The new season is upon us and we will find out if our offense is for real or it was just a preseason thing. Our starting offense wasn’t stopped from scoring TDs and because the starting defense only played in the last two games they didn’t give up any points. The only impressive part was that they destroyed the Bills offense and defense with their starters playing. Otherwise neither unit played against starters in the first and last game. We will find out if either or both units are for real week one. We play the 49ers who had the number one defense last season and they are stacked on offense. I would love to see the offense come out and hang 30+ points on the 9ers. Hopefully our defense can shut down Purdy and company. This will give us a good gage of where our team is. I think we win this game, hopefully without using our defibrillators.
My 2 cents . . . I haven't had a chance to watch a lot of pre-season Steelers football, but what I have seen tells me that the Steelers will have the #1 defense in the AFC North and (most likely) at least a top 5 defense in the entire NFL. Add to that, your offense will have another year under their belt. Barring injuries, the Steelers will be a tough out this year. {this post will self destruct in 60 seconds}
Kevin Dotson has been traded to the Rams for a swap of their 4th for our 5th in 2024 and their 5th for our 6th in 2025. I really think we have hired the right GM.
Mann was released. No trade. Possibly the one complaint that I honesty have had with the front office so far this season. Could’ve kept Muse, or any other player. I realize Muse would be the 5th ILB, but he had way more value than Mann. I also realize complaining about the 53rd man on the roster typically means they have a pretty good roster.
2023 NFL division winner odds, picks: Buying Jaguars and Saints, plus more staff predictions Check out the AFCN picks. There's a handful of guys picking the Steelers. CBS is a bit of a joke to me but I'm intrigued that Pittsburgh is on the radar.
If you think about it logically it’s been two years since the Steelers have won the AFCN. They haven’t gone more than two years without winning the North
While I’m more excited about this team than I have been in years, I’m not ready to seriously predict them to finish ahead of the Bengals just yet. Need to see them play at least a full game. I don’t have faith in Canada, but this defense could be dominant. Should be a good first game
Keep this in mind, nobody had tape on. BRock Purdy, hope we dial Up Some crazy shit ! We have the pieces .
A Wexell Freebie... Kenny Pickett poised for a breakout Those who spent the offseason grinding with the Steelers' QB aren't surprised by his perfect preseason Jim Wexell Part 1 Let's start today's dive into the perfect preseason by Kenny "Effing" Pickett by quoting Mike Tomlin on why he kept Gunner Olszewski: "Toughness and versatility and smarts," Tomlin said of his No. 5 wide receiver. "He checks all the intangible boxes." Gunner's smart, and that's why I opened with that quote, because last year I thought Gunner delivered one of the smartest quotes of the season. In the lead-up to Pickett's second career start, this one against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs, I asked Gunner to compare Pickett to Brady. It was a difficult question that I had to whip into shape, because Gunner wasn't about to be caught comparing a rookie to his former QB, the legendary Brady. So I asked whether Brady could be a comp for Pickett's highest ceiling, since they have the same size, body type, accuracy, or, in other words, the same style. "Sure," Olszewski said. "But (Brady's) style is working harder than everybody and outworking everybody and knowing more than everybody and practicing harder than anybody and sleeping better than anybody and eating better that anybody. That's his style. So, unless you're willing to do all those things, it's not even worth talking about." Yet. Pickett led the Steelers to a 20-18 win that day as he compiled a passer rating of 87, or the exact number Brady compiled in his first season as starter for the Patriots. Pickett, of course, finished last season with three consecutive wins to cement his starting position, and then he went on to post a perfect passer rating this preseason (158.3) after leading the Steelers to five touchdowns in his five series as QB. What does Gunner have to say about the comp now? "Well," Gunner said cautiously, "it's not my job to check how my teammates are doing (eating, sleeping, etc.), but I think he's doing everything he can to put himself in a good position, to put this team in a good position to put points on the board. From everything I've seen him do, his number one priority - it seems like he carries with him everywhere he goes - is that he wants to be a good quarterback on a good football team and I think he's doing everything he needs to do." So, my high-ceiling comp isn't too crazy? "No," Olszewski said. "It's still early, though. "That's a tough comp because I don't think we'll ever see another one." What impressed him about what Pickett's done this offseason? "I've been with him since OTAs ended," Olszewski said, "and I think he just works his tail off every single day. I think he's very mentally tough and I think he's