AFCN Hate Guide

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Back after a long hiatus and PTO from work...

Division stinks. Ravens defense still isn't good. Steelers aren't going to win a ton of games with Pickett, though maybe they'll be better, but until they fix the OL - there are going to be issues. Browns are the Browns thus far...

Bengals OL only given up 1 sack last 2 weeks...can they continue to improve? Mixon has to get untracked (Rumor is he's been tipping his running plays, and met with the OL to review film and see where things are going wrong...will it help?)...

Bengals have to feel pretty good about starting 0-2 and essentially being tied for the division lead after 4 weeks. Ravens currently 0-2 at home...getting them to get to 0-3 is going to be really, really tough.

CIN... Still see this as their division to lose. Most talented roster even if the schedule is still tough. Make us proud!

BAL... Defense keeps surprising me with how far they have regressed. And they have done a great job restocking talent, but its just not gelling yet. You would think they would get better at some point because talent typically prevails in the end. I think they were only a failed 4th down conversion away from beating the Bills... So they are still a contender.

CLE... I shouldn't say I'm surprised to see them play well, given I said it wouldn't surprise me in the preseason. But what IS surprising is Jacoby Brissett. Dude is playing the part, and doing so efficiently. This is the kind of output they needed from Baker the last couple years & struggled to find this consistency. If Brissett keeps this up then this team will be difficult to beat.

PIT... Not sure why everyone keeps thinking its the OL thats holding this offense back. They are playing better than everyone thinks. PFF has them ranked 13th overall. But I admit their run-blocking leaves a lot to be desired. I think they have a sub 50 grade there. Honestly I think the playcalling plays a big part in that inefficiency. Much like last year, OC Matt Canada has very little talent for playcalling and too often is predictable. I came across his playcalling patterns somewhere and he only calls 9-12 plays on any given day, regardless of total snap counts. Essentially he has a single-sided index card that he calls plays from, and does nothing to disguise it other than mirroring the plays lol. And to make matters worse, his predictability to run the ball on certain downs is high. There's some crazy stats out there about how often he calls run plays against stacked boxes. Meaning defenses know when to expect a run, and Canada still runs it anyway. With Kenny Pickett now opening things up in the passing game it should provide some relief to the run game. That's the hope at least. But its going to ebb & flow as Kenny gains steam. He may shock the Bills, but once he puts out enough film then things will get difficult for him. The talent they have at WR should keep the passing game afloat any week though. If Kenny keeps up the gunslinging attitude then good things should happen. They are staring down the barrel of 1-7/1-8 in the coming month... So I'm not too enthused about their chances this year, regardless of what life Pickett brings to them. Inevitably this is a rebuild year. The defense is still talented, but vastly underperforming. The last couple losses they were hung out to dry (record setting pace for snaps), but against the Jets things got better and yet they still collapsed. Not sure what the answer is for that side of the ball, but they need to get better in a hurry. They have some relief coming soon in the form of players coming off IR. Hoping that keeps certain players off the field that have been getting routinely picked on.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I would actually say the Steelers o-line is pretty good so far. Their issue was the Tittie kisser, offensive scheme and the defense is once again awful against the run and depleted at DB.

I know @FaCe-LeE-uS posted a good metric on the o-lines and that is a strong point for this team.

See my post above... PFF ranks them 13th overall, but their run-blocking is around 43 grade... Still room for improvement, but hardly the scapegoat that everyone wants to paint them as

 

[Superbelt]

CIN... Still see this as their division to lose. Most talented roster even if the schedule is still tough. Make us proud!

BAL... Defense keeps surprising me with how far they have regressed. And they have done a great job restocking talent, but its just not gelling yet. You would think they would get better at some point because talent typically prevails in the end. I think they were only a failed 4th down conversion away from beating the Bills... So they are still a contender.

CLE... I shouldn't say I'm surprised to see them play well, given I said it wouldn't surprise me in the preseason. But what IS surprising is Jacoby Brissett. Dude is playing the part, and doing so efficiently. This is the kind of output they needed from Baker the last couple years & struggled to find this consistency. If Brissett keeps this up then this team will be difficult to beat.

