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Your list was excellent, except I would've put the last item first. I think that if this team can carry only one thing over from this last season, it's the notion that they don't suck. Confidence is the first step to achievement in football, and I think a lot of guys on the team sorely lacked the confidence that they were good enough to win during that two year stretch. How Cowher was able to restore that confidence in a largely identical team I'll never know, but he did, and I think that's the biggest thing they have going into next year. And I agree with you, Tim, that talk of the LB corps being better without Kirkland is premature and probably incorrect. The Steelers didn't cut him because he couldn't play. They only cut him because he wasn't in the top 3 best LBs in the league, as he was being paid. His replacements won't be in the top 3 either. A couple things this team needs to remember is that, despite the fact that they didn't make the playoffs last year, they only got their butts kicked once, by the Giants in New York. In the meantime, they beat the Raiders, the Ravens in Baltimore, the Jags in Jacksonville and the Jets in New York. Heck, I count the Eagles among those wins. Those were some quality football teams. They got hurt by a bad start to the season caused by any number of things (mostly that lack of confidence, I believe, but also some personnel turnover), and then some piss-poor officiating. And they bounced back. Bottom line: this is a GOOD football team, and as long as the Steelers remember that going into next season, they'll be fine and they will be better than last year. The linebackers, taken together, actually could be better in 2001 vs. 2000 if you accept the notion that the continuing improvement of youngsters Holmes and Porter offsets any decline of Gildon and the swap of Mike Jones for Kirkland. Now I admit that ordinarily I wouldn't buy in based on that last bit. However, regardless of how he performs this year, Kirk played last year on two bad ankles. So while I happen to believe that the Seahawks will find that a healthy Levon Kirkland is still a force to be reckoned with in the NFL, adding a speedy Mike Jones will prove to be an upgrade over the hobbled Kirkland of 2000. If money hadn't been a big part of the issue, I'd have been more than happy keeping Kirk - especially since we drafted Kendrell Bell. This, in fact, is the tip of an iceberg that has really hurt the Steelers over the years. It's not just the fact that they lose the on-field services of some of their best players but that they lose them as teachers for the incoming talent as well. What Rod Woodson has done for Baltimore is a perfect example. 2000 was certainly a lost season for our not-so-dynamic duo of wide receivers and God only knows they've got a lot of room for improvement. I just happen to think that a significant percentage of their problems were due to circumstances beyond their control that have since been changed. My hope is that their immaturity caused them to get caught in a downward spiral that they can avoid altogether this year. Troy did put up decent numbers in his rookie year. And Burress did show flashes. Was his dominance in his preseason appearance against Dallas only because the Cowboy secondary sucked or because all of those damn option routes weren't installed in the offense yet? After salivating over the possibility throughout training camp last year, did we ever attempt to throw the fade pattern? I also wonder sometimes if Bob Bratkowski, who was an offensive coordinator before he got here and is now one again, was any good as a receiving coach beyond the chalkboard. As it happens, I've got a wide pessimistic streak myself but for the purpose of this particular article I tried to keep it under wraps. I guarantee that I'll not always be walking the sunny side of the street. Anyway, thanks for the chance to post a few thoughts and for running the best damn Steelers site on the planet! - Tom H. But I digress. Rather than rehashing all of the areas where we agree --- Stewart, Bettis and company, our offensive & defensive lines, & our kicking game, etc. --- I wanna pose a few questions. Edwards and Burress frighten me. You mentioned that "if they have ANY pride at all, they should be worlds better this year." My brutha, that's a mighty big "if." I've seen nothing from either of them that reveals even a hint of pride, at least, not in the good sense of the word. What I DO see is lack of effort, lack of concentration, lack of consistancy, and lack of maturity. Will they improve over last year? I don't see how they could get any worse, quite frankly, so yes, they will improve. But will they become REAL contributors? I have my doubts. I also don't know if we can say with complete conviction we've upgraded at LB. Think about it... if we'd picked up a player of Kirkland's caliber from another team via free agency, we'd all be doing cartwheels. Instead, I think we're stretching to rationalize that his departure is addition by subtraction. The Steelers had no choice but to cut Kirkland loose... I understand that. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. And I fear it doesn't make us a better team. Just my two cents. Sign me up for another season, too, bro. Tim McMillen Webmaster, McMillen & Wife |
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