PRESEASON THREAD

[ATL96Steeler]

My thoughts on the game last night.

OL...they were shaky on both edges and @ C...I thought the G play was pretty good...imo just need more reps as a unit, not overly concerned, but they need to play better obviously.

Bell...I'm not sure what to think yet...those who knew me over @ espn site knew I was big on Lacy....don't follow B10 football so didn't know much about Bell. For now I'm going to take the positive route and think he will be fine in the long run until he proves otherwise.

Dwyer...In spite of the fumble, I thought he made A squad last night...just not sure whose squad.

DL...I was pleased overall...McClendon is som much quicker than Casey so this will be interesting to watch. Woods is going to get more minutes this yr.

OLB...J. Jones is the real deal...played the run well, got a couple of splash plays already this preseason...Woodley looks a quicker so far this yr...got a sack. Worilds might not be that great in coverage.

Overall they looked sloppy, so I think game 3 they need to sharpen up. The outcome I wasn't concerned about going in so it doesn't bother me now.

Bottomline...work to do still to be ready for the Titans.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Um there is definate cause for concern. Might I remind you that last year we were sloppy in the preseason as you noted. And that in turn translated to being sloppy in the regular season. And translated to being a 8-8 team. Game plan or not. The penaltys and turnovers are a sign of a lack of discipline, and that needs to be adressed.

No way to sugarcoat it...in part the 1st teamers looked sloppy so yes, cause for concern...There were some positives, #1 I think we finally have a backup that doesn't need a cane...#2 The front 7 looks quicker than LY to me...#3 Sanders looks like a legit #2.

The biggest concern that I have is how long will it take the OL to gel...I said a full camp and 4 or 5 real games initially...coming out of the bye if we're still talking about bad OL play, we can probably write off the playoffs again.

I agree the penalties need to be cut down...the holding penalties were not due to lack of discipline imo...more like getting beat at the point of attack and not wanting your QB to get hit. I don't like it, but in a preseason game...I'll take the 10 yds over a hit on the QB. Turnovers are lack of focus and sometimes just a great play by the other team. Ben has to look downfield 1st on that little swing pass...he telegraphed it.

 

[Ghoonsquad]

Penalties are most definitely a sign of discipline issues. Yes I would rather have a hold the a QB hit. Hands to the face unacceptable, the amount of holds says guys are getting beat to much. Either due to technique, slow off the snap, mixture of both, or they just suck.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Penalties are most definitely a sign of discipline issues. Yes I would rather have a hold the a QB hit. Hands to the face unacceptable, the amount of holds says guys are getting beat to much. Either due to technique, slow off the snap, mixture of both, or they just suck.

You're right for the most part...teams like OAK that have led the league in penalties for many years are a good example...but I'm not ready to say this squad will be as bad as they looked last night. OL play takes longer than any other unit to gel...I think it takes 4 or 5 real games for the group to really all be on the same page.

 

[Ghoonsquad]

You're right for the most part...teams like OAK that have led the league in penalties for many years are a good example...but I'm not ready to say this squad will be as bad as they looked last night. OL play takes longer than any other unit to gel...I think it takes 4 or 5 real games for the group to really all be on the same page.

Oh I'm not saying the team will be as bad as they looked last night. If they are Tomlin had better stop talking and start coaching or he needs to be replaced. I like the guy and all but the same issues seem to go unchecked. The line is one thing, the turnovers, the injuries, lack of turnovers, etc....... (and before somebody says injuries blah blah blah. Look I get it they happen to all teams and everybody. They have killed us under the Tomlin era. They happen more frequently since he took over. At some point have to start thinking this has something to do with preparation, conditioning, etc.....)

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Oh I'm not saying the team will be as bad as they looked last night. If they are Tomlin had better stop talking and start coaching or he needs to be replaced. I like the guy and all but the same issues seem to go unchecked. The line is one thing, the turnovers, the injuries, lack of turnovers, etc....... (and before somebody says injuries blah blah blah. Look I get it they happen to all teams and everybody. They have killed us under the Tomlin era. They happen more frequently since he took over. At some point have to start thinking this has something to do with preparation, conditioning, etc.....)

