2010/2011 Pittsburgh Steelers Discussion Thread

[Jakey]

This isnt an official mock, but this is what id be pretty pleased about right now...

1: Cam Heyward - DE
2: Mike Pouncey - OG
3: Johnny Patrick - CB
4: James Brewer - OT

[Mr. Goosemahn]

Originally Posted by Jakey

This isnt an official mock, but this is what id be pretty pleased about right now...

1: Cam Heyward - DE
2: Mike Pouncey - OG
3: Johnny Patrick - CB
4: James Brewer - OT

Switch Johnny Patrick for Jalil Brown and it would be an amazing draft.

[Hines]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goosemahn

Switch Johnny Patrick for Jalil Brown and it would be an amazing draft.

I love me some Johnny Patrick though. Big, fast, tough, physical, and good ball skills. Can play in zone and man. Got in trouble once, but if we can deal with Ben and his rapage, we can deal with Patrick and whatever he does.

[Hines]

The OL is wearing replica Flozell Michigan State jerseys on the plane.

This team is on a mission.

[K Train]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

The OL is wearing replica Flozell Michigan State jerseys on the plane.

This team is on a mission.

thats so awesome

[mikehop05]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...id=29672350944

hines lookin fly ^

http://burgh.us/20m

flo & co

[tjsunstein]

Not sure how much I'll be able to post leading up to the game on my thoughts on the press conferences and what not but I wish you guys the best of luck. It's been a great season and both teams are deserving.

By the way, I like what Ben has to say in his conference/interview today. Reflecting is for the offseason.

With that said, Go Pack Go.

[Hines]

A little boredum mock:

1) Marcus Cannon OT TCU
2) Mike Pouncey G Florida
3) Jalil Brown CB Colorado
4) Julius Thomas TE Portland State
5) Ian Williams NT Notre Dame
6) David Carter DE UCLA
7) John Clay RB Wisconsin

[Mr. Goosemahn]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

A little boredum mock:

1) Marcus Cannon OT TCU
2) Mike Pouncey G Florida
3) Jalil Brown CB Colorado
4) Julius Thomas TE Portland State
5) Ian Williams NT Notre Dame
6) David Carter DE UCLA
7) John Clay RB Wisconsin

Like it.

Cannon and Pouncey would be awesome, Brown too. Clay is my favorite power runner this draft. No speed, just power.

[Mr. Goosemahn]

Troy Polamalu has been named Defensive Player of the Year, with Clay Matthews coming in second. Apparently people incorrectly said Matthews won earlier today, and premature celebration ensued.

Look at the thread in the Pro Football section for the lols.

Rankings:

1. Troy Polamalu
2. Clay Matthews
3. James Harrison
4. Julius Peppers

Kinda proud to have two Steelers in the top 3.

Official article:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...=breaking_news

[K Train]

im confused, this hasnt exactly been his best year imo

[b316]

Originally Posted by K Train

im confused, this hasnt exactly been his best year imo

It actually has, well since 2004.

[PittPete]

If not for injury, Troy would be one of the top 3 DPOY picks every year. I'm still fuming that Matthews was ahead of Harrison; Why?

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by PittPete

If not for injury, Troy would be one of the top 3 DPOY picks every year. I'm still fuming that Matthews was ahead of Harrison; Why?

the hair. and harrison's fines.

[Hines]

Pouncey once again says he's playing Sunday. He said he'll be around 75% and give it a go. But, I'm not holding my breath.

[b316]

With a broken leg? Better watch out guys don't try and take a shot at it.

[Hines]

Originally Posted by bhaarat316

With a broken leg? Better watch out guys don't try and take a shot at it.

He says there is only a sprain.


Harrison is such a ******* boss. He said, and I quote, "we don't want to hit anyone hard so we don't get fined."

He just said that during media day.

[K Train]

75% with it taped up and drugs injected into it? ill take that over 110% legursky any day. nothing against legs but we need pounceys ability to attack the second level. hes literally the worst lineman we could have had got hurt the game before the superbowl

[Hines]

I want Brett's beard.

