Wk 15...vs BUF***SNF***

[ATL96Steeler]

Welp... I ain't even mad. Tough loss but we had to know it was going to be a rough game going against a top 3 defense like that. Steelers D is every bit as good as the Bills D, but their offense is better than the Steelers' offense. It's pretty much as simple as that. Josh Allen being better than Duck was the main difference. The downside of having zero margin for error is sometimes these games just go against your favor. Especially against tougher competition.

Coaching... Not the most well-coached game, but they were putting themselves in enough positions to win the game but the players just failed to capitalize on it. The many penalties that stalled drives or setup 3rd & loooong situations were hard to stomach. Team was amped up, but maybe a little too amped up. Lots of undisciplined penalties. Offense struggled early, like it typically does. Still rolling out the same LOS route concepts and bubble screens. The run game was struggling so the resulting Run vs Pass numbers reflected that game flow. 15 runs vs 38 passes. That hasn't been the formula for success with Duck at QB. They were putting themselves into a LOT of 3rd & long situations as a result of not getting much of anything on 1st & 2nd downs. That seemed to be the case for the majority of the Steelers offensive drives. Need to get better on the early downs so they can set themselves up with 3rd & "manageable". The Steelers had FIVE drives that resulted in quick 3 & outs. That's unacceptable. That wears out their own defense too quickly. What worries me the most about this offense is that Randy doesn't appear to change anything. There's enough tape out there to blanket them now, and Randy does very little to switch things up. Fichtner just didn't do enough to help the team out early on. Didn't see Tomlin calling plays into the defense at all last night, and the secondary sat in zones for most the game forcing Josh Allen to beat them with his arm. Either the gameplan was set and they didn't deviate, or Butler was back to calling the plays. Seemed like Allen rose to the occasion many times to beat the zone coverage schemes, but overall the Steelers did a good job limiting the damage. C+

Offense... Very tough matchup for this offense, but they did ok. Turning the ball over 5 times was painful. 3 of which were either in the RZ or EZ. The pain came from the timing of said turnovers. Those 2 EZ INT's were on the final 2 drives that could have tied the game. Felt like getting punched in the nuts twice. But I acknowledge that it does mean the offense was moving the ball well enough to put themselves in position to win this game, and against a top 3 defense with a UDFA QB. Not to mention they took the lead in the 3rd qtr. Fairly impressive. I'm not throwing all the blame on him, but Duck Hodges was simply not good enough last night. Lots of inaccurate throws, staring down too many throws (doesn't have the arm strength to overcome this), holding the ball too long & taking sacks, not seeing open receivers, meager route anticipation, and a slew of "heave & pray" style throws into double coverage. I'm not mad at the heave & pray stuff as much. Been sayin it for weeks, but I'm just glad to see them throwing down the field more. Don't care if Duck throws INTs, just want him to keep slinging it. And we just have to hope that he learned a lot from a game like this. But to be fair to him, the offensive line didn't hold up its end of the bargain very well. Hodges was under a lot of pressure throughout the entire game. He was running for his life as soon as the ball hit his hands on multiple occasions when the O-line got fooled by fake blitzes or stunts. AVill & Feiler seemed to be the main problems yet again. C-

Defense... Overall the Bills moved the ball fairly well between the 20's. The run defense & zone coverage schemes were holding up ok. They were opportunistic and scrappy when it mattered most. Great heads up play by Watt to force that fumble, and also the Nelson INT off the tip. Edmunds' failure to cover the TE after the pass-off from Barron was tough to watch. Edmunds wasn't even in position to accept that pass-off from the snap, which tells me he had no idea what his assignment was until it was too late. That play alone proved to be the biggest kink in the armor last night. If Edmunds stopped that play from happening, the Steelers likely would have been able to put that game into overtime. B-

ST... Berry was absolutely unacceptable last night. Punting 22yds from your own 18yd line? For fucks sake Berry. That short field led to the first touchdown surrendered in the game. He had another terrible punt but not as putrid as that one. Awful night for him. Boz had a good night though. Coverage teams were flakey. C-



Hats off to Buffalo for getting the job done on the road in a big playoff matchup. Luckily for the Steelers the Titans lost so they keep the 6th seed for now. Onto New York... And a MUST-WIN game.

