The key to this team is all in the numbers

[e-dog]

But he didn't get a player to replace Pat. They are scheming to much. They are more than one player away from a good d-line.

Where are these d-linemen who are supposed to be players.

You have one and thats when he isn't to winded and is motivated.

The rest:

 

Anderson- so far nothing and he doesn't look like he will ever be much of a factor.

Edwards- never was, and never will. Probably won't play again in Buff.

Denney- well he stuck it to Pitt on this guy didn't he.

Kelsay- seen some flashes but is starting to look more like Anderson.

Bannan- tries but is too small and doesn't produce

Schobel- the supposed gem. Can't stop the run, decent pass rusher but not worth the $$$ he got.

Sape- please. I'm surprised he's still here.

 

Oh yeah, most of these guys were 2nd and 3rd rd. picks. The supposed nucleus of your team.

[Fan in San Diego]

You haven't the foggiest idea what happened in P'burgh. You're just trying to make the scenario fit your agenda.

I think he made a mistake letting the wildly underrated PhatPat get away and I said so at the time. You plug a good player next to Sam Adams and have a coachign staff that lets them play instead of too often scheming them way from the ball and I bet the look pretty good. Being one player away from a good defensive front isn't exactly what I would call a mess.

And that indeed is the million dollar question man. In an era of quickcutting music videos and graphic "novels" that are 40 pages long, it's tough to preach patience without sounding like a doddering old fool. But if you look at the success he had in Pittsburgh, it took some time. He spent a bunch of years running the scouting dept. and loading the roster with great players like Woodson, Kirkland, JJackson, etc. Then when he took over as GM he just had to make additions to what he already had and in a few years the Stillers started a string of success that still continues.

I think the biggest difffference is that when he got here he had next to nothing to work with. He had Moulds and PhatPat but beside that the OLine was in shambles, the defense was aging and overpaid, the coaching staff was a trouble spot and to top it off they were staring at a slary cap implosion. He basically had to start from scratch like an expansion team except that he didn't get the extra high draft choices, the special free agent "draft" and the few years of cap exemption that those expansion teams did; so essentially he was in worse position than the Houston's and Cleveland's of the world. Since that first year he's managed to assemble a financially sound team that's played about .500 in the toughest division in the NFL and until this year had gotten better every season. And this season is not a real surprising anomoly as I think they realized they weren't going to challenge for a title for the next year or two so they kind of saved their chits for the future(eating Bledsoe's cap hit now insted of stretching it out, not re-signing PhatPat who will be 2-3 years older when the team is ready to contenc, not dumping big bucks into the OLine until next year, etc) and tried to get by on the cheap while the young franchise QB goes through his predictable growing pains.

If this team isn't significantly better by the end of next year (and I don't thikn they're that bad right now), I will be surprised and may join in with those who are ready to move on to different management. But because I've seen enough great results in the past and recognize they've done a credible job in a bad situation here, I'm not ready to tar and feather teh guy every time we get beat.

Cya

487034[/snapback]

 

Interesting opinion. I really really hope your right !

[Johnny]

You're just trying to make the scenario fit your agenda.

 

487034[/snapback]

 

i posted a couple weeks ago that i thought coaching is a bit overrated.

 

i think people do like to back fit reasons for losing and coaching usually gets hit first.

 

Mularkey could have coached the broncos to a superbowl win also, as long as he was smart enough to give it to terrel davis at the goal line.

 

i'm trying to say these guys get paid lots of money to do something we probaly couldnt do and it's easy to throw some blame or back fit the losing to a reason.....that being said the gm is the start to winning....he gives coaches players that can win and the coach has to put them in a position to win........this team doesnt have the personnel to win yet but i dont think i'm smart enough to know if it's donahoes fault or not that it doesnt yet, cause it was a mess when he took over

 

what is easily seen by the average fan though is that they committed a whole lot of time and money to jp losman and if they dont do what it takes to find out what this guy has then something definitely is wrong

[Rubes]

Mularkey could have coached the broncos to a superbowl win also, as long as he was smart enough to give it to terrel davis at the goal line.

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I guess not...probably would've handed off to the fullback.

[R. Rich]

Jerome Bettis

Hines Ward

Joey Porter

Alan Faneca

Dan Kredier

Aaron Smith

Deshea Townsend

Kimo Von Olhoffen

Marvel Smith

 

Gee you don't think any of these guys have anything to do with Pittsburgh's continued success do you? I mean they're only the heart and soul of the Stillers, most of their best players as well as their leaders on both sides of the ball. Couldn't be, they're all Donahoe acquisitions so they must all suck.

Can you find a single other NFL team with that many important core players that have been around that long? It's even more impressive when you consider they were acquired by the previous management and were so good that the new administration couldn't replace them with their own people.

If you want to rip on Donahoe's failure to put together a line that can pass protect well, or rag on his mistakes w/ Phat Pat and Bledsoe, go for it. But implying that his work in P'burgh sucked and was holding them back only makes you look like a fool. All he did in his 9 years there was put together a roster that was 30 games over .500, won 5 division titles, put them in about a dozen playoff games and create a nucleus of talent that they are still relying on 6 years after he's left.

So their best OLineman, their best LB'er, their best reciever, their ProBowl FB and HOF RB, 3 of their starting OLinemen and 4 of their starting Front 7 are Donahoe acquisitions, but yeah they're definitely better off without him. 

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Most people won't deny Donahoe's accomplishments while in Pittsburgh. The problem there, I believe, came when the Steelers started to go away from their "heavy on the running game" roots, and were successful in it (when Kordell was a Pro Bowl QB and when they could score points and gain yards through the air like crazy). That started a power struggle between Cowher and Donahoe, one which Donahoe lost. Now, do they miss Donahoe? Not really, because Kevin Colbert has done a terrific job of doing what the Steelers have done so well: continue to win games, manage the cap, evaluate/draft/acquire players that fit their scheme well, and replace losses due to free agency.