Week 4 @ Ravens

[ATL96Steeler]

Coaching... Another undisciplined game. 8 penalties total, and most of those were drive killers for the offense. Haley's offense looked good in the 1st half. Only failed to convert 3 times on 3rd down in the 1st half. 2nd half it looked like Haley was getting protective of the ball and the offense couldn't get anything moving. It was if Haley felt as if he could just continue to do the same thing as he did in the 1st half, without the Ravens making any adjustments. Bad news for Haley was the Ravens did make adjustments and they shut the offense down until late in the game. They were 7/15 on 3rd down overall. Overall it was a step in the right direction though. Butler's defense looked dominant. Great aggressive play calling even during obvious passing situations. And it paid dividends with 4 sacks & 2 INTs. B-

Offense... The tale of 2 halves. First half was pretty solid. Aside from the penalties that stalled drives in the RZ they were moving the ball with relative ease. Ben was spreading the ball around better, and the O-line was opening good running lanes. 2nd half was a bit of a different story. It had more to do with play calling than anything though. Biggest takeaways was both Bell & the O-line looked great. O-line only allowed 1 sack all game. Hubbard struggled a few times, but mostly held his own. Bell came alive late to ice the game. Good to see him get that swagger back. Ben is still struggling with accuracy but now that the run game is getting going it should take the pressure off him. Would love to see Conner get the ball more. His downhill physical style of running is a great offset to Bell's patience. That makes life very difficult for any defense. B

Defense... Big game from this unit. Heyward & Tuitt were downright nasty today. Their stats combined were 7 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 4 QB hits, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery... Unreal. If they can continue this high level of play then they are easily the best 2 DE 3-4 combo in the league. Shazier, Watt & Dupree were all over the field today wreaking havoc. Shazier flashed that All Pro potential. Good to see him finally making tackles again lol. The Cinderella story continues for Hilton. What a game. 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, couple of QB hurries/hits, 1 pass breakup, and 1 INT. D-line depth was tested in the 2nd half and they held up just fine. Aside from 1-2 big runs the Ravens run game found very little. A-

ST... Jordan Berry continues to look awful. What happened to him? He used to average 47-50yds a punt last season, now he's having trouble getting it to 40yds. It was a windy day, but he's been having these issues all season. A couple of his punts today only went for 32-35yds. That is pathetic. Boswell was having a decent day until that gust of wind took one of his FG's outside the uprights. Tough kick with that much wind at 45yds so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. C

Overall... Tough divisional road win today. Their is a good amount to be optimistic about, but I'm hesitant to say they have turned the corner. Penalties & inconsistencies with the offense are still big issues. However the defense looked great today. Thankfully they came away from this physical game unscathed. B

Outlook... Steelers head home this week to take on the Jags. Jacksonville has a great defense, but their offense is hit or miss. Fournette is a handful and the Jags are content with force-feeding him the ball 25-30 times per game. The Steelers offense will have to play disciplined football next week. JAX's secondary is top notch. Bouye, Gipson, & Ramsey are very talented. Throw in a LBer group with Smith, Fowler & Jack, you have one of the most athletic defenses in the league. They lead the league in sacks at 18 (3 more than 2nd best Steelers), and are top 2 in turnovers. This has the look of another Tomlin trap game that could quickly snowball if the offense shows any of the undisciplined football they have been showing lately. This being a conference matchup makes it a must win in my mind. Point blank, they need to win against inferior conference teams. A loss at home to a weak AFC team could be detrimental to their postseason. Tomlin needs to prove he can win these games. Luckily they look to have a clean bill of health heading into this game. Assuming they finally get a handle on this damn stomach bug sweeping the locker room.

Good post game per norm Face.

Based on the way they started the game on both sides of the ball, you had a good feeling right off the bat this was going to be different than recent trips to MD. They have not been able to match their intensity in BAL and win in that stadium in a 4 yrs...actually 6 yrs since Ben has won in BAL...Batch was the QB in '12 for that game...hats off to Tomlin for that prep.

