Post Game Thoughts...
by Pola-Gona-Maul-U on Oct 12, 2009 9:28 AM EDT
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Yet again, we've had an other fourth-quarter semi-debacle. It looked like a "Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!" when the Steelers failed to kill the clock late in the game and gave the ball back to Daunte Culpepper. He drove the team 82 yards and tossed an easy touchdown that brought the game 28-20. All they needed now was another touchdown and a 2-pointer to tie the game. And by the way the defense was playing their prevent zone scheme, I didn't feel too good about holding the Lions back for a potential upset.
But then...
SACKS: When we needed it most, the defense came out of the gates in the final drive of the game and dragged Culpepper to the ground. Three sacks in a row left the Lions with a Hail-Mary heave to the end zone that was batted down by Ike Taylor. As I had predicted, this would be the game that the Steelers would start racking up some sacks. James Harrison came to life once again with 3 of his own and now has 6 for the season after back-to-back sack games. What was more beautiful, however, is that everybody got a piece of the quarterback. Including William Gay, who I thought finally showed some good aggressiveness yesterday and covered better than ever. In all, the Steelers racked up 7 sacks against the Lions, almost doubling their total for the season (15).
SANTONIO HOLMES: This guy has become one tough, physical wide receiver. He's not a big guy at 5-11, 192 lbs., but on the first pass he caught, he stuck his arm out and pushed down the cornerback defending him to the ground and towed his way for a first down. Then another catch later on, he made contact with several defenders and busted out for more yards after breaking several tackles. You could tell that the Hines Ward philosophy of the game is having a big influence on Holmes. He was doing it all, and even held a beautiful block when Fright Night busted a 27-yard run. And when Mike Wallace dropped that deep ball, Holmes grabbed his attention on the sideline and was joking around with him to let him know to get his head back in the game.
FRIGHT NIGHT: He had 60 yards in the first half, and he would have ended with 100+ if it hadn't been for poor play calling in the second half. The team tried to go for it all a couple of times when they could have ground out the clock with the running game. Mendy finished with 77 yards, but a whopping 5.1 average. He made good yardage after contact and is running with really good confidence.
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: He completed 76.6 percent of his passes in this game, and he still leads all quarterbacks with a 73.8 completion percentage. He is becoming extremely accurate and deadly as a quarterback. Not only that, but he's moved up to second place in passing leaders in the NFL with a total of 1,470 yards passing, behind Payton Manning. His interception returned for a touchdown in this game was ugly, but he laughed it off and drove the team 52 yards with a touchdown on the very next series. He finished the game with 123.9 passer rating.
MIKE WALLACE: After pulling a Limas Sweed and dropping a beautiful deep pass that would have been a sure touchdown, Roethlisberger went back to him on a 47-yard touchdown lob. This one was actually more difficult than the first, as Wallace went down to one knee and a defender came by and almost batted the ball away. It was a terrible play by the defender who didn't even look back for the ball, and a great play by Wallace for not getting distracted.
Some thoughts on the Bengals... I actually wanted the Bengals to win over the Ravens yesterday even though we already lost a game in Cincinnati. The Bengals are not as good as everybody is making them out to be. Yes they could be 5-0 if it weren't for a freak play against the Broncos, but we dominated the Bengals when we played and fell apart in the fourth quarter to give them the win. The Bengals still have to play against the Vikings, Bears, Jets and Chargers, plus rematch games against us and the Ravens. They will not lead the division by the time this is over. They've racked up a very nice start, but the last time they won four in a row was in 2006... that year they finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.
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Sacks: Could have been double digit, the D is playing less aggressive without Troy so they can protect Carter and Gay. This has led to some frustrations but not that many points when you think about it.
Holmes: A little off maybe because Ben is spreading it around a little more. Hines should top 1000 as well as Holmes and Miller may have one of his biggest years.
Fright Night: Hadn’t heard that before. He’s playing very well. If he continues, he will be the starter from here on out.
Ben: His pick 6 was part not enought zip and part a really good jump on the ball by the CB. But he is having a great year and will only get better.
Wallace: I have seen more easy drops this year(not just us) than in the past, maybe just perception. He’ll be fine and so will Sweed. I know he had a “drop” but it looked like the defender was holding on to his back arm. Running across field and catchin one handed with your forward most arm is not an easy task.
Other teams: It has been a wild one so far. The closest to a sure thing is that the Giants seem to be one of, if not the best in the NFC. Other than that it is wide open.
Low and behind pass to a 6-5 reciver on a slant
would have been a highlight catch.
Wish he’d caught it, but I blame Ben for that one.
ben threw the ball late and didn't look off the defender
had he pump faked there he could have hit and open sweed running down the field since the Corner broke on the pass and played it perfectly
"Polamalu’s lineage can be traced through several roots. Chuck Norris mated with an Amazon Queen, and on the other side, Tony Hawk mated with Mother Nature.
The two children of these spawned and fused in a tantric love session to create Troy Polamalu. The mother however died as he tore through the birth canal with a spin move."
