Looked good tonight vs New Orleans...

[Ojb81]

....great showing from the offense, I cannot WAIT to get Bell back after week 3, he looks fantastic out there. And I don't see any reason why this defense cant build chemistry as the season goes along, either.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

This looked like a playoff team, especially on OFC.

Landry redeemed himself a little.

The D, looked really good as well...the Bell fumble helped with one of their scores...The kid Hargrave recorded his 1st sack, the only one of the game...Jarvis created good pressure, got a hold against him against their starting LT...maybe, just maybe. Tuitt as well.

Heyward (ankle), Shamarko (groin), and Gilbert (elbow)...not sure of the severity but Heyward might be the most serious...said he'd be ready for week 1, but you never know with a high ankle. I thought Sean avis went down as well but apparently not serious enough to note.

On to game 4, it always is I guess, but there are gonna be some tough cuts to get to 53....lot of young guys making plays.

 

[3riverbabe]

I only got to see highlights down here in GA, but what I saw looked good! It's time people realized that Ben is the best QB in the league. He's easily as good as Pretty Boy Tom Brady, if not better.

 

[Cali Steel]

Didn't get to see it here, as most usual.
But have no fear for the season.
Directv is going in this week, with NFL season ticket.........cha-ching...

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

My thoughts... (for those interested lol)

General... Was it just me or was the field condition horrific? Players slipping & sliding all over the place. No doubt it played a part in the majority of the injuries. Speaking of horrific... The refs were god-awful. They missed so many calls on both sides of the ball for both teams. The V-Will hit was legal IMO. Glad I was watching the game on mute because I heard the announcers were extremely pro-saints and were calling for V-Will's head. They also called AB's TD a push-off. lol.

QB... No need to discuss Ben. He doesn't need approval. Landry redeemed himself quite a bit. Posting a 120+ QB rating. Went 19 for 22 and over 200yds. Not the Landry we're used to, but he looked sharp out there. Good progression reads, but still a little doe-eyed in the pocket. His average per pass was just under 10, so he was certainly moving the chains but not stretching the defense.

RB... Bell & D-Will looked great. Toussaint looked good. D-Rich was ok. Started to get frustrated when he wouldn't take the small lanes and tried bouncing everything outside for loss of yards. At this point I think Toussaint has the leg up on him.

WR... Saints don't boast a great secondary, so it was a little bit of a selfesteem boosting game for all who participated. Coates especially. Still very encouraged to see Rogers rolling with the 1's in the slot. He has great hands and open field quickness. I can see why so many people are comparing him to a younger AB.

TE... As predicted both James & DJ got involved in the offense once Ben took the field. Both looked great. Even Grimble got in on the action with Landry. Good catch & run. Looked very physical after the catch. Exactly what the coaches love to see.

O-Line... Decent showing from the group. Couple of penalties that negated large gains were heartbreakers. Pouncey, Harris & Finney IIRC. Still don't know why they insist on putting Hubbard at LT. He looks pretty awful out there.

D-Line... Tuitt looked like a monster out there. While his stat line doesn't scream awesome (2T, 1solo, 2 qb hits), it was his dominance in the trenches that completely changed the Saints offense. Brees & Co had very little time back there. Hargrave's sack continues to show the immense potential that he has. I know it was against the backups, but he looked like a man amongst boys out there when playing against that group.

LB... Shazier & Timmons were all over the place wreaking havoc. JJ looked great. Flashed the potential that they saw in him to draft him in the 1st Rd. Great pressure outside. Read somewhere that their OT's were banged up. Got to see some pretty slick moves from Feeney outside. He made an impressive dip on the play that resulted in Matakevich's INT and the RT held the crap out of him (wasn't called either) in a last ditch effort to protect his QB. V-Will had an impressive night as well.

DB... Love the difference a year has made for this group. They seem a lot more aggressive. I'm not going to fault them for the Snead TD because 8-9 times out of 10 that doesn't get caught. Don't see any reason why this group won't make some serious strides this season.

ST... Berry looks like the best punter in the league right now... Averaging over 55yds per punt, thats ridiculous! He has notched multiple 60 yarders this preseason. The competition with Will Monday was over a long time ago. Time to cut the fat off that meat. Tip of the cap to Boz who was perfect on the night.


