The ***OFFICIAL*** 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers Thread

[Iceman03 506]

12 hours ago, Uruk-Hai said:

Didn't the Raiders lose a draft pick as punishment for breaking protocol? Also, I believe LV is the only team (well, and whoever they were supposed to play) that had their game moved UP because they had issues. Go into their team thread here if you want to see a fan base talking about their team getting screwed.

Baltimore supposedly has "disciplined" the staffer who screwed up, but I have no idea what that means. The Ravens deserve whatever punishment is appropriate.

The myopia on this board is astounding. Every single team's fan base thinks they get screwed by the NFL.

They are getting screwed my dude. You’re a Ravens fan so you’re one to talk. You guys should be forced to forfeit for not following NFL rules if you can’t roster a team to play Sunday. 

[ffmail4me 764]

You guys ready to lose your first game to Washington next week?

Kidding, you guys are awesome, I love watching this offense, especially owning Diontae and Claypool in so many leagues. 

[Uruk-Hai 7,458]

10 hours ago, Iceman03 said:

They are getting screwed my dude. You’re a Ravens fan so you’re one to talk. You guys should be forced to forfeit for not following NFL rules if you can’t roster a team to play Sunday. 

You said the only team getting screwed or punished due to COVID is Pittsburgh. That's just not true.

And I think most here that have been around a while know I'm not a blind homer. I already said I thought Baltimore should get whatever penalty is appropriate. I just don't know what that is since the NFL hasn't been very consistent (shocking, I know). If it's a forfeit and additional penalties, so be it.

This is really bad and the Ravens should get hammered for it. 

[Kruppe 12]

How is it this team keeps getting awesome WRs in the draft? Is there another team in the last 30 years that's comparable? 

[whole-show 291]

Steelers have now placed 3 people on the covid list. Isaiah Biggs DT, Jerald Hawkins OL, and Stephon Tuitt DE

[Leeroy Jenkins 2,747]

On 11/27/2020 at 6:36 AM, Uruk-Hai said:

You said the only team getting screwed or punished due to COVID is Pittsburgh. That's just not true.

And I think most here that have been around a while know I'm not a blind homer. I already said I thought Baltimore should get whatever penalty is appropriate. I just don't know what that is since the NFL hasn't been very consistent (shocking, I know). If it's a forfeit and additional penalties, so be it.

This is really bad and the Ravens should get hammered for it. 

There won't be a forfeit.  NEITHER team gets paid if they forfeit apparently.  

[steelers1080 1,046]

Ravens threaten to strike if the game stayed on Tuesday, and the NFL gave in. When has the NFL ever gave in in the past? WTF is going on? The game is now Wednesday in the afternoon.  Instead of having 3 games in 18 days, we now have 3 games in 12 days. That's just what you want with the end of the season approaching, less time to recover between games. 

Overall, the Steelers have been screwed through 0 fault of their own. If the Ravens threaten to strike on Wednesday, the NFL should come back with this ultimatum "Play Wednesday or forfeit. Included in this strike is the agreement that you will lose the game, not be paid your salaries for said game, and the Ravens organization will be responsible for paying the salaries of the Steelers." You don't get paid and you have to pay your arch rivals. They'll shut up and show up. 

If this outbreak had happened through 0 fault of the Ravens organization, I would feel bad for them and make many more concessions, but it was 100% their damn fault for not following protocol and actively ignoring symptoms. F those guys. 

[Leeroy Jenkins 2,747]

16 minutes ago, steelers1080 said:

Ravens threaten to strike if the game stayed on Tuesday, and the NFL gave in. When has the NFL ever gave in in the past? WTF is going on? The game is now Wednesday in the afternoon.  Instead of having 3 games in 18 days, we now have 3 games in 12 days. That's just what you want with the end of the season approaching, less time to recover between games. 

Overall, the Steelers have been screwed through 0 fault of their own. If the Ravens threaten to strike on Wednesday, the NFL should come back with this ultimatum "Play Wednesday or forfeit. Included in this strike is the agreement that you will lose the game, not be paid your salaries for said game, and the Ravens organization will be responsible for paying the salaries of the Steelers." You don't get paid and you have to pay your arch rivals. They'll shut up and show up. 

