Hodges

The QB is the one that played with the cautious approach. That's kind of expected until he gains experience. The coaches give the QB options. The QB decides where to go with the ball. It's on film. Take a look.

What made the decision correct is they got points under the circumstances. Would you agree if the team got no points playing the high risk approach with a young QB? I don't think that anyone would agree with zero points in a tightly contested game.

They can't score points because the QB is struggling to extend drives on 3rd down. The coaches attempt to give a young QB manageable 3rd down situations. I expect young QB 3rd down % to improve as he gains experience. Expecting young Mason to sling it all over the field at this point is unrealistic.

If a young QB is struggling on 3rd down what makes you believe he will make a tight throw, under pressure for a TD in the red zone? He will more than likely make a mistake that results in zero points.

 

You may choose to be fearful of scoring 0 points. I’m choosing to have a chance at scoring 6. I guess you agree on protecting our young QB by running wildcat on 2nd and 1, for a loss of 5 yds instead of putting the ball in the hands of our young QB because your fearful he may make a mistake. How many FGs have we settled for? What has been the margin of our losses? We’re losing close games by being conservative in our play calling. It’s on film , take a look

He may have certain options but I guarantee they are limited by the situation because they are playing not to lose. There are plenty of opinions that align with mine as far as mismanaging the clock. Plenty of people are criticizing their conservative approach especially in the RZ. 5 TOs against SF and settling was a big reason we lost. You’re entitled to your opinions and I’ll stand by mine.

 

That 5 yard loss on second and one was maybe the worst call of the day. I have seen the Steelers not only this year but in years past always try and get cute on second and one. Every down is important, don't fool around. Slam it into the line and get that yard and keep the chains moving.

 

Most definitely...load it up and get that one yard. Hell, Brady calls his own number on those and he gets it!

 

I'm not fearful of anything. Its not my job on the line. They made an intelligent decision to save a timeout in case things went wrong.

They took one shot at scoring 6 with the time they had.

I don't agree or disagree with the call to run the wild cat. They thought they could have more success with the wildcat. Ever play call isn't going to be successful because the other guys get paid too. Debating over individual play calls is kind of stupid. Id run the ball on 2nd and 1. I formation, wildcat, shotgun run, whatever or go play action.

I took a look at the film. The play calls were not always conservative.

Again again and again the offense hasn't been good on 3rd down. That's having a net negative effect on the entire team. That starts with the play of the QB on 3rd down. 3rd down is where QBs earn a large portion of their money.

As a result, the offense stalled and can't get into any kind of a rythm to score more points. Again they haven't been good on 3rd down. As a result they can't sustain drives. That's not an opionion but fact.

 

As bad as that call was, the worst of the day (imo) was letting a RB play QB inside your own 20 yard line.

 

Do you think not being good on 3rd down could have something to do with the play calling?

 

At times but it generally boils down to execution by the players. Fans love to blame play calling. Rarely do fans like to focus on the most important part of the game which is execution.

 

Seriously? Hodges came in cold and moved the offense. He was more effective than Rudolph and Rudolph was more effective than Ben. Our young qb's aren't the problem. It is our all-pro offensive line and terrible coaching that are to blame for our offensive woes.

 

Nah man it’s all execution. See that brick wall over there. Run through it....oh you can’t! Try harder c’mon execute better. Don’t worry though I’ve been told it’s stupid to argue over individual play calls. Even though I think it’s pretty safe to assume handing the ball off to your RB on 2nd and 1 instead of the wildcat is the higher % play. Especially with the threat of your RB not being stupid enough to throw the ball like they did inside their 10 earlier.

 

What a novel idea that’s lost on some. They should of called a triple reverse and then just blamed it on player execution.

 

I don't think there is any doubt about that. It just put Samuels in a position where he was far too likely to make a critical error. It was a stupid risk for a play that probably wouldn't have netted that much anyway.

 

Sometimes I think being thrown in quickly gives that player an advantage. Opposing team has no real tape or game-plan vs him.

If Hodges starts Sunday I think it will be extremely ugly. Possibly shut out ugly. I will say the kid threw a decent looking ball however. Steelers just have 0 playmakers and Diego will have tape on him.

 

Randy Fitchner aka Bens yes man is possibly worst than Butler. Now that’s saying something!

 

I know we ain't going anywhere but I'm looking forward to see how he does Sunday Night.

 

I do believe it is going to be tougher for Hodges Sunday than it was against the Ravens. The Chargers will actually watch some game film on him, which I'm sure the Ravens didn't bother to do. They may see some tendencies they can defend and they will be ready for a more mobile quarterback than Rudolph.

Hopefully a week to game plan around him and work with the first-team offense will help balance that out a little, but having to start him at quarterback is the main reason the Steelers are significant underdogs.

 

Looks like the net gain would have been at max 7 yards...

You ran a HB pass out of the wildcat inside your 20 for a possible 7 yards....

 

NO, Apparently when they game plan around someone they come out with garbage until they decide to open it up!

Come out with your best stuff and let it fly. You're making mistakes early anyway with trying to play it safe. Might as well make them wide open and let the chips fall where they fall!

It's becoming apparent these guys don't know how to manage a young QB in this era. You can't handcuff them and expect to win games anymore. This isn't the 70's 80's or 90's!

 

I concur with the first part of this. Everyone loves the backup and wants him to play except when he has to play.

No doubt as you said, Hodges benefited from the situation. No one really knows much about this guy so given that there is no real book on him yet AND the fact that you just saw your QB get knocked out on an illegal hit, that has a tendency to fire up the troops.

I am not down on Hodges. He could be the steal of the century, we don't know. He appears from what I have seen in preseason and last week that he has some tools. Time will tell.

I am also not of the camp that sees a shoutout. We might score on defense. Rivers does throw some picks and you never know. Apart from that, if the defense can give us some good field position, Hodges could do well. In the old school days, once the starter went down you were pretty much relegated to run the ball and the 1976 season is a good example of that when Bradshaw went down for a long time, but I also realize that it is not 1976 and we do not have the greatest defense in NFL history to rely on.

FWIW, it will be interesting to see him play from the start. He had a decent preseason and I'm not that worried about him starting.

Like I said a couple of weeks ago, this season is over in the sense of no playoffs. What I am looking for over the next weeks is developing the young players to see who can actually play.

rutan

 

He has "it". Doesn't have that look of fear that I see in all of them.
You can't teach that and he's tough. He's not a big guy ut he can sling it too.
Only going to get better.

 

Like others said he’s not afraid to sling it. Gonna get some picks but should be fun to watch in a disaster season

 

I gotta go make a Devlin

 

This is for the believers. The Duck era has begun!