Official 2014-2015 Pittsburgh Steelers Thread

[Rocco]

You can take Bruce Arians out of Pittsburgh, but the bubble screen to Antonio Brown lives on. Brown’s screen count since 2011 has gone from 11 to 23 to 30 last year. Overall, Brown caught more passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage than any other wide receiver with at least 70 catches last year, and he had the highest rate (25.5 percent) of his receptions coming on such plays. Brown’s average gain from that depth level has been below the league average all three years, but it’s still a better alternative to Pittsburgh’s average running play.

Or they could, I dunno, stop running a play that's ineffective.

[FreeCandy44]

FO Almanac is out. Has the Steelers at 9 wins.

Sounds about right....

[IanMoran]

We have such small traffic that this is a terrible sample test, but for my blog I decided to do pieces on Steelers training camp last 2 days. They've had less hits than even any slight minor Pirate update. Surprised me... Wondering if its any indication of lack of Steeler excitement? (Doubtful)

[pens9192]

No new longterm deal for BRoeth until after this season: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11262 ... ger-season" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder if he will bring that up at all this season?

[largegarlic]

We have such small traffic that this is a terrible sample test, but for my blog I decided to do pieces on Steelers training camp last 2 days. They've had less hits than even any slight minor Pirate update. Surprised me... Wondering if its any indication of lack of Steeler excitement? (Doubtful)

My interest in the Steelers is definitely on the decline. I'm still planning on going to one game and watching most of their games on TV, but I really haven't been paying attention to them in the offseason like I have in the past.

[Rocco]

FO finally finished the stats tables:

-Le'Veon Bell was 15th in the NFL in broken tackles by RB
-Dancin' Antonio Brown was 3rd in broken tackles by a WR
-BRoeth was 3rd in broken tackles by QB
-Worilds was 5th in hits and 6th in knockdowns with 26 (Watt led the league with 47)
-Heyward was 3rd amongst defenders in drawing holding flags (Robert Quinn led the league with 7, which is more proof that the refs won't call offensive holding unless they really have to)
-BRoeth was knocked down 76 times, 13th among QBs (that seems pretty good for him given that he played all 16 games and Mike Adams was trying to get him killed; Luck had 115 and may die at some point)
-Heyward tipped 6 passes at the line, 2 off the league leader
-Sanders was 19th in the league on being the intended receiver on an intercepted pass with 5 (Wallace had 8, and AJ Green led the league with 12)
-Ike allowed the most first downs and most yards in coverage of any corner in the league, somehow making me even less excited he's coming back
-Gay allowed 2.6 YAC, 11th best among CBs
-Despite being hyped up as the greatest lineman ever during Ravens games Oher led the league in blown blocks
-Suisham was 2nd worst on gross kickoff value over average
-Both Mesko and McBriar were in the bottom 10 among punters
-The defense took the field on average at the 30.1 yard line, 25th in the league (crappy punting and kicking will do this), while the offense had the 5th best starting position
-The offense was so much better out of the shotgun it's not even funny, and despite running 56% of plays out of the shotgun should have ran more plays from it

[tifosi77]

Didnt Bam Morris go off in that game?

I've always felt the Steelers outplayed the Cowboys for 3/4 of the game. They out-rushed and out-threw them for a significant advantage in offense (they had a 3:1 yardage advantage in the second half), they had more return yardage and recovered an onside kick, they out-possessed them, took fewer penalties, were much better on 3rd down, they had two dozen first downs. Defensively, they were strong as well. Allowed 50 or 60 team rushing yards, and Smith had less than 10 yards in the second half; Aikman was under 200 yards; Irvin only caught four or five balls.

The only area where Dallas was better, sadly, was turnovers. A team can't turn the ball over three times (okay, one was the last play of the game with a 10-point score differential, so it was really meaningless) without forcing any by the other team and expect to walk out with a win. And the two 'real' picks led directly to Dallas TDs on short field drives (which probably explains some of the statistics). So the 10-point loss could, by rights, have been a 4-point win.

[Rocco]

Le'veon Bell has a hamstring injury. This is my shocked face.

[FreeCandy44]

Bring on the Blount yo....

[canaan]

Chris Rainey was released from the Colts due to off the field issues. Color me shocked.

[Letang Is The Truth]

any word from training camp so far?

[Idoit40fans]

Bell left early yesterday with what is being called hamstring tightness.

[KennyTheKangaroo]

any word from training camp so far?

Clearly litt hasnt been listening to 93.7 the fan powered by iron city so that he can get updates every 20 minutes on the status of ben's lack of extension and how mike tomlin is ready for real football with hitting

[columbia]

Some red meat for the guy with the engagement ring....

Emmanuel Sanders: Peyton is a better leader than Roethlisberger
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-foo ... hlisberger" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[shafnutz05]

I don't really care what Sanders has to say, but is this really news? Peyton is renowned for his work ethic and intense leadership. I would argue the vast majority of the league would put Manning at the top of the leadership board.

[blackjack68]

I wonder if Manny dropped those sour grapes as he was getting ready to deliver them.

[Letang Is The Truth]

+1

[Troy Loney]

Manning to Manny will be the new Montana to Rice.

[Rocco]

I wonder if Manny dropped those sour grapes as he was getting ready to deliver them.

He's convinced he was interfered with when he dropped the grapes, but no one bought it.

[mac5155]

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Some pics I took yesterday. Some random thoughts:

Shazier is a beast. He beat Blount 3 times at backs on backers. Peezy was about to have an aneurism.
Tuitt is a monster. I think he will bump Ziggy out of the second spot because Heyward was a demon yesterday.
Ben looks really in shape.
AB had some nice jukes to blow past defenders.
Archer is quick. He was returning kicks and just running past coverage. This might have been by design though.
I really hope #49, Jordan Hall, makes the team. But I doubt he will. His only shot is probably kick returns, but they have both Archer and Wheaton to do that.
Martavius Bryant is massive. He was standing next to Archer and I thought he could "Captain Morgan" on Archer's head.
Timmons, Worlids, Jones, and Shazier.. the LB corps should be really good this year. Was standing front row when Worlids ran, stride for stride, with Archer downfield and intercepted the ball.

It's early, and I was starstruck, but they looked really dominant at field level.



Pic re: Bryant

[Troy Loney]

Is there another Ziggy?

[mac5155]

? Ziggy Hood was who I was referring to. I am assuming he is DE2 with Heyward DE1.

[FreeCandy44]

Ziggy is in Jacksonville, no?

[Troy Loney]

No longer a steeler. But I think Tuitt could beat out that dude they signed from San Diego..Cam Thomas I think is his name.

[GeoTank]

? Ziggy Hood was who I was referring to. I am assuming he is DE2 with Heyward DE1.

I believe the doubt in ziggy as the DE2 was because he's no longer a steeler