[Hines]

Oh my Mendenhall looks so sexy right now. :)

[K Train]

"I just wanna tackle them softly on the ground, and uhh, if y'all can , we'll lay a pillow down where I'm gonna tackle them, so they don't hit the ground too hard, Mr Goodell..."

[Hines]

Harrison is a boss. I love him.

Oh, and Hines' comments earlier today were spot on.

[K Train]

http://www.steelerfury.com/content/1...-2010-steelers

The 10 Plays That Defined The 2010 Steelers
Posted Sun, 01/30/2011 - 22:00 by steelperch




10 Plays That Defined The 2010 Steelers Season

A year removed from a Super Bowl title, the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers posted one of the best seasons in franchise history offensively. They had two receivers with over 1100 yards, an explosive #3 receiver in Mike Wallace who led the league in YPC, and TE Heath Miller had the best statistical season of his career. Rashard Mendenhall tore it up for 1100 yards on the ground and established himself as the back the Steelers hoped he'd become when they drafted in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft. The Steelers finished the season ranked a very impressive 7th in total offense and 5th in total defense. All of that said, they somehow slumped down the stretch losing 5 straight games, mostly to lowly teams, and missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record. The Steelers decline was linked to awful Special Teams coverage units, poor play in the secondary, and declining play from the Steelers aging and banged up D-line. Here is a look at 10 plays from the 2010 Steelers season that defined the team, corrected failures from 2009, and created the march towards Super Bowl 45.


22 Double

In week 1 the Steelers played their first game without franchise QB Ben Roethlisberger who was suspended for unfounded accusations. In this game they faced a very talented Atlanta Falcons team in a game that went to overtime. It was only one short year prior that Mendenhall was a 2nd stringer behind Willie Parker and was actually benched all together in week 3 vs. the Bengals that year. This was Mendenhall's first season as the unquestioned starter. On the first play of the Steelers first drive in overtime Mendenhall took the handoff off of the right side behind new RT Flozell Adams and took it 50 yards to the house. This play was notable on a lot of levels. It signaled Mendenhall had taken the next step, it showed that Flozell Adams had successfully made the transition from LT to RT, and key blocks were thrown by TE's Heath Miller & David Johnson, and another by rookie Center Maurkice Pouncey who was starting his first game. Art Rooney called the team out in the off-season saying they needed to run the ball ore effectively, and this was how they responded.


Down Town Antonio Brown

Coming off of a year where multiple games were lost by blown Special Teams coverage units, in week 2, the Steelers flipped the script and returned a kick of their own. This was the first snap of the first NFL game for Antonio Brown, and on the opening kick the Steelers sent Mewelde Moore deep to field the kick much to the dismay of Steelers fans everywhere. As he fielded the kick, a flash wearing #84 came streaking back for the ball on a reverse which he turned into an 89 yard score. This play showed the Steelers had taken another area of weakness and made it into strength. That early lead vs. a stingy Titans defense proved to be enough for the Steelers to hang on for a hard fought win.




You Got Knocked the F@%# Out!

This game marked the first meeting with the Browns since the Steelers got stunned in Cleveland on a cold Thursday night game late in the 2009 season. That game marked the first time the Steelers lost to their Turnpike Rivals in 13 tries. , emotions were on high for this game. During that Thursday night game in 2009 James Harrison’s mother was arrested in Akron, Oh for starting a fight in a bar with **** talking Cleveland Browns fans. (She was reportedly wearing a Steelers jersey at the police station). Harrison set the tone early in this game as he laid a punishing hit on wildcat QB and former Kent State teammate Josh Cribbs that knocked him out of the game. Later he jacked up Mohammad Massaquoi on a short pass that put him to sleep on the turf. As luck would have it, there were two other major hits to the head on this day where players were injured that helped create a media **** storm about the violent nature of football and big hits. Roger Goodell's vagina became more sandy than usual and James Harrison became the face of dirty play, illegal hits, and steep fines. The Steelers rallied around their guy and turned the situation into an "us against the world" mentality for the Steelers team.




