Mike Mitchell

I wanted to start a thread for Mike Mitchell. I truly believe that he is the most improved player on the team (possible exception to a healthy Tuitt) and also one of the main reasons why our defense has taken such a positive turn this season. Who would've thought that before the season started?

His stats are 43 tackles (34 solo), 2 int and a FF, but that doesn't show the full extent of his impact since his big hits have not only broken up a few passes, but they've probably caused some drops here and there as well. His impact plays have all been timely too. They also have all occurred on our own side of the field. Both int's were in the 4th quarter (Cincy and Ariz), and his forced fumble kept us from giving up points against Oakland after a Ben interception (although in 3rd quarter). He also forced a fumble week 1 on Dion Lewis that was eventually recovered by NE. I will admit though that Mitchell isn't the only Steeler to make a timely impact defensive play in our own zone.

I know he is someone that we all piled on last year, but it is hard to refute the impact he has made for our defense so far this year. I'm sure I'm in the minority here but he is quickly becoming one of my favorite Steelers. Anyway, I just wanted to give some props where they were due.

 

He looks good. I think he's learned how to hit hard legally. He's never going to be great in coverage but last year it just seemed like he got huge personal fouls every game. He's knocking people out cleanly this year.

 

Very similar to Ryan Clark so far ....struggled his first year and is now showing great improvement and laying the lumber. Now if only we can get a pass rush from our front seven so we can stop blitzing him and keep him back there as a intimidator.

 

I say keep timmons on the line on 3rd and long and maybe send shazier out in coverage with te or rb. These defensive schemes are killing me.

 

It would be nice if he didn't celebrate after every big hit, after he caused the fumble on Murray he didn't even know the ball was on the ground.

 

It's obvious that Mitchell was injured last season which greatly hindered his performance.

So, with Mitchell stepping it up this year and D-Will killing it, is KC smart again?

 

Thank you Mrs Mitchell .. lol

Just kidding.. I totally agree with your assessment of #23

 

This. I like the improved play, for sure, but he needs to drop all of the celebrating. He even yaps when the receiver holds on for a first down. There's a time and place... And it's not every time you make a hit.

 

Cheap these coaches need to drill the don't celebrate thing into their heads. nix came up fist pumping with the ball on the turf as well. I get it, hooray and all but play to the whistle plenty of time to back oat after the play... Stay heady man!!!

 

Stop the celebrating and he's great

 

Nix didn't either when he caused a fumble. A lot of the time the player causing the fumble has no clue the ball is out.

 

Well my favorite is Bell. He's from Columbus and he's awesome, so I gotta rep my city. Next is Ben and AB, followed by my buckeyes Heyward and Shazier (in that order). He falls in there with Timmons, Marty, and Deebo (37 year old Deebo, not prime shape Deebo) in some order.

So it looks like my list of "favorites" is fairly long... I guess I didn't say 'favorite', just one of my favorites haha

 

They have a pass rush. Unfortunately other teams do scheme for said pass rush. This is what happened against the Raiders. They have a solid line. Although Tuitt was back he showed some hobble. They were bringing the heat but solid play by their line. It happens. Having said that that's when you need the secondary to step up. This is the weakness. I have been critical of Mitchell although liked the signing. He in this one game has sent a message to all 31 teams. I'm here and i'm gonna crush you. I like it. Intimidation. But that doesn't mask the fact the secondary exposed is the weak link.

 

He was never the issue last year... But Steelers fans loved blaming him. It was his first year with Troy who isn't conventional and is all over the place.

 

My question with how porous the secondary has been at different times, are the coaches willing to mix it up and give other guys a shot to play? Some of those blown coverages were just inexcusable. How do you let Amari Cooper run open by himself? I am not suggesting anyone on the bench is better, I just would like to see Grant and Boykin get a chance to see if they can do better.

Our secondary needs to be addressed this off-season, either through free agency and/or the draft.

 

Yep he is making some good hits ,but is still a liability in coverage . If we had a good Coverage Safety or Good Coverage CB'S then Mike might have a great future here ...

 

That's not quite true. While I take your point that Troy was out of place, and Mitchell was also learning the system, my criticism for him was a) taking bad angles when closing down players, b) seeming to duck out of hits, or taking a bad angle on the tackle itself, or c) giving away dumb penalties for things like tackling a guy when he was walking back to the huddle.*

*He didn't do this. But he wasn't far off.

I've been pleased with where Mitchell's got to. I'm still reserving judgement a bit - his instincts are not yet at the same level as Clark's were, and he still makes dumb mistakes. But he's certainly improved.

 

Addressed that's a huge under statement . We have the worse Defensive Backfield in the entire NFL. Mike, Gay,and Cockrell are the only 3 that should even be on the Team ...Mike should be the thumping Safety so we need to draft a Hawk to pair with him...
Gay should be in the slot and in the slot only so we need a #1 outside guy to keep him in the slot . Cockrell is a good outside guy ,but not good enough for #1 or #2 WR's he needs to be paired with the #3 WR'S in multiple WR sets...So need another true outside CB to pair him with..

Needed-2 Starting CB'S and a starting Safety not even counting depth...

 

Idk that I totally agree. Gay can play and be effective wherever he wants. Ideally we would have better CB's so he could stay in the slot, but he is certainly good enough to be outside. Cockrell is young and is playing his first year in Pittsburgh. It's not totally out of the equation that he ends up being a solid number 2 corner for us. He has done pretty well so far.

I'm sure the hope is that Golson can be our starting nickel back with Gay and Cockrell outside next year. That would be a pretty good group if Golson pans out. Blake will surely be back as a backup since he knows the system really well and the team seems to like him. Cortez is gone. So, idk if it will be via FA or through the draft, but I think we will add another corner. I don't think we are in dire need of 2 starting corners.

We definitely need a starting SS tho. For sure. I'm pretty sure we are going to be headed that route in the first round of the draft. Allen will be gone, and Golden has shown this year that he is worthy of the 3rd S spot. Maybe they keep Shamarko for depth another year, maybe not. I don't really think it matters with him. We can easily find another guy who can be the last safety and play some ST's. Maybe they try to turn Grant into a safety. Who knows. Either way we need a starter and probably another depth guy.

 

Oh My God right?? I was freaking out. He is too busy celebrating while the freaking ball is on the ground. My biggest issue with him, by far. He hits hard and I definitely see a resemblance to Ryan Clark.

 

I question his football IQ, did he not know the rule? It's like a receiver that drags the foot, if he knew the rule, you think maybe he intentionally taps his feet to ensure he is in before touching the ball. The only other player there was Dupree, so he had time.

 

Another defensive player in the same game did the same thing as Mike. Do not remember who it was but he was running around celebrating while the ball was out

 

Yep. He had to know he was out of bounds, and if he had just left it to Dupree, then different story.

His decisions in the heat of the moment are questionable, shall we say. When he has a bit more time, we tend to see the big hits coming from him