Week 15...vs NE

[PatsFan2003]

He’s been looking average hasn’t he? Sans last week

yeah I'm afraid so. We all knew it was going to happen at some point. He had fighting Father Time real well for a long time but maybe this is the year it becomes apparent.

 

[SteelersPride]

yeah I'm afraid so. We all knew it was going to happen at some point but he had fighting Father Time real well for a long time but maybe this is the year it becomes apparent.

Sad thing is, he’s still a pretty decent qb

 

[PatsFan2003]

Sad thing is, he’s still a pretty decent qb

Yep. Still is but he's not the player he used to be. Last year he still looked great.

 

[SteelersPride]

Yep. Still is but he's not the player he used to be. Last year he still looked great.

Question is where does hoodie go from here or does hoodie retire too

 

[PatsFan2003]

Question is where does hoodie go from here or does hoodie retire too

That's hard to say. I'm not sure he want's the aggravation factor of building up a new franchise with his philosophy at this point. I think he'd rather stay in NE to show what he can do without Brady.

Why? Would you take the HATED hoodie in Pittsburgh?? I hear he cheats...

HAHA. He certainly would have choices...

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Do you like your crow baked, fried or steamed?

I'll take mine rotisserie style...

 

[ATL96Steeler]

That and Brady also looked positively average. Even with the avocado ice cream I think the end of the line is getting closer and closer.

Had some bad drops last night...Gordon was a sure 1st dwn, a few more I recalled.

 

[PatsFan2003]

Had some bad drops last night...Gordon was a sure 1st dwn, a few more I recalled.

Oh it was a team loss. You could see the Steelers defensive players juking at the line to throw the Pats oline off. Again and again and again.

 

[Psych-Ward]

also kickers may not grow on trees. butView attachment 193335
yes thats 61.1% and ranked 32nd in the nfl in fg's

View attachment 193336
thats 89% on XP good for 29th in the nfl. im sure they can find someone who can better those stats. jokes or not, it almost bit us again, after costing us already. You guys can laugh at me, call me terry, whatever, beat a dead horse. But this is an easy fix. this can be fixed. this is easier to fix than the secondary or other issues. and we didnt adress it, and its cost us.

Fuckin relax Terry Jr......

For fuck sake, it was a god damn joke.....if you'd like to drag Shit out, we can do that too.....

Quit being so damn temperamental and pull your panties out of your twat.

 

[Psych-Ward]

And with everything else on this team, it's out of our hands.....

Unless you know someone that works for Tomlin or will blow Tomlin, things are not going to change.

Who doesn't want things on this team to change????

Oh that's right, your the only one.

 

[SteelersPride]

Fuckin relax Terry Jr......

For fuck sake, it was a god damn joke.....if you'd like to drag Shit out, we can do that too.....

Quit being so damn temperamental and pull your panties out of your twat.

Not quite sure whatbur referring to but ok

 

[Psych-Ward]

Not quite sure whatbur referring to but ok

 

[SteelersPride]

Wasn’t directed at you or anyone more reply to the fact kickers are hard to find

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Recap

For once the Steelers were the more disciplined team on the field last night...4 Penalties vs a dz+ for NE.

HC... 4 of 5 Tomlin has taken a lot of warranted criticism of late from a lot of angles, did the best job I've seen vs BB. He was duped into not calling TO with the fake go on 4th, but imo they were always going to be pinned deep with a decent punt, not a big deal. Steelers played inspired for 60 mins.

OFC...3 of 5...PIT owned the football, but a missed FG, and 2 INTs took 2 other opportunities resulting in a one possession game. The second INT was fluky, but painful. That said, the OL played well and RB3, Samuels went over 100 yds. Much like expected, NE did dbl AB and Juju a lot, and Ben showed patience, moved the ball to several players.

DEF...5 of 5...Well, Tomlin/Butler would have the last say vs me on their scheme, not very many 5 man rushes, but 4 was effective. They did man up enough times to keep Brady off balance. To be noted...NE had 2 or 3 key drops in this game, players were open. I haven't seen the snapcount yet, but #42 was out there a lot, so the team that likely forced the 3 S Dime concept, faced it much of the game. NE tried to run against it, and had some success, but PIT was strong on 3rd dwn and stiffened against the run late. It wasn't a dominant effort, NE made some plays as you would expect, but you hold them to 10 pts...you've done a helluva job. Redemption for Haden.

ST...3 of 5...the best you can say is he's not down on himself that bad...nailing the 48 yd hopefully bought him some confidence.


Summary...Really just good to get a win period, but I'm sure dinner tasted a little bit better with it being NE. No rest for the weary...still paying for that loss in OAK...the DEF is going to need a similar effort in NO.

Good recap ATL!

