Week 4 vs Bucs Pregame

[ATL96Steeler]

Very solid effort all around last week, OFC, DEF, ST...but it all goes for naught if they don't repeat that effort at home against Tampa.

One legitimate beef Tomlin detractors have is his record vs non playoff teams...per Steeler Depot research he's barely over .500...recently we've seen losses vs OAK, back to back vs TN, etc. Hopefully he's taken note of this and has this team ready to squash the Bucs.

Injuries?...We already know we're down 3 (Ike, Shazier, JJ) starters for a while so no sense re hashing that...Reportedly Archer, and Foster are full partcipants in practice and should be ready to go on Sunday. I expect McCoy to play for Tampa.

I'm speculating a tad here because Ike & Shazier are still listed as the starters on the depth chart but ROLB will be Moats and I'm sure everyone knows by now that JH was signed this week...I have to think he will be a depth guy getting snaps on 3rd down as a pass rusher because he was already limited in coverage when he left.

LILB...Spence is probably going to get the start and as Face has pointed out we have to see how he does vs the run...if he struggles, look for V. Williams to get snaps on the run downs.

RCB...this one is a little more interesting...chances are Gay will move outside in 4 DB sets, and 5 DB sets he moves back to slot and Blake takes the edge. I've read that the staff really wants to keep S. Thomas @ the SS position instead of slot, but to get his physical presence on the field, Lebeau might employ some Big Nickel with Troy in slot and Shamarko @ SS.

On this game...Obviously the Bucs were thoroughly embarrassed last Thurs night and having been there ourselves this season the Steelers have to expect the best effort of the season from the Bucs. If McCoy plays, he's a difference maker and it could make it tough to run inside.

OFC...I wouldn't expect the game plan to change much...must challenge their front 7 with the run, but much like CAR the weak point of the Bucs DEF is the back 4...I'm expecting Archer to get a few touches and we'll find out more what Haley thinks of Lance Moore and Martavious Bryant...J Brown is getting 4 targets every game so Ben's confidence in him being where he expects him is growing....sidenote...Blount was drafted by the Bucs and played several seasons there so I'm sure he'll be motivated to play well.

DEF...Glennon is going to get the start...this worries me a little because he can move around imo higher ceiling than McCown...on the flip side, he's never face a Lebeau DEF so I expect him to dial up pressure from several angles on the field...they have a lot of size @ both WR spots and TE so this kid can't have a lot of time to find them.

Outlook...Steelers 27, Bucs 17

What say you?

 

[MISKO]

we should win this one as long as the team keeps its killer instincts .. in other words they dont slack or get lackadaisical.. also i expect harrison to make a huge statement on the field to prove all of the naysayers wrong

 

[ATL96Steeler]

we should win this one as long as the team keeps its killer instincts .. in other words they dont slack or get lackadaisical.. also i expect harrison to make a huge statement on the field to prove all of the naysayers wrong

You're so right...keeping the killer instinct is the key.

JH? to be honest..idk what to expect....CIN had him playing out of position, but he's not a space player anymore...in coverage he's going to have problems imo...I see him getting snaps as an edge pass rusher...hope you're right!

 

[3riverbabe]

we should win this one as long as the team keeps its killer instincts .. in other words they dont slack or get lackadaisical.. also i expect harrison to make a huge statement on the field to prove all of the naysayers wrong

I'm looking for a big game out of James Harrison, too. Welcome back, #92!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Brilliant move by the FO by bringing Harrison back.

Allow me to preach…
At a point in time when the unit appeared to be starting to gel, at a point in this young season where they managed to put it all together on the field only to lose significant and critical pieces. At a point where they could get really down about what was lost and what could happen because of it... A legend returns to the locker room. Deebo doesn't have to do the motivational thing, he doesn't have to turn into a Ray Lewis style preacher, or a Joey Porter style firebrand. He doesn't have to do anything but be there and be him. All Timmons, Worilds, Moats, Spence, and whoever have to do is turn and look down the sideline and see him there. The emotion that he is likely to bring to this team can't be calculated. And God help opposing offenses if he gets out there and gets after it.

Can I get an AMEN? lol

Talk about a coaching staff and front office turning chicken shit into chicken salad.

 

[MISKO]

amen face amen

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Another winnable game, let's keep the foot on the pedal. Just don't have a letdown

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

I know I'm a bit late, but......

...well said, Face.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Yes you can Face!!! Amen!

Under the circumstances...It can't hurt! Hopefully he can turn back the clock and close out his career making some plays...6-8 sacks would be great!

 

[Midnightangel]

Turnovers and flags - we have to watch those things.

We're -2 overall in turnovers and the Bucs are -4. It would be nice to get a few of those. The Pats are the best in the league at them with a +6.

As for flags, we've had 31 penalties in 3 games for 262 yards. Ouch. We got to cut those numbers down.

 

[BurrowDeep2Chase]

It has been a very enjoyable bye week, with great games to watch.

 

[MISKO]

wtf .. bad game

 

[Midnightangel]

Turnovers and flags - we have to watch those things.

We're -2 overall in turnovers and the Bucs are -4. It would be nice to get a few of those. The Pats are the best in the league at them with a +6.

As for flags, we've had 31 penalties in 3 games for 262 yards. Ouch. We got to cut those numbers down.

We did a great job on the turnovers but the penalties killed us.

