View topic - New Article: Dead Team Walking

[StillersAdmin]

Dead Team Walking has been posted by Guest at Stillers.com.

[Still Peon Profile]

*(Shifting into repeat mode........szhhzzz, ker-chunk!)* I'm not disagreeing with anything you said, but simply stating my opinion again that the D should receive the least amount of blame for the crap season, and more needs to be directed to the biggest problem we've had.......special teams. I honestly think that if you replace this year's STs abomination with last years decent showing, we comfortably enter the playoffs with at least 5 more wins. Their failures this year have been absolutely demoralizing......next to, if not the worst in the whole damn league, and it's all because of bonehead coaching decisions. I'd say they're actually doing pretty good for a team that's missing a full 1/3 of it's team, and the misfires on O and D are minor comparatively.

Troy and Aaron are out, Arians is still a moron, and we're adjusting to replacement players......there are going to be some malfunctions, and I can forgive them. Forgiving the ST failures however, is impossible for me. Giving up huge TD runbacks, and allowing great field position nearly every damn time will turn a mediocre opposing team into a formidable opponent. All you should ever have to do on STs is simply be competent, not necessarily exceptional, in order to give your team a good chance at winning, and we've been the exact opposite. The obvious reason for this is coaching, due to illogical personnel adjustments, and general idiocy.Thankfully steps to correct the issue are already being taken, but it looks like it's too late to save this year, but you never know.

Great read though, and very true. Tomlin pretty much didn't know what to do with a championship team that fails for barely any reason, and was too unsure of himself to question his coaching staff, or make any radical changes.......with any luck he's already learned from the experience.

[Fire Arians Profile]

fuck ryan clark, coach shoulda played his ass in denver lol

[Crucible-steel-kid Profile]

Great article, great insight, and the truthfulness in what was written is in arguable. I believe that the Stillers will have to go into a miniature rebuilding mode, and IMHO, I think that they only have 1 more S.B. run in them w/BR7 the way he keeps getting hit-and that is only if the management does not squander draft picks on overrated draft day busts.

I look at history to support my conclusions, and every great team has to rebuild to keep quality production at a peak level of performance. The playoffs will only hurt us long term come draft day.

[DirtDawson Profile]

I like that you pointed out Bryant McFadden


that may have been one of those losses that could have really hurt us in the long run.

[Steel Holiday Profile]

I'm going to disagree and say Pittsburgh is a playoff team. Look, just look , at how weak the rest of the AFC is. Outside of Indy and SD there aren't any clear cut exceptional teams. Pittsburgh has lost to some bad teams, but they have also beaten some of the better teams. A 9-7 record wouldn't be good enough most seasons, but it should be this one. The Steelers are a dangerous team in a sudden death tournament. Once the tournament starts, the regular season records don't mean nearly as much as most people perceive them to. There are a lot of teams in both conferences that have some playoff skeletons in their respective closets. None of that matters right now because the partisans aren't set...

[DirtDawson Profile]

I'm going to disagree and say Pittsburgh is a playoff team. Look, just look , at how weak the rest of the AFC is. Outside of Indy and SD there aren't any clear cut exceptional teams. Pittsburgh has lost to some bad teams, but they have also beaten some of the better teams. A 9-7 record wouldn't be good enough most seasons, but it should be this one. The Steelers are a dangerous team in a sudden death tournament. Once the tournament starts, the regular season records don't mean nearly as much as most people perceive them to. There are a lot of teams in both conferences that have some playoff skeletons in their respective closets. None of that matters right now because the partisans aren't set...

with all due respect...

the backbone of any good playoff team is a defense that can close out games.


Our defense has been pretty much the exact opposite of this.

[Lake37 Profile]

with all due respect...

the backbone of any good playoff team is a defense that can close out games.


Our defense has been pretty much the exact opposite of this.

Without Troy...With Troy, who knows what could happen

[madmoney125 Profile]

with all due respect...

the backbone of any good playoff team is a defense that can close out games.


Our defense has been pretty much the exact opposite of this.

Without Troy...With Troy, who knows what could happen

And if we somehow pull it out against Baltimore Troy should be back. If not against Miami then back for the playoffs. Miami's offense doesn't worry too much anyway.

[Jim Raymo Profile]

I appreciated the intelligent, thoughtful comments in this article. I love the Steelers as do my teenage boys but hesitate to have them read some of the Stillers articles as laden as they are with profanity. Frankly-that is not tough- it is ignorant.
The Dead Team Walking article is well written and, I believe, right on. I haven't given up all hope for this year just most of it. It would still be fun to see them win the remaining two and some others lose to let them slide in but I have no hope of them going a long way. Too many of the issues this article addresses are in place to have any meaningful hope of another SB run. We need some effective cover people for these next years and Woodley and others to reengage as last year.

[rifraff Profile]

Touche! I still think the players are most responsible for playing down to the level of competition, maybe intensified by bowl hangover? Still, game vs GB was a great game and they still have a pulse. If they do make it, without Pola things look pretty bleak? Allthough, Townsend just just plays like a CB defending passes compared to some of the lumps of coal they have had in there. Why wasnt this switch made sooner, maybe he's too old and runs out of gas, last year? Bet he gets a pick!