If this outbreak had happened through 0 fault of the Ravens organization, I would feel bad for them and make many more concessions, but it was 100% their damn fault for not following protocol and actively ignoring symptoms. F those guys. 

100%

And who is going to watch a 3:40pm game on a Wednesday?  They should have just made it Thursday and rearranged Steelers and Ravens schedules the rest of the season.  Not like there are any conflicts at stadiums right now.

[apalmer 5,774]

1 hour ago, steelers1080 said:

Ravens threaten to strike if the game stayed on Tuesday, and the NFL gave in. When has the NFL ever gave in in the past? WTF is going on? The game is now Wednesday in the afternoon.  Instead of having 3 games in 18 days, we now have 3 games in 12 days. That's just what you want with the end of the season approaching, less time to recover between games. 

Overall, the Steelers have been screwed through 0 fault of their own. If the Ravens threaten to strike on Wednesday, the NFL should come back with this ultimatum "Play Wednesday or forfeit. Included in this strike is the agreement that you will lose the game, not be paid your salaries for said game, and the Ravens organization will be responsible for paying the salaries of the Steelers." You don't get paid and you have to pay your arch rivals. They'll shut up and show up. 

If this outbreak had happened through 0 fault of the Ravens organization, I would feel bad for them and make many more concessions, but it was 100% their damn fault for not following protocol and actively ignoring symptoms. F those guys. 

That should have been the response to the Tuesday ultimatum.  Thinly veiled powerplay by the Ravens to get Dobbins and Ingram available IMO. 

[menobrown 3,687]

1 hour ago, steelers1080 said:

Ravens threaten to strike if the game stayed on Tuesday, and the NFL gave in.

And due to this bought the extra day to get at least Dobbins and Ingram back and  put Steelers on two straight short weeks. That bothers me as much as anything and truly believe the NFL should sit anyone who would not be cleared tonight, Denver QB style.

[steelers1080 1,046]

38 minutes ago, menobrown said:

And due to this bought the extra day to get at least Dobbins and Ingram back and  put Steelers on two straight short weeks. That bothers me as much as anything and truly believe the NFL should sit anyone who would not be cleared tonight, Denver QB style.

I just hope it doesn't make the difference. I hope that the Steelers just obliterate the Ravens on Wednesday, Saints vs Broncos style. I hope the Steelers go in and say, you whined and threatened to get your RBs back, and it didn't matter. 

Now more than ever I want the Steelers to go undefeated. Before I kind of wanted us to drop at least 1 game in order to take the pressure off and just focus on the Super Bowl. But now with the shortened weeks, I want us to crush each of the teams we have left to just be like, they tried to F us twice, and we still prevailed.

That said, I'm quite nervous about the WFT game next week and the Bills the week after. WFT has a great D-line and has been shutting down WRs. Right now we have almost no running game, if our WRs get shut down we're screwed. And the Bills have the ability to be dynamic on offense and play well on defense, if they show up. I think our team is more talented than any of the teams we face the rest of the year, but it'll be tough to close out 6-0. 

Here's hoping that Watt and Dupree put the hurt on RG III. 

[Godsbrother 6,851]

33 minutes ago, steelers1080 said:

I just hope it doesn't make the difference. I hope that the Steelers just obliterate the Ravens on Wednesday, Saints vs Broncos style. I hope the Steelers go in and say, you whined and threatened to get your RBs back, and it didn't matter. 

Now more than ever I want the Steelers to go undefeated. Before I kind of wanted us to drop at least 1 game in order to take the pressure off and just focus on the Super Bowl. But now with the shortened weeks, I want us to crush each of the teams we have left to just be like, they tried to F us twice, and we still prevailed.

That said, I'm quite nervous about the WFT game next week and the Bills the week after. WFT has a great D-line and has been shutting down WRs. Right now we have almost no running game, if our WRs get shut down we're screwed. And the Bills have the ability to be dynamic on offense and play well on defense, if they show up. I think our team is more talented than any of the teams we face the rest of the year, but it'll be tough to close out 6-0. 

