My thoughts on regular season wk 9

blackandgoldpatrol again another great analysis.

Warren is the better back but Harris will still be the starter. At least Tomlin isn't running the wheels off of one and has finally learned. Best 1-2 punch in the league.

Having Jones replacing Chuks was large. Jones is a stud and anyway to get him on the field is a positive.

Kill Kenny all you want. But when the heat gets hottest this kid steps up and delivers.

I believe one of the happiest Steelers was Johnson finally getting the funk of no TD's off his back.

Like said Highsmith is a beast becoming a nightmare for offensive coordinators. He is a punisher out there.

Being a rookie Porter Jr is going to make some mistakes. But this kid is just shut down. Finally we have one! To bad Cam Sutton is gone. That would have been a nice tandem.

Holcomb was finally bringing back some respect to the ILBer position. Man what a loss and a horrible injury.

Winning ugly but becoming battle tested.

 

My thoughts....
I had been saying that Canada belongs on the sideline, and it is much better when he is. I still hate his design.
The last drive, his offense needs to take some time off the clock, 1st down and the Titans are loaded for a run, play-action would have been perfect.

Kenny Pickett - His ribs were still sore. It took him a few throws to get loose. Those early passes did not have the follow through and zip he normally has.

It was great to see Heyward out there, he wasn't quite himself but still a great site.

Kwon Alexander, he's silently make himself known. Love the big hit on Henry, probably one of the few times I've seen him stopped (Actually knocked down) cold.

As pointed out, Porter Jr is showing some great potential. He spent a lot of time against one of the best.

Broderick Jones needs to be the starter, he manhandled his guy pretty much all night. A couple lessons learned on his part but the upside was great.

I like the RB situation. Harris is my guy because he's a truck. When you run him as one cut and go, he's his best.
I like Warren too... tough as nails.

 

Generally, a pulled hamstring takes 4 wks to heal..... I haven't heard anyone in the organization say exactly what extent the injury was

 

Joey Porter jr pretty much shut Hopkins down!!!

 

That’s Mr. Kenny Clutch to you!

 

Porter’s route anticipation is second to none. Very physical AND very smart. Great combo for a CB1.

 

11. Thank God for Kwon Alexander. If Holcomb is not out with Injury ( Hoping for his quick recovery) would he made that interception.

 

I would assume and perhaps wrongly that KFP errant throws has something to do with his sore ribs.

 

https://x.com/pff_steve/status/1720286856489685195?s=46

Kenny Pickett makes absolutely no sense. He’s a below-average QB until the fourth quarter when he becomes Tom Brady.

 

Thanks

 

The start to last nights game seemed better in that regard. Maybe he needs the first two possessions scripted!!

 

Those fourth quarters are what make me think there is a good quarterback in there. I like that he seemed to be seeing the field and making good decisions last night. He was late to see one crossing route to Robison last night, but otherwise, he that part of his game showed progress. The lack of accuracy when he had good protection was just puzzling. Hopefully, it was related to the ribs and he can take a step forward against Green Bay.

 

Hopefully that was a teaching moment for a young player, and we never see it again.

 

Maybe, but the play calls and his decisions were solid most of the night. His execution just wasn't consistent enough. (That said, the Wildcat on second-and-goal from the one was so stupid.)

 

B.Jones is going to be a good one .

Calvin Austin just gets swallowed up as a WR.

 

agreed, we have seen it for many years, under Tomlin

 

What gets me is Najee runs the ball for a few yards then Warren comes in gets us close to the end zone and they put Najee back in to try and score. Ridiculous.

 

played with a TON of heart!

Peterson really blows, we got fleeced there, but many of us called it when it happened.

the mediocre middle - we will be there for a while

GREAT 2nd half by the D - of course, we got a 2nd game ROOKIE QB to mess with, we can't beat any wiley VET a GOOD QB, trust me - saw that last week....

 

D
U
M
B

just lousy coaching

Warren should be the started, Najee the backup

 

Agreed, love his comebacks, but he did miss high in the 1st quarter, he missed Pickens high on the crossing route where he could of run a long way. He was also high on Donte Johnson throw when he was wide open, He under threw Calvin down the middle when he ran past the defense. It could of been his rib injury was still bothering him some. We shall see more in next couple of games.

I will also take Porters rookie tackling and a couple of rookie penalties if he can shut down the teams best receivers most of the night. A shut down is worth it's weight in gold and much better then playing zone and leaving guys wide open. We will need him against Jamar Chase.

Jones had a good game at right tackle, what I also liked he was going after people past the line of scrimmage and into the linebacker area, hence some better running lanes. I think right now he is our best tackle.

 

KP almost seems like a guy on the golf range, he stripes it on the range and seems to get first tee gitters and can’t find his target. Then he kinda settles in. Problem is he wares the defense out in the first half with 3 n outs.

 

Kenny's throw to DJ and DJ's catch were amazing, in Q4.

the REST was WARREN.

that kid is great.

and we LUCKED out the PI call.

or it was a FG and not a TD - and overtime

 

Thank you for the write-up...well done.

This was the first full game of the season that I was able to watch (streaming football sucks after cancelling Dish) and I had a few thoughts:

1) I was shocked at how bad Kenny was in the first 3 quarters...I really hope it was the injury, but man I thought he looked like Jimmy G missing Adams badly last week.
2) I don't mind the 2-back system as long as they both play great and I thought they did.
3) The penalties were crazy bad. Porter is VERY handsy and really needs to learn how to play tight and not get penalties. I love him though and am very excited to see him play.
4) Watching Jones was so much fun...he is really good! I don't care what side he plays on, he just need to play. Of course, he will need to eventually pick a side and stay with it to get better.
5) Having Canada on the field was a HUGE change that brought BIG results IMO. He needs to stay down there where he can keep in contact with the offense, especially Pickett.
6) Overall, I don't think we win a playoff game this year...we might get in with a few more come from behind wins, but the good teams (Bengals, Bills, Chiefs) will blow us out.
7) My favorite player is Watt and I love watching him play, but I was very impressed with Highsmith. Love having those two out there.
8) Losing Holcomb and not having Mincah is going to be a real problem going forward. I read this morning that Holcomb's injury is "significant"...that does not sound good.

 

2 - 6 this time last year. 5 - 3 now. Game and a half behind the Ravens. Tied with the Bills for 5th seed in the AFC. Tied with Bills and 49ers for 9th best record in the NFL. And like Kirk Herbstreit said after the game, the offense made some strides. So yeah it was the weekly coronary once again inside the two minute warning, but there's reason for hope and we are finally seeing some willingness on the part of the coaching staff to take some risks on some big plays. The difference between this week and last week was execution and awareness.

 

If Pickett made a better throw, Austin probably would have caught a long touchdown pass last night.