very competitive. I think that can take you very far. He's one of the most competitive people I've ever been around. He wants to win everything he does. He's like that off the field, but especially on the field. We have a great defense, and it's great going against him every day, but he wants to beat them every day. That's what I've seen." Kenny Pickett finished his rookie season with a 77 passer rating after leading the Steelers to wins in their final three games after sitting out most of the two previous games with a concussion. In two of those three wins, Pickett rallied the Steelers from 4-point deficits with touchdown passes in the final minute of games against the Raiders and Ravens. In the first, Pickett threw a 14-yard TD pass to George Pickens after sneaking for a fourth-and-1 conversion, and, in the second, Pickett hit Najee Harris for a 10-yard TD pass on third-and-8. That pass turned Pickett into a Pittsburgh legend. Of course, being the most competitive person a former Brady teammate has ever been around, Pickett went right back to work after the conclusion of his rookie season. He began by breaking down tape with QB coach Mike Sullivan in an attempt to identify problems. To facilitate that process, Tomlin took Picket out of "his closet" and put him in an office - right up there in the front office - where Pickett could do extra film study. "And he's taken the bull by the horns with that," Sullivan said during spring practices. "When you look out here on the practice field, whether it's walk-through reps or the actual competitive 7-on-7 team work, he's setting the example, but then also interacting with his teammates, giving them feedback, telling them what he's anticipating, what he's expecting, encouraging, correcting, all the things that you want a quarterback as a leader to be able to do." Pickett was often joined in his office by the "QB" of the defense, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and, according to Sullivan, "the two Jersey boys had a chance to go ahead and do a little extra work. And that's great. That's what you want your leaders to do." Pickett, though, did more than watch film and speak up with increased verve on the practice field. He took his receivers on trips. "We worked out in the offseason in Miami," said Diontae Johnson. "Everybody was down there: me, Anthony Miller, Calvin Austin, Gunner, Steve Sims, GP, and all the tight ends." It occurred in February. Pickett scheduled the workout, made sure everyone was there, and planned the precise routes and concepts. "We could see his work ethic and what he brings to the table and everybody just gravitated towards that," Johnson said. "He was a rookie last year so everybody expects him to take that next step, which he's been showing in training camp, preseason, OTAs. You can just see the rhythm and everybody getting it with him." Late in June, a few weeks after spring workouts had ended and about a month before training camp would begin, Pickett invited new wide receiver Allen Robinson to New Jersey for a throwing session. It was Pickett, his personal coach Tony Racioppi, and "a few other guys." "We threw for a good amount of time, a couple hours or so," Robinson said. "For us it was a time to sharpen up some stuff we did in OTAs, just talking through landmarks, different things like that, really honing in on specifics on where he wanted things, where he liked things, and the timing in which he was doing it in. Really being able to slow it down. 'How do you like this?' We may run it and we may come back and run it again. "Being able to have that ability to slow things down I think in times like that it helps a lot." For Robinson, a 10-year vet with 528 catches and 43 TDs on his NFL resume, creating chemistry was very important. He learned that the hard way as an expensive free agent last year with the Rams. The starting QB missed the offseason with an injury and never established chemistry with his wily slot receiver. Robinson is now that wily veteran in the Steelers' slot, a position so important to quarterbacks. "The most important thing was his attention to detail," Robinson said. "And that's across the board. The process itself involves being able to assess film, and after the fact there's communication, from play to play. It was across the board. Him being able to overcommunicate things to his skill positions and to guys up front, as a young player, that definitely stood out to me most." Had Robinson been apprehensive about that process as he changed teams? "Honestly, no," he said. "With quarterbacks you're able to get a little more insight from afar than you are other players. Seeing so much positivity come from Kenny, even when he was at Pitt, I wasn't worried at all. You can hear him how he speaks and how he talks as far as what he's focused on, so obviously the work ethic is there. He's a guy who puts the work in every day." What's he like in the huddle? "Just a pretty calm and chill demeanor, which is what you want," Robinson said. "There are times you may have a 98-yard drive, you're backed up and the crowd is right behind you yelling. Or when you're going into score in a crucial situation, you want your quarterback to be pretty even-keel and be able to keep the waters calm." Kenny "Calm Waters" Pickett.
