Game Thread: WEEK 2... vsLV

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Raiders are riding high after a big Monday Night upset against the Ravens. Raiders lost starters DT Gerald McCoy & RG Denzel Good to injured reserve. Playing OT on a MNF game puts them behind the 8-ball sotospeak, then you add in the fact they have to travel 2000 miles east to Pittsburgh. I'm expecting a tired looking Raiders team this week.

Still not going to ease any worry about this offense. Pretty sure they'll find more breathing room so long as they can contain Maxx Crosby.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ben is 2-5 or some sh!t against the Raiders... yikes

Trap game?

 

[Superbelt]

Maxx Crosby benefitted from playing against from Villanueva, who seems to have been pranked by someone to believe there was a new rule for OT's that they couldn't lift their feet off the turf after the ball was snapped.

I don't expect him to have that kind of success this week, and yes I know this is Chuks we're talking about.

 

[SteelersPride]

Maxx Crosby benefitted from playing against from Villanueva, who seems to have been pranked by someone to believe there was a new rule for OT's that they couldn't lift their feet off the turf after the ball was snapped.

I don't expect him to have that kind of success this week, and yes I know this is Chuks we're talking about.

He did but the raiders actually pressured quite well Overall i thought. Which scares me.

 

[Superbelt]

He did but the raiders actually pressured quite well Overall i thought. Which scares me.

So did Buffalo, at least in the 1st half.

But Maxx, while good, was a performance augmented by a human turnstile.

I'm just wary to crown his ass until he does it against actual capable talent.

 

[Superbelt]

Also, with Yannick and McCoy out, that the Steelers can focus more on Maxx for the pass rush.

 

[Superbelt]

and I really feel for McCoy. Older guy, just came back from a knee injury. Sucks for him.

 

[SteelersPride]

So did Buffalo, at least in the 1st half.

But Maxx, while good, was a performance augmented by a human turnstile.

I'm just wary to crown his ass until he does it against actual capable talent.

Got yah. Well lets pray.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Also, with Yannick and McCoy out, that the Steelers can focus more on Maxx for the pass rush.

Forgot to mention Ngakoue… Hammy likely to keep him sidelined this week.

Former 4th overall pick Clelin Ferrell was a healthy scratch last week and should be thrust back into action. Redemption time for him but I doubt we have anything to fear from him. But against this OL could springboard his career back into relevance.

 

[Superbelt]

Forgot to mention Ngakoue… Hammy likely to keep him sidelined this week.

Former 4th overall pick Clelin Ferrell was a healthy scratch last week and should be thrust back into action. Redemption time for him but I doubt we have anything to fear from him. But against this OL could springboard his career back into relevance.

He's still recovering from a hammy, too.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Don’t want to knee jerk but is anyone else concerned about Matt Canada yet? After watching the BUF game again I noticed some questionable schemes. For example I noticed that they seemed to run the ball a lot when BUF had a stacked 8-man box. They opened things up better in the 2nd and had more success but still seemed arrogant to force it that much. Also seeing Ray Ray blocking a DE a few times was scary. That kind of Micky Mouse college football won’t cut it in the NFL.

 

[SteelersPride]

Don’t want to knee jerk but is anyone else concerned about Matt Canada yet? After watching the BUF game again I noticed some questionable schemes. For example I noticed that they seemed to run the ball a lot when BUF had a stacked 8-man box. They opened things up better in the 2nd and had more success but still seemed arrogant to force it that much. Also seeing Ray Ray blocking a DE a few times was scary. That kind of Micky Mouse college football won’t cut it in

Yep.

 

[DJ]

Anybody up for a Raiders-Steelers bet on Sunday?

 

[SteelersPride]

Anybody up for a Raiders-Steelers bet on Sunday?

Make it worth my while

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Offense... Again, LV front is banged up. McCoy is out for the year, and Ngakoue has been practicing on a limited basis. If he plays then I expect some sort of platoon type rotation. So long as Chuks & Moore can limit Crosby & Nassib they shouldn't have any issues on offense. Play clean football and they should be able to post numbers, so long as Canada gets the numbers game figured out better. Gotta get that figured out or else the run game is going to suffer all year. Ebron being limited this week makes me hopeful that we get a larger dose of Freiermuth. Raiders ran zone coverage on 96% of their snaps last week. I think we'll see more man coverage though because the Steelers haven't proved to be a threat just yet, and instead defenses are going to opt to put more men in the box. Canada's playcalls made it no secret that the Steelers want to run the ball. But if they do go zone then I expect DJ to feast.

Defense... Contain Waller & the pressure has to get home this week. As simple as that. The Steelers were uber conservative with their blitz packages last week, and instead deploying a 4-man rush with 1 of those guys playing pocket-contain/midfielder at the LOS (Wormley/Heyward). It was incredibly effective against Josh Allen as it meant they could drop 7 in coverage and still generate plenty of pressure. However, the Raiders have a patchwork interior OL with a struggling RT. That in combination with the Steelers prolific pass rush will surely push them to want to deploy more heavy sets of 12, 13, 21, 22, or 23 personnel (think multiple TEs and/or adding an additional RB/FB to protect the pocket). If the Raiders OTs struggle early then expect to see this often. What that means to the Steelers is more base 3-4. That actually favors the Steelers secondary in terms of isolating Waller. They will surely try to establish the run in those formations, so Schobert & Bush will need to bring their A game. But don't sleep on Renfrow. He's the prototypical kryptonite that has broken this defense for years.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Make it worth my while

 

[DJ]

Make it worth my while

Don't have SP money.

 

[DJ]

You're the first person that came to mind regarding a bet....

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

You're the first person that came to mind regarding a bet....

Well SP looks to have dibs. If he passes then I’m game