Week 4 @ Ravens

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ugly season for Ben...

 

[wings-pens2166]

Ugly season for Ben...

wow, knew he was struggling some, but had no idea it was that bad

 

[MISKO]

td yes

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[blue_suns]

GG....looks like another 5-11 season for the Ravens

 

[Maximus Rex]

Bell finally looked like a real RB. Nice safety play by Hilton. Tuitt was all over the place, as was Shazier, and some solid play by Watt. Questionable play calling, seems like they were trying to run out the clock in the third quarter, way too soon, but I guess it worked out. Dare we think this team could compete for a long run in the playoffs? What say you, @FaCe-LeE-uS and @ATL96Steeler ? I trust the instincts of yinz.

 

[Maximus Rex]

GG....looks like another 5-11 season for the Ravens

Good game, blue. You have some nice defensive pieces there, although I am going to point and laugh at that fucker Wallace for dropping a 50 yard pass he could have had. That bastard made a mistake when he left here, although he did drop too many passes.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Bell finally looked like a real RB. Nice safety play by Hilton. Tuitt was all over the place, as was Shazier, and some solid play by Watt. Questionable play calling, seems like they were trying to run out the clock in the third quarter, way too soon, but I guess it worked out. Dare we think this team could compete for a long run in the playoffs? What say you, @FaCe-LeE-uS and @ATL96Steeler ? I trust the instincts of yinz.

Still pretty difficult to tell. The early slate of games have been very favorable for the Steelers and they really haven't been tested. Next week they have another patty cake game at home against the Jags. Then they will get their first real test against the Chiefs. We'll be able to tell what this team is all about after that game. On the road at Arrowhead against the best AFC team. No better test than that game!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

GG....looks like another 5-11 season for the Ravens

Good game Blue! Gave us a little bit of a scare in the 3rd quarter!

Glad to see both sides coming away relatively healthy. Glad to see Stanley didn't get hurt for long. Was thinking that O-line was going to be in complete shambles if they lost him for the year.

Good luck the rest of the way! See you again in December!

 

[Maximus Rex]

Still pretty difficult to tell. The early slate of games have been very favorable for the Steelers and they really haven't been tested. Next week they have another patty cake game at home against the Jags. Then they will get their first real test against the Chiefs. We'll be able to tell what this team is all about after that game. On the road at Arrowhead against the best AFC team. No better test than that game!

I'll venture to argue with you on this one Face, and say that this game was their first big test. Even if the Ravens were 2-10 and this game was towards the end of the season, it's always a tough game, especially in Baltimore. For once, I'll be optimistic and say we've turned a corner.

On another note, nice to see the fucking Patriots drop one. God knows we'll need help later.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I'll venture to argue with you on this one Face, and say that this game was their first big test. Even if the Ravens were 2-10 and this game was towards the end of the season, it's always a tough game, especially in Baltimore. For once, I'll be optimistic and say we've turned a corner.

On another note, nice to see the fucking Patriots drop one. God knows we'll need help later.

Well it was certainly a big win. Especially with it being a divisional road win. Those are huge. But honestly in terms of that being a test I'm not entirely convinced. That Ravens team is fairly banged up. I hate to use injuries as an excuse when everyone deals with them, but they have been getting demoralized by injuries. They have 16 players on their injured reserve right now. Not counting Dennis Pitta. Their 2 best RBs (Dixon & Woodhead) are on that list. Same with their best O-lineman (Yanda). Their defense is down 2-3 starters as well. They have a stout defense so it was definitely encouraging to see them move the ball with more success on 3rd downs. If they can clean up the penalties then they could be dangerous. I'm still not enthused with what we have been seeing from Big Ben though. He's having some accuracy issues. But now that Bell is establishing himself it will take the pressure off Ben. That should spell success in the weeks to come.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Bell finally looked like a real RB. Nice safety play by Hilton. Tuitt was all over the place, as was Shazier, and some solid play by Watt. Questionable play calling, seems like they were trying to run out the clock in the third quarter, way too soon, but I guess it worked out. Dare we think this team could compete for a long run in the playoffs? What say you, @FaCe-LeE-uS and @ATL96Steeler ? I trust the instincts of yinz.

I think so...the DEF faced a very limited OFC today, but they clearly were winning the LOS on both sides of the ball.

I think the DEF will travel and compete in JAN..., they have enough playmakers on the front 7 to get heat on the passer. Love Hilton's game...the addition of Haden and Hilton should pay even more dividends, I'm still not sure about the OFC.

I like a lot of what I saw today. Strong start, but again key mistakes and as you said, they tried to take the air out of the ball with 30 mins to go...that effort won't win in the playoffs imo. Maybe they sensed BAL didn't have enough bullets to threaten them, would like to see them keep the hammer down as well.

