Jerry Porter brings nothing as of yet. This wasn’t supposed to be a developmental year, this was supposed to be a championship year. Now we really are going to have an uphill battle to win a wild-card spot. I mean we are gonna need to go 11-5 or maybe if we’re lucky 10-6 will get us in. I just think that with all of the tiebreakers we’ve lost by losing to other potential AFC playoff teams may mean that we’ll have to go 11-5 to ensure a wildcard spot.

We now need both Pittsburgh and Buffalo to win their division so that a wild-card spot doesn’t come down to the two of us, because then they already have the tiebreaker and we’re doomed without a better record then them. We must own the Broncos next week… must. 3-3 into the bye will give us a chance to make a run at a few games in a row. This was a tough loss because the Steelers aren’t that good. In fact I hope we draw them in the playoffs again.

This was a tough one though… it’s gonna hurt for awhile… I’m not sure Gregg Williams is the problem, I think it’s the lack of players who are able to execute it. That INT by Mathis was a direct result of a delayed blitz. Aggression has it’s ups and downs. The issuse was all coverage related. James had to be pulled because he was getting burned so bad. It was all coverage and tackling. The D-line did average, our sides are weak against the run when groves and Harvey are in so that must be addressed… so many mistakes and so much crap.

-Collin

It looks to me like we are trying to move from a running team to a high powered passing team. Vic says it is because we are being stacked at the line, but I am beginning to doubt that. The first play of every game has always been “Fred Taylor the ball carrier, gain of 4”. Those days are gone.

The defense has no personality or underlying intelligence. People are open all over and Ben read every formation easily. No confused quarterback playing us anymore. We are the ones confused and not ready for anything. The Steelers reached deep in the depth chart and put up better runs than our super star runners did. Why?

I’ve said this over and over, I don’t know who this team is. Except for some very very lucky breaks, this could be an 0-5 team and right now looks at best to be an 8-8 team.

I don’t see Jack Del Rio’s stamp on this team anymore.

I am with you on that “Fire Gregg Williams” movement…. where do I sign up? Our defense went from great to crap in one year, ’ dude’s gotta’ go!’
Oh and by the way, from my seat it appeared that the David Garrard from last year showed up. That dude played his ass off. Unfortunately, Matt Jones, Mike Walker and Marcedes Lewis all had perfect throws in their hands that would have prevented failed 4th down attempts and a punt, that were not caught. Strangely all three had good games…. just not in the clutch moments.
Although, I believe we figured out Lewis’ deal. He only catches balls thrown to the end-zone. Overall it was a great game, we just weren’t on the winning end of it.

Big Ben threw 2 ’ PERFECT ’ passes on that last drive. Bravo, Sir.

First about our DEF:
We have same players as last year, lost Stroud, Knight, and G.Jackson, but we added Qroves, Harvey, Florence, healthy Mo Pete, and Sensabaugh….
And we were outplayed by team that started its fourth-string running back who finished the game on 99-yard mark and he averaged 5.8 yards per carry, and played with injured QB that had 309 yards on us, they lost starting OT in game, and are team that allowed 19 sacks so far, with Qb that was sacked, hurried, or hit most than anyother in league!!!

And yesterday he had whole time in the world to throw, and we couldn’t stop the run for most of the game, we know they are going to pass to Miller or Ward and couldn’t stop that.

So coach Villiams, you play what you got, not what you would like ….
Don’t give us that story players didn’t perform, you know what players you have, or you are just bad coach when you don’t see that those players can’t play that or doesn’t know.
it’s your job to see what you got, and use is best way you can.
And you are not doing that, nothing seems to work.
And by the way other teams have injuries too, not an excuse.

Where do I apply for that "Fire Gregg Williams" movement?

On the other side of ball, our OFFENCE, actualy OL couldn’t run, or give enough time Garrard to throw the ball.
We lost LG, and RG, ond OC, and back-up OT ….that is a lot…
and those guys that are filling in right now, they wouldn’t be back ups if they were any good. But also not an excuse…
Steelers have even worst OL, and they had and running and passing game…
And their offence started their fourth RB, and injured QB. We have Garrard, and two great RB’s, and EB.
Garrard didn’t have time to throw it to Porter or Walker deep, only short routes to Matt Jones or Walker… we could use Lewis more and try with Williamson but as long as OL can’t keep presure off Garrard it’s not gonna help us much.

On the other side we could say Steelers have great , fast D, and our OL was banged up…an so, and so… but those are just excuses… we wanted to go to SB, now PO looks so far.

So nice to not see Garrard living it up with his stupid fedora. Smile it up now jerkoff!

The demon has been exorcised, the Steelers doppelgangers have been vanquished!

God it feels so good to get a win over this team. Have fun trying to get to the playoffs with a losing record in the AFC south!

(yes I know I’m being a jerk, 4 in a row and BS playoff loses will do that)

After being fired at Washington, this is not the next addition to the resume he wanted. If the Jaguars finish near last in defense, which hey are getting closer each week to doing, he won’t be asked back. This is a career ending season for him.

