Now THAT was good coaching. Tomlin and Co. earned their money tonight

[Omar10213245]

The best thing about this win is the Steelers didn't blink. Adversity doesn't create character, it exposes it.

I've never really gotten this quote. Adversity does, in fact, build character. It also shows it. Why cant it be both?

 

[Superman]

I don't think he'd know if they did make changes. He's a dumb *** kinda like you.

Tomlin at halftime, all the time.

 

[SteelChip]

They switched out Blake and started playing press and pressure. They came in believing the Broncos would run. Got killed on the soft zone. .

are you aware he said they didn't make any changes in the second half?

I have a hell of a time trying to figure out who was on the field and what defense they are in at the time. Maybe I need a bigger TV. I know most of the first half Blake started at outside corner. In the second half it looked to me like Cockrell had replaced Blake but Boykin and Gay were also both in the game at the same time too.

I'll have to go back and try to see WTF they did but in the mean time....

Somebody on this thread must be privy to the answers here. Can ya help a fellow out and try to explain what happened to who and when ? it seemed to work but what was it....other than to press on the outside that is.

 

[Stryker]

I have a hell of a time trying to figure out who was on the field and what defense they are in at the time. Maybe I need a bigger TV. I know most of the first half Blake started at outside corner. In the second half it looked to me like Cockrell had replaced Blake but Boykin and Gay were also both in the game at the same time too.

I'll have to go back and try to see WTF they did but in the mean time....

Somebody on this thread must be privy to the answers here. Can ya help a fellow out and try to explain what happened to who and when ? it seemed to work but what was it....other than to press on the outside that is.

The scheme change was twofold. Personnel changes with Boykin coming in for Blake (Boykin also ended the game with the most snaps for a CB yesterday, hopefully it's a sign for a changing of the guard). We also ran a bunch of Big Nickel (Taking Timmons off and putting Golden on as a 3rd Safety). The defense also went to more of an aggressive press man coverage. This took the first read away from Brock and helped our front 7 get pressure and forced mistakes.

One point I would like to make is this defense excels when we get pressure. When we don't get pressure, this D is terrible. It was a good scheme change yesterday to have the press coverage help the front 7 get pressure. This needs done when we face the Patriots. Slow Brady down, get pressure, and he ******* cracks. (wouldn't hurt to ear hole him either so the blue hats can have him for a quarter)...

 

[bermudasteel]

Not sure I follow. We should give the coaches credit for allowing the Broncos to have a great 1st half (which they don't normally have) and shutting them down in the 2nd half (something that every team does to them)?



No, but you see the Broncos being shut out by every defense in the 2nd half. They haven't scored in 3 games in the 2nd half. So, it's pretty obvious that something happens to their QB as the game moves along. I have no idea what it is but something is wrong. The Chargers and Oakland shut them out. Neither of those teams are good.

I just want to make sure I'm following your logic, Vader - so, you're saying...because the Broncos have been notorious of not finishing games in the second half - our coaching staff and players, should not be complimented on yesterday's win??? Help a brotha out....

 

[ark steel]

i don't see this as the game to tout the coaching. This staff had a week to come up with a gameplan and that gameplan was torched by Brock Osweiler. Then there was the decision to throw the ball just before the 2 minute warning that nearly ended in a game losing interception. You don't have to run every play but you had to run THAT play to get to the 2 minute warning.

The difference was the players stepping up and making plays to overcome the hole that the coaches put them in.

Wow.

So, on that play, you can't trust your $100m QB to make a good decision? He could have slid and the clock would have kept running to get to 2 min or made the broncos use another TO to save 1 second. He could have overthrown the ball so that no one could catch it.

It wasn't the play that was called that was the problem, it was Ben throwing that pass where there was no way his player was going to catch it. I thought it was a silly call, too (not a bad call, but silly), but that **** up of a result is on Ben and no one else.

 

[Steelerfan]

Wow.

So, on that play, you can't trust your $100m QB to make a good decision? He could have slid and the clock would have kept running to get to 2 min or made the broncos use another TO to save 1 second. He could have overthrown the ball so that no one could catch it.

