Thank goodness for Fitzpatrick

Its a carry over from last years trash talk about Ben. He'll probably start up again sometime before the game..

 

Pressure helps coverage and coverage helps bring pressure, right now it is all working.
Nelson is playing so well the announcers thought teams were trying to work on Haden, good luck with that.

Heyward had his best game of the season with key tackles , pressure and that pass knockdown was well timed.

Bud has finally figured out that a wide speed rush doesn't always work,after all this time Bud has developed a rip to the inside and when he goes wide he dips under the tackle just like #92 used to.

Barren has shown more hustle lately, and Bush is using his speed to make tackles sideline to sideline.

We still need a lot of improvement on offense but there are signs its improving.

Running game is mostly terrible but I think if they pull more then can have some success, DD and Pouncey are better in space then they are at blowing people off the LOS.

 

I mean.. he made good on his early season promise of sacking Ben. He put Big Al on stakes at that. Didn't Ben fumble twice in that game?!

 

All the more reason that it would not surprise me if the team elects to find Maurkice's successor with their pick in the 2020 Draft. He is getting long in the tooth and will be on the wrong side of 30 next season. Best to have a succession plan as 2022 makes him a UFA. Heck, who knows how he will look at 32 in 2021 by then?!?!

 

Yes, that is why I want him silenced. I hold grudges. He is their biggest threat so we need to deal with him effectively.

 

I would imagine though that Myles will be held in check in First Energy Stadium much better than the last time. I will say this in Big Al's defense; the entire team that day started slow and cost them dearly.


That said, I do not believe this will be the second time.

 

I like your optimism. We should be is somewhat prepared after having to deal with Donald.

 

Donald is a game changing force. Myles has not yet come to that level of dominance. In addition, much of Myles damage has been done from the outside where as Donald can move essentially anywhere he pleases.


I do agree with you though. Pittsburgh has faced Myles before. I am sure that there will be a plan in place for him. After seeing Aaron Donald run wild, I doubt Maurkice, David and Big Al are going to let Myles have his way.

 

Now we've got our replacement for Troy and Minkah 's upside is through the roof. A perfect fit for the Stillers. BTW, everybody catch Troy's new shampoo commercial?

 

I oh most definitely did! Love the dynamic that Patrick Mahomes and Troy have. Best thing Head and Shoulders has done since acquiring Troy as one of their top brand ambassadors.

 

Minkah is incredible. Nelson has been a huge pickup. Hayden came alive in the last game and was phenomenal. Behind it all is the pass rush which helps the secondary out a lot. And vice versa.

 

No, New England does

 

Forgot about them lol

 

Yeah, we haven't really heard much of Nelson have we? With Bush and Fitzpatrick getting most of the commentators talk time, Nelson has been quietly, in the same way its good when you don't hear a linemans name often, doing his job very well over there. Not standing out with the turnovers, but nonetheless, having a good year

 

Sure, I'll elaborate. I'm talking about the Steelers. Hope that clears it up.

 

Hey MackDog21.

Nelson has done an great job up to this point IMO. I am just happy that where our secondary was once a glaring weakness, it has now basically done a 180º of a turnaround. The whole back unit (well maybe not Edmunds....yet) has really developed quite a chemistry.

However, it is unfortunate in a way though that this coaching staff had to go outside of the draft to assemble this crew. I do not want to get into bashing our "secondary guru HC" but it is just mind-boggling that this is supposedly his forte and that this team since his taking over has not developed a single secondary player.

I think management is getting it finally though. That is, that to stay up with the times we cannot assemble a team anymore solely through the draft. This has to be a blended approach of Draft, Trade, and Free Agency. STEELWINDS

 

I don't think we should underestimate just what a difference that is making this year (on top of the additions of Fitzpatrick and Bush). Alright, we've played some makeshift o-lines, and the real test will be against the better fronts, but Dupree's development as a pass rusher to compliment Watt has been huge. Makes you wonder what took him so long.

