Wk 14...@ AZ

ATL96Steeler · Dec 4, 2019

The Steelers (7-5) beat the Browns last week to climb back into the 6th seed position for post season play. Next up on the schedule are the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals made the bold move to fire 1st yr head coach Steve Wilks after only one season and hire college coach Kliff Kingsbury. In turn Kingsbury made the bold move to shun the previous high 1st round draft pick QB, Josh Rosen also after only one season, and made Kyler Murray the #1 overall pick in the 2019 draft. Needless to say, the Cardinals are not afraid to make bold moves.

The results so far this season have been somewhat predictable with a rookie QB, rookie head coach. They are 3-8-1, and rank a respectable 20th on OFC for the rookie duo, (one spot better than PIT), but the DEF is lagging, currently ranked 31st in the league. The Cardinals have played a couple of games close during this stretch but they are in the midst of a 5 game losing streak.

Injuries

Steelers get Pouncey back from his reduced suspension this week. Juju Smith-Schuster (knee), he's been out for two weeks now, the last I saw was questionable. We'll have to see what his practice participation is like the next day or so. Artie Burns (knee) questionable, and James Conner (shoulder) questionable... there's a chance they give all three guys another week.

Outlook

Vegas is nervous about this one...PIT is installed as a 2.5 pt favorite. IMO nervous for good reason. The Cards played a terrible game last week losing to the Rams 34-7, but the 3 weeks prior to that they lost @ SF 26-36, @ TB 27-30, and SF at home 25-28. That was 3 weeks in a row with 25 or more points, two of those games vs SF, one of the best DEFs in the league.

They have a multi-faceted running attacked with QB Murray very active in the running game with the second most rushing attempts on the team. Fortunately the Steelers face a similar QB twice a yr so they should have some idea of how they want to defend him. Murray has weapons too, the ageless one Fitzgerald at WR is still an effective player, David Johnson is still one of the better two-way RBs, rushing and receiving. Youngster WR, Christian Kirk will come close to a 1,000 yard barring injury.

On DEF, as far as rushing the passer, it looks like Chandler Jones, or Chandler Jones. Suggs does have 5 sacks, but appears to be purely in a support role. He knows this Steeler OL and I'm sure is hoping to make a play in this game.

The Cards are not very good vs the run or the pass. The Steelers OFC will need to rise to another level on the road to win this game. This is a dangerous game for a lot of reasons, west coast game, OFC can score, they are home with nothing to lose.

I'm going with PIT to keep it rolling for another week and win in AZ...24-20.

What say you?

thedddd · Dec 4, 2019

Going with Steelers 28 - Cardinals 24

It will be yet another early lead for the Cardinals, the Steelers will come back and then a late costly turnover will seal the win. Yeah I know this is getting way too predictable.

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 4, 2019

Steelers need to stay on their current path of progressing week to week, but they need to start faster & stronger. I have optimism they can do that this week. The Cards are a decent team, but they have proved they aren't anything to be afraid of.

O... Always the question mark. But I think the troops have rallied around Hodges really well and there is a new sense of urgency & positivity with them. Hodges & Washington have provided a great spark to this unit, and it was easy to see the rest of the group was feeding off it. They need to continue this momentum and keep building on it. Fichtner should have more confidence in his gameplanning to allow Hodges to come out firing this week. And I hope we see a good welcome back party for Pouncey.

D... This defense has proved it travels well during these long-distance away games. ~7 turnovers against SF, and 2 against LAC. The speed the Steelers have on defense matches up well to the Cards offense. My main concern will be how well the 2nd level can do in run blitz/containment assignments. The ILBs haven't necessarily been playing very well in that area. And David Johnson could eat them alive because of it.

If the Steelers can start faster & stronger then they should be able to maintain momentum in this game.

Steelers 24 - Cardinals 13

ATL96Steeler · Dec 5, 2019

FaCe-LeE-uS said:
Steelers need to stay on their current path of progressing week to week, but they need to start faster & stronger. I have optimism they can do that this week. The Cards are a decent team, but they have proved they aren't anything to be afraid of.

