Wk 3 @ SF

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

except jaylen isnt a runner, never has been.

View attachment 217520
4 years at nc state and 182 TOTAL carries thats not even a years workload

in 2014-most rushes in a game 4
in 2015-most rushes in a game 8
in 2016-most rushes in a game 5
in 2017-most rushes in a game 12 -more work some games with 7, 9, 8

in 2018 NFL-games with 11-12-19 carries

This was kinda some of my point with benny snell football. Samuels in all 4 years of college and his pro career has NEVER had a 20 carry game. he ONCE has had MORE THAN 12 carries. THeres a reason for this. He has a skillset, a very very good skillset. He can break some runs on occasion. But he is not a runner. Neither is Benny Snell. SO its conner or nothing.......

Screw what the stats say. I'm ready to give Samuels a shot at it. Conner is pissing away his opportunities, and it couldn't be any worse than it already is. Hell I'd even give Snell a chance even though he isn't ready for it. Sink or swim time.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I'd say for a Steelers fan Conner's fumble in this game is unforgivable.

To be fair it was a great play by the defender to punch the ball out but you simply cannot have a fumble in that situation.

There is 5:30 left in the game it's 1st down and you either try to ice the game by just driving down the field and burning the clock down. Or you at least burn the clock down, punt, and make the 9ers offense drive down the field to get the field goal.

Fumbling at that spot basically ties the game since it's easily in FG range and it allowed the 9ers to burn most of the clock before they capped it off with a TD and than made you have to drive the length of the field to get a TD to win.

Congrats on the win.

Spot on comments. PIT with a 1st game starter in there at QB the Steelers needed everyone around him to elevate their game and they Connor did not.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Screw what the stats say. I'm ready to give Samuels a shot at it. Conner is pissing away his opportunities, and it couldn't be any worse than it already is. Hell I'd even give Snell a chance even though he isn't ready for it. Sink or swim time.

Great play to strip it, but ball security HAS to be top of mind right there can it wasn't.

Wasted a 5 turnover effort and drained the DEF all with that one fumble.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Coaching: Steelers should be ashamed of the gameplan Fichtner rolled out yesterday. I'd rather claw my eyes out than watch something like that again. Less than 2-3 first downs & 80yds total in the 1st half. For the love of God quit calling so many damn screens! It has been a while since I've seen anything that bad. Maybe back when Vick was starting and had somewhere south of 10yds passing in 1 entire half. The problem was Randy felt the need to spoon feed Mason into rhythm, and it failed miserably. All it did was sputter the offense and successfully rip the energy out of the Steelers defense. Randy may have redeemed himself a little in the 2nd half, but it was still erratic. Calling that toss play to Conner when it hadn't worked all fucking game (negative yards every time), and depending on Xavier Grimble to be your blocker no less, was absolute bush league. I wish somebody would have slapped him upside the head there. Said this before, but I also noticed that Fichtner wasn't giving Mason ANY window-dressing in the 1st half. No presnap motion to tip off the coverage schemes or anything like that. Are they wanting to set him up to be a system QB? Stupid. Also, no play action until the 2nd half? C'mon! Tomlin should have pulled the plug on that spoonfeeding in the 2nd quarter when it was doing next to nothing. Instead he let it roll and blames execution. Another terrible display of gameclock management from Tomlin. He's an idiot, but we knew that. The defense, on the other hand, now has the personnel to shore up the inadequacies in Butler's schemes, but they'll never win football games being hung out to dry like that. They were absolutely gassed in the 3rd & 4th quarters. Just warm bodies occupying space. Still, the defense got 5 or 6 turnovers! If you produce that many turnovers and still lose the game, then the offense is an utter failure. Embarrassing. F

