Random thoughts after W vs NYJ

Some notes of what I saw today:

Positives:
-Week 1 loss was... just 1/16th of the season...
-Week 1 Ravens win was... just 1/16th of the season...
-It's nice to see Ben spreading the ball: 10 receivers touched the ball. (Start wondering who we keep at the end of the year).
-Cothcery is still pretty reliable. Sanders is making his case too, a strong one, to be here the years to come.
-Smart decisions by our QB: taking the flag instead of calling a timeout on that 4th down. Understood most of the time the blitzes, and read excellent his hot routes. Great execution in long drives.
-And, at last, we've found a punter who understands that if he kicks between the 10 and the 5, he helps us big time. Also, noticed that he understands when to punt higher and when to go further (that fumble was due -in part- to a great hangtime).
-Dwyer has a better chance of survival than Redman behind our Oline (he doesn't dance that much behind the line).
-That's two weeks in a row we have excellent, long drives. Credit Ben & Haley.
-Using Brown's speed early in the game to run a reverse was a great call.
-This D looks a lot different with Clark on it. He's not a Pro Bowler, but he fits our system really good.

Negatives:
-It's a growing need to run inside the tackles. Mendy will be back soon, but will not be the solution (his dancing behind the line will not help us fix this issue).
-Pass protection hasn't looked that bad 'cause of Ben's abilities, but it has not been god, not even OK this two weeks. Speedy receivers will get him out of trouble most of the time, but last couple of seasons this issue has meant injuries to our QB.
-For 2nd consecutive week, we were stopped after moving the ball 50+yds and had to go for 3.
-Our D is not creating turnovers. Not a single play W1 or W2 where we were close to an Int, and just 1 fumble (last week. Today it was STs)
-Missed sacks could someday mean a long completion, a 3rd down conversion or something ugly. Is someone counting how many times we got Manning and Sanchez, and they scaped the sack?
-Worilds, Carter, you must start making plays right away. Sylvester: better start warming up, 'cause you're next on this situation.

Too early to call:
-Our CB situation is not ideal, but probably not as bad as we all guess it is. At least, it hasn't been a factor so far. That's 2 consecutive weeks we play without a starting safety (Clark @Den, Troy vs NYJ) and no big plays have torched our secondary (in fact, the biggest was a missed tackle by Troy last week on that 80yd TD).
-Our O Gameplan is really different than last year. But how long before someone starts pointing Haley for getting 3 instead of 7, and not being able to stablish a running game early?
-Rainey: On a crowded backfield, this kid must start making something out of nothing before Haley gives Batch the 3rd down role.

 

Don't want to rain on your parade, but for whatever it's worth:

Clark is a Pro Bowler, not that that means anything.

Rainey and Batch are not really fighting for the same role, since they have pretty different skill sets. Rainey hasn't had many chances because defenses have been keying in on him like crazy. They saw the preseason games. He's swarmed.

Mundy would have had a pick on one play if Timmons hadn't knocked tha ball away.

 

-oline still not good. If it wasn't for Ben escape acts he would of been sack several times.
-oline needs to block straight ahead. No sweeps, No angle or zone blocking. Just man on man, hat on a hat, straight ahead blocking.
-i finally seen an exotic blitz from lebeau. It didn't yield anything but at least we know it's in the game plan.
-everyone on defense needs to practice with the "tackling dummie"
-Ben is on his "A" game. He seems like he really has control of the offense.
-i must apoligize for my comments about signing Van Dyke. I thought it would be better served to have another olineman. But he was the cause of the fumble in the game on the punt.
-the olinemen got through one game without an injury. Yea!!!!!

 

True. One thing i've noticed is Batch is pretty good at picking up the blitz. We need to start setting up plays for Rainey though. It seems like if he's on the field the play is going to him. I didn't count how many snaps he saw without targeting him but it felt like if he's in he's getting the ball. Mix it up a bit more to keep D's guessing and he may be able to surprise the D and pull off a few big runs.

 

Hmmm, so this guy's been involved in at least 2 critical plays on special teams in 2 consecutive weeks? interesting.

 

Oline
Oline
Oline

Enough said

 

I was going to post making a comparison to Sproles and how opposing Ds certainly know what he is capable of yet he still does it. So Defenses being ready for Rainey shouldn't be an issue.

But this post I believe explains part of it. Law of averages is another part. So I don't think Rainey is on the field enough to set something up and I don't think he is getting enough touches and opportunities to make something happen. I still think he will in due time.

 

As much as everyone likes Dwyer, and they fed him the ball quite a bit...I still like Redman more. I'm not sure if they are just working Redman back slowly.

It seems to me Keisel is making is off to a very slow start...I haven't really seen him make a play these past two games?

Was I right and saw a lot more Hampton than Mclendon in this second game?