O... Always the question mark. But I think the troops have rallied around Hodges really well and there is a new sense of urgency & positivity with them. Hodges & Washington have provided a great spark to this unit, and it was easy to see the rest of the group was feeding off it. They need to continue this momentum and keep building on it. Fichtner should have more confidence in his gameplanning to allow Hodges to come out firing this week. And I hope we see a good welcome back party for Pouncey.

D... This defense has proved it travels well during these long-distance away games. ~7 turnovers against SF, and 2 against LAC. The speed the Steelers have on defense matches up well to the Cards offense. My main concern will be how well the 2nd level can do in run blitz/containment assignments. The ILBs haven't necessarily been playing very well in that area. And David Johnson could eat them alive because of it.

If the Steelers can start faster & stronger then they should be able to maintain momentum in this game.

Steelers 24 - Cardinals 13

I have a feeling AZ may score more than 13. I also feel like Fichtner needs to come out more aggressive early if MT will allow it.

Juju is running as of Wed...so maybe next week for him.

The DEF is probably going to play mostly zone...I don't see them turning their back to Murray too often so there will be some windows to throw into...backend will need to tackle well.

Superbelt · Dec 5, 2019

ATL96Steeler · Dec 5, 2019

Superbelt said:

Oh Robert......Duck seems to embrace who he is....have some fun with it!

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 5, 2019

ATL96Steeler said:
I have a feeling AZ may score more than 13. I also feel like Fichtner needs to come out more aggressive early if MT will allow it.

Juju is running as of Wed...so maybe next week for him.

The DEF is probably going to play mostly zone...I don't see them turning their back to Murray too often so there will be some windows to throw into...backend will need to tackle well.

Meh, maybe. I’m hoping that Kyler continues his sack & turnover production. If he does, then the Steelers D should bury him.

ATL96Steeler · Dec 5, 2019

FaCe-LeE-uS said:
Meh, maybe. I’m hoping that Kyler continues his sack & turnover production. If he does, then the Steelers D should bury him.

Winner!!!

Me too!

SteelersPride · Dec 7, 2019

just fyi david johnson got hurt and benched , hes the back up

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 8, 2019

SteelersPride said:
just fyi david johnson got hurt and benched , hes the back up

What? For real?

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 8, 2019

Steelers West... This is going to look like a home game today

SJ20 · Dec 8, 2019

The Steelers have to win this game.

PIT 31
ARI 27

ATL96Steeler · Dec 9, 2019

The Steelers went out there and took care of business.

HC...B, what was the fake punt all about? Trying to one up Kingsbury? But a road W to keep this thing going another week overshadows my nitpicking of MT...tougher task next week.

OFC...C+, collectively a solid running game, with just enough passing to keep the DEF off balance...pretty efficient game. The final pts should've been a TD to put it out of reach...FG kept it a one possession game.

DEF...B+, Murray is a slippery QB, 5 sacks, and good pressure and a wicked, legal QB hit by TJ, who showed his former TE hands with a nice INT. Nice 2 pick game for Haden...Dupree continues to be that guy we've been waiting 4 yrs to see...Colbert always maintained there was another level of play there. Kudos to him for seeing what 99% of us didn't see.

ST...B+, the bad, wth was the fake punt about? IIRC they were up 20-10, so two possessions, not the greatest field position to try it, but Boswell, and especially Johnson putting points on the board overshadows that baffling blunder.

Summary...Steelers D is showing week in week out they are among the best in the league. Granted, AZ was not stern test, but their previous 3 games all against good DEFs, they scored 24 or more points until yesterday. TN is looking strong behind Tannehill and could very well overtake HOU for the DIV...the Bills have a tough DEF also, it will be a good game at Heinz field...flexed to SNF. If the Steelers can hold up at home, they take the h-t-h over BUF and the 5th seed via that tiebreaker.