Part 2 Could Robinson have imagined five TDs in five possessions and a perfect preseason rating from Pickett? "That's what we worked to accomplish," Robinson said. "When I say that, I mean being on the details, playing clean football, not putting ourselves behind the chains, not beating ourselves. That's pre-snap or having too many flags on the field, or different things like that. That's something that, as an offense, our staff and our individual rooms, we all took accountability to those things, to not beat ourselves. That's first and foremost. Let's be clean. Let's make sure we're sharp. Let's make sure we're communicating and taking care of the small things even before we snap the ball. If we're able to do that, than we're putting ourselves in a situation to play good, clean football. We hit our marks." Those marks included a 33-yard TD pass to Pickens in stride in the middle of the field; a 25-yard TD pass to Pat Freiermuth down the deep middle; a precise 33-yard floater to Johnson that was followed by a 35-yard pass to Pickens at the 1; and a 16-yard pass to Harris that set up the fifth TD. The offensive committed zero penalties in those five possessions. The people with whom Pickett spent most of the offseason weren't surprised. "We're on track," said Johnson. "We're looking real smooth. Everything's flowing. The offense is moving as one." Could the Steelers' runaway receptions leader the last two years have envisioned such a perfect preseason? "Yeah," Johnson said. "I just had a feeling the first day of training camp. We were just rolling, throwing the ball. Getting the timing down on the deep balls with Kenny was a little off, but he's there. He knows where we're supposed to be and he's going to throw it a certain way. And we're expecting the ball a certain way. Last year we didn't have that. Not like we do now." Are Pickett's deep passes beginning to look like Ben Roethlisberger's? "Yeah, it's there," Johnson said. Did he miss that last season? "Yeah, I did," he said. "It's different now. It's been an eye-opener. I have full faith in Eight. Eight's going to get it there, put the ball wherever it needs to be, and we're going to do our job to make him look good." What does Pickett think? Or, better: Has he remained grounded? You decide. “We had a good preseason, but obviously now it counts" Pickett said in the locker room after preseason perfection had been achieved. "Now we've got to shift our attention to San Francisco and focus on those guys and start getting into some game prep stuff.” Was Pickett happy with his 87 percent preseason accuracy? “I think it went well," he said. "I feel like we moved the ball well, we had explosive plays in the pass game, and the balance is there. That’s what we’re looking for. Our receivers did a really good job of getting yards after the catch, which was a point of emphasis that we had coming into this season. So, I think we’ve improved on a lot of things. Obviously we have a long season ahead. We have some great teams coming up, but I think we’re in a step in the right direction after having this preseason.” Tomlin went into more detail about his quarterback after that win in Atlanta. “I think the growth is probably associated with being him and not necessarily the surface-level things associated with the position," Tomlin said. "It's the leadership things, the communication things, the bringing-people-together things. When you have a high level of comfort in terms of what it is you’re doing, then those things probably happen more and so, that is significant. It’s not play-related, but it is because he is the catalyst for their unit. He controls the pace and the tenor of that unit, and I just think that if he’s comfortable, that unit has an opportunity to be comfortable. I think that’s probably the most significant difference.” For a team that's paying top dollar for superstars at every level on defense, a team that's solidified its offensive line with stable coaching and a key free-agent acquisition, a team that's been drafting skill players on offense and is teeming with budding playmakers, a "significant difference" in quarterback play should translate to a significant difference in the won-loss record. How excited are these Steelers as they prepare for Sunday's opener against the 49ers? "Very excited," said Robinson. "We have a very cohesive group, and I think cohesiveness is a very, very undervalued thing in the NFL. If you look across different position groups, there's such good cohesiveness, and in the preseason you were able to see that just in the sense of how guys are communicating, how we're doing things, how we're handling different situations. It's pretty cool to see." "All the work we've been putting in is going to show on Sundays," said Johnson. "I'm really looking forward to next Sunday so that he can put that on display and we can display all the work we've done in preparation."
I am becoming a believer in Pickett. If the ball placement from the preseason transfers to the regular season this team is going to be really freakin good.
The AFC North is going to be an exciting division in 2023. My Early picks in Final placement's Bengals.............12-5 Div Steelers.............11-6 WC Browns..............10-7 Ravens...............9-8 ALL teams will be over 500. And the interesting thing is the NFC North is also going to be an exciting Division in 2023.
