Came to Play - Game 5

Came to Play

Isaac Redman- that was some of the best running I've seen from a Steeler in a long time.
Heath Miller - clutch catch after clutch catch; his one-handed catch in the 4th quarter was fantastic
Lawrence TimmLaons - consistently good
Ryan Clark - always gives it his all
Chris Rainey - had some nice runs

Should have stayed home

Ike Taylor - I've never seen a cornerback who commits as many penalties as he does. He should not be starting. I would cut him next year due to his salary. I would much prefer Cortez Allen starting.
Keenan Lewis - has some decent plays early, but dropped the game-clinching interception
Punt team - an absolute joke
Pass Rush - mostly non-existent; when paired with our pourous secondary, it makes the Titans look like the Patriots.

Notes:
Kudos to Willie Colon for not getting a holding call
Kudos to Shaun Suisham - nice 52 yarder (I never thought he would make it), barely missed the 54 yarder. I personally don't blame Tomlin for kicking it. Our defense is so bad, the Titans would likely have driven the length of the field anyway.
Ben Roethlisberger - had some great throws and scrambles, but also had some errant and ill-advised throws. The pick at the end of the first half was a huge momentum changer. With the exception of the Eagles game, he again failed to bring the team to score at the end even after they had drive 50+ yards. I'm a huge Ben fan, but he has not been clutch.
This team looks to poorly prepared and is not playing with any emotion.

 

I was parallel to Ben when he threw the pass that was intended for AB and it was like something from a movie to me where the hero is running in slow motion screaming "noooooooooo". In this case I was the hero screaming "nooooooooo" when he threw that pick. It was SO obvious from where I was sitting that AB was absolutely covered. That was an incredibly stupid throw and Ben has not made a decision that bad all year.

 

Agreed - he was well covered. He forced a number of throws. Tried forcing one to Heath Miller in the endzone they could have very easily have been picked off.

 

I think Ryan Clark came to play last night. I always feel like he can square up and make a good tackle. He's a fundamental football player. Ike should ask him for lessons. Ike is NOT a fundamental football player. Keenan Lewis is not a football player period.

 

Is our D line pass rush as bad as it seems, or is there job just to stick to their blocker to open lanes for the LB. If not, they are God aweful, but I don't think we're asking the Hoods of the worlds to actually try a swim move to lose his blocker.

 

It seems pretty bad to me. I realize our d-line aren't supposed to be huge playmakers, but at the same time, they don't seem to be much of a factor. It seems like Ziggy Hood is a bust. I liked what I saw of Cameron Heyward last year, but I've haven't even noticed him this year. Keisel was a playmaker last year, but has been very quiet. Hampton is non-existent. McClendon seems okay.

 

This is what their job has been the whole time under dicks 3-4 ..Time to move on and catch up with the times..

 

Keenan Lewis is another Ike Taylor, they both look so lost. Constantly getting beat. Ike's mental mistake kill this team, they needed 10 yards and threw a three yard pass. How the hell do you get a holding call against you in that situation? Absolutely terrible.

 

I've posted this a few times already if you haven't seen it. This is 100% Tomlin's fault. You don't try a career long field goal on the road, on grass in an open stadium with a kicker who is known throughout his carrier to NOT be a long kicker. Suisham can barely kick it out of the endzone on kickoffs. Add that together with:

Titans have been moving the ball at will between the 20's
There is only 1 minute left
Bironas is a long kicker
If we miss the field goal they only have to go literally 25 yards to be in Bironas range.

That equals = PUNT and play for OT (especially with the new OT rules). Is it possible with 54 seconds left or so and 3 timeouts after the punt the Titans could have still won? Yes and so be it they would have deserved it then.

Through all the injuries, dropped INT's, bad CB play, mistakes and just plain bad playing on both sides of the ball we were still in this game at the end. Giving the Titans 1/2 the field and only 20 yards to get into Bironas range cost us the game. I blame Tomlin squarely for this loss.

Oh and since I'm kind of off topic you should add Mundy to the "did not show up list" In fact he should be in the "cut immediately list"

 

I've posted this a few times already if you haven't seen it. This is 100% Tomlin's fault. You don't try a career long field goal on the road, on grass in an open stadium with a kicker who is known throughout his carrier to NOT be a long kicker. Suisham can barely kick it out of the endzone on kickoffs. Add that together with:

Titans have been moving the ball at will between the 20's
There is only 1 minute left
Bironas is a long kicker
If we miss the field goal they only have to go literally 25 yards to be in Bironas range.

That equals = PUNT and play for OT (especially with the new OT rules). Is it possible with 54 seconds left or so and 3 timeouts after the punt the Titans could have still won? Yes and so be it they would have deserved it then.

Through all the injuries, dropped INT's, bad CB play, mistakes and just plain bad playing on both sides of the ball we were still in this game at the end. Giving the Titans 1/2 the field and only 20 yards to get into Bironas range cost us the game. I blame Tomlin squarely for this loss.

Oh and since I'm kind of off topic you should add Mundy to the "did not show up list" In fact he should be in the "cut immediately list"[/quote:16phse94]

You make some good points. We'll never know how it might have turned out. I just don't have any faith in our defense. Week after week they give up touchdowns late in the 4th quarter. It is very frustrating. Suisham did nail that 52 yarder and just missed the 54 yarder. You're right though..if you are playing the percentages, you punt the ball.

 

This is an absolute joke. It was one of the worst coaching decisions ever. No way you give the titans the ball at mid field with one chance to complete a pass and win the game with a FG. They did nothing on our D all 2nd half and with 40 seconds left and the new OT rules you take your chances. a 54 yard fg has very low %s.

 

Yep. Very high risk and I was screaming at the tv not to try a 54 (it was about 8" from being 55) yard FG.

 

With all due respect "you dont blame Tomlin for kicking it" Sure, our D was pathetic but their were only some 53 seconds left in the game. Worse case scenerio we punt it into the endzone and get a touchback. I dont care what anybody says, starting near mid-field with the game in the balance and 50+ secs left upped their odds SIGNIFICANTLY. Frankly, with how bad our D played, I had no problem with the FG if their were say 1:30-2;00 left in the game. Starting them at their on 20 or maybe inside the twenty would have gave us a real shot at OT. I say its a terrible call and Tomlin all but admitted it after the game.

 

It's possible that even IF we made the kick that we ultimately would've went to OT anyway because we would have had to kick off and they still would've had about 40-50 seconds right?

 

Fanfav, you are so right with the bad decision by Tomlin. 54 harder is too risky, along with then giving them a short field to get a field goal. Especially the way our defense can't stop anybody now!

The right call, with the way this defense is playing, is to punt in order to buy more time with a longer field for them to score a field goal. I would of then take my chances in overtime. This one is on Tomlin, along with some questionable play calling when we were driving on the last drive.

 

Fanfav, you are so right with the bad decision by Tomlin. 54 harder is too risky, along with then giving them a short field to get a field goal. Especially the way our defense can't stop anybody now!

The right call, with the way this defense is playing, is to punt in order to buy more time with a longer field for them to score a field goal. I would of then take my chances in overtime. This one is on Tomlin, along with some questionable play calling when we were driving on the last drive.