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2023 Pittsburgh Steelers. Banged up team loses to Buffalo. Looking ahead to 2024 now (4 Viewers)

I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, especially since I did not see the game, but it’s always a good idea not to overreact in the the first quarter of the season.

That said, it’s a great start to the season 

 
Godsbrother said:
I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, especially since I did not see the game, but it’s always a good idea not to overreact in the the first quarter of the season.

That said, it’s a great start to the season 
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Well, nobody gave the Steelers a chance.  Lots of turnover on offense and in the secondary, rookies starting, an old man QB, blowing an 11-0 season, playing against the new darling of the AFC on the road week 1.

It was not a perfect win.  But they won.  The defense, if healthy, can be elite.  Everyone on offense said prior to the game that they expected some growing pains.  With the weapons Ben has at his disposal, once they get on the same page (and stay relatively healthy), with the D keeping them in every game, this team can contend.  

I have been saying all off-season, I would not be surprised to win the super bowl or to finish 4th in the division.  A lot riding on the O-line, Ben's elbow and knees, and rookies/new guys.

 
Power ranking adjustment was a correction more than over reaction. This defense is ridiculously good. 

Offense obviously needs to compensate for a weak line and still find a way to press the ball downfield. Opposing D aren’t afraid to crowd the LOS. Assuming Canada can incorporate a complimentary mid to long ball game without killing Ben, sky is the limit. 

 
OK ready for week 2!  The Raiders have some special players that need to be contained.

We'll find out a lot about Bush, Schobert and Minkah.  Waller needs special attention for sure.

On offense we need to keep Crosby from blowing up drives, killing Ben, or causing turnovers.  Villanueava was a turnstile Monday night.

 
Godsbrother said:
I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, especially since I did not see the game, but it’s always a good idea not to overreact in the the first quarter of the season.

That said, it’s a great start to the season 
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I did see the game and our Offense looked horrible in the first half. But they did rebound well and scored on 4 drives in the 2nd half, but we can't rely on ST TDs for future wins. 

That said, if the Steelers blow out the Raiders I'll probably go full optimist...

 
steelers1080 said:
I did see the game and our Offense looked horrible in the first half. But they did rebound well and scored on 4 drives in the 2nd half, but we can't rely on ST TDs for future wins. 

That said, if the Steelers blow out the Raiders I'll probably go full optimist...
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This season all comes down to health. 

 
Blick said:
This season all comes down to health. 
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...and how well the offensive can mature. 

One thing in the Steelers favor is the first half of the season is considerably easier than the second half.    Hopefully the team will be able to weather the growing pains in the first half and will be better in the second half when the schedule gets tougher.

It is extremely important to get off to a good start.

 
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As an outsider looking in, I don't think the Raiders will be able to establish the run at all without first unleashing a heavy dose of dink and dunk and some OTT passing throughout the first half+ of this game. I think they'll need to do that operating almost exclusively from shotgun, using quick release routes/timing, no huddles, and Drake as a backfield receiving threat. This is the best chance for success I see the Raiders O having against your D. 

From the D side, the Raiders barely blitzed last week and yet got a ton of pressure on LJax. I'm not sure if that was a fluke, but they will need something similar here to disrupt Ben. If I were the Steelers I'd go heavy smashmouth with multiple TEs and lots of Najee early to wear out the Raiders front and then hit them OTT with play action later.

If the Raiders can execute a perfect gameplan, they have a chance, but I give the Steelers a huge edge otherwise. Hopefully will be as fun as last week's Ravens game. Raider/Steelers matchups usually are. Good luck to you guys in terms of health, but nothing else this week. :)

 
LawFitz said:
As an outsider looking in, I don't think the Raiders will be able to establish the run at all without first unleashing a heavy dose of dink and dunk and some OTT passing throughout the first half+ of this game. I think they'll need to do that operating almost exclusively from shotgun, using quick release routes/timing, no huddles, and Drake as a backfield receiving threat. This is the best chance for success I see the Raiders O having against your D. 

From the D side, the Raiders barely blitzed last week and yet got a ton of pressure on LJax. I'm not sure if that was a fluke, but they will need something similar here to disrupt Ben. If I were the Steelers I'd go heavy smashmouth with multiple TEs and lots of Najee early to wear out the Raiders front and then hit them OTT with play action later.

If the Raiders can execute a perfect gameplan, they have a chance, but I give the Steelers a huge edge otherwise. Hopefully will be as fun as last week's Ravens game. Raider/Steelers matchups usually are. Good luck to you guys in terms of health, but nothing else this week. :)
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This is never going to be a smashmouth offense 

 
LawFitz said:
As an outsider looking in, I don't think the Raiders will be able to establish the run at all without first unleashing a heavy dose of dink and dunk and some OTT passing throughout the first half+ of this game. I think they'll need to do that operating almost exclusively from shotgun, using quick release routes/timing, no huddles, and Drake as a backfield receiving threat. This is the best chance for success I see the Raiders O having against your D. 

