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Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Tuesday with Tomlin

Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Troy Polamalu, Ryan Shazier and Shamarko Thomas are all out for Sunday's game against the New York Jets.

Polamalu has a sprained knee suffered in the second quarter of the victory over the Ravens. To that point, he had played every snap of the past two seasons.

It's not expected to be a lengthy injury, though the Steelers could play it safe and bring him back after their bye in three weeks.

Veteran Will Allen will start in his place.

Shazier suffered an ankle sprain in the first half against the Ravens. Though Tomlin didn't say it, Shazier's injury looked like it could be a high ankle sprain.

He's had some bad luck thus far in his career. Both of his injuries have occurred when he's gotten rolled up around piles.

It should be a good learning tool for the rookie. Don't be around the pile, be part of the pile.

Thomas' hamstring injury is his second in the past month, though the last one was on the other leg.

His injury will leave the Steelers thin at safety this week, though Ross Ventrone could be back after sitting out last week with a hamstring injury.

@ Tomlin was particularly unhappy with his kickoff return unit, calling it out for not being ready to cover Jacoby Jones prior to his 108-yard return in the fourth quarter.

Tomlin said guys were dancing as they were waiting for the walk up and said that definitely won't happen again.

Thomas, by the way, pulled that hamstring on Jones' TD return.

@ As expected, Tomlin spent a lot of time talking about the individual talent the New York Jets have.

And it's true, the Jets do have some very good players - as is the case with every NFL team.

But New York's secondary is a mess. The Jets have allowed 24 TD passes - six more than any other team in the league - and have just one interception.

And the Jets quarterbacks have thrown 12 TD passes in the past 15 games. Ben Roethlisberger has 12 in the past two weeks.

New York does have 25 sacks this season, but has also allowed 25 sacks. In fact, Michael Vick, who will start this week against the Steelers, has been sacked 10 times in just over 80 pass attempts.

20 comments:

BlackNGold said...

I guess logically it shouldn't, but this game really scares me.

Unknown said...

I agree. This game should on paper be a bye week. But the jets do have some talent here and there, and I've yet to see Tomlin get his team prepared for a team they should best easily. We will see what the coaching staff is made of this week. You got a few great wins over some good teams. Can you keep up that intensity while playing an inferior opponent? I've loved the killer instinct they've had the last few weeks on both sides of the ball. The jets will be up for this game, they've got nothing to lose and a coach who has to afraid of losing his job. Will our boys meet the intensity?

Anonymous said...

when we played poor teams in baseball (college) we used to shorten the game to say 5 innings and set our goal to be a blowout. then start over as if it were 0-0 in the sixth and try to win a 4 inning game. steelers need to have the same mindset - blow them out by the end of the 1st half.

ibygeorge said...

I don't think Ben is letting up at this point. Why ruin the momentum.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree about Ben not letting up, he wants another six and a shot at the yardage record. Now that he knows he was yards away from getting it during the Colts game.

With 99 and 92 performing and setting the tone, I don't think the front lets up either..

Brown and Co want this to continue also, I expect that they will try to get Bell going and get him some yards also..

We have all been scared before with the Steelers playing down to their opponent, but I think the fire is too hot to put the flame out..

Zeke

Anonymous said...

well... i am scarred... these steelers loose to inferior teams...

Theosa said...

On the road, Steelers need to establish their run game. Being too pass happy on the road will result in sacks and turnovers. As long as they win the turnover battle against Jets, Steelers will win with rather ease. This Steelers team is kind of similar to 2005 Bengals, high octane offense with an opportunist defense.

Anonymous said...

Loosing to inferior teams is the past and I truly don't see them letting up.

The browns are no joke and the Rat birds are always tough, we split with both of them. The Tampa loss, well that sucked but it was still early in the season..I think/hope that they learned their lesson from that one.

Zeke

Anonymous said...

Dale, Tomlin indicated that Polamalu, Shazier and Thomas are all out for Sunday's game. Does this mean that Ike is back? The Steelers could use him against Harvin.

I like the concern here that just because the Jets have only won a game that it won’t be an easy game, we’ve been there too many times in the last few seasons. I think that Tomlin is probably concerned about complacency, hence his praise for the Jets and not taking them lightly. It was easy to get up for Baltimore, this game will require Tomlin to be the motivator.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dale - A few thoughts from Sunday and would like your feedback:

- Why is Thomas getting more snaps over Tuitt? Would rather see McCullers spell McClendon, and let Tuitt spell CamH. and Brett.

- KR and starting field position is killing us. Justin Brown was a return man why not give him a shot along with giving him a helmet over Lance Moore. Moore isn't providing much so let the young guy get some experience.

- If ain't broke don't fix it.......but how about giving Dri a chance with a few screens. This week against NYJ could provide the perfect opportunity.

- Against IND we saw more VWilliams over Spence (and he performed well). Sunday night we saw more Spence. What's your thoughts?

