Random thoughts after L @DAL

-I can't remember the last time we had 0 penalties before today
-Key moments: A Brown's fumble denied us a chance to close the game with a 30 yd drive & FG, 2 consecutive sacks our next-to last series when we were at our 45, OT int
-Although, it wasn't everything: our D got only 1 turnover, in the 1st qtr, and after that we weren't even close to having a 2nd one
-Too many underthrows by Ben. Was he being cautious or just bad passes? (I counted at least 4 of them)
-Someone needs to tell Victorian that his tackling tecnique is awful! He gave at bunch of YAC to their WRs and RBs
-A Brown, Wallace, Sanders.. all of them have serious issues holding the football. Blame them, but blame their position coach too
-With Sanders probably out, Plax will get a shot next week. Is he worth looking for next year's roster?
-Dwyer and Redman have durability issues, which must concern our Coaching Staff
-And... this means Mendy still has a shot?
-Rainey's size becomes an issue when running between the tackles (that guy tackled him with one hand!)
-Why wasn't Miller targeted at all after halftime?
-Wallace is improving a bit, is it too late for him?
-What impact is T Polamalu having on D?
-We overcame injuries to our QB, RB, OL, LB... but what about I Taylor's absence? This guy is proving his value while off the field
-Harrison has had flashes of his old self, but hasn't played a complete A-game since last year
-Our punt coverage unit needs to do something, and quickly. I can easily imagine our staff asking Butler to punt out of bounds next 2 weeks, and that means shorter punts
-We can end our season with a lot of different possibilities and combinations. The easiest: handle our business, and at least we'll be 6th seed.

For sure, I missed a bunch of things here. Who helps me?

 

You didn't miss much....i think it was obvious that antonio brown was still messed up in the head after his fumble, and had no business out there fielding another punt. he clearly wanted nothing to do with even touching the ball, which led to us starting our drive at our own 20 instead of closer to midfield. the coaches even had rainey out there and then changed their minds at the last min.

 

yep rainey should have had that last chance....oh well maybe coaches dont choke next week

 

Didn't we technically have one penalty, but it was off-setting?

 

I found that situation odd - it seemed like there was some kind of mix up between Tomlin and the ST coach, because Tomlin sure looked pissed. But I didn't quite get it, as I would have either one back there. It's not like you're choosing between Brown and Carey Davis.

 

The only thing I would add to your list was the almost non-existence of Woodley. Again. I'm really beginning to question if the front office overpaid him.
As for Polomalu, as much as I love him as a player, I think the defense played better with Will Allen back there. I'm still (somewhat patiently) waiting for a big impact play from Troy that he is known for.

 

Great thoughts as always.

Steelers keep being their own worse enemies. Fumbles....
Never can I remember a team fumbling this much, and I'm not pointing a finger at any one person, because every starting wideout and running back has done it.

 

-oline on the right side with DeCastro and Beechum was above the line except for one series.
-Starks is showing his worth. Adams could be a backup next year
-Either we draft a running back, go free agent route or Mendenhall is the starter next year.
-Foster is showing his worth. Colon could be a backup or released.
-Woodley could not beat Doug Free! Absoultely the worst right tackle in the league and he did nothing.
-Dallas offensive line has been suspect all year. They been out right embarrassed in some games and our Dline got push around and did not get any pressure.
-What does that say about Hampton, Kiesel and Hood? Plus the debacle with the Chargers oline last week.
-Does Tomlin have the guts to bench Sanders and Brown? At least the 1st qtr. Start Cothery, Burress and Wallace. Fumbles are inexcusable.
-Is it hard to focus? Kulger is going to UTEP, special teams coach is good as gone, and rumors flying around about Haley going to Arizona
-Polomalu is a shell of his former self. He's out there on rep alone.

 

I agree, and still argue that if we had to carve out salary money, it should have been Troy to go and not Hines (as someone who wears a Polamalu jersey). All I've really seen him do this season (and honestly, a whole lot of the last one) is go flying airborne past the camera at the very end of plays. Would I like him to recover fully and play like the Troy of old? Absolutely. Do I believe that will happen? Nope.

 

how about the second straight week they have faced a team with a make shift oline and the front 7 has had almost no pressure.

how about the second straight week they have face a qb who has had major turnover problems and they got ZERO int's.

how about the second straight week they have failed to utilize the running game.

 

Hines was done. i dont think it was ever a matter of keeping one or the other.

 

This could definitely be true, but my gut (and the evidence) make me inclined to believe the same is true of Troy, and at least Ward was a motivating factor for the team in general.

 

the problem with Troy is i think he lost a step. he was never a great cover guy or tackler. he was all about insticts and knowing where the play was going and beating the other team with those insticts.

he just seems a step slow now. im not sure what he was trying to do with some of his tackles yesterday. he looked like a guy that didnt really know how to play football.

hopefully he gets that step back. if not he is probably done.

 

Ironically, Troy's play last night reminded me of how he was in his rookie season.

 

This is a great way to put it. It's like he comes flying in after plays have happened. Always that one step behind.

 

thats so true.. the play is over and here come troy flying thru the air... im liek wtf? the play has been over for 2 seconds and hes like superman... flying OVER (not into the pile) then he gets up holding his leg and goes back to the huddle.. a step short and taking stupid chances of getting himself (or someone else) injured after the play is well over...

