Best of the Division

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Most of this topic has focused on the offensive side of the ball what about the defensive side? I wonder how the Steelers are going to be without their longtime DC and starting safety? Thats a lot of leadership turnover on the defensive side of the ball.

[Rav'n Maniac]

Most of this topic has focused on the offensive side of the ball what about the defensive side? I wonder how the Steelers are going to be without their longtime DC and starting safety? Thats a lot of leadership turnover on the defensive side of the ball.

Agreed, the Steelers are rebuilding on D. In addition to their DC and Polamalu, they lost Clark, Keisel & Taylor as well. If I'm not mistaken, didn't someone else leave & sign with another team? I can't remember for sure.

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Agreed, the Steelers are rebuilding on D. In addition to their DC and Polamalu, they lost Clark, Keisel & Taylor as well. If I'm not mistaken, didn't someone else leave & sign with another team? I can't remember for sure.

I dont know all the guys they lost but LeBeau is the biggest and his game planning along with the tallent they had on defense has given our offensive unit some trouble at times for sure.

[ravensdan]

Agreed, the Steelers are rebuilding on D. In addition to their DC and Polamalu, they lost Clark, Keisel & Taylor as well. If I'm not mistaken, didn't someone else leave & sign with another team? I can't remember for sure.

Woirlds is their biggest loss. Those guys weren't huge contributors but woirlds was the only guy giving them a pass rush.

[Rav'n Maniac]

Woirlds is their biggest loss. Those guys weren't huge contributors but woirlds was the only guy giving them a pass rush.

Wow, I completely forgot about Worilds retiring. Nice catch! Thanks.

[Blackbirds Rule]

I don't understand what you are saying. Ben has been better than Flacco just this past year. Flacco's most yards and TD's he has thrown for is 3,986 yards and 27 TD's. Big Ben has four better years of passing yards and TD's than Flacco has. There is also another year where he only played 13 games and was on pace to beat Flacco's best year again. So yes, Big Ben has been better than Flacco a bunch in the regular season. Not just this past year.

Also, the argument that he has way better weapons than the Ravens. Obviously, Brown panned out pretty well for them. But, if you look at solely where they were drafted. They have a 6th, 4th and two 3rd round WR's, a 2nd round RB and a 1st round aging TE. You can't really say that they have been stacking the position for Big Ben.

This is another area where I believe Big Ben is a better QB than Flacco. He makes WR's better.

He's had Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes, Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace, and Martavis Bryant. All drafted and few overlapping each other. Ward, Burress, Holmes, and Brown would all be good regardless of QB. Ben is a realy good QB but when you also have very talented WR's it's easy to put up numbers. How many times have you seen the Steeler line up 3 wr's all on the same side and just throw to the open one all game. When have we ever been able to do that? The closest was Jacoby's first year when he was with Boldin and Torrey.

 

We have always been a defensive team that ground and pounds. Pittsburgh just now is starting to run the ball a little more but they always air it out. As we finally start it seems to have two talented WR's I'm counting Waller in there. We may be able to have consistent success airing the ball out. I think scheme and play call along with quality of QB and WR's give the best production. Joe has the arm and talent but how many times have we seen Joe get time to throw and every DB is glued to every one of our WR's. We have never had a WR get consistent separation ever. All the top QB's have WR's that can get separation. This year hopefully it shows how good Joe can look with some good talent out there. 

[Ravenslifer]

Most of this topic has focused on the offensive side of the ball what about the defensive side? I wonder how the Steelers are going to be without their longtime DC and starting safety? Thats a lot of leadership turnover on the defensive side of the ball.

 

I think the biggest problem the Steelers have had recently is that they've spent high draft picks on guys like Jarvis Jones, Ryan Shazier, Cameron Heyward, that just haven't worked out as well as they were supposed to.

[Ravens4Real]

I think the biggest problem the Steelers have had recently is that they've spent high draft picks on guys like Jarvis Jones, Ryan Shazier, Cameron Heyward, that just haven't worked out as well as they were supposed to.

While I agree with Jones looking like a bust. Way too early to say anything about Shazier considering he was hurt most of last year. We can discuss that after this year.

I have no clue where you are coming from on the Heyward comment. He is actually turning into a very good DE for them. 8 sacks as a 3-4 DE is nothing to be ashamed of. The Steelers should be extending him shortly.

[beasy2487]

While I agree with Jones looking like a bust. Way too early to say anything about Shazier considering he was hurt most of last year. We can discuss that after this year.

