Game Thread: Wk 1... @NYG ***MNF***

[Yo Tee]

Seems to be the same ole' offense so far. And by that I mean LAST YEAR'S offense.

 

[thedddd]

^yep the screen pass and RB run from the shotgun is way too predictable.

 

[Yo Tee]

Snell is a much better runner than Conner. Snell needs to be the starter.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Snell is a much better runner than Conner. Snell needs to be the starter.

Is this similar to how Mason Rudolph should be the starter last year?

Snell looked good tonight. But Conner has looked very good at times too, he just can't stay healthy. I'll withhold judgment until I see more. Snell was promising though.

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Ben looked good. Took him a little bit to get his bearings but it always does. Arm looks lively. Ball had some zip. Says he feels good after the game.

 

[Superbelt]

While I don't think it's much of a loss on the field, considering how close I think he is to his competition, I feel horrible for Zach Banner and what he's going through. He worked hard and achieved his dream. A long-term injury certainly puts his future contract hopes in jeopardy.

 

[Superbelt]

Wis's injury, if that's a season ender too, puts the Steelers real short on OL already though.

 

[Superbelt]

The Steelers had 4 players who outrushed Saqu0n Barkley last night.

Barkley had 6 yards on 15 carries.


Snell, Ben, Conner and Claypool all outrushed him.

So did Dan Jones.

 

[Bridgeburner]

What are the injuries to Banner and Wis? Do we know yet?

I don't blame Barkley at all. That front seven looks like a fucking nightmare come to life. Swarming chaos. I loved it.

Side note: Danny Dimes is the real deal. He's going to be a baller in this league.

 

[Superbelt]

What are the injuries to Banner and Wis? Do we know yet?

I don't blame Barkley at all. That front seven looks like a fucking nightmare come to life. Swarming chaos. I loved it.

Side note: Danny Dimes is the real deal. He's going to be a baller in this league.

Banner has a knee injury. Of course you go right to thinking about ACL.

Wis looks like maybe a pec injury. That took out Tuitt last year.

Conner, Banner, Wisniewski all injured in Steelers’ Week 1 win

The Steelers entered their season opener Monday night relatively healthy. Only David DeCastro, who missed most of training camp with a knee issue, was held out of the 26-16 victory over the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

www.wpxi.com

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Coaching... Well that was definitely a rough start, but thankfully it was a tale of 2 halves. The 1st quarter was about as painful as it gets. Offense looked woefully inept, reminiscent of 2019 all over again in typical Sandy Sphincter fashion. Run, run, dump, dump, run, dump... I sort of predicted this, but man that was tough to watch lol. Once the rust came off things opened up more. Hopefully as Ben gets more confidence they continue to improve. Would like to see the TEs get more involved DOWN the field, but I've been screaming that for years. The defense was in soft zones a lot last night, and going blitzkrieg on the front 7 with the ILBs getting in on the action. Typical Butler defense, but hoped for better results. Relatively clean game though, so it felt like the team was better prepared. B

Offense... The O-line struggles are real ladies & gents. Granted DD was out, and we had 2 starters go down to injury. Still, get ready for a tough season in the trenches. As I suspected all offseason, ignoring the decline in the O-line is going to hurt this offense moving forward. But even still, the playcalls got some open field looks, only to be squandered time & time again by Conner. IDK what it was about him last night, but he looked completely out of sync with his blockers. When he had little space to work with he hesitated, and when his blockers weren't in front of him he took off too quickly for the play to materialize. That's just terrible work coming from a veteran RB. As terrible as this sounds, the injury might have been a good thing last night. Snell proved he's more than capable of taking on the bell-cow role, despite the fumble. I hope Conner comes back with a vengeance, but he has a lot to work on to regain any trust. The playcalling did absolutely no favors to anyone though. Despite that fact though, Ben had an admirable showing in his first game back. He was efficient, and looked good throwing the more difficult out-routes & fade routes. He sure made me nervous once he started hobbling on his left knee. And I have to admit, every hard throw made me nervous. Hopefully that concern starts to fade. The wide receivers look primed for a decent year once the offense takes off. Man that grab by Claypool was a total momentum changer in the 1st half. C+

Defense... Hats off to the Giants gameplan of getting the ball out quickly. Although the sack numbers weren't there, this defense was flying around the ball. That front 7 is a nightmare. The secondary does give me some cause for concern though. For as well as they played last season, this game was a scary indicator of regression. After allowing 0 TDs all last year, Nelson allowed 2 in 1 game. Yikes. Oh and Edmunds still looks pretty damn mediocre lol, and this is supposed to be his make or break year. Daniel Jones didn't hesitate to repeatedly attack Edmunds all night. Going to be a blueprint of sorts to get the ball out quickly & attack Edmunds & possibly Nelson this year. Hopefully they tighten up! B

ST... Ooof that muffed punt really hurt. Coupled with a missed PAT... Also the first defender down on punt returns needs to learn to tackle better. Can't remember who it was, but those punts had plenty of hangtime to get him into position and he simply missed numerous times. Man this could be a rough year for ST. C-

Overall... Well it was somewhat of a sloppy W, but it does come with a disclaimer of ZERO preseason games to prepare. Even if there is some room for improvement, there is a lot to feel good about with coming away with a WIN on the ROAD without having much preparation. Better days ahead. B- or C+

Outlook... Home opener next week against the 0-1 Broncos. Should be a good test for this defense while the Broncos are hoping to rebound.