Some Negatives...
1. Injuries... Heyward, Gilbert, & S Thomas. Tomlin said Gilbert's injury wasn't significant. Thomas' injury might put him on the chopping block depending on the severity. Bad news there is the up & comer Hagen also suffered a significant injury. Hopefully 1 of those 2 has good news to report come Monday.
2. Tackling... Not as bad as previous games, but some issues remain with open field tackling. Primarily the backups in the secondary, so this could be a non-issue.
3. Middle Secondary... Saw a lot of open field between the hashes. They will need to figure that out before a better QB exploits it. Could have been Butler's schemes though. We will have to wait & see.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I only got to see highlights down here in GA, but what I saw looked good! It's time people realized that Ben is the best QB in the league. He's easily as good as Pretty Boy Tom Brady, if not better.

Yep...I followed the p-b-p online while watching the Bucs spank CLE.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

My thoughts... (for those interested lol)

General... Was it just me or was the field condition horrific? Players slipping & sliding all over the place. No doubt it played a part in the majority of the injuries. Speaking of horrific... The refs were god-awful. They missed so many calls on both sides of the ball for both teams. The V-Will hit was legal IMO. Glad I was watching the game on mute because I heard the announcers were extremely pro-saints and were calling for V-Will's head. They also called AB's TD a push-off. lol.

QB... No need to discuss Ben. He doesn't need approval. Landry redeemed himself quite a bit. Posting a 120+ QB rating. Went 19 for 22 and over 200yds. Not the Landry we're used to, but he looked sharp out there. Good progression reads, but still a little doe-eyed in the pocket. His average per pass was just under 10, so he was certainly moving the chains but not stretching the defense.

RB... Bell & D-Will looked great. Toussaint looked good. D-Rich was ok. Started to get frustrated when he wouldn't take the small lanes and tried bouncing everything outside for loss of yards. At this point I think Toussaint has the leg up on him.

WR... Saints don't boast a great secondary, so it was a little bit of a selfesteem boosting game for all who participated. Coates especially. Still very encouraged to see Rogers rolling with the 1's in the slot. He has great hands and open field quickness. I can see why so many people are comparing him to a younger AB.

TE... As predicted both James & DJ got involved in the offense once Ben took the field. Both looked great. Even Grimble got in on the action with Landry. Good catch & run. Looked very physical after the catch. Exactly what the coaches love to see.

O-Line... Decent showing from the group. Couple of penalties that negated large gains were heartbreakers. Pouncey, Harris & Finney IIRC. Still don't know why they insist on putting Hubbard at LT. He looks pretty awful out there.

D-Line... Tuitt looked like a monster out there. While his stat line doesn't scream awesome (2T, 1solo, 2 qb hits), it was his dominance in the trenches that completely changed the Saints offense. Brees & Co had very little time back there. Hargrave's sack continues to show the immense potential that he has. I know it was against the backups, but he looked like a man amongst boys out there when playing against that group.

LB... Shazier & Timmons were all over the place wreaking havoc. JJ looked great. Flashed the potential that they saw in him to draft him in the 1st Rd. Great pressure outside. Read somewhere that their OT's were banged up. Got to see some pretty slick moves from Feeney outside. He made an impressive dip on the play that resulted in Matakevich's INT and the RT held the crap out of him (wasn't called either) in a last ditch effort to protect his QB. V-Will had an impressive night as well.

DB... Love the difference a year has made for this group. They seem a lot more aggressive. I'm not going to fault them for the Snead TD because 8-9 times out of 10 that doesn't get caught. Don't see any reason why this group won't make some serious strides this season.

ST... Berry looks like the best punter in the league right now... Averaging over 55yds per punt, thats ridiculous! He has notched multiple 60 yarders this preseason. The competition with Will Monday was over a long time ago. Time to cut the fat off that meat. Tip of the cap to Boz who was perfect on the night.


Some Negatives...
1. Injuries... Heyward, Gilbert, & S Thomas. Tomlin said Gilbert's injury wasn't significant. Thomas' injury might put him on the chopping block depending on the severity. Bad news there is the up & comer Hagen also suffered a significant injury. Hopefully 1 of those 2 has good news to report come Monday.
2. Tackling... Not as bad as previous games, but some issues remain with open field tackling. Primarily the backups in the secondary, so this could be a non-issue.
3. Middle Secondary... Saw a lot of open field between the hashes. They will need to figure that out before a better QB exploits it. Could have been Butler's schemes though. We will have to wait & see.

