Two sacks in two games

I know that the first teamers haven't played much and a rushed QB throwing a pick 6 because of pressure is better than a sack but come on! 21 teams have more sacks than the Steelers through the first two preseason games and Pitt is only one of three teams without a forced fumble. The reigning SB champs have 13 sacks and 2 FF. Please, the front seven have to get better than this.

 

What is the world coming too when fans complain bout these issues in preseason?

 

it's preseason for the fans too. we are not in regular season form yet. just wait 43.

 

I don't think we'll see the sAcks of yesteryear as passing attacks are too lethal and we can't afford to send the house. In a 3-4 our DL isn't asked to get to the QB

 

First - it's preseason for everyone so that's a lame excuse for justifying poor results.
Second - Pitt was ranked 27th in sacks and at the end of the 2011 preseason. They ended up being at 17 at the end of the regular season. Was the preseason a predictor?

Going back five years:
Year/Preason rank/regular season rank
2010/11/1
2009 - No info
2008/8/2
2007/16/13
2006/16/11

By the way, here is how the number 1 ranked team in sacks fared during regular season for the last five years:
Year/Preason Rank/Regular Season Rank
2011/1/1
2010/1/20
2009/No info
2008/1/8
2007/1/2

Past history indicates preseason may be a predictor. So wouldn't it be better if they were doing these things well in the preseason?

 

This is said a million times every preseason, but lack of game planning is a big reason for it. I actually thought we got pretty decent pressure last night even though they came up without a sack most of the time.

 

i was talking about how critical it will get here by the start of the season. LOL. ya know it's coming.

they are not sharp at all right now. i can see this being carried throughout the season. we are not very good at the tackle spots. they will have to run the ball. these guys can block that. adams and gilbert that is. max is a liability in the run game. they are all liabilities in the pass game. pick your poison right now. the second team line looked better than the prior week, so i guess some progress has been made. on to game 3.


sorry, didn't mean to highjack this thread. we are getting turnovers and we have hit the qb's and made them hurry pretty well so far. they will have to tighten coverage to counter these quick throwing qb's like this though.

 

I'd say we haven't been great, but the starters have only played what, a half? They played something like 1 1/2 quarters last night, and 3-6 plays last week (thanks to two three and outs and a sack against the starting Eagles, mind you). So round up and call it a half. That's 2 sacks per half. That's 4 sacks per game. That's 64 per year. That would lead the league by a wide margin, wouldn't it? Would it be a record? And James Harrison hasn't been out there yet.

 

Doesn't Mclendon have both our sacks? From the NT position no less? I understand we are playing a plain vanilla defense much of the time but you would think we might get "lucky" against the other team's scrubs in the second half of our two games.

P.S. Just recalled Woodley was in on last night's sack but Mclendon was right there too. Not sure if each was awarded a half sack or not.

 

and last week was without keisel.

 

He wasn't, and rightfully so in my opinion since Woodley both forced the issue and made most of the tackle, but it's still good that he was there.

Last week Philly tried to block him with one guy, instead choosing to double team Ziggy and I think Bryant. Oops. Indy showed a little more respect for him, but I still saw some plays where they tried to take him with one. I haven't rewatched the game yet, but there was one where he got an arm under Satele and just walked him straight back. Ziggy beat that guy badly with a swim move too. I wonder if he sucks... I thought he had a reputation as a good center?

 

And for what it's worth, second team guys got a lot of regular season playing time last year because of injuries. If they can't get sacks against other backups, then why should we expect that to change in the regular season against starters?

This area of focus deserves close scrutiny because it was mediocre last year against a weak schedule. All of the AFC division winners from last year had 40 plus sacks and Steelers had 35.

Of those 35, Woodley/Harrison accounted for 18 which is over half. Woodley missed 6 games and Harrison missed 5 so you could argue that the totals likely would have been higher. But Woodley did not have a sack after week 9. Harrison had two three sack games against Bmore and Cincy and then 3 sacks in the other 15 weeks.

Please do not let us start off the season ranked near the bottom in this category. In the last two SB winning years 2005 and 2008, Pitt ended the regular season ranked 3rd and 2nd respectively in sacks. There is no info for the 2005 preseason but during the 2008 preseason they finished 8th in sacks.