Here's hoping that Watt and Dupree put the hurt on RG III. 

The way Jackson was playing RGIII might be an upgrade.  

I don't understand how a team can just flat out refuse to play a game and it simply gets reschedule to a time more to their liking.    Crazy how this is playing out 

[5-ish Finkle 3,343]

27 minutes ago, Godsbrother said:

I don't understand how a team can just flat out refuse to play a game and it simply gets reschedule to a time more to their liking.    Crazy how this is playing out 

Assuming it means Goodell's a Ravens' fan.  (Well, that and I'm sure the NFLPA would have went absolutely bat#### on him had he canceled it outright.  Players ain't giving up game checks.)

Although it would have been a stupid, petty, PR nightmare (but also at least a little interesting) if the Steelers had threatened to "counterstrike" if they didn't play the game tonight, part of me would have liked to witness it just to see how the league office would have reacted.

Edited December 1, 2020 by 5-ish Finkle

[The Duff Man 1,108]

NFL has botched this all around, and the teams that end up getting impacted the most aren’t even the ones that have the outbreaks.

I think in future we are going to find out the Bills actually lost a player (Spain) because he didn’t want to play against the infected Titans.  The whole team looked like they didn’t want to play,  Tre White missed the game with a mysterious “back” injury, just a couple months after he was considering opting out due to concern about putting his family at risk. 

How are Steelers players feeling about playing a team on Wed that doesn’t have this under control?

I would be pissed as a player that the league isn’t dropping the hammer on this nonsense and is putting my health at risk (even more than normal). 

[Godsbrother 6,851]

20 hours ago, The Duff Man said:

NFL has botched this all around, and the teams that end up getting impacted the most aren’t even the ones that have the outbreaks.

I think in future we are going to find out the Bills actually lost a player (Spain) because he didn’t want to play against the infected Titans.  The whole team looked like they didn’t want to play,  Tre White missed the game with a mysterious “back” injury, just a couple months after he was considering opting out due to concern about putting his family at risk. 

How are Steelers players feeling about playing a team on Wed that doesn’t have this under control?

I would be pissed as a player that the league isn’t dropping the hammer on this nonsense and is putting my health at risk (even more than normal). 

Steelers playing 3 games in 12 days, which means contact during the incubation stage with not only the Ravens but also Washington and Buffalo.   The NFL is crazy for scheduling this game.

[5-ish Finkle 3,343]

This game turned out as disgusting as I expected it would.   They probably deserved to lose, honestly. 

Vintage "bad Tomlin Steelers" all around: bad play calling, bad clock management, Ben throwing up ducks in the EZ, etc. etc.   Got A$$ lucky on that throw to Washington or it could have been fuuuugly.  50+ passes against a team that was rolling with, like,  2-and-a-half DLineman?  Oy.

Good thing they were playing a JV team this time around.
 

[Gold Fox 16]

I really hope Dupree isn’t too badly hurt, but I’m guessing he’s missing the next two games at least.

[HellToupee 15,461]

37 minutes ago, Gold Fox said:

I really hope Dupree isn’t too badly hurt, but I’m guessing he’s missing the next two games at least.

Torn acl

[fred_1_15301 5,386]

Unreal.  Every year a major injury with this team.  Every single year.

[infantsam 42]

On 11/25/2020 at 12:07 AM, Milkman said:

Sure but he was literally the best WR in the league for 5 years. That's unheard-of........but hey talk crap about him now. By all means he deserves it. 

He ejaculated on his trainer.  Super fun except she reportedly wasn’t fish mouthing at the time.  Couch out the window in Miami.  Plenty more behind that.

A bit more than “I’m a ##### WR pay me”.

He would have been kept if he could reliably help the team within easily recognizable limits.  He could not do so and was subsequently released.

While he may continue to recover in TB what I see is Father Time remaining undefeated.  The time off always diminishes physical skills and while still a talent the years with Ben are nearly impossible to duplicate elsewhere.  He could be having a great year with a still good Ben albeit a notch off but instead he took another route.

