2nd Half of Charges Game

I did not get to see the game due to work but was getting updates on my phone. In the 2nd half we only scored a FG, did we start to falter, change game plan, or did the Charges get better? I hate when we don't keep driving on teams and score more.

 

we turtled on offense, then factor in injuries and fatigue from offense turtling and they drove the ball with ease. nothing new

 

In the second half, we started to get conservative. And, If I remember correctly, Connor went out with a thigh injury and never returned so Duck didn't have his go to RB even in passing situations.

Chargers did finally start to move the ball and once they got a TD, their intensity picked up.

For us, on defense, we had lost Tuitt, and Watt, and even lost Haden. We couldn't put as much pressure on Rivers, so he had time to make completions in the 4th qtr.

Luckily it took the Chargers time to finally score their last TD, and we got the ball back w/ under 2 minutes, and after the Chargers used all their TOs, the Chargers didnt get the ball back until around 1 minute left at their own 1 yd line.

 

We were knocking on the door. Pouncey rolled a snap, and Duck was great to recover it and throw it away.
Totally on Pouncey and not Duck.

Game should of went to 31-0.
Then they tried to throw when they should of just ran it to kill some time, and Duck kind of forced one to Holton.

Then it went to stupid prevent, and every one though covering Hunter Henry was optional.
Then Rivers wasn't getting pressured and he was making throws.

 

The refs stopped calling holding on the Chargers' offensive line. That O-Line was still holding. Steelers rushers weren't able to get to Rivers like they were in the first half.

I'm probably being biased, but I feel the refs took an aspect of the Steelers game away. The secondary looked pretty good though. They took the ball away on the Chargers final offensive series.

 

At least 3 interceptions were dropped by our defense that would have sealed the game a lot earlier.

 

The players and the coaches lost focus.

Blown coverages , bad snaps, stupid penalties, even Bush missed a couple tackles and picked up a bad flag. (IMO Bush needed to be taken out of the game and talked to. - He lost focus and it was obvious) This was a classic Mike Tomlin coached team. We started to celebrate our easy victory in the 3rd quarter. Against a good team we lose.

To make matters worse seemed like the coaches also lost focus. The play calling got sloppy as well. Even when we win big this team can't finish cleanly.

Also lets not forget the first half was not all our doing... the Chargers backwards pass that resulted in a TD was a laughable gift. Then the Chargers pulled a Tomlin moment by kicking a FG down 24-0 on 3rd and 1. Did anyone doubt they could not pick up a 1st down there? It wasn't like our offense was killing them.

The victory IMO goes to our 1st half defense and our running game in the first half. The chargers figured out how to stop our running game in the 2nd half - we just couldn't open things up with the pass. IMO our WR's look horrible and are the root of most of our offensive issues. JuJu has clearly taken a step backwards and until someone can step up and become a dependable target JuJu will be a problem.

 

Probably worth mentioning last couple years our corners would never have put them selves in position to drop the balls. lol There were a couple nice moves by the corners to step up for the pick. Yea they should have caught them but still nice plays none the less.

If we start catching those INT's and capitalizing on the sacks...we could have a top 3 defense all of a sudden. Until then we are still a mistake prone young defense that will get destroyed in the middle by good QB's w/ good pass protection.

 

I think what we saw last night besides playing a pretty bad Chargers team was the O and D playing complementary football that I spoke about before the season started. They even mentioned it last night. Usually it’s one unit showing up and the other doesn’t. Last night we played as a team on both sides. Now if only STs would do their part. Boz was money. Berry was very good. We need more from our return game when the chances are available.

 

Connor had gotten thrown to the ground and was hurting bad.
He was getting medical attention on his ribs-back.

So at the goal line, Steelers used the hurt Connor twice to try and punch it in.
Mistake.

Should have used the mean attitude, hard running, healthy Snell.

 

Thanks, sounds like Conner can't stay healthy for a game

 

To the OP: "CHARGES"??? Once is a simple typo, but twice is confusing your Visa Card with a football team. (I know, I know, auto spell correct is the culprit and will ruin modern civilization faster than the Kardashian clan.)

 

The standard is the standard and we don’t live in our fears until it’s not and we do.

 

Agree but I believe Switzer running safely out of bounds on a KO after a late Charger TD and then Sutton nabbing that knuckling perfect onside kick redeemed the Special Team play for this week IMHO. Yes there isn't much in the way of return yards but no fumbles either or bone head letting the Free Kick sit uncontested on the turf like a few years ago. I wonder if Sutton can return kicks? He certainly seems to have "sure hands" based on his INT and onside recovery yesterday.

 

True. I guess beggars can’t be choosy. Sutton returned punts in college but they’re not gonna risk him because he’s playing well. Plus Tomlin don’t like defensive guys on returns. Probably not gonna be a big deal this year based on how it’s going so far but when we do become actual contenders again STs will need to be improved especially the returns. Sometimes the difference in games is field position and hidden yardage.

 

Agree 100%. It's a good thing Tomlin didn't coach when Rod Woodson played for the home town team. One of the better return men in that era.