From the D side, the Raiders barely blitzed last week and yet got a ton of pressure on LJax. I'm not sure if that was a fluke, but they will need something similar here to disrupt Ben. If I were the Steelers I'd go heavy smashmouth with multiple TEs and lots of Najee early to wear out the Raiders front and then hit them OTT with play action later.

If the Raiders can execute a perfect gameplan, they have a chance, but I give the Steelers a huge edge otherwise. Hopefully will be as fun as last week's Ravens game. Raider/Steelers matchups usually are. Good luck to you guys in terms of health, but nothing else this week. :)
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I hear you Fitz, but fortunately for us Raider Nation members the Steelers don't have an offensive line that can play smashmouth.  

God, I miss the Raider-Steeler rivalry.   Atkinson vs. Swann, Gene Upshaw vs. Joe Greene, Cliff Branch vs. Mel Blount.    The good old days.  

 
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Guess can't be to disappointed with a 3rd of the defense out including the best defensive player in the league. But what an incredibly bad offense and there really is no hope of it getting better. 

 
Man.  That was tough to watch with all of the injuries on defense.  Went from elite to average.  Witherspoon got burnt by Ruggs on that TD -- but Norwood pulled up on his blitz instead of being aggressive.  Makes you wonder if Hilton gets the sack there.

I cannot believe they did not take a knee at the end of the game -- now that may have cost DJ's knee.

 
I fully expected the Steelers to be 1-1 after week 2 but surprised they won on the road in Buffalo and lost to Raiders at home.

The injuries on defense really hurt the Steelers chances at victory.   Without Watt they didn't get much pressure on Carr and he carved them up.  The Steelers defense could not seem to get off the field in the second half.  They are in big trouble in Watt, Haden and Bush are out next week.

The offense was putrid for the most part and a lot of times it looked list last season.  They woke up a bit late in the game but by then it was too late.   The offensive line is a work in progress and is the main problem though there were some miscommunication and drops as well.  I sure hope Dionte's knee is okay.

I guess I'll give a slight edge to the Steelers since they play the Bengals at home but I'm not feeling too good about it right now.

 
How many times have the Steelers used Watt at FB on offense this year?  How many times has Ben been under center?  I'm typically not a "fire the OC" kind of guy, but the offense looks a lot like it did at the end of last year, which is disappointing.

 
Steeler said:
How many times have the Steelers used Watt at FB on offense this year?  How many times has Ben been under center?  I'm typically not a "fire the OC" kind of guy, but the offense looks a lot like it did at the end of last year, which is disappointing.
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Ben has definitely been behind center a bit more so far this season.  I have no idea why Watt is on the team other than special teams and to make his brother happy

 
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Our Defense has 0 chance to carry this team while missing 5 of 11 starters (Tuitt, Haden, Bush, Alualu, Watt). If Diontae's injury is serious then the coaches should have to answer difficult questions, why risk injury when the game is obviously over?

Glad I didn't go full optimist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmQbk5h86w

At this point I think we go into the Bye 3-3 which isn't as good as I hoped. I think we'll need 8 wins in the first 11 games to make the playoffs because I don't see us doing better than 2-4 against Ravens, Vikings, Titans, Chiefs, Browns, Ravens. If our Defense is able to get healthy by then, different story, because our D can take down a great offense, but if we're missing key pass rushers/d-line/linebackers/cornerbacks, we're just screwed. 

 
steelers1080 said:
Our Defense has 0 chance to carry this team while missing 5 of 11 starters (Tuitt, Haden, Bush, Alualu, Watt). If Diontae's injury is serious then the coaches should have to answer difficult questions, why risk injury when the game is obviously over?

Glad I didn't go full optimist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmQbk5h86w

At this point I think we go into the Bye 3-3 which isn't as good as I hoped. I think we'll need 8 wins in the first 11 games to make the playoffs because I don't see us doing better than 2-4 against Ravens, Vikings, Titans, Chiefs, Browns, Ravens. If our Defense is able to get healthy by then, different story, because our D can take down a great offense, but if we're missing key pass rushers/d-line/linebackers/cornerbacks, we're just screwed. 
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Also, Big Ben looks like he's finished. Zero mobility, any pass over 20 yards is a prayer, and he hasn't been all that accurate on the short passes either. Probably would have been better off if he'd retired. 

 
travdogg said:
Also, Big Ben looks like he's finished. Zero mobility, any pass over 20 yards is a prayer, and he hasn't been all that accurate on the short passes either. Probably would have been better off if he'd retired. 
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Possibly but yesterday he had a couple decent deep throws, one of which was dropped and another where there was an obvious miscommunication. I certainly don't think he was great yesterday but the main reasons for the loss was poor offensive line play and a defense missing too many pieces

 
travdogg said:
Also, Big Ben looks like he's finished. Zero mobility, any pass over 20 yards is a prayer, and he hasn't been all that accurate on the short passes either. Probably would have been better off if he'd retired. 
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I snagged him as my QB3 in a start two league........not impressed, and I tend to agree.  