Offense: O-line didn't look bad, but they didn't look good. No push on run plays, but they held their ground for the most part on pass blocks. Couple of huge whiffs by Feiler & Foster that gave up sacks on 3rd to go situations. Brutal timing, but for the most part still played well. Conner needs to play better. Couple of times he hit the holes too quickly before the play developed. But then again, I saw him burst off the LT and get to the 2nd level before the LBers even knew where he was on 1 play. Overall his timing just seems off. And those fumbles are an absolute killer. 5 fumbles in his last 15 games. They need start feeding Samuels and/or Snell. Not having Nix there shouldn't be giving them this many problems with their run game. The WRs as a group need to play better. The entire 1st half they were blanketed and nobody was getting open. Haven't seen the all-22 yet, but maybe the plays were just slow to develop. Seemed to me like the same story as previous weeks though, WRs just aren't getting open to give Mason better reads. Then again, Fichtner isn't scheming properly. Too many iso-routes. Need to get some rub routes going. Encouraging 1st game as a starter for Johnson. Would like to see him be more confident on in-slant routes where he knows he's going to get hit. Oh and SHOCKER, McDonald is hurt again. Strange. D-

Defense: Hats off to these guys (minus a select few). They played their hearts out for a team that failed them in the end. Maybe if they score TDs for their offense on those 6 turnovers then this team will stand a fighting chance. lol. Shame hats to Dupree & Barron in particular. Those 2 are garbage. I honestly have no clue what Barron does for this defense, apart from guarding himself in coverage. Dude's out there on an island with him & himself. Getting burnt by a FB was a cherry on that crap sundae (loved watching Edmunds waltz past that PBU too lmao. WTF was he doin?). Bush looked lost on a couple plays. Don't know what the deal is with him. Some plays he looks like an all-star, and others he's failing his assignments. Dupree registered just 3 tackles on the day. A day where he was going up against a 3rd string LT. Kudos on your big day, titty-fighter. Got to see Ola for a few series in the 2nd half. Nothing of note from him. Fitzpatrick looks like the real deal. Aside from a missed tackle and a tickytack roughing penalty, he was rock solid. Good opportunistic INT thanks to Joe Haden's excellent PBU. But the main thing I took away from his play yesterday was the fact that he was EVERYWHERE. Based on his play after just 1 week of practice learning the system, I am very encouraged about him. He has a chance to be an all-star for this defense. Aside from Edmunds, I am loving this secondary now. We should never see another OLB covering a slot WR. But hey, Butler's still in the building so anythings' possible. Also would like to give a shoutout to Sutton. Great PBU in the EZ even though the play was negated by penalty IIRC. Encouraging relief play from him. A-

Football can be incredibly frustrating as a fan. We've been clamoring for this team to produce a competent defense for what feels like a decade, and just when they get one, the offense goes in the crapper. Sigh. Welp, this team is still plenty talented to rise to 6-7 wins. And predictably, the coaches typically take 4-5 weeks to figure it the fuck out before this team starts clicking. So I expect better days ahead. If not, this is MAYBE a 4 win team. It's going to be a grueling season, but let's have some fun with this adventure, shall we? Maybe start experimenting with some new alcohols for a change. @Psych-Ward could possibly get us all into some hooch if you're interested? Put some hair on your tongue. Or if you're alcohol-intolerant, then try some crack.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Just 4 completions BEYOND the LOS for Mason yesterday... 4/15. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see a pattern here. Left side of the field seems to be Fichtner's forte.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I wouldn't have bet on it, but I thought this was a winnable game...and they had a nice grip on it in the 4Q until Connor allows that ball to be ripped out.

Recap.

Great to see some spark from Fitz and the DEF takeaways.

In a nutshell...the DEF just wore down. SF had the ball for 36+ mins and you could see the Steelers gasping for air, hands on hips near the end.

Rudolph's starting debut was less than desired but he made a few plays and imo will get better as the games add up...The game plan was pretty evident with the numerous screens and safe passes, the one pick was a really bad decision.

Unfortunately the OFC could not make the great effort on DEF stick. Connors is still the lead back I'm sure, but it's getting tougher and tougher to rely on him in critical moments.

0-3 is what it is, but I felt pretty good about most of the effort of DEF...Run DEF is still suspect, but if they stay on that level they will get a W this week.