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 9, 2019

ATL96Steeler said:
The Steelers went out there and took care of business.

HC...B, what was the fake punt all about? Trying to one up Kingsbury? But a road W to keep this thing going another week overshadows my nitpicking of MT...tougher task next week.

OFC...C+, collectively a solid running game, with just enough passing to keep the DEF off balance...pretty efficient game. The final pts should've been a TD to put it out of reach...FG kept it a one possession game.

DEF...B+, Murray is a slippery QB, 5 sacks, and good pressure and a wicked, legal QB hit by TJ, who showed his former TE hands with a nice INT. Nice 2 pick game for Haden...Dupree continues to be that guy we've been waiting 4 yrs to see...Colbert always maintained there was another level of play there. Kudos to him for seeing what 99% of us didn't see.

ST...B+, the bad, wth was the fake punt about? IIRC they were up 20-10, so two possessions, not the greatest field position to try it, but Boswell, and especially Johnson putting points on the board overshadows that baffling blunder.

Summary...Steelers D is showing week in week out they are among the best in the league. Granted, AZ was not stern test, but their previous 3 games all against good DEFs, they scored 24 or more points until yesterday. TN is looking strong behind Tannehill and could very well overtake HOU for the DIV...the Bills have a tough DEF also, it will be a good game at Heinz field...flexed to SNF. If the Steelers can hold up at home, they take the h-t-h over BUF and the 5th seed via that tiebreaker.

HC... B-. Fake punt was inexcusable. I understand the logic of "if the tape gives us this read then go for it", but miscommunications aside (Berry said the blocking line checked out of it but he didn't get the memo), Tomlin still should have understood the situation and nixed that before it was ever initiated. Tomlin could have simply said to Danny Smith once they were up 10 or if they are within their own 40 to cancel the read. Or simply call timeout when the situation arised. Bad awareness by the coaching staff there. But the team played a relatively clean game, and they were ready for this west coast game. I want to give Tomlin the benefit of the doubt with the fake punt blunder, but the momentum swing & points generated for AZ was crippling. My main problem with the coaching was Fichtner, once again. It was good to see Duck so comfortable with the offense that he was able to audible numerous times. That's a great sign for things to come. But I'm still frustrated with Fichtner's situational coaching. Too many playcalls had me scratching my head, and he killed some drives. Need to do better. Luckily for them AZ has one of the worst passing defenses in the league.

O... B-. Efficient game from Hodges. Would like to see Tomlin & Fichtner let Duck throw it into the intermediate window more often. I know its riskier, but only generating 1 offensive TD is simply not going to cut it against better opponents. Playing it safe & relying on the defense will only get them so far. Duck is showing great rapport with DJ & JW, and he appears to be getting more confident each week. It's time to take the training wheels off. They will need to against a much superior defense in Buffalo. O-line had some mishaps but played relatively well. Pouncey's snaps continue to be a concern. Snell's fumble was a gut-punch. DJ obviously stole the show for this entire unit. Hats off to the rookie who continues to show great promise. His ability to create separation at the top of his routes is incredibly good for a rookie. Mix that with a great catch radius, superb route tree, and excellent YAC performances... You get a star in the making.

D... B+. Another great effort from this unit. Although I am a bit concerned about the no-huddle. They were on the field a lot more than they should have been, but damn they looked gassed in the 1st half. Thankfully the Steelers offense started driving & keeping the D off the field to give them rest. They sat in zone coverage a lot in this game. Must have been Tomlin's plan from the get-go to handle the spread offense. Not a fan, even if it did work against AZ. Because we have seen what superior QBs will do to that defense. Hopefully this staff has figured out a better gameflow with it and were only deploying it so much because of its success in this game. We'll have to be cautiously optimistic about that.

ST... B-. Fake punt blunder based off miscommunication, and the missed tackle on the fake punt by AZ. Only things saving this grade from being a C is the punt return TD & Boz. Berry had an ok night. I love seeing the 50-60yd boomer punts, but he's doing it at the cost of hang-time and outkicking his coverage team which gives the opposing team an opp for return a decent return. Needs to keep it within that 50-55yd window with hangtime.

