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Wow, I see the bandwagon got really light with our first loss

bigben said:
This board is mostly idiotic.

That's why everyone can't believe we lost to the Redskins Second string QB and second string runningback.

I'm not surprised, I won't be surprised when they get the 1 and done in the playoffs either.

And to everyone crying for the wr and te to spend extra time on the jugs machines, that's a joke!!
These guys have been playing football their entire lives. To think they are going to improve their hands now??
Most of these guys have been playing for 20+ years
That line of thinking is beyond stupid

They are what they are at this point of their athletic career.

We knew Ebron had bad hands when the Colts sent him packing.
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I'm one of them calling for the Juggs machine, you yourself has said that Antonio brown was one of the best WRs ever and guess what...... He used it religiously. NO ******* way I want little chest back here but if you don't think precise practice practice with a device designed to help you hone a better skill than you are, like Coolie say, the ONLY one to see that.



Salute the nation
 
bigben said:
This board is mostly idiotic.

That's why everyone can't believe we lost to the Redskins Second string QB and second string runningback.

I'm not surprised, I won't be surprised when they get the 1 and done in the playoffs either.

And to everyone crying for the wr and te to spend extra time on the jugs machines, that's a joke!!
These guys have been playing football their entire lives. To think they are going to improve their hands now??
Most of these guys have been playing for 20+ years
That line of thinking is beyond stupid

They are what they are at this point of their athletic career.

We knew Ebron had bad hands when the Colts sent him packing.
Click to expand...

and how many Steeler second or third stringers were on the field?
 
Steel Ballin said:
They've barely beaten **** teams just like last season. Best of the **** teams. Yay that's great. They are a one and done payoff team. Period.
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Year after year, it's we lost to teams we were supposed to beat. This year, we win those games, and it's "we barely beat...".

Now it's a trend this team is going downhill.

I think it's time for a refresh...

36-10 against Bengals
27-3 at Jax
Then the covid debacle. Are we playing, are we not, goes from Thursday to the following Wednesday.

Still a Ravens Steelers game, still pull out an ugly win. FIVE short days later, we face Washington, who had ELEVEN days to prep. Their D is 4th overall, 10th against the run.

We beat Tennessee to give them their first loss. We beat a Ravens team AT Baltimore that was at full strength. They are always tough on the run game. We STOMPED the Browns (top wild card team, 9-3).

But you guys are right. One game, it's enough to show they can't fix anything. Might as well lose out and improve the draft slot. No point even playing the rest of the games. It's over, we're done. 11-1 was a fluke.

Oh what's that? The saints look like a much weaker team with Hill at QB? The Chiefs have won the last three games by a combined 13 points (4 LV, 3 TB, 6 DEN). Yup we're the only good team to have a bad game or struggle.

KC ranks 13th in pass D, 27th in rush D, 17th in total. They CAN be dynamic on offense, but their weakness is just as big and glaring as ours. Might even be more so. Because if they have an off game on offense, their D isn't stopping anyone.

There is no reason to panic over one out of conference loss, on a short week, with the amount of missing starters on d, especially in the 4th quarter.


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Was good we lost no way we want to be undefeated going into playoffs, The game this week will see where we stand after a screwed up few weeks. Tomlin gave his speech when in reality he should of had the pass droppers standing next to him for a few plays.
 
wig said:
In fairness, the Rams could throw the ball more than 3 yards that season. The Steelers do NOT have a dynamic passing game that can make up for this ****-show running game.
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It may not be as dynamic as those Rams teams, but the Steelers' passing game is efficient and effective when the receivers manage to hold on to catchable balls. They had scored at least 24 points in every single game until these last two contests, when the number of drops were ridiculously high for any professional football team.
 
bigben said:
This board is mostly idiotic.

And to everyone crying for the wr and te to spend extra time on the jugs machines, that's a joke!!
These guys have been playing football their entire lives. To think they are going to improve their hands now??
Most of these guys have been playing for 20+ years
That line of thinking is beyond stupid

They are what they are at this point of their athletic career.

We knew Ebron had bad hands when the Colts sent him packing.
Click to expand...

Golfers hit the driving range daily.
Baseball players take batting practice everyday.
Pitchers throw bullpens.
Hockey players practice taking shots on net.
Basketball players take free throws in practice.

Even pro's get into slumps and need to work on things. The best athletes always work fundamentals. Hitting the Juggs machine is the same thing. Working on fixing what is going wrong. If it is running before the ball is in, then the drill on the machine is catch the ball then run. If the problem is hands not up soon enough or not looking it in, that is the drill. Is it a panacea for all things? of course not, but to suggest a pro can't fix issues with extra technique work is just ignorant. there is much more to that machine than just standing there and catching balls from it.

and no, playing the last 10 or 15 years doesn't mean they are what they are. All players continue to learn and improve even in the pro's. The catch windows get tighter, the hand checking is different, the reads are faster, etc, etc. Let us not forget that DJ, Washington, Claypool and yes, JuJu, are still very young. The world of pro sports is filled with guys who take some time to come along.

