Ask a Steelers fan

… wouldn’t we run out of water if the world was flat …!!

1. Do you think Alex Smith is your franchise QB?

I think this will be the same as a lot of SF fans… I just don’t know. I’ve been very impressed by him this season, and for sure he’s earned himself another year. It’s very possible that that #1 pick we thought we were getting is still there, buried under years of injuries and bad coaching and different systems every year, and Harbaugh is just beginning to pluck it out. Still, I think that it will partially depend on Colin Kaepernick. If he progresses well, he could take over and be the franchise guy in a year or two, but if he doesn’t… who knows?

2. How much will Frank Gore play on Monday? Will he play at all?

I doubt he’ll play much. He’s pretty banged up, and we’ll need him to be ready for the playoffs. One guy to watch out for, though, would be Kendall Hunter – see below.

3. Who is your best corner and is any corner on your team fast enough to cover Mike Wallace with no safety help?

Carlos Rodgers is definitely the best CB on our team, especially since he fixed his catching issues that he had in Washington. He’s no Revis, though, and I wouldn’t necessarily trust him alone with an elite receiver (again, see below) like Mike Wallace, so he’ll probably have some safety help. Still, don’t think that that means that we’ll have issues with TEs – our interior linebackers (assuming Willis comes back, which is still unsure) are probably the best cover linebackers in the league, and we rarely blitz.

4. How much do you love Aldon Smith (I mocked him to you guys in the offseason and a lot of Niners fans said he was a reach)?

Love him. Total stud. He’s an incredible pass rusher, he’s improving his run defense, and he seems to have a hard work ethic and is mature as well. If not for the brilliance of Von Miller, he’d be a shoo-in for DROY.

And now for my questions:

1. What do you guys think of the Harrison suspension? I disagree with it, personally; I thought McCoy still looked like a runner until the last second (I still thought he should have been fined, though). Also, how does it impact your team? How important is Harrison to the defense?

2. Will Big Ben play? Knowing his flair for the dramatic, I think there’s a report that says that he’s doubtful on Monday, yet he returns and leads the team (and probably plays well, though I hope not). What are his chances? If he’s out, what does Charlie Batch bring to the table?

3. Can you guys confirm/deny my theory that Mike Wallace is extremely underrated and is an elite receiver? I’d put him just below the top tier of Fitzgerald and Megatron and put him with guys like Andre Johnson and Wes Welker (obviously, those guys have different skill sets, but I’m just talking about effectiveness), or slightly above. I don’t see much love for him by the public, though. Why is that?

4. Who that we may not have heard of should we watch out for? I’ll give you ours, as well – Kendall Hunter and Kyle Williams. Hunter is the backup RB to Gore, who might get some more playing time with Gore limited. He’s been very solid, though – he’s nearly at Gore’s level in YPC and above Gore in some areas. Williams is our #2 receiver who’s really begun to come on in recent weeks. He gives us a deep threat, is a solid route runner, and can get yards after the catch, who just needs to work on consistency and establishing a repertoire with Alex Smith.

5. Final score predictions? I’m cautiously predicting (assuming Willis and Big Ben are both playing) 22-17 Niners, which is of course tainted by my Niners fandom. I think it will be a close, physical game in which the Niners jump out to an early lead and have to fend off a comeback bid at the end of the game. I think Ben makes some plays with his receivers, but we win the turnover battle and are able to run the ball effectively. What are your thoughts?

what do you believe to be the difference between this year and last year?

1. What do you guys think of the Harrison suspension? I disagree with it, personally; I thought McCoy still looked like a runner until the last second (I still thought he should have been fined, though). Also, how does it impact your team? How important is Harrison to the defense?

It is without precedent; cannot be justified by “player safety” given hypocrisy of helmet situation, the fact that other positions suffer more from H2H than QBs. Harrison is an integral part of the team, he is one of two Pro-Bowl caliber ends that make the defense what it is – that said, the “standard is the standard”, and the next guy in is expected to execute. (Personally, a fine is in order for the hit, but NOT a suspension).

2. Will Big Ben play? Knowing his flair for the dramatic, I think there’s a report that says that he’s doubtful on Monday, yet he returns and leads the team (and probably plays well, though I hope not). What are his chances? If he’s out, what does Charlie Batch bring to the table?

If Ben can walk, he’ll play. Ben would have to be sedated not to play; Tomlin will play him if Ben says he can play. Batch brings in-depth knowledge of the play-book, a strong sense of playing “within” himself, and the respect of the rest of the team. That said, we also have Dixon, who, while has neither of qualities stated above, has a good arm, and can run.

3. Can you guys confirm/deny my theory that Mike Wallace is extremely underrated and is an elite receiver? I’d put him just below the top tier of Fitzgerald and Megatron and put him with guys like Andre Johnson and Wes Welker (obviously, those guys have different skill sets, but I’m just talking about effectiveness), or slightly above. I don’t see much love for him by the public, though. Why is that?

Wallas IS an elite receiver; his pure speed is almost unmatched; what isn’t as well known about him is his ability to break tackles. He has tapered off the past few games, attributable to (1) getting double teamed, and (2) the meteoric rise of Antonio Brown. Wallace is well liked by the Steeler fans. Don’t let him get behind your defenders, and watch out for his YAC abilities.

4. Who that we may not have heard of should we watch out for? I’ll give you ours, as well – Kendall Hunter and Kyle Williams. Hunter is the backup RB to Gore, who might get some more playing time with Gore limited. He’s been very solid, though – he’s nearly at Gore’s level in YPC and above Gore in some areas. Williams is our #2 receiver who’s really begun to come on in recent weeks. He gives us a deep threat, is a solid route runner, and can get yards after the catch, who just needs to work on consistency and establishing a repertoire with Alex Smith.