I have no clue where you are coming from on the Heyward comment. He is actually turning into a very good DE for them. 8 sacks as a 3-4 DE is nothing to be ashamed of. The Steelers should be extending him shortly.

 

You possess an intimate knowledge of the Steelers.

[Ravens4Real]

You possess an intimate knowledge of the Steelers.

I frequent their forums and read the articles on ESPN. I always see Jones getting bashed and the potential of Shazier and him needing to stay healthy.

But I have never heard/seen a quip about Heyward. Upon looking at his stats, he is one of their assets on their D.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Ravens4Real

[52520Andrew]

But I have never heard/seen a quip about Heyward. Upon looking at his stats, he is one of their assets on their D.

 

Yeah Heyward was great for them last year, he was a bit slow to start his career but he has come on big time for them

[PurpleCity5]

I wouldn't call Jones a bust yet, but he's not playing up to his expectations. As for Shazier, he's def. shown flashes of high potential in games Iv seen him play against us to be honest. He was banged up during the season but he did very well against the run this year. He has to put on more power and strength to become a consistent pass rusher though.

As for Hayward, I don't know how anyone can call him a bust. He had a good year this year. Actually, it was a break out season for him and I'm sure he'll get extended.

[MickRaven24]

I'm sorry, the torrey comment deserves more attention. Torrey Smith did some great things here, but also a lot of bad. For every time Joe missed him on a deep throw, there were more that Torrey dropped/ran the wrong route/ran the route wrong/didn't play the ball. He was a mediocre route runner. He was great after the catch and good against zone, but usually against tight man coverage he's disappear except for the occasional splash play where he's actually show some grittiness and get open or play the ball aggressively. Big Ben wouldn't not have made Torrey a better receiver. Thats just ludicrous.

Exactly! Lol

[Ravenslifer]

While I agree with Jones looking like a bust. Way too early to say anything about Shazier considering he was hurt most of last year. We can discuss that after this year.

I have no clue where you are coming from on the Heyward comment. He is actually turning into a very good DE for them. 8 sacks as a 3-4 DE is nothing to be ashamed of. The Steelers should be extending him shortly.

 

Heyward has yet to crack double-digit sacks in a single season.  Stat wise I'd say he's about where Paul Kruger was for us in 2012 - in fact they have almost identical sack totals and Heyward has a few more tackles while starting more games, with the difference being their respective draft positions. For a first round pick it's taken him several years to develop, and I think that slowed development has hurt the Steelers in the short term.  But more importantly, I think it's contributed to the perception that a lot of Steelers fans have that LeBeau was a problem on defense.  Whereas I think a lot of their problems can be traced to limited impact from recent high draft picks at the end of the LeBeau era.  Heyward may become a pro bowler some day, but IMO neither he, Jarvis Landry, or Ryan Shazier have had the kind of impact to this point I think Kevin Colbert was hoping for.  And now with Jason Worlids retiring, you have to wonder how their new, first-time DC is going to do with the group he has.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Ravenslifer

[Ravens4Real]

Heyward has yet to crack double-digit sacks in a single season. Stat wise I'd say he's about where Paul Kruger was for us in 2012 - in fact they have almost identical sack totals and Heyward has a few more tackles while starting more games, with the difference being their respective draft positions. For a first round pick it's taken him several years to develop, and I think that slowed development has hurt the Steelers in the short term. But more importantly, I think it's contributed to the perception that a lot of Steelers fans have that LeBeau was a problem on defense. Whereas I think a lot of their problems can be traced to limited impact from recent high draft picks at the end of the LeBeau era. Heyward may become a pro bowler some day, but IMO neither he, Jarvis Landry, or Ryan Shazier have had the kind of impact to this point I think Kevin Colbert was hoping for. And now with Jason Worlids retiring, you have to wonder how their new, first-time DC is going to do with the group he has.

Man, I'm just not very sure you have any clue what you are talking about. You do know that Heyward and Kruger play two completely different positions right? Heyward is a DE and Kruger an OLB. That would be like comparing Dumervil's stats against Ngata's in terms of stats. It's just not very wise. DE's in 3-4 are tasked to eat blocks and are usually not stat padders. That's why the best, outside of JJ Watt, you never hear of because they are doing their job very well. To get 8 sacks as a DE is a phenomenal season for a DE. Ngata's had those numbers a couple times.

Also, I believe you meant Jarvis Jones, not Jarvis Landry.