Coaching... Fichtner got some much needed aid from his O-line to be able to call such a gimmicky game. I'll give him credit though, he successfully took the pressure off of Mason and allowed him to feel more comfortable. Aside from a few gaffs (see spoiler), he called relatively clean situational football. That's what this team needs if they want to continue to progress this season. Now the trick is seeing what Fichtner will do with tape out there on his gimmicky plays. Lots of misdirection, RPOs, wildcat, pony & jet sweeps aren't going to cut it against a tougher front. Looked like college football to me. At some point he will have to let Mason air it out more. He called up a couple of beauty combo routes to free people up. Need to see more of that. But I'll say this, Mason needed this game to boost his confidence and get him on the right track. Butler's defense was stout. Good mix of blitz packages and man coverage schemes to play uber aggressive. This felt reminiscent of his 2015 defense. I liked the aggressiveness from the coaches against an inferior opponent. I suspected they would play down to the Bengals, but they didn't. So hats off to them and hopefully that continues. Just hope they don't expect the same gameplans to work every week. Gotta mix it up and give fresh looks. Not going to crown them with a stellar grade because I don't think the Bengals are a good enough gauge of what this team is worth. You can call it pessimistic, but I'll call it realistic. B+
Offense... Rudolph looked in rhythm. Gameplan & a stout O-line helped him immensely, giving him time & keeping the defense off his keys. He still looks hesitant to take the deep shots as I saw his eyes downfield numerous times only to check down to a shorter route. Luckily for him the run game was dominating and he didn't need to take those shots. Smart football, but again, eventually he'll need to establish himself as a passer. The run game isn't always going to bail him out like this. B+
Defense... Stellar showing from this group. And this is exactly what I suspected would happen if the offense was able to give them life in the 2nd half. Swarming from top to bottom. The front 7 had an easy assignment dispatching a patchwork & depleted Cincy O-line. I'd like to see this sort of performance through 4 quarters against a tougher team. Of which we shall see next week. The DBs were on lockdown. For most, it was a quiet night. And that is a beautiful thing for a secondary. You can tell Fitzpatrick is doing a great job with communication out there. Haven't seen too many coverage mistakes with him in there, which is exactly what this team needed. Haden & Hilton looked stellar. And I will continue to toot this horn, Sutton looks ready to start. I loved how clean these guys were able to play in their lanes tonight. Especially for the run blitzers & DBs jetstreaming their assignments. Looked like a much more confident group tonight and everyone was doing their job and playing well together. Hell even Dupree & Barron looked good, which really says something. Next week against BAL will be a better gauge for this unit. A
ST... Holton on KR, Johnson on PR... Switzer nowhere to be found. He & Crief have been phased out completely and it may be time for them to cut their losses. If this team is serious about contending in the postseason then they will need to find WRs that can contribute. I'd like to see more from Johnson on PR before I feel confident letting Switz go. But Crief is dead weight at this point. Hate to talk about Boz for fear of him playing groundhog & reatreating back into his hole, but damn he looks good. Glad to have him back to his probowl ways. Hell even Berry averaged close to 50yds per punt last night. That's almost unheard of. A
That was some funny shit last night...
Good reaction from Boz. His wife is a smokeshow. Loved the look though... "Dammit Juju"
Good point on the sweeps to take the strength out of the Cincy front. Vannett did an admirable job, and I liked his presence in the passing attack. Hopefully another week of practice will get him more in tuned with Rudolph. I saw Mason giving him some coaching during & after some of the huddles.
Half the name gets half the punt... You pick which testicle.
Juju is a godsend. Steelers need to lock him up the second this season is over with. Then worry about locking up Watt & Conner.
Coaching... Fichtner got some much needed aid from his O-line to be able to call such a gimmicky game. I'll give him credit though, he successfully took the pressure off of Mason and allowed him to feel more comfortable. Aside from a few gaffs (see spoiler), he called relatively clean situational football. That's what this team needs if they want to continue to progress this season. Now the trick is seeing what Fichtner will do with tape out there on his gimmicky plays. Lots of misdirection, RPOs, wildcat, pony & jet sweeps aren't going to cut it against a tougher front. Looked like college football to me. At some point he will have to let Mason air it out more. He called up a couple of beauty combo routes to free people up. Need to see more of that. But I'll say this, Mason needed this game to boost his confidence and get him on the right track. Butler's defense was stout. Good mix of blitz packages and man coverage schemes to play uber aggressive. This felt reminiscent of his 2015 defense. I liked the aggressiveness from the coaches against an inferior opponent. I suspected they would play down to the Bengals, but they didn't. So hats off to them and hopefully that continues. Just hope they don't expect the same gameplans to work every week. Gotta mix it up and give fresh looks. Not going to crown them with a stellar grade because I don't think the Bengals are a good enough gauge of what this team is worth. You can call it pessimistic, but I'll call it realistic. B+
Offense... Rudolph looked in rhythm. Gameplan & a stout O-line helped him immensely, giving him time & keeping the defense off his keys. He still looks hesitant to take the deep shots as I saw his eyes downfield numerous times only to check down to a shorter route. Luckily for him the run game was dominating and he didn't need to take those shots. Smart football, but again, eventually he'll need to establish himself as a passer. The run game isn't always going to bail him out like this. B+
Defense... Stellar showing from this group. And this is exactly what I suspected would happen if the offense was able to give them life in the 2nd half. Swarming from top to bottom. The front 7 had an easy assignment dispatching a patchwork & depleted Cincy O-line. I'd like to see this sort of performance through 4 quarters against a tougher team. Of which we shall see next week. The DBs were on lockdown. For most, it was a quiet night. And that is a beautiful thing for a secondary. You can tell Fitzpatrick is doing a great job with communication out there. Haven't seen too many coverage mistakes with him in there, which is exactly what this team needed. Haden & Hilton looked stellar. And I will continue to toot this horn, Sutton looks ready to start. I loved how clean these guys were able to play in their lanes tonight. Especially for the run blitzers & DBs jetstreaming their assignments. Looked like a much more confident group tonight and everyone was doing their job and playing well together. Hell even Dupree & Barron looked good, which really says something. Next week against BAL will be a better gauge for this unit. A
ST... Holton on KR, Johnson on PR... Switzer nowhere to be found. He & Crief have been phased out completely and it may be time for them to cut their losses. If this team is serious about contending in the postseason then they will need to find WRs that can contribute. I'd like to see more from Johnson on PR before I feel confident letting Switz go. But Crief is dead weight at this point. Hate to talk about Boz for fear of him playing groundhog & reatreating back into his hole, but damn he looks good. Glad to have him back to his probowl ways. Hell even Berry averaged close to 50yds per punt last night. That's almost unheard of. A
Not pissing in my cheerios! I said the exact same things in my post.
Good stuff as always. Interested to hear about your 2nd/3rd viewings to see more of what we didn't catch live.Gameplan...it was perfect situational game planning...I didn't recall seeing their 5 DL sub pkg, but there were a few plays they employed a jumbo pkg... #91, #97, and #99...3 DTs! Pushing them wide with suspect LBs proved to be a good strategy...the wildcat stuff you can't really count on that working week in week out, but last night it was perfecto.
WR...
Without Ben, Switzer is not going to get many targets and while he makes good decisions in the return game, he's not a difference maker with the ball in his hands....Holton imo just needs to keep working, the tape is out on him now, every team is looking for him to go deep.
DEF...You mentioned Sutton in your earlier post...I wanted to touch on that...he finally got to show his skills when they went dime...very interesting that Hargrave was in on some passing down last night...got my office door closed and watching the condensed version again.
