Observations Pre-Season Game 3 vs Lions....

[Chicoman]

Tonight we got what most likely will be our only sneak peek of the Steelers starters and I'll be the first to say they looked pretty damn good. The first drive stalled on a drop by Eric Ebron which should have been a first down to keep the chains moving but after that Ben & the Offense really heated up. Ben looked comfortable and I thought his throws still had zip and he was accurate with ball placement. Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth both looked impressive and Muth has one hell of a catch radius....he's going to be difficult for opposing Defenses to game plan for. Najee Harris really completes the offense. Steeler fans should be excited about this team this season....They've got all the pieces in place to make a run. The starting O-line looked pretty damn good too....I think alot of credit needs to goto Adrian Klemm for coaching them up this season.

Winners:
Ben Roethlisberger - 8 for 10 for 137 yds 2 TD's. Had accuracy and velocity on his throws.....He looked like a rookie in the first quarter when he extended a play on 3rd down during the first drive...throwing to an open Eric Ebron who dropped the pass. Did anyone see Big Ben fake out the cameraman on his pump fake to Freiermuth on one of his two TD throws? That was beautiful!

Pat Freiermuth - 2 rec 19yds 2 TD's. All he does is catch touchdowns. What a catch radius this kid has....it's almost unreal. He's going to be a great TE for a long time.

Najee Harris - This kid can do it all tonight a nice 42 yd catch and run.....exciting to watch him develop

Juju Smith Schuster - 5 rec 39yds.....Often overlooked because of the big play capability of Johnson & Claypool but Juju just keeps the chains moving ala Hines Ward. He's clutch!

Melvin Ingram - Made a nice play when they had the Lions pinned deep in the shadow of their own Goalline. He has a great first step

Tre Norwood - Had a great open field tackle on a Punt Return....I was impressed. Also had a key block on Sexton's 47 yd Punt Return that sprung him. Good special teamers are hard to come by.

Matthew Sexton - He had a nice return in the HoF Game and now again this week....he's got some moves....not sure he will make the roster.....unless we trade James Washington and Ray Ray moves up to #4...then maybe Sexton has a chance.

Justin Layne - I'm tossing him up here because I thought he did pretty good with the starters when he came in after Haden went out in the 1st QTR. Layne has often been criticized for not catching on but he looked good in pass coverage and in run support too. Worth noting!

Losers:
Eric Ebron - I'll be the first to say it.....this guy isn't a Steeler. He's never been a Steeler. He's SOFT! I'm not ready to kick him to the curb but he's average at best. I wish we would see better production from Zach Gentry & Kevin Rader but we haven't seen that yet.

 

[CoolieMan]

how the hell does Ben hold the ball on his pump fakes. Hell I thought he threw it...

Ben looked good tonight, his deep ball was a little short, but still a nice throw.

Najee is going to be a beast

Freiermuth is a huge target in the red zone

 

[MTC]

Friermuth going across the middle and catching like that brought some shades of Hines.

Love Heath, but that was Hines like

 

[suncitysteel]

Here's hoping that by midseason Alex Highsmith will have all of SN saying... "Bud who??"

 

[SteelerFan448]

Freiermuth was as advertise in the red zone. The offensive line had some bright spots and Dotson and Turner had moments of moving people. Tough to watch them closely at the game. Highsmith continues to impress and Carlos Davis was making some plays against the backups.

Is it just me or does Devin Bush look slow? He was beat comfortably by a tight end last week and he looked slow in pursuit of a running back this week. Maybe I just had a bad angle of the play but I thought he played much faster prior to his injury.

 

[Atlsteelers]

Ben’s overrated and done. He’s been done for the past couple years. Should have retired with Pouncey and road off in the sunset. Out of shape and can’t throw deep. Just a game manager and won’t win another game. Did I forget anything? Move on and nothing to see here.

 

[Skott]

Freiermuth was as advertise in the red zone. The offensive line had some bright spots and Dotson and Turner had moments of moving people. Tough to watch them closely at the game. Highsmith continues to impress and Carlos Davis was making some plays against the backups.

Is it just me or does Devin Bush look slow? He was beat comfortably by a tight end last week and he looked slow in pursuit of a running back this week. Maybe I just had a bad angle of the play but I thought he played much faster prior to his injury.

He looks mediocre at best right now

 

[mightyguru]

Droptimus Prime will be benched for Friermuth sooner than later.

 

[jitter77]

Im not a fan of Bush. I know the team has a lot invested in him, but seems like a punk and his on field play has been mediocre. He struggled w/ coverage pre-injury and now seems even slower in general. He is young so lots of time to improve, but for now he should be #2 at best.

I liked Najee and I am surprised at how fast / agile he seems. Still not sure if he was the right pick w/ our current Oline / CB situation, but at least he looks like he will be a very good player.

Ben looked alright, if he is able to move we will be way ahead of last year. He was like a statue last year. I still think his knee/leg was the problem and not his arm.

Layne could be a huge key to the D. He looked pretty good today, but if he struggles I cant see the secondary holding up.