- #92 looks great and he looks to just start getting his legs. Him and #99 are playing in sync and causing havoc. Would have been nice to have him here last year to tutor Jarvis his rookie year.

- Its time for BradGrad to become the new holder.

Anonymous said...

Shazier's injuries would normally have me a little skeptical but thinking back to DeCastro missing his entire rookie season due to injury has me feeling a little more optimistic. Also Spence and Williams have both improved their play since the pre-season.

Agreed that Brad Wing is hurting the team, occasional bad kicks and missed holds are awful but it's his distance inconsistency that is giving me Mitch Berger flashbacks. I don't know what the solution is, hopefully he improves.

Dale Lolley said...

You're scarred because the Steelers loose to inferior teams? Numbers don't play that out - grammar aside.

They are 36-16 against "inferior" teams in the Tomlin era. That would be against teams with losing records at the time they played.

Thomas is getting snaps over Tuitt because, in my opinion. John Mitchell just doesn't like to rush rookie defensive linemen. Doesn't want them overexposed. And Thomas has been OK the past few games. Tuitt has more upside and should be playing more in my opinion.

The linebacker rotation is a matchup issue. When they want Timmons to cover, they bring in Vince Williams.

No, Justin Brown isn't the cure at kick return. It's not the returners. It's the blockers, in my opinion. They're not getting it done.

I wouldn't have a problem with Gradkowski holding. Don't know if he's done much of it, though. And teams like to use the punter because those guys can practice it on their own while the rest of the team works on offense and defense.

Anonymous Brian said...

Who can forget Mitch Berger punting with two bad hamstrings vs. the Giants? Last couple of times Steelers have been to the Super Bowl, they've had less than ideal punters. Thus, if Wing continues to be inconsistent, a seventh title is inevitable.

(Well, as long as they don't trade a draft pick for one, I'm happy.)

The Steelers haven't had some bad losses to bad teams the last few seasons?

Anonymous said...

Let’s see, Oakland, Tennessee, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, I’d say there’s plenty of recent past precedent. The next two weeks will go a long way to proving whether the Steelers are maturing into a playoff caliber team or not.

Theosa brought up an interesting point, run the ball. The Steelers are riding Ben’s hot arm in the current streak, but as the weather gets colder, it behooves them to run the ball. Why? The ball gets heavier and more slippery in the cold weather. Also a balanced attacked is harder to defend. Yes, they can still pass the ball and yes play the hot hand, but to have Bell really gives the Steelers a lot of options.

Anonymous said...

This should get a chuckle from Steelers fans. The Ravens released two of their cornerbacks as part of the collateral damage Ben did to them Sunday night:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/11/04/dominique-franks-goes-from-starter-to-cut-in-baltimore/

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/11/04/ravens-cut-chykie-brown-activate-terrence-cody-from-pup/

Dale Lolley said...

That cold weather stuff bother Brady or Aaron Rodgers? That's something of a myth.
Will they need to run it at some point? Yes. But it's not like they're running it poorly. Sunday was the first game in which they've had a tough time running it. And many of those passes to Bell are just as good as runs and will be there anytime they want them because he's an impossible matchup for any linebacker in the league.

Yes, the Steelers lost to some bad teams in the last couple of years. But in seasons in which they weren't a good team. How many good or above average teams were counting the Steelers as a bad loss those seasons?

The fact remains, they win a lot more against bad teams than they lose.

qwikdoc said...

My only worry about the Jets game is facing Michael Vick. I know he isn't what he used to be but we've had problems with running quarterbacks when they escape our pressure. He's faster than most running QB's and we need to keep him bottled up and hit him often. He can be rattled by being hit.

Anonymous said...

I hear what you're saying Dale, but I believe the cold weather does have an impact, maybe not for the "great ones" but for those that use their fingers for feeling. And yes I could probably google all day and it wouldn't resolve the debate:

http://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/blog/?p=60

However, the key findings are consistent:

1. In cold weather cities, fewer points per game are scored late in the regular season, when it is colder than the warmer months of the regular season.


And:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/sports/football/in-bitter-cold-sharp-passes-are-least-of-bodys-worries.html?_r=0



“On the coldest days, I have to stand and put my hands by the heaters,” Giants center David Baas said. “Otherwise I can’t feel my fingertips when I snap the ball.”


Anonymous said...

We got "Don't call him Rodney" Dangerfield back on the P.S.
I know it's just for depth but I enjoyed watching the kid play earlier during preseason..

Zeke

Anonymous said...

On a positive note, Ben won the AFC offensive player of the week award again. Wonder how many players have won it in back to back weeks?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/11/05/ben-roethlisberger-named-afc-offensive-player-of-week-2/

And Mrs. Suggs heard a little something from the NFL, maybe an early Christmas card?

https://twitter.com/jamisonhensley/status/530096339171160064