Outlook... They should be getting Juju & Conner back this week and they should provide a boost in the offense in 1 way or another. They will need all hands on deck for Buffalo. Steelers need to win that game or else drop the 6th seed to TEN or HOU (pending outcome of their matchup, loser would still take 6th seed with a Steelers loss). Win that game, as ATL stated, then they move to the 5th seed and almost assuredly lock themselves into the playoffs.

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 9, 2019

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 9, 2019

Question... Deon Cain has asserted himself in resounding fashion.... Why the hell don't they use him more? I saw Johnny Holton out wide on numerous snaps yesterday. Makes no sense. I know Cain isn't showing out on the stat sheets, but he's been uber effective when targetted:

He has 5 targets TOTAL in 2 games:

35yd completion (his first catch)
DPI generated on 3rd down (26yds tacked onto drive)
5yd completion on big 3rd down conversion for a 1st
DPI (11yds tacked onto drive)
22yd completion

Stats don't tell the whole story either. Dude can high-point the ball better than anyone on the roster.

FREE DEON!!!!

ATL96Steeler · Dec 9, 2019

FaCe-LeE-uS said:
HC... B-. Fake punt was inexcusable. I understand the logic of "if the tape gives us this read then go for it", but miscommunications aside (Berry said the blocking line checked out of it but he didn't get the memo), Tomlin still should have understood the situation and nixed that before it was ever initiated. Tomlin could have simply said to Danny Smith once they were up 10 or if they are within their own 40 to cancel the read. Or simply call timeout when the situation arised. Bad awareness by the coaching staff there. But the team played a relatively clean game, and they were ready for this west coast game. I want to give Tomlin the benefit of the doubt with the fake punt blunder, but the momentum swing & points generated for AZ was crippling. My main problem with the coaching was Fichtner, once again. It was good to see Duck so comfortable with the offense that he was able to audible numerous times. That's a great sign for things to come. But I'm still frustrated with Fichtner's situational coaching. Too many playcalls had me scratching my head, and he killed some drives. Need to do better. Luckily for them AZ has one of the worst passing defenses in the league.

O... B-. Efficient game from Hodges. Would like to see Tomlin & Fichtner let Duck throw it into the intermediate window more often. I know its riskier, but only generating 1 offensive TD is simply not going to cut it against better opponents. Playing it safe & relying on the defense will only get them so far. Duck is showing great rapport with DJ & JW, and he appears to be getting more confident each week. It's time to take the training wheels off. They will need to against a much superior defense in Buffalo. O-line had some mishaps but played relatively well. Pouncey's snaps continue to be a concern. Snell's fumble was a gut-punch. DJ obviously stole the show for this entire unit. Hats off to the rookie who continues to show great promise. His ability to create separation at the top of his routes is incredibly good for a rookie. Mix that with a great catch radius, superb route tree, and excellent YAC performances... You get a star in the making.

D... B+. Another great effort from this unit. Although I am a bit concerned about the no-huddle. They were on the field a lot more than they should have been, but damn they looked gassed in the 1st half. Thankfully the Steelers offense started driving & keeping the D off the field to give them rest. They sat in zone coverage a lot in this game. Must have been Tomlin's plan from the get-go to handle the spread offense. Not a fan, even if it did work against AZ. Because we have seen what superior QBs will do to that defense. Hopefully this staff has figured out a better gameflow with it and were only deploying it so much because of its success in this game. We'll have to be cautiously optimistic about that.

ST... B-. Fake punt blunder based off miscommunication, and the missed tackle on the fake punt by AZ. Only things saving this grade from being a C is the punt return TD & Boz. Berry had an ok night. I love seeing the 50-60yd boomer punts, but he's doing it at the cost of hang-time and outkicking his coverage team which gives the opposing team an opp for return a decent return. Needs to keep it within that 50-55yd window with hangtime.

