Wk 3 @ SF

[ATL96Steeler]

Last week’s moniker was “It Has To Get Better”.

It didn't.

Ben left the game at the half complaining of pain in his elbow. That pain apparently has been there for some time and the end result is surgery and Ben will be lost the remainder of the season. So, in that sense, it actually got worse even though the play on the field was slightly better than week one, but not good enough to come away with a win.

No rest for the weary they say as the 0-2 Steelers head out the San Francisco to meet the 2-0 49ers who manhandled the Bengals in CIN last week. Mason Rudolph earned the QB2 job in camp and came in to finish off the SEA game and will be the starter for the duration of the 2019 season.

What to expect from SF? IMO, stats don't mean a ton this early in the season, so I'm not offering much in that area, but I did watch their game at CIN last week and either they were very impressive or CIN just played a poor game at home. It's hard to say which, but they hammered the Bengals on the ground (259 yds, 2 TDs) and via the air (313 yds with 3 TDs). Needless to say they want to run the ball and playaction off of it. Those were staples when Shanny was the OC in ATL. One thing is pretty clear, Jimmy G was barely touched so the OL is doing a great job early. His top targets are the rookie Deebo Samuel at WR, and his main TE Greg Little. Armstead, and the rookie Nick Bosa are the guys the OL needs to get a hat on all game.

Whose hurting?

No need to mention Ben any more, but in addition to him. Sean Davis, FS (torn labrum) was put on IR. That injury in part prompted the FO to make a trade with MIA for Minkah Fitzpatrick, former 11th overall DB from Alabama. He is expected to take over the FS spot effective this week vs SF.

Nix, FB (Knee)...the early call is he's out.

Outlook...In light of the QB change in PIT and the current state of play, Vegas has installed the 49ers as 6.5 pt favorites as of today.

If the OL (and DEF) can allow the running game to be a factor for all 4 quarters I think the Steelers can stay within that 6.5 line and make this a 4Q decision. Honestly I think the Steelers CAN win this game, but it will take a better effort than we've seen from the DEF and the OFC thus far.

What say you?

 

[Superbelt]

I got nothing right now.

I didn't the first two weeks, either.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

49ers are on fire...
Steelers have no identity...
Steelers coaches are still trying to figure things out...
Tomlin sucks a bag of donkey nuts on the west coast...
Too many inconsistencies from the Steelers players...

SF 32 - PIT 20

FWIW I'm expecting a decent showing from Rudolph. He really needs his WRs to step up this week though because you can guarantee the 9ers will put a vice grip on JuJu & McDonald. Also they are desperately needing the run game to find its traction. Defense should be improved, but they have yet to prove they can stop a TE so watch out for Kittle to have a career day.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

49ers are on fire...
Steelers have no identity...
Steelers coaches are still trying to figure things out...
Tomlin sucks a bag of donkey nuts on the west coast...
Too many inconsistencies from the Steelers players...

SF 32 - PIT 20

FWIW I'm expecting a decent showing from Rudolph. He really needs his WRs to step up this week though because you can guarantee the 9ers will put a vice grip on JuJu & McDonald. Also they are desperately needing the run game to find its traction. Defense should be improved, but they have yet to prove they can stop a TE so watch out for Kittle to have a career day.

In my heart of hearts, I think they can win this game, but as I posted on the Sf board, if I were a betting man I'd probably take SF and lay the points.

I have the all22 feed this yr and watched the SEA game again last night...the DEF, Edmunds didn't look real sure of himself out there at times. Same with Bush. All yr I expect teams to double Juju and force the others to beat them.

I have a feeling Rudolph will play decent also....I watched the condensed version of the SF @ CIN game (really nice way to watch a game btw...40-45 mins and you see every play)...after looking really good in SEA, the Bengals D, especially run DEF looked horrible...it will be interesting to see how much nickel they play vs SF. Hargrave was on the field for roughly half of the DEF snaps.

Steelers have the DEF to keep this game close....we shall see.

 

[Superbelt]

SF has looked good. They blew out bad teams, as they should.

But they are still bad teams.

