William Gay... yes another one

Has he been playing... not horrible?

I haven't noticed any big blown coverages, missed tackles or him getting burnt in the past few games. Is he finally becoming a true veteran I mean he does have a good amount of Nickel experience now.

I have always been one of the ones that complain about him falling down every play and what not but is he turning it around? I could be wrong and overlooked his mistakes but any input from you guys?

 

Please tell me you guys knocked on wood after posting that lol The last thing we need is Gay deciding to stop playing with the patsies and ratbirds coming up.

 

Well I will tell you this. After Sundays game against the Patriots, we will know where Willie Gay is. He will be seriously tested by Brady.

 

Ooo, quick reply. I like it!

Gay has been playing the best football of his career, BUT there are two reasons we shouldn't be excited about that yet:

1. That says nothing, considering how bad he's been in the past, and
2. He's yet to really be tested. Ike takes all the #1s, and we haven't really seen a serious #2 with a strong QB yet.

This week will be his first real test. Especially since he is our slot CB, and will probably see a lot of Welker (gosh I miss Townsend). He's been starting for McFadden, but I honestly think the fact that B-Mac got benched for Gay says not much about either of them, but instead more about the coaches. McFadden didn't play at all in the preseason and then hurt his hamstring again, and while Gay and Lewis were in, the defense played strong (against Tavaris Jackson, Kerry Collins, and Curtis Painter). So when Bryant was healthy, they made a "not broken, don't fix it" decision.

Last year Gay was, in my mind, the number one reason we lost to New England. He was brutally burned by Gronkowski three times. I'm not sorry we kept him because I'm fine with him as a #4, maybe #3 against some teams. I said he wasn't good enough to be a starter.

But who knows? Maybe he's a late bloomer and year 5 is his magic year. I will say that he rarely makes mental mistakes. He just can't hang with a lot of guys.

 

My sense of it from the first few games is that he's reading offenses better than he has done before. Maybe this is Lake's influence, as another thread suggests? Or maybe we're just getting excited because, as the OP put it, he's not as horrible as he usually is?

 

If he survives the onslaught this Sunday he might have finally arrived.

 

Not to throw any voodoo his way but this has been his best season that i can remember. I'm by no means a William Gay supporter and have been calling for him to hit the road for a while now, but I can't remember me yelling at him on tv once yet this season tbh. And that's definitely something I did just about every game last season.

Like edog55 stated, Brady will test him this week.

So does Ike cover Welker this week?

 

The real William Gay will be exposed this weekend. Just hopefully not to the extreme detriment like last year.

 

Tomlin said that Gay's work OFF the field is what sets him apart. Maybe the classwork and film study is finally starting to translate onto the field, because he seems to be a different player - I was CERTAIN he was going to be let go in the offseason and was shocked to see him offered a multi-year deal by the Steelers. Could it be the coaching staff has a better perspective on how these players are developing than WE DO!!??!!

In related news, how far has McFadden fallen? Cortez Allen ahead of him on the depth chart now? Wow.

 

Not likely according to Coach. Excerpt from the PPG:

Taylor-Welker match unlikely

Wes Welker not only is New England's best receiver, he leads the NFL with an average of 130.8 yards per game. But do not expect Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor to follow the usual plan that has him cover the other team's best.

Welker often lines up in the slot, and Taylor covers receivers who line up wide.

"As I sit here right now, I am not comfortable with saying that Ike is going to follow him down-in and down-out," Tomlin said. "That might be a little bit out of Ike's comfort zone.

"This guy spends a lot of time in interior formations at the No. 2 position, No. 3 position and slot formations. Ike is an outside corner, so I am not ready at this juncture to even say that this is going to be an element of this thing."

 

Where you at Lawrence Timmons??? Time to earn that fat paycheck!!!!!

 

Ike on Welker would be the best approach but then they have two tight ends that are damn good

Bman

 

I think this is the difference between good and bad coaches. Perhaps Tomlin keeps Gay for what he sees in development. All the stuff we dont see. Gay did suck and sucked badly so far but this year he seems to be around the ball and showing pretty good instincts.

I hope he develops quickly and preferably by this Sunday against the Patsies

Bman

 

I actually hoped-predicted that W. Gay would have 2 interceptions last Super Bowl.
Maybe it's this week?

 

Unfortunately, I'll have to correct you after the Patriot's game.