Week 2 - 49ers

[ATL96Steeler]

Okay…we got our first look at the 2015 version of our Steelers and I don’t think too many of us are really shocked that the boys came back with a loss…the young DEF looked young, miscommunication, bad angles by the safeties, bad tackling…and so forth…the OFC of course was limited, but I still expected a better performance than what we got…It’s time to officially move on from the week 1 performance.

49ers

Who’s out?

As of today…there doesn’t seem to be any significant injuries…There is some chatter about Boykin getting some snaps at nickel as he only played on ST last week…based on the latest depth chart I’ve seen we’ll probably again see Allen and Gay outside and Blake as the Nickel, but I expect Boykin to play some if the CBs are not producing early.

Will Allen seems to be the starter now at SS which cements my thoughts that Shark is really not the long term answer.

PIT OFC vs SF – Bowman is top shelf in coverage vs the run and blitzing, they must game plan for him, the LBs in general are still good…I’m not as impressed with the interior DL guys, solid players but should not cause major problems for the OL or running game…if they can handle the LB blitz, I think they can give Ben enough time to go down field.

PIT DEF vs SF - I expect the Steeler DL to be tested a lot more against the run than last week…Butler will probably start out in 3-4 with McLendon @ NT, but if that is not stopping the run, expect him to go big early and bring in McCullers and take one of the LBs off the field on 1st down.

Notable…they made no long throws to T. Smith…after seeing the Steelers back 4 play Thurs night…one has to think he will get some deep targets in this one…we’ll have to see how they defend the deep ball.

Outlook…Vegas likes PIT by 5.5 or something like that…idk what happened to MIN last week but they didn’t look like the same team from ’14…some credit to SF for sure, but idt they have turned back the clock to ’12

I like the Steelers to rebound at home…27-20.

What say you?

 

[SteelersPride]

steelers 31-17

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Injuries... Labs listed Shazier & Cortez as sitting out today. Sounds like it was more of a precaution than anything serious.

Offense... Definitely shouldn't have a big problem moving the ball on this defense. The only question is, will they cash in when it matters? I have a feeling that RZ efficiency is going to be the monkey on their back for most of the season, as it has been through Haley's 2+ years here. If the O-line performs like it did opening night then D-Will is going to be productive. Bowman will have his hands full, but make no mistake he is up to the task. Ben needs to find a way to get Wheaton more involved. With Bowman on D-Will, you have to guess that the 9ers secondary are going to key on AB all night seeing as how nobody else really stood out. Wheaton & Miller are going to be vital to their success. Also curious to see if they keep Coates on the inactives list.

Defense... Like ATL said, they are going to run the ball without fear against PIT. The D-line is going to have to pull their weight or it will get ugly. I expect better pressure from this group. It may not have looked like they did that well against Brady, but when you have a QB like him releasing the ball 1.5 seconds after the snap you won't notice much pressure. With a lesser QB in Kaepernick we should notice the difference. Aside from wanting Boykin to play, I'm hoping to see the CB's challenge the LOS more. It would force Kaep through his check downs providing more time for the pressure to get to him. The only thing that really scares me is his scrambling. We will probably see Shazier being used exclusively as a QB spy in this game. Overall I hope to see a bounce back performance.

Hopefully Scobee has a short memory. We'll need him in this game if the O continues to struggle in the RZ.

I'll take the Steelers 24-13

 

[SteelersPride]

If they bring back Ian wild he will suplex Carlos Hyde, game over

 

[ATL96Steeler]

@FaCe-LeE-uS

I did see a few guys were held out of practice but expected to play.

RZ...I have to think that's been a point of emphasis with Haley. It's really the difference in this being a 8 win team vs a 10 win team imo. I'm not going to make a judgement yet, but clearly they've got to do better than week 1.

Active/inactive...Murphy or Coates...I understand the versatility that Murphy brings, and maybe they were never able to use him in NE, but WR4 is not a huge target guy...I'd like to see Coates in there in RZ situations to give Ben another big target. Definitely need to game plan better for Wheaton but I think TE was the focus.