 

from what i saw, the pass protection was pretty good...... all of our o-linemen handled their assignments.......... the problem i saw was with pre-snap reads......... some of the jets' blitzes were telegraphed and no pre-snap adjustments were made.............. also, from what i saw, out of the 3 sacks that we did give up, 2 were coverage sacks..... that's on the receivers for not getting open, and ben for not getting rid of the ball.

 

O.K. After a win - it's nice to look at how we can continue to get better. I agree with most of the things that are on here, but I want to bring up one SPECIFIC play that just made me scratch my head.

That BEHIND THE BACK handoff reverse they tried to run in the first half had to be one of the WORST individual plays that I have ever watched. At that point, I was pretty sure we would be in for a long day. I'm glad things turned around.

 

It wasn't pretty but I like the fact that we are trying things. That was intended for Rainey right? Can't remember. Anyhow, if so then my earlier post about needing to set up plays for Rainey better stands for this play as well. They seem to be teeing off on him and it seems to be because we aren't mixing up his playtime well enough yet. But there's a whole season for that.

If it wasn't for Rainey then I have no excuses for that play, lol

 

the timing and the fake really looked off on that play.

 

Kiesel has done absolutly nothing in two games. He is just running around out their. On one play he just ran up field and they ran the ball inside of him. He should have made some contact and tried to make a tackle. To me, Cam Heyward has played better. Maybe they should bench his butt to try and send a message.

Bad call on Clarks hit on Holmes on Ike!

No points after the fumbled punt. Only six points on two long drives. They need to score TD's!

Super catch by Wallace and keeping his feet in bounds.

Tomlins reaction after Redmans TD in the 4th!

 

Yeah - I love that they're trying different things - but I hope they never try that one again. The execution of that play would have to be flawless and even then it probably wouldn't be successful.

It's nice to be able to laugh something like that off, though, rather than burying my head in my hands and saying "Oh brother".

 

another thing i notice that the def line is a little soft on the point of attack , keisel hood mclendon expecially

 

It is still so early, I'm not going to get all caught up in a lot of this. The offense is putting up more points at the moment than it did last year on average. Last year 20....this year 23. It isn't like they faced bad defenses in these 2 games. The offense should get better as the gameplan adds things into the mix. The D has been vanilla, but when you are missing Harrison and Troy or Clark, that is to be "somewhat" expected.

 

All is beautiful with a win.... :swordsman: now bring on the "faiders"

 

Random thoughts after beating the Jets, handily...

1) Ben is playing MUCH better. He's spreading the ball and keeping opposing defenses on their heels.
2) Brown holding onto the ball like it's a winning lottery ticket.
3) Mike Wallace's big TD catch. Way to adjust to an under-thrown ball!
4) Offense scored 3 TDs and Defense only allowed 1 TD; NICE RATIO!
5) Defense is not getting a lot of sacks but they are managing to pressure the opposing QB
6) Taylor was flagged for moves Revis and Cromartie are allowed to get away with (grabs, contact, etc.), but he still kept playing and held Holmes to 3 catches for 28 yards and 1 TD
7) Defense adjusted well when the Jets tried to pull out Tebow
8) Offense looked much better in the red zone


True, the defense is not necessarily opposing its will, but they did make stops and got off the field on 3rd downs. Also, the offense ate up a lot of clock, and scored TDs.

Overall it was a great win, and the Steelers look to be getting much better in a short timeframe!

 

My eyes are burning... no yellow text please..cant read it..lol

 

I was at the game so I gain a lot more perspective being able to see the entire field, but I also lose a heck of a lot by not seeing what the tv provides.

Being at the game, I can say this: This was one hell of a boring game for most of the day. Heinz was quiet. Everybody was seated. The Jets were putting together some early, monotonous, time-consuming drives. Fortunately, we hung close. But the entire energy of the game changed when Tim Tebow was snuck into the game and peeled off a 20yrd (or whatever it was) run. The crowd started to get into it at that point. Then one of their rb's ran for like 12yrds or something and the crowd was on its feet. Another running play for a loss of six and they yanked Tebow but I feel like, at Heinz, that was the turning point of the game. The energy in that place picked up and the Steelers' intensity picked up at that point too. We pretty much owned the game after that.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why they took Tebow out after taking them about 30+yrds in two plays. Especially since the last time we faced him he absolutely owned us. The dude just has that 'it' factor. He comes into a game and both teams just step up their game a notch. He's great for the game.

The most painful part about the scab refs (other than the worst pass interference call I've ever seen) is the time it takes them to figure out what to do after a flag is thrown. Every single penalty that is called requires a five-minute town hall meeting. The people at home generally get to cut away to a commercial, but being at the game and witnessing that is just brutal. It really kills the energy of the game. The NFL needs to pony up some cash and bring the regular refs back.

 

i thought the same thing ,it was a quiet crowd for the most part of the game. i also wondered why they took tebow out. glad they did, but...