The Steelers will return from the bye week in seven days, and will start it against another team that has had their struggles in the New York Jets.
The Black and Gold are 0-4, and have a long way to go in order to get back on track. If there’s one thing that is a positive thus far in 2013 is that the division flat out appears to stink.
The Browns will wake up Sunday in first place. Yes, the always awful Cleveland Browns, which should tell you how bad the division looks (Cleveland is 3-2, but lost QB Brian Hoyer for the season Thursday night).
So with the Steelers three games out of first, here’s a quick breakdown of the next few weeks if the Steelers are going to get some wins.
10/13 at NY Jets – New York has a rookie QB in Geno Smith, and all that bravado from coach Rex Ryan from seasons past is long gone. Bilal Powell is their leading rusher, while Smith has shown flashes of both good and bad in his first four games. At 2-2 he’s thrown four TD’s and 8 picks in four games, which should help out the Steelers in possibly getting their first turnover of 2013 next weekend.
10/20 vs Ravens – This isn’t the Ravens of last season, or the season before. They are very beatable, as shown last week in a home loss to – yes, the Bills. Joe ‘overpaid’ Flacco has thrown 5 TD’s and 7 picks in for games. He and their offense has been pretty average, while the defense isn’t the intimidating unit it has been. Again, a winnable game if the Steelers can get some things straightened out.
10/27 at Raiders – At 1-3 the Steelers may be seeing former Bucs QB Josh Freeman in a few weeks, as the Raiders are in their usual mode of being a mess, and trying to fix it with other teams problems. Oakland is giving up plenty of points, and their offense isn’t very good either. Here’s the problem, they always seem to lose in Oakland, which is a streak maybe they can end in 2013.
11/3 at New England – Yikes. The way the Pats are playing and the Steelers have played, this could be an ugly affair. Tom Brady and the Pats actually struggled with the Steelers in Pittsburgh the last time around a few years back, and you know they will want revenge this time around. Let’s hope the Steelers can find a way to keep it close, get some turnovers, and pull it out late. This one won’t be easy.
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Mario
October 6, 2013 at 9:55 am
I said it before, and I’ll continue saying it, Tomlin has no clue how to fix the mess he has created!
Dave B.
October 6, 2013 at 8:57 pm
The Steelers have serious problems in their personnel department . It starts with Kevin Colbert and goes all the way down to the last scout hired . When youre investing millions and 1st round draft picks in players that are turning out to be no better , than 3rd or 4th round picks , you have a major problem . Players such as Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward were both number 1 draft picks , and supposed to be the future of the teams defense . As of right now , they both have proven to be average at best players that could have been taken much later in the draft . These are the kinds of mistakes that can set a team back for years . Bottom line , if the Steelers are going to fix their team , the first thing they need to do , is fix their personnel department .
Bob
October 7, 2013 at 9:56 am
It’s not the players fault, because the team lacks leadership from their head coach. The Tomlin experiment is a disaster. He has placed this team in such disarray that it will take many years to get back to winning again!
DrGeorge
October 7, 2013 at 1:57 pm
Despite the unhappy outcome in London, the Steelers quality of play against the Vikings was actually an improvement on both sides of the ball. Except for Adams, the O-line showed promise with Beachum at OG. Until Ben fumbled in the shadow of the goal post, we had a good chance to win that game. That may be poor consolation against an 0-3 team, but it’s something to build on.
The problem in London was not that we failed to score 34 points against the Vikings, but that we gave up 34 points. As much as we lament the ineptitude of the O-line (which Tomlin is trying to fix), our bigger problem remains defense, as I’ve said for at least two years. There are few offenses that can compensate for a defense that allows 34 points, that allows Peterson to run free, and that makes Matt Cassel (a good QB) look like the second coming of Dan Marino.
Our defense is being re-built for new-style football (basketball on grass), but it is still a work in progrss. Personnel selection has been mediocre, as my colleagues noted above. We still lack speed and skill at crucial positions in the secondary, which translates into an inability to play man to man defense against quality receivers. Our D-line remains vulnerable to the run. And for the rest of this year, because of Tomlin’s draft decisions, LeBeau is going to have to make do with the old-style talent he has. Not an easy task.
For those reasons, the Steelers will struggle against teams like the Ravens and New England that have QBs who can exploit our secondary and a running game to exploit the D-line. But the Steelers will have a chance against teams with an average QB and an average running game (meaning, the Jets and Raiders). That would make us 2-6 after the next four games, with a little luck. Nothing to cheer about, but an improvement. And as things stand now, “some improvement” is as much as we can expect.
Parker
October 9, 2013 at 12:23 am
Doc the only reason we looked better was because of the opponent. In most power rankings we are 29 and they are 28 (after beating us) We need a complete rebuild from top to bottom. When this season ends our GM, Coaches, talent and record are going to have a head on collision with our salary cap. Everyone needs to research and understand our cap problems. If our record was 8-8 we are still in dire straights to attempt to do anything towards improvement because they have kicked the can down the road every season with Tomlin