It wasn't the play that was called that was the problem, it was Ben throwing that pass where there was no way his player was going to catch it. I thought it was a silly call, too (not a bad call, but silly), but that **** up of a result is on Ben and no one else.

Agreed. What amazes me is that THIS defense saved Ben's *** after that mistake. I honestly had my doubts but was pleasantly surprised.

 

[SteelerAl]

Wow.

So, on that play, you can't trust your $100m QB to make a good decision? He could have slid and the clock would have kept running to get to 2 min or made the broncos use another TO to save 1 second. He could have overthrown the ball so that no one could catch it.

It wasn't the play that was called that was the problem, it was Ben throwing that pass where there was no way his player was going to catch it. I thought it was a silly call, too (not a bad call, but silly), but that **** up of a result is on Ben and no one else.

Agreed. I had no problem with the call at all. It would have been great if Ben had just chucked the ball into the stands. The play would have taken 8 seconds off the clock and taken us to the 2:00 warning. A running play would have been 4 seconds and a timeout by Denver at 2:04.

 

[topseed]

I loved the aggressive call by Tomlin there, and once again when they got the ball back...Denver could never have expected another pass in that situation after the turnover on the prior series.

The interception was 100% on Ben. He obviously was not cognizant of the time left on the clock. Simply throwing it deep on the sidelines would have easily accomplished the goal of taking it to the two-minute warning.


And it was encouraging to see Blake (mostly) benched after halftime, although why it took 13-and-a-half games I have no idea.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Wow.

So, on that play, you can't trust your $100m QB to make a good decision? He could have slid and the clock would have kept running to get to 2 min or made the broncos use another TO to save 1 second. He could have overthrown the ball so that no one could catch it.

It wasn't the play that was called that was the problem, it was Ben throwing that pass where there was no way his player was going to catch it. I thought it was a silly call, too (not a bad call, but silly), but that **** up of a result is on Ben and no one else.

Throwing on that particular down was stupid. They got the ball with 2:14 and Denver had 3 TO plus the 2 min warning. You have 3 plays and on those 3 plays, the main goal has to be to make sure that Denver uses 2 TO and the 2 minute, leaving them with just 1 TO. You have shut them out in the second half. The smart move was 3 runs.

Having said that, i would not have had a problem with a pass on 1st down because Denver would be thinking run and you probably get an easy completion. If it's incomplete then you have 2 more downs to take away 2 of Denver's stoppages.

They ran on 1st down for no gain and Denver called TO. Now it's 2nd and 10 and Denver is thinking pass. They threw a short out pattern. Even if completed, it may have stopped the clock out of bounds. That would have left 3rd and 5 with the clock stopped at 2:01 and Denver still has the warning and 2 TO. That's a horrible situation. The only worse one was the INT.

I would have rathered even a deep throw there because 2 minute warning would hit while the ball was in the air and if intercepted, it leaves Denver a long field and 2 stoppages.

It was a bad decision by Ben but the play itself played into Denver's hands.

 

[SteelerFan448]

I agree that it was the wrong down to throw the ball on, but had no issues with them throwing the ball. I think you do it on third down to pick up the first and essentially seal the game as they did on their next possession. Regardless of the play call, though, Ben has to be smart enough not to try to squeeze the ball in there.

 

[Steel Vanguard]

Throwing on that particular down was stupid. They got the ball with 2:14 and Denver had 3 TO plus the 2 min warning. You have 3 plays and on those 3 plays, the main goal has to be to make sure that Denver uses 2 TO and the 2 minute, leaving them with just 1 TO. You have shut them out in the second half. The smart move was 3 runs.

Having said that, i would not have had a problem with a pass on 1st down because Denver would be thinking run and you probably get an easy completion. If it's incomplete then you have 2 more downs to take away 2 of Denver's stoppages.

They ran on 1st down for no gain and Denver called TO. Now it's 2nd and 10 and Denver is thinking pass. They threw a short out pattern. Even if completed, it may have stopped the clock out of bounds. That would have left 3rd and 5 with the clock stopped at 2:01 and Denver still has the warning and 2 TO. That's a horrible situation. The only worse one was the INT.