OFC...Far from peaking for sure, but as long as they win I'm okay with the cake to be 100% ready in week 4...we can hope that MT and staff use that tape to keep the players striving for another level when it comes to presnap, and otherwise drive killing penalties. I think we know there is some upside to their 4 game performance...some of it has been Haley imo, obviously not execution, but it starts with the OL play.

DEF...again I have to temper it because BAL was not playing with a full deck, but I think this group is just tapping their potential. Clearly Butler had enough confidence in his CBs to be aggressive and the DL/front 7 talent is started to show up...the half sack Tuitt got I think was all Bud's but it's all good in Steeler Nation today.

Outlook...With KC looming in 2 weeks, yes we can call JAX a trap game, and we know Tomlin's record in such games makes you concerned....Jags are young and very talented on DEF...I don't expect to have 2 bad losses this early, so I'm thinking they pull that game out.

 

[Yo Tee]

Le'Veon sure picked a good week to show up finally. Very happy with the win. Glad to see JuJu is getting some love in the endzone. I don't think I would've taken AB's little temper tantrum so lightly if I were the team. I understand he was wide open, but he wasn't wide open when Ben was looking his way and by the time AB turned around to get the ball, Ben was already throwing it. And I know when I was playing football, you don't act that way to your coach. Coach was grabbing him to talk to him and he just pulled away like Haley was trying to kidnap him.

 

[Bridgeburner]

@Bridgeburner

HAHA.

What's a Goku?

 

[Bridgeburner]

Mike Pereira explains how Antonio Brown's 'catch' with his knee down became a Ravens interception (VIDEO) | FOX Sports

I can see douche Pereira's explanation. Don't agree with it, but I can see what he's saying.

There is zero chance that was an interception. Zero.

Fuck him and fuck those refs.

 

[Superbelt]

HAHA.

What's a Goku?

Cartoon, DragonBall Z.

Famous for battling characters spending 10 minutes standing in place charging up and shit-talking each other before they actually attack with their energy blasts.


edit/


Think Ken and Ryu from Street Fighter, with less action.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Cartoon, DragonBall Z.

Famous for battling characters spending 10 minutes standing in place charging up and shit-talking each other before they actually attack with their energy blasts.

Ah. When I saw his celebration I was thinking "Mortal Combat".

I'm old.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Le'Veon sure picked a good week to show up finally. Very happy with the win. Glad to see JuJu is getting some love in the endzone. I don't think I would've taken AB's little temper tantrum so lightly if I were the team. I understand he was wide open, but he wasn't wide open when Ben was looking his way and by the time AB turned around to get the ball, Ben was already throwing it. And I know when I was playing football, you don't act that way to your coach. Coach was grabbing him to talk to him and he just pulled away like Haley was trying to kidnap him.

For me I was ok with his tantrum up until the arm swipe at Haley. That was taking it too far. But it was good to see someone have some passion for once. The entire offense has looked like walking lobotomy patients at times so a little fire could go a long ways towards pulling emotion from some other lifeless teammates.

I like for players to play with intensity & urgency, not to walk into each game all business casual.

Just my 2cents. But again, I do think he took it too far.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ah. When I saw his celebration I was thinking "Mortal Kombat".

I'm old.

Geez... At least get the spelling right old timer!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Week 4 recap

I think we saw some of the injury impact with the Ravens...their OL play was not very good at all...not typical of a Ravens team.

OFC...3 of 5...love the start of the game, 4 or 5 plays and punt and a very lengthy, dominating type drive that backfired at the end, but it set the tone early that PIT was going to be delivering more blows that they took in this game....

C'mon Haley!!! 3Q you're trying to let the air out of the ball?...maybe they didn't feel BAL was capable of scoring 19 points. To be honest I never felt they would score more than 13 pts. Need to clean up the mistakes, should have closed this game out in the 3rd Qtr but they were a INT away from probably not scoring in the 2nd half.