Wesley Saunders, TE out of South Carolina – big man, 6’4 (I thinks) with very good speed, soft hands, and very quick feet. Also C. Brown, on special teams; he is hard to block and has cat-like quickness to get to the receiver on punts and KO.

Final score predictions?

- Have to respectfully disagree; given what I saw in your game against Ratbirds, and given how we (except for game #1) stack up against them, I would say…27-17 Steelers. Between A. Brown, M. Wallas, H. Miller, H. Ward, J. Cotchery, if we play the game like we did against the Pats, we can diffuse your front seven, and take advantage of your secondary; Redman and Mendenhall will keep your defense honest, making you respect the run, despite the low yardage we will probably get.

So is he suspended for this week’s Niners game or next week? I haven’t read an article that states it specifically. All they talk about is his twitter reaction.

1.) Im in full support of Alex Smith, and I hope he succeeds to be an elite QB. But yeah its not the sexy pick. Everyone wishes they had a QB like Aaron Rodgers (who doesnt? especially the Niners that could of had him). I know our O-line has been struggling especially on the pass protection, so that has affected Alex’s play. One thing Alex needs to work on is for a 6’4’’ player, he needs to stop getting his passes blocked by the D-Line. It happens way too much per game. He really plays like hes 5’11’’ sometimes. Also needs to work on the accuracy of deep sideline throws.

2.) Frank Gore has definitely passed his peak, its this year and next year, and after that he is basically will be done. This week’s game, its 50-50. He will either be limited or get a lot more carries due to his lack of in the last game (only had 10). Kendall Hunter is picking it up and will be the next starring RB for the Niners.

3.) Carlos Rogers and rookie Chris Culliver have definitely our top CBs. Also Tarrell Brown has his flashes as well. I do question if they can keep up with speedster Wallace.

4.) If we didn’t get Peterson, Aldon Smith would have been my next choice. So I was fine with that. But I did want a trade down if we could have gotten it. But I love how much of a monster Aldon has become!

1) No, but he’s likely now a top 15 QB is which is the best we’ve had as a franchise since Garcia in ’03. It is possible that an offseason spent with Harbaugh plus consecutive years in the same system can make him a bit better, to say nothing of an improved/maturing OL, which makes him the ideal QB to hold the seat until a potential franchise QB is found or developed.

2) Yes he’ll play. I’d bet he plays a bit more than this past Sunday but less than he has been. Hunter is no slouch and could use additional reps. I wish that Gore had been saved a few extra carries in one of the handful of games where we never trailed and were never truly in danger of losing.

3) Rodgers. Does any team have such a corner other than perhaps Revis? That’s like asking if you guys have a LB that can defend Vernon one-on-one without safety help.

4) Loving his play and attitude. No defense can be great without being excellent at rushing the QB. This guy provides us with a potential Haley or Ware. I’ll take that and hope that we can add one more.

1) What chance do you give the Steelers of winning the division and, based on either scenario, what are your playoff expectations?

2) What has been the discussion, if any, about the likelihood of traveling to Denver to play Tebow and his defense in round 1?

3) Which AFC team most concerns you in the playoffs? Which would you, as a fan, least like to see reach the SB?

4) How has this post-Super Bowl season managed to be better than the most recent two which saw Pittsburgh miss the playoffs?

Seriously what would it take to keep this guy from playing?

I think he’s better than Mike Wallace.

How long until he reaches his potential and becomes the #1?

Win a wild card game? It’s not a house of cards like when Manning goes down . If I remember correctly, the Steelers have had success when subbing for Ben. But really how far could you go if the worst case scenario comes down and Ben goes out for the season?

1) No. Smith is just a temporary answer until we have our franchise QB take over(Kaepernick). He’s playing much better than he has in the past, but it’s still not where you need him to be in order for this team to win the Super Bowl. Even though we are 10-3, and Alex is having a career year, I still am not 100% on board with him being signed to a 3 or 4 year contract.

2) Gore will play but probably not as much as usual. He’s “not 100%” right now. So I’d expect him to play about as much as he did in Arizona last week, maybe a bit more.

3) Carlos Rogers is our best corner, obviously. And he’s probably one of the best corners in the league this year. You should know that. He’s having the best year of his career since leaving the Skins. He was always a pretty good cover corner in Washington, but he just could never hang on to interceptions. But this year he has 5 picks which is a career high and is t-4th in the league in INT’s with our safety Dashon Goldson. Why is he finally catching passes? Because he had Lasik surgery after we signed him.

4) Aldon Smith is completely awesome. He has been a great pick when so many people disapproved of it. He leads this team in sacks with 10.5 and he’s the first Niner since Andre Carter in 2002 with 10+ sacks in a season. And he’s done all that even though he doesn’t start. He’s battling with Miller for DROY, though there’s no way Miller doesn’t get it.

Do the majority of people really think the hit on McCoy wasn’t a cheap shot to the head?

What kind of people do yall grow out in San Francisco? You think the little nudge given to Colt by Deebo was a cheap shot? LOL that ridiculous! The whole suspension thing is aggregious and will transform the NFL into the tag football league. You remember back when everybody cheered who when someone made a hard hit. U should be enjoying the likes of James Harrison while you still got his “kind” in the NFL. Besides, in a post suspension message, Harrison said he pulled up a little bit, so as to not knock Colts head clean off. The guy pulled off and the Haters say cheap shot. Arghh!

Cheap shot? I imagine some of yall, must think Ronnie Lott was a cheap shot artist too huh? Yep, Ronnie Lott, back when SF actually played hard nosed Football and yall were winning SB’s.