Game 1 Winners and Losers

Are you blind, AV had a solid game he was only beat once, he was rated top 7 in 2015 for left tackles and he will improve this was just game 1 after all, after putting up with Starks lousy play at LT AV is a big improvement....

 

Hey oh fellow members. Sorry if I could not reply back yesterday. Was very tired and had to do quite a bit of brainstorming. Anyway... here we go with mine. As always... from greatest to least.


Winners:


Ben Roethlisberger:


... There really is not anything I am going to say in terms of analysis due to the fact that the tape speaks for itself. Like a conductor orchestrating a vituosio, Ben was sensational. He makes the impossible possible. As such.. no reason for me to continue. However, it never hurts to have a right hand man on the list. Speaking of which....



Antonio Brown:







Like Gifs? If so, prepare for quite a bit of them for the remainder of Antonio's section. If not, scroll down to read the others. In short, while Ben was conducting the band... Antonio stole the show with his stupendous solo pieces. Even when Josh Norman committed to using psychological warfare... none of that mattered.

On a side note.... Josh Norman..






While we are on the subject, guess Josh is not as good as we thought... or this is AB in a nutshell;




Before we go... Antonio.. I understand you want to showboat... bit come on man...


.. this is how it is done :







Offensive lineman:


Paving the way for nearly 150 yards is definitely something to be proud of. Best of all, outside that blip to have Ben lose the ball.. no other complaints from my front. Alejandro Villanueva probably played one of his best games of his career from what I saw. Stopping both Ryan Kerrigan and up and coming Preston Smith is surely a positive sign moving forward.. and he will improve as this is his sophomore year come week 2.



Sean Davis:


As out of place as this seems.. Sean's debut was better than anticipated. Granted... rookie mistakes such as his fundementals did hinder some of his game.. but his overall performance was exceptional. A handful of times the ball came in his direction.. and all had little to no effect. Liked the way he maintained his depth and did not show the usual rookie lapses in coverage like I thought he would.



Eli Rodgers:


After getting out some jitters.. it appears as if Pittsburgh using 11 personnel on offense likely happen sooner rather than later if/when Markus comes back for week 2. Eli made some clutch plays and had solid gains in the air attack. His level of concentration and maturity were my two biggest takes from him this game. Should he build upon this for the rest of the season.. Pittsburgh's receiving corps is just that much more difficult to contain and stop.



Stephon Tuitt:


Stats do not always tell the whole story. Stephon just did not win against Brandon Scherff.. he routinely beat him on multiple occasions. Keep in mind that Scherff is a top 5 pick and as such.. is no slouch. I was expecting a great battle from Tuitt and Scherff... then I realized Tuitt was a top 10 selection prior to his injury at Notre Dame. Either way though... his motor is what made me happy most as he is steadily improving upon it. He is teetering on the edge.. and a inferior interior Cincinnati offensive line is exactly what Tuitt needs to break out.



Ryan Shazier:


He is hurt.. which is unfortunate.. but if Shazier continues to show the same level of play making talent he did yesterday.. then there is no question that, in time, Shazier will be Patrick Willis' spiritual successor and will redefine the position yet again. All over the field.. all around the pile ups.. he is essentially a nigh-omnipotent and nigh-omnipresent force on the field.


Quite a bit of winners for sure. Now to proceed to the losers section.



Ross Cockrell:


I can get past the dropped interception. I can get past the pass interference call considering DeShaun Jackson still has the afterburners; few corners covering him no different. What I cannot get over is his continued lack of physical presence. Back in 2014.. Mike Mayock stated that Ross had issues with more physical receivers and lacked a physical style of play; the latter of which I thought could be fixed in due time. It is now 2016 and, while I excused it last of due to his exceptional cover skills.. this year is different. He is expected to trade blows with some of the top receivers in the game... and it is not like AJ Green is going to be any easier than DeShaun was: antipodean in fact. Considering we saw more Artie Burns than we should have.. Cockrell's time to play more aggressive is running out. In addition.. while this may not happen for a while.. do not think Justin Gilbert wants a shot at redemption as well.


Jesse James:


In the pass game.. he was quite good. In the run game.. decent. Overall blocking? Long. Ways. To. Go. Granted.. he was going up against Kerrigan and Smith.. but even then his technique and leverage are still holding him back. The most intriguing aspect of all of this is he does not lack play strength or functional strength either. He should get better as the season goes on.. but he has some ways to go until then.



Pass rush (lack thereof better yet)


Sending three to four people is not going to get you much if anything unless your pass rushers are that good. The interior ones are.. the edge players are not there yet. I am certain that Butler is saving much of his dialed up schemes for the coming out party next week... but I do not think it would hurt to spend as least one blitz at them. If anything... this looked more like a vintage Dick LeBeau defense than a Keith Butler one.



Lawrence Timmons:


I already stated this before training camp started.. and I am running out of ways to say it.. so... I will just say it:





Farewell Lawrence. 10 years and a ring.. you served Pittsburgh Nation well. Good luck and godspeed in your future endeavors come 2017.. you will be gone.. but never forgotten among Steeler fans.



Well.. that is pretty much it for me guys. Looking forward to week 2.

 

yea, it's been pretty obvious the decline started last year. i think the turf toe was only part of it. he's played a lot of snaps over those years. i know it's not perfect but i'll go back to fort again (and he missed a tackle too) but he seems like a good fit for the new speed coverage LB that should be seeing more playing time on defenses. williams has his place too but the coverage skills needed are to great anymore. timmons used to have them but it's fleeting. especially at 15 mil a year.

 

Toussaint, loser, 3 attempts 6 yards, I dont know why he's even on the roster........

 

the kid has played well for us despite 1 fumble. sure it was a big 1 but hey it happens. you can't define this kid as a loser on 3 carries coming in cold. dwill despite his good overall night had a few 2 yard carries too. the kid can block well too.

 

From the end of 2015 the FO and coaching staff admitted they have to get more pressure from their front 4. I've read it several times that the off season focus was to get sacks with out blitzing so much. In 2015 we had no choice but to blitz like crazy which set us up for allowing big plays. In 2015 we had the worst LB production in terms of sacks the steelers have had in decades. What we saw last night is IMO the new steelers defense. They will try to get pressure with out blitzing as much. If we cannot get pressure by rushing 4 we are in trouble. Good Qb's will pick you apart if given time. Our secondary has issues as we say last year. If we are sucked into blitzing every down expect another year of terrible pass defense.

 

Hopefully the guys playing CB won't still be playing in a few weeks ? The only way to blitz is to be able to play man coverage ,we can not do that at this time....Still need better Safety play , but I don't really see a change there...