That said, yes, Ebron had a reputation of dropping passes. On this we agree. We did all know that when we picked him up. I would like to see Vance some shots in game. He won't run away from anyone but he will drop a shouluder and go forward. He is also a better blocker for the run game than EE I think.
 
Hoot said:
Golfers hit the driving range daily.
Baseball players take batting practice everyday.
Pitchers throw bullpens.
Hockey players practice taking shots on net.
Basketball players take free throws in practice.

Even pro's get into slumps and need to work on things. The best athletes always work fundamentals. Hitting the Juggs machine is the same thing. Working on fixing what is going wrong. If it is running before the ball is in, then the drill on the machine is catch the ball then run. If the problem is hands not up soon enough or not looking it in, that is the drill. Is it a panacea for all things? of course not, but to suggest a pro can't fix issues with extra technique work is just ignorant. there is much more to that machine than just standing there and catching balls from it.

and no, playing the last 10 or 15 years doesn't mean they are what they are. All players continue to learn and improve even in the pro's. The catch windows get tighter, the hand checking is different, the reads are faster, etc, etc. Let us not forget that DJ, Washington, Claypool and yes, JuJu, are still very young. The world of pro sports is filled with guys who take some time to come along.

That said, yes, Ebron had a reputation of dropping passes. On this we agree. We did all know that when we picked him up. I would like to see Vance some shots in game. He won't run away from anyone but he will drop a shouluder and go forward. He is also a better blocker for the run game than EE I think.
Click to expand...

Let's be fair here though. Vance McDonald had the worst drop rate of any TE I'd ever seen before he came here. Once here, no issues. Ebron is dropping balls strictly due to trying to move before securing the football. He makes excellent tough catches when contested, but he lacks the concentration to focus on the football when wide open. This is his only problem in catching a football.
 
Cope said:
Let's be fair here though. Vance McDonald had the worst drop rate of any TE I'd ever seen before he came here. Once here, no issues. Ebron is dropping balls strictly due to trying to move before securing the football. He makes excellent tough catches when contested, but he lacks the concentration to focus on the football when wide open. This is his only problem in catching a football.
Click to expand...

i will have to take your work for Vance's history. I didn't really know much about him when we got him.
 
Cope said:
Let's be fair here though. Vance McDonald had the worst drop rate of any TE I'd ever seen before he came here. Once here, no issues. Ebron is dropping balls strictly due to trying to move before securing the football. He makes excellent tough catches when contested, but he lacks the concentration to focus on the football when wide open. This is his only problem in catching a football.
Click to expand...

McDonald has had some drops as a Steeler, too. I remember them.
 
topseed said:
It may not be as dynamic as those Rams teams, but the Steelers' passing game is efficient and effective when the receivers manage to hold on to catchable balls. They had scored at least 24 points in every single game until these last two contests, when the number of drops were ridiculously high for any professional football team.
Click to expand...

defenses seems to have adjusted to the steelers. Earlier in the season, the steeler run game was respected. Claypool was an unknown. That meant defenses were watching for the run and passes were open. Now defenses know that you can stop the steeler run game with just your front 7. Hell, front 4 actually. There’s no point in blitzing either because Ben will get rid of it too quickly. Just have your DL try to bat down passes and drop 7 or 8 into coverage.

Your DBs can play tight on the underneath routes because they have help deep. The tight coverage is limiting yards after catch. Claypool is not making the combat catches deep.

This offense will struggle until they can run the ball effectively. That doesn’t mean grinding out 200 yards. It means doing enough that the LBs have to play the run honestly and not just drop in coverage .
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
defenses seems to have adjusted to the steelers. Earlier in the season, the steeler run game was respected. Claypool was an unknown. That meant defenses were watching for the run and passes were open. Now defenses know that you can stop the steeler run game with just your front 7. Hell, front 4 actually. There’s no point in blitzing either because Ben will get rid of it too quickly. Just have your DL try to bat down passes and drop 7 or 8 into coverage.

Your DBs can play tight on the underneath routes because they have help deep. The tight coverage is limiting yards after catch. Claypool is not making the combat catches deep.

This offense will struggle until they can run the ball effectively. That doesn’t mean grinding out 200 yards. It means doing enough that the LBs have to play the run honestly and not just drop in coverage .
Click to expand...
Good point about opposing defenses not needing to blitz. They're not going to get there anyway, so they're better off staying in short coverage. Even more intermediate passes would help the Steelers open things up, because the occasional deep ball is not scaring anybody right now. Ben still has the arm strength to make those 15-20 out throws -- they need to start utilizing those.
 
topseed said:
Good point about opposing defenses not needing to blitz. They're not going to get there anyway, so they're better off staying in short coverage. Even more intermediate passes would help the Steelers open things up, because the occasional deep ball is not scaring anybody right now. Ben still has the arm strength to make those 15-20 out throws -- they need to start utilizing those.
Click to expand...

