Game Thread: Week 13... vsWFT

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

My man

ATL used to be on top of those posts for the "AFCN At Large" and were awesome reads this time of year... Miss havin that dude around

 

[SteelersPride]

ATL used to be on top of those posts for the "AFCN At Large" and were awesome reads this time of year... Miss havin that dude around

yeah i hear yah. Hope all is ok with him.....been a while

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

No Boz today.. Good to have Hawkins back.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

And there it is... Finally get that L out of the way. Luckily it was non-conference.

Injuries piling up on defense, and the offense is completely unfocused & the situational play-calling is fucking high school level garbage.

This team isn’t winning a Lombardi unless they do some sort of reset on another short week going into a huge game against BUF. They need to get back to basics. This 1-dimensional 55+ passing attempts in the short to intermediate window while completely ignoring the run (unless it’s 3rd & long of course) is not going to cut it. This dink & dunk crap. Defenses are figuring it out.

 

[Bridgeburner]

And there it is... Finally get that L out of the way. Luckily it was non-conference.

Injuries piling up on defense, and the offense is completely unfocused & the situational play-calling is fucking high school level garbage.

This team isn’t winning a Lombardi unless they do some sort of reset on another short week going into a huge game against BUF. They need to get back to basics. This 1-dimensional 55+ passing attempts while completely ignoring the run (unless it’s 3rd & long of course) is not going to cut it. Defenses are figuring it out.

I didn't think it was possible to be this underwhelmed by an 11-1 team.

Bench Ebron. There's a reason he always finds himself on a new team. His route running and athleticism always convinces a team to bring him in. His hands always convince that same team later on that he isn't worth resigning. DJ catch catch Covid either.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I didn't think it was possible to be this underwhelmed by an 11-1 team.

Bench Ebron. There's a reason he always finds himself on a new team. His route running and athleticism always convinces a team to bring him in. His hands always convince that same team later on that he isn't worth resigning. DJ catch catch Covid either.

Agreed. They can thank their lucky stars that they have such a favorable schedule this year. But I'm having a hard time stomaching whether or not this is a championship caliber outfit. Now that the defense is riddled with injuries I just don't know how to stay confident.

Ebron... Said it in the game thread on the general, he is a pathetic excuse for a football player. I'm done with him until proven otherwise. I've had concerns over his blocking since day 1, and Sandy Sphincter kept running stretch & toss plays to his side like he thought Ebron could manage... No, no he couldn't and yet here we are week 13 and Randy is still forcing the issue instead of being a fucking smart OC and only using Ebron in subpackages that keep him away from blocking along the O-line. But now that he can no longer catch a ball when the weather got cold, I think he's relegated himself to damn near Donte Moncrief status.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Agreed. They can thank their lucky stars that they have such a favorable schedule this year. But I'm having a hard time stomaching whether or not this is a championship caliber outfit. Now that the defense is riddled with injuries I just don't know how to stay confident.

Ebron... Said it in the game thread on the general, he is a pathetic excuse for a football player. I'm done with him until proven otherwise. I've had concerns over his blocking since day 1, and Sandy Sphincter kept running stretch & toss plays to his side like he thought Ebron could manage... No, no he couldn't and yet here we are week 13 and Randy is still forcing the issue instead of being a fucking smart OC and only using Ebron in subpackages that keep him away from blocking along the O-line. But now that he can no longer catch a ball when the weather got cold, I think he's relegated himself to damn near Donte Moncrief status.

Right. 100%.

I really don't feel great about this team in the postseason. I think the Chiefs curb-stomp us in the parking lot before we ever even see the field. That can change in the next few weeks but right now... ugh.

And it's not the loss that has me pissed. We're 11-1. Great. It's the way they've been playing. It's just not good football.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Coaching... Well that was the first time in a long while that the offense looked good to start the game. I was shocked. But that quickly unraveled after a series at the goalline in the 2nd quarter that completely deflated this team. 5 attempts at gaining 1 yard.... I'll say that again... 5 attempts to gain 1 fucking yard... I'm utterly embarrassed. 3rd & long in a crucial situation & Randy throws in a draw play in the 2nd half, which was the 1st run from them since maybe the 1st quarter... Or all the 4th down failures... Screen plays & dink/dunk bullshit... 14 carries for 21yds total... It's like Randy has no fucking clue what his strengths are anymore and pays zero attention to what the defensive weaknesses are. More like he just circles plays on his card with crayons and prays. I'm so tired of this bullshit. Defense was ok. But once the personnel was damn near depleted things got very rough. Hearing McKissic's name called 8-10 times in a row for big games was one of the more annoying things that happened late in the game. Vince was clearly mismatched and they kept putting him in man coverage on him... WFT coaches had to be laughing at Butler during that series. Like, "are you seriously not going to change your personnel? ok well thanks for the 12yd gains on every play". Can't completely fault them, as they were hung out to dry by an offense that only stayed on the field for 5mins in the final quarter. D

