Am I the only one not impressed by the Steelers?

[SBR Lou]

I think he was referring to the fact that as good as the Cards passing game is, the Steelers pass defense is better.

Are you suggesting the Steelers are better pass defenders than Larry Fitzgerald is a receiver?

There is no one on that team that can shut him down, he'll line up against their best corner with safety help and do what he does. There's absolutely no way he doesn't bank another consecutive 100yd game, he's brought his best to the playoffs and scary part was he was already flipping good.

[element1286]

He can't be covered one on one by anyone, but as a collective whole the Steelers pass defense is better than the Cardinals passing game.

[SBR Lou]

He can't be covered one on one by anyone, but as a collective whole the Steelers pass defense is better than the Cardinals passing game.

I'll take Fitzgerald and a healthy Boldin against the Steelers pass defense and expect them to win their match ups. If Steelers win, it's about pressure on Warner due to insufficient protection, fumbles, forcing errant passes, bottom line is if Warner is allowed time the Cardinals receivers will backhand the Steelers secondary in the mouth.

[element1286]

I'll take Fitzgerald and a healthy Boldin against the Steelers pass defense and expect them to win their match ups. If Steelers win, it's about pressure on Warner due to insufficient protection, fumbles, forcing errant passes, bottom line is if Warner is allowed time the Cardinals receivers will backhand the Steelers secondary in the mouth.

It's always about pressure, it's not like the Cardinals have a great o-line, it is average. While the Steelers were second in the league in sacks.

If Ben is allowed time he is going to pick apart the Cardinals secondary as well.

[SBR Lou]

It's always about pressure, it's not like the Cardinals have a great o-line, it is average. While the Steelers were second in the league in sacks.

If Ben is allowed time he is going to pick apart the Cardinals secondary as well.

Pretty big leap of faith, there. But I see your location is Pittsburgh.

Great QB with average O Line, with best WR in game, and excellent compliment and slant threat and YAC guy in Boldin versus Steelers "#1 defense" (I personally like the Ravens squad more defensively)..

vs...

Overrated system QB that allows defense to keep him in games with a pitiful O Line, his best WR twisted a knee and missed the entire game, and Santonio Holmes as his next biggest threat but more of a factor in punt returns....

Hmm.. Yeah, let me lay seven on the latter...

[Chi_archie]

Pretty big leap of faith, there. But I see your location is Pittsburgh.

Great QB with average O Line, with best WR in game, and excellent compliment and slant threat and YAC guy in Boldin versus Steelers "#1 defense" (I personally like the Ravens squad more defensively)..

vs...

Overrated system QB that allows defense to keep him in games with a pitiful O Line, his best WR twisted a knee and missed the entire game, and Santonio Holmes as his next biggest threat but more of a factor in punt returns....

Hmm.. Yeah, let me lay seven on the latter...

wow, if big ben and his average offensive line can throw for 255 without Hines against your proclaimed #1 defense...what will they do to Arizona's?

all of the mis-matches favor the steelers...

#1 run defense vs #32 run?

name me the last super bowl champion with the worst ranked run offense in the league.

now find out how many SB champs had #1 defense in run, pass or points allowed....

defense wins ball games... 1-2 guys cannot beat the Steelers...

I will always take the tried and true defensive unit vs a hot group of skill guys

[element1286]

Pretty big leap of faith, there. But I see your location is Pittsburgh.

Great QB with average O Line, with best WR in game, and excellent compliment and slant threat and YAC guy in Boldin versus Steelers "#1 defense" (I personally like the Ravens squad more defensively)..

vs...

Overrated system QB that allows defense to keep him in games with a pitiful O Line, his best WR twisted a knee and missed the entire game, and Santonio Holmes as his next biggest threat but more of a factor in punt returns....

Hmm.. Yeah, let me lay seven on the latter...

Ok bud, I'm pretty sure my arguments have been supported with facts that have nothing to do with where I live.

System qb's don't go to the Superbowl twice in 4 years.

[Chi_archie]

system qb or not is not even the question here.... many game-managers have gone and won the super bowl.

Big Ben has beat Lou's best nfl defense 3 times....what will he do against Arizona's below avg defense?

it comes down to 53 men vs 53 men...it comes down to defensive units vs offensive units....special teams..

I like Pittsburgh in just about every match up.... I like pittsburgh's results the past 2 years with their defensive unit shutting down many "great" offensive teams and threats...

people that don't know football and especially those that have never played it are quick to jump on the bandwagon...

I bring up my previous question, did anyone here have arizona in their top 5 in the NFC the day the season ended? did they get that much better that fast?

[Chi_archie]

Ok bud, I'm pretty sure my arguments have been supported with facts that have nothing to do with where I live.