I would have rathered even a deep throw there because 2 minute warning would hit while the ball was in the air and if intercepted, it leaves Denver a long field and 2 stoppages.

It was a bad decision by Ben but the play itself played into Denver's hands.

That's ***** ball and you know it. We play to win. And I love that about Tomlin. If I had one complaint about Cowher during the Kordell era it was that he too often played not to lose.

It was a good call that was poorly executed by Ben.

 

[obxsteeler]

That's ***** ball and you know it. We play to win. And I love that about Tomlin. If I had one complaint about Cowher during the Kordell era it was that he too often played not to lose.

It was a good call that was poorly executed by Ben.

On our next series you saw a good call well executed when Ben threw to Brown on 2nd and 10 for a 1st to essentially run out the clock.

 

[steel dino]

On our next series you saw a good call well executed when Ben threw to Brown on 2nd and 10 for a 1st to essentially run out the clock.

That was absolutely MONEY!

 

[madinsomniac]

Yep, the playcall was actually good on that Int... I hate to say it but it was just a bad play by Ben....

In order, here were his options once he saw the primary read was covered and began to scramble:

1. wait another second and throw the ball away... proper game awareness would have shown there was a few seconds before the 2 minute warning... a solid deep heave would have taken it down to that point anyhow... stopping the clock wouldn't be a factor...
2. Run for the line.... yes he may lose yardage, but he might not too, and it was a safe alternative... the handful of yards he would have potentially lost were not significant.
3. Run out of bounds... again with hardly any time before the 2 minute warning this would have been less painful than the result in the forced pass
4. take the sack... look for another option... protect the ball and if you lose yardage, so be it
5. if you are going to force that pass, throw it to the outside, where the defender doesn't have a play on it... even a good dive at it probably results in an out of bounds play



Bad decision, bad throw, bad result

 

[topseed]

Throwing on that particular down was stupid. They got the ball with 2:14 and Denver had 3 TO plus the 2 min warning. You have 3 plays and on those 3 plays, the main goal has to be to make sure that Denver uses 2 TO and the 2 minute, leaving them with just 1 TO. You have shut them out in the second half. The smart move was 3 runs.

Having said that, i would not have had a problem with a pass on 1st down because Denver would be thinking run and you probably get an easy completion. If it's incomplete then you have 2 more downs to take away 2 of Denver's stoppages.

They ran on 1st down for no gain and Denver called TO. Now it's 2nd and 10 and Denver is thinking pass. They threw a short out pattern. Even if completed, it may have stopped the clock out of bounds. That would have left 3rd and 5 with the clock stopped at 2:01 and Denver still has the warning and 2 TO. That's a horrible situation. The only worse one was the INT.

I would have rathered even a deep throw there because 2 minute warning would hit while the ball was in the air and if intercepted, it leaves Denver a long field and 2 stoppages.

It was a bad decision by Ben but the play itself played into Denver's hands.

First of all, Denver is thinking run on EVERY down in that situation.

Secondly, you do NOT want to throw it on first down, because there is too much time before the 2-minute warning. If the pass is incomplete, you've really screwed yourself. If it is complete, even for a first down, Denver can simply use its first timeout and still have three stoppages left for the next set of downs.

The reason passing makes sense on second down (with intelligent quarterback play) is: You've already forced them to use a timeout on first down, and you will either keep the clock running with an in-bounds reception, or get to the 2-minute warning with a long incompletion.

I've been tough on Tomlin, but he coached the end of this game aggressively well.

 

[Vader]

That's ***** ball and you know it. We play to win. And I love that about Tomlin. If I had one complaint about Cowher during the Kordell era it was that he too often played not to lose.

It was a good call that was poorly executed by Ben.

That's bullshit. Cowher let Kordell throw the ball over 40 times in one playoff loss. You need to go back and watch some of those games. They lost to Denver because Cowher let Kordell "play to win". Remember the pick right before the half? Kordell just throwing it up for grabs... I swear some of you have never watched the Steelers before the 05' SB run.

