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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Looking back

I was perusing the net tonight and found these comments from some scribe on his blog from this summer. Thought I'd share them again:

With the countdown to the end of training camp down to hours as opposed to days, it's time to reflect on what we've learned at Saint Vincent College over the past three weeks:

© If the Steelers can get even adequate play out of their offensive line, they have a chance to be very good in 2010. But that's a big if.

Willie Colon was certainly no world-beater. But he was the best the Steelers had at right tackle. I'm still not sold that Flozell Adams is the answer there and if he's not, this team could be in some trouble.

I'm not ready to close the book on Adams, however. He was playing his first game at right tackle against Detroit in the preseason opener. I'll be watching again this week to see if there is any improvement there. The real test will come in Denver next week when the first-team offense is on the field for an extended look.

© Ben Roethlisberger is saying and doing all the right things. But can this team survive the four to six games he is suspended to begin the season.

If it is a four-game suspension - which I feel it will be - a 2-2 record in those games is a must. A game at Tampa Bay should be a gimme with this defense, so the Steelers either have to beat Atlanta at home in the opener or win at Tennessee the following week to avoid facing a must-win game against Baltimore at Heinz Field in Week 4.

That game will still be big, given that Baltimore is an AFC North opponent and Pittsburgh's biggest rival, but heading into that game at 2-1 rather than 1-2 would be a much better situation.

If the Steelers can get by at 2-2, they should be able to go 10-6 this season - barring the major injuries they dealt with in 2009.

That's assuming losses at New Orleans, Cincinnati and Baltimore with another stumble along the way.

The schedule just isn't that daunting.

© I heard the pundits talk about everything that Baltimore and Cincinnati have added this offseason while saying the Steelers added nothing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith miss a combined 22 games in 2009?

Getting both of those players back presumably for a full season is two pretty big additions.

In fact, Polamalu was the best player on the field for either team in every game he suited up for last season.

© I also like the depth, particularly on defense, the Steelers have this season. This is much more capable of handling some minor injuries.

© I think the special teams units will be much improved this season. New coach Al Everest has a lot to work with in terms of young talent on special teams. I expect him to get the most out of it.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

10 and 6? Ha! You had no clue how this season was going to turn out, Dale. :>

Dale Lolley said...

Yeah, I blew that one.

Steve-O said...

At the start of the season any realistic Steeler fan would have projected a 10-6 record (at best). The flaw in our thinking was expecting Cincinnati to win one of their two games against the Steelers and the other one might have been the Tennessee game but the wheels fell off on both of those teams and here we are at 12- 4.

Your predictions were fair and reasonable to start the season but now that we've moved on to the playoffs as Division Champs the realist in me feels we can beat the Ravens but I'm rooting for the Jets because I'm not so confident we can beat New England.

adamg said...

You weren't off by that much, Dale. As the previous poster said, a very reasonable preseason assessment.

Patrick said...

dolphins and bills games turn out the other way = 10-6

they very easily could have.

keevin said...

Ravens and Jets games turn out the other way = 14-2

they very easily could have

Patrick said...

ravens/jets didn't drop a pass in the endzone in OT or have more than a bizarre ruling in the endzone on a game winning score.

Anonymous said...

lol Patrick getting owned

people who whine about shoulda/coulda's are idiots

Patrick said...

"owned" , really? they straight up lost the jets/ravens games. They squeeked by in the bills/fins.

And I'm not "shoulda/coulda/woulda". I'm pointing out that a 10-6 record really wasn't that far off. Thats how these seasons go anymore: a few plays here and there can decide a season in a tight division and AFC.

Last year was the same way - team easily could have been 2-3 games better. This year they could have easily been 2 games worse.

keevin said...

Ravens won on the last play of the game and was aided by 4-5 penalties in the last minute. That was a total fluke

Steelers outplayed the Jets for most of the game and should have won. Again the Jets key TD in the second half was aided by a bad penalty

It evens out over the course of the year as we got lucky in Buffalo and Miami

We are 12-4 and deserve to be

Anonymous said...

lol Patrick tarding it up in here

Anonymous said...

Patty - And I'm not "shoulda/coulda/woulda".

team easily could have been 2-3 games better. This year they could have easily been 2 games worse.



lol idiot

Patrick said...

ok so in conclusion, according to kevin here, the ravens and jets loses were "flukes" (??????)

got it. I'm the idiot

if the steelers lose this week, also a fluke? What about the NE/NO games, flukes? I could see you saying "well Heath Miller fumbled,etc......"

I mean come on, they lost the ravens and jets games fair and square and won the dolphins and bills games on way more "flukey" things.

and the should/could thing (besides how silly this is) I'm not complaining about the record or saying they SHOULD be worse. But if you guys really think being 10-6 wasn't that far off......then you're so blinded by being a homer that I can't even respond anymore.

Anonymous said...

The first comment was meant to be sarcastic. Dale got it. You guys will argue anything. Patrick, why don't you switch sides already.

Anonymous said...

Patrick is such a toolbag

just leave

Anonymous said...

Patrick,

They love to give you a hard time because you are easy to rile up. Also you have the habit of being just a bit on the pessimistic side (realistic side) which doesn't jive well with the rose colored glasses steelers fans around here. I admit of being one at times especially with my love of all things "Redzone" comparing him to Chuck Norris and the like. Hopefully you realize that people wouldn't challenge you so much if you took yourself a bit less seriously and had a bit more fun. The Steelers are great fun, but we all might take them a bit too seriously at times. I know I spend way too much time thinking about them. It just begs the question what will we all do when there is no football next season. Curling? Water Polo? Underwater Basket Weaving. Maybe we can fight about who is the best Bowler. Just doesn't seem to have the luster of the NFL.

Mrs. Issac Redman

Patrick said...

bowler would be good.