Perhaps the Bengals were just due.
Former Pirates announcer Bob Prince used to talk about the hidden vigorish. His theory was that the more often something happens, the less likely it is that it will continue to do so.
The Steelers hadn't lost in Cincinnati since 2001, including a 2006 playoff victory there.
The Bengals have had some decent teams during that span, yet still found ways to lose to the Steelers at home.
© Until the Steelers figure out that they need to continue scoring points no matter how big their lead, they are going to continue to struggle.
It's something other NFL teams have figured out. But you have to cut the Steelers a little break, they're new to this whole pass, pass, pass thing.
© I'm pretty sure Shaun McDonald wouldn't have dropped that pass in the end zone that Limas Sweed did.
I don't know if McDonald could have gotten open like Sweed did, but I know he'll catch everything thrown to him.
And no, Limas, holding your hands in the air to signal a touchdown isn't going to make it so.
Just a guess, but Sweed will not be active again this season unless one of the other receivers is injured.
© The Steelers used Deshea Townsend and Keiwan Ratliff at strong safety on obvious passing downs to combat Cincinnati's three- and four-receiver packages in place of Tyrone Carter.
Even with that, Troy Polamalu can't get healthy soon enough for this team.
© Rashard Mendenhall was benched because Mike Tomlin didn't like how he handled a little success.
I think that was coach-speak for Mendenhall failing his weekly assignment test, but I'm not positive of that.
Either way, he was MIA until deciding it would be a good idea to pitch Cincinnati's squib kick back to Stefan Logan at the 35 rather than falling down to give Ben Roethlisberger one shot to hit something down the field and kick a tying field goal.
It would have been a long shot, but no more so than Logan scoring when the entire Cincinnati defense was five yards from him.
© It's a shame that the Steelers blowing this game will overshadow strong games from cornerbacks Ike Taylor and William Gay.
They both made plays all over the place and got their hands on passes. Now, they just need to start catching those passes.
© Before you get too excited about the 1-2 start, remember that the Steelers opened the 1995 season by losing all-world defensive back Rod Woodson, their best player, in the opener to a knee injury and proceeded to begin the season 3-4.
Included in that run were losses at Jacksonville - the expansion team's first victory - and yes, a loss to the Bengals - in Pittsburgh, no less.
That 1995 team rebounded to go to the Super Bowl and probably should have won that game.
It happens.
71 comments:
No one was more upset with Sweed than me -- I've been defending him for months, saying he needs time to develop, and he could be something special. But even I can't forgive that drop.
My emotions say bench him - he's too much of a liability. My brain says he is a valuable second-round pick -- too valuable to waste. Thank God we've found an apparent gem in Wallace or else we'd be desperately thin at WR.
With Mendenhall apparently benched, Sweed unable to catch the ball, Davis cut, and Hills showing little-to-nothing, is it safe to say that the '08 draft was a complete bust? I'd hate to admit it, but it's beginning to look that way to me.
I'm done making excuses for Limas. Mike Wallace keeps making catches and Sweed keeps dropping them. Like Dale said, i'm sorry that so many great performances got overshadowed by a loss in a game that should have been won. I'm very disappointed in the Steelers right now.
If all of us realize the Steelers need to keep scoring instead of turtling, why don't they realize it? Isn't it their job to know things like that?
steelers will lose next week's game. The only game they squeaked out this year was against the 0 - 3 titans. This steelers team is sloppy.
Reed has missed a field goal in every game this year.
Offense is unable to score TDs and finds ways to make bone headed plays weekly.
Defense solid but in no way dominant like last year.
that's how I see it.
-- Give Arians a break.
-- Limas Sweed should catch better.
-- We miss Troy.
-- Rashard may have done something wrong, but I'm not sure.
-- Ike can't catch.
-- And the perpetual loser's rallying cry: remember 1995.
What insight.
Give Arians a break for what?
he's an idiot
Sweed's catch would have been nice, but that's not what lost the game. Wallace also blew a TD by not being able to stay in bounds along the sidelines. Let's not forget last week when Wallace failed to fight for a 1st that likely changes the result of that game. Both are young players, both make good plays and not so good ones.
Mendenhall did the right thing trying to lateral the ball. A Logan return was the only realistic chance the Steelers had. Further, if the coaches wanted more time for BR, then THEY should have instructed the entire KR team to signal for a fair catch on the kick off if they could catch the ball in the air, which stops the clock, OR to just fall on the ball if it was a grounder and signal for a time out. Also, STs SHOULD have a hook and lateral play for occasions just like this.
