With over 20 years of experience covering the Steelers for the Observer-Reporter, Dale Lolley will let you know the insider scoop. Dale can also be heard on the Steelers radio network pre-game show on WDVE-FM game days and Tuesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. on ESPN 970-AM and WDVE during the season as a host of the Antonio Brown Show. Follow him on Twitter at @dlolleyor
I get tired of people accusing us of having the refs on our side. That phantom tripping call that negated the TD isn't going to help much. I would almost rather have seen the TD stand.
I am glad the D stepped up and got the win. However I am worried about the injuries we had during the game.
Second thing I am worried about besides ike being ike is Gay is just getting owned most of the time. I would cycle some other CBs in soon or something.
Third that liquored up kicker shows more fight when its the cops, I would bring in a kicker tryout this week for no other reason to just let him know he is expendable doing those plays.
William Gay is not terrible. What the heck was he supposed to do against Peterson there? He's a small cornerback trying to stop Peterson in the open field. Good luck with that.
Gay gives a cushion in coverage to avoid big plays. When the field shortens up, the coverage tightens up.
I agree about William Gay. AP would have run over half the guys in the league on that play and Gay was still trying to get a hand on him as he went down. The coverage calls for him to play off and he's done it well. He made a lot of solid tackles on screens and short passes to the flat. I'd say the plan is to concede those short plays and he's doing a good job not letting them get anything extra.
The D was solid. I'm not sure what to think about the playcalling. Poor execution can make the play designs look worse than they really are but they looked questionable to me.
Was at the game and what a great game it was. Favre/Childress and LeBeau were matching wits play after play. Favre did everything he could to catch the defense sleeping even to the point of snapping the ball while the defense was milling around in the dime. Casey Hampton was terrific. The Vikes line really did not move him out the whole game. Favre wanted to go deep, but the Steeler D took that away and forced short passes. Will Gay played very well. He made a bunch of sure tackles on the short stuff. The LBs were just all over the field making plays. Polamalu and Clark both made big hits to force dropped passes. The goal line stand after first and less than 1 was outstanding. Add in the two defensive TDs and it was one of the best performances I've seen in awhile.
BR seemed off on his passes - not sure why - but a beautiful pass to Wallace for the TD. Too bad Mendenhall fumbled near the goal, but otherwise the kid had a really nice game. I'm not sure why he jumped over the pile on the fumble. Maybe he forgot where he was on the field. The OL did a fine job blocking and Hartwing handled one of the Williams by himself.
Funniest play of the game was Mendenhall trying to run up the middle and being squashed like a bug under one of the Williams boys.
It looked like W. Gay(22)was giving too much cushion and he didn't want to tighten the coverage to take away the short out or just go for the interception...Good job by the O-line and the defence was outstanding when it counted the most Great game and a great win for the Steelers. As always thanks Dale and GO STEELERS !!! Dave W. in Las Vegas
I wasn't talking about Gay getting run over by AP. It was more about how he missed tackles on WRs where he should have made them. As well as his blitz. He started, stutter stepped and then started again. If he would have just blitzed normal he would have been able to get pressure on Favre and not given up the first down to easily.
Michael said about Hampton what I was thinking. He is lined up on the ball yet he has 3 flags thrown on him...HOW??
I wonder about the offensive game plan. The Vikings' pass defense isn't that good, the Ravens exposed them last week. Now, their top corner is out. Why did we go for this short passing game when Ben has been lighting it up in the vertical routes?
And then, when we DO get the run started (like at the start of the second half), we switch to the pass?
Gay is fine IMO. I'm sure the coaches are telling him to give up under stuff.
I really hate is when the team only rushes four when they need to shut down the other team in the 4th. Seems like it never works.
Ben wasn't going over the top constantly. Which is a change Normally I think he goes with the first read too much and should check down and move the chains. Opposite feeling this week -- Maybe nervous about Jared Allen?
3rd quarter 3rd and two situation, BR had room to run for the first or hit M. Moore for the first but gunned it incomplete to Holmes -- seems like a bad decision. If you're only throwing for 5 yards, why not take 2 yards on a scramble for a sure thing?
On the Steeler radio post-game show, the offsides calls on Hampton came up. One of the guys said that Minn's center was squeezing the ball like he would if he were going to snap it and also calling out false signals in order to get Hampton to jump and that both those things were illegal.
You may recall the delay of game penalty on the Viking defense late in the game. It turns out their defense was also calling out false signals to trick the offense and that, too, is illegal.
I take back what I wrote earlier about the lack of a vertical passing game; apparently, the Vikes were taking away the deep routes. However, it does perplex me that we got away from the run when it was clearly working. Props to the O-Line.
18 comments:
Can anyone explain the PI call on Heath? He was on the opposite side of the field from the play.
That is irrelevant, he set a pick. Ward set a gorgeous pick last week on the Wallace completion. It might have been the best play he had last week.
Willie gay sucks
Steelers offense plays with no sense of urgency
I get tired of people accusing us of having the refs on our side. That phantom tripping call that negated the TD isn't going to help much. I would almost rather have seen the TD stand.