Listen...I'm not saying your points don't have merit...they do. They looked bad, no one should be pleased and I don't think anyone is...I saw what you saw LY so I know your post isn't based on 2 preseason games..If Tomlin wins enough games he will be the Steelers HC until his contract expires...if he doesn't win enough games, he won't be the Steelers HC. That will take care of itself.

Chill..........at least until game one

 

[Ghoonsquad]

Listen...I'm not saying your points don't have merit...they do. They looked bad, no one should be pleased and I don't think anyone is...I saw what you saw LY so I know your post isn't based on 2 preseason games..If Tomlin wins enough games he will be the Steelers HC until his contract expires...if he doesn't win enough games, he won't be the Steelers HC. That will take care of itself.

Chill..........at least until game one

I'm not upset it is what it is. As far as I'm concerned I grew out of getting upset over steelers wins and losses at about Oh 22. But just trying to keep it real and say it only preseason and Tomlin doesn't game plan etc......so there is no worry. That just don't fly with me. Preseason play speaks volumes, the win/loss is irrelevant but the play isn't.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I'm not upset it is what it is. As far as I'm concerned I grew out of getting upset over steelers wins and losses at about Oh 22. But just trying to keep it real and say it only preseason and Tomlin doesn't game plan etc......so there is no worry. That just don't fly with me. Preseason play speaks volumes, the win/loss is irrelevant but the play isn't.

Well your posts don't marry up with that, but point taken.

That's kinda my point...the sample is way too small (what, maybe 3 freakin 3Qs of football for the starters) to have any keep it real material for this 2013 team.

Not that you suggested I was, but I need to make it clear...I'm no Tomlin apologist, the standard in PIT is bigger than Tomlin and I'm pretty sure he knows that. But I'm going to grant him a bad season much like I did Cowher...the play has to improve...I think we agree on that point.

 

[Lonewate44]

just curious.......Was the Oline play all on them, or was the Skins Defense to blame for that....AS a Skins fan, I was loving the pressure we got up front...the penetration, etc...Was it all bad oline play, was it great Skins D...a combo of both??? Kerrigan is a beast and it showed....No Orakpo even.., and Cofield, was blowing up your pro bowl center.....

 

[MISKO]

it wasnt all your defense our O line sucks right now ..they weren't playing like they should and it showed

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Well I wouldn't take anything away from Cofield. He absolutely dominated our perennial pro bowler up front. As Steelers fans know by now, Maurkice rarely has a bad snap let alone a bad game. For that point I would say that he was just getting flat out beat. But not sure what the exact case is since the whole O-line unit wasn't gelling well. That Cofield kid has a bright future!

 

[Ghoonsquad]

Well your posts don't marry up with that, but point taken.

That's kinda my point...the sample is way too small (what, maybe 3 freakin 3Qs of football for the starters) to have any keep it real material for this 2013 team.

Not that you suggested I was, but I need to make it clear...I'm no Tomlin apologist, the standard in PIT is bigger than Tomlin and I'm pretty sure he knows that. But I'm going to grant him a bad season much like I did Cowher...the play has to improve...I think we agree on that point.

For what it's worth I'm not really upset with anything I don't control. I just don't get on board with the line of thinking preseason means nothing. Other than that I agree with what your saying.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

just curious.......Was the Oline play all on them, or was the Skins Defense to blame for that....AS a Skins fan, I was loving the pressure we got up front...the penetration, etc...Was it all bad oline play, was it great Skins D...a combo of both??? Kerrigan is a beast and it showed....No Orakpo even.., and Cofield, was blowing up your pro bowl center.....

Credit where credit is due...the WAS DL was winning the battle in the trenches, but PIT had chances to make plays downfield, and they got decent production on the ground so I wouldn't say the OL was dominated the entire time they were out there.

