Visit NFL from the sidelines on the new Observer-Reporter site: http://www.observer-reporter.com/section/BLOGS08

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Post-Jacksonville thoughts

The Steelers might want to adjust their goal of scoring 30 points per game. How about 35?

The offense came out against the Jaguars - with no game planning to speak of - and easily went 80 yards on six plays without the ball hitting the ground.

And five different guys touched the ball - only Le'Veon Bell, who had a catch and run - touched it twice. Actually, it was six different guys when Markus Wheaton hauled in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

The Steelers made it look easy.

Certainly, the Jaguars didn't game plan, either. But I watched this same offense last season and have continued viewing it throughout the offseason and into training camp. I have no idea what I'd do to slow it, short of sending the Hanson brothers out to attack Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell during pre-game warmups.

* The defense? That's another matter. But Jacksonville's first possession was a three-and-out. Ryan Shazier made a nice semi-open-field tackle on first down, then Will Gay had a nice submarine tackle to force third down.

But it was nose tackle Steve McLendon dropping into zone coverage in the flat that forced a bad throw by quarterback Blake Bortles, who had to be surprised to see the 6-3, 330-pound McLendon in his passing lane.

Is there any doubt that, had the Steelers left their offensive stars in the game, they would have gone down to make it 15 or even 16-0?

The defense gave up a field goal on the next possession, but field goals aren't going to beat this team.

* OK, I realize it was the Jaguars and all, but this was the same Jacksonville team against which the Steelers needed a Brice McCain interception last season to put the Jaguars away in the fourth quarter.

That was in the pre-MB days (pre Martavis Bryant). The Steelers averaged 29.9 points per game last year when Bryant played.

They averaged 32 points per game when Bryant and Bell both played.

* We'll learn a lot about the defense this week with Green Bay coming to town. The Steelers need to get Mike Mitchell on the field working with Shamarko Thomas sooner rather than later for that action.

* Kudos to C.J. Goodwin, who had two big catches in this one after losing a fumble in traffic last week in Canton.

Goodwin obviously learned something. He hung onto his first pass, which moved the Steelers into the red zone while taking a big hit. Then, he took an even bigger hit at the goal line and held on for the score.

He and rookie receiver Sammie Coates were two of the biggest winners from what was a mess of a second half.

* I love the way Jordan Dangerfield throws his body around. Ten years ago, there would have been a place for that kind of assassin. But those days are gone now. It's all about coverage in the secondary.

* Last week, Landry Jones was OK in the first half and got worse as the game wore on. In this one, it was the opposite.

He started slowly and then got hot. Sometimes, the two-minute warning can be a detriment when you've got a defense on its heels and that seemed to be the case in this game.

Jones misfired on the final drive, but who expected that one anyway?

He's still not anything close to being an NFL-caliber QB, but the Steelers are going to keep three QBs unless GM Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin have some kind of epiphany between now and the start of September.

* People on Twitter are freaking out about the kick and punt coverage teams. I even saw some say it's been an ongoing problem.

That's simply not true. The Steelers were in the top half of the league in punt and kick coverage last season. It was the same in 2013. So I'm not sure where it's been an ongoing problem comes from.

Realize that there are a lot of young guys out there that the team is looking at, some of whom haven't played special teams in several years - if ever.

It's an ongoing process. But it's not a problem, at least not yet.

15 comments:

mv7267 said...

Dale,
It's the same people who are calling Jarvis Jones & Bud DuPree busts and also wanted the Pirates to have traded all of Indy plus Clint Hurdle for David Price, twice. And they probably thought the Steelers should have cut Bell & Blunt the day of the arrest.

adamg said...

Dale, how much patience will the Steelers continue to have with Mitchell missing practice/games? Last year with the groin injury and now the hamstring, does he have premanent bad wheels?

If Gradkowski can't go, are Tomlin and co really ok with Landry Jones suiting up as BR's back up?

On the plus side, thought DeAngelo Williams looked shifty and capable of filling for Bell.

ibygeorge said...