He absolutely was the best WR for several years in a row and offed himself before seeing how long he could sustain that.  Not Pittsburgh’s fault.

I watched him and Ben play games with countless pro bowlers.  There was nothing better and I was so disappointed in how it ended.

 

[infantsam 42]

1 hour ago, fred_1_15301 said:

Unreal.  Every year a major injury with this team.  Every single year.

We will keep punching. Highsmith and odebaji will fill in.  Time to score more....get McFarland touches.  He is ready to break out

[infantsam 42]

On 12/1/2020 at 12:32 PM, The Duff Man said:

NFL has botched this all around. 

Correct.

[FGITLOTR 343]

Losing Bud is a massive loss smh 🤦‍♂️ 

[Twenty-Four Eighty-Four 671]

3 hours ago, FGITLOTR said:

Losing Bud is a massive loss smh 🤦‍♂️ 

Especially because of the loss of Devin Bush already.

[fred_1_15301 5,386]

Offense is going to have to step it up.  Can't have games like they had yesterday.  This definitely knocks the team down a notch.  

[Leeroy Jenkins 2,747]

How is Ben's arm going to hold up throwing 50x per game with 3 games in 12 days?  They should rest everyone on Monday and get ready for the Bills.

 

Losing Dupree is a huge loss.  He has been great against the run this year -- not sure any of the backups can do that.  Do they sign Tuzar Skipper to the practice squad now at least?

[steelers1080 1,046]

16 hours ago, fred_1_15301 said:

Unreal.  Every year a major injury with this team.  Every single year.

Doesn't almost every team lose at least 1 starter to major injury every year? It really sucks that we've lost 2 key defenders, but we've only lost 1 player to significant injury on offense, and he was neck and neck for the RT spot, so Okorafor isn't too far of a drop. 

I kind of expect it as par for the course to lose 2-3 season starters to major injury at some point, hopefully we don't lose anyone else right before/during our playoff run. 

We could be like the 49ers and lose about half our team, with this odd year I think we've been pretty lucky. 

[fred_1_15301 5,386]

19 minutes ago, steelers1080 said:

Doesn't almost every team lose at least 1 starter to major injury every year? It really sucks that we've lost 2 key defenders, but we've only lost 1 player to significant injury on offense, and he was neck and neck for the RT spot, so Okorafor isn't too far of a drop. 

I kind of expect it as par for the course to lose 2-3 season starters to major injury at some point, hopefully we don't lose anyone else right before/during our playoff run. 

We could be like the 49ers and lose about half our team, with this odd year I think we've been pretty lucky. 

It just feels like we lose one of our best players on either offense or defense every single year.  I don't know - maybe that happens to every team in the league.  I agree that overall we've been pretty lucky this year (until yesterday).

Edited December 3, 2020 by fred_1_15301

[Godsbrother 6,851]

3 hours ago, Leeroy Jenkins said:

How is Ben's arm going to hold up throwing 50x per game with 3 games in 12 days?  They should rest everyone on Monday and get ready for the Bills.

 

Losing Dupree is a huge loss.  He has been great against the run this year -- not sure any of the backups can do that.  Do they sign Tuzar Skipper to the practice squad now at least?

Probably okay since 80% of the throws are less than 10 yards.   The offensive line has been pretty good at pass protection but when Ben is getting rid of it 2 seconds how great does it have to be?    The run blocking is putrid though and I'm not sure what they can do to get better at this point but they are getting pushed back like crazy.

[Stephen Holloway 361]

4 minutes ago, Godsbrother said:

Probably okay since 80% of the throws are less than 10 yards.   The offensive line has been pretty good at pass protection but when Ben is getting rid of it 2 seconds how great does it have to be?    The run blocking is putrid though and I'm not sure what they can do to get better at this point but they are getting pushed back like crazy.

To have the abundance of quality receivers that the Steelers have, their offense is rather plodding and a large quantity of screens and other short routes. Is this because of Roethlisberger’s arm or the OL?