If a player is left on his own to make a decision and the coaches don't like what he did, then that is a COACHING problem, NOT a player problem.
But let's call a spade a spade. The offense is designed to appease BR and little else. BA has said he doesn't want to reign BR in because he makes more good plays than bad, but maybe it's time for that to change. The run game has been sacrificed to make BR happy. Screens and short passes seem only to happen when the offense is set at the beginning of the game. The rest of time, the offense consists mostly of BR slinging the ball down the field. That philosophy has resulted in 13, 14 and 20 pts against defenses that aren't "all that and a bag of chips".
Tomlin can get mad at Mendenhall or bench Sweed all he wants, but the fact remains unless/until HE steps in, the team is going to continue to struggle to score points and games that should not be close will keep on being so where a bad break, lucky bounce, bad call, etc. can decide them.
1. Bruce Arians' play-calling has actually been fairly impressive 3 games into the season. I would have called different play at times, but overall I think he's done great.
The key to winning these games is not scoring more points in the 4th quarter. It's our defense blowing late leads. No turnovers, 1 sack between Harrison & Woodley.
THERE'S your difference between now and last year
The offense needs to keep its foot on the gas through-out the entire game, no matter how big of a lead we get because this defense isn't as good as last year and can't close out games like they could last year. Give up 2 fourth quarter TD drives when your up by 11?!?!? Come on D...also, the offense has had very little trouble moving the ball but just can't finish drives off with TDs...overall the Steelers are lacking the kill mentality in every aspect of their game.
I agree to a point about Arians. I think the scripted plays to begin the game have been pretty good. Against both Chi and Cincy, the offense has marched down the field and scored effectively and efficiently.
I don't really blame the defense since they basically gave up 2 drives the entire game. I'm not crazy about the old prevent defense, but...
As for sacks, have you noticed the trend of using 6 actual OL? Harrison is being double teamed now and teams have an extra OL to handle Woodley. Personally, I'd like to see LeBeau allow Hampton to rush the passer instead of his usual role to just occupy the C and G. You saw how fast he got in the backfield to sack Palmer.
It's way too early to panic but there is some room for concern. A couple of bad decsions by Tomlin, dropped passes by Holmes and Sweed, a benched first round running back...
This team lacks focus and the ability to finish. It's all fixable but the margin for error is shrinking.
first of all, you can't even compare wallace and sweed. wallace catches the ball, sweed does not. wallace will make some "rookie" type mistakes, but i think the kid is the real deal.
there are so many problems it's hard to know where to start. but, let me point out what gets to me the most. this team is soft. i can't believe it. but they are. until they come out and "win" a 4th quarter and beat someone up, they're soft. does that have something to do with "camp cupcake?" i don't know. i just can't believe it though.
A little unrelated, but imho, the NFL needs to be consistent on what is a TD and what isn't. You see players dive at the pylon, then fumble the ball, but it's a TD because "as soon as the ball breaks the plane, play is over". Yet when a player catches the ball - as Sweed did - clearly has possession and is NOT juggling the ball, takes a step or two, then falls out of bounds and looses the ball, it's NOT at TD. Even on BR's sneak, he's clearly laying on the ground outside the goal line but the ball's over the goal line so it's a TD.
adamg, i think they made the right call on sweed.
when a player is running and dives across the goaline they already have possesion of the ball as they are crossing the goaline.
in sweed's case, he must maintain control of the ball when he hits the ground to be ruled a catch. and only when it is rule a catch does he have possesion of the ball, and therefore a touchdown.
Yes, I know the refs use the same rule on end zone catches as they do all over the field - that a player has to catch the ball and get up with it to be complete. My point is the rules are different for TDs since once the ball breaks the plane, the play is considered dead. To me, that was a catch and the play should have been over, but I agree the refs interpreted the current rule correctly. Clearly Sweed had the ball, was not juggling it, took a step in bounds and then fell awkwardly out of bounds, hit his elbow and the ball came out. This is where the rules need to be changed - to call what everyone knows is a TD catch, a catch.