 

[slashsteel]

Bush is still working his way back from injury. I am not too concerned .....yet. I think the run blocking still is a work in progress in both sides of the ball. Not that I don't see some positives. Muth is as advertised if Ebron continues being drive killers he will put Pat on the field sooner than later. In the red zone I would put primetime Pat in the field every time. Norwood just might have made the roster. I hope Maulet's injury isn't serious I thought he played well. Loudermilk had a good and bad night I chalk that up to rookie growing pains. I know it won't be popular but Batch was annoying with his Bell and AB mentions. Plus he still says **** out in left field. I love the man and ex player, but I don't think that is the job for him. Our new punter had a 50 yard punt, not many opportunities in the game but that shouldn't be missed with Fox lighting it up on the Lions.

 

[TDX27]

I said this before. Bush may take until mid-season or so to fully recover. He's not even close to a year removed from his major injury. Most players take at least a full year to get back to full speed and many take more than a full season. So....he may not be full speed for quite a while.

As for Muth, I watched him a ton being a Penn Stater and loved the drafting of him. All he does is catch the ball and specifically touchdowns. And, apparently, his route running has improved already as well (one of the few knocks on him coming out of college). He will be a stud for us. I hope we get to hear Muuuuuuuth a ton for the next decade. Our next QB is going to love having him and Najee as safety nets for getting rid of the ball and Ben will love it this year. I think Muth will get a lot more targets than most thought originally. He will be a fixture in the red zone all year.

 

[Skott]

Bush looks like crap. Yeah I said it

 

[Tibs]

Losers:
Eric Ebron - I'll be the first to say it.....this guy isn't a Steeler. He's never been a Steeler. He's SOFT! I'm not ready to kick him to the curb but he's average at best. I wish we would see better production from Zach Gentry & Kevin Rader but we haven't seen that yet.

I try not to pile on players, but there is something about Ebron, his body language, aloofness, lollygagging, lack of urgency, yakking it up on the sidelines, empty, dazed look in his eyes, numerous dropped balls, missed assignments and blown-up plays, that I simply wish the Steelers would cut or trade him. He seems like a dime a dozen player who's head is in the clouds, has no drive or focus required to be a professional athlete or put on the black & gold jersey.

Sure, he'll get open and make a nice catch from time to time. But on a critical third down, in the red zone, or a run play where he's needed for a key block, are you going to depend on him? No friggin' way.

For some reason he's stayed in the good graces of his teammates, perhaps cause everyone loves the court jester, the circus clown. Watching him play football drives me nuts.

I'd be fine going into the season with a Freirmuth, Gentry, Rader TE depth chart. Who cares if they'd be missing Ebron's *athleticism.* That's so overrated. And tell you what, Freirmuth looks just as *athletic* as Ebron and actually has the hand-eye coordination and concentration needed to make difficult catches look easy.

Ok, just needed to get that off my chest. Eric Ebron rant /off.

 

[SteelerFan448]

I know it won't be popular but Batch was annoying with his Bell and AB mentions.

Why was he even bring them up?

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I try not to pile on players, but there is something about Ebron, his body language, aloofness, lollygagging, lack of urgency, yakking it up on the sidelines, empty, dazed look in his eyes, numerous dropped balls, missed assignments and blown-up plays, that I simply wish the Steelers would cut or trade him. He seems like a dime a dozen player who's head is in the clouds, has no drive or focus required to be a professional athlete or put on the black & gold jersey.

Sure, he'll get open and make a nice catch from time to time. But on a critical third down, in the red zone, or a run play where he's needed for a key block, are you going to depend on him? No friggin' way.

For some reason he's stayed in the good graces of his teammates, perhaps cause everyone loves the court jester, the circus clown. Watching him play football drives me nuts.

I'd be fine going into the season with a Freirmuth, Gentry, Rader TE depth chart. Who cares if they'd be missing Ebron's *athleticism.* That's so overrated. And tell you what, Freirmuth looks just as *athletic* as Ebron and actually has the hand-eye coordination and concentration needed to make difficult catches look easy.

Ok, just needed to get that off my chest. Eric Ebron rant /off.

Swear-to-God I'd cut him and give Tebow a shot. I was out helping my bud at his new brewpub and got home about halfway through the second quarter. My wife is a football fan but does not follow the team as closely as I do. I walk in the door, she has the game on, and her first words were "This Ebron guy sucks".
Upside, lots of people looked good, tempered with the fact that we were playing the Lions which are kind of the NFL's version of the Pirates.

 

[madinsomniac]

I try not to pile on players, but there is something about Ebron, his body language, aloofness, lollygagging, lack of urgency, yakking it up on the sidelines, empty, dazed look in his eyes, numerous dropped balls, missed assignments and blown-up plays, that I simply wish the Steelers would cut or trade him. He seems like a dime a dozen player who's head is in the clouds, has no drive or focus required to be a professional athlete or put on the black & gold jersey.

Sure, he'll get open and make a nice catch from time to time. But on a critical third down, in the red zone, or a run play where he's needed for a key block, are you going to depend on him? No friggin' way.

