I don’t live in the area anymore, it was the first one I’ve attended in years.  

Ben was brutal.  He missed so many throws that we are just not accustomed to seeing.  As bad as the Steelers played, he missed 2 easy TD throws (one to Claypool and the other with about 5 minutes left in the 4th).  He was also inaccurate on many of the short throws.  Combined with the interceptions and sacks, maybe one of the worst games I’ve ever seen him play.  

The offensive line was getting destroyed on every single play.  Every one of them was getting beat.  Combined with the false starts and holdings, just a brutally bad game.  I don’t know where they go from here but the team has little chance of winning with the line playing like that.  The crowd was deflated very early on.

The defense played well enough early on.  Ultimately, they just weren’t able to get much pressure the entire game.  They gave up way too many big plays against the run and pass.  I’m not too concerned since they’ll improve if/when they get healthy. This is what may keep them from a top 10 pick.

As if we needed any other issues, punting game was awful and Boswell missed a FG.

Finally the offensive play calling was ridiculously uncreative.  Obviously what they’re doing isn’t working.  Can’t they try a trick play or something?

One question- are they pumping noise in the stadium?  At one point in the 4th quarter, the stadium got loud on a defensive 3rd down play.  My whole section had already lost interest in the game at that point.  Hard to imagine that the crowd would suddenly get into it after witnessing that performance.

 
fred_1_15301 said:
Unfortunately I was at the game yesterday.  Given that I don’t live in the area anymore, it was the first one I’ve attended in years.  

Ben was brutal.  He missed so many throws that we are just not accustomed to seeing.  As bad as the Steelers played, he missed 2 easy TD throws (one to Claypool and the other with about 5 minutes left in the 4th).  He was also inaccurate on many of the short throws.  Combined with the interceptions and sacks, maybe one of the worst games I’ve ever seen him play.  

The offensive line was getting destroyed on every single play.  Every one of them was getting beat.  Combined with the false starts and holdings, just a brutally bad game.  I don’t know where they go from here but the team has little chance of winning with the line playing like that.  The crowd was deflated very early on.

The defense played well enough early on.  Ultimately, they just weren’t able to get much pressure the entire game.  They gave up way too many big plays against the run and pass.  I’m not too concerned since they’ll improve if/when they get healthy. This is what may keep them from a top 10 pick.

As if we needed any other issues, punting game was awful and Boswell missed a FG.

Finally the offensive play calling was ridiculously uncreative.  Obviously what they’re doing isn’t working.  Can’t they try a trick play or something?

One question- are they pumping noise in the stadium?  At one point in the 4th quarter, the stadium got loud on a defensive 3rd down play.  My whole section had already lost interest in the game at that point.  Hard to imagine that the crowd would suddenly get into it after witnessing that performance.
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Yes Ben had a horrible game.  I'm not sure if we're talking about the same plays but there was some obvious miscommunication / misreads between Ben and Claypool yesterday.  At least it looked that way to me.  There were also some bad drops, particularly Eric Ebron.   I'm not sure what he brings to the table cause he isn't much of a blocker.

I do not believe the Steelers pipe in any crowd noise, at least not when the huddle breaks.

 
I didn't see the game yesterday, but the Steelers are going to get slaughtered in Green Bay this week.

I had hope before the season started (because why not have hope, right?) - but this is going to be Tomlins worst season by far.  Also, going to be worst that either of Bill Cowher's 6-10 seasons.

:kicksrock:   

 
I would say that this game was our punishment for not being serious about going after quarterbacks in the draft but I am sure everyone will mention how terrible the current rookie QB's have looked like.    I don't care how weak the class is next year that has to be the #1 concern.  Unless we are going to do what we have never done and get heavy in free agent and go after Rodgers

A lot of this is coaching as well.   I know Harris isn't an elite RB but come on 58 throws on an immobile QB where almost all of their receivers hurt.    I really would like to know why the hell would you throw a 2 yard screen pass on 4th and 10.  Harris wasn't breaking that one and we shouldn't have expected him too

 
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hammerva said:
I would say that this game was our punishment for not being serious about going after quarterbacks in the draft but I am sure everyone will mention how terrible the current rookie QB's have looked like.    I don't care how weak the class is next year that has to be the #1 concern.  Unless we are going to do what we have never done and get heavy in free agent and go after Rodgers

A lot of this is coaching as well.   I know Harris isn't an elite RB but come on 58 throws on an immobile QB where almost all of their receivers hurt.    I really would like to know why the hell would you throw a 2 yard screen pass on 4th and 10.  Harris wasn't breaking that one and we shouldn't have expected him too
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I agreed with the decision to not draft a QB in round 1 last year and still think it was the right call as the cost to move into the top 15 would have been too great.