Mechem on the roots of Troy Polamalu
by WVPiratesfan on Oct 12, 2009 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Mike Wallace: The good , the bad and the ugly
As it pertains to Mike Wallace’s impact on this game.
The Good: Two plays stand out. Obviously the TD catch in which he blew by his defender and then had to wait and wait for the ball to get there. One other time I noticed him drawing double coverage on a deep route. Even though Ben didn’t target him on that play, how awesome is it that our #3 WR can draw a double team due to his blazing speed and leave the likes of Hines, Tone and Heath in man-to-man coverage?
The Bad: The dropped deep pass. Even thought I classify this in the “bad” category I don’t fault him nearly as much as most. The ball came directly over the top of his helmet and those are by far the most difficult catches to make. He is paid to make those catches, but the difficulty factor was greater then most are making it out to be. Still – you gotta make that grab Mike!!
The Ugly: Most are blaming Ben for the INT that led to a DET TD. However, in reviewing the play, it appears the pick 6 was due in large part to an extremely poor route run by Wallace. He rounded off his break to the sideline and then did not come back to the ball when it was thrown. IMO Wallace is more to blame for that INT than Ben is.
Wallace is a rookie and he is making some rookie mistakes which are to be expected at this point in his career. So far he has done a great job in replacing Washington and I look for even better things from him the remainder of the season.
agree
i agree on all your points actually— in my mind, i do put a bit of blame on wallace for the pick-six because he didn’t come back for the ball— he might have been able to at least break it up or tackle the guy. But Ben did a terrible job because he stared at Wallace the whole way
live and learn, i hope, though this is his second pick-six for the season
Also, i’m noticing that Ben is under-throwing wallace on the deep balls because this guy is so fast… something they will get in sync as they continue to play together
When faith in God and love for the Steelers collide...
http://michelsauret.blogspot.com
by Pola-Gona-Maul-U on Oct 12, 2009 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Ya, I wasn’t sure about that one and still am not.
Wallace not only didn’t come back for that ball it didn’t look like he had any idea he was going to be targeted. If I remember correctly he didn’t even look back till the defender had intercepted the pass and was running it toward the goal line.
I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!
by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Oct 12, 2009 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Ben's fault
If it had been Wallace’s fault, Ben would have berated him, not walked off the field laughing.
The only managing Ben does is he manages to WIN games
by chewiesteeler on Oct 12, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Not that it really matters....
If Wallace doesn’t drop a sure touchdown, there is no pick 6(which came what 2 plays later)and the Steelers win by 22 instead of 8 and half the posts here that everyone is pissing about don’t even exist, in a perfect world of course. LOL
GASP!
Are you actually wishing for sports blogging to go away!!!
haha— what would we fill our lives with?
like you, though, i would wish for a perfect (sports) world… when the Steelers win every game and every Superbowl, but admittedly that would be a pretty boring, I think
When faith in God and love for the Steelers collide...
http://michelsauret.blogspot.com
by Pola-Gona-Maul-U on Oct 12, 2009 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Eee Gads
Haha, no not all of them of course, in fact not even the stupid ones because one mans stupid is anothers brilliance. Oh hell leave it like it is! There should be a way to put a virtual field of snow here though so we could see who’s piss goes the farthest.
Exactly
You don’t throw inside a guy on an out pattern and expect him to come back to the ball, it’s not a slant or a curl. It was a bad throw by Ben and he also stared down Wallace on the play giving the CB the jump on the route. It would have been nice to see wallace try to break it up but I don’t think he would have been able to.
Ben is having his best year as a pro but that play was on him.
by SteelerFan Ben on Oct 13, 2009 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions
You're right on the money
It was supposed to be an out route and was not which is the reason that the defender was able to make the play. Wallace didn’t get deep enough before he made his cut which means he ran a poor route. Once he made his break he realized he didn’t have first down depth and changed the pattern to a flag.
Either way, Ben made the wrong decision to throw the ball, and I agree that he has to take blame for that decision. My main point, though, is, Wallace needs to get better in terms of his route running and breaking on the ball once it is in the air.
All in all it was clearly one of Wallace’s worst series as a pro. He dropped a sure TD, cost his team 5 yards by kicking the ball, pouted on the sidelines, and then came back in and ran a poor route which directly led to a pick 6 for the other team.
And one more thing. After rewatching the replay of that drive several times on NFL Rewind, the original deep ball he dropped was much more catcheable than I originally thought. I would rearrange the order of my “The Bad” and “The Ugly” if I had reviewed the game tape prior to posting.
by King Coebra on Oct 13, 2009 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions
You're right
Ben should take responsibility for the INT. He made the incorrect decision to throw it. However, I bet once the game film is reviewed there will be several coaching opportunities to help Wallace in the future.
1. His original route is terrible. I have to assume the route was supposed to be an out, but instead of a 90 degree cut it was more like a 45 degree cut which gave the defender the ability to make a play on the ball.
2. Once the ball was in the air, Wallace just sat and waited for the ball. He did not come back for it. He sat passively waiting for the ball to get to him and continued on the poor route he originally chose. He did not make a legitimate play to either catch the ball or break up the interception. The reason? He ran a piss poor route to begin with.
