Steelers Defeat Titans 13-10 in Overtime, Begin Title Defense With Opening Victory
by Michael Bean on Sep 11, 2009 12:52 PM EDT
Email
PrintOk, whew. 1-0. As Mike Tomlin said last year, people get too preoccupied with style points. Tonight's 13-10 victory by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Tennessee Titans left plenty to be desired if you were looking for perfection, but at the end of the day, just about everything imperative that we needed to see did in fact unfold. To my notes from the game.
* Hmm, where to start? Well, I guess as good a place as any is to state that the 2009 Steelers really aren't going to be much different than the 2008 Steelers. By that I mean we can all forget about some sort of revamped running game against the league's better rush defenses. The Steelers proved again tonight that picking up tough yardage in the running game against a stout defense is going to be tough this coming season. The Steelers finished with just 36 yards on 23 carries and were a mediocre 4/14 on 3rd down partly because of their inability to again move the chains on 3rd and short situations with the ground game.
* If the running game was a disappointment, Big Ben's performance had to be considered an outstanding development. The 2-time Super Bowl winning quarterback completed 12 straight passes at one point late in the game and finished with 363 yards passing on 33 of 43 attempts. He was picked off twice but one of those came at the end of the half on a Hail Mary. His other interception was an early season miscalculation, but all in all I thought Roethlisberger looked exquisitely sharp and more ready than ever to lead his team to great things. Bottom line is this team has a top 3 quarterback in this league and that's going to take you pretty far. Couple that with an elite defense and look out...
* Would this be the year that Santonio Holmes broke through and emerged as a true star at the wide receiver position? And if he did - and actually, if he didn't as well - would he handle the situation with the class of a Steelers player and continue to work within the team framework? For a night, Holmes proved he was both ready to establish himself as a Pro Bowl caliber play maker as well as to wait his turn and wait for the game to come to him patiently. Holmes finished with 9 catches for 131 yards and 1 touchdown.
* Obviously his fumble at the end of regulation was a huge mistake, but I was also pleased to see Hines Ward play good football tonight against a pretty solid Titans secondary. Ward also finished with 100+ yards. He caught 8 balls for 103 and again proved that he's capable of getting the offense going with one of his patented big plays. His 29 yard catch and run near the end of the first half led to the game's first score just several plays later.
* Changing gears here...is Tennesee the Ohio State of the NFL? Jeff Fisher is a pretty good football coach, don't get me wrong. He's never really going to 'lose' a football team like you'll see a Romeo Crennel or an Eric Mangini do. But I don't know if I'd ever truly like my chances under Jeff Fisher with just a solid quarterback like Kerry Collins (as compared to a very, very good one like Steve McNair in his prime).
* Justin Gage more or less had his way with William Gay I felt. Gage finished with 7 catches for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. Not sure just how many of those catches came against Gay, but it felt like a fair number of them were against him. There was also at least one big gain from Gage against Gay that was negated by penalty. Gay, to his credit, also made some nice plays against the Titans, but as I've been since the minute we let Bryant McFadden walk, I'm still concerned about Gay playing a full season in a huge role opposite Ike Taylor. Particularly if...
* Troy Polamlu is seriously injured. Polamalu was absolutely dominating the game before his left knee was tweaked on a blocked FG attempt that he tried to pick up and run. 280 pound Alge Crumpler landed on his knee, extending it awkwardly. These notes are being written just a bit after the conclusion of the game, so no news yet has surfaced about the severity of Polamalu's injury. Expect the worse though. It looked ugly on television. Fingers crossed.
If Polamalu is lost for a significant amount of time, all bets are off really with this defense. I think it could still be good. Very good, in fact. But the bottom line is the offense will have to be significantly more consistent and be better controlling the clock if Polamalu were not back there on defense being a game-changer. Let's just wait and see for now.
* Staying on the defensive side of the ball, a quick kudos to Keyaron Fox for his nice game filling in for Lawrence Timmons at inside linebacker. Fox finished with 5 tackles and really did a noticeably good job against both the pass and the run. The Steelers will benefit from Timmons's return, particularly if Polamalu is lost for a number of games, but it's really, really good to know that the Steelers seem to have a player in Fox who's just about as solid and complete a player as Larry Foote was for the past several years in Pittsburgh.
* In my brief preview to the game, I wondered who would fill the void left by Anthony Madison being cut. Well, for a night it was two mainstay veterans of special teams - Andre Frazier and Arnold Harrison. Both were outstanding headhunters on special teams against the Titans. Well done.
