Greetings from a dry and unseasonably warm Heinz Field.
The weather will not be a factor in this game. It's in the 50s with no rain and none expected until after midnight.
A surprise inactive for the Steelers is receiver Lance Moore. Ike Taylor, Le'Veon Bell, Clifton Geathers, Chris Hubbard and Michael Palmer also are down.
For Baltimore, left tackle Eugene Monroe is a key inactive, as is DT Timmy Jernigan.
Rookie James Hurst will start at LT, while Marshall Yanda will start at RT. Rookie John Urschel will start at RG.
Those are some key lineup changes for the Ravens.
any insight on why Moore is inactive? injury?
ReplyDeleteNo injury. Just the guys they wanted to keep active tonight. Four OLBs. Five ILBs. Had to steal a spot somewhere. Remember, Archer had been inactive at times of late. He can play some WR.
ReplyDeleteI thought Moore might have been caught up in the flu epidemic. Man, we have a lot of youth on the field. So much for old and slow!
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great year of blogging, Dale. Happy New Year and GO STEELERS!
#7 not seeing an open brown a few times already. C'mon big guy.
ReplyDeleteLet's go offense, need to start getting the ball in the end zone.
ReplyDeleteThey need to play faster and quicker. The whole team looks kind of sluggish, but perhaps to be expected after having played Sunday night.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time to break out the no huddle for at least a series.
Mike Mitchell helping McCullers off the turf is the most impressive thing I've seen him do all season!
ReplyDeleteThey need to test these guys deep.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think the fat lady is singing.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Not looking good. Someone needs to step-up and make a play.
ReplyDeleteThey look like they don't know what to do.
ReplyDeleteBeachum gets called for the James Harrison Special
ReplyDeleteIt appears the coaches just did not have very good game plans on either side of the ball.
ReplyDeleteToo many slow and slow developing plays on offense.
A total failure to take advantage of a bad OL on defense. Personally, since Troy is pretty much a LB these days, I'd have had him blitzing every down. Shazier could gave covered the TE.
Good season, poor finish
ReplyDeleteYou almost get the feeling they were deflated not having bell from the get go. I also think #7 didn't play well. Forget the int's, he kept not seeing open receivers and was double clutching like crazy.
ReplyDeleteBut, like Gifford said, you don't take out the second leading rusher and a guy with over 80 catches and not feel it.
Disappointing to lose without your best on the field, but they are a team on the rise, imo.
Yep, BR picked the wrong day to have an off game. He wasn't making quick decisions at all.
ReplyDeleteI think a better offensive game plan could have mitigated not having Bell. Blount certainly would have helped. I blame Bouchette for making a mtn out of a molehill cauing Blount to be cut.
gifford, ha
ReplyDeletethats pretty funny on an awful night.
Lol, yeah, meant michaels.
ReplyDeleteGreat season getting back on track. Breaks weren't going their way at the end.
ReplyDeleteI get that refs can send guys to the sideline, but if they just send them to team physicians it doesn't much matter. Hate to have someone "groggy" get hit again within minutes.
The Ravens or the Pats lose next week, so that's good.
-Z in Tempe
48 days until Pitcher and Catchers report
ReplyDeleteWhen you start the game by holding the ball for 6+ minutes and only get a FG, you sort of know it's not going to be your night.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think we can all agree the team exceeded expectations esp going through a complete rebuild on defense. There were a number of rookies and 2nd yr guys who got valuable experience like Spence, Williams, Shazier, J Jones, McCullers, and Tuitt. I expect they will all come back bigger and stronger next season. That alone will help the secondary and the pass rush.
The offense is pretty set needing just a back up RB, upgrade at LT and to find a replacement for Miller and a qb for the future.
I would not be opposed to bringing in a new DC (Rex Ryan is my choice) or at least having Lebeau run a less complex defense. The Steelers simply can't afford the luxury of sitting draftees/young players for 2-3 yrs before finding out if they can play when they can only be signed to a 4 yr rookie contract.
I'm just still dissapointed with how indisciplined we are under Tomlin. Just a lot of unnecessary penalties.
ReplyDeleteCutting Blount just wasn't a good idea.
Haley needs to go run his trickster plays for some college out there.
It doesn't fit Ben's style. I truly think he needs a spread offense with all the targets he has.
I'm still calling for Haley to be gone. Just not steeler football. Maybe LeBeau steps down too, but I'm not blaming him because he didn't have any talent on D and they still did alright once they all bough in.
Haley on the other hand, has too many weapons to be underachieving.