Game Thread: Week 5... vsPHI

[SteelersPride]

Wow
Crazy.

But tomlin.

I know they don’t wanna sling it 40 times with Ben.

I know they want balance. But come out firing and put them to sleep for Once

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Wow
Crazy.

But tomlin.

I know they don’t wanna sling it 40 times with Ben.

I know they want balance. But come out firing and put them to sleep for Once

Expect some dink & dunk out the gate. Tomlin-Steelers have always attacked opposing defenses with stout pass rush the same way. Short, quick passes & screens. It usually makes for an uggggggly ass start to a game. But Tomlin always chalks that up to execution.

Hope they go in a different direction. They do seem intent on establishing the run earlier this season. But I need to see Ben's deep ball connect better today.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Excited to see this guy get a shot...

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Feelin pretty sick to my stomach after this game. But I'm pretty sure that has more to do with the 10oz of hot sauce swimming in my gut right now.

Still think I want to give myself more time to digest this game, and the hot sauce before I rail into my analysis. I do not have good things to say right now.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Chase Claypool is a certified alpha. He's going to be a star.

This defense, especially the secondary... the pass rush cant' save them every time. They don't pass the eye test even though the numbers look good.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Coaching... What an ugly game. Can't put the fault squarely on Tomlin because both the players, coaches & even the refs deserve equal blame. Fichtner quietly had a decent game today. 11-15 on 3rd downs. Handful of those are credit to Ben though, for extending &/or audibling plays. Converting points off turnovers was another key element for Fichtner. Exactly what they needed from the offense. The defense was a completely different story. An absolutely abysmal showing for Butler who got picked apart by one of the worst statistical QBs in the league right now operating behind a patchwork O-line. The pressure was there in the early goings, but it disappeared for most of the game before it finally showed back up again late. What bothers me the most is how they keep using zone coverage schemes that are proving to be completely inept. Receivers are literally standing between zones (not moving so much as an inch) and just waiting for QBs to deliver the ball. The 3rd down defense has got to get better somehow. Giving away a 17pt deficit was difficult to stomach. C-

Offense... O-line looked like it was in trouble early. But credit has to be given to go up against that defensive front that Philly has. They are easily top 3-4 defensive front in the NFL. Every single Steelers O-lineman lost their fair share of battles, but I felt they won an equal amount. Ben was under a lot more pressure than he had seen so far this year, and the run game struggled to get much going outside of jet sweeps. But credit to Randy for implementing a new attack that largely worked. He tried selling it hard too to keep the defense honest. Hate seeing both DeCastro & Pouncey leave the game. Hope they aren't out any length of time. DJ's early exit seemed like a silver lining as he didn't look good at all but I hope he gets healthy soon. Eric Ebron had a game to forget. Couldn't make any contested catches, nor could he block. Plus the fumbles (1 they miscalled an INT, that looked more like a fumble). He looked utterly useless out there. I'm ready to see more of Vance down the seams. Ben had a very efficient day. Only 7 incompletions. 239yds, 3 TDs, and no turnovers. I think its safe to say the rust has worn off. Ben isn't lighting up the stat sheets, but those days will come. He's being the facilitating field-general right now and it shows with how well the offense is moving the ball. One thing that will go unnoticed is excellent open field blocking on all those Claypool TDs. B-

Defense... Not a lot of good to be said about this group. The pressure wasn't even close to as good as it should have been going against that patchwork O-line. Dupree was pretty much non-existent for 50minutes. TJ had moments, and was getting held almost the entire game, but it is what it is. Heyward, Alualu & Tuitt weren't anything particularly good either. Wentz looked plenty comfortable all day operating from the pocket. Pass rush should have been showing up more than it did. Which of course exposed how terrible the secondary schemes are. The secondary was awful. Piss poor coverage & tackling on the back end, and poor communication. Letting a UDFA torch them for 150yds, and giving up that huge 74yd TD where Hilton whiffed a tackle & the rest of the secondary couldn't get off blocks (Edmunds was clearly held too). Miserable day all around. The defense showed up at the end of the game, but I'm not so sure that wasn't simply the product of the Eagles showing their true colors. This unit needs to regroup fast. D

ST... I think McCloud should be the full-time return specialist. DJ scares the hell outta me every time he touches the ball. If they ever find themselves desperate for a spark then I'd possibly consider DJ fielding a punt. But he's proving to be more of a liability. Wiz of Boz has ice in those veins this year. 5/5 of XP, 1/1 on FG. Love to see it. Colquitt only punted twice, but he's steady Eddy with those 40-45yders with the wind. Some of us may start yearning for the boom ball like Berry brought to the table, but punting in these conditions is a very underrated element of these home games. Having a consistent punter has been desperately needed and they finally have that. B

Overall... Ugly wins are still wins. After the first quarter of the season we expected a much better effort from this defense, but it seems to be regressing each week. Butler & Tomlin need to figure out this defense and fast. The next 3-4 games will be a stiffer test for them. A lot of room for improvement. C

Outlook... Steelers stay at home to host the Browns. You can bet your sweet ass this game is going to have rivalry painted all over it. First divisional bout for the Steelers. Coming off a sheisty performance against the Iggles, I am plenty concerned about this game. This 4-0 record feels awfully hollow right now. Steelers are getting measured up by some of the worst teams in the NFL which is very concerning. Steelers' wins come against teams with a combined record of 3-11-1. Its true that they are "putting away the teams they should", but they are also being "down to the wire against these teams". Nothing is ever a given in the NFL, but we shall see what this team is made of in the coming weeks.

 

[Superbelt]

I'm not going to put too much weight into this game considering how unbalanced this team is right now after what happened last week.

I don't think this is a true representation of this defense.

We were all expecting a down game, anyway.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I'm not going to put too much weight into this game considering how unbalanced this team is right now after what happened last week.

I don't think this is a true representation of this defense.

We were all expecting a down game, anyway.

Agreed, but I expected the defense to perform better. I thought they would keep them under 15pts or so. If they played to their talent level then the Iggles shouldn't have even got past 10pts.

It is what it is. The secondary has been a concern all year, and yesterday amplified that power of 2. Seems to me like Butler is leaving his secondary more vulnerable in favor of his pass rush. NFL stats stated the Steelers were blitzing over 60% of snaps, which is almost unheard of in this era of football. I don't mind that rate at all, when the pass rush is generating pressure. When the pressure disappears it feels like he is being overly aggressive for nothing.

But then again... if this was 2 years ago we were all crying about Butler's tendency to put his defense in a shell when they were getting abused. lol. I don't know what the answer is. I'm not as concerned about the pass rush obviously. But the secondary needs answers.