Pressure...yep, best pressure on him is inside the OTs...hard to get to Brady wide...he'll step up in the pocket to buy time...He wasn't patting it 2 or 3 times...he got hit a few times. Kaep has a great arm, but doesn't anticipate the throwing windows as quickly as the top QBs...kind of needs to see it up then release...Vernon Davis/Boldin are probably Kaep's favorite targets now...of course they need to keep him in the pocket...I wouldn't really bring a ton of heat.

 

[MISKO]

im hoping deangalo can carry us one more week by himself without getting injured until bell gets back .. I like our chances on offense with those 2 if they stay healthy

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Solid win today...

 

[MISKO]

the d looked good too .. bell is back next week and with williams we will own the air and the ground

 

[SteelersPride]

D looked real good, but it was against kaep

 

[MISKO]

they still looked better than they have this whole season thus far

 

[SteelersPride]

they still looked better than they have this whole season thus far

well true, in that whole 2 games

 

[MISKO]

well true, in that whole 2 games

i included pre season

 

[SteelersPride]

then u have a valid point

 

[MISKO]

they at least looked like a defense today

 

[SteelersPride]

till they went prevent and let kap rack up 350 yards passing in garbage

 

[MISKO]

true . but they sacked keap a good bit today..,. ya gotta start somewhere I suppose

 

[SteelersPride]

kaep did do jack crap till the game was out of hand

 

[MISKO]

it still feels better to win than lose .. and the gayvens lost to the lowly raiders

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Recap...

Offense... Scary good. They were dominant in every aspect today. Still need to clean up the penalties though. Ben looked sharp. 21/27 360+ yds, 3 tds, 155.8 passer rating! Brown was "business as usual", aka unstoppable (you see that 180deg juke??? Absurd!). D-Will grinded out some tough yards today. O-line made it all happen. Only difference I have noticed with Pouncey being gone is the screen passes aren't nearly as successful. Wallace can get to the second level, but he's not nearly as athletic. Pretty crazy that this group can lose a pro bowl caliber player and still look just as dominant. Munchak deserves a raise. Glad DHB recovered. He showed off some serious speed. That will keep Coates on the pine for the time being.

Defense... Shazier stole the show. 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 FF & FR. This kid is special. Front 7 had an impressive outing as well. Run D looked good, and there was constant pressure on Kaep's dropbacks. He didn't look comfortable in the pocket all game until garbage time where the pressure let up. Secondary played much better. Boykin & Cockrell are likely to see more snaps. Blake is a solid player, but somewhat of a liability in coverage. He had some huge hits though! Kind of made me forget about his failed coverages. There was definitely some better communication going on by Allen & Mitchell. That was good to see.

ST... Scobee missed an XP today. That really makes me start to wonder if they are going to go for 2 all year long lol. Scobee can still boot it for touchbacks on kickoffs, so he'll stick around for the time being. Hopefully he starts to turn it around. Jordan Berry had a couple of HUGE punts today. Hopefully we won't have to see him too often, but at least we can feel confident in his leg.

Outlook... They escaped relatively injury free from this game. Shazier got a shoulder stinger, but Tomlin downplayed it as nothing serious. He might sit out a day or 2 of practice. Now that Bell is coming back the Steelers are forced to make a roster cut. I'm thinking Nix will be the odd man out. There's no need for 2 FBs on the roster even though he is doing great things on ST. Archer, Todman or Murphy are also candidates for the chop block but I don't know how you could justify keeping 2 FBs over any of those guys. Just my 2cents. But with Bell coming back that will really open things up. Going against a great D-line next week so I would expect to see Bell getting most his work in the passing game. Tough road game, but should be manageable. Our D matches up well against their O. Nothing scary, but I'm sure Austin will present some problems. Our front 7 should be able to handle their business against their O-line. Our O-line will have their work cut out for them against STL.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]