You were fair.

 

[thedddd]

Both coordinators are weak links. Butler is benefitting with an incredible stacked defense, which is artificially protecting him. Flinchtner is exposed as the utterly horrid OC he is.

I'd truly rather see Randy take a backseat and let Ben be the gameday General in the earpiece. He'd just be doing the same job he had last season anyway.

This defense is good enough to win a championship, if the offense can give a half an effort. The offense needs to just not kill the team. With Randy they are killing the team with:

• An ill-conceived wildcat playbook component.
• Run, Run, Pass predictability.
• Slow-developing, horizontal game.

Get rid of the above, and this can still be salvaged for a long-shot run.

The rest of the fringe teams in the conference might let the Steelers back into the playoffs. All that is left are the Titans and if the Saints show up again next week it might be over for them.

Scary to think that a team with a marginal rookie QB making the playoffs. Testament to the talent on the defense.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Tevin Jones & Johnny Holton remain part of the offensive gameplan.

Both coordinators are weak links. Butler is benefitting with an incredible stacked defense, which is artificially protecting him. Flinchtner is exposed as the utterly horrid OC he is.

I'd truly rather see Randy take a backseat and let Ben be the gameday General in the earpiece. He'd just be doing the same job he had last season anyway.

This defense is good enough to win a championship, if the offense can give a half an effort. The offense needs to just not kill the team. With Randy they are killing the team with:

• An ill-conceived wildcat playbook component.
• Run, Run, Pass predictability.
• Slow-developing, horizontal game.

Get rid of the above, and this can still be salvaged for a long-shot run.

With all the talent around him...I can live with Butler, but the reality is Tomlin has gone from having proven coordinators on both sides of the ball to no proven coordinators. Fichtner I'm almost willing to give a pass to. IDT he was even thinking about being the OC of this team when he was the QB coach. He was Ben's hand picked guy and they were probably going to run as co OCs.

If not for Ben, no way is he the OC next year, but with Ben back, maybe it runs a little smoother.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

You were fair.

Is that rare?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Is that rare?

...no, you're always fair, but I was expecting a little more venom...lol

I knew I was getting myself in some trouble when I started expecting shit on OFC....lol

Bills DEF was just better...way better.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Ugh. I was hoping that 4 interceptions would have brought duck season to an end.

I'm not a fan of Rudolph or Hodges but Rudolph at least has a shot to one day be a competent backup. You've seen that neither of these guys are someone you want to have in a game but at least Rudolph is the one you have more capital in and at least he has a marginal NFL-arm. I don't get it.

Give Sandy Sphincter a HOF QB and we can make it work to a point of respectability. Give him dogshit and he'll step in it and then walk all over your carpet.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

...no, you're always fair, but I was expecting a little more venom...lol

I knew I was getting myself in some trouble when I started expecting shit on OFC....lol

Bills DEF was just better...way better.

It's the Holiday Season ATL. I'm trying to temper my venom to prepare myself for being around family.

Expect a much more tranquil Face-Lee-Us around here..... For a week or 2

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ugh. I was hoping that 4 interceptions would have brought duck season to an end.

I'm not a fan of Rudolph or Hodges but Rudolph at least has a shot to one day be a competent backup. You've seen that neither of these guys are someone you want to have in a game but at least Rudolph is the one you have more capital in and at least he has a marginal NFL-arm. I don't get it.

Give Sandy Sphincter a HOF QB and we can make it work to a point of respectability. Give him dogshit and he'll step in it and then walk all over your carpet.

Really? Even after a game like that I'm still not ready to go back to Rudolph. Mason was god awful. I don't want to watch a QB throw the ball down the field (>5yds) only 2-3 times a game. I'm done with Mason until the offseason.

 

[Bridgeburner]

I don't want to watch a QB throw the ball down the field (>5yds) only 2-3 times a game.

Sounds like Duck to me.

I haven't noticed much of a difference between the two, to be honest.

It might be a sobriety thing but I don't think so.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Sounds like Duck to me.

