what are we doing differently the past 2 weeks?

what has the coaching staff done to turn this team completely around? Is it just the players' attitude? adding james harrison the turnaround? have we found the right combination of old and young talents? it's like another team now. but it's all good.

 

The main things are the benching of Cortez Allen , the addition of Bryant as a WR , the use of DHB in the WR 3 sets to give other guys more space , Ben studying more film , Ben going through progressions faster , Ben hitting the check down quicker , Bell exploiting mismatches in the passing game...

A few other notes I have made is the Coaches ,coaching aggressive ,the play designs of Haley are getting border line Guru . Coach DL sending more blitzes,stunts, and all around pressure...

So as Coach T would say we are a Team on the build ...All things are starting to come together ,better play from the players and better Coaching from the Coaches ,,,,Nothing Mystical about it ....lol

 

I don't know about you guys and girls but I'm eating a hearty breakfast on Sunday mornings and that seems to help.

 

I changed my brand of beer and went back to real hot sausage instead of turkey sausage.

 

Well they played good teams the past 2 weeks, and they do seem to play up to competition well. We also finally realized that we score points when we throw down the field instead of trying to establish the run. Pressure on the QB has been much more solid on defense too.

 

Hate to take to much credit but....I switched to the middle seat on my couch and that seems to have made all of the difference. I should have guess the ends seats were unlucky after the Browns thrashing.

 

I did not want to mention this but I never had a drink last night while watching the game. That might have been the defining difference

 

Discipline,execution,personnel and better use of that personnel. Along with that we have a better attitude,motivation and the biggest thing we seemed to be lacking....resolve. Add that all up plus probably a few other details like better practice habits and paying more attention to detail and you have where we are right now. The players as well as the coaches seem to finally be on the same page.We are playing like the hunter and not the hunted. If we keep our focus at a high level ,for the first time in a while Ben might be right "the skies the limit."

 

1. Improved pass rush. This has given us more turnovers and shorter fields for the offense.
2. Martavis Bryant. He has really opened up our offense and given us a great target in the red zone.
3. Confidence. The Houston game gave us a jolt, then the flood gates opened vs Indy. We have a feeling that the only people who can stop us is ourselves, and it's showing on the field.
4. Improved corner play. Blake and McCain have really stepped up when we needed them the most. We don't have the two guys pegged as our top 2 corners at the beginning of the season (Ike to injury, and Allen to bench), and we've only gotten better. Great to see.

 

this

 

is it the God's will?

 

All of the above but 3 is likely the most important factor to our winning

 

I could only add a #5 - Harrison & Keisel showing the rest of the guys how D is supposed to be played. Since they've gotten up to speed, the D has started swarming more, making hits, confusing opp QB's (I know, a lot of that has to do with DL's schemes, but you need someone to lead the charge).

Although I hated the 15yd RTP call on McClendon last night, it sure felt good to see him slam Flacco to the turf like a toy. No doubt JH is starting to rub off on some of the younger guys.

 

I bought ... and it works!

 

I taped a copy of Busman's avatar to the inside of Ben's locker 3 weeks ago and said this is who is handing out the next SB MVP trophy. After that, everything just fell into place. (I understand though Brent Mussburger has been seriously working out and trying to land a QB job before season's end).

 

blocking, blocking, blocking, and more blocking

 

outscoring our opponents. this has become a real nice formula for winning. I'm sorry.

 

Defensively speaking, I think we have just committed to blitzing more. Early in the season, our secondary showed an inability to cover well, even against less than stellar competition. One of the ways to keep a poor secondary from being abused is to blitz often, hoping to get sacks or make QBs throw early.

Fortunately, we have been able to create good pressure with our blitzing. Harrison and crew have been able to make it uncomfortable for QBs the last two games--although Luck still torched us for over 400 yards in just 20 minutes of possession time.

I like the strategy and hope that we continue to employ it. If nothing else, it may result in fewer explosive plays against us since QBs will get rid of the ball sooner (and assuming we tackle the catch). Explosive plays have plagued us this year--we have given up over 40 plays of 20+ yards already this year. Last year we gave up 40 such plays for the entire season. (I credit www.steelersdepot.com for the explosive play data)

 

.........#7 Throwing a ****load of TD passes.......Id say thats the diff.

 

I don't know, but whatever it is I hope we keep doing it. As funny as it sounds, I think we'll know what kind of a team we have when we play the Jets. Do we have a team that plays consistent football against both good and bad teams, or do we have a team that still plays down to the competition. With the way were playing, we should destroy the Jets.

 

We are starting to win some games and lose no more games.

 

...and with these immortal yet succinct words from PD - #36 proceeded to turn Brian Urlacher into an abused doormat on our way to Lombardi #5.

 

[video=youtube;K3dbd2YyeN0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3dbd2YyeN0[/video]

 

Winning convincingly.