My take of the game.
First, I'm actually watching the Steelers again. Not sure for how long, but I kind of have a feeling this is Ben's last hurrah, and after 16+ years (I can not believe it's been that long), I figure I owe him a bit to watch.
Second, how the hell does anyone watch football games live anymore? My lord, there is down time. flags, too many commercials, and stupid commentary. Taping the games and starting them up about 90 minutes late (2:30PM) is the only way to go.
Comments:
I find it amazing that when Buffalo struggles on offense, it's because our defense is amazing. When we struggle on offense, it's because we're all rookies and bad personnel setups and our guys fault. I thought Buffalo's defense played pretty well. Ed Oliver was very disruptive. They really did use Tra'davious White to blanket one half of the field. Buffalo is pretty solid and they were playing at home.
That doesn't mean our offense was never at fault. Just like I thought the Bills had pretty good chances (Josh Allen overthrew two almost sure big play/touchdowns in that game - passes he should make) and our defense got bailed out by some penalties (they had 4 holding penalties in the first half) and bad execution.
It kind of works both ways. I thought both teams didn't play particularly well on offense. Execution was bad. Penalties were timely and costly. Lots of clutching and grabbing on the offensive line. Run game was inconsistent. Pass game was inconsistent.
In the long run, the offensive problems can't stay the same week-in, week-out. We have to have a running game or the whole game plan will devolve into exactly what we saw last season and Ben's arm will fall off by about Week 12. The defense looks good, but there were opportunities and that's the way this game is played now. You can not just depend on your defense week-in, week-out. The new rules and the way the game is officiated is just stacked against you. You can have stretches of good defense. Some bend, not break moments, high turnover generation..... but eventually the favoritism to the offense and better QB's out there will catch up with you.
We need a better offense. Nothing about this game changed my mind. Very, very typical of last season and how we won some games. Sure, a win is a win. And you'd rather be on the good side of these games than lose. But this game also does NOT reflect the talent level or capabilities of this team yet. I see an awful lot of false promise, just like I felt during the early parts of 2020.