Steelers are in flux. They could continue to be dogshit, or they could turn things around. They CAN turn things around. Getting Minkah shores up a big weakness on D. But they need to communicate better, and get to their assignments. They need to stop covering their teammates, and they need to get the right matchups.

They are beating themselves, more than anything. Can they stop. That's the 10 win question.


The problems on offense are easier to fix. Stop playing Moncrief and Switzer so much.

Rudolph has JuJu, Washington, Johnson, Vance, Conner and Jaylen. That's enough for him to have a potent offense. Just need to stop fucking around with StoneHands and the Little Engine That Couldn't.

 

[Yo Tee]

49ers, as long as Jimmy G can stay healthy, look like a playoff team. The Steelers are, as of right now, a projector to what the future holds with Ben not under center. There's no need to predict anything for this team this season, in my opinion, but I think it's great to talk about what we are looking forward to seeing from the Black and Yellow this week.

Things I'm Looking For In Week 3:

Mason Rudolph needs to build on what he did last week. Aside from a Moncrief drop that turned into an INT, his passes were accurate and he actually played very well under pressure, including a dump pass to McDonald for a TD.

Our receivers need to step up. Aside from JuJu, we have no WR with over 75 yards receiving. Closest we have is James Washington with 74 and then Diontae Johnson with 42.

Our secondary...come on. I think they are going to be the focal point of this game for me, especially with the addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick. We can't keep leaving the middle of the field wide open and we need to start learning how to tackle because, at some points throughout these two games, I think they have forgotten how to tackle.

The pressure we got on Russell Wilson last week was great but we couldn't keep it up. We need to find a way to somehow keep that pressure up throughout the entire game.




Bit of a funny thing on the 49ers injury report, apparently, Joey Bosa is a limited participant in practice. Joey. Bosa. Do they not even know which Bosa they have on their roster?! lol

San Francisco 49ers Participation/Injury Report, Week 3

Wednesday, September 18
RB Tevin Coleman (Ankle) - DNP
DE Dee Ford (Quadricep) - DNP
S Jaquisky Tartt (Ankle) - DNP
WR Jalen Herd (Back) - DNP
T Joe Staley (Fibula) - DNP
WR Trent Taylor (Foot) - DNP
DE Joey Bosa (Ankle) - Limited
DB Jimmie Ward (Hand) - Limited

 

[Jikkle]

49ers are in that state where they could beat any team any Sunday or they could lose to any team any Sunday. So a loss to the Steelers isn't out of the question nor would it be a huge upset or anything.

With that said in thinking about the game I just have a hard time to building a good case for the Steelers to win.

The 9ers are without Joe Staley their left tackle and starting a rookie their who really is a 3rd stringer so that might be one area that the Steelers can give the 9ers offense major issues.

And while Jimmy G looked a lot better in week 1 than he did week 2 I don't think he's completely knocked off the rust and I don't think his mechanics are completely back from his knee injury. He still seems good for one bad decision that leads to in INT a game.

Defensively the 9ers are 2nd only to the Patriots in DVOA and every level of their defense is playing at a high level. Granted that's against two bad offensive lines so I expect Steelers to put up more of a fight in that regards. Dee Ford's knee is acting up so if he can't go that'll hurt their ability to get pressure but sounds like he'll be able to go and they have other guys that can get pressure.

As far as the Cincy game goes that was Shanahan having them completely out schemed. The Bengals defense for almost that entire game had no idea of what was going on and who was getting the ball.

But thinking about each team through each position group I just had a tough time where I would pick the Steelers over the 9ers. The offensive line maybe and QB if Big Ben was healthy but for now I'd take Jimmy G over Rudolph until he proves otherwise.

Tomlin has a lousy track record on the west coast, it's the 9ers home opener, and I between Shanahan and Tomlin do I'd trust Shanahan to have a better scheme on offense than I would Tomlin for defense.

So I wouldn't mortgage the house on the 9ers but I would be disappointed if they didn't win this game.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

49ers are on fire...
Steelers have no identity...
Steelers coaches are still trying to figure things out...
Tomlin sucks a bag of donkey nuts on the west coast...
Too many inconsistencies from the Steelers players...