I want to see them face another strong running game to see if the DEF has solved their run DEF, but I like their chances against anybody in the AFC...incl KC & NE.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Coaching... Another undisciplined game. 8 penalties total, and most of those were drive killers for the offense. Haley's offense looked good in the 1st half. Only failed to convert 3 times on 3rd down in the 1st half. 2nd half it looked like Haley was getting protective of the ball and the offense couldn't get anything moving. It was if Haley felt as if he could just continue to do the same thing as he did in the 1st half, without the Ravens making any adjustments. Bad news for Haley was the Ravens did make adjustments and they shut the offense down until late in the game. They were 7/15 on 3rd down overall. Overall it was a step in the right direction though. Butler's defense looked dominant. Great aggressive play calling even during obvious passing situations. And it paid dividends with 4 sacks & 2 INTs. B-

Offense... The tale of 2 halves. First half was pretty solid. Aside from the penalties that stalled drives in the RZ they were moving the ball with relative ease. Ben was spreading the ball around better, and the O-line was opening good running lanes. 2nd half was a bit of a different story. It had more to do with play calling than anything though. Biggest takeaways was both Bell & the O-line looked great. O-line only allowed 1 sack all game. Hubbard struggled a few times, but mostly held his own. Bell came alive late to ice the game. Good to see him get that swagger back. Ben is still struggling with accuracy but now that the run game is getting going it should take the pressure off him. Would love to see Conner get the ball more. His downhill physical style of running is a great offset to Bell's patience. That makes life very difficult for any defense. B

Defense... Big game from this unit. Heyward & Tuitt were downright nasty today. Their stats combined were 7 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 4 QB hits, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery... Unreal. If they can continue this high level of play then they are easily the best 2 DE 3-4 combo in the league. Shazier, Watt & Dupree were all over the field today wreaking havoc. Shazier flashed that All Pro potential. Good to see him finally making tackles again lol. The Cinderella story continues for Hilton. What a game. 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, couple of QB hurries/hits, 1 pass breakup, and 1 INT. D-line depth was tested in the 2nd half and they held up just fine. Aside from 1-2 big runs the Ravens run game found very little. A-

ST... Jordan Berry continues to look awful. What happened to him? He used to average 47-50yds a punt last season, now he's having trouble getting it to 40yds. It was a windy day, but he's been having these issues all season. A couple of his punts today only went for 32-35yds. That is pathetic. Boswell was having a decent day until that gust of wind took one of his FG's outside the uprights. Tough kick with that much wind at 45yds so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. C

Overall... Tough divisional road win today. Their is a good amount to be optimistic about, but I'm hesitant to say they have turned the corner. Penalties & inconsistencies with the offense are still big issues. However the defense looked great today. Thankfully they came away from this physical game unscathed. B

Outlook... Steelers head home this week to take on the Jags. Jacksonville has a great defense, but their offense is hit or miss. Fournette is a handful and the Jags are content with force-feeding him the ball 25-30 times per game. The Steelers offense will have to play disciplined football next week. JAX's secondary is top notch. Bouye, Gipson, & Ramsey are very talented. Throw in a LBer group with Smith, Fowler & Jack, you have one of the most athletic defenses in the league. They lead the league in sacks at 18 (3 more than 2nd best Steelers), and are top 2 in turnovers. This has the look of another Tomlin trap game that could quickly snowball if the offense shows any of the undisciplined football they have been showing lately. This being a conference matchup makes it a must win in my mind. Point blank, they need to win against inferior conference teams. A loss at home to a weak AFC team could be detrimental to their postseason. Tomlin needs to prove he can win these games. Luckily they look to have a clean bill of health heading into this game. Assuming they finally get a handle on this damn stomach bug sweeping the locker room.

 

[MISKO]

GG....looks like another 5-11 season for the Ravens

blue I got a bad feeling that the ravens will perk up

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Week 4 recap

I think we saw some of the injury impact with the Ravens...their OL play was not very good at all...not typical of a Ravens team.

OFC...3 of 5...love the start of the game, 4 or 5 plays and punt and a very lengthy, dominating type drive that backfired at the end, but it set the tone early that PIT was going to be delivering more blows that they took in this game....

C'mon Haley!!! 3Q you're trying to let the air out of the ball?...maybe they didn't feel BAL was capable of scoring 19 points. To be honest I never felt they would score more than 13 pts. Need to clean up the mistakes, should have closed this game out in the 3rd Qtr but they were a INT away from probably not scoring in the 2nd half.

DEF...4 of 5...Tuitt, Heyward, Shazier, Hilton all had great games, and it was a dominating performance for the most part. I temper it a little because BAL is a broken team from an injury standpoint, just not a very good OFC regardless....I like the speed they played with on the road...multiple sack game, constant caving Flacco's pocket. Gave up the one long run so they still have work to do, but this was a very good game.

ST...3 of 5...not going to make all the FGs, but under 50 yds you feel like it's a mistake or opportunity lost if you do miss one.

Outlook...Obviously it feels good to get a win in BAL...it would be great to 4-0 at this point, but...3-1 thru the 1st qtr of the season is not a bad spot. They host the Jags next week so you feel like they should be 4-1 after that one, but NE was probably not expecting to lose to CAR today....let's see it play out.

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

Good evaluations, gentlemen.

Hey, quick question: in what alternate universe was what happened to AB an interception? He'd caught and cradled the ball, took two steps, was tackled. His knee hit the ground, and as he was rolled onto his back, the ball came out.

If that was a pick, I am the Czar of Russia.

 

[GNG]

Baltimore fans have a petition with 70,000 signatures asking to have Ray Lewis statue removed from the stadium grounds.

 

[Psych-Ward]

Good evaluations, gentlemen.

Hey, quick question: in what alternate universe was what happened to AB an interception? He'd caught and cradled the ball, took two steps, was tackled. His knee hit the ground, and as he was rolled onto his back, the ball came out.

If that was a pick, I am the Czar of Russia.

Mike Pereira explains how Antonio Brown's 'catch' with his knee down became a Ravens interception (VIDEO) | FOX Sports

I can see douche Pereira's explanation. Don't agree with it, but I can see what he's saying.

 

[Psych-Ward]

 

[Superbelt]

@Bridgeburner