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The Road to Minnesota


warfelg

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SO I'll post my thoughts later (after work) but a friend and I were having an interesting discussion as to what if going to be most important for certain teams to make their way to the Super Bowl.

From player development to record, from stats to plays, what do you think will be needed for us to make it to the Super Bowl?

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Ok, so here's my "Road to Minnesota" consisted of:

~Artie Burns development, where if he becomes a more reliable corner that you think you can somewhat leave on an island, you can put help elsewhere.  Of course now with Haden in town, that need for speed of development is lessened but still needed.

~The front 7.  Most specifically we know it can matchup against runners with edge contain, but more importantly how will we do up the middle.  Will HHT be unleashed up the gut?  Will we bring blitzes up the gut?  Will TJ and Bud rush enough from the edges to have an impact?  That gut stuff is important against Tommy Boy.  If you can push him back that give TJ and Bud the ability to get to him.

~Offensively how fast does Bryant and Bell re-integrate to the offense?  If it happens fast and we can get the offense going better on the road (mostly Ben) we can hit some great numbers.  I noticed that we don't take big shots early in road games, and I want to see them do it more.

 

So this season comes down to some simple things to me:

~Can we get some home playoff games.  We play so much better at home so being home will really push us along.

~Avoid the Patriots until the AFCCG.  Simple as that.

~Get a bye week.

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Super Bowl teams are typically well balanced, but also pretty damn special in at least one area or one side of the ball. There's something about them they are the best at. It could be a single positional group, as well.

If you look at the Steelers, defensive development is nice. But it's still going to be the offense that is going to have to be the difference. What is needed? The right mentality from the coaching staff. If this team went out every week truly looking to attack balls to the wall from start to finish with confidence, the offense would be something historically good. Instead, I fear that we are going to get more of the same that we've seen the last few seasons.

I don't see this defense taking the leap needed to where it's going to make the difference against NE or, frankly, Oakland. The offense has to be prepared to go into a place like Foxborro in January and win it on their own.

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On 8/30/2017 at 10:26 PM, CKSteeler said:

Super Bowl teams are typically well balanced, but also pretty damn special in at least one area or one side of the ball. There's something about them they are the best at. It could be a single positional group, as well.

If you look at the Steelers, defensive development is nice. But it's still going to be the offense that is going to have to be the difference. What is needed? The right mentality from the coaching staff. If this team went out every week truly looking to attack balls to the wall from start to finish with confidence, the offense would be something historically good. Instead, I fear that we are going to get more of the same that we've seen the last few seasons.

I don't see this defense taking the leap needed to where it's going to make the difference against NE or, frankly, Oakland. The offense has to be prepared to go into a place like Foxborro in January and win it on their own.

I think our team will be more balanced than it has been in quite a while. The coverage teams seem to be better than they have been in quite some time. I know it is pre-season, but I see improvements. My only concerns are punt return and the long snapper. Our offense should be stronger with all of the Killer B's. If they can stay healthy, watch out!

Our defense picked up a major missing piece with signing CB Joe Haden, but I would like to see them add some safety depth to shore up the back end. Then I believe, we will have a defense that can take advantage of mistakes and miscues from opponents and even the famed Patriots who have owned us. That said, you are still probably correct in that our offense will need to lead the charge for the most part.

Our offense has a chance to be special and has for the past few seasons. Immaturity and injuries from some key players have hurt the offense more so than the coaching. As critical as I am of Coach Haley, he was not the problem with the offense in 2016.  Bell starting the season one the suspended list and Bryant missing the entire season both due to missed drug tests. Ben was injured more than he let on and it affected his play.  I am still baffled that we ran the ball up and down the throats of the Chiefs in the play-off game and Big Ben threw an INT on an audible on first and goal from the one!>:(  That was a microcosm of the red zone offense the entire year. Most of the problems were self-inflicted; dropped balls on third downs that stopped drives, poor judgement in utilizing our running game in the red zone, injuries, and yes even some of the third down draws and screens by Coach Haley.  The Steelers offense beats itself as much as the Patriots beat them as a team. No excuse, but no Ladarius Green, no Bell, and no legit #2  hurt the offenses consistency and prevented them from getting to the SB as much as Coates early dropped pass and the porous pass defense and scheme in the AFC Championship Game last season.

 

Our defense actually led the team to some wins, when the offense was inconsistent. The first Miami game is an example where the offense could not sustain drives and turned the ball over. The second and third quarters killed the defense who played out of their minds and then got wore down. statistically it looked bad for the defense, but that was on the offense for not doing their part.

What has Oakland done? They have as weak or an even weaker secondary than we do. Granted, they are a tough and upcoming team with a great pass rush, one of the best OL's  and a gifted QB.  They got hurt at some key positions and played in the play-offs without all of their weapons. However, so have we, the Ravens, the Pats, and many other teams. Until Oakland does something, I don't put them in the elite class yet. To quote the late Dennis Green, "If you want to crown their arses, crown them!" You know the rest. :D

 

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On 2017-08-30 at 9:48 AM, warfelg said:

SO I'll post my thoughts later (after work) but a friend and I were having an interesting discussion as to what if going to be most important for certain teams to make their way to the Super Bowl.

From player development to record, from stats to plays, what do you think will be needed for us to make it to the Super Bowl?

I would say coaching, health and that is it. If players evolve that helps, but unless th4e coaches improve, forget it unless we don't face the pats

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