DEF...4 of 5...Tuitt, Heyward, Shazier, Hilton all had great games, and it was a dominating performance for the most part. I temper it a little because BAL is a broken team from an injury standpoint, just not a very good OFC regardless....I like the speed they played with on the road...multiple sack game, constant caving Flacco's pocket. Gave up the one long run so they still have work to do, but this was a very good game.

ST...3 of 5...not going to make all the FGs, but under 50 yds you feel like it's a mistake or opportunity lost if you do miss one.

Outlook...Obviously it feels good to get a win in BAL...it would be great to 4-0 at this point, but...3-1 thru the 1st qtr of the season is not a bad spot. They host the Jags next week so you feel like they should be 4-1 after that one, but NE was probably not expecting to lose to CAR today....let's see it play out.

Great writeup ATL!

O... I agree on the tone setting. Definitely gave me a shot of optimism on a gloomy day. Haley really needs to pick up his game in the gameplanning department. I know its been rare to see him make many adjustments, but that was sad to come out in the 2nd half with such little life. I understand wanting to establish Bell, but the game wasn't out of reach for Baltimore. A 2 possession ballgame is hardly cause for security. You have to establish the tone in both halves, not assume it carries over. A TD in the 3rd qtr could have gone a long ways towards demoralizing their defense & opening up the running game.

Good post game per norm Face.

Based on the way they started the game on both sides of the ball, you had a good feeling right off the bat this was going to be different than recent trips to MD. They have not been able to match their intensity in BAL and win in that stadium in a 4 yrs...actually 6 yrs since Ben has won in BAL...Batch was the QB in '12 for that game...hats off to Tomlin for that prep.

OFC...Far from peaking for sure, but as long as they win I'm okay with the cake to be 100% ready in week 4...we can hope that MT and staff use that tape to keep the players striving for another level when it comes to presnap, and otherwise drive killing penalties. I think we know there is some upside to their 4 game performance...some of it has been Haley imo, obviously not execution, but it starts with the OL play.

DEF...again I have to temper it because BAL was not playing with a full deck, but I think this group is just tapping their potential. Clearly Butler had enough confidence in his CBs to be aggressive and the DL/front 7 talent is started to show up...the half sack Tuitt got I think was all Bud's but it's all good in Steeler Nation today.

Outlook...With KC looming in 2 weeks, yes we can call JAX a trap game, and we know Tomlin's record in such games makes you concerned....Jags are young and very talented on DEF...I don't expect to have 2 bad losses this early, so I'm thinking they pull that game out.

Definitely feels like the team is starting to play with a little more urgency. The world is still waiting for them to finally beat the tar out of someone like we know they are capable of. As you said, it all revolves around the O-Line. Once they find their groove & become the road graters they are, then the passing game goes wide open. Still need Ben to find his A game though. I think that will come once the run game takes the pressure off.

D... I was wondering about that half sack. To me Dupree should have gotten full credit, but I didn't get any different angles at the play. Tuitt was there, but I didn't see him get an arm on Flacco. Still was encouraging to see the secondary holding up on their end & forcing Flacco to hold the ball a few too many seconds. Still get unraveled seeing the DBs playing 12-15yds off the LOS. One play they had their RB (Allen?) motion out as the lone WR and Artie was already 15yds off the line out there. When there was no WR out there I don't think Artie has any business being that far back. In that case he made it very obvious they were in zone coverage. Lake should be teaching him to suck up to the LOS & roll out with the motioned RB. Better QBs could have taken advantage of that. Especially when you give a RB that much room to do damage.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Le'Veon sure picked a good week to show up finally. Very happy with the win. Glad to see JuJu is getting some love in the endzone. I don't think I would've taken AB's little temper tantrum so lightly if I were the team. I understand he was wide open, but he wasn't wide open when Ben was looking his way and by the time AB turned around to get the ball, Ben was already throwing it. And I know when I was playing football, you don't act that way to your coach. Coach was grabbing him to talk to him and he just pulled away like Haley was trying to kidnap him.