More from me in a bit.
144 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Before we go all Ron Cook over Troy's injury...
If you haven’t seen it, Cook practically wrote #43’s obituary in today’s P-G:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09254/997250-87.stm
Not that anyone outside of Kansas City is paying attention to the Chiefs, but Matt Cassel sprained his MCL 2 weeks ago, but practiced on a limited basis and may play on Sunday.
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/1437560.html
The way Troy plays, I don’t think he should play unless he can participate fully in practice, but at least there’s a bit of hope that he could be back sooner than around the bye week.
Completely agree
I think the 3-6 weeks that I read about is clearly a worst and worster guess. Did you catch the shot of him walking up the stairs before halftime? I have generally bad knees and some days, I don’t at all look so comfortable on the stairs. I also had a severely broken ankle a couple of years ago and, a while after learning to walk again, I was still practically crawling upstairs. Stairs are the hardest thing to handle with leg problems, and I thought that shot was the best news we could get. I’m a carpenter, not an amazing athletic physical specimen, but that’s my point. I’ll be surprised if he misses three weeks.
It's the MCL....
…and I’m not a medical professional but it doesn’t affect back and forth motion all that much, it’s the change of direction stuff that it’ll be a problem and if it isn’t giving good support to the joint then ACL can rupture and hell breaks loose in the worst way.
by Marvin, The Paranoid Android on Sep 12, 2009 12:13 AM EDT up reply actions
Little early to speculate
or rather the perfect time, who knows, but I would shoot for the under on the rehab given Troy’s level of fitness. Moreover, I found this gem earlier in Clayton’s article- “The knee injury is Polamalu’s third since 2006; he hurt his left MCL in 2006 and his right posterior cruciate ligament in 2007.” The history of knee injuries is worrisome, but then again, Troy tends to put his feet in awkward positions. Methinks, the injury might even be tearing old scar tissue, which would be handy :) , but either way he has experience in rehabbing knee, and specifically MCL, injuries.
Troy Pull-a-muscle? :(
I thought Gay played pretty well.
The OL was solid is pass protection and retched in run blocking.
Frank Summers was awful.
Both FWP and Mendenhall need to show more patience while running.
Arians called a pretty nice game, save one 3rd and one near the 10 yard line.
Ben, Heath, Hines, Santonio and Wallace are a pretty good group of receivers.
I like that Heath stays in to block and when things break down he almost always manages to find an open spot.
If by “Arians called a pretty nice game” you mean we has a stretch of productive no-huddle drives run by Ben, then yes.
charity standing orders
In all honesty though, while I think the placalling was still average at best, I thought it was better than some of the games last year. I liked it when we called some quick-hitches, screens, and draws that actually sort of worked. A lot of blah, too, and way too much emphasis on a running game that had no chance at any point of succeeding, but that’s par for Arians.
charity standing orders
Agree
Wrote about it elsewhere, but BA had 5 months to prepare an opening script. It gained 1 yard in 4 drives during the first quarter. Things only seemed to come together when he gave Ben the wheel. I am not going to hate on BA, but I thought this game showed some serious flaws in his play calling.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions
BA had 5 months to prepare an opening script. It gained 1 yard in 4 drives during the first quarter.
Haha, that’s a great line. As much as I hate Arians and thinks he gets too too many breaks, I’ve seen worse from him. I thought most of the passing plays in the first quarter failed more because of execution than design. Ben had about a 15 yard radius to hit Wallace for a TD on the third play, but couldn’t make it happen. There were some drive killing sacks, largely because Ben wouldn’t get rid of the ball. Ben’s pick was an awful, awful throw to an open receiver. Things were better in the second quarter when the execution improved, even if only marginally so. The design of the TD to Holmes was legitimately perfect.
The only thing that I’d really fault him for is, like I said above, sticking with the running game and basically “forfeiting downs” (citing dagger from PGH). After about the 8th attempt, I would have only bothered to run draws, which is basically what Ben did and one of the reasons he was so effective calling plays. This alone made Arians’ game pretty bad, but not by his standards.