[PGHeaven Profile]

So we have the ball with 2:30 left and what does BA call? Two plunges for no fucking yards that everyone and their grandma expected! THEN TRIES A PASS OUT OF THE SHITGUN ON 3rd Down. It was ONLY the grace of God that Bens Boneheaded pick was negated by a ticky tacky flag

Ben SUCKED today. I dont care what anyone says. The defense and A LOT OF FUCKING LUCK won this Baltimore game

[NiagaraBalls Profile]

Gotta agree w/ Raymo. The threads and many articles are very kid unfriendly. People want to bring their kids up in the Steeler tradition but it would be pretty hard to justify having a younger kid get into reading some of this. same goes at the local Steelers bar where I watch games. There used to be a lot of ppl bringing their kids but guys screaming and cussing up a storm chased all the families away from watching thare. Kind of a shame.

[Steelers76 Profile]

I agree with your comments on Ryan Clark. Even worse was Michael Vick's acceptance speech for winning his team's "Courage Award".(I guess all of his teamates in Philly think it's courageous for a man to have done time in prison for cowardly butchering dogs.) Vick whined about how we all didn't know how tough it was to have went through what he did. Hey suckfuck; You did that to yourself with the poor choices you made in your life. It's nobody's fault but YOUR OWN!! How many people that have done what you did would not only go back to their old job, letalone making millions of dollars?? Also, I used to have respect for Donavon McNabb, but after seeing him,(Along with The Eagles Players), constantly kissing Vick's worthless ass time and time again for doing nothing, that respect has is gone. Is it any wonder why pro sports stars like Vick have this sense of entitlement?

[AzSTILLERS1989 Profile]

Gotta agree w/ Raymo. The threads and many articles are very kid unfriendly. People want to bring their kids up in the Steeler tradition but it would be pretty hard to justify having a younger kid get into reading some of this. same goes at the local Steelers bar where I watch games. There used to be a lot of ppl bringing their kids but guys screaming and cussing up a storm chased all the families away from watching thare. Kind of a shame.

Although I do understand that profanity and loud people in bars will drive families away with small children. Most parents dont want there kids to grow up too quickly and do not expose them to the world... on the other hand , this is america , i know that freedom of speech is all but lost in this country , you cant go around saying anything without offending someone or getting charged for a crime. What most people lack these days is respect. It isn't always evident to many that by cussing and being loud that they are offending others , so if that person(s) is offended , they should say something.

I am 20 year old , a young man and maybe why I dont see a huge problem with this is because of how my dad brought me to bars and pubs and restaurants since i was a little boy to go watch the steelers games. SH** i loved ( and still do ) waking up on sundays and waiting for the game to start... gathering at a local pub with dozens of other steelers fans ( with a few other teams fans scattered about) and root on the black and gold.

got a little off topic and trully , i dont kno why i am even typing hahaha ....

keep america alive , say wutever the hell you want but respect others around you... KARMA


LETS GO STEELERS!!!!!!!

[novascotiastillerfan Profile]

This was a very thoughtful, and well written post. I have been a Steeler fanatic since the early 70's, and agree with practically everything that you posted.
My opinion ,is that losing 1/2 of our starting secondary from last year, and our best defensive lineman in Aaron Smith, certainly kept the defense from closing out games.
I really don't blame this on Dick LeBeau. You need players to make plays. William Gay, Ryan Clark, and Tyrone Carter simply cannot make a play when we need to get it done. If we make one play in the last couple of minutes of the Oakland, Kansas City, Chicago,Cincy 1, and Baltimore 1 games , we win, and we are 13 - 2. Unfortunately, we didn't make a play.
To make the playoffs, at this point, would be great, but I don't see it happening. I truly believe, that teams do not want to face the Steelers in post season this year, if Troy can make it back.

[Ed Burns Profile]

I think they got fat off of last years' Super Bowl win... Add to that losing McFadden to FA, Smith, and Polamalu to injury, Arians ineptitude, LeBeau falling asleep, Woodley packing on the lbs, and the lax Training Camp, and OTAs, this team had the makings of failure all over it. Had we won ANY of the games we led, and subsequently pissed away, we wouldn't be in the spot we're in now. I guess when you hunger for that trophy, and get it, the next Season doesn't matter.

[kurtostill Profile]

"Closing note: Ryan Clark expressed his displeasure with fans that had the audacity to criticize a team that slept-walked through a five game losing streak. Clark talked as if fans don’t understand the pressure placed on football players to perform.
The one who doesn’t understand is Clark.
Sure, there is pressure on a multi-million dollar athlete to give his best effort once a week. But I dare say there is far more pressure on the average citizen that toils each day wondering if a strained household budget has sufficient funds to put food on the table. That’s pressure, Ryan Clark. Get off the fans. Man up and perform as you should, and fans will support you, as we always have."


I couldn’t have said it better myself.

I always liked Clark because he was usually good for at least one bone-crushing, brutal hit per game. What ever happened to that?

Seriously though, I really feel for him while he’s cashing his 6 figure paychecks while most of the country is barely scraping by.