Will the O line protect him better?  Is he a cut at this point?  I mean he's got weapons at his disposal, but right now the whole thing is a dumpster fire that I kinda want to wash my hands of.

 
I think the Offense has until Week 4 to kind of get it together.  If they don't have things in-sync by then, we have a problem.  

Ben hasn't looked terrible.  He even has extended some plays -- just not as smoothly as years past.  They need to have some more intermediate throws and actually try to establish the run -- they have a workhorse RB and an O-Line who have better run blockers than pass blockers . . . . 

 
Manster said:
I snagged him as my QB3 in a start two league........not impressed, and I tend to agree.  

Will the O line protect him better?  Is he a cut at this point?  I mean he's got weapons at his disposal, but right now the whole thing is a dumpster fire that I kinda want to wash my hands of.
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Ben is likely to have one or two monster games but at this point in his career and with this team he is not going to be a good Fantasy QB.  Given the offensive line I agree with the dumpster fire comment though I thought everyone knew that coming into the season.

 
Godsbrother said:
Ben is likely to have one or two monster games but at this point in his career and with this team he is not going to be a good Fantasy QB.  Given the offensive line I agree with the dumpster fire comment though I thought everyone knew that coming into the season.
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Yea I knew, but where I got him, I thought hell why not?  I think his shiny toys sucked me in

 
Manster said:
Yea I knew, but where I got him, I thought hell why not?  I think his shiny toys sucked me in
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Yeah he does have the weapons but that o-line is really young and inexperienced.   Ben is going to take his lumps for sure 

 
geneyus said:
I'm not sure we're watching the same games. 
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Think he's meaning that their pedigree (guys like Green and the other rookie dude named Dan) in college had them tagged more as maulers, not pass protectors.

Clearly, so far, ain't no one on that line "a better run blocker" than they are anything.  The freaking WRs threw more meaningful blocks on their one rush TD on Sunday than just about anyone on the actual OL.

 
Frenchy Fuqua said:
... Alex Highsmith was all over the field yesterday. Nice performance against Jedrick Wills. Impressive work by Colbert & co to find 3 high impact rookies after the first round on a division winning team.
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That was from last year. 

Alex only had 2 sacks all year but finished with a flurry of 21 of his 48 tackles in the final 3 games (7 tackles per game over that span) and half of his sacks for the season in the finale.  

Camp buzz was very-positive as Dupree's replacement but no sacks and pedestrian numbers (3 tackles per game, no sacks, INTs, FF, fumble recoveries, or batted passes). 

Thoughts and expectations?

 
Bracie Smathers said:
That was from last year. 

Alex only had 2 sacks all year but finished with a flurry of 21 of his 48 tackles in the final 3 games (7 tackles per game over that span) and half of his sacks for the season in the finale.  

Camp buzz was very-positive as Dupree's replacement but no sacks and pedestrian numbers (3 tackles per game, no sacks, INTs, FF, fumble recoveries, or batted passes). 

Thoughts and expectations?
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I expect he's going to get a lot of playing time.   A lot of Dupree's tackles/sacks were due to Watt bringing pressure from the other side.   Highsmith has the potential to match Dupree, but only if opposing offenses need to deal with Watt

 
Bracie Smathers said:
Just saw Highsmith listed as QUESTIONABLE today so that had to have an effect on him.
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Our whole defense is questionable right now.

With an old Ben, I don't think we can win with a mediocre Def. When our D is healthy, I think it's easily top 5, but they're decimated by injuries and it's only been 2 weeks, that's not a good sign. 

To maintain hope for the season we need our D to get healthy, for the O-line to start gelling, and for the running game to take off more. Big Ben isn't the same, he might lead a drive here and there, but he's not a reliably accurate QB. 

 
Steelers sign Taco Charlton to Practice Squad. I'm sure he probably won't even see the field, but I liked him coming out of school. Looking back though, I think I gave him a huge bump for being called Taco...

 
Welp ready for after-Ben

Claypool getting wasted.  He's at least a high ceiling Alvin Harper and likely more but Ben simply has no arm for that.

Dionte:  He benefits from Bens current arm state but getting pounded way too much.  Needs to be used much less and more creatively.

Fiereiumth:  Already passed Ebron.  In the right circumstances he could be a near top 10 TE in year one. 

(Feels like an easy call - could be special)

JuJu:  he's almost yer freakin #3 WR - or 2a if you are a homer, AND you ball out at RB and TE. 

No team says all that

and oh yeah najee btw.

 
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