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NFL Week 5

#101
cheezewiz said:
Aaron Brooks, the guy who Gard said was better than Michael Vick, when he played for the Saints!
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Don't forget better than Culpepper as well. In Gard's defense, Culpepper has definitely been playing like a bum lately, but honestly, Aaron Brooks takes it to another level.

Me, I'm rooting for the Saints this year. Seriously, a team that has been losing for so long, coming off of a tragedy that essentially crippled their city...how can you not? Plus they have Reggie Bush, who is like the living punchline to the joke of an organization that is the Houston Texans.
 
#103
abark000 said:
Why is the Bears' schedule so easy? That schedule wouldn't challenge most of the Top 25 teams in the NCAA.

Hell, a few buddies and I could be the '72 Dolphins with a schedule like that.
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Hilarious..........They are making it look easier then it seems.
It's not their fault that the NFC North is weak this year.
And I seriously doubt ANY college team heck any NFL team wants to go against the Bears D, but that why they play the
games.:eek:

Oz
 
#104
clavefa said:
Hilarious..........They are making it look easier then it seems.
It's not their fault that the NFC North is weak this year.
And I seriously doubt ANY college team heck any NFL team wants to go against the Bears D, but that why they play the
games.:eek:

Oz
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I'm not discounting their talent. It's there and in spades. But if all their opponent's wins combined are over 80, I'll eat my hat.
 
#107
1-3?? I am sick to my stomach right now. It really wears a guy out to watch one defense allow so many 3rd and long conversions. I sure hope the Steelers can straighten this out before they get buried too deep. I think they will.

-Mike
 
#109
MJ5150 said:
1-3?? I am sick to my stomach right now. It really wears a guy out to watch one defense allow so many 3rd and long conversions. I sure hope the Steelers can straighten this out before they get buried too deep. I think they will.

-Mike
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I know exactly how you feel. The offensive line play alone is driving me absolutely nuts. Something needs to change pretty soon or it's going to be a long season.
 
#110
SomecallmeTim said:
I know exactly how you feel. The offensive line play alone is driving me absolutely nuts. Something needs to change pretty soon or it's going to be a long season.
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I dunno what happened. The Steelers have almost all their starters returning from last season. The Steelers seem to be out of their game on the offensive side. They are still getting it done on D, but the power running game of PIT seems to be off. Big Ben seems to have lost something, and he's not managing the game like he used to. The O in general seems to be in a funk, unable to get a rhythm going.
 
#111
jive1 said:
I dunno what happened. The Steelers have almost all their starters returning from last season. The Steelers seem to be out of their game on the offensive side. They are still getting it done on D, but the power running game of PIT seems to be off. Big Ben seems to have lost something, and he's not managing the game like he used to. The O in general seems to be in a funk, unable to get a rhythm going.
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The Bus.
 
#112
Sundogue said:
The Bus.
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I don't fully buy that. Bettis towards the end of his career was more of a short-yardage and goal-line back. He was more a role-player than a guy who can carry a team on his back.

Now, I won't diminish his leadership abilities and locker-room rapport which was crucial to the Steelers. I won't diminish his ability to turn it up during a game and get the tough yards. But, I wouldn't go so far as to say he was irreplaceable in an athletic sense. Leadership, yes. But there are better athletes and talented backs out there. The O line hasn't been playing well, and I don't think the Bus would have fared much better.
 
#113
jive1 said:
I don't fully buy that. Bettis towards the end of his career was more of a short-yardage and goal-line back. He was more a role-player than a guy who can carry a team on his back.

Now, I won't diminish his leadership abilities and locker-room rapport which was crucial to the Steelers. I won't diminish his ability to turn it up during a game and get the tough yards. But, I wouldn't go so far as to say he was irreplaceable in an athletic sense. Leadership, yes. But there are better athletes and talented backs out there. The O line hasn't been playing well, and I don't think the Bus would have fared much better.
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Sometimes it doesn't take much to change the fate of a team. Let's not get too carried away with Pittsburgh's cinderella story. They weren't exactly world beaters last year during the regular season. It wasn't like they went 12-2 and had home field advantage throughout the playoffs. There was some luck along the way (like Big Ben's saving tackle of Bettis' fumble, the f-ups of the officials in the SB, etc.).

That's not to diminish what they accomplished, because their Super Bowl journey was a long haul and you got to give them credit for that.

But...how good were they really? Perhaps Bettis' departure is now showing some weakness that didn't show last year.
 
#114
Sundogue said:
But...how good were they really? Perhaps Bettis' departure is now showing some weakness that didn't show last year.
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Now, that's interesting.