I didn't like seeing it, but the worst part it (swiping Haley's arm) might actually be on Haley a little...I thought he grabbed at AB's collar and jerked back...I think as a OC, you know he's pissed, and why. Let him calm down a few mins and go make your point before they go back in for the next series...his timing was not very good for that action.

Keep in mind...I'm not condoning what AB did, but in the heat of the moment, you don't grab a player like that imo. I think if he waits a few mins and approaches him...we might not have seen the swipe.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Great writeup ATL!

O... I agree on the tone setting. Definitely gave me a shot of optimism on a gloomy day. Haley really needs to pick up his game in the gameplanning department. I know its been rare to see him make many adjustments, but that was sad to come out in the 2nd half with such little life. I understand wanting to establish Bell, but the game wasn't out of reach for Baltimore. A 2 possession ballgame is hardly cause for security. You have to establish the tone in both halves, not assume it carries over. A TD in the 3rd qtr could have gone a long ways towards demoralizing their defense & opening up the running game.




Definitely feels like the team is starting to play with a little more urgency. The world is still waiting for them to finally beat the tar out of someone like we know they are capable of. As you said, it all revolves around the O-Line. Once they find their groove & become the road graters they are, then the passing game goes wide open. Still need Ben to find his A game though. I think that will come once the run game takes the pressure off.

D... I was wondering about that half sack. To me Dupree should have gotten full credit, but I didn't get any different angles at the play. Tuitt was there, but I didn't see him get an arm on Flacco. Still was encouraging to see the secondary holding up on their end & forcing Flacco to hold the ball a few too many seconds. Still get unraveled seeing the DBs playing 12-15yds off the LOS. One play they had their RB (Allen?) motion out as the lone WR and Artie was already 15yds off the line out there. When there was no WR out there I don't think Artie has any business being that far back. In that case he made it very obvious they were in zone coverage. Lake should be teaching him to suck up to the LOS & roll out with the motioned RB. Better QBs could have taken advantage of that. Especially when you give a RB that much room to do damage.

One thing you said and a few others have said and now I'm all in as well....Connor, this kid needs more touches. It was great to see Bell have a good game, especially in BAL, but I really like his hard hitting style in contrast with Bell's patient style....41 touches or attempts to get him the ball is too many.

1/2 sack...I was listening to Steeler radio broadcast and IIkin pointed it out...said Tuitt paved the way, but he thought Dupree closed the deal and he was surprised at the half sack. When I saw the replay I was the same thing, but only because I knew what to look for.

DBs...it has to be in the coaching, and absolutely it's on tape so the good QBs are going to force them out of that DEF.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Great writeup ATL!

O... I agree on the tone setting. Definitely gave me a shot of optimism on a gloomy day. Haley really needs to pick up his game in the gameplanning department. I know its been rare to see him make many adjustments, but that was sad to come out in the 2nd half with such little life. I understand wanting to establish Bell, but the game wasn't out of reach for Baltimore. A 2 possession ballgame is hardly cause for security. You have to establish the tone in both halves, not assume it carries over. A TD in the 3rd qtr could have gone a long ways towards demoralizing their defense & opening up the running game.




Definitely feels like the team is starting to play with a little more urgency. The world is still waiting for them to finally beat the tar out of someone like we know they are capable of. As you said, it all revolves around the O-Line. Once they find their groove & become the road graters they are, then the passing game goes wide open. Still need Ben to find his A game though. I think that will come once the run game takes the pressure off.

