Plus the 7th round cb whongot hurt- some said he looked as good as JPJ in preseason (which I’m not taking to mean he will out perform in regular season, but means he wasn’t outclassed). If he comes back strong we could have a very dangerous secondary with him, JPJ, Minkah, and a rotation of SS guys like Pat Pete, Kazee, etc.

Ok, consider the run game is starting to show signs of life. That means we can continue with less “expected points / dropback” because we can score on the ground. And while we keep it on the ground we also eat clock. Which keeps the other team from scoring. And rests our defense. Who will also limit the other team scoring. I don’t need 500 yard, 6TD games if we have 36 minutes of possession, 175 combined rushing yards, and win 17-10.

MCs game is predicated on making teams defend one thing and then doing the other thing. In Pittsburgh that’s supposed to.be running to set up the pass. But we couldn’t freaking run. So teams were able to drop into coverage, and when we did try to throw they were ready. If we keep the ground game going we will start seeing 7 and 8 guys in the box. Then use of play action can be super dangerous. It won’t happen 15-20 times a game. But 5-10 big pass plays would change the way people look at this team.

In the meantime KP8 appears allergic to turnovers. Show the turnover chart. Then show how many points resulted from those TOs. I don’t have the numbers but I’ll bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets that KP8 has given opossing teams fewer points from pick-6s and scoop-and-scores, and even TOs that end in points for the other team. They have to be QB fumbles to count, but I’m feeling ok with this I the rest of the team keeps doing the job they are doing.

Lastly; Big Ben in year 2 (a Superbowl win) had better, but not world-beater, number in the regular season. The Steelers were a ground-and-pound, ball control offense. They made the playoffs. Then they turned Ben loose (kinda). He outdueled Carson Palmer and some guy named Peyton. Then they doubled up the Broncos to go the the big game. Which is to say that theynwon one way in the regular season and changed things up in the playoffs, catching everyone off guard. I’m not saying that’s the plan, but it’s one you can only use once per QB, and this team is setting up for that switch at some point.

Does he need to keep growing? Sure. Am I ready to give up on him? Not a chance.

Go Steelers.