Trebla Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Continue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 In other news this just probably guranteed my poor Steelers will get pounded into the dust on Thursday. It was always looking bad without Bell, Bryant, and Pouncey. Now I'm kinda afraid to watch. And that absolutely horrendous secondary. Steelers are going to have some challenges this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reny of Storms End Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 And that absolutely horrendous secondary. Steelers are going to have some challenges this season. It's really weird having an explosive offense and a terrible defense, although I think they might surprise. It's the total opposite of what this team was for so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Tiger Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The Steelers schedule is fucking MURDEROUS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 It's really weird having an explosive offense and a terrible defense, although I think they might surprise. It's the total opposite of what this team was for so long. I don't know. They're seriously devoid of pass rushing and defensive back talent. It'll be interesting to see how they compensate for that without the genius of LeBeau. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeric Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 It's really weird having an explosive offense and a terrible defense, although I think they might surprise. It's the total opposite of what this team was for so long. It still feels strange not going into each game wondering which drive will get Ben murdered from a combination of that Oline, him trying to make plays and that Oline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockroi Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Got it so now only the Pats are smart, honest, and good. Everyone else is jealous, stupid, and evil. The Patriots do seem to be smarter and better than most other franchises. I would say that the Pats are about as honest and about as "good" as every other team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I don't know. They're seriously devoid of pass rushing and defensive back talent. It'll be interesting to see how they compensate for that without the genius of LeBeau. Good thing they can lean on the undeniable offensive innovation of one Todd Haley to counter... http://s1336.photobucket.com/user/Lumpy67/media/haleyhotdog_zps26ca1c1b.gif.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The Patriots do seem to be smarter and better than most other franchises. I would say that the Pats are about as honest and about as "good" as every other team. Belichick is smarter, but I'd push back pretty hard at the idea that the rest of the franchise is any smarter. They do seem to pretty badly bungle anything that doesn't fall under Belichick's purview, like responses to NFL investigations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Walker Texas Ranger Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Belichick is smarter, but I'd push back pretty hard at the idea that the rest of the franchise is any smarter. They do seem to pretty badly bungle anything that doesn't fall under Belichick's purview, like responses to NFL investigations. That could easily be Belichik's weakness. He knows he's not good with public relations, so his usual strategy is say as little as possible as uninterestingly as possible. When that doesn't work, it all breaks down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebla Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 I wanna point out that this report from ESPN wasn't done by First Take or Monday Night Countdown and investigated by shill Chris Mortenson or troll Skip Bayless. This came from Outside The Lines which won a Peabody in 2013 for reporting on the NFL concussion issues. There is a LOT to dislike about ESPN (Lord I do) but they have divisions within the umbrella of the WWL that are as it good as it gets. Kal mentioned Grantland earlier. OTL is right up there in investigative journalism as HBO Sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I wanna point out that this report from ESPN wasn't done by First Take or Monday Night Countdown and investigated by shill Chris Mortenson or troll Skip Bayless. This came from Outside The Lines which won a Peabody in 2013 for reporting on the NFL concussion issues. There is a LOT to dislike about ESPN (Lord I do) but they have divisions within the umbrella of the WWL that are as it good as it gets. Kal mentioned Grantland earlier. OTL is right up there in investigative journalism as HBO Sports. Sure, but given the timing of this you almost have to laugh at it, regardless as to how accurate the information is. This is like some sort of perverse asshole measuring contest at this point. Who is the bigger bunghole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Pesci Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I don't know. They're seriously devoid of pass rushing and defensive back talent. It'll be interesting to see how they compensate for that without the genius of LeBeau. Seems like its been this way for the last few years, outside of Troy. No disrespect to LeBeau, but I always felt that the league caught up to him and he never had anything new to counter with. But when your defense is predicated on getting to the QB and they don't do it, it's gonna get hairy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Seems like its been this way for the last few years, outside of Troy. No disrespect to LeBeau, but I always felt that the league caught up to him and he never had anything new to counter with. But when your defense is predicated on getting to the QB and they don't do it, it's gonna get hairy. All true but even still, he's been able to mitigate that to some extent. Without him, I don't believe they will and will get even more exposed than they have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I wanna point out that this report from ESPN wasn't done by First Take or Monday