HINES

 

my random thought is ... buckle up boys .. i see 2 more losses for us this season and ending on the season losing 6 of the last 7...

HINES

 

It may never come out (or least until after the season) because Ben is Ben about injuries - but...I think Ben re-injured his shoulder on the bootleg. After that he was underthrowing quite a bit.

 

All good points.

I'd like to add:

-I was at the game and the amount of Steelers fans in attendance was astounding. People often exaggerate about how many Steelers fans were at a road game, but this crowd was literally 50/50. And it was mostly divided families. There were tons of couples walking around sporting a jersey from each team. There were dozens of families with about half Steelers and half Cowboys gear. The amount of Terrible Towels twirling was crazy. And, at one point, the huge "De-Fense!" chant erupted while we were on D. Great atmoshpere.
-You'd have thought the Cowboys had won the Super Bowl judging by the crowd reaction after the game. I thought they were going to burn the city down. I don't think you'll find a store in the metropolitan area that still has ticket tape in stock.
-I honestly was impartial about the outcome. Somebody else mentioned the same thing and was reprimanded for it but, win or lose, our post-season has recently only been about beating Cincinnati. That's our first playoff game right there. Our playoffs start on Sunday.
-As big as Antonio Brown's fumble was, his decision to let a punt drop and roll twenty yards was also huge. It looked like we were going to have the ball around our own forty with a little over two minutes left and, instead, he let the ball roll to the twenty. That was big. Not sure why he is returning punts and not Rainey.
-Antonio Brown also ran out of bounds late to stop the clock and save a timeout for Dallas. Awful game for #84.
-You can't really complain about our D not getting turnovers. Can't remember the last season in which we actually produced takeaways. The current model of the LeBau D features no pass rush or turnovers.
-I think Ben was nervous about throwing those screen passes that resulted in bounce passes. There were defenders coming up on our receivers quickly. It didn't look like the plays were going to go anywhere even if they had been completed. And this only being one week removed from the San Diego lateral. It's just bad playcalling. Obviously the execution wasn't there, but if you're in charge of calling plays and you're asking your qb to do something he's not comfortable doing, that's bad playcalling. Haley sucks. Not sure why he's asking ben to make half of his throws horizontally rather than vertically. This isn't college ball.
-I've got a confession to make. I don't know who Victorian is. Not sure where he even came from. We're in deep trouble against the Bengals if Victorian and Golden are our starting corners.
-I would bring Plax back and let him attend Latrobe. In the Cleveland game, you could tell his legs weren't right. He wasn't in game shape. He hasn't played much since. But, yes, I would give him a look for next season for sure. Ben loves him. Whoops. Forgot that nobody on this board cares what Ben wants to feel comfortable operating this offense.
-Mendy is dead to this team (and that's a good thing). Tag him and bag him.
-Yes, you're right. Rainey can't run between the tackles. He goes down instantly upon the first hint of contact. That's why it's curious why Haley would use him on a delayed draw on third-and-five.
-Wallace sucks. He's gone as well. No way they pay him the contract he seeks. I've never in my life heard one of our own booed so loudly at our own stadium as Wallace was after failing to haul in a deep post pattern last Sunday against San Diego. He is hated in the Burgh. The Sunday nighter against Baltimore too when he failed to make an effort on a low throw.
-Polamalu is done. He has given us nothing in two years. Worse: he has been a liability on defense and a killer to our cap situation. Still, he's Troy Polamalu. I would give him next year to right his ship or set sail.
-Same goes for #92.
-You're right. Ike Taylor has become the least expendable player on our roster. We have approximately zero shut-down corners on our roster behind Ike. It seems we can trust Keenan to cover a team's #2, but we desperately need Ike back. We're in trouble against Cincinnati and A.J. Green.
-Suisham rocks.
-It's probably blasphemous, but I think Pouncey has kinda stunk this season.
-We're in trouble in the years to come. Polamalu, Harrison, Hampton, Keisel, Foote . . . all gone within the next year or two. And nobody to step in. Our recent drafts of Ziggy, Mendenhall, and Heyward are killing us. Who will replace Foote? Sylvester? Yikes. Can Worilds or Carter replace Harrison? Yikes. This feels like the 70s transitioning into the 80s. Woodley is Mike Merriweather and Timmons is David Little. Farrior was Lambert but he retired. Other than that, a bunch of mediocre defenders.

 

You're right. Woodley hasn't been playing up to the expectations. Someone close to me -a Dolphins fan- asked why they didn't give Worilds a shot yesterday. I'm starting to wonder if he's 100% healthy, but he's clearly not playing as he should.

 

I got to say I'm not sure Rainy has a place in this offense....he may have good timed speed, but his game speed isn't special enough for him to make plays that are going to help this offense.

 

we should wait one year and see , he has something

 

Yeah, I would give him one more year but I would definitely try others in the draft or free agency. He seems like another Stefan Logan. He can't take a hit and has sketchy ball security.

 

That's f...ing Lebeau rushing 3 fat, slow guys instead of blitzing hard every time. Everybody knows that if you pressure Romo he throws ints.