Fifth Avenue Forum

The Niners might have got a team yesterday that was high on their own farts, and while Purdy may not be an elite QB, he's plenty good to run that loaded offense. I could see them having a pretty crazy run this year.

The Steelers don't face anyone nearly that good the rest of the way, I think it's good to get that shock out of the way week one.

I think I might have initiated the kenny vs canada fault share debate. But that was truly so abysmal, if we even got close to 50-50, they should both be at risk of losing their jobs if this happens one or two more times this season.

I expect we'll see a major shift to the run game next week and an extremely conservative offense. I think they tried to lean on Pickett this game early on, and he failed to convert. Expect lots of Najee and Warren next week.

(This isn’t a response to Tif above, I agree with what he said. I just found this INSANE)

Imagine being that bad at your job and not getting fired

I expect we'll see a major shift to the run game next week and an extremely conservative offense. I think they tried to lean on Pickett this game early on, and he failed to convert. Expect lots of Najee and Warren next week.

Did they really lean on Pickett? It's not like they ever let him throw down field. Actually they're probably being overly conservative because they don't trust him to do that without turning the ball over.

The offensive is already egregiously conservative which is why the WR screens and jet sweeps have gained so much infamy here - easy to defend because there's no down field threat. They worked fine for deebo... yeah he's a freak in that regard but we have the athletes that you'd think the best case result would occasionally be better than "no gain"

The last couple of seasons they weren't an OC away from going deep.

Now...they need an NFL OC.

I expect we'll see a major shift to the run game next week and an extremely conservative offense. I think they tried to lean on Pickett this game early on, and he failed to convert. Expect lots of Najee and Warren next week.

Did they really lean on Pickett? It's not like they ever let him throw down field. Actually they're probably being overly conservative because they don't trust him to do that without turning the ball over.

The offensive is already egregiously conservative which is why the WR screens and jet sweeps have gained so much infamy here - easy to defend because there's no down field threat. They worked fine for deebo... yeah he's a freak in that regard but we have the athletes that you'd think the best case result would occasionally be better than "no gain"

It wasnt run-run-pass on all those early three and outs.

But yeah, losing yards on that first second and four by force feeding Austin was terrible. Then Najee losing 2 yards on his first carry was crap.

I guess it’s hard to really tell anything about the offense due to how few plays they ran before being down double digits. Just outplayed, outcoached, and outclassed. Didn’t deserve to be on the field with that defense.

The last couple of seasons they weren't an OC away from going deep.

Now...they need an NFL OC.

I actually kind of think they needed a complete revamp, and now think so more than ever. Omar Khan is going to be re-arranging anchors if we continue to allow this defense first mentality to rule the Steelers.

I'd much rather have a high-power money laden offense and a defense that can get stops some of the time. I don't think the current philosophy is legit, and I just don't like it. Defense first really hasn't been successful and it's been the creation of elite offenses, and elite QB play.

Steelers don't have either, and I would argue the money they've spent on defense, they don't really have an elite one either. Certainly one that can't match up to an elite offense.

That being said we hear the "if you let Tomlin go, there's a line of teams looking to hire him." I respond with, who cares? If you let the philosophy go, he's not the right coach for the job, and has been struggling with offenses, for awhile now. This isn't almost all on Tomlin, Rooney is not his dad, and seems to be not good at staying out of the way.

This team hasn't and can't go touchdown for touchdown. That's the rule of the land most games in the NFL.

I think after Warmer popped Harris early on...Harris was basically checked out.

Harris is solidifying himself as a horrible first round selection, and I'll die on that hill no matter what happens.

Agreed. Not even necessarily because of Harris himself, but a first-round pick for any RB in today's NFL is a luxury this team couldn't afford.

The thing is, it’s not even a hot take to say that fist round draft choices shouldn’t be wasted on RB. That was blatantly obvious like ten years ago. Yet the stillers did it anyway

It was a classic draft for need pick when no team would ever admit to drafting for need.

I've been one of the few "it's not Tomlin" supporters in here, but that is dwindling quickly. It's 100% on him that Canada is still on the team, and this is a firing in and of itself. And save for Andy Reid, this is a young man's game when it comes to coaches. Belichick was shown he wasn't all that once Brady left. Unless you can adapt to the way the NFL is played now, you're done. Tomlin still thinks his way is better, and that is completely false.

We all know how this is going to play out. We'll get an ugly ass 22-19 win against Cleveland on Monday night and all will be well with the world

I think the Steelers are going to be outstanding this year and getting pounded by the no1 defense and an incredible offense hasn't changed my mind. And I don't really even think they'll beat Cleveland next week

mike tomlin is not a contemporary thinker of the game. he is not smart enough to realize his shortcoming here and to bring in coordinators that can develop a game plan that suits the athletes that are on the team and the modern NFL. tomlin is a leader of men and not a football coach. as a result, tomlin need tacticians under him to coach and let tomlin manage the men. unfortunately, throughout tomlins tenure, the steelers have never had a good football thinker on the offensive side. perhaps thats a reflection on tomlin? perhaps its a reflection on the organizational philoposphy? perhaps its a reflection of the external nfl's thoughts on the steelers organization? whatever it is, the steelers trot out a pedestrian offensive game plan for the last 3 season

in a vacuum of week 1 performance, im not worried about what happened yesterday. SF is a great team and one of the best 3 teams in the NFL. having said that, being a fan of dem stillers, i am worried because i have no confidence of them being able to play the brand of football that is required to win in 2023

(This isn’t a response to Tif above, I agree with what he said. I just found this INSANE)

Yeah, this is a separate and distinct problem, but they very much need to address it as well. This just isn't a professional football offense suitable for 2023. Speaking purely from the selfish perspective as a fan, it's embarrassing to watch, especially in a group of people who aren't Steelers fans and don't have a dog in the hunt.

I think I might have initiated the kenny vs canada fault share debate. But that was truly so abysmal, if we even got close to 50-50, they should both be at risk of losing their jobs if this happens one or two more times this season.

This is my fundamental point. However bad Canada was/is/will be forever more, Kenny is doing himself no favors. (There are other players who didn't exactly shower themselves in glory yesterday, but the QB gets the shine)

All that said, I found this sort of interesting. Superb Owl champion rankings, in terms of aggregate points scored and allowed per game through their title season.
The basic takeaway is that with only 3 or 4 exceptions every single Superb Owl champion ever since the beginning of time (or 1970) has had an offense in the top half of the League. But the trend clearly skews towards being top-10, if not even top-5.

Conversely, it's much more common for the champ to be a middle- to bottom-tier team defensively.

That all goes a little bit against the grain of what I've been saying recently, but I still thought it was worth looking at.

The only team who was ever 1st in both was the 96 packers. Interesting

Oh and the 72 dolphins. Eyes.