Steeler fan here, hello there

[silverbackattack]

I know, by reading your introduction copy, that you will
quickly nuke Steeler fans for trolling. I hope to be able
to live in harmony and not be booted but we will see.

I respect the Ravens and style of play. As you know, our
teams are very similar and I enjoy the wars we have on
the field. Those games are purely brutal and as Tomlin
says, "What a beautiful football game" after a 10-9 type
of game between these two.

Now, to get to my overall thoughts heading into this season.

1.) After each draft, I always feel Balt. does better than Pgh. To
be fair, it doesn't always end up being the case, but to me, Balt.
makes the super obvious picks - and is rewarded for doing so - while
Pgh tries to get to cute and do things that surprise everyone else. I
am kind of sick of the "cute draft picks" but feel this year they finally
made the obvious choices, taking a DE (we are getting old there for
sure with only Hood not being in mid-30's), two CBs (we pretty much
suck there, especially if Ike is leaving), two OL-men (Really, it only
took 5 years longer than it made sense other than taking Pouncy
last year to try to upgrade that crap unit?) and a 3rd-down RB
to replace Moore there.

2.) Once again it appears Ozzie did a good job with the draft. Smith
comes with some character issues BUT if they have fixed that (more
of an ongoing thing, so we won't know for a while) they got something
they desperately needed: A CB who can cover. As good as Balt. D has
been, they really were weak at CB last year. They had really suspect
CBs - even worse than Pgh. Smith is the best cover corner in the entire
draft, even better than Peterson. If he didn't have character issues,
he would be a top 10 pick. They also added much-needed WR help. Last
year they want the free agency route to fix the lack of playmakers in
pass receivers. They had mixed results. Boldin was productive, the rest
were not at all, including T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who I thought, was a killer
signing at the time and feared he would really bolter your attack. He was
mostly silent for the season.

3.) I think the difference between our games, with Pgh winning most
of them in recent history, comes down to the QB. Flacco has certainly
been a decent QB but when push comes to shove in our games, it is
Big Ben coming through while Joe falters. Can he grow to get over the
hump? Maybe. We will just have to see.

I hope I didn't express anything to get me nuked too quickly. Just
my thoughts. I don't think there was anything troll-worthy about them.

[festivus]

Welcome to the board, Silverbackattack.

You are not (yet, apparently) the type of Steelers fan who gets the boot here.

My sense coming away from the draft is that Pittsburgh needs to keep Ike Taylor. :)

[Jeremiah W]

Screw your sister.




Just playing. unless you do.

I love playing the steelers three times a year, just want to win that last one and 2 out of 3 a little more often.

Flacco is getting better every year and I think he will be able to not be the difference between the teams this year at least.

I think our CB play was better than yours last year, but how would yours have looked if the #1 guy went down day 1 of camp? Foxworth is as good as Taylor, it ws tough to replace him. Carr, Wilson and Webb played pretty well though. The thing we did not have (and still don't until I see otherwise) is bookend edge rushers. I think Suggs would be as productive as Harrison if we had a Woodley level guy getting pressure and drawing doubles on the other side.

As an example though you can look at how we matched up vs NE, the Saints and other elite pass attacks vs how your squad did.

The Ravens did not do nearly as well vs the run this year either, but it was mostly a few bad games, not a season long trend.

I look forward to the rival games every time. There is nothing better in all of pro sports IMO. It was hard to watch those 3rd q fumbles and picks take away what looked like a breakthrough, but I am confident that was the last time we see that happen.

Welcome to the board. Don't be a troll and we will talk football with you 24x7.

[baltimore_hokie]

3.) I think the difference between our games, with Pgh winning most
of them in recent history, comes down to the QB. Flacco has certainly
been a decent QB but when push comes to shove in our games, it is
Big Ben coming through while Joe falters. Can he grow to get over the
hump? Maybe. We will just have to see.

It will be interesting to see how this develops as Flacco gets beyond the first few years of his career (and Reothlisberger eventually starts to hit the downside of his career after the beating he has taken).

Either way, these teams are so close that if often comes down to one lucky bounce, one questionable call, or one big play. Fortunately for you, the Steelers have come out on the good side of that more often than not recently (and especially since Flacco took over). Ravens fans hope for (and expect) a regression to the mean in the future.

[ravenjoe]

Welcome to the board. Don't be a troll and we will talk football with you 24x7.