At least he let Ben run the no huddle before the last 2 minutes. I actually think that his selection of when to start using it was pretty good. If you use it too early or too much, it can hurt your defense and let other teams catch onto how to stop Ben’s no huddle (which happened at times last year). He pulled it out when they needed a few good drives. I guess it’s a minor achievement to pick the right time to push the “fix everything” button, but I’ve seen him be more stubborn about stuff like this.
charity standing orders
BA
Ofcourse you are right. Execution was part of the problem. But you do have to factor that into the equation. A good coach worries not just about design but about execution. If he feels like the guys aren’t there he works them till they are. I think the knock on BA and LZ is that they don’t seem to get the most out of their guys. We have a ton of talent on the offense. Even our offensive line has some solid raw ability. Yet they really only succeeded when Ben took the wheel.
I guess it’s a minor achievement to pick the right time to push the "fix everything" button, but I’ve seen him be more stubborn about stuff like this.
You have to admit that is not a ringing endorsement.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Haha
I would never endorse Arians. I’m merely saying his stock from this game was “Don’t Buy” instead of “Sell! Sell! Sell!”.
charity standing orders
Im selling BA with huge leverage, the guy has no clue what he is doing and he is to cocky. The simple fact he puts Tank Summers as a starter so early makes u wonder if he is doing good in his head. Tank didnt show enough to deserve that spot in preseason so he gambled like a poker fish. HE doesnt care for the run either, all he wants is to make Ben as huge as possible and be the ne who thinkis deserve the credit for it. Of course its a good thing to make the best out of Ben’s but Ben is just one guy and this is 11-11 football!
In the NFL preview of SI
Ben said this:
Q: Ben, would you want to call your own [plays]?
“I do.”
Q: How much?
“About 40 percent. Would I call it all? No. I’m the most untraditional guy here. I’m the one who wants to go just play backyard.”
So I mean, not defending Arians, but I do believe he takes more than his share of flack because we are usually never sure when Ben calls the plays or Arians does. When the first drive stalls, it’s Arians. But when there’s a random drive or three in the middle of the game, that very well could be Ben.
Just like Ben’s scrambling, you have to take the good with the bad.
by Romain El 82 on Sep 11, 2009 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions
I think we are sure
Ben calls most of the plays in the no huddle and two-minute offense; Arians calls most of the plays otherwise. As I noted in my “Arians vs. Ben” fanpost, in this game that works out to approximately 37 plays for Ben and 35 for Arians, which is slightly more than Ben’s estimate of 40 percent.
The closer ...
… the game the more plays Ben will get to call.
by Marvin, The Paranoid Android on Sep 11, 2009 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Tennesse had 5 months to prepare its D also.
Not promoting or defending, just making an observation.
In fairness though
Ben did account for -19 yards, that was not much of Arians fault. So he gained about 20 yards in 4 drives, still bad.
by John Stephens on Sep 11, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
agreed, but...
Hi all, new to the community so this is my first time posting. I think we Steelers fans forget that other teams have good offense and defenses too. The Titans were a top five defense last season. And as much as I love Ben, all that pump faking can result in sacks as well as big plays. I thought the line played well against 3, 4, and on occasion 5 man rushes. Blitz pick up is still atrocious however. As far as the run game, there were holes. Willie Parker looked SLOW and tentative. And despite what people say, Mendenhall looked good. He pushed the pile and didn’t run scared. Patience is key in the run game, and not just from the running backs. You have to commit to it all the way. Last night I saw some really half hearted attempts at running the ball. As for Frank Summers, people need to give the guy a break. He’s never played FB before so to expect him to start crushing people is a stretch.
I saw a lot of positives last night. I also saw that Ben will pass up an open reciever that’s five yards out, for a covered one twenty yards out. It’s part of his makeup I have to learn to live with. But he wins, and that’s what counts.
Good first post - Parker did look SLOW
I agree Parker looked tentative and SLOW. On one of those failed 3 and 1’s there was a crease available, if Parker would have hit it hard he would have gotten a couple of yards, but he was tentative and tried to break it outside and gotten eaten up.
Cheers, -Dave The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind. --Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
My Parker complaint is he didn't try to break it outside.
On he runs he got thru the line clean, he used to just angle outside and outrun everyone for 15 yards or so. Last night he kept turning inside like he was told to or know’s he cannot outrun people anymore.
I have not rewatched the game yet but I’ll bet 6 times he could have sprinted to the sideline at an angle that would have gotten him some first downs or twice the yards he got.
I hope Tomlin makes the same observation today.
Tank Summers doesnt deserve to be eaten alive, the coach who put him in that situation does, he is a moron (BA).