That's my only knock on Tomlin.

 

[SJ20]

Horrible result. Still wish we could get a real CB in here soon. William G is NOT the answer!

 

[SJ20]

And Carolina doesn't impress me.

 

[3riverbabe]

That was the sloppiest game I've seen the Steelers play in a long time. As was stated upthread, the penalties are killing us & have GOT to go!

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I said in another thread...in spite of a lot of bad play...the play calls to milk the clock and force TB to use time outs...is text book coaching....BUT...the previous drive your DEF showed no ability to stop the Bucs from moving the ball...they just didn't punch it in.

Why not put the ball in the hands of your Ben and let him get you a 1st down when they were ganged up to stop the run...THEN start running clock.

Nope...the Bucs front 4/7 is better than the Steelers OL...I said that in the pregame comments...yet they chose to run clock and punt if they didn't get a 1st..not bad strategy if you have a real pass rush to get after a QB and decent CBs....but based on the prior series, Tomlin had to know TB would move the ball.

SJ20...I still can't say I'm ready to fire the HC (will have to see how the season goes)...but imo this loss was on the coaches...namely Tomlin & Haley.

 

[element1286]

I understand pinning this on Tomlin and Haley for sure. Tomlin especially for having absolutely no control over this team. AB gets penalized at least once a year for excessive celebration, and he learned that from Hines, and Tomlin said nothing to any of them.

I agree about the playing by the book, the defense obviously isn't good enough to even consider playing by the book.

Which brings me back to this, is it Lebeau/his staff that is failing or is it Colbert that isn't finding talent I really don't know? If you are going to pin the lack of talent on Colbert, fine, but Lebeau has been handed a fairly significant amount of high picks, and failed to develop most of them into good football players as evidenced by the apparent 'lack of talent. ' There is no honest way to claim lack of talent, without it being a direct reflection on Dick Lebeau's (and his staff's) ability to cultivate these guys into good football players.

 

[element1286]

Steelers Vs. Buccaneers: Player Snap Counts Week 4

As I look through the snap counts on defense, I noticed that only 5 defensive backs played in snaps on defense. This means that when Tampa Bay got the ball back with 40 seconds left on the 46, Lebeau opted to go with max 5 Db's. Tampa Bay came out in a 5 wr spread attack, but with only 5 Db's on the field it was very tough to match.

Interesting comment from the comments section as well.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I understand pinning this on Tomlin and Haley for sure. Tomlin especially for having absolutely no control over this team. AB gets penalized at least once a year for excessive celebration, and he learned that from Hines, and Tomlin said nothing to any of them.

I agree about the playing by the book, the defense obviously isn't good enough to even consider playing by the book.

Which brings me back to this, is it Lebeau/his staff that is failing or is it Colbert that isn't finding talent I really don't know? If you are going to pin the lack of talent on Colbert, fine, but Lebeau has been handed a fairly significant amount of high picks, and failed to develop most of them into good football players as evidenced by the apparent 'lack of talent. ' There is no honest way to claim lack of talent, without it being a direct reflection on Dick Lebeau's (and his staff's) ability to cultivate these guys into good football players.

Tomlin...certain penalties I can live with...getting hit with a 15 yder for extreme showboating after a score and berating an official after a bad call are NOT among them...Tomlin needs to have a one on one with A. Brown...it's okay to celebrate but act like you've f...ing been in the endzone before...take a page from Barry Sanders....bottom line...anymore crap like those two and the player needs to sit and be fined the max the CBA will allow. Can you imagine that in NE? This has been building for 2+ years and it finally has significantly contributed to a loss.

Talent/Lebeau...to be honest, trying to completely overhaul a DEF is going to take more than 2 seasons. And the Steelers are trying to do it while maintaining a playoff standard...obviously they haven't done that recently, but that's a tough, tough task.

I think they're heading in the right direction. Hood imo was not a bust, just occupied space, not a playmaker...Heyward, Timmons, Shazier imo would start for every team in the NFL...Worilds and Jarvis are not absolute studs, but good players, and JJ was turning the corner this year...Mitchell doesn't get his name called much, but that's not a bad thing from your FS...Troy can still play, but is limited...Allen has the talent, but so far has not shown that he's a #1 CB.

I thought the flow of the game dictating that the ofc needed to close it out...As a HC you see your DEF get taken 80+ yds in the 4th qtr and they held up in the end, but they had to be gassed at that point in the game...I really thought they had to be aggressive when they got the ball back and close the game out...if you fail...yeah you get 2nd guessed, but you went down with your 2 time SB winning QB.

 

[element1286]

Agreed about the penalties, which is why Tomlin getting mad at the press conference was kind of laughable. He's been letting these guys do it for years, but now it's a problem.

Unfortunately, the Steelers defense is comprised of has-beens (Kiesel, Troy, Harrison, Ike) and some upside talent like you said (Jones, Cortez, Shazier, Jarvis, Tuitt, Shamarko). The failing is they were unable to produce any depth or capable starters the last 4-5 drafts, and are now stuck with having to transition the entire unit at one time. I can see a time in the near future when things start to get better, and the only way that happens is when we no longer see guys like Troy, Keisel, Ike, Harrison on the field.

Agree, they need to start being an offense oriented team until the defense proves otherwise. Using the offense to close out games in the 4th quarter, attempting more 4th and shorts to keep the defense off the field, and more Ben.