 

LOVED that commercial!! I pumped my fist when he said, "I'm a Super Bowl champ, twice."

 

Yeah, it's a nice reprieve from a few years ago and trotting out Antwon Blake and others, isn't it? Bud finally getting it into gear (in contract year, of course) and Watt continuing to improve, along with the dline and Hilton and other pass rush really rounds things out nicely. When the QB knows that pressure IS coming, just a matter of a when, really gets them rushing throws or whatever and even a quarter or half a second early on a throw can ruin the whole route.

Between Minkah, Bush, Nelson, and Bud finally acting like a 1st rounder with near similar measureables as Clowney, has improved our entire defense from a weakness to near-dominant and improving. Of course, our defense comes together and light clicks on at a time when Ben is out for the year, otherwise I would be in Superbowl or bust mode right now. With young backup QB's, Im happy with a playoff appearance or an honest attempt at making it, which we are seeing right now.

Two thumbs up trading 1st round pick for Minkah

 

Hey MackDog21.

Yes, to Minkah.

If there was, I cannot imagine that there is anyone left who is upset about the Minkah deal. We had a need at his position. Given this staff's horrendous track record of drafting secondary personnel, and their horrendous inability to coach them up, makes this deal a no-brainer. So, we gave up a 1st which is what he is worth. We would have maybe invested that 1st for his position next year anyway. And like I stated , this administration more than likely would have botched it up somehow. Miami did the work for us and it is paying off big time so far. The same with Haden and Nelson as well. Wow, when you think about it, that really sucks that our HC, who is a supposed "secondary guru" had to let other teams put this secondary together for us. Oh well, I guess you take them how you can get them. STEELWINDS

 

I think it helps when the rest of the defense steps up. For Haden, he's able to simplify the game a little bit; he's no longer our best (or most trusted...) defensive back. He can do his thing, which is take chances and jump routes, knowing it COULD lead to a PBU, INT or big gain... but his defense STILL has his back. He also looks healthy to me.

 

Totally agree, it is very frustrating that we can't seem to draft and develop db's. I honestly don't know the issue here because it seems that even by chance one of those yearly later round db's we took could at least end up as a nickel back or something. Not since Cortez Allen have we drafted a decent outside corner. I don't think of Tomlin as a "defensive guru" or a "schematical genius" or anything like that, so much as I imagine him as a few coaches I had playing throughout Jr. High and High school on Freshman, JV, and Varsity and how me and all the other guys agreed on which coaches we liked or not. Tomlin is one of those coaches that the players like, a lot. This has some good and some bad ramifications ranging from players playing hard for him, to big let-down games because he was being too buddy-buddy with the team and losing focus. But what he is not, is a nightmare for other teams in gameplanning, and most definitely not a clock management specialist ... Certainly not a great positional coach either it seems, but a very cool bro with a unique manner of speaking but is really just a cool bro/cheerleader to motivate the guys and keep em focused. Not like a a Bellichek or an Andy Reid. Honestly? He is kind of like Cowher in a way when you think about it. With the most obvious major difference being they are different race white/black, and when most NFL players are black, and considering Tomlin's young age when he was hired, I think you can see why they call him a "Players coach" and players want to play for his team (except Brown and Bell lol) But tactical genius? he is not

All that said, it is still severely disappointing that we can't draft DB's for the life of us.. Having a great track record for WR's doesn't make up for it, we need good players at all positions and going 0fer 10 or whatever it is lately is not good. Hilton bounced a few teams practice squads but he has been an amazing pickup, and Sutton has had some spot duty and hasn't been terrible as we have been use to, but Im glad he isn't starting 16 games on the outside this year. Edmunds is servicable but he is also a 1st rounder and anything less than that would be very disappointing. As a matter of fact, if we had got someone else, and Edmunds was available in the 2nd and we got him there? I'd be pretty happy with it. But as a first rounder, I mean at least he isn't a bust and is playing and getting better. You are totally right though, we have to figure out something better in scouting or something