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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

That's exactly why when you decide not to offer a player a contract, you better be looking at what that player means to the team in more than just a pure skill level view. Somebody needs to be the Porter/Lewis type of leader that doesn't just tell you what you need to do, but lights a fire under you before every game.  (13 hrs ago | post #4444)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

should be every OUNCE you've got- not once.  (17 hrs ago | post #4440)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

I had the same feel about it all game long. That's why it's so hard to repeat just from the competitior stand point. If your a good team, you give every once you've got because you need to prove you've arrived. The Steelers game this year is your game of validation. If your not having a good season, it may be the last chance you have to salvage something. I'ts your season saving game. The defending champs in football will face 100% all out, everything in, do or die mentality every week. Thus, the counter feeling from the champs needs to be about going out and puting the hammer down on the opponent. They need to relish the challenge and play more determined and ferocious than the next man that steps up to challenge the throne. Tomlin's plan to pretend last year did not happen is smart when trying to keep the teams egos in check, but it's simply not practical because the teams you play each week won't let them forget it. They now need to elevate their game into the do or die mode as well. Joey Porter would be a great influence in the lockerroom right now. He could turn them into raging beasts after a game like this. Maybe even after the Cincy game.  (17 hrs ago | post #4439)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

As soon as you see the home team underdog return the opening kick for a TD, it's gonna be a bad day at the least. With the ST blunders mounting by the minute, plus the loss of Troy taking the defense down a notch, the offense simply has to perform much better to offset the difference. Combine this with taking the opposing teams best shot of the season every week, and it now becomes time to hit the energy button if they have any intentions of making the playoffs.  (Sunday | post #4431)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

How bout this as a variation for those that want Rashard to have a chance to bust one: Hines and Heath line up in a 2 bunch set on the left side, Tone and Wallace on the right. Rashard out of the one back set, goes in motion ans sets up behind Ward and Miller. Ben takes the snap from the shotgun and throws it out Rashard. Hines and Heath block the corner and in all likely hood Rashard after getiing quickly past the line is one man away from a huge gain. Seven defenders are out of the play at the snap and Rashard has two blockers on outside defenders, plus the angle to the side line. It's a pass that's really a long pitch but it gets the back out in space against cover 2.  (Saturday Nov 21 | post #4430)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

John Harris of the tribune has been on a role for a while now. Today he talks about how the cover 2 is affecting the the Steelers offense since the Minnesota game. When you hear what Hines and Tone have to say, it makes you understand that burning the defense with the quick outs and bubble screens can take serious advantage of the two deep zone. Do it till they bleed I say.  (Saturday Nov 21 | post #4429)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

Looked over the schedules and came up with an early playoff pick: Division winners: Indy 15-1 Cincy 12-4 N.E. 12-4 S.D. 12-4 Wildcards: Pit 12-4 Balt 10-6 Note: I have Hou. at 10-6 as well but I think Balt would get the tie breaker.  (Friday Nov 20 | post #4427)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

Ron Cook of the Post Gazette has a peice about all the negative vibes that come out of Steeler nation towards Arians. He points out that it all comes down to execution (players). I'm not one to be included as simply blaming anybody. I am one though, that feels the Steelers unit has not yet been getting the bang for it's buck. The 2nd half against Denver IMO, should be the norm, not the exception. Ben, Hines, Tone, Heath, Mike, Rashard, and Mewelde should be puting 30 somethings up on the board on a good day and 20 somethings on a bad day IMO. I say this because as I look around the league, I only see a few teams that boast this kind of talent that can be put on the field at one time. They live in 30 land and seldom hang out out in the teens when it comes to scoring. When you watch those teams and you keep asking yourself, "Hey, we have that kind of talent and team makeup, why don't we do that?", some of it (not all) has to fall on who is holding back the team. I don't claim to know who it is, but I do hope they will start being more creative in helping their stars succeed.  (Friday Nov 20 | post #4420)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