That said, we've seen some shaky OL play last yr, the most OL combinations in the league by far I think so it's been a work in progress getting a consistent 5 on the field. I think this line will take some lumps early, but the health and reps on the field as a unit should smooth out as time goes by.

 

[Lonewate44]

Credit where credit is due...the WAS DL was winning the battle in the trenches, but PIT had chances to make plays downfield, and they got decent production on the ground so I wouldn't say the OL was dominated the entire time they were out there.

That said, we've seen some shaky OL play last yr, the most OL combinations in the league by far I think so it's been a work in progress getting a consistent 5 on the field. I think this line will take some lumps early, but the health and reps on the field as a unit should smooth out as time goes by.

Thanks for the assessment....I was thinking it was a combo of good DL line play, and Pitts Oline.....I didnt want to read too much into the Dline playing like it did.... I was suprised at the way coffield got your center though.....That gives me reason to believe we could be expecting good things from our NT this year!!!

Boy Ben buys some time back there.....I will give it to him......Lesser scrambeling qbs...would have had more sacks given up...

 

[SFNL]

In case no one has said/posted this.... Hope Dwyer is ready.. We'ze in trouble this year, folks.

 

[Lonewate44]

In case no one has said/posted this.... Hope Dwyer is ready.. We'ze in trouble this year, folks.

I was hearing he had that, but was looking at 6-8 weeks....I was wondering what was up with that...we had a rookie Safety with the same thing and he was gone the whole year...

 

[rokketmn]

I am concerned with the O-Line play, but this is what pre-season is about. Gilbert and Adams have swapped spots from earlier in camp, so it takes time to adjust. They are also changing the run-blocking scheme, which seemed like a fit for a guy like Bell. Now, with Bell out, I don't think Dwyer can function in a Z-blocking system. He just doesn't have the quickness to read, cut, and hit the hole. Dwyer looked good on paper, but on 2 of those runs, I could have run through the holes.

I don't think Redman or Dwyer is the short term answer. We saw that last season. LSH is a change of pace guy, not a 15-20 carry back. We need to be looking at the waiver wire, IMO for a replacement.

Jarvis looks as good as advertised. If he can play that way in the regular season, he will be a huge help to Woodley on the other side. Let's face it, pressure has to come from our LB's, and we need them to generate sacks and turnovers. Even by applying pressure, they may be able to force the QB into a bad throw.

We need to get that turnover differential back to the plus side. Polamalu playing up to what we pay him for would help too.

I like the receivers a lot. I already see Wheaton as the #3 to start the season. Without Bell and Miller we should be airing it out more rather than wasting plays with Dwyer and Redman. This team will need to be dynamic on offense in order to win games, and we need Wheaton's playmaking ability out there.

I sure hope Landry Jones can make the team as the #3 QB. I hate to see a pick wasted, and I think we should give him more time. He was a big time player in college, and the pro game moves a lot faster. He is also adapting to a more traditional offense.

Let's pray for good health through games 3 and 4 and get this thing started.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I am concerned with the O-Line play, but this is what pre-season is about. Gilbert and Adams have swapped spots from earlier in camp, so it takes time to adjust. They are also changing the run-blocking scheme, which seemed like a fit for a guy like Bell. Now, with Bell out, I don't think Dwyer can function in a Z-blocking system. He just doesn't have the quickness to read, cut, and hit the hole. Dwyer looked good on paper, but on 2 of those runs, I could have run through the holes.

I don't think Redman or Dwyer is the short term answer. We saw that last season. LSH is a change of pace guy, not a 15-20 carry back. We need to be looking at the waiver wire, IMO for a replacement.

Jarvis looks as good as advertised. If he can play that way in the regular season, he will be a huge help to Woodley on the other side. Let's face it, pressure has to come from our LB's, and we need them to generate sacks and turnovers. Even by applying pressure, they may be able to force the QB into a bad throw.

We need to get that turnover differential back to the plus side. Polamalu playing up to what we pay him for would help too.