As for Wallace. He did catch what was thrown to him, but it was obvious, except for the long pass, that he was just going to a spot and sitting down. He did not have any yards after catch on those plays. You can make just as good a case that he cost the Steelers the game because he was unable to stay in bounds when he had 5 yds on the DB after the catch. Think Holmes or Ward would have stepped out? The Steelers had to settle for a FG when they should have had a TD.
i guess i don't have a problem with the current rules regarding TD catches. imo, he couldn't hang on to the ball, therefore, no TD.
i agree, ward or holmes would've stayed in bounds and scored on that long pass to wallace. but we're comparing wallace and sweed here. wallace gets open and catches the ball. more than what we can say for sweed. additionally, i think BR threw some low passes to wallace, forcing him down. but you're right, he did sit down on a couple of those. either way, he's clearly ahead of sweed.
also, i do believe on that drive when wallace ran out of bounds that BR sailed one over Heath's head wide open in the back of the endzone.
fact is, they are just a sloppy team right now.
adamg - Wallace is making a hell of a lot of more plays than Sweed ever has
get ready for Sweed to be inactive and dress McDonald
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they start Wallace next week instead of Holmes who has been making mental errors to send a message to him
question- did parker seem to run harder or was it just a product of bad cincy defense?
I was at the game and it seemed to be a combination of Willie running harder and our O-line playing lights out in the first half. Cinci's defense actual played pretty hard throughout the game.
again with the defense is to blame. This D gave up 17 points yesterday. In EVERY game played yesterday that was enuff to win, EVERY game. SO take the critics of the D, really?????
The offense is bad, period.
Based on these 3 games now, which is enuff info, we have the worst backfield in the NFL.
Based on these same games, are WRs are at best average, and of all the teams that run a predominant 3 WR set, we are pathetically bad.
We do not have a #1 nor a #3. We have two #2's, neither Ward nor Holmes strike fear into anybody. Wallace is going to be a good #3, but he needs another half dozen games.
If this team was going to run a 3 WR set, why did the coaches and FO do nothing to make sure we had the talent to do it?
If we have an issue on D it is the DBs. We had 4 starting caliber Corners last year, Ike, Gay, Mcf, and Town....we now have 2.
We are not going to sign parker for next year, thats pretty clear, was there some reason we could not have let him go this year and sign McF instead??
Remember 95?? yeah right, well they had 4 good WRs and a back up RB who was as good as anything we have now.
Something is weird about Mendy.
He had problems with his college coach, which apparently was about his brother not getting playing time. Then last year he had his shoulder injury and Pittsburgh reporters have headlines that say: "Where in the world is Rashard Mendenhall?"
Is this guy the new Ricky Williams? Something about his attitude has to be rubbing people the wrong way.
Regardless of that, Tomlin's ego can't let a fresh pair of legs from possibly saving the game. The running game undoubetdly was starting to slow down, so maybe Mendenhall wouldn't of done much either. But why not Moore? He has legs too. It was painfully obvious Parker was just about done for the day - when was the last time he got that much work?
That, in my opinion, is purely Tomlin's ego and subjectiveness getting in the way of rational decisions. Unless Mendenhall cursed him out during the week, it was in the best interest of the TEAM for someone other than Parker to start carrying the ball.
Any word on David Johnson Dale? I don't have the exact plays to rewatch, but it seemed like when he was in there, the running game was really rollin. I could be mistaken.
We need to learn how to finish games and stop leaving plays on the field, simple and plain.
Instead of '95, this season is beginning to eerily resemble 06-07. Win on opening night, lose 5 out of next 6. Good thing we have the Browns and Lions soon...or is it?
Johnson wasn't in there very long. The plays I watched him, he really didn't block anybody.
The end zone catch rule is what it is. You've got to hold onto the ball all the way.
I didn't see anywhere in my original post where I defended Arians. In fact, I'm pretty sure I said they have to keep scoring points- as many as possible - instead of trying to sit on the ball in the fourth quarter when they know they can't.
I'm also not sure who the backup running back in 1995 was that is better than any of the backs on this roster. Erric Pegram. Nope. Bam Morris? Nope.
That team had an outstanding offensive line led by perhaps the best lineman of his day, Dermontti Dawson.
theres no way that should of have been a catch anywhere. that was a pathetic attempt.
The game is too big for Sweed. I give up on him, and I had hope.
I meant more about the injury to Johnson, serious or not?
Dale,
Any suggestions on fixing this mess? I know Troy is important, but he shouldn't be the whole football team.
where's the criticism of old-man James Farrior?
