Oh you guys

[theinstrumental]

The defensive line is playing pretty well against the pass and is making up for a lot of deficiencies that I thought were going to be season killers. Two hits and a sack from Obada? That's the kind of unexpected contribution that we needed to keep our heads above water, and for whatever reason we seem to be getting a lot more of them this year than we did in the past. 

[theinstrumental]

3 minutes ago, WoahW said:

I truly don’t understand the excuses being made. Yes this team is young and should get better, yes the coordinators are new and should find a rhythm, but holy hell, when you just hand wave everything away it’s why the team has been mediocre for so long because it’s acceptable to the fans. You think Steelers fans would be happy outside of a known rebuild window with the depth and poo? 
 

We have some bright pieces but we knew the areas of weakness coming into the season and things weren’t addressed properly, point blank. 

The Steelers have had a bajillion years of stability and competence. Tepper's owned the team for 2.5 years. He started making moves on the football side last offseason. Let's give it a chance to come together.

[ForJimmy]

50 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

People often come up to me and say, "My, you are a strapping lad" and "what do you think the Panthers will do this off season to fix their offensive line woes?" 

I have no humble response for the first, but for the second, it is time that I broke my silence and shared my opinions:

1. LT:  It looks as if we are going to need one.  Little is probably nothing more than a reserve, but I have not given up yet.  There are a few who are going to be available rather early in the NFL draft, but if we could get the OT from Oregon Sewell we would have an NFL-ready LT from day one.  Leatherwood (Bama) is the consolation prize (OL from Bama scare me) and Cosmi from Texas later in the first round (a real upside talent--reminds me of Gross in time).  I am becoming convinced that this is the necessary move--not glamorous, and if MH is in charge. 

2.  C:  A center is so important for many reasons and they are in demand.  Paradis is a liability.  I think there are a few college players here that can do the job--a deep draft at C, and the third round could have a gem hidden around #80.  Rounds 2/3: Trey Hill (Georgia) Creed Humphrey (OK) and Josh Myers (Ohio State) are the 2 I think could start, but there are many who are projected to be converted to C.  Sleeper:  Mich St RT Jordan Reid is working out as a C preparing for the NFL.  He could be had late day 3.

3. G:  The most de-emphasized position on offense.  Panther RG Miller is striving to be average.  I still do not know what the deal is with Daley at LG, because he is wounded.  If we go young at C and LT, we need to sign a veteran LG---and do not sign 32 undrafted or low-balling free agents and hope one sticks.  The Falcons saw that was our weakness and attacked it all night.    I say keep Miller but give him competition; find a veteran LG.

The way I see it, before free agency and on Oct 30, 2020:  Yes, we need a CB, MLB, TE, and S.  However, it starts with the OL.  Want to see Bridgewater, CMC, the WRs, and TEs get better?  Build the OL.

Defensively, we have developing players at CB (Pride, Thomas-Oliver) and S (Hayesfield, Franklin) We must have a stud MLB- period.

Exception to the Rhule:  If Micah Parsons is there (MLB) and Sewell (LT) is not on the board, we should take Parsons (MLB).  In most other cases, I see this draft as OT in the first and a C and / or G by the end of day 2.

I’m with you 100%. Offensive line is the biggest weakness followed by MLB. One other exception I would throw in would be a top tier QB being available around our draft position. If Fields is some how there I don’t think we pass on him...

[kungfoodude]

6 hours ago, uncfan888 said:

And that sucks too cuz we spent the whole draft on defense. Now we may need to do it again. I'm hoping we can find some good free agents... Not whitehead

We spent a whole draft on defense but the FA signings were more bust(Boston, Burris, Apple, Whitehead, Thompson, Weatherly) than boom(Douglas, Kerr). Plus, cosonder how much we tore down our defense overall.

This was a rebuild year to start and it turned out to be a rebuild year. We have some nice pieces to build on(Douglas, Pride, YGM, Brown, Burns, Haynes, Kerr, Elder). We just need to get the depth sorted out and find some LB's and DB's.

[kungfoodude]

5 hours ago, RoaringRiot said:

Whispers: the best offensive player on the team has missed six games

Answers loudly: 

THE OFFENSE ISN'T REALLY THE PROBLEM.

[RoaringRiot]

Just now, kungfoodude said:

Answers loudly: 

THE OFFENSE ISN'T REALLY THE PROBLEM.

I mean, they haven't been awesome though. 

[kungfoodude]

Just now, RoaringRiot said:

I mean, they haven't been awesome though. 

They have been good enough to win, minus Teddy shitting the bed on occasion or Moore getting the dropsies.

 

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

They have been good enough to win, minus Teddy shitting the bed on occasion or Moore getting the dropsies.

 

I started a thread on this very topic.

[BrianS]

44 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

They have been good enough to win, minus Teddy shitting the bed on occasion or Moore getting the dropsies.

 

I disagree.  The defense has been good enough to win most of these games we've lost.  Let's review.

Raiders - Offense had the ball, 4 minutes left in the game, down by four.  Turnover on downs.  

Tampa - This one, you might argue, was on the defense.  You would be wrong.  Our offense turned the ball over three times.  That's losing football.  One of those TO's led to a 23 yard TD drive.  It forced us to kick onside at the end of the game.  At best, you can say this was equal share offense and defense crapping the bed.

Chicago - Down seven, our offense gets the ball back at the 20 with 4:45 on the clock and all three time outs.  And . . . they crapped the bed.