D... I was wondering about that half sack. To me Dupree should have gotten full credit, but I didn't get any different angles at the play. Tuitt was there, but I didn't see him get an arm on Flacco. Still was encouraging to see the secondary holding up on their end & forcing Flacco to hold the ball a few too many seconds. Still get unraveled seeing the DBs playing 12-15yds off the LOS. One play they had their RB (Allen?) motion out as the lone WR and Artie was already 15yds off the line out there. When there was no WR out there I don't think Artie has any business being that far back. In that case he made it very obvious they were in zone coverage. Lake should be teaching him to suck up to the LOS & roll out with the motioned RB. Better QBs could have taken advantage of that. Especially when you give a RB that much room to do damage.

I was traveling most of the weekend on a little golf outing so I missed every thing from Thurs evening to game time.

Was Mitchell a healthy scratch or injured? I don't see that he played at all...Wilcox and Davis posted all the DEF snaps yesterday.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I was traveling most of the weekend on a little golf outing so I missed every thing from Thurs evening to game time.

Was Mitchell a healthy scratch or injured? I don't see that he played at all...Wilcox and Davis posted all the DEF snaps yesterday.

Mitchell was a gametime decision, as was Gilbert. Tomlin decided to sit both.

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

For me I was ok with his tantrum up until the arm swipe at Haley. That was taking it too far. But it was good to see someone have some passion for once. The entire offense has looked like walking lobotomy patients at times so a little fire could go a long ways towards pulling emotion from some other lifeless teammates.

I like for players to play with intensity & urgency, not to walk into each game all business casual.

Just my 2cents. But again, I do think he took it too far.

I also like for players to be intense...but AB had no cause to be upset. He'd gone so far off his route, it would have been pure luck for Ben to see that he'd gotten open.

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

Mike Pereira explains how Antonio Brown's 'catch' with his knee down became a Ravens interception (VIDEO) | FOX Sports

I can see douche Pereira's explanation. Don't agree with it, but I can see what he's saying.

Pereira is an idiot. His little clip left out that AB had caught AND secured the ball, AND made a "football move," AND took two steps, before he was tackled. It was a completion, so he was down as soon as his knee hit the ground.

And if he hadn't been down, which he WAS, it would've been a fumble...not an interception.

Anyone who defends that replay official either needs glasses, or doesn't know football.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Mitchell was a gametime decision, as was Gilbert. Tomlin decided to sit both.

Oh got it...I thought Gilbert was iffy before I left, but wasn't aware Mitchell was banged up...Wilcox and Alulau have both paid dividends already. If this team goes onto a 7th Lombardi...Colbert will probably leave that position when he's ready to retire and not a day before.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Pereira is an idiot. His little clip left out that AB had caught AND secured the ball, AND made a "football move," AND took two steps, before he was tackled. It was a completion, so he was down as soon as his knee hit the ground.

And if he hadn't been down, which he WAS, it would've been a fumble...not an interception.

Anyone who defends that replay official either needs glasses, or doesn't know football.

The only thing I can make sense out of it was that during the first contact from the defender the ball looked like it shifted. AB was still able to "secure" the ball after that shift so by rule I'm pretty sure as soon as his knee hit the ground he was down. They must have considered that ball to not be secured in order to rule it an INT.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Oh got it...I thought Gilbert was iffy before I left, but wasn't aware Mitchell was banged up...Wilcox and Alulau have both paid dividends already. If this team goes onto a 7th Lombardi...Colbert will probably leave that position when he's ready to retire and not a day before.

Mitchell did not practice on the 1st practice, then was limited all week leading up to the game. Agreed on Wilcox & Alualu. Both are capable starters in the NFL. Having those kind of depth players is huge in the long run. Its nice seeing Tuitt & Heyward getting rest in the 3rd & 4th quarters.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

I'll take that win all day long.

And the Pats lost. Their D is horrible!!!

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I'll take that win all day long.

And the Pats lost. Their D is horrible!!!

I think BB feels their systems are so good that any NFL caliber player that understands it can be effective...The DE Chandler Jones, they shipped to AZ and the LB they shipped to CLE were playmakers...right now they are lacking playmakers on DEF...we know what that feels like.