[Godsbrother 6,851]

7 minutes ago, Stephen Holloway said:

To have the abundance of quality receivers that the Steelers have, their offense is rather plodding and a large quantity of screens and other short routes. Is this because of Roethlisberger’s arm or the OL?

The offense has had it's ups and downs all season but has been mostly good.  I think what you saw yesterday was a team that was a bit rusty and unfocused, due to the repeated rescheduling of the games, lack of practice and perhaps some overconfidence they really don't deserve and better shake off. 

Ben is having a pretty good season overall and I think his arm is/will be fine.   He needs to play better than he did yesterday but those drops were brutal, especially those that were in the red zone.

The whole team was just off yesterday,  I think you'll see a better performance on Monday.  Sucks that Dupree is out for the season though -- that is going to hurt.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Godsbrother

[Stephen Holloway 361]

Roethlisberger career ypa well over 7.0 and in his long career, he has only been below 7.0 in injury shortened 2019 and now at 6.5 this season. Johnson, JJSS, Claypool and Washington all seem like they would be good yards after catch guys and yet BR is at 6.5 ypa.

[Godsbrother 6,851]

39 minutes ago, Stephen Holloway said:

Roethlisberger career ypa well over 7.0 and in his long career, he has only been below 7.0 in injury shortened 2019 and now at 6.5 this season. Johnson, JJSS, Claypool and Washington all seem like they would be good yards after catch guys and yet BR is at 6.5 ypa.

The Steelers are using the short passing game as a running game so this does not surprise me.    Whether or not it is attributable to a decline in Ben's arms is up for debate but the bottom line is this offense is philosophically  different.   He seldom lines up under center, the FB is rarely used, etc.

[Godsbrother 6,851]

Pretty quiet around here nowadays.

The Steelers kickoff in about 2 hours.  Ben's playing but Pouncey is out meaning we get another week of with Hassenauer at center.  I haven't heard if Conner is definitely out but it sure doesn't sound like he will be active tonight.  At least Tuitt will be back...

I haven't watched any of the Football Team's games this year but with the way the Steelers have been playing it could be a nail biter.   

[ThaPenguin 215]

44 minutes ago, Godsbrother said:

Pretty quiet around here nowadays.

The Steelers kickoff in about 2 hours.  Ben's playing but Pouncey is out meaning we get another week of with Hassenauer at center.  I haven't heard if Conner is definitely out but it sure doesn't sound like he will be active tonight.  At least Tuitt will be back...

I haven't watched any of the Football Team's games this year but with the way the Steelers have been playing it could be a nail biter.   

Conner is out, as are Boz and Nelson. WFT have been playing well and are coming in on 10 days rest, Steelers did not play well 5 days ago. Hope I am wrong, but have a bad feeling.

[Leeroy Jenkins 2,747]

1 minute ago, ThaPenguin said:

Conner is out, as are Boz and Nelson. WFT have been playing well and are coming in on 10 days rest, Steelers did not play well 5 days ago. Hope I am wrong, but have a bad feeling.

We should be making this our bye week and play the JV guys.

[fred_1_15301 5,386]

50 minutes ago, ThaPenguin said:

Conner is out, as are Boz and Nelson. WFT have been playing well and are coming in on 10 days rest, Steelers did not play well 5 days ago. Hope I am wrong, but have a bad feeling.

Yup I could see a loss outright.  One thing that WFT is good at is getting pressure on the QB.  If Ben is gimpier than usual, that's a bad combo.  Also, their strength on offense appears to be running the ball and now we've lost Bush and Dupree.  They also now have a veteran, smart QB in.  

[5-ish Finkle 3,343]

Steelers offense just looks like dog #### right now.  Their running game is so lousy at this point, they may as well stop attempting it. 

[chad in Indy 220]

Any insiders able to weigh in on why Claypool's snap count has been going down? Is he not "as advertised", still not fully able to handle the whole playbook, or just bad coaching? Seems a huge mismatch for most DBs

[bryhamm 870]

Can’t keep playing crappy against so-so teams and expect to keep winning.  Hopefully this knocks some sense into them and they can finish strong.

