If you take it out on McCarthy, that's two birds with one stone.

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I'm one of those negative nellies.

I have gone from "extremely pessimistic" to "cautiously optimistic" over the last several weeks.

I am enthusiastic about the Charles Woodson-led defense (though I do think the ability to shut down the Joe Flaccos and Jay Cutlers of the world tends to distort many perceptions of their overall quality). I think this defense is good enough, barring any more injuries, to do what a championship defense needs to do.

My biggest gripe/fear all along has been, and remains, the offensive line. Last five games notwithstanding, I still am unconvinced that the team has anoffensive line of the caliber a championship contender needs, or that it will have such a line without major attention this coming off-season.

I will not become more than that until this team wins a playoff game or two. Until it dominates a playoff game the way it has shown itself able to dominate the lower tier teams from time to time.

And if the team does not go deep into the playoffs this year, yes, I will be back on the "rag on Thompson" bandwagon. And maybe on the "rag on McCarthy" bandwagon, too.

Bet on it.

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Wade - The Steelers won 2 SBs this decade with a mediocre OL.

The key to us winning the SB - force turnovers. We do that and we can beat any team. Woody's got 8 picks and 4 forced fumbles. Collins has 6 picks and recovered 2 fumbles. Jenkins forced 3 fumbles.

I'm along the same lines - cautiously optimistic. I know that if we force turnovers in the Playoffs, we can take down the best of them.

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zombieslayer,

points taken.

on the other hand, how many of the other 8 SB winners in that decade had mediocre OLs? how many of the other 18 teams making it to the big dance in the decade did?

Baltimore won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer....but I'd sure rather have an Aaron Rodgers than a Trent Dilfer at the helm.

It can be done, yes. But I"m not convinced it's likely.

I want a team that regularly contends for the big show. You're right, Pittsburgh has shown it to be possible with even a mediocre OL. But I want more than "might." I'm a greedy, unreasonable SOB. 🙂

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I agree.

We've build this team the wrong way around, hence the giant leap from 'bottom dwellers' to contenders.

Build an O-line and D-line and your defense is nearly set. Just look at the Vikings. With Henders out, their only playmakers who aren't D-linemen are Greenway and Winfield, yet, they're still one of the better defenses in the league.

And there's one reason for that, the D-line. When you can rush the passer and stop the run up front, you're nearly set on defense.

We're finally stopping the run with our 3 big guys up front. We're still not having that Jared Allen guy (an OLB for us), but just think of what we could do with someone like that.

Same goes for the O-line. The Redskins being the dominant team they where, was mainly due to those big 'Hogs' up front. Build an O-line and you can get by with a mediocre QB and RB. Just ask Timmy Smith.

I bet that most of you actually know Timmy Smith . And that pretty much goes with my point.

This is not the offensive line with all the problems we saw early on.

First of all Barbre is nowhere to be seen. Secondly, we are not having to go with Lang at LT although if we need him at RT he does a good job. Last, our interior OL is communicating much better, recognizing the pickups, and not just letting somebody blow through two or three times a game. Once they started shuffling the TE around pre-snap and getting a read on what the defense was bringing that went away.

I said several weeks ago we NEED Clifton and Tauscher down this stretch. They have been here before and they will only become that much more valuable in the playoffs.

Five games is plenty to show a turnaround and the only caveat regarding the 0line is injury. We absolutely don't want to see Clifton go down and the G/C spots are a little thin too.

If all five are still out there come January I'm good to go with what's there now.

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This team is going to be ready for the Playoffs once the time comes, i'm hoping we follow the trend of hottest team heading into the Playoffs winning it all. One thing that really concerns me though is our Special Teams, our coverage units have been shaky all year and Crosby/Kapinos have to be one of the worst K/P duos in the NFL this year(statistically). That could cost us bigtime and if it does, I hope it's bye, bye, Mason, Kapinos, and Slocum.

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