Night Countdown and investigated by shill Chris Mortenson or troll Skip Bayless. This came from Outside The Lines which won a Peabody in 2013 for reporting on the NFL concussion issues. There is a LOT to dislike about ESPN (Lord I do) but they have divisions within the umbrella of the WWL that are as it good as it gets. Kal mentioned Grantland earlier. OTL is right up there in investigative journalism as HBO Sports. OTL did publish a story about three weeks after the Super Bowl, talking about how Jim McNally tried to get an unapproved kicking ball into the AFC Championship game (on top of the throwing ball skullduggery he'd be linked to). Then, literally as the reporter was talking about the story on an OTL broadcast, Adam Schefter broke the news that the unapproved kicking ball had actually been handed to McNally by an NFL employee, who was fired for apparently running a side-business in "game used" balls. Of course, that NFL employee never became a public whipping boy and we never had a months-long investigation into what happened there. Funnily enough, ESPN never substantially corrected the initial report, even though they did correct some minutiae within it -- they just linked to Schefter's report in an "editor's picks" sidebar. None of which actually disproves the allegations against the Patriots, but it does demonstrate that OTL is not immune to mistakes or to getting fed BS too. I can easily believe the political backbiting the article gets into, and I've long suspected that the Spygate filming was more extensive than was revealed and that Goodell finished off the investigation quickly to minimize damage to the league's credibility. It's still difficult for me to get past my admittedly homeristic skepticism of people like Hines Ward, who at least had the courage to put his name to his words, unlike the legion of anonymous bitter former players and coaches singing all these songs about how they coulda shoulda been the champeens. Oh, and hey, Bill Simmons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebla Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Sure, but given the timing of this you almost have to laugh at it, regardless as to how accurate the information is. This is like some sort of perverse asshole measuring contest at this point. Who is the bigger bunghole? Oh I agree it's a giant FU to New England and this was VERRRRRY calculated. There are no good guys in this, as bad at NE looks in the story, the league looks worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Pesci Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 All true but even still, he's been able to mitigate that to some extent. Without him, I don't believe they will and will get even more exposed than they have been. I'd hope that Butler would've been able to pick up enough from LeBeau after so many years as his right hand guy to take over competently. I think it will take a few games for the new schemes they are running to take, but they definitely have some problem areas that can be exposed, namely Cortez Allen. In the end, it will come down to the younger guys outside of Heyward stepping up and fulfilling their potential on D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Seems like its been this way for the last few years, outside of Troy. No disrespect to LeBeau, but I always felt that the league caught up to him and he never had anything new to counter with. But when your defense is predicated on getting to the QB and they don't do it, it's gonna get hairy. All true but even still, he's been able to mitigate that to some extent. Without him, I don't believe they will and will get even more exposed than they have been. Mexal has the right of this. They haven't drafted and developed guys who can play in the secondary, and they've spent like 15 1st round picks on pass rusher in the last 6 years and not one of them has panned out. It's not LeBeau's fault that he was playing with garbage and old Ike Taylor/Polumalu both of whom had been weighing that secondary down since about 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maithanet Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Having finally finished the OTL story, what in there is really new? I feel like it serves as a fine summary of why people generally think that the Patriots stretch the rules, but I didn't see anything I didn't already know. Was it just that spygate may have been more widespread than previously reported? Because I felt like that was always an open secret. And yes, the NFL comes across as a very cowardly and poorly led. But again, I already knew that. The only "new" stuff is the allegation that there was some linkage between the NFL's weird CYA approach to the spygate scandal and the exact opposite approach to deflategate. Once team owners got wind of how deep spygate went, they were unhappy with that Patriots punishment wasn't more severe. IF that is true, I could easily believe that Goodell was under pressure to drop the hammer in deflategate. But without anyone going on record to confirm that Goodell was given direction to punish New England harshly, or even that any of the owners even still care about Spygate, then it seems like this story is all smoke and no fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Pesci Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Mexal has the right of this. They haven't drafted and developed guys who can play in the secondary, and they've spent like 15 1st round picks on pass rusher in the last 6 years and not one of them has panned out. It's not LeBeau's fault that he was playing with garbage and old Ike Taylor/Polumalu both of whom had been weighing that secondary down since about 2012. I wouldn't totally disagree with what either of you have said, the thing that always got me about LeBeau, and this even when he had talent everywhere, is that he never made in-game adjustments very well when things weren't working. And when your talent is not what it has been, making adjustments has to happen, and it didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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