HC... B+. As Tomlin normally does, he gets this team motivated with their backs against the wall. Happens time & time again. I was surprised this time though since I thought the Tomlin era was coming to a close. Seemed like he was too far out of touch with the team to get them through multiple faceplants in the same season. We'll see how long it lasts. And hats also have to come off to Butler. He had a good mix of man & zone schemes and made more adjustments than I had ever seen before. Only reason why I knock this over coaching grade down a level is because of Fichtner. With a run game that was working so effectively there was no reason why Ben was needing to throw so much. Passing on 1st & 2nd downs primarily. Sure the stats at the end of the day support a claim that the OC did a good job, but the in-game playcalling to get them there was questionable at best. I was screaming at the TV for them to run more.

O... B-. The O-line redeemed itself. Much better effort in both run & pass situations. That set the stage for the entire offense to perform better. Particularly the run game. But still gotta say Samuels ran with a lot more confidence yesterday. Hitting the 2nd level with more burst and physicality really helped spring him loose. Also saw great runs by Ridley. That cut to get 4-6yds when they had their backs to the goalline was beautiful. Welcome back Eli. He made his presence felt very early, before the Rook had his welcoming party. Glad to see they didn't phase out Switzer, because they will need all the help they can get with different looks on offense. The more fast-twitch (between the hashes) type of WRs they can get will take a lot of pressure off AB & Juju. Ben played well but those 2 INTs were sloppy. 1st one was a clear overthrow, and the 2nd one was off the mark. Threw it right at the defenders back and AB had to fight into the DB just to get a chance at it.

D... A-. Apart from a few assignment mishaps this unit was solid. Something appears to have changed on the backend because the DBs were playing much more physical brand of football. Something that always seemed to be their downfall when it came to man-coverage schemes. They used to let the WRs get too much leverage. IDK if Bradley changed up his coaching, or they brought in outside help? lol. But I saw DBs getting their hands on WRs a lot more against NE. It's risky, but the refs have been letting DBs do that stuff a lot more this year (evidence by how much AB gets mauled every week), so why not take advantage! Pressure wasn't exactly consistent, but they got to Brady just enough to keep him off balance throughout the game. It helped that NE kept shooting itself in the foot and, by result keeping themselves out of rhythm.

ST... B. Optimistic grade surely. Mainly just happy to see they weren't as penalized as they normally are. And Boz came through when they needed him most. Another miss before NE took that final drive could have severely damaged the entire team's confidence. Sucks that the team passed on Forbath who went 3/3 on the same day. All we can do is pray that Boz figures out a way to come through more often, because we know Tomlin isn't going to make a change.

Refs... F. Terrible calls all around. The punt that pinned us on the goalline (dude's foot touched the line), the fumble that was blown dead and the call on the field conveniently changed (didn't know a ref could do that), and lots of phantom calls in crucial situations that went in favor of the Steelers. Hate to see a game of this magnitude get tarnished by refs.

Overall/Outlook... B+. It wasn't a polished win, but it was good to see this team play with more confidence in itself. And dare I say, the coaching stepped up. Should have only required a little bit of effort because recent weeks looked like nothing was being done. NE looked severely sloppy so we have to take this W with a grain of salt. It should serve as a confidence booster though. Always good to exorcise some demons in critical moments of the season. They still have to dig themselves out of the hole next week. It would be very unwise to rest their fate on LAC defeating BAL.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Good recap ATL!

HC... B+. As Tomlin normally does, he gets this team motivated with their backs against the wall. Happens time & time again. I was surprised this time though since I thought the Tomlin era was coming to a close. Seemed like he was too far out of touch with the team to get them through multiple faceplants in the same season. We'll see how long it lasts. And hats also have to come off to Butler. He had a good mix of man & zone schemes and made more adjustments than I had ever seen before. Only reason why I knock this over coaching grade down a level is because of Fichtner. With a run game that was working so effectively there was no reason why Ben was needing to throw so much. Passing on 1st & 2nd downs primarily. Sure the stats at the end of the day support a claim that the OC did a good job, but the in-game playcalling to get them there was questionable at best. I was screaming at the TV for them to run more.

O... B-. The O-line redeemed itself. Much better effort in both run & pass situations. That set the stage for the entire offense to perform better. Particularly the run game. But still gotta say Samuels ran with a lot more confidence yesterday. Hitting the 2nd level with more burst and physicality really helped spring him loose. Also saw great runs by Ridley. That cut to get 4-6yds when they had their backs to the goalline was beautiful. Welcome back Eli. He made his presence felt very early, before the Rook had his welcoming party. Glad to see they didn't phase out Switzer, because they will need all the help they can get with different looks on offense. The more fast-twitch (between the hashes) type of WRs they can get will take a lot of pressure off AB & Juju. Ben played well but those 2 INTs were sloppy. 1st one was a clear overthrow, and the 2nd one was off the mark. Threw it right at the defenders back and AB had to fight into the DB just to get a chance at it.