Ditto...

[silverbackattack]

Welcome to the board, Silverbackattack.

You are not (yet, apparently) the type of Steelers fan who gets the boot here.

My sense coming away from the draft is that Pittsburgh needs to keep Ike Taylor. :)

Thanks. And yes, Pgh needs to keep Ike. The rooks they
drafted are certainly no where near sure shots. If anything,
Pgh has not shown any ability to find good CBs in the mid
and later rounds under Tomlin. We haven't found any gems
whatsoever. Gay is OK as a nickel back but clearly he sucks
at trying to play on the outside. Ike is pretty solid but can't
catch an INT to save his life. But still, being solid in coverage
is better than the rest of our DBs, other than Troy, when healthy.

My one hope is that McFadden is actually a quality CB (as he was
before leaving for AZ) and last year he stunk because he was
battling a hip and ab injury, which certainly would explain why
he suddenly seems to suck.

Word is, Pgh will sign Ike back. If not, uggggg.

[silverbackattack]

Screw your sister.




Just playing. unless you do.

No, I do not.

I love playing the steelers three times a year, just want to win that last one and 2 out of 3 a little more often.

And I have immense pleasure when we win those fist fights.
Last year's play offs was nearly unbearable. When Balt. took
that 14 point lead I was insane. Wife literally had to leave hotel
room. But that made the comeback that much sweeter. We will
remember these wars for the rest of our lives.

Flacco is getting better every year and I think he will be able to not be the difference between the teams this year at least.

Time will tell. Some players stop getting better and hit a plateau.
Flacco may continue to get better or not. I don't know. He did
beat Pgh with a last minute drive last year, which I believe was the
first time he did that (albeit, Pgh was minus Ben).

I think our CB play was better than yours last year, but how would yours have looked if the #1 guy went down day 1 of camp? Foxworth is as good as Taylor, it ws tough to replace him. Carr, Wilson and Webb played pretty well though. The thing we did not have (and still don't until I see otherwise) is bookend edge rushers. I think Suggs would be as productive as Harrison if we had a Woodley level guy getting pressure and drawing doubles on the other side.

Suggs is an absolute beast and scares me. I knew he was a total
beast coming out of college, with 20-some sacks his last year in college.
If we had any QB other than Ben, Suggs would have caused us to lose
some of the games they won; the play where Ben stiff armed Suggs
and kept the play alive, even by just throwing the ball away, was a
huge play only Ben could make.

As an example though you can look at how we matched up vs NE, the Saints and other elite pass attacks vs how your squad did.

All knowledgeable Steeler fans know this. The way to beat us is with
an elite QB. NO, NE and GB all proved this. But when it comes to
grind-it-out teams (Balt., NYJ) we can handle those teams, as
the post season proved. Very few teams don't have some kind of
weakness; in Pgh it is our passing D when facing elite passing attacks.

The Ravens did not do nearly as well vs the run this year either, but it was mostly a few bad games, not a season long trend.

I look forward to the rival games every time. There is nothing better in all of pro sports IMO. It was hard to watch those 3rd q fumbles and picks take away what looked like a breakthrough, but I am confident that was the last time we see that happen.

Welcome to the board. Don't be a troll and we will talk football with you 24x7.

Every season is a new deal. I hope Pgh improves the pass D, but
time will tell. The good news is not every team has the QB and
receivers to succeed. Even if teams try to pass on us, they are
usually only successful if they have an elite QB, etc. It's not like
teams without a top shelf attack can succeed with this strategy.

I feel the only reason Pgh made it to the Super Bowl was because
the Jets beat NE; had Pgh had to face them, I feel Brady would
dice up our D, once again. It made losing the SB a _little_ less
painful, figuring we were lucky to not have to face NE to begin with.

[silverbackattack]

It will be interesting to see how this develops as Flacco gets beyond the first few years of his career (and Reothlisberger eventually starts to hit the downside of his career after the beating he has taken).

Either way, these teams are so close that if often comes down to one lucky bounce, one questionable call, or one big play. Fortunately for you, the Steelers have come out on the good side of that more often than not recently (and especially since Flacco took over). Ravens fans hope for (and expect) a regression to the mean in the future.