Late Game Comeback Bungled

In 2009 the Cincinnati Bengals were amongst the team who made late game drives to beat the Steelers. In that season the Bengals put up 14 unanswered 4th quarter points to beat the Steelers. If one play in particular summed up the final drive, it was a 4th and 10 play where RB Brian Leonard broke a James Farrior tackle and ran for 11 yards to extend the drive.
This year, down 6 at the end of the game Carson Palmer threw to Jordan Shipley at the Steelers 5 for a would be 1st down, but this season Shipley dropped the ball and the Steelers held on for the win.




Flacco Sack-o


On week Week 13 the Steelers had to go on the road to Baltimore to get a win which would split the season series and take control of the AFC North for the Steelers. Trailing 10 to 6 late in the game, the Steelers defense needed to prevent Baltimore from picking up first downs which would allow them to run out the clock. Instead of attempting to run the ball, Cam Cameron had Joe Flacco come out passing and Troy Polamalu thanked him by blitzing from his blind side forcing a fumble which led to the Steelers go-ahead score. Without this play, Baltimore could have potentially run out the clock, and run away with the AFC North crown and playoff bye.




Redman's Rumble


After the strip sack by Polamalu, the Steelers still needed a TD score to take the lead vs. Baltimore. As the Ravens prepared to blitz the house, Ben called a hot route and had to move Isaac Redman into position. Redman was in the game for Mewelde Moore in the Steelers no huddle package. Ben then hit Redman with a quick strike as the Ravens blitzed him heavily. Redman caught the ball, meanwhile on the backside of the play rookie WR Emmanuel Sanders threw a key block while Redman busted through two would be tacklers to earn the improbable go ahead score as they converted a tough 3rd and 9 from the 9 yard line.




Ben to Burn-ell


With the Steelers now in control of the division, they needed only to dispatch two lowly opponents late in the year to win the AFC North and the #2 seed in the AFC. In the game vs. the Carolina Panthers the Steelers played to win and went for the throat early. After an opening scoring drive was followed up by yet another Polamalu interception, Ben threw deep to Mike Wallace on the very first snap for a 43 yard TD pass that took any possible wind out of the Panthers sails. Teams like the Panthers typically are looking for a reason to quit late in the season, and if you don't give it to them they can jump up and bite you. The Steelers went for the throat and put the nail in the Panthers coffin very early in the game, unlike the previous year when they let bad teams hang around long enough to upset them in the 4th QTR.




3rd & 19

Now in the playoffs, with the season on the line, the Steelers relied on a rookie 6th round draft pick to save their season against their biggest rival. During the off-season, Art Rooney made two public comments on the team. One was about running more effectively which was mentioned earlier, the second comment was about developing the team's rookies and young players faster.
Both of Rooney's comments proved prophetic as the running game and the young players have provided numerous plays that keyed the run to another Super Bowl.



3rd & 6 part deux


It was four years since the Steelers last lost a playoff game. In that contest the Steelers had a lead with the ball late in the game and merely needed a 1st down to run out the clock and advance to the second round of the playoffs. Instead of attempting a pass for a 1st down Arians called a QB keeper around left end which went nowhere. They punted, and lost. Now they again faced a late game 3rd and 6 situation again clinging to a one score lead. This time around, Tomlin & Arians showed they had learned their lesson from past mistakes. On 3rd and 6 with the game on the line, they rolled Ben out to his right and brought rookie WR Antonio Brown across the field. He outran the underneath coverage from the linebacker and allowed he Steelers to run out the clock. This play advanced the Steelers into the Super Bowl without having to force their defense to make a final late game stop.




There were a number of other plays that could have been mentioned here. The Stevie Johnson drop, the fumble that wasn't in Miami, any number of Polamalu's interceptions, Harrison's sacks, or Ryan Clark's big day vs. Baltimore. To me, these 10 plays illustrated why the 2010 version of the Steelers reached the Super Bowl when a very similar 2009 Steelers team missed the playoffs. Improved Special Teams play, improved production from young players, and a few lucky bounces went the Steelers way as opposed to going the other way in 2009.

click the link for pics...pretty good write up

[Mr. Goosemahn]

Pretty weird things Steelers are saying today:

Aaron Smith says he won't retire, Hines Ward says he won't retire, Hines Ward wants Plaxico Burress back in Pittsburgh, Maurkice Pouncey says theres a 75% chance he plays.

[Hines]

I'd be open to having Plex back.