varaven45

Well, the Steelers screwed themselves. They ran up and down the field with Ben throwing for 350 and De Angelo running for 127 and 6 yds a pop! They left points on the field - two missed FGs and several drives where they shot themselves in the foot. They out gained the Pats by 100 yds ( ca 450-350) in their house. All things considered, they gave the SB champs a good run on opening night. And all that without Leveon Bell. The Steelers will be fine this year, especially on offense.

FWIW- I see this team starting out slow and struggling in Sept, especially with 3 out of 4 on the road , not to mention an evolving receiving corps and recovering secondary (CB position) Afterwards, the team should get healthier, stronger and improve as the season progresses.

Excellent points Cleetz. Which is why our running game will be critical. No run game = no W.

Hard to argue with Crav and his logic. Opening at Denver for its home opener and with warm weather for Manning makes this a very tough draw for the good guys. Plus we've still got a lot of question marks and holes to fill. It may take us a few weeks to get our feet underneath us.

The dead are back

And now the Steelers lose !

Whether its Jackson, Richardson, or whomever, don't be surprised if Ozzie picks up another RB for depth/experience. Imagine if Forsett were to go down for an extended period.

Yep. Glad for Tyrod - a good old Va Tech hokie!

With our ultra thin backfield and small featured RB like Forsett, an experienced RB like Jackson or someone else could help. Taliefero and Buck, even when healthy, don't actually put the fear of God in opposing defenses. Time will tell.

Like the new walking dead series, the O's have hit an all time dead low. Getting blown out at home by a mediocre Rays team. Ugly finish to the 2015 campaign

Could you could use a little extra depth at the running back position. Hmmm ?

I don't know if Schaub is toast - none of us knows. But if he is, Ozzie needs to closely watch the final cuts - in the next week- and keep an eye out for a legit backup. We have been walking the tight wire with Joe for several years. I for one am not at all comfortable with either guy - Schaub or Rinner - as our backup this year.

Who knows; maybe he has a rare form of in-grown toe nail and they kept him out for precautionary reasons. Today's NFL is driving me crazy.

And while we at it, where was Max Wiliams last night ? Haven't seen or heard much out of em since the big gainer a few weeks back. Anyone know ? Is he hurt too ? These guys are dropping like flies.

Max I'm with you on the leap of faith business but it sure doesn't look good at the moment . Maybe the team suddenly wakes up in two weeks in Denver .

Check on all 3 points !

I watched the first half when most of the starters played. We started fast and played well the 1st q. We scored a TD, courtesy of Flacco to Smith, then seemed to coast. Went up 13-0 ; Tucker missed a FG (which would have put us up 16-0. That meant we settled for 3 FG attempts with our 1st team against the skins. After taking the 13-0 lead, skins got a TD on a fluke, tipped pass. Schaub then throws a pick, skins go in and take the lead 14-13. We had a chance to take the lead before the half but Buck Allen fumbled the ball at the goal line and left points on the field. Overall, aside from the 1st Q, pretty tough to watch. These guys have a lot of work to do and guys need to get healthy or start sucking it up. Denver is looming in 2 weeks.

Wow. He sounds like damaged goods and a potential wasted pick ! If so, damn shame.

While we are talking about Schoop (and others to retain) - why in the heck is batting 8th ? He's arguably our hottest hitter and should be batting at or near the top of the lineup, in front of or behind Machado. Just sayin .....

Cleetz, Agreed, especially on paragraph 2. Start building around playmakers and add SP. There a few guys in Triple A Norfolk (e.g. Christian Walker) and AA who can help. In the meantime, we are looking at a .500 club ( + or -) the next few years unless Angelos and his henchmen shockingly open up their wallets (LOL & LMFAO) and Duquette gets game (also LOL). I still think Duquette is still hurting/miffed over last years Toronto situation and is just biding his time/. Bad karma.

This SI article and a $1.50 gets you a small cup of joe at WaWa. I just as soon have us off everyone's radar screen, instead of some paper tiger in SI. Let's see how accurate this article is after that brutal first month with 3 games on the road.

As the originator of this thread I'm about to change the title from walking dead to just dead

Yep. Who knows; maybe some of the players and coaches bought into Peter King's predictions, Chip Kelly's affirmation of Joe's elite status, and all the other pundit's bold proclamations of this teams' SB worthiness. Still, it's one lousy game where a disinterested, uninspired team got trashed in a pre-season game. Yet, being taken behind the woodshed is humbling and eye opening. Let's see who shows up and what substance they bring this weekend at home against the skins.

Slice of humble pie tonight. Actually, whole pie tonight. Get the crap game out of the way and save the injuries.