Game Thread: DIVISIONAL ROUND DUH CHEFS

[Psych-Ward]

Damn the D isn't spectacular, but at least they are getting it done!!!!

 

[Psych-Ward]

Son of a..........

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Wow... Steelers are dominating this game statistically but not showing on the scoreboard. Being 0/4 in the RZ is a nightmare scenario

 

[Southieinnc]

Congratulations Steelers. You've earned the honor of going to Foxborough......

 

[MISKO]

Thanks southy.

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

Wow...not one TD, and our boys still won.

One positive thing to note...Ben rarely has 2 consecutive off-games, so he should be in good form next week. And no injuries.

OK, @MISKO, I'll leave it to you to start a thread called "Duh Patriots" (or Cheatriots, or Traitriots, if you prefer). I don't know if it helps, but it couldn't hurt.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Coaching... Only gripe I have with the coaches is Haley for this game. 0 for 4 in the RZ??? You f*ckin kidding me? Would have been worse if they had crossed the 20 on those other 2 trips down there when they kicked FGs. Hats off to the KC D, but Haley dialed up passes on more than 80% of plays inside the RZ (don't check me on that, just a educated guess lol) while Bell was averaging over 5ypc... Just stupid play-calling inside the 20. Never been more frustrated with him than I am right now. But that could be from all the heightened blood pressure during the game. Maybe I'll feel little better after I come down. Tomlin had his troops ready to brawl though and I'm glad he didn't go for it on 4th down in the 1st qtr lol. Butler coached a great game. He shut down the KC offense for the majority of the game. C+ (thanks Haley)

Offense... O-line dominated most of the game. Ben was only sacked once. Marcus Gilbert has gotta be one of the most underrated RT's in the game bar none. Bell averaged 5.6ypc on his way to a huge 170-yd game. Didn't get anything in the passing game, but he wasn't targetted much. AB stole the show early alongside Bell, but got quiet in the 2nd half until that final 3rd down conversion. Still amassed 100+yds receiving in basically 1 half of the game. My silent MVP for this game has to be Jesse James though. His contributions were HUGE in both the run & passing game. Unsung hero right there. Ben played well tonight, but still could be better. INT was just bad luck on a shitty play call. 3rd down offense was a problem again as they went 7/15 tonight (46%). Fairly ugly. B

Defense... Great job of clamping down after KC's first drive. They were suffocating after that. Thought it was going to get ugly there for a minute. Secondary played well outside of a few boneheaded penalties. Not faulting Davis for that h2h hit since he tried to lead with his shoulder. KC didn't make it back into the RZ until late in the 2nd half. That's a stellar performance against a very dangerous offense. Tyreek Hill only had 27yds receiving and next to nothing in the run game. Kelce on the other hand had a good game. Would have been a great one if he hadn't dropped that pass down the seam. Mitchell & Davis did their best to keep a lid on him. Fairly quiet game from the pass rush outside of a few good pressures from Dupree & Deebo, and of course the sack from Deebo. But overall they need to get a better pass rush than that. Surprisingly good tackling tonight. B+

ST... The Wizard of Boz strikes again... That had to be some sort of playoff record. I know its a Steelers postseason record for sure. No brainer MVP of this game. Coverage units were a lot better thankfully, but still not great. Lastly, wtf was up with that final return by Gilbert?? In that situation he should just run straight downhill and slide or something. Play it safe, don't try to get creative when you have ZERO blockers in front of you. You can take the player out of Cleveland, but not Cleveland out of the player I guess. B+

Overall... Offense left a lot of points off the board tonight. Steelers dominated almost all of the statistical categories, but couldn't punch it in the RZ so the stats didn't matter. Still, they got enough contributions from all 3 phases to close out the game. Wasn't flashy but it was a tough divisional game against arguably the best team in the AFC. To get a win in Arrowhead is huge, especially when KC had 2 weeks of prep. Not many teams can say they have done that. Probably missing a lot of things worth covering in this game, but I'm too happy over this win so I'm not exactly thinking straight. No injuries of note at the moment! B+

Outlook... Steelers still riding the momentum and should have a pretty big head on their shoulders after that win (rightfully so). The boys will continue on the road into Foxborough against those damn Patsies. Lot of bad history there in the postseason for the Steelers so they will have some demons to exercise for sure. Pats are playing great football even though they got a decent scare from Houston. Steelers will need to amp up the offense this week and convert those damned RZ trips! Can't leave any points off the board against NE because you can guarantee T Brady is going to have his way with the Steelers secondary. Thankfully they are without Gronkowski, but Martellus Bennett is no slouch. And NE's running game has been awesome this year. Dion Lewis is catching fire, so he'll be a matchup to watch. Another PIT vs NE postseason matchup for the record books... Stay buckled in!

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

Good analysis, as always, @FaCe-LeE-uS.

Whether our boys can take New England comes down to the D, IMO. If they're aggressive, we can win. If they're conservative...if the secondary drops back into zone coverage on likely passing downs, and concedes the short routes to avoid getting burned on a long pass, Brady will nickel and dime us TO DEATH.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Good analysis, as always, @FaCe-LeE-uS.