Outlook... They should be getting Juju & Conner back this week and they should provide a boost in the offense in 1 way or another. They will need all hands on deck for Buffalo. Steelers need to win that game or else drop the 6th seed to TEN or HOU (pending outcome of their matchup, loser would still take 6th seed with a Steelers loss). Win that game, as ATL stated, then they move to the 5th seed and almost assuredly lock themselves into the playoffs.

Tomlin...the fumble by Snell was a good play by the defender, it sucks, but it happens. That fake punt was a huge blunder that was 100% self inflicted. As you said,ST needed to all be on the same page running something like that...my big issue was they were in control of the game at the time...didn't seem like they were losing momentum or anything. Like I said...I won't dwell on it any further, he got the W....a big win so they live for another week.

D...yeah that no huddle is a stable for AZ and it was effective for stretches. I knew they would play mostly zone vs Murray and I think that was the right call vs the young fast rookie QB...they didn't want him breaking off big runs with defenders backs turned to him. As a result AZ was going to make some plays in space against the zone....that no huddle was a little scary though. We've seen them mix it up as well man and zone recently so I'm not too worried about the no huddle that was effective against them.

O...I think they are willing to go with more risk with Hodges, but they didn't feel the need to in this game. They got up early and was able to keep it conservative.

ATL96Steeler · Dec 9, 2019

FaCe-LeE-uS said:
Question... Deon Cain has asserted himself in resounding fashion.... Why the hell don't they use him more? I saw Johnny Holton out wide on numerous snaps yesterday. Makes no sense. I know Cain isn't showing out on the stat sheets, but he's been uber effective when targetted:

He has 5 targets TOTAL in 2 games:

35yd completion (his first catch)

DPI generated on 3rd down (26yds tacked onto drive)

5yd completion on big 3rd down conversion for a 1st

DPI (11yds tacked onto drive)

22yd completion

Stats don't tell the whole story either. Dude can high-point the ball better than anyone on the roster.

FREE DEON!!!!

Good call. They were quick to integrate #80 into the deep passing game...#17 looks to be a better option.

To be honest, with Juju out the last few games, I'm shocked the TEs haven't gotten more targets...yesterday #89 got 1 and #88 got 0.

FaCe-LeE-uS · Dec 9, 2019

ATL96Steeler said:
Good call. They were quick to integrate #80 into the deep passing game...#17 looks to be a better option.

To be honest, with Juju out the last few games, I'm shocked the TEs haven't gotten more targets...yesterday #89 got 1 and #88 got 0.

Been beating that dead horse for months! TEs get no love in Fichtner's schemes. Every reception for them by design is at or near the LOS. Considering the talent & capital they have invested at TE, it's baffling. I know they play a big part in the run game, but they need to find new ways to get them involved. Like I said many times before, it could do wonders for the confidence of a QB to have that reliable outlet inside & out.

Curious... What does the all-22 look like in regards to the TEs? Are they not getting open? Are the schemes just not tailored to them in passing situations? I'm assuming they are rarely ever the 1st read unless its by design (screens, rub-release at LOS, etc).

Bridgeburner · Dec 9, 2019

FaCe-LeE-uS said:
Question... Deon Cain has asserted himself in resounding fashion.... Why the hell don't they use him more? I saw Johnny Holton out wide on numerous snaps yesterday. Makes no sense. I know Cain isn't showing out on the stat sheets, but he's been uber effective when targetted:

He has 5 targets TOTAL in 2 games:

35yd completion (his first catch)

DPI generated on 3rd down (26yds tacked onto drive)

5yd completion on big 3rd down conversion for a 1st

DPI (11yds tacked onto drive)

22yd completion

Stats don't tell the whole story either. Dude can high-point the ball better than anyone on the roster.

FREE DEON!!!!

I'm a huge Cain fan. I couldn't agree more.

Wk 14...@ AZ

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