I think we need to see a return of backyard Ben a little more. Hold on to the ball and and take some shots downfield, make these defenses send extra guys and beat the defense vertically.
 
Cope said:
Let's be fair here though. Vance McDonald had the worst drop rate of any TE I'd ever seen before he came here. Once here, no issues. Ebron is dropping balls strictly due to trying to move before securing the football. He makes excellent tough catches when contested, but he lacks the concentration to focus on the football when wide open. This is his only problem in catching a football.
Click to expand...

I think the real question is why have we recently been picking up TEs who are known to have issues with dropped passes?

It's not like this was a secret about either one before they were signed. And McDonald has had his fair share of drops with us so I wouldn't say it hasn't been an issue since he's been here...he just hasn't seen the field enough for it to make a difference.
 
nitsuj1225 said:
I think the real question is why have we recently been picking up TEs who are known to have issues with dropped passes?

It's not like this was a secret about either one before they were signed. And McDonald has had his fair share of drops with us so I wouldn't say it hasn't been an issue since he's been here...he just hasn't seen the field enough for it to make a difference.
Click to expand...

I think they minimalized Vance's issues and thought they could follow suit with Ebron. Maybe they can or maybe not we'll see.
 
nitsuj1225 said:
I think the real question is why have we recently been picking up TEs who are known to have issues with dropped passes?

It's not like this was a secret about either one before they were signed. And McDonald has had his fair share of drops with us so I wouldn't say it hasn't been an issue since he's been here...he just hasn't seen the field enough for it to make a difference.
Click to expand...

When Vance was running the show, his drop rate was 5.5% & 5.6% and only missed 3 games those years (his first year was 13.6% and he only started 7 games). Ebron has been closer to 9%. That's a big difference. In SF Vance's 4 years are: 16.7%, 14.3%, 10.9%, 7%

Juju is 3.5% down from 7% last year. DJ is up to 9.4% from 6.5% last year. Washington in his past 3 years, keeps going up 5.3%, 6.3%, 7.1% Doesn't seem like his rate is that high because he's making big plays and getting less chances. Plus his drops are usually combat catch drops.
 
Cope said:
Let's be fair here though. Vance McDonald had the worst drop rate of any TE I'd ever seen before he came here. Once here, no issues. Ebron is dropping balls strictly due to trying to move before securing the football. He makes excellent tough catches when contested, but he lacks the concentration to focus on the football when wide open. This is his only problem in catching a football.
Click to expand...



NEED not fear as when his mouth is wide open he also loses his concentration as well.





Salute the nation
 
Cope said:
AB had some sickhouse years with drop %. 2016 1.3% (only 2 drops on 163 targets!). 2018 1 drop on 164 attempts for 0.6%
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That in itself is pretty amazing, nearly the same ratio of ability good to ******** Pearson bad. Don't get me wrong as little chest had some amazing seasons on the field but NO, I wouldn't take him back ever.

He also showed he had some amazing seasons OFF the field too !




Salute the nation
 
mdk2 said:
I think we need to see a return of backyard Ben a little more. Hold on to the ball and and take some shots downfield, make these defenses send extra guys and beat the defense vertically.
Click to expand...

The problem with this current version of Backyard Ben would be that he doesn't have the mobility he used to, and he is essentially no threat to hurt defenses with his legs anymore. But I do agree he's got to hold on to the ball a bit longer at times, so he can start completing more intermediate passes. Especially if the defense is not going to blitz.
 
Maybe one way to look at it is you would rather get your stinker out of the way now.
WSH played well we didn’t. Pretty simple. And teams down the stretch will not have defensive lines like the two we faced in back to back weeks.
Tomlin will get them refocused and I expect a focused group on Sunday night


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the24fan said:
Maybe one way to look at it is you would rather get your stinker out of the way now.
WSH played well we didn’t. Pretty simple. And teams down the stretch will not have defensive lines like the two we faced in back to back weeks.
Tomlin will get them refocused and I expect a focused group on Sunday night


Sent from my iPhone using Steeler Nation mobile app
Click to expand...


He went back to the lab !
 
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I was thinking that it would be much better to not be undefeated. If they were undefeated then they have to play hard each week to keep the record. They could get burned out.

What about the BYE week for the 1 seed? Sure you want the bye but there's a good chance that the steelers will have a comfortable lead for the 2 seed which means they can rest their starters for week 17 and give themselves a bye week.
 
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