Whether our boys can take New England comes down to the D, IMO. If they're aggressive, we can win. If they're conservative...if the secondary drops back into zone coverage on likely passing downs, and concedes the short routes to avoid getting burned on a long pass, Brady will nickel and dime us TO DEATH.

So true. Butler will need to coach the game of his life next week.

 

[MISKO]

Wow...not one TD, and our boys still won.

One positive thing to note...Ben rarely has 2 consecutive off-games, so he should be in good form next week. And no injuries.

OK, @MISKO, I'll leave it to you to start a thread called "Duh Patriots" (or Cheatriots, or Traitriots, if you prefer). I don't know if it helps, but it couldn't hurt.

we had double juju going here yours and mine ..

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

we had double juju going here yours and mine ..

Good point.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

With Big Ben hurt and Andy Reid's record coming off byes, why aren't more of you taking the Chiefs?

How'd that work out for you?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Not to mention Bell had more yards than the Chiefs entire offense through 3 qtrs.


Had a feelin!


Still 1, possibly 2, games to go!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Unreal

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Great post game there @FaCe-LeE-uS.

I'm a little more harsh on Ben/Haley in general.

OFC...2.5 of 5....Forget the 6 FGs overall...6 pts in the 2nd half allowed the to be a 4Q game...Bell did what Bell does against 2 weeks of prep...outstanding! Ben...if you you're going to go away from a Bell run to a Brown one on one...you damn well need to convert...not get a pick!!! 6 there starts to break the Chiefs spirit a little. Haley, loved the use of James (I know @Psych-Ward was saying FINALLY!!!) in the passing game for a change, but that many trips inside the 30 and not one target to Grimble, or Johnson, or Coates, or Nix...somebody KC might not have expected...give KC credit for bowing their neck inside the 30, but that effort sucked when it comes to play calling.

DEF...4.5 of 5...KC is not a great OFC team, but they have several play makers that were mostly held in check, and only yielding 16 pts on the road. Game savers imo. Only one sack, (for some reason I thought Tuitt got one too) but Smith faced plenty of pressure throughout the game...Kelce...sucks to lose I know, but buy some class, don't hang it on the refs...that WAS holding on the 2 pt try.

ST...only 1 punt...5 of 5...6 for 6 FGs...18 pts, the team scored 18 pts...enough said.

On to NE...gotta play better on OFC to win up there, but keep the Juju coming!!!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Great post game there @FaCe-LeE-uS.

I'm a little more harsh on Ben/Haley in general.

OFC...2.5 of 5....Forget the 6 FGs overall...6 pts in the 2nd half allowed the to be a 4Q game...Bell did what Bell does against 2 weeks of prep...outstanding! Ben...if you you're going to go away from a Bell run to a Brown one on one...you damn well need to convert...not get a pick!!! 6 there starts to break the Chiefs spirit a little. Haley, loved the use of James (I know @Psych-Ward was saying FINALLY!!!) in the passing game for a change, but that many trips inside the 30 and not one target to Grimble, or Johnson, or Coates, or Nix...somebody KC might not have expected...give KC credit for bowing their neck inside the 30, but that effort sucked when it comes to play calling.

DEF...4.5 of 5...KC is not a great OFC team, but they have several play makers that were mostly held in check, and only yielding 16 pts on the road. Game savers imo. Only one sack, (for some reason I thought Tuitt got one too) but Smith faced plenty of pressure throughout the game...Kelce...sucks to lose I know, but buy some class, don't hang it on the refs...that WAS holding on the 2 pt try.

ST...only 1 punt...5 of 5...6 for 6 FGs...18 pts, the team scored 18 pts...enough said.

On to NE...gotta play better on OFC to win up there, but keep the Juju coming!!!

I'm still just baffled how often Haley neglects Bell inside the RZ... ESPECIALLY that play inside the 5. If you're going to go to someone they are keying on, I'd rather it be Bell. Better odds.

 

[NEhomer]

Great win Steelers. Definitely gonna be another great game next week!

...and just a suggestion. Don't use the term Cheatriots in your thread titles this week. It'll just make your board appear as pathetic as the Dolphins.

Thing about both Pitt and NE is that you get all four quarters from both teams....right down to the last second. I can't see any kind of blow-out in either direction.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Great win Steelers. Definitely gonna be another great game next week!

...and just a suggestion. Don't use the term Cheatriots in your thread titles this week. It'll just make your board appear as pathetic as the Dolphins.

Thing about both Pitt and NE is that you get all four quarters from both teams....right down to the last second. I can't see any kind of blow-out in either direction.

Well... Misko has been stickin with the nicknames he has, so it's his juju no matter what he goes with! We all support him!



And I agree on the game. Going to be a tough one to predict. Vegas opened somewhere near 5.5 pts for the Pats. I think it will be closer to 3 by kickoff. Both teams are playing some great football right now.

 

[Psych-Ward]

Great win Steelers. Definitely gonna be another great game next week!

...and just a suggestion. Don't use the term Cheatriots in your thread titles this week. It'll just make your board appear as pathetic as the Dolphins.

Thing about both Pitt and NE is that you get all four quarters from both teams....right down to the last second. I can't see any kind of blow-out in either direction.

Have some cake