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Steelers vs Pats Game Thoughts

I got a feeling ^^^^^
 
Although dissapointed in a loss, I have 200% more confidence in this team after last night.

REALLY?

I don't. I have much less confidence now.

Our DBs are much worse that I thought they'd be. Looks like Gay has lost a step. Cortez did not bounce back (yet -- still hoping). While I was pleased that Mitchell forced a turnover, that's all I saw of him all night. I wanted to see Shamarko swim or sink, instead of being docked on the sideline. Another case of "why the **** is he on the team if he can't beat out <__insert name here__>". Same with Boykin, why get him, then play Blake.

Our DL still cannot generate a pass rush.

I've been hearing all summer about our high powered offense & how great it was last year, yet all I remember is moving the ball between the 20's, then bogging down & settling for 3 in the red zone. Then, I saw a lot of that last night. Same stuff. I saw DeAngelo running like a mad man down the field, looking good, then they take him out at the goal line.

I had confidence in our kicking game before last night. Now I do not.
 
The defense was about as expected and got lucky that the Pats didn't execute or else it would have been worse. In that sense, they held them to much better than what I thought. The offense always seems to start slow and without some of their top players, they won't maximize their potential early on. Overall, I feel more encouraged moving forward than discouraged. The game was there for them, but poor coaching, field goals over touchdowns and just bad mistakes cost them a chance.
 
REALLY?

I don't. I have much less confidence now.

Our DBs are much worse that I thought they'd be. Looks like Gay has lost a step. Cortez did not bounce back (yet -- still hoping). While I was pleased that Mitchell forced a turnover, that's all I saw of him all night. I wanted to see Shamarko swim or sink, instead of being docked on the sideline. Another case of "why the **** is he on the team if he can't beat out <__insert name here__>". Same with Boykin, why get him, then play Blake.

Our DL still cannot generate a pass rush.

I've been hearing all summer about our high powered offense & how great it was last year, yet all I remember is moving the ball between the 20's, then bogging down & settling for 3 in the red zone. Then, I saw a lot of that last night. Same stuff. I saw DeAngelo running like a mad man down the field, looking good, then they take him out at the goal line.

I had confidence in our kicking game before last night. Now I do not.

THIS in bold just makes me shake my head. Why do coaches think they have to get cute on the goal line? Like Will Johnson is some kind of proven goal line back or something. They kept insisting on this and I am convinced a savvy vet like Williams would find a way to get in over Will Johnson, who is just some guy. Just stupid.
 
THIS in bold just makes me shake my head. Why do coaches think they have to get cute on the goal line? Like Will Johnson is some kind of proven goal line back or something. They kept insisting on this and I am convinced a savvy vet like Williams would find a way to get in over Will Johnson, who is just some guy. Just stupid.

Johnson did not follow his block and the play where he scored. He ended up getting the push and scored but he may have gone in untouched if he followed his FB.
 
Leaving Gronk uncovered, and letting Edleman run free is on our new defensive coordinator. He did not have his squad prepared for this game, he only had six months to prepare. Could you imagine you would ever see Gronk split wide with one on him? He should've been assigned an f'n shadow. And Edelman should've been knocked on his *** at the LOS every single play. We continue to be out-coached week in and week out.
 
this defense opened my eyes- I thought it was going to be a train wreck- the unit together played well
 
OK.

Brady went what, 13-15 for 150+ or something for 2 tds against the best defense in the league in the 4th quarter of the SB, or so the stat they had on TV last night showed. Edelmann was catching stuff all over the place. Gronk, too.

Did anyone consider, just for a mere second or 2, that the Patriots are just that ******' good? It really has nothing to do with the Steelers, they do it to everybody?

Wasn't Chancellor part of that defense?

If someone said the Steelers of the 70s were only successful because of the defenses stupidity that they played or something, and didn't attribute it to the phenomenal talent they had, would you all be OK with that?
 
OK.

Brady went what, 13-15 for 150+ or something for 2 tds against the best defense in the league in the 4th quarter of the SB, or so the stat they had on TV last night showed. Edelmann was catching stuff all over the place. Gronk, too.

Did anyone consider, just for a mere second or 2, that the Patriots are just that ******' good? It really has nothing to do with the Steelers, they do it to everybody?

Wasn't Chancellor part of that defense?

If someone said the Steelers of the 70s were only successful because of the defenses stupidity that they played or something, and didn't attribute it to the phenomenal talent they had, would you all be OK with that?

Fair point
 
I'll only say this once.


Blown opportunities + missed FG's + stupid receivers feet = we coulda won.

I see it as rust. it'll wear off on offense.

The D ain't worth the spit to talk about.


Dammit Ben, when I said we need 35 pts a game I wasn't kidding!
 
I'll only say this once.


Blown opportunities + missed FG's + stupid receivers feet = we coulda won.

I see it as rust. it'll wear off on offense.

The D ain't worth the spit to talk about.


Dammit Ben, when I said we need 35 pts a game I wasn't kidding!

I agree with this.

I said in another post though that whenever they play the Pats, it feels like amateur hour out there, from the coaches to the players. This would include Ben. He has to know that the only way he has ever beaten the Patriots is when they got a lead and played from the front. You have to be precise out there. You just can't have misses. This is why, while he is a great QB, he isn't Brady. Brady is a once in lifetime, as he rarely has misses. The clock management was bad, and he has charge of that. I know why they ran it down at the end of the half, you don't want the Pats to get the ball again, especially with them getting the kickoff, but you gotta be aware enough to leave time to get the TD.