D... A-. Apart from a few assignment mishaps this unit was solid. Something appears to have changed on the backend because the DBs were playing much more physical brand of football. Something that always seemed to be their downfall when it came to man-coverage schemes. They used to let the WRs get too much leverage. IDK if Bradley changed up his coaching, or they brought in outside help? lol. But I saw DBs getting their hands on WRs a lot more against NE. It's risky, but the refs have been letting DBs do that stuff a lot more this year (evidence by how much AB gets mauled every week), so why not take advantage! Pressure wasn't exactly consistent, but they got to Brady just enough to keep him off balance throughout the game. It helped that NE kept shooting itself in the foot and, by result keeping themselves out of rhythm.

ST... B. Optimistic grade surely. Mainly just happy to see they weren't as penalized as they normally are. And Boz came through when they needed him most. Another miss before NE took that final drive could have severely damaged the entire team's confidence. Sucks that the team passed on Forbath who went 3/3 on the same day. All we can do is pray that Boz figures out a way to come through more often, because we know Tomlin isn't going to make a change.

Refs... F. Terrible calls all around. The punt that pinned us on the goalline (dude's foot touched the line), the fumble that was blown dead and the call on the field conveniently changed (didn't know a ref could do that), and lots of phantom calls in crucial situations that went in favor of the Steelers. Hate to see a game of this magnitude get tarnished by refs.

Overall/Outlook... B+. It wasn't a polished win, but it was good to see this team play with more confidence in itself. And dare I say, the coaching stepped up. Should have only required a little bit of effort because recent weeks looked like nothing was being done. NE looked severely sloppy so we have to take this W with a grain of salt. It should serve as a confidence booster though. Always good to exorcise some demons in critical moments of the season. They still have to dig themselves out of the hole next week. It would be very unwise to rest their fate on LAC defeating BAL.

Great job Face!

You brought up a couple of points here.

OFC...2nd INT...I really think #17 was supposed to carry his route upfield and AB was to rub off that, but the timing was all jacked up when Rogers was slowed up with a jam, and as a result AB rubbing off him was slowed, actually never made a clean break and the throw ended up being in a bad spot. From a timing stand point, I'm assuming Ben needed to let go when he did.

Rogers...with you 100%.

DEF...coverage...they did employ more physicality and the Refs let it go, kind of on both sides actually. Juju was grabbed early before the defender made a great play stripping the ball. Hargrave was a big part of the pressure...consistently pushing the pocket...not really making any spin or swim moves to penetrate like normal so it looked deliberate. You collapse the pocket...and while they didn't get a ton of hits on him, he didn't have that pocket to step up into and that kept the pressure around him.

Refs...Tomlin finally gets one right on the fumble challenge, and they CHANGE the call to forward progress? Really? On the punt, yep, he grazed the endzone line.

Outlook...admittedly, I had little to no confidence in a win yesterday. They played well, but not flawless. Goes to show this team can line up against any of the playoff teams and they have a legit shot to win. Saints are still battling for HFA, so they will be ready to play....coming off this win, PIT will need to go down there and play maybe even a cleaner game on the road.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Great job Face!

You brought up a couple of points here.

OFC...2nd INT...I really think #17 was supposed to carry his route upfield and AB was to rub off that, but the timing was all jacked up when Rogers was slowed up with a jam, and as a result AB rubbing off him was slowed, actually never made a clean break and the throw ended up being in a bad spot. From a timing stand point, I'm assuming Ben needed to let go when he did.

Rogers...with you 100%.

DEF...coverage...they did employ more physicality and the Refs let it go, kind of on both sides actually. Juju was grabbed early before the defender made a great play stripping the ball. Hargrave was a big part of the pressure...consistently pushing the pocket...not really making any spin or swim moves to penetrate like normal so it looked deliberate. You collapse the pocket...and while they didn't get a ton of hits on him, he didn't have that pocket to step up into and that kept the pressure around him.

Refs...Tomlin finally gets one right on the fumble challenge, and they CHANGE the call to forward progress? Really? On the punt, yep, he grazed the endzone line.

Outlook...admittedly, I had little to no confidence in a win yesterday. They played well, but not flawless. Goes to show this team can line up against any of the playoff teams and they have a legit shot to win. Saints are still battling for HFA, so they will be ready to play....coming off this win, PIT will need to go down there and play maybe even a cleaner game on the road.

Good thoughts here.

2nd INT... Missed the jam on Eli but makes sense. Timing did look off on the play because even if Ben put the ball in a better spot the window for that kind of throw was far too tight and the DB would have had a good chance at a breakup or INT either way.