No frank Summers completely sucked last night. Arians called a decent game. The bad call was the 3rd and 1 in the red zone in the 4th quarter when they had to settle for the FG.
It makes me miss Kreider.
So you are saying that Frank Summers, who is a FB and is therefore supposed to know how to block was put in a bad situation because Arians asked him to block?
Oops, you weren’t saying that the guy above you, setherian was.
I admit...
.. I was was unclear. I was responding to your comment. Frank Summers who did not play FB in college, played the position part time in training camp and had maybe a dozen or so snaps in three preseason games is not responsible for our running game sucking as much as it did in this game and indeed last year when he wasn’t here.
Summers played 5 snaps as lead blocker in the game, he missed 2 blocks and each time the running backs(Parker,Moore) were already being tackled behind him, it was not his assignments who made the tackles.
Summers is no different from any other player with blocking assignments, plagued with poor coordination, mediocre execution and bad play calling. This is a preexisting situation on offense.
The only corps on offense that routinely play well is the WR’s which is not a surprise as Arians is a good receiver coach but he’s a poor Coordinator and every other group is burdened because of it .
by Marvin, The Paranoid Android on Sep 12, 2009 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions
How True
Not only that these are the best recievers we’ve ever had and add in BA’s success in Indy. BA is a genius. A passing guru. AS WELL AS a running moron judging by results.
Isn’t there a way to have our running backs coach design & call those plays?
by steelerstyle on Sep 14, 2009 2:19 AM EDT up reply actions
Let's not forget...
The Titans had three prowbowlers in their secondary. Ben put up 363 yards against them. How will he do against mediocre to bad secondarys?
The Titans played a 4-3 defense. The Steelers don’t see those very often (This according to one of the Steelers o-linemen). So it took some time to adjust. I thought they adjusted well…in pass protection.
Minnisota and their d-line. Remember that the Patriots beat the Vikings handily with a pure passing game two years ago.
Redzone Redman. Hmmm…How close is he to making the gameday team now? I think Frank (No longer “The Tank”) could use some time on the practice squad.
The Steelers held the Titans to 3 points in the second half without Troy. Bruschi and Whats-his-idiot on ESPN said that the Steelers could not, under any circumstances, no way, be succesful without Troy and counting on Ben to win it for the rest of the year. Funny, didn’t the Steelers just prove that against one of the better teams in the league. (By the way Bruschi, most journalism professors would tell you that you can not have a job in broadcasting if you can’t read a teleprompter and stutter, but you proved them wrong.)
Tomlin will keep this team focussed and ready to compete every week.
Agree
Not sure why there as all that hating on the Steelers D. Sure they look weaker without The Best Safety in the League but they didn’t look terrible.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Tank = Special teams
Redman does not.
I agree Tank whiffed on some blocks last night but it seems to me it was when he had more than one guy and he could not decide who to hit. I think film study will sort that out and he has way more upside than Davis, and that’s who he beat out not Redman. Redman will be there next year if FWP does not get resigned.
not to mention
what exactly do you think our precious Redman would do in those situations that the other backs didnt do? Drag 800 lbs of humanity 3 yards (2 yards in back field + 1 to the first down) for the first down? The kid has some potential, but he’s not superman.
yea but...
…Tanks a rookie in his first game and he was asked to be a lead blocker which is something he’s only been doing consistently since training camp, remember he didn’t play fullback in college.
by Marvin, The Paranoid Android on Sep 11, 2009 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Steady improvement
is what I’m looking for.
If he comes out after the bye and can match Davis at blocking, which is not a very high mark, I’ll be happy.
Interesting note on Steelers running game on NFL.com ...
over the last 10 games:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8128510d&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true
What can you say about the running game? We’re hoping that it will improve against the good to great defenses, but how will that happen? Starks, Kemo, Hartwig have all just signed long-term contracts. Essex has a 2-year deal and Colon will probably be restricted and it sounds like the front office want to try to keep him long-term.
How much better can this starting 5 be? FWP just didn’t seem like he has the same burst and this short-yardage situation is pitiful. I do think the team’s best short-yardage back is on the practice squad, but how much of this is the RB’s fault and how much of it is the OL?
With everything being said, I’ll still take the W but the team has a long ways to go.