He made a weak tackle attempt on Brian Leonard who was able to get the first down on a 4th and 10 play
Then he gave up the winning TD when he gave that TE way too much room for no reason. He should have been there to block that pass.
They wasted a great clutch performance by Ike Taylor who shutdown Ochostinko
I don't see the criticism of the D. They need to get some sacks and yeah having Troy back would be huge. No one has scored more than 17 points on that defense though, still puts them in the top 10 for the league and good enough to win every week if the red zone offense were able to get going. This game should have been won by 3 or 4 touchdowns, ditto the Bears game. Embarrassing.
I also don't see why Ben keeps getting a pass for his picks. Holmes might have run the wrong route but Ben was staring him down from before the snap. Dewayne Washington could suit up tomorrow and jump that route.
well, we'll agree to disagree about the RBs.
Menday's career consists of a 34 yard run and thats it (to me thats like all the talk about Sweed's potential because he made one great block.) and FWP is averaging 2 YPC. ANd with his age and injuries?? bet you the farm by the end of the year FWP is AWOL.
The way the backfield has performed, I'd take Pegram and Morris over both of them in a heartbeat. They also had a pretty solid FB in Williams, not to mention Slash and McAfee in reserves.
Sorry, if you took 95 wr and Rbs and gave them BB, they'd have rolled over teh league. If you put old horse afce on this team???how ugly would that be.
I haven't posted here in a while, but here are a few of my thoughts for whatever they're worth:
- Sweed. I've seen many wr who blossom after a year or two. But I don't know if I've ever seen a wr who had such a hard time catching the ball turn it around. Last year, every one remembered his drop against Balt in the AFCCG. But he also dropped one at the end of the SD game the week before. He has a confidence problem to be sure. I could rationalize that that's something that he could overcome. But, as they say, the NFL is a man's league. If you don't have the stones, you don't belong.
- Holmes still needs to mature. He has talent, but I'm getting tired of his act. I'm pretty sure the int return for a td was his fault.
- What has happened to Harrison and Woodley? I kept waiting for one of them to make a play in the 4th quarter yesterday. It never came. I would never have guessed that they would be such nonfactors 3 games into the season. (To be fair, Harrison has made a couple of plays. He forced the fumble in the Tenn game and he forced a fumble late in the Chi game but they recovered. But where'e the pressure on the qb?)
- With the olb unable to generate pressure, I was expecting Lebeau to bring extra blitzers at some point late in the game. He never did (that I recall).
I have more but that's all I have the energy to type.
Agree with anonymous here, that wasn't a pass where Ben threw it and Holmes never made his move (like a 10 and in/out). Holmes was 10 yards down the field with hs back to the play and Ben threw it blindly. That's a missed route and not a smart pass. Those combined usualy equal 6 for the opposition.
And the D does definitely deserve some criticism for not being able to come together in "situational football" as Tomlin calls it. I.e. 4th and 10 with the game on the line.
But they are far from the reason the Steelers lost this game and viewing it as a whole, are the least responsibile, but still a piece of it.
A team lose that started with Tomlin and then trickled its way down. All the way down, to almost the basement of the North.
sometimes you lose games like this, sometimes you even do it in back to back weeks. the steelers are 1-2 with both losses coming on the road at the last second in games they could easily have won. they'll get it together.
no way the '95 wr/rb group is substantially better than the '09 group. that's letting back to back tough losses talk.
Plenty of first and second year WRs struggle. I'm not giving up on Sweed yet. Holmes has had more misses than Sweed this year.
"where's the criticism of old-man James Farrior?"
It looked like he was a little late reacting on that play but James Farrior has been so solid and reliable in the middle. It's like Hines Ward dropping the fumble; he's done more than enough for this team to deserve a break on that one. James Farrior is not the problem with this football team.
Actually, 1-2 or not, is there really that big of a problem? 90% of the teams in the league woulld love to trade places with the Steelers right now. The pieces are all in place. Tomlin and the offense seem strangely confident for a team that's not putting a lot of points on the board. I think with a few smarter decisions with the play-calling and we'll be right back at the top.
My only real negative comment: I don't want to see Limas Sweed on the field again while guys like McDonald and Wallace are healthy. I can't take it.
Question on the pick-6.....
I hear people blaming Holmes for not running a hot route and was wondering how he was supposed to know to run a hot route, did Ben signal him?
The reason I ask is because the Bengals were showing a heavy blitz but then dropped everyone and only rushed 3-4 but it looked like Ben panicked anyway and threw it.