 

[ark steel]

Throwing on that particular down was stupid. They got the ball with 2:14 and Denver had 3 TO plus the 2 min warning. You have 3 plays and on those 3 plays, the main goal has to be to make sure that Denver uses 2 TO and the 2 minute, leaving them with just 1 TO. You have shut them out in the second half. The smart move was 3 runs.

Having said that, i would not have had a problem with a pass on 1st down because Denver would be thinking run and you probably get an easy completion. If it's incomplete then you have 2 more downs to take away 2 of Denver's stoppages.

They ran on 1st down for no gain and Denver called TO. Now it's 2nd and 10 and Denver is thinking pass. They threw a short out pattern. Even if completed, it may have stopped the clock out of bounds. That would have left 3rd and 5 with the clock stopped at 2:01 and Denver still has the warning and 2 TO. That's a horrible situation. The only worse one was the INT.

I would have rathered even a deep throw there because 2 minute warning would hit while the ball was in the air and if intercepted, it leaves Denver a long field and 2 stoppages.

It was a bad decision by Ben but the play itself played into Denver's hands.

But without the ****** decision by Ben it would have been the exact same as a running play, which Denver had just shut down two of.

I believe Ben intended to go deep, when no one was open (or the pressure was too close) he moved out of the pocket. Not withstanding his ****** decision to throw the ball where he did, the clock should make it to the 2 minute warning or Den loses another time out. If Ben slides, the TO happens or the 2 minute warning happens. If Ben throws it way high and over everyone's head, the 2 minute warning happens.

Ben is the guy that got you where you were. if you can't trust him to make a better decision there, wtf can you trust him to do? Ben knew he ****** up on the play. He wants to make the Big play, tried and ****** up. You could see it on his face. He knew it, everyone watching knew that was Ben's **** up, not the play call, itself.

I'm not a fan of the call, but Ben is your guy. He has AB who seems to magically get open a lot. I'm surprised they didn't convert it.

 

[Superman]

Denver was not stopping us in the 2nd half.
Calling that play as risky, but we'd also not been running very well at all. So as pointed out, if a run burns off :04 and they stop the clock before the 2:00 mark, the donkeys have plenty of time.

that said, it was a retardedly ignorant decision by Ben to place that ball where he did.

 

[bermudasteel]

That's bullshit. Cowher let Kordell throw the ball over 40 times in one playoff loss. You need to go back and watch some of those games. They lost to Denver because Cowher let Kordell "play to win". Remember the pick right before the half? Kordell just throwing it up for grabs... I swear some of you have never watched the Steelers before the 05' SB run.

I'm still waiting on my answer...

 

[Stryker]

I'm still waiting on my answer...

You'll be waiting a long time, he prefers to change the arguments...

 

[POP]

Solid coaching today. Solid play. And everyone just remaining cool and calm getting it done. Way to go!

I think it's safe to conclude that the right move was made to get rid of LeBeau; his recent years demonstrated that between him and Tomlin, they would have stuck to same game plan that wasn't working, like when we faced Denver in the play offs. I give the kudos to Butler, as he is the only difference between the DL mode and now.

 

[Coach]

I just want to make sure I'm following your logic, Vader - so, you're saying...because the Broncos have been notorious of not finishing games in the second half - our coaching staff and players, should not be complimented on yesterday's win??? Help a brotha out....

Outside of benching Blake, what change did the staff make? Can you please tell us?

By the way, Blake should have been benched weeks ago. Better later than never.

The offense was once again excellent. Osweiler wasn't very good in the second half..

 

[mdk2]

Outside of benching Blake, what change did the staff make? Can you please tell us?

By the way, Blake should have been benched weeks ago. Better later than never.

The offense was once again excellent. Osweiler wasn't very good in the second half..

According to Tomlin nothing really changed schematically. According to Tunch, they played a lot more press on the WRs and changed to a lot more man on the outsides.

 

[chipped ham]

Outside of benching Blake, what change did the staff make? Can you please tell us?

By the way, Blake should have been benched weeks ago. Better later than never.

The offense was once again excellent. Osweiler wasn't very good in the second half..

Playing much tighter coverage was a pretty obvious change. I don't care what Tomlin says about not making any adjustments, all you had to do was look at the LOS and how close the corners were playing the receivers to see that something was done at halftime.