after a tough start

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2013/1...-kelvin-beachum-played-well-against-the-jets/

beachum played a solid game and is clearly the best LT on the team right now. what a difference ben can make with a cleaner pocket to work from.

we needed this and if we could clean up the right side , we would be in decent shape. I would have liked to have seen this done earlier and we could have possibly salvaged a couple of those losses.

 

Just eliminate the penalties.

 

two of those were cheap calls. the DE gave a twitch start which caused him to jump on the false start. the one holding call was plain BS. i'm not faulting him for either of those. actually we have been called for several drive killing bad calls this year. what hurts worse is they don't call the ones against the other team that they should either. our QB get's abused and it's a non call. somebody looks at brady cross-eyed and they throw a flag.

 

You know I honestly can't think of the last time a roughing the passer was called against Ben. I wonder if it has ever been called actually. Can you imagine what would happen if Peyton looked at the ref and his nose was broken??? They would call the police!

 

we already knew from the camp that beachum was the less worst , because he is the lighter on his feet , they needed four losses to understand it , and somebody has to explain me why whimper was carried on the roster

 

Tomlin likes Whimper.

 

enough sayd

 

I don't hate whimper. I do think covered up inside he could be a decent backup for a game or part of one without killing us.

I also hear adams has been getting plenty of reps at RT this week because gilbert is a little dinged up. against the rats we will have to help our tackles with a TE or RB. beach should get all the reps this week and won't have to split them. he may have been pushing early in that game. he sttled down and played angry in the second half. he does a good job in pass protection.

 

This just goes to show technique can overcome so many physical limitations. If Adams had Beachem's technique we'd have a pro bowl LT.

Beach is going to find a long-term starting spot on this line somewhere eventually. As much crap as Colbert gets on here lately (which he's earned, no doubt), this was a GREAT pick. Finding guys like Beach and Kiesel are the type of moves that get you to a championship. Unfortunately the picks near the top few rounds haven't been as good lately.

 

Tomlin told Bill Hargrove on the Mike Tomlin show earlier this year that he think Whimper is a guy that could fix this line. I think he even used the word "obviously" so you know he must've meant business. LOL.

 

That's the difference between Ben, Brady, Peyton, etc. Ben looks like a monster. He's built big, he stands in the pocket and lets himself get slammed like a beast. He runs with 2 bad guys hanging on his hip and arm. The refs look at that and only call the serious stuff, like when you get your face punched in. Meanwhile, Brady, Peyton, hell, those guys run a few feet and frankly give up sacks all by themselves by falling over and acting as soon as they feel the wind of a rusher. That leaves the door open that whenever they do actually get touched or roughed up, the flags go flying.

 

RG3 said today that he's gonna start pulling up on sideline runs to try and get guys to hit him and draw 15 yards for it. I've always thought if I was a qb that I would just act like I was gonna go out to get guys to slow down and then blow by them. There really should be an unwritten rule against it but since there's not I'm sure he will actually try it and probably get some flags too.

 

Yeah I bet guys are gonna tee off on him for saying that since they think they're gonna get 15 anyway ya know?

 

Ben gets hit in the head atleast once in every game and theres never a flag. you would think that Tomlin would say something. he doesnt have to make a big deal about it, but sometimes just talking about it to the media can make the refs look at it a bit closer.

Ben is huge and extremely strong. hes probably the strongest qb in the league as far as body strength goes and that probably works against him. the refs definitely call the game different for Ben than any other qb. regardless of hos strong Ben is the game should be called the same across the boards.

 

I also think Ben doesn't get a lot of calls because of how big he is and because of his reputation as a guy that's gonna take some punishment anyway. I don't think they feel the need to "protect" him but as bad as our line is I would argue the contrary. He could use all the help he can get. LOL. If you think about it most qbs and especially the top ones have extra linemen because the refs protect them just as much.

 

I don't get into this debate about Ben being treated differently too often with anyone. However, as Heck mentioned, I too see defenders, frequently, put their hands to Ben's face and get away with it. This is a vicious cycle because you know these guys watch tape and see that it doesn't get called. This doesn't happen just once in a while it happens alot. Now for why I don't get into this debate...it is a double edge sword. If the refs threw the flags on Ben like they do some of the other QBs I think they would be taking away a valuable part of Ben's game. Personally, I love watching him break out of tackles and play a little "old school" football. When he is able to break away and make a play it has to be demoralizing to the other team. The hand to the face is a different story and should be called.

 

I think it would be mighty difficult to make a comment about the refereeing and not have it become a big deal, whether intended or not.

Tomlin has had the refs into practices before, and I wouldn't be surprised if calls were made after games asking for clarifications on why certain things were or weren't called. The media is not really the best way to get these kind of points across - I think a ref is more likely to be influenced by the people who pay him than the local TV station.

 

ben also gets those hands to the face, twisted , driven into the turf and so on because we can't protect him. I really doubt ben would rather play " his style" over sitting in a clean pocket and delivering strikes. we have helped create this type of play with our O-Lines. fix that and the other part won't be talked about.

we have helped the situation with Kelvin Beachum, but we need to do something about the right side. it's not all about the rush getting to him as much as it is him working from a clean pocket. being allowed to step into throws. not throwing with guys pawing at you from all sides.

this also allows ben to work his pocket magic. he can sidestep a guy better than anyone, but if the whole pocket is collapsed around him there is no room to throw or sidestep. last week he had some room and I expect this week it may be even better on one side.

as for the middle or in his face, velasco has helped seal that up. it's a matter of the right players, not just anyone will do approach they have been using.

 

thats my point. let Tomlin say something and then let the media maki a big deal about it. Phil Jackson made a career out of saying little things to the media and letting them run with it. that and only coaching teams that are loaded with super stars and then taking all the credit for being a great coach.