I am glad the D stepped up and got the win. However I am worried about the injuries we had during the game.
Second thing I am worried about besides ike being ike is Gay is just getting owned most of the time. I would cycle some other CBs in soon or something.
Third that liquored up kicker shows more fight when its the cops, I would bring in a kicker tryout this week for no other reason to just let him know he is expendable doing those plays.
I didn't like a lot of the offensive plays that were being called.
William Gay is just terrible.
Jeff Reed better start packing. He didn't even try to tackle Harvin. He probably shouldn't have been kicking to him anyway.
William Gay is not terrible. What the heck was he supposed to do against Peterson there? He's a small cornerback trying to stop Peterson in the open field. Good luck with that.
Gay gives a cushion in coverage to avoid big plays. When the field shortens up, the coverage tightens up.
I agree about William Gay. AP would have run over half the guys in the league on that play and Gay was still trying to get a hand on him as he went down. The coverage calls for him to play off and he's done it well. He made a lot of solid tackles on screens and short passes to the flat. I'd say the plan is to concede those short plays and he's doing a good job not letting them get anything extra.
The D was solid. I'm not sure what to think about the playcalling. Poor execution can make the play designs look worse than they really are but they looked questionable to me.
Was at the game and what a great game it was. Favre/Childress and LeBeau were matching wits play after play. Favre did everything he could to catch the defense sleeping even to the point of snapping the ball while the defense was milling around in the dime. Casey Hampton was terrific. The Vikes line really did not move him out the whole game. Favre wanted to go deep, but the Steeler D took that away and forced short passes. Will Gay played very well. He made a bunch of sure tackles on the short stuff. The LBs were just all over the field making plays. Polamalu and Clark both made big hits to force dropped passes. The goal line stand after first and less than 1 was outstanding. Add in the two defensive TDs and it was one of the best performances I've seen in awhile.
BR seemed off on his passes - not sure why - but a beautiful pass to Wallace for the TD. Too bad Mendenhall fumbled near the goal, but otherwise the kid had a really nice game. I'm not sure why he jumped over the pile on the fumble.
Maybe he forgot where he was on the field. The OL did a fine job blocking and Hartwing handled one of the Williams by himself.
Funniest play of the game was Mendenhall trying to run up the middle and being squashed like a bug under one of the Williams boys.
Maybe Hampton did play a great game, but he was also called for offsides 3 times, and he lines up right on the football.
It looked like W. Gay(22)was giving too much cushion and he didn't want to tighten the coverage to take away the short out or just go for the interception...Good job by the O-line and the defence was outstanding when it counted the most Great game and a great win for the Steelers. As always thanks Dale and GO STEELERS !!! Dave W. in Las Vegas
I wasn't talking about Gay getting run over by AP. It was more about how he missed tackles on WRs where he should have made them. As well as his blitz. He started, stutter stepped and then started again. If he would have just blitzed normal he would have been able to get pressure on Favre and not given up the first down to easily.
Michael said about Hampton what I was thinking. He is lined up on the ball yet he has 3 flags thrown on him...HOW??
I wonder about the offensive game plan. The Vikings' pass defense isn't that good, the Ravens exposed them last week. Now, their top corner is out. Why did we go for this short passing game when Ben has been lighting it up in the vertical routes?
And then, when we DO get the run started (like at the start of the second half), we switch to the pass?
Dale,
I think I would rather the Steelers have Phil Loadholt than Tony Hills, and definitely more than a load in your pants!
I was impressed with how well he held up. More impressively he hustled the whole way on the play when Fox returned the Int for the TD.
That being said, I agreed wholeheartedly with you about him leading up to the draft.
By the way, did the Steelers get out of the game injury free other than Kirshke? Any update on Travis?
Monster game by Farrior.
Gay is fine IMO. I'm sure the coaches are telling him to give up under stuff.
I really hate is when the team only rushes four when they need to shut down the other team in the 4th. Seems like it never works.
Ben wasn't going over the top constantly. Which is a change Normally I think he goes with the first read too much and should check down and move the chains. Opposite feeling this week -- Maybe nervous about Jared Allen?
3rd quarter 3rd and two situation, BR had room to run for the first or hit M. Moore for the first but gunned it incomplete to Holmes -- seems like a bad decision. If you're only throwing for 5 yards, why not take 2 yards on a scramble for a sure thing?
That was a legit tripping call in my opinion. Dugan was on the ground and lifted his leg up backward to trip Harrison.
On the Steeler radio post-game show, the offsides calls on Hampton came up. One of the guys said that Minn's center was squeezing the ball like he would if he were going to snap it and also calling out false signals in order to get Hampton to jump and that both those things were illegal.
You may recall the delay of game penalty on the Viking defense late in the game. It turns out their defense was also calling out false signals to trick the offense and that, too, is illegal.
I take back what I wrote earlier about the lack of a vertical passing game; apparently, the Vikes were taking away the deep routes. However, it does perplex me that we got away from the run when it was clearly working. Props to the O-Line.
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