 

[SteelersPride]

Screw what the stats say. I'm ready to give Samuels a shot at it. Conner is pissing away his opportunities, and it couldn't be any worse than it already is. Hell I'd even give Snell a chance even though he isn't ready for it. Sink or swim time.

oh come on face, i know screw stats but 5 years and never 20 touches, as a highly regarded player, ........

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

oh come on face, i know screw stats but 5 years and never 20 touches, as a highly regarded player, ........

Who needs 20 when he only needed 19 for 142yds.

 

[SteelersPride]

Who needs 20 when he only needed 19 for 142yds.

1 time in 5 years.....

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

1 time in 5 years.....

1st time being featured as a RB in those 5 years. They moved him around too much in college.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

lol OUCH

 

[SteelersPride]

1st time being featured as a RB in those 5 years. They moved him around too much in college.

Again, there’s a reason he wasn’t featured lol. U think Nc state had Chubb, Barkley, Gurley etc there,?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I believe it's called jogging, or yogging... Might be a soft J



@Superbelt

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Again, there’s a reason he wasn’t featured lol. U think Nc state had Chubb, Barkley, Gurley etc there,?

Gimmick offense isn't Samuels' fault. He was a pawn in another man's scheme. But looking at his average yds per carry... I'd say he did just fine as a RB. Smaller sample size in comparison to other RBs.

Not saying Samuels is going to come in and boom, running game solved. Just saying he deserves a shot. FWIW I still like Conner and want him to play. Just losing faith & trust in him is all. O-line as a unit needs to play better for anyone to have a fighting chance though.

 

[Bridgeburner]

I feel sick.

 

[SteelersPride]

Gimmick offense isn't Samuels' fault. He was a pawn in another man's scheme. But looking at his average yds per carry... I'd say he did just fine as a RB. Smaller sample size in comparison to other RBs.

Not saying Samuels is going to come in and boom, running game solved. Just saying he deserves a shot. FWIW I still like Conner and want him to play. Just losing faith & trust in him is all. O-line as a unit needs to play better for anyone to have a fighting chance though.

There’s always good ypc with low volume. If it was a system why wouldn’t he transfer..... come on dude. Ur making excuses left and right. Kalen ballage was a 5 start recruit , top 25 in the country. Never started with az state. Just the system. He’s available from Miami, we should get him too he had a good game somewhere along the way....
I get giving him a shot, but there’s reasons guys don’t play.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

There’s always good ypc with low volume. If it was a system why wouldn’t he transfer..... come on dude. Ur making excuses left and right. Kalen ballage was a 5 start recruit , top 25 in the country. Never started with az state. Just the system. He’s available from Miami, we should get him too he had a good game somewhere along the way....
I get giving him a shot, but there’s reasons guys don’t play.

Excuses? I'm just not putting nails in the kid's career before giving him a proper chance is all. You're the only one writing him off.

That said, i wouldn't be against a trade or FA. Hell, Jay Ajayi is out there ain't he? Heard he's sort of a cancer. Maybe CJ Anderson now? That ought to make Treff happy.

 

[SteelersPride]

Excuses? I'm just not putting nails in the kid's career before giving him a proper chance is all. You're the only one writing him off.

That said, i wouldn't be against a trade or FA. Hell, Jay Ajayi is out there ain't he? Heard he's sort of a cancer. Maybe CJ Anderson now? That ought to make Treff happy.

So I’m just curious? I never wrote him off but u don’t think there’s a reason for the useage? Just not getting a chance? For 5 years?.....if it was a qb or db it would be he wasn’t any good.

Edit: all for sprinkling him. Just don’t think he’s gonna fix things.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I believe it's called jogging, or yogging... Might be a soft J



@Superbelt

Barron played all 79 DEF snaps in that one.

He did jog on that play, (not a good look), but that was a game that Tomlin/Butler had to see that their DEF was stacking up a lot of snaps early....at the same time UG3 got zero snaps on DEF.