Great work breaking it down for us that didn't see it Face...I followed the p-b-p online but shut it down after Landry threw his TD pass....you filled in the gaps really well.

Remember...J.James could have a break out year....last night was a decent start for him...just continue to work and take that kind of effort to DC.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Great work breaking it down for us that didn't see it Face...I followed the p-b-p online but shut it down after Landry threw his TD pass....you filled in the gaps really well.

Remember...J.James could have a break out year....last night was a decent start for him...just continue to work and take that kind of effort to DC.

Got a kick out of this tweet from Kaboly last night:


Seems like James is becoming much more comfortable. Now he can let his talent do the talking.

Glad I can help fill the gaps ATL! I wasn't glued to the screen during the game because i was on baby-watch & cooking dinner, so there is probably plenty that I missed.

Really bummed about Heyward's injury. High ankle sprains are usually slow healers, but Cam seems upbeat about it sayin he won't miss week 1. I just hope that he doesn't press himself into action and hurt himself worse.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Got a kick out of this tweet from Kaboly last night:


Seems like James is becoming much more comfortable. Now he can let his talent do the talking.

Glad I can help fill the gaps ATL! I wasn't glued to the screen during the game because i was on baby-watch & cooking dinner, so there is probably plenty that I missed.

Really bummed about Heyward's injury. High ankle sprains are usually slow healers, but Cam seems upbeat about it sayin he won't miss week 1. I just hope that he doesn't press himself into action and hurt himself worse.

I think James is more comfortable...and Green not really a factor, he knows Ben will be counting on him.

Been there buddy...once they start crawling and exploring, you'll really be on baby watch...it's all good! Watching the replays this morning...Hargrave's sack came against Unger...starting C I think...some people are setting the bar really high for this kid...I think 3 to 5 sacks would be a great rookie season.

PIT....Gilbert elbow expected to to be ready for week 1, but possible surgery after the season it sounds like something he can play with...Heyward, same thing, but you're right, high ankles are normally a 3-4 week injuries...At least now with Matthews they don't have to run him out there wk 1...Golson...he says he'll be back in NOV so maybe this is not another lost yr for him... Hawkins is on IR, which locks in Hubbard and or Finney...Harris signing is getting bigger by the week....Green at some point he's going to factor...maybe week 1, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's week 2 or 3.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Pretty cool film breakdown on Shazier in this article... While it may be frustrating to see, the good thing about it is how ridiculously fast he is at diagnosing plays and shooting gaps. He is still a somewhat raw product, but once he puts it all together he will be a nightmare. Let's just hope this was a semi-bad game for him.

Steelers Film Room: Ryan Shazier's tackling can cause hair pulling tendencies

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Pretty cool film breakdown on Shazier in this article... While it may be frustrating to see, the good thing about it is how ridiculously fast he is at diagnosing plays and shooting gaps. He is still a somewhat raw product, but once he puts it all together he will be a nightmare. Let's just hope this was a semi-bad game for him.

Steelers Film Room: Ryan Shazier's tackling can cause hair pulling tendencies

Good pick up Face...kinda whiffed on the two TFL opportunities, but he blew up the play both times...not good form tackling, but I'll take that effort 10 out of 10 times.

The screen...he has to force a cut back there to where his help his...seems like he was trying to protect against the cutback can never committed so the burst outside kinda surprised him and that was all she wrote.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Good pick up Face...kinda whiffed on the two TFL opportunities, but he blew up the play both times...not good form tackling, but I'll take that effort 10 out of 10 times.

The screen...he has to force a cut back there to where his help his...seems like he was trying to protect against the cutback can never committed so the burst outside kinda surprised him and that was all she wrote.

Definitely reminds me of Polamalu... Even Troy whiffed a lot, but that still created hesitation from the RB enough to allow the LB's or D-Line to catch him.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Definitely reminds me of Polamalu... Even Troy whiffed a lot, but that still created hesitation from the RB enough to allow the LB's or D-Line to catch him.

Yeah, whether he makes the tackle or not, once the blocking scheme is blown up by one guy and you have strong pursuit, good things normally happen for the DEF.

Butler probably won't have Shazier freelancing as much as Lebeau allowed Troy, but he has the speed to be a disruptive force...If Hargrave starts to garner a lot of C+G attention, I think they will send him on a few more blitzes up the A gap this yr..