New Orleans - Offense gets the ball, down 3 with 8 minutes to play.  And . . . they crapped the bed.  

Atlanta - Down eight, our offense gets the ball with a chance to comeback.  TWICE.  And . . . they crapped the bed.

Bottom Line:  Four of our five losses have come when the offense was given a chance to tie or win the game in the fourth quarter and failed.  If Joe Brady is the offense whisperer that some think he is, we should have won . . . one?  Two? of those close games?  Is it just me, or does this SCREAM "Missed Opportunities"?

When you look at scoring offense, we are ranked 25th.  Further, *every* team ranked below us has played fewer games.  When games played levels out, it's highly likely we will fall further down.  Pretty likely we'll fall a place or two when those even out.

When you look at scoring defense, we are ranked 13th.  Likewise, we've played more games than everyone else . . . but in this case that fact means that our rank may in fact be slightly low.  It not unreasonable to expect we may make it up to 11th.  There's only half a point per game between us and 11th.

Games are won with points, and at this juncture, our defense is in fact ahead of our offense.  Truth can be stranger than fiction.

Listen, I'm honestly not mad.  I expected this.  Heck, I expected much worse.  But we can't place the blame squarely on the defense (or Phil Snow), when the offense has been given opportunities like this and failed to deliver.

[My Goodness My Guinness]

I'd be cool if we spent every pick of 2021 draft on O-linemen. Certainly at least 1 or 2 will be serviceable....right?

[PantherPhann89]

Regardless of who the defenders are, what team runs a soft zone coverage that's successful in the NFL? It's Phil Snow's Defense. Phil Snow needs to fix it with the personnel he has right now, later is for later. We're suppose to be in the business of coaching and teaching players how to run our systems. How can you teach a player to run a system that can't win with regularity in this league?

[kungfoodude]

10 minutes ago, BrianS said:

I disagree.  The defense has been good enough to win most of these games we've lost.  Let's review.

Raiders - Offense had the ball, 4 minutes left in the game, down by four.  Turnover on downs.  

Tampa - This one, you might argue, was on the defense.  You would be wrong.  Our offense turned the ball over three times.  That's losing football.  One of those TO's led to a 23 yard TD drive.  It forced us to kick onside at the end of the game.  At best, you can say this was equal share offense and defense crapping the bed.

Chicago - Down seven, our offense gets the ball back at the 20 with 4:45 on the clock and all three time outs.  And . . . they crapped the bed.

New Orleans - Offense gets the ball, down 3 with 8 minutes to play.  And . . . they crapped the bed.  

Atlanta - Down eight, our offense gets the ball with a chance to comeback.  TWICE.  And . . . they crapped the bed.

Bottom Line:  Four of our five losses have come when the offense was given a chance to tie or win the game in the fourth quarter and failed.  If Joe Brady is the offense whisperer that some think he is, we should have won . . . one?  Two? of those close games?  Is it just me, or does this SCREAM "Missed Opportunities"?

When you look at scoring offense, we are ranked 25th.  Further, *every* team ranked below us has played fewer games.  When games played levels out, it's highly likely we will fall further down.  Pretty likely we'll fall a place or two when those even out.

When you look at scoring defense, we are ranked 13th.  Likewise, we've played more games than everyone else . . . but in this case that fact means that our rank may in fact be slightly low.  It not unreasonable to expect we may make it up to 11th.  There's only half a point per game between us and 11th.

Games are won with points, and at this juncture, our defense is in fact ahead of our offense.  Truth can be stranger than fiction.

Listen, I'm honestly not mad.  I expected this.  Heck, I expected much worse.  But we can't place the blame squarely on the defense (or Phil Snow), when the offense has been given opportunities like this and failed to deliver.

Oakland is your argument? The 372 yards allowed, 6-11 on 3rd down game, 34 point game? That's a good defensive performance???? You mean that game where we outgained them offensively, went 7-13 on first downs??? That game? Maybe stop some of those 23 first downs and this is a W.

Tampa was Teddy shitting the bed. 

Chicago was Teddy and DJ shitting the bed.

New Orleans? You mean the game where they had the ball almost 35 minutes of the game and never punted??? The game we allowed 26 first downs, 12-14 on 3rd downs and 415 total yards??? Yeah....that really sounds like an offense problem....

And...Atlanta? You mean the team that just had 401 yards, 28 first downs and almost 37 minutes of TOP? Another game in which they never punted the ball? 

 

If you watch our games and come away with the fact that our defense is ahead of our offense.....I really have no idea what you are watching. 

 

[RoaringRiot]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

They have been good enough to win, minus Teddy shitting the bed on occasion or Moore getting the dropsies.

 

They've both had decent and both had really bad moments. One isn't carrying the other. The offense is terrible in the redzone and not great on third downs. Brady has called very good games the last two or three either. 

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, RoaringRiot said:

They've both had decent and both had really bad moments. One isn't carrying the other. The offense is terrible in the redzone and not great on third downs. Brady has called very good games the last two or three either. 

Raiders loss - Defense more than offense.

Tampa loss - 100% offense.

Chicago loss - Offense more than defense.

New Orleans loss - 100% defense.

Atlanta loss - Defense more than offense.

 

Pretty close overall, IMO. But in the majority of the games, our offense has played well enough for us to win. The defense has played losing football in even the majority of our wins. It's not really surprising, that side of the ball is far, far, far less talented and far, far, far less deep.