Greetings from Pittsburgh.
The weather here is overcast with temps in the high 50s, low 60s. There is a chance of rain, but it's not expected to hit until after the game ends.
Inactive for the Steelers today are Ryan Shazier, Marcus Gilbert, Steve McLendon, Justin Brown, Cortez Allen, B.W. Webb and Landry Jones.
27 comments:
Looks like Bad Ben showed up for the first half. Here's hoping Good Ben comes out of the locker room after the half.
Go Steelers!
BR seems to be playing with a bum hand. Tomlin would've been better off sending in Gradkowski until the docs could check BR over. Sometimes it's better not to try and be a hero.
But, the defense just isn't good enough to stop a qb like Brees for long.
Ok, onto to a more important question..is Antonio's streak in jeopardy?
Jimbo
I'd say Tomlin doesn't get them ready for bad opponents, but it's mainly one guy that's not ready.
-Z in Tempe
PS they'll still win
I'm not the biggest BR fan, but to be fair, he was shaking his hand a lot after smacking it on a Saints player. He probably wasn't getting a good grip on the ball and thus the poor throws.
I do have to ask, though, why he, a 6'5" qb, consistently gets passes blocked at the line? This has been going on for years yet has never been corrected.
let's not kid ourselves, Ben was throwing like crap before he hit his hand, too. So inconsistent. 8-8, here we come.
Time-consuming drive upcoming
Last time Ben ran a play with more than 15 seconds to go?
So again, what is Tomlin's record against losing record teams?
What's Ben's?
Players play the game, but the coaches are responsible for having them prepared. Otherwise what's the point of having coaches?? Two weeks to prepare for a 4 win team and they come out flat, slow, and the play calling on both sides of the ball is just off all together
They didn't come out slow. Ben came out slow.
The defense held up early, the offense only put up 6. Ben is lucky not to have 4 picks today.
Dale has been horrible picking the winners of games this year.
Seriously though, can we please PLEASE just let Ike Taylor walk after this season? I remember announcers complaining about Taylor having to hang all over receivers during their routes to cover them. And this was several years ago when he was better.
"Players play the game, but the coaches are responsible for having them prepared."
I will never understand this thinking... Why do players who make millions (hundreds in Ben's case) need someone to tell them to prepare for the game? Why does a player who's been in the NFL for 10+ years (not even counting college or playing as a kid) need someone tell the not to underestimate a team?
Ben's hand looked OK throwing garbage time TDs.
Tomlin has to go
pathetic coach
need to bring in a whole new staff
I agree to a point. But then why do coaches make millions of dollars (at no risk to their physical well being I might add)? When I say prepared, I don't mean hyped up or whatever. I mean coached up on a smart effective game plan. Everytime they play a "weak" team it seems like they have no game plan at all.. Like it's a scrimmage or something
Anon 426
Ben has been historically notorious for being an immature jerk in general and thinking he has his own special set of rules as a player. And if he's not voluntarily doing what's expected of him? Then it's on Tomlin (and the rest of the paid staff) to "babysit" him, fine him and bench him if need be to help facilitate his maturation process.
Remember, since it was Tomlin who admitted he made the call to get rid of Arians (the guy everybody said had too cushy of a relationship with Ben) then it's also on Tomlin to make sure Ben is doing everything he can to be prepared.
Mr. Rooney, Scott Pioli line 3 Dave W. in Las Vegas
I think BR hurt his hand early. You could see him shaking it and also handing the ball off with his left hand. He should have taken himself out of the game and gone to the locker room for treatment (ice, etc). The Steelers were ahead at that point, so Gradkowski gets a couple series before BR comes back. Sometime discretion is the better part of valor.
I don't think the offense is that complex, but the defense needs overhauled and simplified. In today's NFL, you only get drafteees for 4 (5 yrs for 1sts) years. Teams can't afford to sit them on sidelines for 2 or 3years "learning". I'd compare the Steeler defensive system to Dan Bylsma's system, great when it works, but far too dependent on flawless execution.
#7s poor accuracy had much more to do with horrible footwork/mechanics than it did his hand IMO. Maybe he gets away with those throws when his hand is better, but his feet were everywhere except where they were suppose to be on most errant throws. Just was not technically sound. And that was so before the hand injury.
Has BR ever been a technically sound qb? He throws off the back foot, wrong foot, off balance, etc, all the time.
Looks like it could be the end of the road for the Diesel with a torn bicep. With Troy, Ike, Harrison and Kiesel likely gone after the season, except for BR and Miller, that's the last of the old guard.
Agree about taking him out to check out the hand.
He's just an incredibly frustrating "leader" / most important player on your favorite team.
Sucks about Kiesel. Don't really care about Mauro long-term, but what - exactly - is so complicated about DE that it takes three years to learn? Seriously.
In Lebeau's defense, there are a lot of constantly moving pieces and it only takes 1 guy not to do what he's supposed to and the whole scheme breaks down. They have a lot of new/young guys. IMHO, things should have started simple and gotten more complex as the season progressed. For instance, tell a kid like McCullers "your job is to push the C/G back from the line of scrimmage". That's it, don't worry about reading, racting, etc, just tie up the middle of the OL.
When has he been consistent? Only when his mechanics are more sound. Sure he occasionally makes a play in spite of poor mechanics. But when his feet are as scattered as they were today you get games like today.
IMO, guys who are freak athletes often don't have good fundamentals because of their natural athleticism. I'd put Ben in this category. I doubt he's going to learn good technique now.
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