PIT... Not sure why everyone keeps thinking its the OL thats holding this offense back. They are playing better than everyone thinks. PFF has them ranked 13th overall. But I admit their run-blocking leaves a lot to be desired. I think they have a sub 50 grade there. Honestly I think the playcalling plays a big part in that inefficiency. Much like last year, OC Matt Canada has very little talent for playcalling and too often is predictable. I came across his playcalling patterns somewhere and he only calls 9-12 plays on any given day, regardless of total snap counts. Essentially he has a single-sided index card that he calls plays from, and does nothing to disguise it other than mirroring the plays lol. And to make matters worse, his predictability to run the ball on certain downs is high. There's some crazy stats out there about how often he calls run plays against stacked boxes. Meaning defenses know when to expect a run, and Canada still runs it anyway. With Kenny Pickett now opening things up in the passing game it should provide some relief to the run game. That's the hope at least. But its going to ebb & flow as Kenny gains steam. He may shock the Bills, but once he puts out enough film then things will get difficult for him. The talent they have at WR should keep the passing game afloat any week though. If Kenny keeps up the gunslinging attitude then good things should happen. They are staring down the barrel of 1-7/1-8 in the coming month... So I'm not too enthused about their chances this year, regardless of what life Pickett brings to them. Inevitably this is a rebuild year. The defense is still talented, but vastly underperforming. The last couple losses they were hung out to dry (record setting pace for snaps), but against the Jets things got better and yet they still collapsed. Not sure what the answer is for that side of the ball, but they need to get better in a hurry. They have some relief coming soon in the form of players coming off IR. Hoping that keeps certain players off the field that have been getting routinely picked on.

Their run blocking will start to look better if defenses aren't stacking the box on every play regardless of the offensive formation.
Through 4 weeks no team respected the Steelers deep at all.

 

[Cincyfan78]

CIN... Still see this as their division to lose. Most talented roster even if the schedule is still tough. Make us proud!

BAL... Defense keeps surprising me with how far they have regressed. And they have done a great job restocking talent, but its just not gelling yet. You would think they would get better at some point because talent typically prevails in the end. I think they were only a failed 4th down conversion away from beating the Bills... So they are still a contender.

CLE... I shouldn't say I'm surprised to see them play well, given I said it wouldn't surprise me in the preseason. But what IS surprising is Jacoby Brissett. Dude is playing the part, and doing so efficiently. This is the kind of output they needed from Baker the last couple years & struggled to find this consistency. If Brissett keeps this up then this team will be difficult to beat.

PIT... Not sure why everyone keeps thinking its the OL thats holding this offense back. They are playing better than everyone thinks. PFF has them ranked 13th overall. But I admit their run-blocking leaves a lot to be desired. I think they have a sub 50 grade there. Honestly I think the playcalling plays a big part in that inefficiency. Much like last year, OC Matt Canada has very little talent for playcalling and too often is predictable. I came across his playcalling patterns somewhere and he only calls 9-12 plays on any given day, regardless of total snap counts. Essentially he has a single-sided index card that he calls plays from, and does nothing to disguise it other than mirroring the plays lol. And to make matters worse, his predictability to run the ball on certain downs is high. There's some crazy stats out there about how often he calls run plays against stacked boxes. Meaning defenses know when to expect a run, and Canada still runs it anyway. With Kenny Pickett now opening things up in the passing game it should provide some relief to the run game. That's the hope at least. But its going to ebb & flow as Kenny gains steam. He may shock the Bills, but once he puts out enough film then things will get difficult for him. The talent they have at WR should keep the passing game afloat any week though. If Kenny keeps up the gunslinging attitude then good things should happen. They are staring down the barrel of 1-7/1-8 in the coming month... So I'm not too enthused about their chances this year, regardless of what life Pickett brings to them. Inevitably this is a rebuild year. The defense is still talented, but vastly underperforming. The last couple losses they were hung out to dry (record setting pace for snaps), but against the Jets things got better and yet they still collapsed. Not sure what the answer is for that side of the ball, but they need to get better in a hurry. They have some relief coming soon in the form of players coming off IR. Hoping that keeps certain players off the field that have been getting routinely picked on.

Same thing with Bengals OL - not only did they need time to gel (should have gotten at least SOME reps in the pre-season) but the playcalling has been trash.

I think it was week 1 where everyone pointed out that Big formation/2 TE = a run 90% of the time. Empty set, lone RB in shotgun = pass 90% of the time. It's no wonder Watt was eating lunch against this line (more so than maybe usual). The play calling against stacked boxes and lack of checked plays to take advantage are maddening, especially when you have Burrow back there. I think this offense runs best when they are up-tempo and just letting Burrow do his thing.

Rumor has it that Mixon has also been tipping his runs, and side of the play-call - so, maybe that gets fixed. Biggest issue I've seen from him is "happy feet" behind the LOS. He looks like he's trying to hit the HR every time by just waiting out his blockers - instead of hitting the hole 1st, and then making a guy miss, or running it deep. Get those 4-5 yards first. His current YPC is gross (2.9). When Perrine came in that Jets game and got 48 yards (or whatever) on like 8 carries to close out the game...he just flat out ran like he was shot out of a cannon...and he picked up chunk yards, and first downs. This despite the defense stacking the box and KNOWING it was going to be a run play to keep the clock ticking. Sometimes RB's get too cute - see a hole, hit it - let the rest of the play take care of itself.

