My thoughts on reg season wk 10

No argument from me about Rodgers play last night. AR was awful. But this is one bad game. AR has played well in every other game this season.

I'm not going to close the door on AR coming back in 2026 over one bad game. Let's see how the rest of the season plays out first.

What are the alternatives? Start Mason Rudolph? Start Will Howard? Start a rookie in his first season? Or start over with another washed up FA bum. None of those options sound appealing either.

 

Players can certainly have off games and yesterday was a terrible game for Rodgers but that’s now two stinkers in a row and the season is wearing on him. I certainly don’t expect things to get better on offense we are very limited in what we can do.

 

Right from the jump. You could see it in his eyes. He needs to go into his dark space and reflect.

Every QB is going to have a stinker. But this offense is majorly hinged on his performance. Hopefully he can rebound. But last night was concerning.

But lets not let the bloated overpaid defense off the hook either. Without the turnovers they are a shell.

 

I get that you will warp reality to favor Rudolph at any opportunity, but if Rodgers is done, so is the Steelers’ season. At that point, you find out what the young quarterback can do. You don’t waste snaps on a guy who has proven he is nothing more than a backup like Rudolph.

 

You are right on point. They won’t remove Rodgers until they are eliminated from the playoffs so at that point you are not bringing in Mason to try and save a season. You know what you have in him you need to see if Howard has anything.

 

The steelers need a true rebuilding with a new coaching staff and front office.This is what they need.Can't expect a rookie QB to save this team because I don't think he would be in a good situation with a sorry coaching staff and a old roster!

 

They made there bed. Now what? If it keeps going down for Rodgers he is going to sail away.

And at this point there isn't a QB worth a 1st rounder.

Bags Tomlin is to blame here.

Until this joke of archaic thinking is gone the future is dim. Rinse and Repeat.

Bags says for 2026 "Um, we don't need no stinkin Quarterback, we will run the Wildcat" I'm zigging while everyone else is zagging

 

I recall a certain HOF O-lineman complaining about this "20 yr old little kid" having to start...
Hmmm........ how did that work out????

 

they were manhandled. that had nothing to do with coaching. i'd clean house across the board including the coach.

 

Ben is not the norm....He was amazing but he was also in a much better situation with a better coaching staff....Cowher was always at a QB away to win the big one!

 

I wouldn't call the Colts game a stinker. This offense will not improve with Mason at the helm. It will get worse. I highly doubt Will Howard is even considered a remote possibility by anyone other than fans.

 

It's the norm in today's NFL...... throughout the league rookie qb's are making teams look better than what they really are.... Washington's issues are rearing their ugly head without Jayden Daniels to cover for them.... without Jaxson Dart, the giants would be contending for the #1 pick..... where would the Patriots be without Drake Maye???
Ben was the exception "back in the day".,..... Dan Marino was the exception "back in the day"....
In this day and age, qb's are hitting the ground running

 

And as that 20 year old kid got older, how many times did fans call for his job after having an off game?

 

Watt has been chipped blocked way more than any other defensive player in the NFL. There are always two guys assigned to block him on the pass rush.

 

I couldn't remember where I saw that stat. Thanks. I don't know if moving him around would make a difference. But they have to try something.

 

I'd be happy to see what Mason could do, since he saved the season the last time we saw him here. Same as then, we were all questioning everyone and everything. Then, all of a sudden, Pickens looked great (should have kept him) and the line magically gelled and life was good--all the way to 24-17 in the fourth quarter at Buffalo in the playoffs (after which defense collapsed). Better than hoping for Rodgers to be re-invigorated. And Rudolph's time began in Pitt versus the Bengals the last time.....wasn't his first pass an 80-yard TD to Pickens? It was like pent-up pressure being released. We need some spark like that.

 

True, but it's still important to put a young QB in a good situation, and right now the Steelers aren't in a good situation.Of course, that could change if the Steelers make major changes to their roster, coaching staff, etc., but they have work to do.

As for Daniels, he was amazing last year, but this year injuries to their receivers and himself have ruined their season big time. Mayes is great this year and deserves a lot of credit for that, but I don't think he would have had the same season this year if he had been in the same situation as he was in his rookie season.

Dart is great when he plays, but he also struggles to finish games since he's already been evaluated for concussions four times this year.

In the end, it's very possible for a young QB to be successful, but being in a good situation matters big time, and I can't trust Mike Tomlin on that, especially since he thought the Steelers were fine with Matt Canada as offensive coordinator for way too long.