PIT doesn't seem to be doing as well in short-yardage situations as they used to. And Willie Parker isn't going to beat up a D and tire them out like the Bus in his prime could do.

Not sure if Duce Staley or Naj Davenport is the answer. Maybe if the Steelers could put laundry basket in the endzone, Najeh would be able to score some TDs. However, I wouldn't want to see the touchdown celebration.
 
#115
The loss of Jerome Bettis is certainly something to consider - most Steelers fans I talk to have a slightly different take on the whole thing. I lean toward the idea that his leadership is missed most, while my Dad insists that just having Bettis on the team in the 4th quarter of football games was huge. A tired defense does not want to see a back like Bettis lumbering at them, that's for sure. Parker certainly doesn't bring that factor to the running game, so maybe my old man is on to something.

And yes, the Steelers only went 11-5 last year, but two of those losses occured with Tommy Maddox at the helm of close games. Not a recipe for success. Ben was outstanding for the majority of last season, so it's not too much of a stretch to say that they weren't your average sixth seed heading into the playoffs.

This year, the problems tend to center around an offense that is in genuine disarray, a defense plays well for the most part but struggles to get the timely stop, and some pretty stupid mistakes at bad times in games (i.e. the muffed punt vs. the Bengals, or any of a number of Ben's mind-boggling interceptions). The majority of the fault probably lies with the offense - if they can start to establish a consistent running game and Ben can get back to playing efficient football, I think a lot will be solved. Whether that will happen...at this point, who knows.
 
#116
SomecallmeTim said:
The loss of Jerome Bettis is certainly something to consider - most Steelers fans I talk to have a slightly different take on the whole thing. I lean toward the idea that his leadership is missed most, while my Dad insists that just having Bettis on the team in the 4th quarter of football games was huge. A tired defense does not want to see a back like Bettis lumbering at them, that's for sure. Parker certainly doesn't bring that factor to the running game, so maybe my old man is on to something.

And yes, the Steelers only went 11-5 last year, but two of those losses occured with Tommy Maddox at the helm of close games. Not a recipe for success. Ben was outstanding for the majority of last season, so it's not too much of a stretch to say that they weren't your average sixth seed heading into the playoffs.

This year, the problems tend to center around an offense that is in genuine disarray, a defense plays well for the most part but struggles to get the timely stop, and some pretty stupid mistakes at bad times in games (i.e. the muffed punt vs. the Bengals, or any of a number of Ben's mind-boggling interceptions). The majority of the fault probably lies with the offense - if they can start to establish a consistent running game and Ben can get back to playing efficient football, I think a lot will be solved. Whether that will happen...at this point, who knows.
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Well, a good running game will do more for a QB playing efficiently than anything.

That is a big part of the Packers problems...no running game to speak of. Hard for any QB to play at a high level without even the threat of a rushing attack.

I think the void Bettis left is having an effect on the offense and they haven't figured out how to replace him yet. Like I said, don't underestimate the impact he had on the team.
 
#117
Sundogue said:
I think the void Bettis left is having an effect on the offense and they haven't figured out how to replace him yet. Like I said, don't underestimate the impact he had on the team.
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Obviously there's some sort of effect, but I don't think you can just pin the offense's struggles on the loss of Bettis and be done with it. The long and the short of it is that we're also witnessing some of the worst offensive line play from a Steelers team in recent memory, and Ben is playing the worst football of his career. There's a lot to consider here, and it's pretty depressing.
 
#119
SomecallmeTim said:
Obviously there's some sort of effect, but I don't think you can just pin the offense's struggles on the loss of Bettis and be done with it. The long and the short of it is that we're also witnessing some of the worst offensive line play from a Steelers team in recent memory, and Ben is playing the worst football of his career. There's a lot to consider here, and it's pretty depressing.
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Hey, I'm a Packers fan...I know bad line play when I see it. Sometimes a good back can make a so-so line look better. Especially when that back is built like a lineman.

You're right, one player won't necessarily make or break a team, but the impact a good player has on a team does have an overall effect on the whole team.

We lost the selfish (in the style of TO selfish) Walker. Without him we have no legitimate downfield threat. Totally changes the entire offense. Could we win without him? Yes, but how many more could he be the difference in?

How many games have changed on a single play? Failing to get that third and one during a crucial drive, dropping that one pass that was the difference between being in field goal range or not, and losing by two points.

You know what I mean. While Bettis may not change the fortune of the club, what he brought to the team might very well be those seemingly simple things like the O-Line knowing they could get that tough third and one.

Maybe they are playing different without him.
 

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