SF 32 - PIT 20

FWIW I'm expecting a decent showing from Rudolph. He really needs his WRs to step up this week though because you can guarantee the 9ers will put a vice grip on JuJu & McDonald. Also they are desperately needing the run game to find its traction. Defense should be improved, but they have yet to prove they can stop a TE so watch out for Kittle to have a career day.

In my heart of hearts, I think they can win this game, but as I posted on the Sf board, if I were a betting man I'd probably take SF and lay the points.

I have the all22 feed this yr and watched the SEA game again last night...the DEF, Edmunds didn't look real sure of himself out there at times. Same with Bush. All yr I expect teams to double Juju and force the others to beat them.

I have a feeling Rudolph will play decent also....I watched the condensed version of the SF @ CIN game (really nice way to watch a game btw...40-45 mins and you see every play)...after looking really good in SEA, the Bengals D, especially run DEF looked horrible...it will be interesting to see how much nickel they play vs SF. Hargrave was on the field for roughly half of the DEF snaps.

Steelers have the DEF to keep this game close....we shall see.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

SF has looked good. They blew out bad teams, as they should.

But they are still bad teams.

Steelers are in flux. They could continue to be dogshit, or they could turn things around. They CAN turn things around. Getting Minkah shores up a big weakness on D. But they need to communicate better, and get to their assignments. They need to stop covering their teammates, and they need to get the right matchups.

They are beating themselves, more than anything. Can they stop. That's the 10 win question.


The problems on offense are easier to fix. Stop playing Moncrief and Switzer so much.

Rudolph has JuJu, Washington, Johnson, Vance, Conner and Jaylen. That's enough for him to have a potent offense. Just need to stop fucking around with StoneHands and the Little Engine That Couldn't.

The TB game was a gift...SF didn't really play that well on OFC...they gave it up twice, but got 4 turnovers in return that one...at least 1 was a pick 6.

SF is not very dynamic on OFC, meaning they don't really want to wing it 50 times a game...they want balance, but they have skill position players that can do damage. This will be a game that Bush needs to grow up fast and Edmunds needs to play like a guy that's been on the field for most of last season. Kittle is one of their biggest weapons and it's time to show that PIT can defend a good TE.

OFC...very curious to see how much confidence Fichtner shows in Moncrief especially. Switzer should start to give way to Johnson more and more as the season goes.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

SF has looked good. They blew out bad teams, as they should.

But they are still bad teams.

Steelers are in flux. They could continue to be dogshit, or they could turn things around. They CAN turn things around. Getting Minkah shores up a big weakness on D. But they need to communicate better, and get to their assignments. They need to stop covering their teammates, and they need to get the right matchups.

They are beating themselves, more than anything. Can they stop. That's the 10 win question.


The problems on offense are easier to fix. Stop playing Moncrief and Switzer so much.

Rudolph has JuJu, Washington, Johnson, Vance, Conner and Jaylen. That's enough for him to have a potent offense. Just need to stop fucking around with StoneHands and the Little Engine That Couldn't.

The TB game was a gift...SF didn't really play that well on OFC...they gave it up twice, but got 4 turnovers in return that one...at least 1 was a pick 6.

SF is not very dynamic on OFC, meaning they don't really want to wing it 50 times a game...they want balance, but they have skill position players that can do damage. This will be a game that Bush needs to grow up fast and Edmunds needs to play like a guy that's been on the field for most of last season. Kittle is one of their biggest weapons and it's time to show that PIT can defend a good TE.

OFC...very curious to see how much confidence Fichtner shows in Moncrief especially. Switzer should start to give way to Johnson more and more as the season goes.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

49ers are in that state where they could beat any team any Sunday or they could lose to any team any Sunday. So a loss to the Steelers isn't out of the question nor would it be a huge upset or anything.

With that said in thinking about the game I just have a hard time to building a good case for the Steelers to win.

The 9ers are without Joe Staley their left tackle and starting a rookie their who really is a 3rd stringer so that might be one area that the Steelers can give the 9ers offense major issues.