They have two more games to make up a lot of ground (27th) otherwise the probability they will be mediocre here is more likely than not. I don't think two preseason games in is too early to be talking about this stuff.

 

Saw that too. Colts mostly contained him man on man with exception of one play evander had a good tackle.

 

Yes it is said over and over...but some dont get it apparently. They don't do a ton of game planning in the preseason...they mostly play vanilla O and D so they don't reveal much. People get too nitpicky during the preseason, especially over things like this...what more do they expect with the preseason play calling...jeeez.

 

Pressure applied is more important then the number of sacks.

 

Just so people know:

2011 SB finalists - both finished preseason top 10 in sacks
2010 SB finalists - one finished top 11, one finished 29
2009 - no preseason data on nfl.com
2008 SB finalists - both finished top 10
2007 SB finalists - both finished top 10

So in the preseason data reported in the last five years, 7 of 8 teams who made in to the SB finished preseason top 11 in this category with one who went from 29 to 2 in the regular season.

Mind you, I have mentioned nothing about projected 2012 record or success. All I did was say front seven needs to do this better. I didn't even say starting front seven.

 

This thread is a sack .... of

 

That would be a legit argument if this wasn't an issue that has carried over from last year. I generally ignore pre-season issues, unless they are the same issues we had last year, then I take notice.

Whatever our issue is with getting to the QB, it needs to be fixed or we're going to get shredded this season. Last year I thought it was the fact we didn't have a good NT. This year that doesn't seem to be the case and yet we're still not getting pressure. I don't know what's going on, but Lebeau needs to fix it. I also wish he would pressure WR's more. I hate the bend but don't break approach. I'm happy with a win any way it comes, but we have a much harder schedule this year than compared to last year.

 

:thumbsup:

 

Why?

 

Last season the top 3 pass rushers missed several games. I believe Woodley and Harrison only played in 6 games together. Worlids also missed several games. You can choose to believe the NT was the reason the defense didn't get a great pass rush. I believe that injuries to the defenses top 3 pass rushers affected the pass rush more then any other factor. If the top rushers miss significant time this season, the pass rush will suffer again.

Preseason is not an indicator of how a team will do one way or another. Many of the players that play won't make the team. I shouldn't even be explaining this stuff. Not sure what to tell fans that place to much of an emphasis on preseason games one way or another.

 

I guess we are cut from the same thread SSylvester, I too beleive
you only get out what you put in.Practice field, exhibition games
make a statement when you are on the field, whether it be only for a few plays,
make a statement. I too am very concerned with generating a pass rush for this year. Mclendon
looks like the real deal,he and Antonio Brown have been the ONLY players
that have shown me anything this preseason. Like they actually want to play, PERFORM!
92 will be back shortly watch him turn up the intensity! Thats if he doesn't get held 80% of the time.

 

I am not real concerned about the sacks as of yet...I am concerned about our Redzone work...I think this is a huge factor in getting sacks and turnovers....We need to score the ball and make other Teams play catch up...From what I heard from camp we have looked poor at the GL and it is showing in the games....I am sure this is the main focus this week....Score the ball and all will be fine..

 

PWP

"I am not real concerned about the sacks as of yet...I am concerned about our Redzone work...I think this is a huge factor in getting sacks and turnovers....We need to score the ball and make other Teams play catch up...From what I heard from camp we have looked poor at the GL and it is showing in the games....I am sure this is the main focus this week....Score the ball and all will be fine.."

Its possible but too early to tell that Ford might improve the red zone efficiency. Apparently he is a bit shorter then the Bus but has the same girth and they call him baby Bus. I understand he had a good game against Indy ( missed the last half)

It would be awesome to have someone like the Bus back driving it through the end zone.

Bman

 

Agree 100%. For some reason, it's ok to rave about how great McLendon looks in the preseason or J Dwyer. You'll probably never hear anyone say yah they look good but it doesn't matter. However god forbid if you criticize anyone, there's plenty of people ready to jump down your throat and proclaim your stupidity because it's the "preseason" where nothing matters.

It's actually a catch 22 because if the Steelers are top 10 in sacks in the regular season, the apologists will say "see the preseason doesn't matter". Of course, if they are bottom 10 in sacks, the same people are going to say preseason is never a predictor and had no correlation.