[hammerva 515]

Without a running game, they aren't going to even make it to the AFC championship game unless they get a break in their opponents.  The drops are also killing us.   While Ben's number must look good to the naked eye, he probably should have had 3 or 4 INTS today.  

Washington is much better than the division they are in but that Ravens game against almost nobody should have been a sign .  Hopefully the injuries tonight were only for this game.  

Edited December 8, 2020 by hammerva

[Deamon 5,288]

If the Steelers lose to the Colts or the Bills, does that mean Week 17 vs the Browns could be for the division?

[fred_1_15301 5,386]

5 minutes ago, Deamon said:

If the Steelers lose to the Colts or the Bills, does that mean Week 17 vs the Browns could be for the division?

Cleveland has a major uphill battle since they also have 2 division losses (compared to 0 for the Steelers).  But the Steelers schedule is tough and they’re not exactly looking like a juggernaut these days.  Still it would take a borderline miracle for Cleveland to win the division.

[Deamon 5,288]

Just now, fred_1_15301 said:

Cleveland has a major uphill battle since they also have 2 division losses (compared to 0 for the Steelers).  But the Steelers schedule is tough and they’re not exactly looking like a juggernaut these days.  Still it would take a borderline miracle for Cleveland to win the division.

Ah ya just looked at div record.  If Pitt loses to BOTH Indy and Buffalo, that's the only way week 17 would be for the division.

[fred_1_15301 5,386]

1 minute ago, Deamon said:

Ah ya just looked at div record.  If Pitt loses to BOTH Indy and Buffalo, that's the only way week 17 would be for the division.

Yup and I guess that’s possible but I would say unlikely.  And Cleveland would have to still win out

[Deamon 5,288]

1 minute ago, fred_1_15301 said:

Yup and I guess that’s possible but I would say unlikely.  And Cleveland would have to still win out

So would you call it a "lock"?

[Wrigley 3,430]

13 rushing attempts....sans Bens 1 

 

13

 

53 passes 

 

 

you’ve got a great D, control the game 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Wrigley

[fred_1_15301 5,386]

6 minutes ago, Wrigley said:

13 rushing attempts....sans Bens 1 

 

13

 

53 passes 

 

 

you’ve got a great D, control the game 

Control the game how?  They are not able to run the ball.  At all.  The running backs stink and the offensive line can't get any push.  I prefer Ben's throwing 50+ dink and dunks over getting stuffed at the line every single rushing attempt.  Ben isn't getting hit because he's getting the ball out quickly mostly with short routes.  It works as a good as having a run game.  This isn't a great offense and there is no easy fix to that this year.  They'll go as far as the defense takes them and unfortunately the injuries are starting to pile up. 

[ThaPenguin 215]

As bad as I was expecting, that was somehow worse. Just gross.

Need to get the run game going, stop the drops, and get healthy in a hurry. Trending in the wrong direction right now in all facets of the game.

[QuizGuy66 2,040]

1 hour ago, fred_1_15301 said:

Yup and I guess that’s possible but I would say unlikely.  And Cleveland would have to still win out

Hey!  Totally looking past my awesomely coached Bengals here!

(Okay yeah we're gonna lost that one by like 50.)

Anyway gaming things out as you guys mention it's virtually certain that Cleveland has to be level with the Steelers for Week 17 to be the decider.  I think the only way Cleveland would have a chance if a game behind you would need these exact results:

Pit: Beat Buff lose to Cincy and Indy

Clev: Beat Balt and win one of Giants or Jets.

Then the head-to-head and divisiom tiebreakers would he level (assuming Clev win in week 17) and the Browns would have the next tiebreaker: Common games.

I guess the Browns also have the tiebreaker if:

Pitt Beat Buff and Indy but lose to Cincy

and Clev win all 3 of Balt, Giants, Jets

So yeah the Browns need the Steelers to lose to both Buffalo and Indy because as mentioned above the Bengals will lose by what will hopefully be a fireable amount.

-QG