Quote:Chuck Noll won 12 games in his first 3 years as the Steelers head coach. He won 31 in his next 3 years. I'm not saying Gus is the second coming of Chuck Noll, but he does seem to have a plan that seems to be working. This season will be very revealing. If the team continues to linger in the bottom 5 in most performance measurements and the team registers less than 6 wins, then it will be hard to argue that there has been improvement.

It would be nice to replicate the Steelers' 1974 Draft........Lynn Swann in round 1; Jack Lambert in round 2; John Stallworth in round 4 and Mike Webster in round 5. All future Hall of Famers. They also picked up Donnie Shell in free agency that year. Those picks powered the Steelers to Super Bowl wins in 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979.

Chuck Noll didn't have the advantage of FA to build a team. It was a much slower process in those days.

 

We added 7 veteran starters through FA alone this year. Caldwell's first draft class is entering their third season which is considered the begining of a player's prime years. 

 

Getting only three more wins this season would not be percieved as progress, it would be a sign of serious problems. It would mean multiple players not living up to expectations.

 

People are saying that these moderate gains such as getting to 6 wins will be viewed as improvement and would be considered acceptable progress. I promise you, if you see this team getting only 6 wins, the view won't be considered positive. 6 wins means a lots of big mistakes by players and coaches that shouldn't be making these mistakes. 6 wins means big wiffs in FA and in the draft.

 

6 wins will not look like a sign that the team is getting better. 6 wins is ugly. For a team that has acquired this much talent, 6 wins would leave you feeling deflated.

 

I don't think people truly understand what 6 wins will actually look like.

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