Did Holmes not run the hot route because he saw they weren't blitzing?
i can't help it, but this all takes root at our drafting the last few years.
fact...95% of teams need to be able to run the ball to close games out in the 4th quarter. (exceptions may include colts, pats, saints).
fact...everyone knew significant turnover was coming to our o-line. but, our focus in drafting gravitated towards skill position players.
fact...we could not close out the SB last year or the last 2 games this year because we cannot run effectively and consistently.
we are in this position because we chose to be in this position. marginalize the FB, utilize 3 and 4 WR sets, spread the other team out. to do that we needed to bring in more WR's/RB's at the expense of using a couple draft picks to move up for a quality OL player. that is the path our team chose. in fact, i am positive tomlin said, "there is more than one way to slow down a pass rush" when questioned why we didn't draft an o-linemen higher one year. their plan all along was to bring in more skilled players.
now we are dealing with it. even though the o-line is playing better they are still not good enough to ram it down someone's throat in the 4th quarter.
as it turns out, our WR's and RB's aren't that great (as a unit), our o-line is average on a good day, and our offense needs to play near perfect to score more than 20 points.
I think you're right about your draft comment. Is it my imagination or has the team put less emphasis on character than they did in years past? No doubt they still value it more than many other teams but it just doesn't seem to be as much of a factor as it once was and I think we're seeing it on the field. Hard to say from just seeing them on TV but that's the sense I get nowadays.
OK everyone, take a deep breath. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Someone said this earlier, but let me reiterate the point: pretty much every team in the league would love to be in our place right now. I'll bet any of the teams who are currently 3-0 would rather be 1-2 and the defending superbowl champs.
Is our team perfect? No. Is there considerable room for improvement? yes. But it's a long season, and our guys will pick up the slack.
I feel like us Steeler fans are spoiled by our teams consistent success. We expect greatness, and when we fall short, we're severely disappointed. So let's all just take a deep breath, and focus on the task ahead. What's happened has happened, so lets put it behind us and move forward. Go Steelers!!!!
wow! really? Marc/Noel, two close away game losses and you're that down on the defending superbowl champs after 3 games? Really? Only one team has ever gone undefeated, and that was almost 40 years ago. Shouldn't we let a little more of the season play out before we start a movement to castigate the front office and coaching staff?
what was the rap on Mendenhall coming out of college? did he have character issues? did he have an entourage? he doesn't seem like a "Steeler" to me.
maybe it's just the fact that he's young and lacks playing time, but i am starting to get the feeling that something just isn't right with him.
does he have many friends on the team? who does he hang out with after practice?
slab,
it's just frustration. i know these guys are good and expect them to make a run at the playoffs.
but, for 2 years i've been hoping for them to get a high quality o-linemen and watched them pass up opportunities to trade up. yes, we got some good skilled players, but, imo, we really need a good lineman or 2.
you're right though, plenty of season left. just clean up a few mistakes.
Good questions Greg, I've had the same feelings... He just doesn't seem like one of the guys. maybe it's because of getting injured last year. I think I remember reading that he wasn't around the team all that much, which I wopuld view as a bad sign.
I wonder how much they really knew about Mendenhall when they took him. They didn't really expect him to be there at that point and maybe he was there partially because of some of the things other teams picked up on. Regardless, he's here now and I hope he gets things sorted out.
On Mendenhall. Certainly he was checked out by the Steelers front office and coaching staff. I don't think it's necessarily a problem if a younger brother thinks an older brother was not treated as the U of I coach promised. From what I read, the brothers were and are very close. IIRC, Mendenhall had graduated, too, when he passed up his senior year. Tomlin seems to like players who are not only good football players, but who also worked just as hard in the classroom to graduate on time.
AFAIK, it was optional for him to hang around with the team while he was rehabbing his shoulder injury.
If the head coach or any of the coaches wanted him at practice or in the locker room, then they should have told him that he HAD to do that. IOW, NO option. I get tired of it when employees are criticized for following rules set down for them by supervisors.
Mcdonald over Sweed would be a mistake IMO
McDonald is solid...but Sweed shows flashes....its like having to flashlights....
McDonalds is a dim bulb....but it comes on every time
Sweed is like a spotlight with a short in it...maybe it comes on..maybe it doesn't...but when it does...its blinding.
Hack I really just don't agree with you.
