My thoughts on preseason wk 1

This.


Not just Special Teams but the Offensive Line as well. That said, Troy Fautanu has been a penalty machine all Training Camp. Hopefully he can lock in.

 

I think the cap savings for Mason would be $3M

 

Once I figure out how to get rid of this hangover Im going to have a beer and watch the recording of the game

Hmm a thought just arrived

 

I hope he is right

 

My biggest concern for McCarthy



Maybe this is a cowboys thing,since the cowboys was once again high in penalties last season but this is something to watch....

 

Everybody take a deep breath
Relax
This was a preseason game
Vanilla Ds
Players who aren’t going to be playing in the NFL
I am in no way saying or celebrating Mason in anyway
But
There is absolutely no way with a sane mind do you get rid of him
Esp with 2 rookie qbs behind him
Allar and Howard looked good
But let’s try and keep this in perspective
Allar played against practice squad
To make an impulsive decision to get rid of a vet qb , even tho he is a career backup, is not wise
Saying all this, was a good start for our young QBs! Used the MOF more last night than in the past 10 years!
Let’s go Steelers!
Welcome to the Burgh MM

 

Hair of the dog
Best cure for hangover

 

Best part of football returning
Your insightful analysis of each game!

 

Admittedly I only just watched some Allar hightlights and it seemed he is staring at his receivers and several throws off back foot. Former will lead to picks and the latter I think hie knows his arm strength.

 

QBs.

Rudolph looked like Rudolph. He had a solid game, but is more than capable of following that up with a WTH? game.

Howard and Allar were both good. Allar was was the better of the 2 IMO. His passes had a lot more zip on them. He seemed a lot smoother as well. The one area I give the edge to Howard on is the deep ball. I felt like he had a better touch than Allar did on those throws.

It was only the first preseason game, so I know that it was essentially a practice game with a tiny bit more importance.....but if I had to make a decision today, I would be fine with trading Rudolph and going Rodgers/Allar/Howard.

And on a side note........if you told me that Allar was 14, I would believe you. Guy looks like he should be in the stands watching his first live Steelers game with his dad rather than be the QB in that game......lol



Kaleb Johnson is not making the team. A very disappointing 3rd round draft pick. Had high hopes for him.

We look like we have possibly gone from one of the worst WR groups in the league to a very good group. We did not even see the big names play today and I it already looked better than it has in many years.

The middle of the field! Football is an entirely different game when you incorporate the 70% of the field you rarely used into your game plan.

The defense is solid. I wonder if this will affect the contract negotiations with Joey Porter. Currently on the PUP due to a back injury and a bunch of other guys just stepped up. If his injury is something that might be an ongoing problem, he could lose some money. I can see a future where the money moves from being 63.1% on defense to something a bit more balanced under McCarthy.

 

Allar is a baller compared to Howard who already looks like a career backup. He looked lost when he started and was constantly rolling to the right while the WRs went left. He was too nervous instead of just going out and playing. Allar was more entertaining to watch even though it was our scrubs against theirs.

 

Cook too looked pretty bad. The O-line is still my biggest worry. I just hope they can begin to gel as the season progresses.

 

It's unfortunate so to speak that we have three backup quarterbacks who should be starting in the league and one or two of them will be on the street with the released garbage talent from other teams.

I thought Mason looked great, showed grit to come back and lead drives from tough spots. It's about making good decision under duress and playing with grit. I thought the offensive line played poorly, there was ton of pressure allowed in the first half, and run blocking wasn't good either.
Howard also showed some grit. Those are the two guys imo that can lead us to Superbowl.
Allar looked great, but he faced 3rds and 4ths, quick decision, pitch and catch, he wasn't in the tough spot. I am more apt to rely on his college production than the last night's performance.

I like both Nichols and Homer as the backups.
Assante Samuel shined. Defense played well.

McCarthy is the clear winner so far. So many fans did not want him to become our head coach.

 

It's a Dallas thing. Check GB when MM was coach. Better than the Steelers in some seasons but mostly middle of the pack.

 

Then again, Mason's "performance" against such is sub-par and barely watchable the the reference to experience needs a big grain of SALT.

 

I didn't see that "Sub-Par" stuff at all last night. Mason looked like a Pro last night, ready to be the Steelers backup. I will not be surprised at all if Mason doesn't get another snap this preseason. The coaching staff should now know exactly what Mason brings to the table; he is not going to get any better playing in the preseason.


I still think Howard will get the start in Game 2, and then Allar gets the start in Game 3

 

The Titans were lousy because their QB's were lousy. Outside of a couple games at the end of the 2023 season, Mason has looked pretty lousy for us as well.

Mason is fine enough if we give him easy throws (or predetermined deep balls), but he REALLY struggles with his pocket presence. He's going to get his arm hit, hand hit, take additional sacks, and be off balance because he didn't shuffle in the pocket. Both Allar and Howard looked immensely better in the pocket than Mason ever has in that regard. Again, its one game... but If Howard and Allar look somewhat as good as they did yesterday, then we just don't need Mason. He won't be a big enough upgrade over either of them to risk cutting one of the young guys.

 

I think some don't understand what a backup Qb is.
Very few backups in the NFL are kept as future starters, they are merely backups to keep you around 500, Mason is the only Qb besides Rodgers on the team we know for a definite fact can do that.

 

I was definitely impressed with Allar, and not very impressed with Howard which is strange because I was expecting the total opposite.
Howard's arm is clearly the weakest on the whole team, and it was easy to see. It doesn't mean everything, but it definitely mean something.

 

Agree, but its too early to tell yet.

 

I think you need to watch that preseason game again.
Mason was going through his progressions, and Howard was a two read , and throw, and I didn't realize how weak Howard's arm was until I seen it against Mason, and Allar

 

Cook is a decent backup and two good games last year doesn’t change that

 

Done

 

Here is a short but true story
When I was in the military I was a cook than promoted to the storeroom
Storeroom I ordered all the food for our menus
I had keys to all the freezers
In short, when I came to work hungover
Straight to the freezer I went
Worked for me

 

I'm not worried about Mason going through his progressions. Guys that are his age that can't make it through his progressions aren't still in the NFL. He can do that. He's accurate enough, has a quality enough arm, and knows the offense. However, his inability to keep himself clean and step out of pressure effectively have always been a huge issue for him (and it continued last night). He's a statue and he very rarely moves laterally or up in the pocket to buy himself a little more time. It is the #1 reason why he was never seriously considered by anyone in the NFL as a starting QB.

Mason is the same guy he's been. I want to see Howard and Allar work against the #1's the rest of the preseason. If they both look like they did last night against the better competition, then there's no reason to keep Mason around. We would be keeping players we expect to be BETTER than Mason in that instance. We let Rudolph go once and he found his way back instantly. If we cut him loose and want him back in a year or two, he will be available again.