System qb's don't go to the Superbowl twice in 4 years.

and if he is a system QB...he does manage some pretty good years when he's not injured

5 years in the league
he's finished 5th, 3rd and 2nd in the league in passer rating in 04,05,07.

take away his 3 bad games after getting hurt earlier this season and I think he' be up in the top 5-10 again.

career wise... Big Ben 89.4 passing rating to Kurt's 93.8

not light years apart...very close in fact.

I'll take the "system qb" and his first ranked Defense allowing only 13.9 points a game where two td's win

against Warner and his 28th ranked scoring defense allowing almost double 26.6 points points a game forcing kurt to throw for 4 td's to win.....i'd be very scared to bet on a team that gave up a 24-6 lead....let the other team score 19 unanswered to almost lose the game

[Doc JS]

I'm with pavy. No one can shut down Fitzgerald.

Give Dick LeBeau two weeks and we'll see about that...

[Chi_archie]

I'd love to see Lou or anyone come up with an argument beyond...

Fitzgerald is GOD, Warner is great, Ben is bad.....

so are that's all we've had.

tons of other points and stats have been posted but are ignored...

when it comes down to it even the 1 on 1 matchups that people post are not decisive... Kurt Warner career is barely better then Roethlisberger in qb passer rating....

its not like the Steelers have not played great passing teams, great QB's, and great receivers this year.

and I repeat an early stat. in their 16 games this year only one team has had more then 1 td in the air vs the steelers and that was peyton manning.

7 nfl teams played 60 mins of football and failed to get ANY touchdowns in the air...and that includes New England with Moss and Welker combing for 75 yards receiving..and it includes Rivers the # 1 rated qb with his 34 td's this year.

good qb's and good receivers is nothing new to the steelers... Ike Taylor gets no press but he is a top 5 shut down corner

[Panic]

Yep. You're the only one. Take the Cards and the points and go broke.

[Chi_archie]

if you take the cards schedule and avg out the rankings of the defenses they faced it comes to 15.06 out of 32... so a bit above avg...

but if you take the avg of the teams they won they beat teams with an avg defensive ranking of 19.89 think
st.louis, seattle, and san fran (which accounted for 6 of zona's 9 wins) Dallas was they only above avg D that zona beat (#8)

the games that zona lost were to teams ranked 4,16,18,5,3,6,and 10 in defense for an avg of 8.86 defensive rankings for opponents zona lost to.

what can we extrapolate from this...with zona now facing the #1 defense? The Steelers are not the
St. Louis 49-hawks

and in over half of zona's losses (4 out of 7) fitzgerald had over 100 yards..... I guess it takes more then just 1 receiver to win

[The Seer]

the fact of the matter is Pitts line sucks. They have allowed the 4th most sacks in the league at 49. Ben's completion % is in the lower half of the league. They are below average. I'm sorry but arguing with fans is like arguing with a stop sign.

[Chi_archie]

the fact of the matter is Pitts line sucks. They have allowed the 4th most sacks in the league at 49. Ben's completion % is in the lower half of the league. They are below average. I'm sorry but arguing with fans is like arguing with a stop sign.

seer, you've yet to answer any of the above questions which are more important..

steelers were still able to thrive despite a below avg line... and win 12/16 against a much much harder schedule then the cards...

i'll say it again.. I'll take a team with the worst o-line ever, if it has the best defense....

if other teams haven't beat the steelers with that despite the bad o-line..

WHY WHY WHY WHY do the cardinals?

are they better pass rushers?

[Panic]

the fact of the matter is Pitts line sucks. They have allowed the 4th most sacks in the league at 49. Ben's completion % is in the lower half of the league. They are below average. I'm sorry but arguing with fans is like arguing with a stop sign.

Flip the script. Played the hardest schedule in football. Got #2 seed. Best running back out for 6 games. #1 draft choice(Mendenhall) out for the rest of the season. Big Ben concussion. List goes on and on. And where are they at, healthy now, and favored by 7 in the Super Bowl. Wait til this team addresses the OLine in the off season. They are the new dynasty. they will win 3 out of the next 4 Super Bowls.

[The Seer]

Give Dick LeBeau two weeks and we'll see about that...

Pittsburgs defense hasn't been much better in the post season than Az's. They have allowed 1 less point per game. You can talk about yds all you want but it come down to points per game, Period. By the wy, they have as many sacks too and Roth is much more prone to get sacked. Warner gets rid of the ball much faster.

[Chi_archie]

zona's been playing against the nfc in the playoffs...and and extra game..

yards is a better measure of D.... too many other factors go into scores

special teams, pick 6's, bad field position ect
can't ignore a season of mediocrity and think that all the sudden zona's D matches up with Pittsburgh's..

that just makes you look foolish

[The Seer]

seer, you've yet to answer any of the above questions which are more important..

steelers were still able to thrive despite a below avg line... and win 12/16 against a much much harder schedule then the cards...

i'll say it again.. I'll take a team with the worst o-line ever, if it has the best defense....

if other teams haven't beat the steelers with that despite the bad o-line..

