Week 2 vs KC

[ATL96Steeler]

Here we go!

PIT…0-0-1, 21-21 @ CLE last week

KC…1-0, 38-28 vs LAC last week

It’s already hump day, we’re quickly moving towards the 2nd game of the season. The 2018 home opener vs the KC Chiefs. Tomlin’s Steelers have fared pretty well vs KC, they’ve played every season since 2014 and PIT owns a 4-1 record over the last 5 matchups.

This year, the Chiefs usher in a new starter at QB, 2nd yr man, Patrick Mahomes. He had a pretty good debut last week at home vs the Chargers…his completion % was not much to write home about, but 4 connections for TDs in a fairly comfortable win, got a lot of people paying notice.

Health.

PIT…DeCastro (hand) out, Alualu (shoulder), McDonald (foot), and Haden (hamstring) are all questionable. If I had to guess they will hold Haden back this week, practice participation will determine their availability. Ben (elbow) is probable.

Finney will likely step in as the swing OG to play RG, interesting that McCullers got the helmet last week over LT Walton that could change this week. Sutton will shift outside and Sensabaugh gets a helmet if Haden does not go.

Match up

Both teams will go with a 34 base DEF front and break off into sub pkgs from there. KC has had trouble stopping the run vs PIT the last 3 outings. Bell has 177, 170, and 144 on the ground vs the Chiefs. The Chargers are not really known as a ground and pound type team so it’s too early to say if KC has really rectified their run stopping issues. We can trust that PIT will pound Connor at them 20+ times to find out.

KC’s DEF is dangerous when they can play with a lead and tee off on your QB with Justin Huston and the developing Dee Ford….imo they have regressed on the back end losing one of the best cover CBs in the game.

When the Chiefs have the ball…clearly Mahomes is a more aggressive QB than Smith. Expect him to throw it deep a few times in his game. He’s not really a runner on the level with Taylor from CLE, but he’s young and athletic…gap control in the rush lanes will be important. Tyrek Hill is a stud on ST and as a WR…must keep him in front of you…Davis! Of course Kelce is probably at worst the 2nd best TE in the league.

Outlook

I think the Steelers DEF is better than the Chargers, and they will make for a tougher day for Mahomes on the road. KC hasn’t shown me they can stop the Steelers OFC…I'm thinking if Connor is having success early, they will fake a couple and go deep if they get a S cheating up.

I like this one 24-17 PIT.


What say you?

 

[Yo Tee]

Here we go!

PIT…0-0-1, 21-21 @ CLE last week

KC…1-0, 38-28 vs LAC last week

It’s already hump day, we’re quickly moving towards the 2nd game of the season. The 2018 home opener vs the KC Chiefs. Tomlin’s Steelers have fared pretty well vs KC, they’ve played every season since 2014 and PIT owns a 4-1 record over the last 5 matchups.

This year, the Chiefs usher in a new starter at QB, 2nd yr man, Patrick Mahomes. He had a pretty good debut last week at home vs the Chargers…his completion % was not much to write home about, but 4 connections for TDs in a fairly comfortable win, got a lot of people paying notice.

Health.

PIT…DeCastro (hand) out, Alualu (shoulder), McDonald (foot), and Haden (hamstring) are all questionable. If I had to guess they will hold Haden back this week, practice participation will determine their availability. Ben (elbow) is probable.

Finney will likely step in as the swing OG to play RG, interesting that McCullers got the helmet last week over LT Walton that could change this week. Sutton will shift outside and Sensabaugh gets a helmet if Haden does not go.

Match up

Both teams will go with a 34 base DEF front and break off into sub pkgs from there. KC has had trouble stopping the run vs PIT the last 3 outings. Bell has 177, 170, and 144 on the ground vs the Chiefs. The Chargers are not really known as a ground and pound type team so it’s too early to say if KC has really rectified their run stopping issues. We can trust that PIT will pound Connor at them 20+ times to find out.

KC’s DEF is dangerous when they can play with a lead and tee off on your QB with Justin Huston and the developing Dee Ford….imo they have regressed on the back end losing one of the best cover CBs in the game.

When the Chiefs have the ball…clearly Mahomes is a more aggressive QB than Smith. Expect him to throw it deep a few times in his game. He’s not really a runner on the level with Taylor from CLE, but he’s young and athletic…gap control in the rush lanes will be important. Tyrek Hill is a stud on ST and as a WR…must keep him in front of you…Davis! Of course Kelce is probably at worst the 2nd best TE in the league.