Another Wexell freebie... Q&A: Patrick Peterson Steelers' gifted cornerback excited about team, game, new roles Jim Wexell PATRICK PETERSON, cornerback, Pittsburgh Steelers Will this unique matchup against teams with such unique players mean more varied packages? PP: Yeah it's definitely going to be a chess match. We know it's going to be a physical ball game. We know these guys will show us a lot of eye candy, dressing up a lot of plays, trying to make sure that our communication is on point. That's just the nature of going up against a Kyle Shanahan offense. We just have to make sure that we're all on the same page. They're not running any rocket-scientist plays, it's just the pre-snap shifts and motions that's forcing you to get in another call or another check, that's forcing defenses, to spring guys free. What do you see in Brock Purdy's game? It's a very friendly quarterback system. I believe they do a great job of getting the ball in their playmakers' hands in short grass and those guys just do the rest after that. Not saying that he can't throw the ball down the field, or make those big throws, it's just something we haven't seen on tape. It just looks like he's comfortable with what Kyle calls. It's been a lot of screens, a lot of misdirection plays, a lot of drag and over routes. And the pass-catchers, once they get the ball in their hands, those guys are making the hay after. Tackling is going to be one of the most important things in this ball game, for sure. They have the No. 1 running back, No. 2 tight end, No. 1 receiver in yards after the catch, so tackling is going to be at a premium for sure. Is there another team that has a receiver who can play running back and a running back who can play receiver? Yeah. Um, they just named a new position for Cordarrelle Patterson - joker. That's kind of what he does, right? But is there a team that has two of those guys? Nah. That's something that's very, very unique. Maybe Travis Hunter might be a candidate when he gets in the league. How often have you gone against Deebo Samuel and what's it been like? I was in Arizona for awhile, so I think I played against Deebo maybe six times. He's a football player. He's a ballplayer, a guy that loves football, and also you can plug him in at any position. Just give him the ball and watch what happens. How much more familiar are you with Shanahan's offense and how much does that help? Watching film, they're definitely still running a lot of things that he ran when I was in Arizona. Had the opportunity to go up against him in Minnesota at training camp, pretty much running the same thing. Obviously offenses and offensive coordinators are going to have some new wrinkle, but for the most part their identity is their identity. I understand that. Coach Tomlin understands that. And also, they understand how we want to play football as well. It's going to be a chess match. It's going to be a physical ball game. We'll see which team is going to be able to impose their will the best. How ready is Joey Porter Jr.? Joey is ready. Joey's ready. He's dialed into the game plan. He's getting better as far as understanding how a week goes in the NFL as far as the preparation, as far as getting his body prepared, as far as what he has to do after practice, getting the extra work in, treatment, et cetera. I know - I don't think, I know - that he's ready to get in there and make some plays for this defense. He said he has a bunch of nicknames. What do you call him? I call him a little bit of everything, too. I call him Peezy Jr., I call him JP, JJ, Joey. We call him a little bit of everything around here. But nothing has stuck just yet. We're still searching. How ready are you to play something other than corner? I'm very, very ready to play something other than corner. Obviously this is my first opportunity to be able to do that job, and just going along at practice this week it's kind of like, 'It's about to happen. It's finally about to happen.' And so I'm so excited to be in different positions, to be involved in the game plan.
After yesterday's game I'm even more clear convinced that this season will end in the way I have predicted. Playoffs with a week 1 exit and everyone will ooh and ah Tomlin once again. I'm in the camp that think Pickett is nothing social (yes I hope I'm completely wrong). Nothing he did last season changed my mind (he beat a lot of bad teams down the stretch. The one good team lost 5 games in the final two minutes last season) Nothing he did in the preseason vs non starters in w of the games and vanilla defense in all of them changed my mind and definitely the performance against the very good defense of the 49ers changes my mind. My mind will be changed when he plays like he did in the preseason in the regular season consistently against good teams. Positive we make the.playoffs Negative we lose week 1 of playoffs Positive Canada is gone Negative Tomlin isnt so we will continue to live in mediocrity.
Really looking forward to last 4 games, I think they lose their remaining games but some think they go 2-2 for another useless 9-8 season. I just can’t see them winning @ Indianapolis & @ Seattle. The @ Balt game is TBD, need to see what situation Balt is in. it appears Tomlin’s time to go has come, his teams have been stale for several seasons now. He probably does well somewhere else but I just can’t see him having anymore success in Pittsburgh going forward. The organization is at a crossroad they either have to get rid of Tomlin or force him to overhaul his coaching staff. And I’m not talking about just the OC & or DC, has to be from the bottom up. It’s insufferable when the Steelers win that Tomlin gets all the credit but when they lose then he has no player talent. Pick one to give credit and blame to, it can’t be one or the other depending on the outcome.
