(09-13-2023, 07:56 AM)Mikey Wrote:

(09-12-2023, 03:20 PM)JagFanatic24 Wrote: As a fan, I just want to make the playoffs for the next 4 to 6 years and be one of the best teams in the NFL like in 1996 up until 2001. (I know we didn’t make the playoffs in 2000 and 2001), but we still had Fred, Jimmy, and Mark.

On the players and coaches side of things, there goal every year is Super Bowl. These boys are getting paid to do a job, and with the business side of things, in a competitive sport of the most elite talent on the planet, their goal every year is Super Bowl. 

There’s no guarantee any of them will be here next season. Injuries happen and it’s a week to week type of business. There’s not 1 player on the team that will tell anyone “We’re trying to get better everyday and hopefully go for a Super Bowl in a couple of years.”

The answer to your question is yes. Teams are in win now mode every week, every season. Teams with rookie QBs too. Hell Rothlisberger won a Super Bowl in his rookie season and the Steelers went 13-1.

Everything else is fan speak. 

It ain’t like Ridley is out there saying let’s go get wins, and somebody like Bigsby says “nah fam, let’s wait a couple of years until I get better.”

The reality is Trevor Lawrence might be here the next 7 years, maybe 10 years or he could not be here after 3 or 4 more years. Players age, production falls of, etc Jimmy Smith waited 5 calendar years to become a full time starter and I’d bet the farm he was in win-now mode every time he stepped on the field.

(Big Ben was 1-1 in the playoffs his rookie year)

I think every coach saying every year the goal is the superboal is just as much coachspeak as you say everything else is fanspeak. Coaches, GMs and owners certainly better have a feel for realistic outlooks of their roster or they'll be doomed to churn through coaches and players faster than Jim Irsay.

The ultimate goal may be the big show, yes, but the realistic goal for a lot of teams is postseason. Get there, get ready, and let your preparation prove your mettle. For other teams, like say AZ, it's more about gaining experience and winning one week. Nobody plans to fail. But remember Denny Green's "They are who we thought they were?" Sometimes reality has to put a damper on optimism.

With respect to the question of "are we in win now mode", I don't think that's the philosophy around here. Remember the Vic adage, "Take care of the future and the future will take care of the present" - it flies in the face of win now thinking - don't strap yourself today for a singular swing at the title. Be smart about how you spend and you'll be able to keep spending when you need it, or you won't have to gut the team and miss out on even making the postseason (remember, that's the primary goal). Given that we didn't panic buy any pass rush help in the preseason is a pretty sure sign that we are not going to spend frivolously for a limited chance at a run.

Correction. Roethlisberger lost 1 game his rookie season which was the AFC Championship. He won a Super Bowl in his first year as the starting QB.

A team don’t have to spend frivolously for a limited chance at a run. A team can realize they can’t keep all of their current players. 

I agree we’re not in win now mode from a fans stand point. Either way, players go out and play and whatever happens happens.

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