I haven't noticed much of a difference between the two, to be honest.

It might be a sobriety thing but I don't think so.

I think that might be a 24" 720p problem.

Hard to see a ball in flight when it's the size of a gnat's ass.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Ugh. I was hoping that 4 interceptions would have brought duck season to an end.

I'm not a fan of Rudolph or Hodges but Rudolph at least has a shot to one day be a competent backup. You've seen that neither of these guys are someone you want to have in a game but at least Rudolph is the one you have more capital in and at least he has a marginal NFL-arm. I don't get it.

Give Sandy Sphincter a HOF QB and we can make it work to a point of respectability. Give him dogshit and he'll step in it and then walk all over your carpet.

Admittedly, I was starting to buy into Duck a little bit, and I would stick with him vs NYJ unless he gets the deer in head light look early in the game. Going back and forth is not doing either guy any good.

Trying to put myself in Randy's shoes...he has a lot of moving parts every week with a different RB, his most experienced WR has missed the last 3 games, 2 games with a back up C. As ugly as some of his gameplans have looked, it can't be all that easy.

 

[Bridgeburner]

Trying to put myself in Randy's shoes...he has a lot of moving parts every week with a different RB, his most experienced WR has missed the last 3 games, 2 games with a back up C. As ugly as some of his gameplans have looked, it can't be all that easy.

Fair enough.

I still hope his next shit is square though.

FYI.

 

[SteelersPride]

so i think keepin duck in is the right call. BUT. what does it say about how tomlin and the steelers feel about mason rudolph. Your undrafted rookie QB who just threw 4 interceptions last game, is starting again over your "first round graded qb".

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Both coordinators are weak links. Butler is benefitting with an incredible stacked defense, which is artificially protecting him. Flinchtner is exposed as the utterly horrid OC he is.

I'd truly rather see Randy take a backseat and let Ben be the gameday General in the earpiece. He'd just be doing the same job he had last season anyway.

This defense is good enough to win a championship, if the offense can give a half an effort. The offense needs to just not kill the team. With Randy they are killing the team with:

• An ill-conceived wildcat playbook component.
• Run, Run, Pass predictability.
• Slow-developing, horizontal game.

Get rid of the above, and this can still be salvaged for a long-shot run.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[thedddd]

Surprised they are staying with Hodges. I seriously thought the Bills game would have been the easy out for Tomlin to go back to Rudolph.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

so i think keepin duck in is the right call. BUT. what does it say about how tomlin and the steelers feel about mason rudolph. Your undrafted rookie QB who just threw 4 interceptions last game, is starting again over your "first round graded qb".

Good point...Tomlin said he was going to allow Duck a chance to overcome his bad game...he feels he did the same with Rudolph according to him.

I think the bigger picture is the team right now. I felt they had kind of rallied around Duck...I think it's the right move to give him another game to pull out of it.

 

[Superbelt]

Good point...Tomlin said he was going to allow Duck a chance to overcome his bad game...he feels he did the same with Rudolph according to him.

I think the bigger picture is the team right now. I felt they had kind of rallied around Duck...I think it's the right move to give him another game to pull out of it.

It would help if he gets a chance where he isn't set up to fail with run, run, pass, and a passing game where -2 yard receptions are the norm.

He made mistakes, but not enough to kill them. And the two interceptions at the end of the game were desperation throws.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

It would help if he gets a chance where he isn't set up to fail with run, run, pass, and a passing game where -2 yard receptions are the norm.

He made mistakes, but not enough to kill them. And the two interceptions at the end of the game were desperation throws.

I thought better play from the QB and PIT wins the game. Not just the turnovers, but I think he had a delay of game and some other presnap penalty, but I agree it wasn't all on him. OL play was terrible, notably blitz pick up...a few times they got to him with only 4 rushers.

 

[Superbelt]

I thought better play from the QB and PIT wins the game. Not just the turnovers, but I think he had a delay of game and some other presnap penalty, but I agree it wasn't all on him. OL play was terrible, notably blitz pick up...a few times they got to him with only 4 rushers.

Duck still gives the best chance of success between the two.

But he's nothing but a good career backup.