Stumble, fall, then stand

Welcome to the offseason

Hope springs from the draft

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Looking back at our  predictions for 2013, I think we can say we’re pretty smart, but not as smart as we like to think.

As a group, we picked the Bengals to take the division, followed by the Steelers, the Ravens, and the Browns. We nailed that one.

Our individual results were not so accurate, however.

Nobody picked the Steelers to finish 8-8. Nobody. Given that we like to think of ourselves as Steelers experts, clearly we’re a bit deluded about that. The closest were bills and jeffmi who picked the Steelers to go 7-9. [Edit: it seems that malsor did make an accurate prediction of 8-8 although it was late and therefore not in my summary table. However, he only gets partial credit for victory because he also predicted 6-10, plus a whole bunch of other stuff of mixed accuracy, depending on this and that and the other thing. Next time, the rule will be to go with one prediction and one only.]

One person, mwalsh, accurately predicted the Bengals to finish at 11-5.

Four people accurately predicted that the Ravens would end up at 8-8: copanut (I blush), steeltyke, mack, and tompaulbillybob.

Nobody accurately predicted the Browns would win only 4 games. The closest were jamesh and steeltyke who picked them to win 6.

Let’s see if we can do better for 2014. The early betting line has the Steelers going 19-0, baby.

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These are some of the best things about the 2013 season:

• Big Ben and Troy Polamalu both played 16 full, healthy games and were as impactful as ever in their careers.
• Antonio Brown proved he is worthy of his contract.
• Le’Veon Bell showed why he was an excellent draft choice.
• The offensive line finally got it together and played credibly.
• Several players emerged into playmakers, including Cameron Heyward and Jason Worilds.
• The coaching staff, front office, and players remained focused and never gave up despite the dismal start. Indeed, they only grew stronger.
• Todd Haley and Ben seem to be on to something.
• Ben and Antonio are proving to be as good a tandem as any in recent memory, with the kind of chemistry we used to see with Ben and Hines.

Some other things for which I am grateful:

• Every game was meaningful and the Steeler season relevance extended, ever so briefly, beyond their final game.
• Although finishing at 8-8, I feel much better about this season. The 2012 edition ended in futility, while the 2013 edition ended with three credible wins.
• It wasn’t the Steelers’ kicker in a Steelers game who failed to kick a routine field goal in ideal conditions and thereby ending the Steelers season. That would have been much worse.
• The Ravens not only went from champions to a team missing the playoffs, but actually completely fell apart to end their season, finishing with two dismal losses and a raft of questions on both sides of the ball.
• The Ravens finished in third place, behind the Steelers, but the Steelers will get a better draft position.
• The Ravens are stuck with a ridiculous contract for an above average quarterback who reverted to his more mediocre self.
• Ray Rice seems to have lost it.
• The Browns are still the Browns – yet another coaching change is on the way.
• I don’t know what Goodell will do about the threatened draft penalty (but given the Ravens shooting themselves in the foot, plus the egregious failure of the league’s officiating forcing the Steelers out of the playoffs, there should be no penalty), however the Steelers should be in position to have a lot of decent picks from the upcoming draft.
• The Beard went out strong with a couple of excellent games (assuming he doesn’t come back).
• The team has evolved from the immaturity and selfishness that had become more common the past couple of years.
• We have a good group here at Steel Balls.

What did you think was the best thing emerging from this season? Vote below. If you have other items to add, please post a comment.

[poll id=”14″]

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I think I have this right, but don’t hold me to it.

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Just to be sure we’re all on the same page, here is the breakdown of tomorrow’s sixth seed possibilities. In short, the Steelers need the end result of the day to be a five-way tie at 8-8. That sounds bad (and it is), but none of the four contenders control their own destiny. (While the Jets could match the records of the four contenders, they have no tiebreaker path to the playoffs, thus they will be playing the role of spoiler and playing for the life of their coach.)

Source: BleacherReport

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H/T to fauxjohnmadden.lockerdome.com and abennihana.

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We may not be able to enjoy watching Troy Polamalu for much longer, so it’s important to not take him for granted. I believe there has never been anyone quite like him and probably never will be again.

This play from the Cleveland game is a case in point. Most guys act in one role per play. Once that role becomes irrelevant to the play, they stop and just let the play unfold. The better players make a mid-play adjustment based on the action, and those adjustments are often the source of notable plays. A playmaker is a guy who can make an adjustment in the middle of game action to take advantage of the prevailing situation in real time. But here, we see Troy play five different roles in one play. That means he makes four adjustments in a matter of seconds, turning a busted defensive play into something special.

As the play initiates, he is anticipating a run and tries to blitz a gap on the Browns right side. His guess is wrong, as the run is to the left side and the right side gap closes immediately. An ordinary player in this position would continue to push in vain at the offensive line and end up hopelessly irrelevant to the game action. Not so with Polamalu. Almost before your eyes can figure out what is going on, suddenly Troy magically appears three yards back on the left side where he actually has to wait for the runner to smack into him. Troy makes the tackle which is already a great play, but that’s not enough. He then adjusts again and goes for the strip, successfully forcing a fumble. And again, before the brain of  a normal human can even tell what’s happening, Troy adjusts one more time, now scooping up the ball at the instant that it is floating free on the other side of the runner. This is just an astonishing display of a combination of crazy athletic ability with an incredible football sixth sense.

Seriously, often he makes his teammates and opponents look like amateurs playing a different sport.

(Thanks to SteelersDepot for the animated GIF).

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Happy Birthday, JamesH!

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Click below to view animated GIF version.

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