For some reason he's stayed in the good graces of his teammates, perhaps cause everyone loves the court jester, the circus clown. Watching him play football drives me nuts.

I'd be fine going into the season with a Freirmuth, Gentry, Rader TE depth chart. Who cares if they'd be missing Ebron's *athleticism.* That's so overrated. And tell you what, Freirmuth looks just as *athletic* as Ebron and actually has the hand-eye coordination and concentration needed to make difficult catches look easy.

Ok, just needed to get that off my chest. Eric Ebron rant /off.

I don’t disagree, but we all know he will go into the season as the starter and be replaced midseason

what attracts teams to Ebron is his route running and speed outside of the red zone… but his concentration and effort are meh… but don’t worry… he will be hurt six games in and get replaced as a starter

 

[Tibs]

I don’t disagree, but we all know he will go into the season as the starter and be replaced midseason

what attracts teams to Ebron is his route running and speed outside of the red zone… but his concentration and effort are meh… but don’t worry… he will be hurt six games in and get replaced as a starter

Yeah, I know he's not going anywhere, just felt like kicking Ebron's *** for a few minutes.

Swear-to-God I'd cut him and give Tebow a shot. I was out helping my bud at his new brewpub and got home about halfway through the second quarter. My wife is a football fan but does not follow the team as closely as I do. I walk in the door, she has the game on, and her first words were "This Ebron guy sucks".

Sure, but Tebow's terrible. Forget about him, maybe there'll be some TE out there once the cuts are in.

 

[SteelerFan448]

Ebron is good for some nice plays especially when they can get him on the move in space. He’ll almost always outrun the linebacker. His red zone production was fair last year and having him, Freiermuth (at this point how do you kee him off the field when deep in an opponent’s territory), and Claypool is a ton of size to defend. I get it, though, because how frustrating was it to watch Ben escape defenders to extend the play only to have a perfectly thrown ball to Ebron dropped.

 

[Tibs]

Ebron is good for some nice plays especially when they can get him on the move in space. He’ll almost always outrun the linebacker. His red zone production was fair last year and having him, Freiermuth (at this point how do you kee him off the field when deep in an opponent’s territory), and Claypool is a ton of size to defend. I get it, though, because how frustrating was it to watch Ben escape defenders to extend the play only to have a perfectly thrown ball to Ebron dropped.

Yeah, when he's good, he's good. But it's not just that one play... for me. It's his overall body language, just the way he carries himself on the field & on the sidelines.. something about his mannerism just peeves the crap out of me. Not sure what it is...

 

[Roy92040]

Wasn't impressed with the 2nd half defense.

 

[Iron95]

Bush is still working his way back from injury. I am not too concerned .....yet. I think the run blocking still is a work in progress in both sides of the ball. Not that I don't see some positives. Muth is as advertised if Ebron continues being drive killers he will put Pat on the field sooner than later. In the red zone I would put primetime Pat in the field every time. Norwood just might have made the roster. I hope Maulet's injury isn't serious I thought he played well. Loudermilk had a good and bad night I chalk that up to rookie growing pains. I know it won't be popular but Batch was annoying with his Bell and AB mentions. Plus he still says **** out in left field. I love the man and ex player, but I don't think that is the job for him. Our new punter had a 50 yard punt, not many opportunities in the game but that shouldn't be missed with Fox lighting it up on the Lions.

Have you heard some of the other teams announcers? ThePhilly game was horrable. At least Batch knows the game. However my wife commented that Charlie didnt speak very well. My respons was BUT ITS CHARLIE BATCH!

 

[Tibs]

Have you heard some of the other teams announcers? ThePhilly game was horrable. At least Batch knows the game. However my wife commented that Charlie didnt speak very well. My respons was BUT ITS CHARLIE BATCH!

OMG those philly announcers were the worse.

Charlie Batch has got a rather thin & raspy voice to be an announcer...

 

[Drink IRON City]

Bush looks like crap. Yeah I said it

You need to be a little more specific........................ on the field or on his tik tok account ???




Salute the nation

Yeah, I know he's not going anywhere, just felt like kicking Ebron's *** for a few minutes.




Sure, but Tebow's terrible. Forget about him, maybe there'll be some TE out there once the cuts are in.

I hear what you are saying Tibs but they are not bringing in any more TEs. We have what we got at this point. FMuth will be starting before 1/2 season.




Salute the nation

 

[ZonaBurgh]

Should there be any concern that the run blocking looked about the same as it was last year?

 

[black and gold apex]

Ebron just does not fit into Steelers style, he is lazy all about himself as laying on the ground rolling around look at me attitude. For a big guy he sure does not use it. I thought Bush looked healthy but seemed to be out of the paly quite a bit, I know major surgery , hope he gets back to form. The end of game with who we had playing reminds you of a year ago, the cave in . The offensive line needs to improve, Ben was under attack more than not and some of the running plays tackled in backfield no lineman in sight. Special team coverage was really good as well as their tackling.