Ben's play
He missed a couple of passes (Wallace should have had a TD on the 3rd play), pumped indecisively too much, and generally looked a little rusty at times, but his decision making when he actually threw the ball was outstanding. Speaking of being indecisive, though, does anyone else think it’s funny when the OL actually blocks everyone how he still dances and holds onto the ball until someone comes free? I don’t know what he’d do if he wasn’t getting hit every play.
charity standing orders
Speaking of dancing...
…I have to admit I’m a little concerned over FWP. I know there were no holes to burst through, but I’ve gotten used to him bouncing plays outside, hitting the jets and making something out of nothing. Tennessee did a good job of getting their safeties into the box quickly to limit his ability to get to the edge. Still, I thought he looked hesitant and indecisive. Not a great sign considering Mendenhall still has a ways to go.
Thank God for Ben…
by cliff harris is still a punk! on Sep 11, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Hines Ward!!!
How lucky are we to have a Hines Ward on our team. Your not gonna see him lose the ball the way he did last night very often. I don’t know about everyone else, but i think that fumble is gonna jumpstart a huge season for Hines. He’s not gonna let that happen again for sure, and how about that block on Fuller in OT after the fumble!!!!!!
by colorado steelhead on Sep 11, 2009 1:51 PM EDT reply actions
hines heath and santonio
all had huge first games. would be nice to see them all get 75+ catches and two of the three approach the 1000 yard mark
Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)
by Michael Bean on Sep 11, 2009 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions
True
But I would rather see Mendenhall and FWP each get close to or over a 1000 yards. Not holding my breath on that one.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions
W. Gay
Justin Gage more or less had his way with William Gay I felt. Gage finished with 7 catches for 78 yards and 1 touchdown.
Gay did not have a good game. Though I will say the 34 yard TD pass accounts for almost 50% of Gage’s production and that play was against Taylor.
Actually that was Clark's fault
Ike released him and Clark bit on a pump fake and got beat if I recall correctly.
Cheers, -Dave The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind. --Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Looked like Clark on the previous play to Britt that went for 57
But Taylor had the coverage on the TD to Gage. At least, that’s how I saw it.
by pghnorthside on Sep 11, 2009 8:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Two different plays.
The one where Clark was out of position was the 57 yarder that got them in position. That was the one where Ike stayed with the short route and Clark failed to pick up the receiver.
The following play was the TD. And I have to correct myself on that one. It was only a 14 yard pass, not 34. That’s what I get for scanning google summaries and not reading the full article. Anyway, on that play, Gay was all the way on the other side of the field. It was Ike that should have had that play covered.
Gay did have one end zone play in the first half. He broke up a pass for six that forced the Titans into the blocked FG. During the play, Gay either tips the ball or chops the receiver’s arm. (Can’t quite tell.) As the guy comes down, Farrior meets him with a high hit, which is all the commentators talk about after the play.
Anyway, I’m not saying that Gay played well. He didn’t. Collins picked on him quite a bit. I’m just saying Gay wasn’t the only guy covering Gage.
And if you take away that one big play
Oh wait, we only do that to Parker.
Anyway that would be 6 for 44, which with the cusions they play with is what you would expect.
Gay and Other observations
I thought Gay did alright – Gage burned us last time with McFadden around. Plus he had Kenny Britt and Nate taking some heat off of him this time around. I was a little surprised that Ike wasn’t matched up on Gage more of the time – this may indicate that LeBeau and company think Britt is the real deal while as smart as Gage is, he’s never going to really burn you (even though he ended up doing just that). Gay got schooled a bit by a vetran WR and an uber-vetran QB – it’s gonna happen. Expect teams to target Gay throughout the season.
I think everybody is treating Frank like his career is over after he wiffed on a couple of blocks(and sustained a couple of others) on plays that were gonna be stopped in the backfield anyway. He had limited preseason play and is a rook, give him a break. He’s not getting slapped on the PS this year, although all bets are off come next offseason.
The floor on the OL’s pass pro has come up, but I’m pretty sure the ceilling is where it’s always been. Still, if they can sustain protections against 4 man rushes and stick a back in there that can pick up an extra blitzer then Ben is gonna burn some people. There are some serious pass pro issues in the middle of the line though – no one should be able to come busting through straight ahead through your center/guards like teams tend to be able to against us.
Getting Timmons back against Chicago may be key. Fox is a more than good fill in, but with Troy out we’re gonna need somebody with some serious speed/hitting ability out there – especially in a lot of our sub packages.
