Random thoughts after W @ NYG

First, some... let's call them... thoughts I have about officiating:
-And the original refs are no better than the replacements! Is anybody calling them back -replacements-, after their huge mistakes? That's what they did after the replacements made a mistake on a costly TD! (GB @SEA)
-So, a blow to the head causes a rib injury? And what about the helmet to helmet hit to Wallace?
-At the end, they were the ones that went away with murder! Their OL was holding Woodley & Harrison, or what about that block in the back to Miller during their not-a-fumble return?
-All of this makes me think about their strategy last couple of weeks: get the media attention about potential penalties that could give them an edge on gameday, and get some calls their way. They've done it before, and did it again this week. Yesterday, it worked for them (more than 100yds on penalties, an automatic 1st and goal after we stopped them, and a return for a TD). So, my suggestion to Mr Goodell: Whinners should be fined. Repeaters should be suspended.

And now, my random thoughts about our team:
-3rd consecutive week our OL blocks for a 120+yd rusing game. Is it Redman? Is it Dwyer? Or is it really an improvement of our OL and good playcalling?
-What to do with DeCastro & Gilbert when/if they're back? I guess that RT spot is now Adams' job to lose
-Yes, there were 4 sacks. But please tell me you don't see an improvement with our OL. Something was missing, but right now everyone should be proud about the way those 5 guys are playing. The best since 2005 IMO
-As supposed, Sanders and Cotchery were ready to step up. Why are some people talking about "the best trio of receivers", they are 4. And all are pretty reliable. But most important: Ben has confidence in everyone of them...
-...and everyone has confidence in Ben. His ability to deliver on 3rd down and 4th quarter situations have been pretty good. And have been even better lately
-This team has played without many of its big names, and has won 3 in a row. And that's what the "next guy up" policy from Coach T is meant to be
-What was that trick play? I mean, there's something to admire: the guts to call a fake fg. But that fake?? And, it's background:
-Coach T's decision to call a trick play on 4th & 1: what does it really mean? Confidence on our D? Lack of confidence on our O's ability to convert?
-We should have been able to close the game earlier. Ben took an unnecesary sack at the beggining of the 3rd (we started +- at their 35), and we weren't able to score after Sander's return. Those were, at least, 6 points we weren't able to put on the board
-3rd consecutive week our D is able to close a game. Those 3 & outs are what we've been looking for since... a while!
-If not for some questionable calls, our D should have held them to 9 points. And it's the NYG who we're talking about
-And that leads us to this question: Coach LeBeau, where were you the first 5 games of the season?
-Timmons has a chance to go even further, has played good games but can keep improving
-J Harrison hasn't had a direct impact on gameday so far. Is it his injury, or it's time to think about who's spot will it be next year?
-K Lewis & I Taylor have played some great coverage lately. K Lewis is playing at the highest level I've seen a Steelers CB since.... ?? Long ago! He has instincts. And that is not a coachable commodity
-Our return teams are special. We have a lot of talent there, and for the first time, penalties didn't hurt big returns (Our O wasn't able to capitalize, but that's a different story)
-Those 3rd down conversions during the last drive from our O... priceless
-Rainey... each week this guy has a new trick for us. Hope his injury is nothing serious: having him on our return team gives us a better chance to score each time
-That's just an idea of how can we benefit from Wallace's speed in a short-pass oriented offense
-Can't remember a game when we were able to overcome such difficult scenario (4 sacks, lost turnover battle, pretty questionable ref calls, a missed trick play on 4th and goal, down by 10...)
-This was a statement win. And that should be followed by A+ performance vs KC

-it's been a while since I saw such a great team effort to win vs a quality team
And I enjoyed it very much. Hope everyone enjoyed the W too!

What are your thoughts?

 

