My thoughts on reg season wk 15

Rodgers accuracy was top box and coaching staff gets credit for play calling and scheme for the O. Good game plan for the D with focus on stopping the run. A lot of pressure on Tua causing the 4 sacks and INT. With Watt not on the field, the coaching staff are forced to change the scheme from the tired old TJ outside speed rush from the left followed by spin move to the inside.

Never mind the fact that TJ has lost a step and is injured too much, this is another reason why TJ should not have gotten the new contract, because it forces the D coaching staff to actually scheme and game plan. We have enough talent on the D front and LBers without TJ to succeed with the right scheme that isn't lazily relying on a one trick pony. We just saw what this D can do without TJ and coaches who aren't sleeping on the sideline.

 

No doubt...and while Rodgers watching cracks me up, seems silly to do the play 10 vs 11.

 

They did. Zero sense of urgency.

 

2025

 

Ok. So here is where my dumb brain kicks in....I did not see the Steelers doing anything different this game in terms of approach or "scheme". But everyone is on here today congratulating coaches.

Other than going for it on 4th downs...I didn't see anything different. I just saw Steelers players actually executing and producing results. Examples include Rodgers actually throwing something besides a checkdown, the OL opening holes, and the LBs getting off blocks and staying in their rush lanes.

Also, I think we saw the Dolphins give up in real time.

All that being said...maybe I can learn something....what was the coaching that was different? Did the Steelers play different coverage schemes, did the OL block using a different approach? Did the DL play the run under a different alignment? Because my untrained eye did not catch anything that stood out as different...

 

Arthur Smith called a good game that's part of coaching and they held the Dolphins to 63 yards rushing despite missing starters on defense.

 

The tiebreaker between 2 teams in the same division after the head to head and division record is the common game and the ravens would the edge on that

 

They had 3-4 pass in the middle of the field of over 10 yards who was different too....And yes the fact that Tomlln has been on fourth down 3 times in the first half is major since this is so rare it happens...In fact it was the first time it happpened in the Tomlin era and this is a big deal

 

This x 1,000. The best defenses currently in the NFL don't have any major super stars... other than Surtain on Broncos. Broncos, Rams and Texans defenses play well as a unit, not relying on one or two players.

 

Trai Essex was just singing his praises they other day and said he had created the most consistent unit on the team. Once again I have to ask why anyone would take Essex's opinion on the coaching and group as he was barely a depth guy his whole career.

 

They also force the opposing QB to hold the ball very long for once too who was the bigger surprise for me...Maybe they finaly adjusting to the quick pass!

 

They can. The Patriots are very good, but they way the Bills rallied past them gave me reason for concern. The Packers are a MASH unit. They are down two starting offensive linemen, their stud tight end, and Micah Parsons. The Ravens aren't getting anywhere near the team that beat the Steelers.

 

I remember seeing a statistic during the Ravens game showing that their numbers against quick passes are actually pretty good.

 

All of these examples are results. On the field outcomes. That is execution in my mind. Coaching is process. What led up to the results.

I saw the same plays and formations that have been there all season...just this game the players executed and the outcome was different. What am I missing?

 

Not sure about that

 

Give Omar Khan some credit for last night, too. He made the trade for Dugger that helped stabilize the secondary. He signed Samuel, who stepped in with a huge interception and a solid overall effort in his first star with the team.

 

If you look at the teams that have the most successful tush push the player who gets the snap identifies the best gap to try before the snap. Most of the time last night Heyward took the ball and dove forward. The TD play looked like he decided to slash it to the right and forward.

 

Look at Rodgers' passing chart against the Bills compared to last night.

It's not just that he completed passes in the middle of the field... it's also that he attempted those passes, and that's the point. Too often, the Steelers ignore the middle of the field beyond 10 yards, but that wasn't the case yesterday. He and the steelers were playing to win.Like for the touchdown to DK, I don't think Rodgers would have attempted that pass two weeks ago.

 

What?

Do you mean that you just don't know their players?

The Texans are starting two players taken at #3 overall in the draft. And multiple players taken in the first 3 rounds. Andersen is one of the premier pass rushers in the league
For the Rams, Fiske and Verse are well on their way to being defensive stars. Both drafted high.

The Broncos do seem to be a more than the sum of their parts unit.

 

And, for me, I think the INCORRECT assumption is that those plays/passes were not being called. Based on evidence scattered around the internet, I believe those routes were being called and Rodgers was turning them down and choosing to go elsewhere with the ball. For instance, Aikman pointed one out last night. Theilen was NFL open down the seam and Rodgers chose to check to the RB. Rodgers was simply more aggressive. For me, that is not coaching.

Coaching is if you say switch from zone blocking to duo run concepts. Or decide to call more screens. Or switch the alignment or gap responsibilities of your front 7. I do not see any of that. I see players executing what they were not in other weeks.

 

The coaches still have to make choices about which plays to run. They incorporated more passes over the middle last night. They also stuck with the running game even though it didn't work in the first half. Oddly enough, the Dolphins got away from theirs even though the Steelers were not doing a good job with Achane. That was one area where the Steelers' coaching advantage showed up.

 

Record against common opponents comes before conference games. And I think we've already lost this tie breaker with them no matter how the games play out (could be wrong, but I think I've heard that said and I played around a little with a playoff simulator and couldn't get us to win a tie without winning the head to head).

https://www.nfl.com/standings/tie-breaking-procedures

In division tie breakers:

1. Head to head
2. Division games
3. Common games <- I think we'll lose here if we end up tied with the Rats
4. Conference games
5. Total strength of victory
6. Total strength of schedule
7. Other stuff that's basically never going to matter.

 

They added Thielen and MVS to the active roster. Previously when it was Austin and Wilson there was no fear of those two beating them. Teams put 9 or 10 guys in the box to stuff the run with a single high safety to help with Metcalf. Did they run the same plays and same scheme with Thielen and MVS that they did with Austin and Wilson? Yep they did. Did those personnel changes lead to better player execution? Yes they did but it was a coaching decision to change the personnel to savy veteran receivers instead of the smurfs. Most of the first quarter they coached like the they have most of the season short dump offs to the backs or throws to Metcalf generally out of that jumbo package group. Dolphins had it scouted and had their guys watching for it and rally to the catch. They changed it up by adjusting the playcalling to use multiple receiver sets that forced Miami to defend the pass instead of stacking the box. Was it a change of how they have done things? No but it was a coaching adjustment to attack how Miami was defending them. Typically Tomlin doesn't make those changes as he believes better execution by his team= win. Which is why when the data shows a better success rate when they adapt vs we do what we do it is so fustrating.

 

See my previous post. One can find numerous examples all over the Steelers related internet. I do not have time right now to search them all out...but there are breakdowns of the routes that were completed last night just not being thrown in previous weeks. Now, that could be a lot of things. Rodgers getting more comfortable. The veteran WRs running better routes with more precision than CAIII and Wilson. I do not know. But I know I have seen it on my television more than once.

So, unless, we are debating that the Steelers coaches were breaking it down to not throw open passes over the middle...the players changed more than what I can see of the coaching.

personally, I think "coaching" is the most over-used word in the NFL content vocabulary. Coaching is important, but whenever someone (be it a fan or a paid "analyst") can not explain what they are seeing....they just say "coaching". And then offer no further explanation. Makes me figure there isn't one and the word is meaningless.

For instance, a week or two ago, Steven Nelson was on some podcast or another calling the Steelers scheme "ass". But he offered zero follow-up that I could find on what was wrong and what should be better. Hard not to suspect that he's just grumpy because they didn't sign him.