Outlook

I think the Steelers DEF is better than the Chargers, and they will make for a tougher day for Mahomes on the road. KC hasn’t shown me they can stop the Steelers OFC…I'm thinking if Connor is having success early, they will fake a couple and go deep if they get a S cheating up.

I like this one 24-17 PIT.


What say you?

Steelers offense needs to be much better than against Cleveland. I look for Ben to fling it around and fling it well this game. Last year, after Ben's horrid game against the Jags, we faced off against the Chiefs and ended up beating them 19-13. Ben had a better game, 17-25, 252 yards, 1 TD and only 1 INT. Our defense was great against the KC offense, especially in the first half and only giving up 3 points in the first 3 quarters. I'm hoping for a similar outcome but I believe Mahomes is looking like a better QB than Alex Smith. Lots of dangerous weapons on offense. Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Kareem Hunt. We gotta make sure Tyreek doesn't get open looks and we gotta make sure our secondary doesn't give him ANY room to run because if we do, he's gone. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see the Chiefs pull this one out on us. They've only beaten us 2 times since Ben was drafted and the last time was in October 2015 and the last two games have been very defensive games. 18-16 and 19-13. I feel like the Chiefs offense is better, however I think the outcome will be the same.

Steelers 17
Chiefs 14

Boswell redeems himself with a game winning FG very late in the 4th quarter.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Steelers offense needs to be much better than against Cleveland. I look for Ben to fling it around and fling it well this game. Last year, after Ben's horrid game against the Jags, we faced off against the Chiefs and ended up beating them 19-13. Ben had a better game, 17-25, 252 yards, 1 TD and only 1 INT. Our defense was great against the KC offense, especially in the first half and only giving up 3 points in the first 3 quarters. I'm hoping for a similar outcome but I believe Mahomes is looking like a better QB than Alex Smith. Lots of dangerous weapons on offense. Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Kareem Hunt. We gotta make sure Tyreek doesn't get open looks and we gotta make sure our secondary doesn't give him ANY room to run because if we do, he's gone. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see the Chiefs pull this one out on us. They've only beaten us 2 times since Ben was drafted and the last time was in October 2015 and the last two games have been very defensive games. 18-16 and 19-13. I feel like the Chiefs offense is better, however I think the outcome will be the same.

Steelers 17
Chiefs 14

Boswell redeems himself with a game winning FG very late in the 4th quarter.

KC OFC better...I'm not giving them that with a 1st yr starter at QB. Reid has struggled to get points vs PIT with the more conservative Alex Smith so it will be interesting to see how they fare with Mahomes. Where I see the bigger advantage in this one is I think the Steeler D is better than KC's D, especially on the back end...Mahomes will have a 2-3 INT game somewhere along the way this season...this might be it this week.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

Steelers 35-10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Offense... Clearly this game will hinge on Ben. How well he protects the ball & picks his deliveries will decide this game. Thank God this game is at home, but I still have tempered expectations since Ben played so terribly last week. He is typically good for 2-3 of those game early on in the season. Hopeful that he rebounds & doesn't have it happen again this week, but again... tempered expectations. Definitely see Conner getting another heavy load in this game. Like ATL said, their run defense isn't exactly stellar. This O-line is much more equipped to run at a 3-4 than it is 4-3, because they are all so athletic & mobile. Getting to the 2nd level is key, but easy for these guys. Although that does mean more stretch zone blocking than we saw last week. Conner will have to display a little more patience or he'll be running directly into a LBer's arms against a 3-4. Fichtner also needs to figure out a way to get his underneath route going to take the triple teams off AB. We barked about Haley not running rub-routes last year and once he started using them the offense starting dominating between the 20's. Film should more than prove that it is necessary once they see how many times AB was triple teamed because the underneath guy (Jesse) was getting manned up by a LBer.

Defense... Going to see what this secondary is all about. Sucks not having Haden, but it could be just what Sutton needs to take his game to the next level. I doubt we'll see as much bumping at the LOS for the CBs (something I LOVED seeing last week), but they will still need to mix it up occasionally. Wasn't a fan of Carnell Lake's "keep the play in front of you" style of DB that typically resulted in "death by a thousand underneath routes". Tom Bradley seems to have a better scheme in place. I think the front 7 will handle their business, but they must keep Kareem Hunt under wraps. We've seen a lot of teams in the past have great success against this defense when using their bruiser RBs running downhill. I'm a big fan of how well V-Will, Bostic & Burnett played together inside the box. I hope to see a lot more of that this week. The safeties will definitely have their hands full keeping eyes on Kelce & Hill. But they can't sleep on guys like Watkins & Conley.