What the ****, Haley, possesses you to run a trick play knowing some of the things I said above, in light of the success you were having on the first drive? Amateur.

The defense. Someone pointed out in one of the papers that the Pats and the Steelers ran the same play at the goalline, the fake handoff and throw to the TE. TD Pats. Ben has to throw it away. Why? Because the Steelers bite, the Pats say **** it, we stop them if we can with our front guys and tell our DBs not to bite on anything. Not the Steelers. Nobody thought of that. Frederick the Great said "He who defends everything, defends nothing." Perhaps the Steelers ought to read Frederick the Great.
 
OK.

Brady went what, 13-15 for 150+ or something for 2 tds against the best defense in the league in the 4th quarter of the SB, or so the stat they had on TV last night showed. Edelmann was catching stuff all over the place. Gronk, too.

Did anyone consider, just for a mere second or 2, that the Patriots are just that ******' good? It really has nothing to do with the Steelers, they do it to everybody?

Wasn't Chancellor part of that defense?

If someone said the Steelers of the 70s were only successful because of the defenses stupidity that they played or something, and didn't attribute it to the phenomenal talent they had, would you all be OK with that?

Either the rain or rust or the Pats** aren't all that this year but the efense was actually worse than I expected in the sense that they weren't just beat on talent but they simply left people wide open many times, but I'm shocked that the Pats** didn't score 50. Belicheat be having Br*dy running laps for not breaking 30 on a defense this bad.
 
First off, i give no credit to the Pats. After this game, i am in no way scared or impressed with this mediocre team. Their defense is **** and the biggest success their offense had was steeler blown coverages.

They have 1 weapon, gronk. Gronk may be the NFL MVP. If Gronk gets hurt, the pats are screwed.

All the blown coverages, missed tackles, stupid penalties, 2 missed FGs and the steelers were still in this game until very late.

DeAngelo and DHB were making big plays. Imagine what Bell and Martavis would have done. At full strength, the steelers would have won that game easy.

The Steelers would have won that game easily with Bell and Martavis? If they both magically converted to world-class defensive backs, you might be right.


tapeANaspirin2it said:
I feel better about the defense after this game. Sounds crazy but they did a lot of good things. SHazier looks like he will be a star. Dupree made some plays. They did have some pass rush but Brady gets rid of it so fast.

The problem was just all the mistakes. Mistakes that can be fixed. I'm not saying this will be a great defense but they made Brady work for it aside from the blown coverages. I see signs that this defense can be at least middle of the pack and if you couple that with the steeler offense, that is enough to go a long way this year.

Yeah, saying you feel better about the defense does sound crazy. There might be some encouraging signs from some of the front seven, but it's nowhere near enough to compensate for the complete embarrassment otherwise known as the Steelers' secondary.

The problem is Blake stinks. Cortez Allen stinks. Mitchell stinks. Golden stinks. Will Allen and Gay are average at very best. And, the scheme and coordination stink. The only ray of hope is that Boykin had some kind of injury in warm-ups, or something, because Tomlin cannot possibly be stupid enough to let one of the best slot cornerbacks in the league last year sit on the bench against an opposing offense like the Patriots.


A few observations (and predictions) of mine:

1) DeAngelo Williams was exactly what I thought he'd be: a seasoned professional capable of being productive as their lead back...something the Steelers severely lacked last season after Blount's departure. Great free agent signing. What I can't understand is why they took Williams out in goalline situations after he successfully ran between the tackles most of the night.

2) Dri Archer is not needed on this team. Two fullbacks are not needed on this team. Why they have awarded roster spots to these useless players and given up so quickly on Doran Grant (exposing him on the practice squad), when they need so much help in the secondary, is beyond my comprehension.

3) DeCastro has developed into a quality interior lineman.

4) Scobee had a rough start, but his accuracy will improve, and his lengthy kickoffs will prove to be of great value as the year moves on.

5) The ongoing piss-poor clock management at the end of halves will probably cost the Steelers a win this year.

6) Ben will lead the league in passing yards if he stays healthy.
 
this defense opened my eyes- I thought it was going to be a train wreck- the unit together played well

Not really. Overall the defense looked lost. Twice with only 10 players on the field. Miscommunication amongst each other. Poor tackling. They had flash plays here and there. But that's football. Sometimes even the best and worst look good and bad. The optimist in me says let this unit gel. The realist in me says we've been dealing with this product for three years and the trend will continue
 
the WR screen fake watusi scramble throw play earns Haley a bullet at dawn.


No, not a bullet, but which ever hand sent in the signal, NOW that can be chopped........




Salute the nation
 
Butler is not ready to be a defensive coordinator. Hell I don't think much of his skills coaching anything at this point.

Tomlin is a liability and he's not improving

Did we even have a game plan heading into last night?
 
Our front 7 has potential and played well in spurts. The secondary is a mess, one of the worst I've seen in my 40 plus years as a Steeler fan.
 
Our front 7 has potential and played well in spurts.

The DL is a bunch of stiffs - Cam the $60 Million Dollar man never had his name called once - 3 rookie OL guys owned their ***** in the second half up the gut
Brady got 2 sneaks. They let a walk-on RB steamroll them.

Who the **** is Dion Lewis?
 
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The DL is a bunch of stiffs - Cam the $60 Million Dollar man never had his name called once - 3 rookie OL guys owned their ***** in the second half up the gut
Brady got 2 sneaks. They let a walk-on RB steamroll them.

Who the **** is Dion Lewis?

One of those sneaks didn't make it to the first down, the refs just gave it to them
 
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