This is not the first time he’s failed to make a break on or come back to the ball. It’s something he clearly needs to work on. Hopefully, he will learn from the mistakes he made during this game and continue to improve.
by King Coebra on Oct 13, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions
zip
in a recent Ron Cook article Ben said that the throw was right but he didn’t put enough zip on it— maybe he waited a fraction too long, but if he’d thrown it sooner i don’t think Wallace was ready for it— if anything he should have pumped and then thrown
When faith in God and love for the Steelers collide...
http://michelsauret.blogspot.com
by Pola-Gona-Maul-U on Oct 13, 2009 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions
call me an optimist or a fool
I just have sorta a funny feeling were gonna start puttin a serious smack attack on alot of our remaining opponents. lookin at you Bungles Browns n Vikes.
At this current Juncture, I have no worries
Ron Paul was Right.
for the first time...
It used to be that I would be a nervous wreck watching our offense on the field and totally calm watching the defense… however lately i’ve felt the exact opposite.
it’s the offense that’s been putting me at ease, and i feel a little queasy watching our D, especially in the fourth
When faith in God and love for the Steelers collide...
http://michelsauret.blogspot.com
by Pola-Gona-Maul-U on Oct 12, 2009 3:08 PM EDT reply actions
+1
Yeah, how’s that for weird. Like we are suddenly fans of Martz’ greatest show on turf or something…
It will get better
The defense will get better once Troy comes back. He makes Gay a better corner, where as now the defense is trying to protect Carter and Gay and is being less aggressive. Hence, the lack of sacks in all but the Detroit game. Even in the early games we were getting pressure just not quite able to finish it off. With Troy’s return we should be able to play tighter up front which should lessen the effect of screens and underneath routes that have been killing us. Once we are at full strength instead of protect mode, LeBeau will get more creative. I know it has been stressful and not very pretty but really the D is only given up a little over 2 TD’s a game.
Prevent defense blues
LeBeau may be a genius, but he does have exceptional team talent. The biggest mistake he makes is playing the 1960s two-minute defense he used to play. Stick a safety really deep (Maybe buy him a ticket), keep everything in front of you, and force toward the middle to use clock.
Hey, Dick. This is 2009. The guys are too quick for this. Do the math. The longer the QB has, the farther downfield the play goes. What could be 5-8 yds becomes 18-20. Bring the corners up, stint (like we finally did for a sack), and just play the base defense with a hard rush. Yeh, the screen could hurt, but I suspect a QB that late will not have the touch he had earlier. Plus, the blockers won’t be able to set up.
You might also do a little tackling practice, too.
We’ve done this year after year and lost games and championships despite good D stats.With our personnel, we can easily stay in base the whole game. Bring the corners and safeties up from 12 yds to 8 or 6. Teams dont even try to beat us deep because they know the RAC is just as good. Just ask Larry Fitzg.
One more thing. The int. was definitely on Sammy. His job is to know where the corner is and play DB when he is even with or behind the opponent.
We don’t need to get better. We need to set up better.
At least Bruce has come awake, even though Tomlin is as stubborn as a mule at sunset when someone struggles. You can command respect without putting the man down (Mendenhall & Sweed). They’ll learn, given the chance.
I was impressed by Gay
There was a two series period in there somewhere where he just seemed to be everywhere
"Now that I'm here, I don't want to just be here, I want to be here for a long time." Hines Ward, 1998 4th round draft pick.
by kick him in the head on Oct 12, 2009 11:27 PM EDT reply actions
I thought the D was better
The score of this one was misleading. They scored two field-goals and a touchdown. When they were trying to drive at the end of the game to tie it, our defense pulled a sack hat trick and snuffed the life out of them.
I sort of felt like it was 2008 there for a second. Take away the fact that it was the Lions, and we all expected a blow out, and the details don’t look so bad…
As for your other points:
SANTONIO HOLMES: Eh… not so sure. So far, to be honest, I have been a bit underwhelemd with Santonio. He is playing a lot like a guy we hope will one day become the man — not the guy who took the torch from Hines last February.
Santonio of the playoffs and Super Bowl has yet to show up, IMHO.
FRIGHT NIGHT: As I said elsewhere… I am cautiously overoptimistic on Mendenhall. Parker looked real good against SD last year in the playoffs, and everyone looks good against the Lions. Do it against the Vikings and Ravens, and we have something there…
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Yeah, his completion percentage is up. But, he is throwing a whole lot of checkdown passes. Now, I know that the west coast offense guys put up gaudy numbers by dinking and dunking… I’m just saying that Ben’s completion percentage is a bit misleading.
MIKE WALLACE: I can forgive the dropped pass. But he cannot kick the ball like a three year old on a tantrum. What would we all be saying is Sweed had done that???
About the Bengals: I’m with you. I still consider the Ravens the team to beat this year. Until the Bengals can show me they have the toughness to win in December, I expect them to fold by Christmas.
BTW, has any team that was the star of Hard Knocks gone on to win a playoff game???
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