I know, It must hurt getting manhandled four games in a row by the SAME TEAM.
haha and what’s the deal with Ward? I don’t know if I have ever seen a dirtier/ more dick of a player. Steelers fans and players are a bunch of rude dicks

I agree with all your statements. Harvey will keep growing and I’m liking what I see out of Groves as well. I think it is G.Williams a little bit. Don’t forget we didnt have Florence(would he have helped? he’s been a disappointment so far. Speak your thoughts on Florence) and Nelson. I thought Nelson was spose to be back? Kingfysh, you have an idea I like a lot. Witherspoon would be awesome to have lined up outside. Send questions to Vic to ask personnel if they can do that.

A caller mentioned Spoon as WR on the Wednesday radio show, and they ref. back to the JDR show. Someone else had mentioned the same thing, and JDR laughed and said no way. He didn’t give a reason though. Perhaps because the guy was a track star not a football player? I don’t know. Maybe they figure he’s doesn’t have the weight yet, or the football knowledge. He is fast, but I’ve watched him run into the coverage team of times, when a little more vision might have put him outside with a chance at an open field. He’s very new, and very green. Give the guy a few years.

Is anyone else getting fed up with the amazing amount of predictable plays on offense? We have two elusive runners in Taylor and MJD, yet we still just run them up the middle 10 times a game, even if it’s obviously not working. Greg Jones moves piles and FT/MJD break ankles, but we keep on jamming that square peg into a round hole.

Not only are the games frustrating, but they’re ugly as well. No creativity, at least none that’s planned. 4th down conversions by the skin of our teeth are more telling of desperation than gall.

JDR needs to give Garrard some flexibility to audible at the line. If the box is stacked – call a draw, screen, whatever. I’m sick of seeing us play into the hands of opposing coaches. Our individuals are better than our team right now, but not according to this season’s mediocre highlight reel.

The semi-emergence of Mike Walker and Grove’s first sack were two of the few bright spots. We can still turn this season around.

We are witnessing before our very eyes a meltdown of monumental proportions when it comes to our D and Running game. Who would have thought that after 5 games that our D would be ranked in the bottom tier of all the teams in the NFL. Especially after all the expectaions we had coming into this year.

 I can say with certainty that this is not all on our DC. We are seeing the same results we witnessed last year towards the end of the season with Mike Smith at the helm. We have not seen a major turn over in personell, and the turn over we have had on D was supposed to make our D better. We obviously are not seeing the progression, and it has become very frustrating for us all.

It was obvious that Will James is not the man JDR thought he was, but something in the Indy game should have been a pre-cursor of things to come. He flopped against the Texans, and again last night. It shouldn’t have taken this long for our coaching staff to figure this out. This was a glaring weakness, and it couldn’t have been more evident. However, with them taking him out and moving Brian Williams back to his CB spot the defense’s ability to cover greatly improved. It is hard to deny when the stat showed half way thru the 4th quarter that Pitt had -2 yards passing. It had to be the coverage because Ben was running for his life when he wasn’t handing the ball off. That is not to say that the coverage didn’t break down from time to time. But, consider this argument for Players not Plays. Big Ben was able to extend plays because Ben is one heckuva player. With our D draped on him he killed us. That is a fact, and no one can dispute it. Let’s look at David Garrard. The last 2 weeks he, and Scobee have pulled it out for us. It is because they were able to execute/make the plays needed to win the game.

Just because you have a great scheme doesn’t guarntee the success of the scheme. You have to have the players to execute it, and without the players needed you will fail more than you will succeed.

Now to the OL. The point of attack has been compromised greatly to say the least. With the string of injuries that we have suffered, and the fact that we are having to use backups has seriously hampered our ability to win the point. In time we can get Meester back, and with any luck Naeole can get back (I’m not counting on it this year), Norman can move to his guard spot, and then we can see a line that is almost like last year’s.

With that being said we now have to turn to our next game which is Denver. They lost to a very bad KC team, and rivalry or not Denver should have rolled against them. They seem to have the same sievitis that the Colts have, and that bodes well for this team going into this Sunday. This game will be the one that makes or breaks our season in my opinion. If we can get the win, we go into the bye with the ability to get healthy, and an opportunity to make the adjustments needed for this team to make a great midseason push which will set up a crucial showdown with the Dreaded Tenn. Titans.

I don’t know about you all but I am beginning to not care about Garrard managing the game. I would rather lose having Garrard throwing a pick 50 yards down field then having a 10 yard pass batted down at the line. That last drive I was waiting for a deep shot and it never came. One deep pass and that resulted in a PI that put us on the 1 yard line…….Not losing touch with reality and I understand that this is professional football, but we all grew up on “Go long and Ill get the ball to you” Why are the jags so different, why can 31 other teams make it happen with the same professionals…….You have to try!

“" The semi-emergence of Mike Walker and Grove’s first sack were two of the few bright spots. We can still turn this season around. "”

I really liked what I saw out of Mike Walker, I really think he could emerge as our play maker. Groves and Harvey looked better this game, the fact Harvey is starting is also a good sign, especially with all the time he missed due to the holdout. I really hope our secondary can step up this week against Denver. We need to get Drayton back for that game or else we could really be in some trouble. We are already going to be without my man Reggie Nelson this week. Hopefully we will get him back after the bye, he has been looking great this year.