Steelers rarely drop their home opener but I wouldn't be surprised if this game was too close for comfort in the 4th again with discipline biting someone in the ass. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Steelers blow them out of the water 38-17. Just an unpredictable time of year for Steelers fans. Frustrating, but par for the course.

28-23 Steelers

 

[cincygrad]

To clarify.... The Chiefs were actually on the road last week. Of course, playing the Chargers on the road isn't really like being on the road, but it still counts.

Not sure what to make of this one. The Chiefs looked really good against a team that was getting a lot of positive media attention. Andy Reid's teams have won big games on the road (particularly early in the season). That said, I think Pittsburgh's offense will show here. If I were gambling, I'd take the Steelers and give the points.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

To clarify.... The Chiefs were actually on the road last week. Of course, playing the Chargers on the road isn't really like being on the road, but it still counts.

Not sure what to make of this one. The Chiefs looked really good against a team that was getting a lot of positive media attention. Andy Reid's teams have won big games on the road (particularly early in the season). That said, I think Pittsburgh's offense will show here. If I were gambling, I'd take the Steelers and give the points.

Good correction...KC does start b-t-b on the road.

KC has kinda owned the DIV recently...especially LAC.

I would as well...KC has not been very good vs the run in general and especially vs the Steelers. I expect PIT to use that to open up some shots downfield vs a secondary that on paper looks inviting. Secondly I think PIT's D is going to surprise some people this year but the OFC might not be as good as the media is expecting.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Steelers have been the Chief's kryptonite, or monkey on Reid's back. Would love it if the Steelers could keep that going, but in a more one-sided fashion to make a statement that the Browns tie was a farce.

Wishful thinking.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Steelers have been the Chief's kryptonite, or monkey on Reid's back. Would love it if the Steelers could keep that going, but in a more one-sided fashion to make a statement that the Browns tie was a farce.

Wishful thinking.

Although I felt comfortable of a win week 1 and they didn't get it...I like the matchup for the Steelers upfront in this game...obviously need to block Houston, and Ford is no slouch, I assume taking over for Hali. If they do that, I expect Ben to bounce back with a better game.

Some players are just not good fits in every locker room I guess, but losing Peters was a blow...a nutcase maybe but he can play. They don't have another CB of his caliber.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ben told reporters that his arm is nothing more than a elbow bruise, but I'm seeing reports that we could see Dobbs start this week.

Not good.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Ben told reporters that his arm is nothing more than a elbow bruise, but I'm seeing reports that we could see Dobbs start this week.

Not good.

I think Ben is playing.

Report: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger Practiced On Friday - Steelers Depot

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I think Ben is playing.

Report: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger Practiced On Friday - Steelers Depot

Watch Tomlin classify him as a "gametime decision" just to mess with KC.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ben saw Aaron Rodger's heroics against the Bears and is feeling left out... Gotta up the drama ante this week.

 

[Superbelt]

BOTH Haden and Burns are listed on the injury report

Haden as doubtful, Burns as questionable.


Haden is a huge loss, Burns out might be an upgrade, though.


For Haden, being doubtful is a good sign. Better than being listed Out, means his healing is progressing.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

BOTH Haden and Burns are listed on the injury report

Haden as doubtful, Burns as questionable.


Haden is a huge loss, Burns out might be an upgrade, though.


For Haden, being doubtful is a good sign. Better than being listed Out, means his healing is progressing.

Damn, if both sit out then the starters would be Sutton & Sensabaugh. Yikes.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Damn, if both sit out then the starters would be Sutton & Sensabaugh. Yikes.

My guess is Burns will play...they seem to have confidence in Sutton and mine is growing...love the potential matchup with Hill and Hilton...Davis got high marks in week 1. Needs to build on that effort for this game. Kelce and Mahomes breaking contain and getting 50+ on the ground in this one are two concerns I have...but like line play to favor PIT on both sides.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Good news if true. Looking forward to seeing Vance on the field.

 

[Psych-Ward]

 

[Psych-Ward]

Ummm

Does the defense realize there are 4 quarters???

 

[Psych-Ward]

Tomlin with his bullshit speech in the street game press conference.....

When does the FO figure out, this guy can't, won't, and isn't going to get it done.
These players need a kick in the ass, not their balls massaged by the coach.

Best hope riding Rudolph is the real deal....because if I'm Ben, I'm calling it a career after this season.