Sweed is more like the flashlight you have in your trunk that works all year for the little things, but when you're stranded on the side of the road at night, it doesn't work.
He has been given too many opportunities. No one disputes his ability to get open, but drops like that can only happen once in awile. His are far too often.
Sweed NEEDS the bench.
so does Holmes, in my opinion.
IMHO. The O-line did a hard days work and looked good. Remember they had seven sacks going into this game. Bring in big snack and leave him in the game when it's effective. When you have double teams on the ends. They need a big man in the middle blowing it up.
Props to the secondary guys. One touchdown they let go. The other was 51 not closing in on time.
BR hit the panic button on the pick 6. Don't think that will happen again. Someone please tell Reed to go out and party his AZZ off. Whatever is in his head, he needs to get it out. The miss was a distance and the other kicker did the same. But I still think he needs to go rip off a paper towel holder or something. Sweed... what to say..... poor guy. It's the jug machine for an hour everyday after practice. Sit on the ground and have the machine hit you on your left and right. Simulate rollong over and holding on to the ball.
Congrats Hines!
FWP will be in the ice tub for the next 48 hours. Good running kid.
Solid T.E. Heath. Ben should of connected more.
B.A. good play calling. Remember Tomlin can over rule at any time. So is it B.A. play calling we don't like at times, or is it Mr. T's.
It's time to play physical...
Can we wait until Troy get's back to unleash the beast... Dick is playing it safe, do to not having the closing speed and the football smarts in the secondary. Like I said. Just my thoughts.
Zeke
I would agree with the lack of blitzing at some times. They didn't blitz on fourth down on either conversion late after sending guys on early downs.
Mendenhall has some friends on the team, but he's a quiet guy. I don't see him joking around with the others. But that's not necessary. Just know the playbook.
That wasn't a TE that caught the winning pass, it was a WR. A LB on a receiver is a bad matchup, period. Can't blame Farrior for that. As for Leonard, he made a great play to get the first down.
The fix for this team is to put touchdowns, instead of field goals, on the board. This offense is capable of putting 30 on the board every week. With Polamalu out, it should be doing it.
Dale, I don't disagree the catch rule for TDs is what it is. I am saying there are different standards for what is a complete play to qualify for a TD. I think the standards should be the same. How many times have we seen players reach the ball past the pylons, then drop the ball or a runner hold the ball over the goal line only to have it knocked out his hands and it's still a TD? I think the rule needs adjusted so a catch like Sweed made (full control of the ball with both feet down)is a TD. Who cares what happens after that UNLESS the receiver is juggling the ball?
you can't honestly think that Sweed deserved a catch there do you?
If that play happens in the middle of the field, it's incomplete under current rules nterpretation, but to qualify for a TD, I do. Sweed clearly caught the ball (not juggling), had both feet down and took a step with the ball clearly in his possession.
this team is not capable of putting 30 points up in a game. it simply dooes not have the playmakers to do it. The decision was made to move to a pass heavy 3 WR set and nothing was done to match the roster to that.
We are short at least one quality WR, a receiving TE (no offense to Heath, he just not a good match for what we are doing), and we are relying on a starting RB who canot catch the ball or pass block. compare Indy, NO, NE, Houston, other teams that run same offense, outside of the QB we are no match.
We play some pretty weak teams, so we may put up an occasional 30, but against any serious playoff bound team? forget it.
that Sweed play isn't a catch anywhere in any league or any discoverable planet
and what sense does it make that it is incomplete in the field of play but a TD in the endzone? The rule is the same - you have to maintain possession throughout with 2 feet in bounds.
Somehow the "Louis Murphy" rule has everyone confused. It's just as easy as what I said.
adamg - give it up, you aren't making any sense
Sweed dropped it = not a TD
sorry dale, farrior blew that coverage. it may have been a mismatch with a WR, but farrior gave him a hefty cushion in the endzone. how do you give a guy a cushion "in the endzone?"
imo, this offense is not capable of 30 points per week. not even close. actually, i'll bet we don't get 30 or more points 3 times this season.
any takers?
even if they do score an occasional 30 it will be an illusion.
Its like all the comments about the running game and FWP being back because he got 95 yards. Meaningless.
TO be back, the running game and more importantly FWP or whoever is in our backfield, would have to make cincy (or any opponent) change their defensive game plan - react to us rather than plan what they wanted to do. didn't happen.
didn't happen in Chicago either. The only time we looked like an offense was the brief time they ran the no huddle.