Agreed.
However, I did notice, on our first possesion, it looked like we intentionally kicked the ball out of bounds after Rainey fumbled the punt return.
I thought that was a penalty. I could be wrong.
It looked like we had a delay of game on that drive as well, but there could have been a difference between the clock the t.v. station was displaying onscreen, and the actual game clock...
Then, it looked like we either hit their punt returner, or blocked his man into him, after he called fair catch.
It`s funny, I actually texted my Cuz, at that point, and said... "O.K., We can`t complain about the ref`s tonight, after these three non-calls, on our first possesion."
THEN....
After that phantom pass interference call on (I think) Lewis, in the back of the endzone(May have been a different DB, Don`t remember for sure)... When the replay showed he barely, MAYBE, laid a hand on the guy, and DAMN SURE didn`t impede his progress, or grab him to stop him from catching the ball, I had to text back, and ask if I could cancel my earlier comment...
Then... Well, we all know how downhill it went from there...
Guess I jinxed us with that early text... LOL...
I agree those were horrible calls, and the non-call on the block in the back on Heath, about gave me laryngitis from screaming at the tv, but I`m not the type to ever blame the refs for winning, or losing.
The way i see it, is they screw up ALL the time.
Sometimes in our favor, sometimes not.
There have been a FEW games I`ve seen in my life, where the officiating seemed incredibly biased, one way or the other, but very rarely.
Yesterday doesn`t rank THAT high on the scale to me, but there were definitely a few bone-headed calls (and non calls) against us.
It just happened that they directly impacted the scoring.
I have yet to see a game, where a bad call decides the game.
Yes, that includes the Green Bay fiasco earlier this year.
The way I look at it, it NEVER comes down to ONE PLAY!
Unless you have played a perfect game, on offense, and defense, there is ALWAYS a few possessions earlier in the game, where you could have scored, or stopped the other team from scoring, and you didn`t.
If you had, ONE score, would not have cost you the game.
Not to defend the ref`s yesterday... They were horrible.
I just refuse to blame the ref`s, when they usually screw over every team, about the same amount, over the course of a season.
Aside from the refs... I agree completely!!!
That was a great win, and showed a lot of character, fight and determination from our boys, to get the victory!
Has been nice to see the defense handle their business in the fourth qtr, lately, and for the offense to convert third downs, to kill the clock late in the game, as well...
Both of which were missing in losses, earlier this year.
GO STEELERS!!!

 

One your first point...there was a number of guys running after the loose ball and running into it/etc and it went out of bounds. There should not have been any penalty there. And it wasn't a punt return it was a run play.

Not sure about the delay of game...but as long as the ball is out when its 0 it doesnt matter, it can happen right when it turns to 0 but thats about all they allow.

The defender (from the Steelers) was clearly blocked into the returner by a guy on the return team. Another good no call.

And no that it matters but the PI call was on Lewis but it wasnt in the endzone it was like around the 20ish or so yard line...the penalty in the back of the endzone was the bogus personal foul for the hit to the helmet call on Clark.

 

Thanx for clarifying, GP.
I hadn`t re-watched it to be certain, I just had the feeling that we got away with three no-calls, right off the bat, then after I texted about it, we got severely hosed.
Glad to know we just got hosed, and didn`t get the benefit of getting bad calls in our favor... Hahaha.

 

You can usually count on a half-second delay between the play clock hitting zero and the refs making the delay of game call. The reason being that it takes that long for the refs to see the clock hit zero, and double check to make sure the snap hasn't been made. They don't want to stop the play and call a penalty if it was simultaneous or very very close, so they allow a tiny margin of error. That's for all teams.

There was one play in the playoffs a few years ago, Ravens vs. Titans, where in a huge 3rd down at the end of the game, the Ravens got like a 2 1/2 second leeway from the refs. Like the refs just forgot to keep an eye on the clock. That was nuts. Baltimore converted, and Tennessee was pissed. So was I. But then we beat Baltimore the next week anyway and won the Super Bowl, so... oh well.

 

Actually the play to Rainey when it ended up getting booted/flubbed out of bounds was a pass play, not a run, to the right flat that he then reversed course and came left when it was batted out of his hands. My hands were inside my TV screen helping to push it out of play before a Giant could get to it. They should have penalized me if anyone.

 

Photo proof (of hands IN tv) or it didnt happen! Hahah

 

I've only just got to watching this game because of the coverage blackout around here.

Was screaming at the officials early on. As the game progressed, I think the calls evened out. But I do think the Giants are building in gamesmanship into their gameplans in a big way. It's a strategy I guess. Agree with WWW that it did seem it was their line holding on most plays.

The thing that I noticed the most? In the second half, when we were trailing - I had that confidence back. You know, THAT confidence. The confidence that we just needed to be within 1 or 2 scores, because in the 4th we were going to smother them on D and marshall a drive down the field to win the game. I haven't had that confidence for a fair while. It felt slightly strange.

Also - Will Johnson is turning into one of the most important players on the team right now.

 

My "random" thought during this game is that the Steelers are learning to play without Polamalu. Several weeks ago, the TV broadcast flashed a stat that showed the Steelers with a dismal record when Polamalu doesn't play. Now they've won three games in a row without him - one of them against the Super Bowl Champions. I really think that this new-found ability to get it done without Troy in there will only help the Steelers in the 2nd half of the season. I don't feel that #43 is really reliable anymore to be there and the Steelers need to treat it as a luxury when he is able to come back.

 

Odd you say that - about halfway through the 3rd quarter I had the same thought; the fact I didn't notice whether it was Mundy or Allen out there has to be a good thing.

 

Agree.. Troy will be an incentive down the stretch going into the playoffs (pending heath)..but for now LeBeau has made the right adjustments during his absents.


"There’s only one Troy Polamalu"-Dick LeBeau

 

to me the D player we can least lose is ryan clark.. look at denver.. we never win there without ryan

HINES