I’ll give Arians a pass on this one. It’s hard to call an effective game when you’re run game is non-existent. If he had abandonded the run game earlier we’d be bitching about how you need to keep feeding a back like Willie for him to be successful. One thing is for sure: For the run game to be effective against good defenses this year we’re gonna need to get much more creative with it. Running up the gut for little or nothing 15 times a game is simply not going to scare anybody or allow us be an effective play action team.
by BluegrassSteeler on Sep 11, 2009 2:04 PM EDT reply actions
Disagree on Arians
As SteelerBuddha pointed out above, he had 5 months to prepare and the best he came up with is 1 yard on 4 drives in the 1st Q.
They were much better when Big Ben started going off the charts….
I’m no Arians fan and you’re right he had more than enough time to get ready for the game. But I doubt anybody could have anticipated the run game would be as historically ineffective as it was. I mean, most of us pay close attention to the preseason and practices and such and while we knew we probably wouldn’t own TN on the ground, I think we all thought that FWP would be good for at least 50 or 60 yards in the game.
by BluegrassSteeler on Sep 11, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions
The Disparity...
….evident when BB is running the no huddle and Arians has less influence and otherwise when Arians has more, says a lot about Arians playcalling.
by Marvin, The Paranoid Android on Sep 11, 2009 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
The Arians offense still sucks
Let’s not forget all the good field position that the Steeler offense wasted in the early part of the game. 365 yards passing and only one TD?? Worst of all, in the first part of the game, the screen plays were working like a charm. I don’t think Tennessee stopped a single one. So what does Arians do? He stops running screens and starts running the ball. How typical.
General observations
No surprise, the OL is horrible at run blocking, Hartwig plain out wiffed several times. They simply do not move people off the line, kind of hard to get yards when first contact is constantly in the back field. FWP looked like DACWP Mendenhal I need to see more of, even though he didn’t have many yards at least he ran hard. Frank wiffed more than Hartwig. Hampton looked old, tired and fat. I know that all sounds negative but heres the good news. Slide Ziggy in for Hampton, get TImmons and Troy back and that defense will be TOUGH. WR look to be the best group we have had in a long time. Ben got the jitters out and if he can play like he did in the second half all year teams won’t be able to put 7-8 in the box on us thus improving the run game. We need to pass to set up the run because we have proven we can’t run to set up the pass on anyone.
whoa
Hampton looked active and solid. Not sure what game you were wtaching. He got tired a bit and needed to be subbed out for Hoke, but when he was fresh and being rotated, he made several really active plays. He was quite good and still a tremendous asset for us.
Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)
by Michael Bean on Sep 11, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed
I thought Hampton looked pretty good to start. The change of pace to Hoke worked well also. I did feel bad for Big Snack on that almost sack in the 2nd Q (?), Collins never looked so fast.
Collins never looked so fast.
Or so scared.
I imagine that the only thing that can compare is being charged by an angry Rhino.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah
more times than not I saw Fat Hampton (my wifes nickname for him) carry 2-3 guys 5-7 yards in about 1 sec. to totally mess up a couple of run plays. I thought he looked good for the most part
Another point to keep in mind with the D is...
that with return of our punter, the D won’t have quite so many short-yardage field to defend. The punting game, as pointed out in other posts, was huge last night. That helps Frazier, Fox, Harrison, etc. with the coverage, and in turn makes the other offense have to travel that much further. That’s going to be big for us this year. I would guess that may ultimately mean more total yards given up than LY, but also makes the other team have to work that much harder. Hell, the Titans don’t have a terrible O, I thought they were quite good last year, and yet look at how hard they worked for 10 pts. We gave up over 300 yards but only 10 pts? I’ll take that any time.
More yards against this D
means more hits taken by your O.
Those guys came to hit last night and guys were feeling it by games end.
Healthy Legs Ranked
The most important legs on the team are :
1. Troy Polamalu.
2. Big Ben.
3. Dan Sepulveda
On a (un)related note
Go check out the Browns blog and read over their Open Thread for the game. I have never seen more bitter, cry-baby, unknowledgeable, whining comments in my life.
This one was my favorite:
By from what I’ve seen so far…. I’m glad w play Pitt twice, and not Tenn this year.
Um, they did know who won, right?
What could possibly make it more attractive to play the Steelers twice? Both teams last night played really well defensively. Maybe I’m just not smart enough to understand that comment.
Browns fans are very, very bitter
I have learned that from reading their blogs. It is past the point of ridiculous too. If I even try to chime in they automatically shoot off with “Steelers suck” or “Ben is garbage”. It is like trying to have an intelligent argument with a preschooler.