Other than the run game, how is our offensive production different than previous years? We've never been a team that is expected to put up 30 points week after week, that's just not our way.
We win games with defense, which is the key to fixing our slow 1-2 start. It's the defense that's given up several 4th quarter scoring drives, it's our defense that needs to pick up the slack. Take away Troys INT and we have no turnovers. James Harrison and Lamaar Woodley have combined for one lousy sack.
The offense is not our biggest problem right now, its our defense
We should have had 31pts this week. Between Sweed's drop and Wallace stepping out of bounds when he should have had a TD, that's 11pts left out there.
lol at all the idiots criticizing Wallace for stepping out of bounds on the deep ball. It was a tough play. And atleast he CAUGHT the damn ball unlike Sweed
Also, wasn't there another idiot here last week criticizing Big Ben for not being able to throw the deep ball well? he can, he just needs someone to catch it
Didn't hear anyone on this board say "our running game is back" What I said was "good job to FWP" He hit the holes hard and wasn't trying to think his way down the field. Farrior did slop on the endzone TD. Didn't see him the whole time. I thinking maybe he slipped... Can't count how many drop Washington had in the past. But I'm still on the Sweed bandwagon for the time being. Furthermore what about Holmes. I thought this would be his break out year, stop pounding your chest everytime you make a 12 yard gain. Act like you've been there before.
The D line needs to get it's swagger back. They need one very explosive game and I think it will all come together. We have to go into the bye 5-2. If not it might be a long off season.
Zeke
again, the defense gave up 17 points against cincy. that was stingy enuff to win EVERY game this week. not just some or half, every game. how can you lay the loss on the D?
No the D is not as good as last year, but to expect it to be is unreasonable - last years D was one of those once in a lifetime units.
it's not that the D is bad or losing the games by themselves, but i think it is reasonable to expect our defense to keep a team from scoring 2 TD's in the fourth quarter. especially drives of 85 and 71 yards.
It's not that the points that makes me blame the defense, its for one reason, and one reason only.
4th and 10. Stop them and the game is over. We didn't stop them.
Mike Tomlin preaches winning "situational football". That's as critical of a situation as you'll get, and we didn't answer the call.
This D is still playoff caliber but it is not as good as last year.
you cannot let a lesser team with a good QB hang around late in the game on the road. I don't care how good your D is, you are going to get burned.
The Offense has to man up and put teams away. And it needs to put points on the board not yards in the stat log.
Hello Carey Davis
Seriously
Good. Summers was awful as a lead blocker. Tomlin said he had a back injury too. Hopefully they cut Summers and not David Johnson
Atleast Davis is good on special teams, maybe this will light a fire under him to improve as a FB
Welcome back
did the Steeler even look at other fullback's other than Davis? I find it hard to believe there aren't any better options out there
There are probably better FB's out there, but Davis knows the system and can step right in and play.
LOL! Our OC states he's "not a full back kind of guy" yet we go out and sign a FB. Am I the only out here who wonders if the HC, OC and front office are on the same page?
I'm thinking Davis was signed as much for his ST play as for being a back.
They signed a fullback because the only two men who play that position (Summers and Johnson) are hurt.
And what Bruce was talking about is that in his offense, the "fullback" carries several other responsibilities other than just blocking out of the backfield, so he doesn't like calling the position "fullback"
Stop posting random non-sensible arguments.
Oh boy, here we go. For some reason a number of fans like to have a few pet players to blame any Steelers problems on. Carey Davis is one of those guys.... Steelers don't win or lose based on Carey Davis. Steelers fans that get all riled up over him are missing the big picture. He is what he is- the 53rd guy on the roster.
Don't let facts get in the way, danpio. Arians has said consistently he believes in 3 TEs and not a traditional fullback. In the game against Cincy, there were NO fullbacks dressed. David Johnson, the 3rd TE served that role. When he was injured, Spaeth took over as lead blocker (full back) and Foster played the role of 3rd TE. Further, the Steelers rarely run from a 2 RB formation anymore. Tomlin dressed all of 3 RBs on Sunday and one of those was being punished and not allowed to play offense. That shows how little importance Arians' attaches to RBs.
Given the OC's preference for TEs over RBs, one would think either signing Desmond Sherrod off the practice squad or another TE would be the move, not bringing back Carey Davis.
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