WHY WHY WHY WHY do the cardinals?

are they better pass rushers?

Steelers inept offense has been getting bailed out by the defense. You can say what you want about the Steelers vs AZ schedule (which is irrelevant now or else the Pats would have won last year) but lets not forget the Steelers had 4 games against the Browns and Bungles and still had average stats.

[The Seer]

zona's been playing against the nfc in the playoffs...and and extra game..

yards is a better measure of D.... too many other factors go into scores

special teams, pick 6's, bad field position ect
can't ignore a season of mediocrity and think that all the sudden zona's D matches up with Pittsburgh's..

that just makes you look foolish

Chi, u must not know much about football. There are different styles of defense. Pressure defenses, bend but don't break, etc. They don't show fukkin yards allowed on the goddamn scoreboard.

[Panic]

Players under the age of 30 on the Steelers: Big Ben, Troy, Miller, Holmes, Mendenhall...can you say dynasty? Last team to be this young and have this much talent is the Cowboys of the early 90's. The Steelers upgrade their OLine...its all over for the next few years.

[The Seer]

zona's been playing against the nfc in the playoffs...and and extra game..

The same shit was said about the great AFC last year and we see how the turned out. I'll take the 7 all day here.

[The Seer]

Players under the age of 30 on the Steelers: Big Ben, Troy, Miller, Holmes, Mendenhall...can you say dynasty? Last team to be this young and have this much talent is the Cowboys of the early 90's. The Steelers upgrade their OLine...its all over for the next few years.

The cards are a younger overall team, fact.

[Chi_archie]

Steelers may be the best example of a bend but don't break defense there is...

I guess by your logic the Steelers are almost twice as a good of a defense as Arizona...going by points allowed per game

[Chi_archie]

# 1 defense vs the # 28 defense..... who ya gonna take.... defense win's games get out of here with your bad o-line crap

[Panic]

The cards are a younger overall team, fact.

Less talented. Great receivers...best in the game. No doubt. But the Steelers are built to win for the next 5-7 years. Let me ask you, if Warner goes down, then what? Leinart? If Warner retires or goes down, Cards are done. Period.

[The Seer]

Players under the age of 30 on the Steelers: Big Ben, Troy, Miller, Holmes, Mendenhall...can you say dynasty? Last team to be this young and have this much talent is the Cowboys of the early 90's. The Steelers upgrade their OLine...its all over for the next few years.

no, they are not a dynasty. U can't even begin to compare the talent of the 90's cowboys with this steeler talent. We are talking hall of famers across the board. That is a joke even if they improve their o line.

[The Seer]

Less talented. Great receivers...best in the game. No doubt. But the Steelers are built to win for the next 5-7 years. Let me ask you, if Warner goes down, then what? Leinart? If Warner retires or goes down, Cards are done. Period.

if average roth goes down, then what , Leftwich I'll take Leinart. Same thing.

[The Seer]

Steelers may be the best example of a bend but don't break defense there is...

I guess by your logic the Steelers are almost twice as a good of a defense as Arizona...going by points allowed per game

look at these playoff stats moron:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/stats/byteam?group=Defense&cat=Total&conference=NFL&year=postseason_2008&sort=8&old_category=Passing&old_group=Offense

[Panic]

no, they are not a dynasty. U can't even begin to compare the talent of the 90's cowboys with this steeler talent. We are talking hall of famers across the board. That is a joke even if they improve their o line.

buddy, these guys are just getting started. They are going to their 2nd Super Bowl in 3 years. Have you seen the Steeler schedule for next year? Soft, because they played the hardest this year. They will shore up their OLine in the off season and have a great chance to get back to the big show. Watch and see what dynasty they have.

[Chi_archie]

i'm not gonna throw out 16 games of stats because you don't wanna look at them..

[The Seer]

i'm not gonna throw out 16 games of stats because you don't wanna look at them..

they are irrelevant now so it won't matter

[Panic]

if average roth goes down, then what , Leftwich I'll take Leinart. Same thing.

Now you're being silly, Seer. 26 yr old against a 37 year old. Body recovery time is way different. outside of that, hell yeah I take ALeftwich because he is in a system that can cover him...run the ball....great defense. Leinart doesnt have that luxury. he would be toast.

[element1286]

C'mon Seer give some real arguments. Bend but don't break defense, you cannot be serious. Three game sample over the entire season. Tell me this, why has the Arizona defense improved over the past three weeks, what are they doing differently that they weren't doing before?

[The Seer]

i'm not gonna throw out 16 games of stats because you don't wanna look at them..

If that was the case then the Pats would have beat the Giants by 14 last year. You have to look at what they have been doing in the playoffs where it counts.