Your right about the ineffectiveness of the offense but I believe the passing offense played poorly combined with Cincy playing a great game. I wish I did not feel this way, but I simply don't believe the 09 Pittsburgh Steelers are going to go into the playoffs and run the ball down anybody's throats on their way to victory. I believe that playing a team like NE, they will have to play good defense and still score a lot of points to win. I don't see them beating the Pats or Indy in a 16-13 game of power football. That being the case, I believe if they tune their offense to be more pass effective, they certainly can put up the points while allowing the running game to be more potent as well. The offensive line played poorly last week and the routes the Steelers ran were to basic IMO. If they start using all of their options in different ways they can be exceptional. They might be able to run til the cows come home against poor defenses but that's not who they are going to face in the playoffs. I believe in order to beat Brady, and this year's Manning, you have to win a track meet. The Steelers can do that if they use all of their weapons creatively.  (Thursday Nov 19 | post #4419)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

Maybe they should run more on the first 3 possessions to get a feel for how well the running game is going but they need to run from the unbalanced line set IMO. Against a good rush defense, they simply can't play straight up runs and try to give Mendenhall his choice of holes. There not there. Another thing to consider is that when a team is ranked 2nd against the run and 25th against the pass it is logical to attack the weaknesses of the defense. If teams were totally committed to get a power running game going against the Steelers over passing, the Steelers would cream every opponent they faced. They might not allow a single first down! Think about that. Every team that faces the Steelers knows they have to atleast have moderate success passing to have a chance to win, but the Steelers should just keep plugging away on the ground, regardless of the results because at sometime they MIGHT hit pay dirt. Against KC they can afford to waste some possessions in trying to find some running holes. Against better run stopping teams, they have to do whatever it takes to score points every time because they may not have alot of chances to score in the game, IMO.  (Wednesday Nov 18 | post #4416)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

They should run more against KC, and if they do, run more of the unbalanced line predicated on power runs setting up counter plays. The only thing bad about what you get from a game against a team with a weak defense though, is that it can lead to believing that the team can be successful at doing something against any team they face, which we usually find out is not true.  (Wednesday Nov 18 | post #4403)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

Just another thing that shows how misleading stats can be. Example Player (A) runs for 18 yards on one play followed by 0 and 0 on the next two. OMG! He's averaging 6.0 yards per carry and they did not keep running him? What's wrong with them. Why? Because he does great on some runs but stinks 2/3 of the time. Many times the teams that play the Steelers have RB's who break off some nice runs, but get stuffed most of the time leading to a decent average but not many overall yards. Should they continue, no matter, because of those few runs? I wish they would.  (Wednesday Nov 18 | post #4402)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

I hope Arians and many of the Steelers offensive players watch the replay of the Pats/Colts offensive fireworks on NFL Network tomorrow night. The way these two teams play offense, the way they attack the weakness of formations and coverages, the way they force defenses to play scared and safe rather than confident and challenging, is exactly the way these Steelers can play with the talent they have. I believe the Steelers have just as much overall offensive talent as the Colts, Pats, Saints, and Vikings. It's just a matter of knowing how to force defenses to declare which players they are trying to take away and getting the ball to the mismatches. It's about being able to push the defense up the field and create space underneath. Making the defense defend the entire field which is next to impossible.  (Tuesday Nov 17 | post #4395)

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Tomlin knows what the Steelers need

John Harris of the Trib has it down pat when he speaks of the special teams quandry. In his column he talks about bringing back some of the better ST players from before, be it they now preside on the starting D. Names like Keisel, Harrison, and Timmons are some of those names he makes note of. He's absolutely right if winning football games is the number one priority. It's one thing if the ST has no flare and can't contribute in a positive fashion. It's quite another when the contibution is negative. You don't have to win games because of ST, but you certainly can't afford to lose them. Players should stand up and want to aid the team because it takes away from what THEY work so hard for when THEY are out there bleeding and sweating the rest of the game for. Better to sub one play after the kickoff to catch your breath, than not need to sub at all because you never got a chance to defend your lead IMO.  (Tuesday Nov 17 | post #4393)

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Open Letter to Steelers Kicker Jeff Reed: It's TACKLE Football

I would like to hear from Daniel on this issue. I mean if he can't do it, it would be nice to know they thought about it.  (Monday Nov 16 | post #18)