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Initial Thoughts on Bills Game

There is a phrase I use in coaching. "Knock their dicks off". Translated......they have no answer for what we are doing. We are more physical then they are. They can't handle what we are doing. And you better not trot that out unless you mean it. Cause if you say we are gonna knock their dicks off and it flips.....you lose the room real ****** quick. So when was the last time this team knocked anyone's dick off? They've had a few bigger wins.(not a hell of a lot btw.) Mostly produced by a large turnover differential. But that is not the same. I mean you go into the game and are like they have zero chance. The Steelers teams of at least the last 6 years are hoping to win. Not believing they will. Lots of false bravado. Zero real swagger.
 
This roster has enough talent to be a playoff team. The coaches are getting the least amount out of this bunch. The defensive scheme is a joke. You can see the players biting their tongues in post game interviews, hinting at the scheme issues but not wanting to say it outright.

Rodgers looks pissed. None of the WRs understand how to get open. Rodgers gave Jonuu Smith a signal to run a post and he ran a corner. The middle was open. Smith should have seen that himself. Nope. The WRs run their routes, poorly, then just do nothing after that. You are supposed to run your route and then if the play is still alive, you work yourself open for your QB. They don't. They pretty much stand there while Rodgers gets sacked.

The roster has holes but so does the Bills. Their OL is not great and they don't have a ton of weapons. Allen makes up for that with his legs but still, his WRs know to keep working when the play breaks down.

Why did they draft small slot WRs like Austin and Wilson if they don't want to pass over the middle? Why pay Freiermuth and add Jonuu if you don;t throw over the middle?

It's as if they are tasked with moving a boulder up a hill and Mike Tomlin telling them that using levers and pulleys is just a fad. They just need to push harder.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
This roster has enough talent to be a playoff team. The coaches are getting the least amount out of this bunch. The defensive scheme is a joke. You can see the players biting their tongues in post game interviews, hinting at the scheme issues but not wanting to say it outright.

Rodgers looks pissed. None of the WRs understand how to get open. Rodgers gave Jonuu Smith a signal to run a post and he ran a corner. The middle was open. Smith should have seen that himself. Nope. The WRs run their routes, poorly, then just do nothing after that. You are supposed to run your route and then if the play is still alive, you work yourself open for your QB. They don't. They pretty much stand there while Rodgers gets sacked.

The roster has holes but so does the Bills. Their OL is not great and they don't have a ton of weapons. Allen makes up for that with his legs but still, his WRs know to keep working when the play breaks down.

Why did they draft small slot WRs like Austin and Wilson if they don't want to pass over the middle? Why pay Freiermuth and add Jonuu if you don;t throw over the middle?

It's as if they are tasked with moving a boulder up a hill and Mike Tomlin telling them that using levers and pulleys is just a fad. They just need to push harder.
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I nominate this for post of the year. Tge team has no direction. Nothing to hang it's hat on. No identity. They tried to build identity with the three tight end thing. Was successful briefly.... .teams adjust. Now what? Attention to detail is built on August. Not December.
 
Initially I wanted Will Howard to play some, but honestly all that will accomplish this year is to David Carr him. He would be ruined.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
This roster has enough talent to be a playoff team. The coaches are getting the least amount out of this bunch. The defensive scheme is a joke. You can see the players biting their tongues in post game interviews, hinting at the scheme issues but not wanting to say it outright.

Rodgers looks pissed. None of the WRs understand how to get open. Rodgers gave Jonuu Smith a signal to run a post and he ran a corner. The middle was open. Smith should have seen that himself. Nope. The WRs run their routes, poorly, then just do nothing after that. You are supposed to run your route and then if the play is still alive, you work yourself open for your QB. They don't. They pretty much stand there while Rodgers gets sacked.

The roster has holes but so does the Bills. Their OL is not great and they don't have a ton of weapons. Allen makes up for that with his legs but still, his WRs know to keep working when the play breaks down.

Why did they draft small slot WRs like Austin and Wilson if they don't want to pass over the middle? Why pay Freiermuth and add Jonuu if you don;t throw over the middle?

It's as if they are tasked with moving a boulder up a hill and Mike Tomlin telling them that using levers and pulleys is just a fad. They just need to push harder.
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I agree there is enough talent on this team to make the playoffs and win a game. I have zero confidence the coaches will get them there.

Rodgers has zero chemistry with Jonnu...why'd we bring him in again? Take the loss and focus on Washington and Freiermuth. You're also correct that the Steelers WRs don't understand the finer details of playing the position. Spot on about the scramble drill, they don't know how to work themselves open.

That isn't letting Rodgers off the hook either. He feels pressure when it isn't there and looks for where it's coming from. He's no longer keeping his eyes down field and is taking bad sacks and turnovers as a result. In the perfect conditions he can get it done. However, since the weather got cold, he's looking washed. Unfortunately, Mason has shown he isn't any better.

Speaking of Mason, why was he in the pistol when he came in? Seriously, is our team incapable of lining up under center when the backup QB comes in? Did Mason also break his wrist? Just awful to watch.

The offense line should be way better than they play as a collective. There's talent there, yet you rarely see them open holes like Buffalo did tonight.

Spot on again about the receiving personnel. A team loaded with TEs and slot receivers should feast over the middle of the field.

The defense is just soft. So tired of hearing Cam's excuses after every game for the past 3-4 years. He's an all-time great Steeler, but he doesn't match up to the 70s, 90s, or 00s guys who played on dominating defenses and won games when it mattered.
 