Offense... Ben baffled me with some of his decision making last night. I know this offense is essentially reliant on Ben to pick a matchup presnap but man he just forces the ball sometimes. Couple of scares from deep throws into triple coverage. Throwing deep to McFarland on 4th & 1 felt like Todd Haley football all over again. This offensive line is rough. They do well enough in pass-pro, but they benefit from Ben's quick release so I have no idea if they are really any good or just acting like speedbumps that delay oncoming traffic by just enough time to get the play off. Ebron & DJ need to ride some pine. There's no doubt that they have big ceilings, but after 2 straight weeks of 7+ drops combined... I'm sick to my stomach thinking about it. Get McDonald more involved, and find ways to get the ball deeper with Claypool. These short crossers, hitch & out routes are not fooling anyone anymore. Once the DBs stop cushioning and play aggressive at the LOS this passing game is done for. C-

Defense... This unit hung tough and played fairly well until the 2nd half when they were just flat out exposed. Once Haden went down you could tell the secondary was lost. Minkah needs to do a better job of coordinating the secondary. I saw numerous times presnap that Edmunds was visibly confused as to wtf he was supposed to do. And it looked fairly obvious in the 4th qtr that the safeties weren't giving their CBs any help whatsoever. Layne & Sutton performed admirably on islands, but it didn't work out in the end. C+

ST... Well supposedly Matthew Wright was struggling in pregame, so that made Tomlin too nervous to kick the 46yd FG in the 4th qtr. But he was perfect on XPs & the lone FG of 37yds. Berry had a decent night. 1 punt went for 60yds, and had 2 downed inside the 20. McCloud added some good returns. Kickoff coverage was a little exposed given that Wright couldn't boot the kickoffs very deep. Had to expect those kickoff coverages to be a little scary. A-

Overall... Even through all the ineptitude on offense, they still managed to be in position to win the game. Credit to the WFT. They earned it. Steelers offense continues to be a huge red flag for the entire world to see. C

Outlook... Back on another short week to arguably the most important game of the year... At least in terms of seeding... Steelers go on the road to Buffalo for a Sunday Night game. Buffalo is playing exceptionally well, and I expect them to continue that trend. Steelers don't have enough time to fix their woes so I'm not expecting a win. They should get Pouncey & hopefully Conner back, but that doesn't fix their OC. Fichtner is really what stands in the way of this team getting back on track. They will have to do so in spite of him. Defense needs to get Haden & Nelson back or this game will be a rough one.

 

[Superbelt]

Agree with both of you. I'd sit Ebron and DJ for a game or two to teach them a lesson. They need to be deep in the doghouse.

Start Juju and Chase and Washington. Let McCloud play.

But the two Butterfingers need punished. They're killing this team.

Vance and Samuels should be getting the TE looks that Ebron has been getting.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Agree with both of you. I'd sit Ebron and DJ for a game or two to teach them a lesson. They need to be deep in the doghouse.

Start Juju and Chase and Washington. Let McCloud play.

But the two Butterfingers need punished. They're killing this team.

Vance and Samuels should be getting the TE looks that Ebron has been getting.

I don't know why they only see Vance as their in-line blocking TE. He needs more route work in shotgun packages. He may not be as fast, but at least he's reliable. And if getting him involved means reverting back to implementing the under-center & PA packages... Then I'm all for it.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Translation: Steelers offense is 1-dimensional & predictable.

They have a bag of tricks that Ben runs in shotgun, and its the same route concepts over & over again. If you see one team defend it well, then all teams will have the blueprint.

 

[Superbelt]

Everyone could see how one dimensional they were. That's no secret. Ben releases the ball too quick and there is no run game. So defenders drop 7 consistently, and commit to cover the short and intermediate routes.

Apparently certain players telegraph run v pass very obviously, too.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I don't think theres answers for the run game. They had a run game early this year but that slowly morphed into a jet-sweep run game. And once that got badly exploited they went back to basic power/stretch zone-based schemes... But now the O-line is dog shit and its forcing them to just go with a 1-dimensional passing game.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Agree with both of you. I'd sit Ebron and DJ for a game or two to teach them a lesson. They need to be deep in the doghouse.

Start Juju and Chase and Washington. Let McCloud play.

But the two Butterfingers need punished. They're killing this team.

Vance and Samuels should be getting the TE looks that Ebron has been getting.

 

[Superbelt]

Damn straight, but long overdue. Needs to be consequences.

It's too late for threats. He needs to sit repeat offenders now.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Damn straight, but long overdue. Needs to be consequences.

It's too late for threats. He needs to sit repeat offenders now.

Judging by his comments, he'll keep them on a short leash but not punish them just yet.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]