As for Pitt's line - I like PFF and I refer to them often, but I also like to use my eyes a bit more. I think the OL, while playing better than last year, is still an issue when you have McTitties or Small Hands Pickett behind the line - Especially the rookie - he needs that help and a decent run game to help take the pressure off. Right now, teams are going to load a box and force those QB's to show they can stay in the pocket long enough, get enough protection, and actually beat them downfield. It's asking a lot to do that consistently all game long.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Facts

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Trap game mode activated

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Trap game mode activated

AFC North. Let the gauntlet begin!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Same thing with Bengals OL - not only did they need time to gel (should have gotten at least SOME reps in the pre-season) but the playcalling has been trash.

I think it was week 1 where everyone pointed out that Big formation/2 TE = a run 90% of the time. Empty set, lone RB in shotgun = pass 90% of the time. It's no wonder Watt was eating lunch against this line (more so than maybe usual). The play calling against stacked boxes and lack of checked plays to take advantage are maddening, especially when you have Burrow back there. I think this offense runs best when they are up-tempo and just letting Burrow do his thing.

Rumor has it that Mixon has also been tipping his runs, and side of the play-call - so, maybe that gets fixed. Biggest issue I've seen from him is "happy feet" behind the LOS. He looks like he's trying to hit the HR every time by just waiting out his blockers - instead of hitting the hole 1st, and then making a guy miss, or running it deep. Get those 4-5 yards first. His current YPC is gross (2.9). When Perrine came in that Jets game and got 48 yards (or whatever) on like 8 carries to close out the game...he just flat out ran like he was shot out of a cannon...and he picked up chunk yards, and first downs. This despite the defense stacking the box and KNOWING it was going to be a run play to keep the clock ticking. Sometimes RB's get too cute - see a hole, hit it - let the rest of the play take care of itself.

As for Pitt's line - I like PFF and I refer to them often, but I also like to use my eyes a bit more. I think the OL, while playing better than last year, is still an issue when you have McTitties or Small Hands Pickett behind the line - Especially the rookie - he needs that help and a decent run game to help take the pressure off. Right now, teams are going to load a box and force those QB's to show they can stay in the pocket long enough, get enough protection, and actually beat them downfield. It's asking a lot to do that consistently all game long.

Well if we're talking eye test then look no further than PIT's OL allowing the LEAST amount of pressures on pass attempts... Pockets are relatively clean, but Mitch wasn't navigating the pocket very well and often just defaulted to dump passing everything.

I think now that they have a fearless passer in the pocket they will start to open things up more for the run game. That's the hope anyway.

 

[Dude]

Bills -14.5 tomorrow? Seems like a bit much. Is Pickit starting?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Bills -14.5 tomorrow? Seems like a bit much. Is Pickit starting?

Yup. Bills defense is banged up too.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Bills -14.5 tomorrow? Seems like a bit much. Is Pickit starting?

In hindsight - seems a bit low? Woof....

 

[Dude]

In hindsight - seems a bit low? Woof....

Bills are like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Yup. Bills defense is banged up too.

They got healthy. Fast.

Didn't get to watch the game (They had us on Clev/LA) - but I also know the score doesn't tell the whole story - on the surface, KP didn't do too bad. 65%, 300+ yards...but hard to tell how much that was a product of the fact the Bills got up so quick that the game seemed pretty much out of reach by Half-time. Same with the run game, but 50-some yards on 17 carries is not ideal....

 

[Wamu]

They got healthy. Fast.

Didn't get to watch the game (They had us on Clev/LA) - but I also know the score doesn't tell the whole story - on the surface, KP didn't do too bad. 65%, 300+ yards...but hard to tell how much that was a product of the fact the Bills got up so quick that the game seemed pretty much out of reach by Half-time. Same with the run game, but 50-some yards on 17 carries is not ideal....

It was said before that game started the Bills were missing four starters.

 

[All-Star Benchwarmer]

Do you think the Steelers will ever try a fake FG again?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

They got healthy. Fast.

Didn't get to watch the game (They had us on Clev/LA) - but I also know the score doesn't tell the whole story - on the surface, KP didn't do too bad. 65%, 300+ yards...but hard to tell how much that was a product of the fact the Bills got up so quick that the game seemed pretty much out of reach by Half-time. Same with the run game, but 50-some yards on 17 carries is not ideal....

Steelers have a laundry list of problems, but I’m happy to say that Kenny isn’t one of them. He didn’t play great, but he did as good as you can expect a rookie to play against a top D. The play calls were once again atrocious, and the receivers (aside from Pickens) were doing very little to help him. And Najee Harris running like Lev Bell with a bottom tier run blocking OL is just stupid. He needs to hit the holes hard or take a seat.

 

[Superbelt]

Steelers currently hold the 1st overall pick.

Would be a first since 1970.

 

[Superbelt]

Officer, I'd like to report a murder.

 

[blue_suns]