Ye Black Knight said:
Initially I wanted Will Howard to play some, but honestly all that will accomplish this year is to David Carr him. He would be ruined.
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Get him an offensive-minded coach, draft Lemon/Tate in the first round, sign a veteran receiver to pair with DK, move on from Jonnu and use Washington and Freiermuth at TE. That's a solid foundation to build around for a young QB.
 
Another random thought. Someone explain replay assist. Is there any logic to it? It seems very random.

I personally love it and think it should be the main form of review outside of challenges. If a replay can't be overturned that quickly, it stands. However, the randomness of replay assist is a bad look for the NFL.
 
Okay, it's probably been posted, but the new Steelers low is 6-11 in the last 17 games.
 
SteelerSask2 said:
How about the fact they have never score more then 7 in the first quarter of over 60 games. How is that even possible.
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Isn't it actually longer when you look at offense only because the last time they did was a defensive score?
 
SteelerSask2 said:
All it would take is first drive score. Fumble recovery or int. Field goal. Like I said feels impossible.
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Just pure odds say a team should score more than 1 TD in a first quarter over the course of 60 games.

Watching the team this year feels like Tomlin expected Rodgers to be the 28-year old version of himself. They act like he has to carry the team because they can't run the ball with consistency and the scheme isn't QB friendly. I thought Rodgers came in here trying to teach the young players and hold his teammates accountable. Something happened along the way that he got gunshy and just looks like he should retire tomorrow, but if they had a dominate ground game and could scheme guys open, he still had enough left in the tank to win a playoff game in the AFC this year--also including what should've been a top-5 defense.
 
Chicoman said:
TJ is probably sick & tired of the Defense doing the same god damn scheme week in, week out for the past 12 years......the other 31 NFL teams have figured this out! It shouldn't come as a surprise at all when opponents say in the post game they knew the plays the Steelers were running both on offense & Defense
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TJ can't be that sick and tired of the defensive scheme or he wouldn't have been as insistent as he was on a new contract extension before the season kickoff.
 
SteelerFan448 said:
Just pure odds say a team should score more than 1 TD in a first quarter over the course of 60 games.

Watching the team this year feels like Tomlin expected Rodgers to be the 28-year old version of himself. They act like he has to carry the team because they can't run the ball with consistency and the scheme isn't QB friendly. I thought Rodgers came in here trying to teach the young players and hold his teammates accountable. Something happened along the way that he got gunshy and just looks like he should retire tomorrow, but if they had a dominate ground game and could scheme guys open, he still had enough left in the tank to win a playoff game in the AFC this year--also including what should've been a top-5 defense.
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I just dont think the route concepts really take the ball over the middle and that 10-15 yard slant skinny post got Rodgers all those MVPs. The media acts as though this is a recent development its a 6 year development. Even Ben post elbow surgery
 
Romo showed on the TV a handful of times during the game that Rodgers has nobody to throw the ball to. The receivers are not getting open play after play and the OL is frequently not keeping the pressure off. The offensive game plan is simply offensive.

Tomlin and Smith are game planning like they have Pickett or Justin Fields at QB and need to keep the training wheels on. They play against a Bills team that's ranked third to last against the run this year, yet Warren carries the ball 10 times. They have three TEs that can catch the ball and do some damage, yet they barely get used. Any decent coach would have those guys going crazy across the middle of the field. Jonnu had 88 receptions for almost 900 yards last year for Miami. We saw what muth can do when properly used against the Bungles. Washington is a beast whenever they go to him regularly. Why do they not get targeted more than a couple of times a game?

I have no idea what CA III is doing. There isn't much use for a short and fast receiver when the coach won't allow for throws deep, or across the middle.

I guess we were too hard on Canada since it's obvious the play calling was not all him. It's the same thing every time regardless of coordinator. Run up the middle on first and second for short or no gain, then throw to Gainwell behind the LOS for what often ends up as a loss followed by a punt. Right now, Gainwell is about 80% of the coach's game plan, which sums up the team this year.

Tomlin's offensive scheme has the defense sucking wind and injured by the end of the season every year because they are always on the field.

The coaching continues to stink, both preparing and execution. 4th and 2 inside the ten down 17 in the fourth needing three scores. Tomlin always punts on 4th and short when I think he should go for it, and goes for it when I think he should do something else. Since they needed two TDs and at least a field goal, I was thinking they should have put the three on the board in that situation. Instead, they ran it up the middle again for no gain. I thought he should have gone for it on fourth and two earlier in the game when he punted with Buffalo starting to show a lot of momentum.

I complained about TJ getting paid this year after watching him last year. I felt the team was paying him based on everything he had done for the team over his career at what was probably a discount. I'm fine with taking care of him, but great teams know when to let their aging stars go. He's not good enough to get through the double teams and holding like he used to in the current scheme and Tomlin can't figure out a better way to get him better involved.
 
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Q. Are you avoiding passing over the middle. If not how can you explain such little production.
A. Just not enough production.
Like WTF does that mean. He asked you directly if you are avoiding the middle. Just not enough production. Well its hard to produce if you make no effort to try. What a clown show.
 
They get almost no big plays so they need long drives to score. They simply don’t have enough time to score 2 TD in the 1st quarter.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
They get almost no big plays so they need long drives to score. They simply don’t have enough time to score 2 TD in the 1st quarter.
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I think its about the incompetence of the first drive. You can have a long drive for a TD or even a field goal. Then a turnover on the following possession. 60 plus games is 4 years.
 
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