 

[thedddd]

Banner has a knee injury. Of course you go right to thinking about ACL.

Wis looks like maybe a pec injury. That took out Tuitt last year.

Conner, Banner, Wisniewski all injured in Steelers’ Week 1 win

The Steelers entered their season opener Monday night relatively healthy. Only David DeCastro, who missed most of training camp with a knee issue, was held out of the 26-16 victory over the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

www.wpxi.com

Yep it is an ACL

Torn ACL For Steelers' Zach Banner

Steelers right tackle Zach Banner has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his right knee, according to a source …

www.profootballrumors.com

 

[thedddd]

What are the injuries to Banner and Wis? Do we know yet?

I don't blame Barkley at all. That front seven looks like a fucking nightmare come to life. Swarming chaos. I loved it.

Side note: Danny Dimes is the real deal. He's going to be a baller in this league.

Jones has the poise and stays in the pocket w/o happy feet. Looks like a good choice by the Giants at QB.

 

[Superbelt]

I'm guessing Derwin Gray gets the call up.

 

[Superbelt]

Yep, torn Pec muscle.



I want to blame that artificial turf for Banner's non-contact injury. That shit didn't release for him.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Banner has a knee injury. Of course you go right to thinking about ACL.

Wis looks like maybe a pec injury. That took out Tuitt last year.

Conner, Banner, Wisniewski all injured in Steelers’ Week 1 win

The Steelers entered their season opener Monday night relatively healthy. Only David DeCastro, who missed most of training camp with a knee issue, was held out of the 26-16 victory over the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

www.wpxi.com

Those both sound like season enders. Great...

 

[Yo Tee]

Is this similar to how Mason Rudolph should be the starter last year?

Snell looked good tonight. But Conner has looked very good at times too, he just can't stay healthy. I'll withhold judgment until I see more. Snell was promising though.

-------

Ben looked good. Took him a little bit to get his bearings but it always does. Arm looks lively. Ball had some zip. Says he feels good after the game.

Mason looked and performed better in the time he was given than Duck did. Same with Snell against Conner. Plus, it's been confirmed that Conner can't stay healthy so we as a team need to move forward with that information being a fact and not an opinion. Conner can't be given the starting job if he can't stay healthy. I'm confident in Ben and this offense from here on out. Had to shake off the rust but he did it and our defense was able to give them the time they needed to gain momentum. The team looks like they are having fun out there and I'm here for all of it. First half gave me eerily similar to 2019 vibes so I'm glad that didn't last all game long.

 

[Superbelt]

Those both sound like season enders. Great...

Yeah. It's a loss for depth.

But Dotson came in for Wis and played really well. I like him. Chuks is also a capable tackle. No drop off there.

The Steelers have a REALLY thin OL now, though.

Pouncey is already playing like a kitten. And Villy had a bad game, hope he can turn it around at least. I can't say the same for Pouncey. I hope this is his last year. Not only is he not worth the massive amount of money he's being paid any more, but he's just too often a weak point.

 

[Bridgeburner]

The wide receivers look primed for a decent year once the offense takes off. Man that grab by Claypool was a total momentum changer in the 1st half.

The wide recievers have an interesting room right now. I'm assuming this is JuJu's last year with the Steelers. He's a solid #2 but I don't think he's a number 1 and I just don't think that's where they will put money in the offseason. I think the foundation of this group is Claypole, Johnson, and Washington. Or at least that's the expectation. Washington looks like a very good #3 and I think Johnson has what it takes to be a very good #2. He's got none of JuJu's issues with separation but he's not going to win contested catches and at least to my eyes, the route running isn't the crispest. The question is Claypole. Is he a future #1? I like what I've seen but who knows.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Yeah. It's a loss for depth.

But Dotson came in for Wis and played really well. I like him. Chuks is also a capable tackle. No drop off there.

The Steelers have a REALLY thin OL now, though.

Pouncey is already playing like a kitten. And Villy had a bad game, hope he can turn it around at least. I can't say the same for Pouncey. I hope this is his last year. Not only is he not worth the massive amount of money he's being paid any more, but he's just too often a weak point.

Ugh. If you're right about Pounce this line is in trouble.

 

[Superbelt]

Ugh. If you're right about Pounce this line is in trouble.

Pouncey can't pull -at-all- anymore. He still put a ball in the dirt last night.

And his pass pro isn't all that.


Ben is lucky that Banner was there for Williams to ping-pong off of. Because Pouncey was abused there and would have had a free shot.