I like the receivers a lot. I already see Wheaton as the #3 to start the season. Without Bell and Miller we should be airing it out more rather than wasting plays with Dwyer and Redman. This team will need to be dynamic on offense in order to win games, and we need Wheaton's playmaking ability out there.

I sure hope Landry Jones can make the team as the #3 QB. I hate to see a pick wasted, and I think we should give him more time. He was a big time player in college, and the pro game moves a lot faster. He is also adapting to a more traditional offense.

Let's pray for good health through games 3 and 4 and get this thing started.

Pittsburgh doesn't have that luxury with the Cap situation being as bad as it is. Dwyer, Redman & LSH have to be the answer. If the O-line starts gelling then I think anybody at RB will have a hay day. But if the running game doesn't work, then I would expect Haley to air it out more. There would likely be a lot of 3-4 WR sets.

Jarvis definitely looks like he already fits the starter role. If he can keep improving like he has from PG1 to PG2, then I would expect him to start week 1. Worilds looked terrible in coverage and decent in pass rushing, which might not be enough to make Butler & Lebeau start him.

As long as Poly stays healthy then the turnovers will come. Cortez will be back to full health and that will be a major boost in the secondary. Let's face it, Gay is not a starting corner. Our 6th corner, Isaiah Green, looked better than Gay did. I hope we get a better look at Curtis Brown against the Chiefs.

I think Haley will open up a few new packaged sets to fit Wheaton in. Especially on quick routes. Cotchery is almost a must to play on gamedays given his veteran insight and dependability. Not that it means a whole lot, but Burress called him Mr. Dependable. Makes me think that he's the new Ward in town! We can really benefit from having him on the field.

I really doubt the team will go with JPW. They have invested too much into Landry. But I think it was a great idea to bring JPW in to push Landry into a competition. He showed improvements against the 'Skins so let's hope he further progresses. Like I have said before, I think that 45-yarder to Wheaton really boosted his confidence. He looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket that game as well.

I'll second that notion for health! This team at full strength is dangerous, but Pitt needs to be clicking on all cylinders all season long.

 

[evolver115]

Pittsburgh doesn't have that luxury with the Cap situation being as bad as it is. Dwyer, Redman & LSH have to be the answer. If the O-line starts gelling then I think anybody at RB will have a hay day. But if the running game doesn't work, then I would expect Haley to air it out more. There would likely be a lot of 3-4 WR sets.

Jarvis definitely looks like he already fits the starter role. If he can keep improving like he has from PG1 to PG2, then I would expect him to start week 1. Worilds looked terrible in coverage and decent in pass rushing, which might not be enough to make Butler & Lebeau start him. /

Our current cap situation isn't near as bad as it was at the end of last season. During the offseason with the departures of guys like Harrison and Colon, they cleared a fair amount of space. The Steelers are estimated to have about 5 million dollars in cap space at the moment. There are 8-9 other teams that are in a worse position than Pittsburgh. It's given them some flexibility, but not much. Here is a link to where I get these numbers:
2013 NFL Cap Tracker

^^ they do a nice job of tracking this stuff.

I hear that on Jarvis Jones. He is looking better by the week. Hopefully the game will continue to slow down for him and he can make an impact right away. It will be nice to have two guys in Jones and Worilds vying for that OLB position. Makes for healthy competition.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I am starting to get really confused on the whole Bell situation. At first they reported a Lisfranc injury, and media said it would be 6-8 weeks before he could return. Then more reports surfaced saying he will likely be out for the entire season. And now I'm reading that it has been reevaluated as a minor foot sprain in the arch of his foot. And now the timetable seems to be a lot sooner than what was originally expected. For the time being he is considered "day by day" in Tomlin's usual words. Which is very interesting to me, because that usually means in worst case scenario he will only miss a few weeks.

Does anyone have any clarity to this situation? I know the team sent his MRI's somewhere to have a second/third opinion, but I have yet to hear anything about that. Since Bell has not been put on PUP or IR yet, I'm assuming they are still meeting with doctors. But that also could mean that the injury is not as bad as the media has blown it up to be...