There did not seem like there was a whole lot of pressure on the Jags QBs.
Jones made some nice passes, some not so nice and it seemed like a lot of high, over thrown passes.
Don't know how many snaps 92 got, but he got a sack. He looked like the pro that he is.

ibygeorge said...

There did not seem like there was a whole lot of pressure on the Jags QBs.
Jones made some nice passes, some not so nice and it seemed like a lot of high, over thrown passes.
Don't know how many snaps 92 got, but he got a sack. He looked like the pro that he is.

Easley said...

Actually, the Steelers were 4th worst in the NFL in opponent kick return yardage last season... http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/returning/position/defense

And it goes back to the point I made yesterday about the importance of having a kicker who can put it out of play regularly. Notice the difference between us and the Ravens, who were among the best in the league. Same exact average per return, but we had twice as many kickoffs returned against us.

Anonymous said...

Paging Mike Vick?

ibygeorge said...

Vick is a wasted roster spot. Does not fit this offense. He would be a loser with all the pass catchers on this offense. He could never throw and he still cant. Whats he going to do run better than Bell. I dont think so. Stop it already.

ibygeorge said...

Vick is a wasted roster spot. Does not fit this offense. He would be a loser with all the pass catchers on this offense. He could never throw and he still cant. Whats he going to do run better than Bell. I dont think so. Stop it already.

Anonymous said...

No one wants to see that dog murder on the team. Would be a real hit with Ben's Giving Back Fund...

Anonymous said...

Vick is better than Landry. Time to get over the dog thing. The guy did his time.

Dale Lolley said...

They're being cautious with Mitchell for sure. But they have to get out there at some point.

Gradkowski is close to returning. Wouldn't be surprised if it happens this week, though they could just continue to hold him out until they return to Pittsburgh.

You're looking strictly at return yards there Easley. They scored more points and didn't have a ton of touchbacks, so of course, they gave up the fourth-most return yards. I'm looking at average per return, which is much more important. There's a world of difference between the two. Kick and punt coverage hasn't been an issue under Danny Smith.

The only way they would consider Vick is if Roethlisberger were lost long-term.

Anonymous said...

So much wrong with that.

The endzone is included in those return yards. So if Player A kicks it 9 yards deep into the endzone and the return guy brings it out to the 20, it goes down as a 29 yard return. If Player B kicks it to the 4 yard line and the return guy takes it out to the 33, it's goes down as a 29 yard return. 29yd return = 29yd return. But there's a world of difference between the two. Ok, 9 yards. But still.

And the Ravens and Steelers had about the same number of kickoffs. But the Ravens had nearly twice as many touchbacks. Those don't count as returns. And the Steelers had nearly twice as many returned KOs. That's why their total yardage was about twice as much, while their average was about the same. If you figured each touchback as a return of 20 yards, and why wouldn't you, the gap widens to a full yard. And that's before you start tossing out all the endzone yardage. Starting field position post KO is the real stat, if you can find it.

Still, you could say eh, 27 yard line instead of the 23, bfd. Yeah, if averages were built that way. But they aren't.

I agree it isn't a Danny Smith issue. But it is a kicker issue.

Anonymous said...

Edit: Ooops, 13 yards, not 9. heh.

Joe Jones said...

list of people they would call before Michael Vick, if Big Ben went down hard:
1. Matt Hasselbeck
2. TJ Yates
3. Dan Orlovsky
4. Jason Campbell
5. Tyler Palko
6. David Garrard
7. Byron Leftwich
8. Charlie Batch
9. Brett Favre
10. JaMarcus Russell
11. Rod Rutherford
12. Gerrit Cole
13. Matt Leinart
14. Brady Quinn
15. Vince Young
16. Jimmy Clausen
17. Pat White
18. Jason White
19. John Kitna
20. JP Losman
21. Dennis Dixon
22. Mario Lemieux
23. LeBron James
24. Dan Marino
25. Kordell Stewart
26. MICHAEL VICK
27. Pat Bostic

sportsman said...

Hello Guys,
Easily Watch NFL Games Today by online from your home with Nice Quality.