Refs... I would really like an explanation on that call change. Because the refs hand signaled a down by contact on the field which instigated the whistle blow. But then declined the challenge by CHANGING the call to something that could not be challenged. How the hell did they get away with that? The call ON THE FIELD should have allowed a challenge, regardless of what "they intended to call". I never thought it was possible for a ref to change the call on the field, especially when it immediately impacted a challenge on the field. That was a massive fuckup by the officials.

Outlook... Whats scary about this game is it brings out the "Road" version of this team. Ben typically plays better in domes, so there's hope! But the team's overall discipline & effort has been lackluster on the road. Hopefully playing against an NFC contender brings out the best in them. Saints haven't looked as good lately, but I'm fearing for a letdown.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Yep. Still is but he's not the player he used to be. Last year he still looked great.

No doubt. Just remember Father Time is still undefeated...Brady has just been holding him off longer than normal.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Good thoughts here.

2nd INT... Missed the jam on Eli but makes sense. Timing did look off on the play because even if Ben put the ball in a better spot the window for that kind of throw was far too tight and the DB would have had a good chance at a breakup or INT either way.

Refs... I would really like an explanation on that call change. Because the refs hand signaled a down by contact on the field which instigated the whistle blow. But then declined the challenge by CHANGING the call to something that could not be challenged. How the hell did they get away with that? The call ON THE FIELD should have allowed a challenge, regardless of what "they intended to call". I never thought it was possible for a ref to change the call on the field, especially when it immediately impacted a challenge on the field. That was a massive fuckup by the officials.

Outlook... Whats scary about this game is it brings out the "Road" version of this team. Ben typically plays better in domes, so there's hope! But the team's overall discipline & effort has been lackluster on the road. Hopefully playing against an NFC contender brings out the best in them. Saints haven't looked as good lately, but I'm fearing for a letdown.

2nd INT...yeah, Rogers was running a vertical shield and got jammed pretty good and that was enough to screw up the timing.

REFs...I'm with you 100% here. They literally did a "my bad, we meant to call..." and got away with it. Curious to see if there's any backlash on that from NY.

Saints...much like Brady and many pocket passers...Brees is vulnerable to pressure up the middle...if the OLB/DL bigs are paying attention and keeping their arms up, they might get a batted ball or two. Brees is good about finding throwing lanes, but at barely 6', you can get a hand on 1 or 2. Saints DEF is a little better in the dome....faster off the ball it seems. I like OFC vs NO DEF...just like this past week...it will be the DEF that will decide this game.

NE game note...was it me or did the Heinz Field crowd seem to have a lot more energy in that game?...loud as I've heard them from a TV perspective in a long time. You could tell the fans sensed how important the game was...got at least 2 false starts...way to go Heinz Field!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

2nd INT...yeah, Rogers was running a vertical shield and got jammed pretty good and that was enough to screw up the timing.

REFs...I'm with you 100% here. They literally did a "my bad, we meant to call..." and got away with it. Curious to see if there's any backlash on that from NY.

Saints...much like Brady and many pocket passers...Brees is vulnerable to pressure up the middle...if the OLB/DL bigs are paying attention and keeping their arms up, they might get a batted ball or two. Brees is good about finding throwing lanes, but at barely 6', you can get a hand on 1 or 2. Saints DEF is a little better in the dome....faster off the ball it seems. I like OFC vs NO DEF...just like this past week...it will be the DEF that will decide this game.

NE game note...was it me or did the Heinz Field crowd seem to have a lot more energy in that game?...loud as I've heard them from a TV perspective in a long time. You could tell the fans sensed how important the game was...got at least 2 false starts...way to go Heinz Field!

Refs... Doubt there will be. NFL doesn't like the look of letting those stories paint them in a bad light. Anything that taints their product is usually dealt with a firm "sweep under the rug". Tomlin knows this, because if he had made a conniption on the sidelines when they changed that call I'm sure he'd be sending NY another $25k check.

Saints... Is their O-line any good? Because Butler's blitz packages often excel in the middle of the trenches. Would be wise for Butler to use that to his advantage if their interior protection isn't as good. Excited to see if they at least keep up with the new aggressive play style. Something tells me that Tomlin & Butler will outsmart themselves and revert back to the shell zones like they always do.

Heinz... Definitely amped up more than usual. Same happened last year. Heinz field sells a lot of tickets to people outside of the PA area, and that was easily the most desirable game on the schedule when it was announced. No doubt that game sold out first. The more desirable the game, the more avid fans you get in each seat. Last year I had a few coworkers fly out east for the NE game at Heinz. I was even looking at the ticket prices this year and that was the first game I looked at. Just didn't have the balls to pull the trigger on that pricetag that close to Xmas lol!

 

[Psych-Ward]