Not blaming Haley....YET!

But he has to do a better job on first and second down....I think only once or twice tonight were the Steelers in 3rd and short.....Its contantly 3rd and 8....3rd and 9.......and without Ben's 3rd down magic to save them....they were fighting uphill all night long.

Also time to get Rainey on the punt team at least until Brown is back.....Steelers started way to many drives inside their own 18....Sure some of those fair catches were needed...but I thought there was more than enough room a few times to try and make one guy miss.

HACK

 

Have you watched Raineys returns the last couple of games. He's either hurt or scared to get hurt. Where Is his speed and explosiveness?

 

I haven't watched them...because he is not getting any.


HACK

 

Not sure if it is Haley to blame here, but I don't know why both Ben and Byron throw to Will Johnson so much.

Its one thing if it is a simple screen pass or dump pass, but it seems he is targeted a lot of times where the difficulty of the catch is pretty high even for an above average receiver.

I'm not bustin on Johnson though, he rocks as a blocking fullback!!!!!

 

Well his KO returns are pathetic ,if that's any indicator.

 

Rainey has only been on punt return 3 times all year....If I were to guess I would think they want the veteran hands back there...but I just don't know.

I am not blaming Haley....but they need more north and south...and less east and west.....those bubble screen losses on first down...put us at 2nd and 14...then they run on second and its 3rd and 9......every play needs to be moving forward...even if its just a 2 or 3 yard gain.....ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK.

HACK

 

Yeah I mean Haley had his worst game this year no doubt. BUT Wallace COULD have gotten both feet in on that fade although that should've been a running play. Also Wallace COULD have caught that low ball near the end too. The thing that killed me about Haley tonight is that he wouldn't stick with the run. Also we were rotating backs like CRAZY! We need to make our minds up with who we are gonna use. I don't think when Haley created his playbook that he was doing it with 4 or 5 backs in mind!

 

and this is based on what?
2 for 36 against Balt?
1 for 23 against KC?
5 for 170 against NYG?


HACK

 

Youre right he was great against the giants. I guess since he got hurt in that game he has been very tentative and lacks any kind of burst. His whole game is his speed and if he isn't going to use it ,I'd go with anyone else. Did you see how J. Jones was hitting the seam hard. That's what I expect from Rainey.

 

Does anyone know if they have anyone in the booth that is watching how the opposing defense is lining up? I mean I like having the OC on the field calling plays and talking to the guys but this is the another game where some glaring things jump out at you or at least they did for me. Just like in the Raiders game the DE in this case Kruger was lining up way outside leaving a big gap between the DT and himself usually with the Lb playing way off and out of the gap and just like in the Raider game they were basically daring the Steelers to run that way and once again they didn't but rather kept running towards stacked line on the opposite end. There were several run plays were they were giving up the edge as well and again with the LB's playing way off the line. If Starks seals the edge adn colon blocks his man that would have left a clear five yard gain. Going back to the play Lefty got sacked on a draw would have destroyed the Ravens there since they basically left Dywer's side wide open had Lefty identified the overload blitz. I just feel liek they aren't seeing the whole field at times.

 

Can't hit the seam when you are riding the pine..

HACK

 

I'd say this was Haley's worst of the season. Still a massive upgrade over Arians, but he didn't help us out tonight. I especially hated that wheel-fade to Wallace on 3rd and 2. We took far too long to make an effort in the ground game, and once we started we were running the ball down their throats and they couldn't stop us. I know Wallace didn't get his foot down, but that's a low percentage play any way you look at it. The throw is very hard and we were lucky it was as good as it was. If we'd done a run with Mendy or Dwyer and the odds are what, 50-50? I was super cranky about that one.

 

Haley needed to run the ball more Leftwich was too inconsistent. That pass to Wallace in the endzone is more on the qb that's not a easy catch it's more about the pass.

 

Rainey hasn't been the same since he got hurt, looks scared to me?
Funny what 250 lb lb's will do for ya?

 

I totally agree with you. I think either he's afraid to get hit or he's still legitimately hurt. After seeing what Tomlin let Batch go through last night I wouldn't be surprised if he were really hurt.

 

He's getting a few and when he does he's running scared. Or that's what it looks like to me. I know he's not a big guy, but he scares me when he's back there. I don't know if I would use him for our punt or kick returns. He just seems like he is one hit away from coughing up the ball. I know everyone is, but you have to be able to take a hit on returns and hold on to the ball. Sanders looks like he almost gave up the ball as well on a few hits.

 

rainey is not big enough to hit the hole hard. He would get destroyed and the ball would definitely come out

 

I agree with you. I think the Raven's average starting position was the 30 or better (not to mention the TD) and our's was inside the 20, 90% of the time. With Lefty back there, that just is not going to cut it.

 

Sure amazes how Coach Blank Stare gets off the hook again from the adoring fans and someone else is to blame for the stupidity, inconstancy and lack of accountibility with another loss in a must win game not to mention the losses to teams that we should of have easily handled. You are seeing a team in decline, with a HC who has no idea how to solve the same inconsistancies we have seen under his watch. Take Coach Blank Stare away from the microphone and you have nothing more than a co ordinator.

 

Nothing drove me more crazy than two things offensively:

The 3rd and 1 where we threw down the field for 40 yards.

And the short situations were we tried to force a throw instead of pounding it with dwyer.

I don't understand those decisions.

Lots of offensive blame to go around for this one though, don't think I've forgotten you Wallace.

 

he was a wr before becoming a TE/FB at wvu. he can catch.

 

dwyer needs to get in better shape. thats most of the reason he's not a feature back. he can't stay in the game for more than 3 runs in a drive.

hack that was my concern since the first preseason game and this offense. to many 3rd downs we have to make. bens been on fire doing it, but we've been lucky for that to happen so much. i said they would have to limit that with lefty. they didn't. the line is still bad.