First and foremost we must address the offensive line.  We have a whole season to evaluate this group but the Steelers are going to have some major cap space next year to get some good UFAs. 

Between that and the draft hopefully they can cobble together a decent line that can run block and pass protect.  It all starts up front. 

Right now I don't think any QB would have much success with that pathetic o-line and atrocious play calling.

Paging Idiot Boxer...

 
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This team is running the perfect trifecta of

1) a horrible O-line

2) poor play calling

3) an old QB who went from excellent to mediocre due to age, injury, and #1 & #2 above

while I agree that QB was not the right pick in the draft last year, Harris was a luxury pick we couldn’t afford.  We should have gone O-line or defensive depth (hindsight is 20/20 but look at our injury situation now)   

 
Godsbrother said:
Bush fully practiced today, Watt & Haden were limited.   Ben did not practice but never does on Wednesday.

The surprise to me was that Highsmith did not practice, leaving Ingram and Jamir Jones as the only healthy OLB that practiced in full.

To your point I think if Bush, Haden, Watt and Ben play I think our chances are considerably better than 50%.  
 

I know everyone is down on the Steelers and fir good reason but they played two pretty tough opponents, the second game with a severely hampered defense, and are 1-1.

As Bill Cowher used to like to say: don’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows.  If they can get healthy on defense this is not a bad team.
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I think it's pretty safe to say our Offense sucks and our Defense is too injured to prop up the offense. I'm not sure if our offense is complete garbage because of Ben, or because of Ben and OC. It feels like Ben isn't capable of fully implementing Matt Canada's dreams for the offense because he's incapable of passing over 10 yards in the middle of the field. 

If Ben is similarly bad next week, and Tomlin puts him on the field again the week after, I'm going to have problems with that. I don't think that Rudolph or Haskins are stars, but Ben is playing like he's completely done. The offensive line hurts a lot, but the decision making and passing has been atrocious. 

I am usually one of the most optimistic Steelers' fans, believing we have a shot at the playoffs until we're officially eliminated. If the team plays similarly for the rest of the year, I can't picture 6 wins with the Schedule we have left. 

 
steelers1080 said:
I think it's pretty safe to say our Offense sucks and our Defense is too injured to prop up the offense. I'm not sure if our offense is complete garbage because of Ben, or because of Ben and OC. It feels like Ben isn't capable of fully implementing Matt Canada's dreams for the offense because he's incapable of passing over 10 yards in the middle of the field. 

If Ben is similarly bad next week, and Tomlin puts him on the field again the week after, I'm going to have problems with that. I don't think that Rudolph or Haskins are stars, but Ben is playing like he's completely done. The offensive line hurts a lot, but the decision making and passing has been atrocious. 

I am usually one of the most optimistic Steelers' fans, believing we have a shot at the playoffs until we're officially eliminated. If the team plays similarly for the rest of the year, I can't picture 6 wins with the Schedule we have left. 
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I can't say I disagree with your assessment of Ben but the run blocking has not improved from the second half of last season and the pass protection is much, much worse.   And 8 friggin penalities is ridiculous

I have no problem giving Rudolph or Haskins a shot if Ben continues to struggle and with the way Ben is getting knocked around it is pretty much inevitable.

This next week looks like a disaster of epic proportions as the offensive line, as bad as they are, is injured.  They are banged up at WR with both Dionte and JuJu injured and of course there are the defensive injuries.

 
Godsbrother said:
Yes Ben had a horrible game.  I'm not sure if we're talking about the same plays but there was some obvious miscommunication / misreads between Ben and Claypool yesterday.  At least it looked that way to me.  There were also some bad drops, particularly Eric Ebron.   I'm not sure what he brings to the table cause he isn't much of a blocker.

I do not believe the Steelers pipe in any crowd noise, at least not when the huddle breaks.
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Yeah I’m talking about the Claypool TD pass where Ben threw it way behind him rather than leading him.  Possible miscommunication but it looked like the throw just sailed.  It was just weird as the noise suddenly got really loud and my entire section just looked bored.  But I’m sure you’re right- I was just curious.

 
That 4th and 10 call at the end of the game sent the message that they had quit.  One of the worst calls I’ve ever seen.   I know it’s not Ben’s fault but would Brady (or other veteran QBs) let that happen?  Does Ben even care about winning anymore?

 
fred_1_15301 said:
That 4th and 10 call at the end of the game sent the message that they had quit.  One of the worst calls I’ve ever seen.   I know it’s not Ben’s fault but would Brady (or other veteran QBs) let that happen?  Does Ben even care about winning anymore?
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100% agree.  How do you NOT try throwing it into the endzone?   I realize tehy had an all out blitz but Claypool was in single coverage.  Throw it up and see if Claypool can run under it or maybe draw a PI call.

 
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