Good article.

I am hoping that all this is by design. Henning never tried to fool anyone much he just ran the same old predictable plays so there was no reason to hide anything in the preseason. Davidson is a different type guy and he may be playing it all close to the vest so as not to give other teams much film to scout us with.

I think our D will be alright even if they are a couple of good safeties away from being an elite unit, they should still be top ten. The real key will be if we can run the ball. If we do that it will open up stuff for Smith and the other wide outs. If we can't then look for a long year. We have the running backs and some decent linemen so there is no excuse to not be at least middle of the pack running the ball.

My prediction is that if Foster and Williams combine for over 1500 yards rushing then we will be very good and contend for the division and conference.

 

Foster and Williams combined for 1400 last year. I dunno that 100 more yards makes much difference.

I will say I think that we need a top 10 rushing offense.

 

2 1,000 yrd rushers and a 1,000 yrd receiver would be a nice touch

 

It'd be nice to have a lot more than 100 more yards. I think we will.
Need more attempts, and more first downs.

We'll be better with Smith on the field. Hopefully 2nd WR won't be an abortion, and I do feel like we'll get more work out of our RBs and TEs in the passing game.

 

In '96 the stadium was loud and full. Going undefeated at home can cure what ails everyone. Since then we tend to win more on the road - that DOESN'T help. And the 1-15 season sure didn't help an "young fan base" grow. Someday maybe people will stop expecting our fan base to equal the Packers, Steelers and all the other teams who've been around forever.

 

I hope not.

 

the steelers fan base lives in charlotte

 

Like to think so. Also would like to think that something other than just having Smith in there (v/s preseason), our guys at 2nd WR could still step up some. I think some of the people championing Colbert should still be hoping to see more.

yeah. We'll have some matchup problems and we'll still look good enough. We'll have a tackling problem and we'll ahve a couple issues with everything, including thinking we're not generating any rush, but we'll still finish solid top 10. We're young in spots so much else isn't terribly realistic.

 

I remember thinking that the terrible pre-season in 97 was by design.

 

The thing that bothers me the most is that Dante Wesley said that nothing had changed from the last time he was here (except a few faces), especially the SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYBOOK. That is NOT reassuring!