QB King of the AFC North

[Wamu]

Damn Mayfield, Mariota, Johnny Outta Football, RG III & Cam is an impressive list of crap.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Burrow "MIGHT" be able to beat the Steelers defense, "maybe". I don't think there is any way the Bengals defense stops the Steelers offense though and therein lies the issue.

 

[SteelersPride]

Burrow "MIGHT" be able to beat the Steelers defense, "maybe". I don't think there is any way the Bengals defense stops the Steelers offense though and therein lies the issue.

Steelers offense and defense has not been superb

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Steelers offense and defense has not been superb

I don't know. I feel you pretty much have this one in the bag being in Pittsburgh and your defense being as good as they are. If Burrow has a good game, I still only see us scoring about 20 points. Your offense will roll 28-31 points up on our defense.

 

[SteelersPride]

I don't know. I feel you pretty much have this one in the bag being in Pittsburgh and your defense being as good as they are. If Burrow has a good game, I still only see us scoring about 20 points. Your offense will roll 28-31 points up on our defense.

But again. Our d has been bend don’t breaks that Dallas game was how the seasons been. We’ve won. We’re good. We can be beat. They find ways to come up big. That’s great. They need to be better.
Trust me we know we’re good. But we also know we hve flaws that need to be worked in, and until we fix them, if some exploits it.....

that and we either start slow, or we let off the gs pedal. Every game.

Steeler fans don’t do the super homer thing that well on this board lol.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Says just as much, and maybe more, about the teams around the trophy winner as much as the actual winner - since usually those guys go high to crappy teams.

 

[Wamu]

Steelers offense and defense has not been superb

Well dammit it's about time they start playing worse.

 

[SteelersPride]

Well dammit it's about time they start playing worse.

well with alaulauaaua (sp?) we need to fix the run......

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Joe Burrow... Meet a real NFL defense...


In all seriousness though... This was a great learning experience for Joe and its bound to happen to rookies. Already happened against BAL, but now PIT. He's got a better measure of the division now. We've seen him make tight window throw after tight window throw. A bad game in bad weather that he had to complete on a bum ankle and people falling all over themselves to say he might not be the QB people thought he was. Get outta here with that. He'll be just fine.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Joe Burrow... Meet a real NFL defense...


In all seriousness though... This was a great learning experience for Joe and its bound to happen to rookies. Already happened against BAL, but now PIT. He's got a better measure of the division now. We've seen him make tight window throw after tight window throw. A bad game in bad weather that he had to complete on a bum ankle and people falling all over themselves to say he might not be the QB people thought he was. Get outta here with that. He'll be just fine.

Doesn't help any young QB against a good defense when the two main RB's combine for just 15 carries despite a 5.2 YPC. Sure, some of that could have been due to the score, letting up on the run - but the bottom line is ZT continually has Burrow sit back and sling it - and eventually against good defenses and good Dcords - that simply isn't going to work.

Good teams find a balance and take advantage of what the defense is giving them on any given game-day. In this case, it was clear from the start that the Steelers were going to sit on the intermediate routs where Burrow excels, and to accomplish that, they weren't going to blitz as often, allowing defenders to drop and clog the lane while trusting that a normal rush would generate enough pressure. It was a great game-plan because it worked, and because ZT refused, or failed, to adjust to what the defense was giving to him. What Taylor failed to recognize is that the nominal rush plus the drop of the LB's into that medium zone left space for the RB's to operate. After forcing the defense to account for the run, he could then turn back to Burrow to make some throws with the lanes not nearly as clogged with defenders. Instead, he doubled down on Burrow to simply sling it all day - and played right into the defensive strategy.

A learning experience for sure, but for me, the bigger take away from both the Bal and Pitt games is that ZT refuses to adapt to the game as it unfolds. Against mediocre defenses and coaching, it can work - but against the top teams of the league - it has to start with the coaches adapting to how the game is unfolding and putting the players in the best position to win the game. I don't think Taylor recognizes this in the least - and that is being proven over and over again this season, IMO. Maybe worse, he sees it and simply doesn't adjust - doubling down on Burrow, which is criminal when you consider the punishment he is sustaining in some of these games in which he simply does not need to take that punishment.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Brought to you courtesy of @Superbelt

 

[Cincyfan78]

 

[Clayton]

The past five weeks Ben has been the worst QB in the NFL. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team lose momentum so quickly

 

[Stakesarehigh]

The past five weeks Ben has been the worst QB in the NFL. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team lose momentum so quickly

Hes getting old

 

[Cincyfan78]

So, serious question here regarding Ben:

He's due to count $41M against the cap next year and wants to return. With the end for him being so near (could next year be it? Even if it's the year after?) how do you restructure that contract without killing the cap once he retires since that is much sooner than not?

Also, the cap is expected to drop. The current rumor is $175M which would be $23M less than this years' cap. The Steelers are currently projected to have $202M in salary for just 35 players currently signed for next year.

IF the cap holds at that mark ($175M) The Steelers are effectively $27M over the cap before they even fill out their roster.