Ben takes some hard shots, but I still think he has a good 5 years
left. He is nearing his peak right now. That being said, he sure
didn't look so good in that last drive of the Super Bowl. We are
used to him winning with the ball and 2 minutes to go. But even
Brady can be beat in situations where you expect him to win. I haven't
seen Flacco do that (last minute drives to win) enough to assume he
will be able to do that with consistency.

[akashicrecorder]

No, I do not.
Suggs is an absolute beast and scares me. I knew he was a total
beast coming out of college, with 20-some sacks his last year in college.
If we had any QB other than Ben, Suggs would have caused us to lose
some of the games they won; the play where Ben stiff armed Suggs
and kept the play alive, even by just throwing the ball away, was a
huge play only Ben could make.

The way people (read: Piss fans and the announcers) drool(ed) over this play is simply beyond me. Yes, it was a nice play -- but it wasn't some miraculous second coming of Jesus. Suggs was not going for the SACK -- he was going for the STRIP, as the game for Baltimore was getting out of reach.

[baltimore_hokie]

Ben takes some hard shots, but I still think he has a good 5 years
left. He is nearing his peak right now. That being said, he sure
didn't look so good in that last drive of the Super Bowl. We are
used to him winning with the ball and 2 minutes to go. But even
Brady can be beat in situations where you expect him to win. I haven't
seen Flacco do that (last minute drives to win) enough to assume he
will be able to do that with consistency.

There have been QBs that have taken much less of a beating than Ben has that haven't made it to play at 34. I would only expect another couple years of Ben playing at this level unless the Steelers start to change how they build their team.

My point was that you're comparing Ben in his prime to Flacco at the beginning of his career. We may also be seeing Flacco with some decent weapons finally, something Ben has had throughout his career.

It will be interesting to see if the Ravens and Steelers can replace the perennial Pro Bowlers each team has that are all aging in the coming years.

[silverbackattack]

The way people (read: Piss fans and the announcers) drool(ed) over this play is simply beyond me. Yes, it was a nice play -- but it wasn't some miraculous second coming of Jesus. Suggs was not going for the SACK -- he was going for the STRIP, as the game for Baltimore was getting out of reach.

Yup. Suggs was going for the ball. No it was not a miracle. That
being said, Suggs wasn't able to get the ball out; Ben was too
strong and didn't give up the ball or the sack. No, it wasn't the
greatest play in the history of the NFL, but it still was an example
of Ben finding a way to _win_ more than he finds ways to lose. Obviously,
he has established this in his play and deserves the reputation for
being a "winning" QB, even though he will never have the stats or
recognition as Manning, Brady or Brees. You have to admit that Ben
finds a way to win, even if it is often not that pretty.

[silverbackattack]

There have been QBs that have taken much less of a beating than Ben has that haven't made it to play at 34. I would only expect another couple years of Ben playing at this level unless the Steelers start to change how they build their team.

My point was that you're comparing Ben in his prime to Flacco at the beginning of his career. We may also be seeing Flacco with some decent weapons finally, something Ben has had throughout his career.

It will be interesting to see if the Ravens and Steelers can replace the perennial Pro Bowlers each team has that are all aging in the coming years.

So, who were these "weapons" that Ben benefited from? His OL
has consistently been in the bottom 1/3rd of the league, and that
might be being kind. Bus was mostly used up in Ben's tenure. Willie
Parker had some jets in his stay, but lacked vision and instincts. Not
like he had Marshal Faulk in his prime back there. At WR, Pgh has
had one of the least flashy units in the league. Hines Ward, who I love
to death, is an awesome football player, but not so much a big time
WR, I wouldn't say. All the extra WR parts were quite unexplosive until
Wallace showed up. The WRs for SB 41 were Ward, Nate Washington, Randel El, Cedric Wilson....not really what anyone would consider a stacked
receiving corp. Yes, Heath Miller is a quality TE but less of a play maker
than your own TE in Todd Heap.

Now, if you are refering to the D as part of what was around him in
order to aid winning, then I totally agree. Having a D like that to help
you win games is huge. Pgh has had among the very best Ds throughout
Ben's career. Take SB 43, for example: Where would Ben be if Harrison
didn't make a play for a 14 point swing that game? We don't know for
sure but it appears they are far less likely to win without that play.

In my opinion, if we switched QBs for the last several games vs. these
two, it would cause Balt. to go away the winner far more often. Just
my opinion, but I believe it is likely to be true.