 

I turned off the TV and went to bed after we couldn't convert the 4th down in the red zone at beginning of 4th quarter. Sad thing is... I fell asleep fast and slept good. In the past, I would either be so hyped after a win, or pissed off after a loss... it would take an hour or two, to fall asleep. I had low expectations for this season... and I was right to do so.

 

I think.... the defense played well enough for us to have won this game.


The offense never found rhythm. I don't know if it was something the Chargers defense was doing or not doing, but ARod looked completely off the whole game. Like his head was somewhere else. He missed throws, ran into sacks, he looked like a rookie out there.

 

You really could.

 

I don't think Tomlin has the balls to bench AR. Maybe when we are completely eliminated from any playoff chances or loose the AFC north.

 

Well.... where to start? I dunno. The OP hit on the basic points well.

I actually flew to the west coast and went to the game even though anything LA or California in general fills me with the urge to puke.
The place reminds me of a fire ant hill, there's just too many people and most are nuts.
I miss San Deigo.
I managed to endure due my buddy having first class credentials and piggybacked this old timer for old times sake.

If you read anything I post, you know I am a fan of Herbert and Harbaugh and the work he's done to right so many wrongs.
I just didn't want them to be right yesterday.
It is tough to not recognized the coaching work that was done there as the Chargers were prepared top-down. They came out of the tunnel ready.
Herbert is one of the top-tier QB's and he can make you pay if you are not prepared.
The Charger's defense was really fired up.

RE: Pittsburgh.
After watching all the crap teams pull off victories yesterday, the smell of a beat down was thick in the air, and the Steelers did not disappoint.
They weren't ready at all.

The Steelers offense couldn't move the ball at all despite some inspiring runs by Jaylen Warren.
Warren produced some runs all on his own as the offensive line did not block anyone, they barely got in the way of anyone.
The Chargers found ways to get to the QB by looking at our OL tendencies, they run the defender deep into the pocket and basically stop and the defender could just roll down and meet Rogers at he stepped up.
Rogers did not help matters much. He became flustered and remained so the entire game. This is very unlike him.
Because of pressure he missed 3 blown coverages for sure, you could see that he saw Metcalf blow his guy away but Rogers had to scamper and had to throw late and/or off balance.
This doesn't excuse Rogers performance, as mentioned he was flustered from start to finish.
It never got better.

The post game comments, I don't need to go to... it's all here on this board. I appreciate Rogers bluntness but we chose to run a 41-year-old QB out there.
The blame is from top-down in this organization.

Other thoughts.

Officiating - They sucked across the board, but we should never be in the position to blame them. I saw some calls from game where even with the benefit of instantly replay, they still blew it. That is a vocational risk when you play this game, there will be bad calls.

Our offense.
Our front office ought to be slapped in the face. It was so obvious and even Chargers defenders mentioned, there's is such a deep decline in talent after Metcalf. I'd argue that Austin is fluttering around serviceable.
I like the TE's but we are not using them to our advantage at all. Washington is a freak and that's the guy we need to keep. We are not utilizing Smith at all. He is a TE that needs to be on the field and he adjusts to the defense... use him as a WR, he has the possession speed. Pat is Pat.... he always has had the abilities, but he does disappear.

Our Oline played the worst game to date. There's no need to beat them up more, they know they were disgusting.

Our front 7 played maybe the best. The Chargers were not going to let TJ disrupt the game, they doubled him often and chipped him to boot.. Hightower looked like he was going to pick up the slack but never really did. Our inside LB's were overmatched.

CB is a problem.
James Pierre was in Washington when I was there, I saw him develop into a serviceable CB but the problem I see here is that I have no idea what sort of coverages the Steelers want to mix or play.. the schema is erratic to say the least. I think Pittsburgh would need Revis and Darrell Green at their peak to operate in that design.
This is an area that with the poor production and injury, I am pretty sure a move to get help could have been done.

Safety is the best spot on this team but if the play comes to them, it is often too late. Ramsey and Dugger are a really good combo.

Overall, this team is not Coached, nor built to take on the next level of competition. It is the 2nd oldest team and last night it really was on display.
I would think, the organization would have to see that at the very least, they must do some rebuilding and make some serious purges.
Talent like Benton and Harmon and some others are something you can build on.

The ridiculousness starts at:
WR - This was completely stupid and negligent. If you were counting on the Wilson's and Austins, you need to bring in stiff competition and the winners of that only help.
QB - It's a tough spot to fill. But this is the 120,000lb gorilla in the room. Rogers has given light to what a competent QB can do, even at 41 and probably 50%, he's like years ahead of Wilson, Fields, and Tribusky.
Oline - They really need to keep building in the trenches...
Defense - even though some salaries drive up the value, they absolutely have to allocate better.