So I wouldn't mortgage the house on the 9ers but I would be disappointed if they didn't win this game.

Very true.

Jimmy G is looked at as an established starter, and the reality is he's got about a dz starts under his belt. That's a bunch more than Rudolph so on that position alone I think Vegas is in the right ballpark with the line.

I'm not saying they will, but I think PIT CAN cover the 6.5 pts, but the DEF needs to play better than they have through the first two games. I doubt Dupree will be able to take advantage of Staley being out...maybe they run some stunts or move TJ Watt over there some.

 

[Bridgeburner]

I'm not excited. I am interested though. I want to see Rudolph and how he handles it. I want to see how Minkah fits into the picture and how quickly he can do it. But excited? Nope. Not with Tomlin and his hand-picked clown-show running things. They will be set up to fail again and again. There's no need to view any of these games with more than an idle curiosity.

Niners 26 Steelers 13

 

[TheBurgh88]

The 9ers are without Joe Staley their left tackle and starting a rookie their who really is a 3rd stringer so that might be one area that the Steelers can give the 9ers offense major issues.

Well considering we are throwing Dud Dupree against him I wouldn't be too worried if it was their 8th string LT. Hell put a cheerleader at LT and she could probably neutralize Dupree. What a pathetic excuse for a 1st round pick and 9M.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I'm not excited. I am interested though. I want to see Rudolph and how he handles it. I want to see how Minkah fits into the picture and how quickly he can do it. But excited? Nope. Not with Tomlin and his hand-picked clown-show running things. They will be set up to fail again and again. There's no need to view any of these games with more than an idle curiosity.

Niners 26 Steelers 13

The last Steeler game I was genuinely excited to see they fell on their face so hard that I'm still pissed at the staff for the way they laid down.

Curious...yes sir, they still have to play the games.

DEF...obviously the addition of Fitzpatrick brings another level of talent to back end of the DEF. I can't help but feel in game one Edmunds was trying to play his position and trying to help Kelly...last week he just got beat, but was in position to make a play on the ball and didn't...hopefully he can get back on track. I'm hoping to see more Ola on DEF this week. Chick is just not the answer as that rotation guy.

Bush imo just needs reps, he's going to make some mistakes, but the hope is he doesn't repeat the same mistakes. Overall they showed some life last week, but didn't sustain it for 4Qs.

OFC...It's Rudolph's season to finish off. When do they start feeding more targets to Johnson?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Pittsburgh Steelers Participation/Injury Report, Week 3

Thursday, September 19
CB Joe Haden (Shoulder) - DNP...likely to practice Fri and play
FB Roosevelt Nix (Knee) - DNP...out
LB Vince Williams (Hamstring) - DNP...likely out
LB Anthony Chickillo (Foot) - DNP...likely out
RB James Conner (Knee) - Full...playing
TE Vance McDonald (Back) - Full...playing
LB Bud Dupree (Ankle) - Limited...likely playing
LB Mark Barron (Not injury related) - DNP, playing.

This is shaping up for a week to see what Ola can do. Dupree will likely play, but Chick is probably not so that should move Ola into some DEF snaps as the OLB3.

 

[Superbelt]

Johnson is a "Starter from here on out"


Crief and Switzer are at the bottom of the depth chart.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Johnson is a "Starter from here on out"


Crief and Switzer are at the bottom of the depth chart.

Good to hear!...Really many of us expected to hear it at some point this season....0-2 and a buncha drops had a hand in speeding up that time table.

Diontae is gonna have to make plays for "from here on..." to stick. Moncrief will still get some targets and hopefully regain whatever confidence he had.

 

[SJ20]

Starting to believe that this will be a close game. More faith in the players than in the coaches. These west coast games have been rough over the past so many years.

SF 27
PIT 24

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Still not optimistic about their chances of winning today, but I will say this... Today is the first time in a while that I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing them play. They are a "new look" team and should get a sense of what the future will be without Ben. But then again the same coaches remain, so how excited can one be?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

@SteelersPride @ATL96Steeler @Superbelt