I'm not super Cap savvy with restructuring, but doing so when you know the Cap hit is still going to hit hard either the following year, or next, makes it really hard to improve this team, IMO. Even if the cap goes back up the following year, no one knows how much. It's unlikely the cap would exceed 2020's $198M, so the room to push future money down the road isn't as clear (or as positive) as it has been over the last 5-10 years in the NFL with the exploding cap.

The Browns, Bengals, and Ravens all in the top 10 in cap room - all are set at QB - and for the most part - have pieces to grow with room to add (insert poor draft/FA decisions for the Bengals here).

When does Pitt simply look around the league (AFCN) and say - it's time to blow it up, get the cap right, find our next QB, and rebuild. I think any kind of band-aid here is simply going to fail in the ultimate goal of winning a SB for Pitt - and will push this team 2-3 years behind the rest of the young AFCN.

Thoughts?

 

[Clayton]

Nobody voted for Baker and he has about a 50/50 shot of winning this crown at this point.

 

[skinzfan]

time for Rothy to retire. Steelers would be fools to pay him 41M next year. 20M...maybe. Total rebuild needed for the team.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

So, serious question here regarding Ben:

He's due to count $41M against the cap next year and wants to return. With the end for him being so near (could next year be it? Even if it's the year after?) how do you restructure that contract without killing the cap once he retires since that is much sooner than not?

Also, the cap is expected to drop. The current rumor is $175M which would be $23M less than this years' cap. The Steelers are currently projected to have $202M in salary for just 35 players currently signed for next year.

IF the cap holds at that mark ($175M) The Steelers are effectively $27M over the cap before they even fill out their roster.

I'm not super Cap savvy with restructuring, but doing so when you know the Cap hit is still going to hit hard either the following year, or next, makes it really hard to improve this team, IMO. Even if the cap goes back up the following year, no one knows how much. It's unlikely the cap would exceed 2020's $198M, so the room to push future money down the road isn't as clear (or as positive) as it has been over the last 5-10 years in the NFL with the exploding cap.

The Browns, Bengals, and Ravens all in the top 10 in cap room - all are set at QB - and for the most part - have pieces to grow with room to add (insert poor draft/FA decisions for the Bengals here).

When does Pitt simply look around the league (AFCN) and say - it's time to blow it up, get the cap right, find our next QB, and rebuild. I think any kind of band-aid here is simply going to fail in the ultimate goal of winning a SB for Pitt - and will push this team 2-3 years behind the rest of the young AFCN.

Thoughts?

They absolutely cannot let Ben eat 40m of the cap next year... If they want to bring him back for 1 more year, then they need to extend his contract to kick that can down the road. Even if he only intends to honor 1 year, they need to spread that dead hit over a few years regardless of whether he's wearing a helmet or not. He still has something left in the tank, but I do agree that it does feel like the timing is right to blow this team up.

They should move towards a lean year. Cut a bunch of heavier deadweight contracts. It'll be a tough year to stomach but it needs to be done.

 

[Superbelt]

They absolutely cannot let Ben eat 40m of the cap next year... If they want to bring him back for 1 more year, then they need to extend his contract to kick that can down the road. Even if he only intends to honor 1 year, they need to spread that dead hit over a few years regardless of whether he's wearing a helmet or not. He still has something left in the tank, but I do agree that it does feel like the timing is right to blow this team up.

They should move towards a lean year. Cut a bunch of heavier deadweight contracts. It'll be a tough year to stomach but it needs to be done.

If he wants to come back, he needs to take a straight paycut down to minimum, and survive on the massive bonus money that was already paid to him. AND be ok with his overrated buddy Pouncey being gone. If he wants to win, they need to use all the money they can to rebuild the line so they can run the ball and not rely on Ben winning games in the air anymore.

No stretching the pain out. Bandaid needs to come off quick.

 

[Cincyfan78]

If he wants to come back, he needs to take a straight paycut down to minimum, and survive on the massive bonus money that was already paid to him. AND be ok with his overrated buddy Pouncey being gone. If he wants to win, they need to use all the money they can to rebuild the line so they can run the ball and not rely on Ben winning games in the air anymore.

No stretching the pain out. Bandaid needs to come off quick.

IMO, the best way to rip the band-aid off is to tell Ben - it's time. He needs to retire. I don't think it is in the best interest of the franchise to try and work this out and kick additional dollars down the road.

The big reason I think this is because of the reported cap for 2021. Again, if true, the cap of $175 would put Pitt $27M over the cap with just 35 players accounting for that amount. When you figure having to fill the roster out, any impending F/A that they would need to re-sign that they do want back for another 3-4 years, and factoring in the chance of the cap not rebounding much in 2021, at least not past the current $198M - kicking any amount of money down the road for another year, or two, for just 1 more season from a clearly compromised Ben for a team that is likely going to need to go through a transition...

Bottom line - even if Ben restructures, I don't think they have enough cap wiggle to put enough talent around Ben to make it worth while for another "last run".

Maybe I'm wrong on that...again, I'm not the most savvy with the cap - just what I see on the surface.