I don’t get their argument though, what team would want to play the defending SB team twice in a year? Who wants to play the number 1 defense twice? Who wants to play a team you haven’t beaten in 5 years twice?
by John Stephens on Sep 11, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I usually enjoy the opponent's fan perspective
A lot of times a different perspective is englightening. But I don’t even bother with Cleveland.
Speaking of which, over at Music City Miracles, I figured the community there would be freaking out that their team gacked in the clutch again. Not so much. Had to admit, although the Titans looked good in the first half, I thought they played Cowher-style (a/k/a foot and gas pedal in different hemispheres) in the second half.
by pghnorthside on Sep 11, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Truth
I frequent the Ravens blog. Good content their on my least favorite team.
" I’m glad we play Pitt twice, and not Tenn this year." - Salty Browns Fan.
by John Stephens on Sep 11, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions
I always had a soft spot for the Cleveland Browns...
… only because they, like Pittsburgh, are a blue-collar town of football fanatics within a small market. I felt bad that they lost their team, and worried that if we ever had shitty ownership, we could find ourselves in the same boat. (Thank God for the Rooneys). Consequently, I would make it a point to try to be pleasant and polite on their blog when visiting. Unfortunately, I’ve since realized that most of them are actually mentally retarded, and I’ve learned to not waste my time.
by Weirtonite on Sep 13, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
on a similar side note
Over at cinci jungle they are talking about sweeping us this year.
we have built this team to beat the steelers, we will sweep them, win the division, win a play off game, win the superbowl.
Some of it was pretty flattering
“If you can beat the Steelers you can beat any team in the NFL”
Dunno if that's sarcasm
But I agree, they have some potential now
This is Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu getting knocked around by the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii yesterday...
Minutes later, Troy caught the ocean going over the middle and smacked it right in the mouth. The ocean fumbled, Troy recovered and ran it into the endzone. The ocean never messed with Troy again.
I’ve thought as much, but their OL really is a mess. They won’t be able to run or protect Palmer, which he needs. They’ve usually had more of a mid-to-deep ball passing game, and Palmer can’t exactly buy time like Ben. A lot depends on how good their defense really is. Are the decent stats last year just a product of poor offense, like the 2006 Raiders?
charity standing orders
All on Palmer
He’s got to have a huge year. Housh killed us way more than Ocho ever has and I don’t think Coles is nearly as good as Housh.
by pghnorthside on Sep 11, 2009 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions
agreed
and 7 of those were right after Troy got hurt and the secondary was obviously way out of place and confused. Once they put Carter in for Troy everything calmed down. It looked like they had Taylor playing safety on the touchdown.
One more observation
Ryan Clark was wretched in this game. I saw him stick his nose into the pile one time, but he did nothing in pass coverage. He doesn’t make huge mistakes and blow coverages, he just gets beat even when he’s in the right position.
charity standing orders
yea didnt think he was great against the pass
but he was pretty solid against the run. they didnt break off any long runs really and he was right there in position keeping a number of runs to 4-5 yard gainst instead of 10+
Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)
by Michael Bean on Sep 11, 2009 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
The difference between Bruce calling the plays and Big Ben
Arians seems to be stagnant with his play calling, and while I think it is necessary makes some of the hard calls in the game. How many of those run up the middle calls lead to easier passes for Ben across the middle and behind the linebackers.
I only wish he would make more counter play calls, such as counter runs, draws, and play action.
Ben on the other hand, in those end of game situations is really doing a great job of reading what the defense gives him. That 3rd and short slant to Holmes was a perfect pass and play call given the Titans were lined up 1 on 1 with him all alone on the right side.
While I hate to admit it, Arians appears to be a perfect compliment to Ben in coordinator. Bruce takes the heat for the less than exciting run play calls, and Ben gets to be the hero with his late game change of style reading the defense calls.
Play calling
I think we need a couple games in the 35-50 passes range to free up the run, once teams realize Ben will put 360yds on them they won’t stack the line so much and things will even out between run and pass.
DB's
Carter seems to be pretty solid when he is in there, no Troy but solid, any more hits to the secondary could be big trouble, there is talent there but really green talent that needs to mature a year or two.
Not much talk about the RB's here?
I think part of the problem was with our running back. Mendy ran into Ben on his first hand off, FWP missed many holes and when he did get into space ran into the defender to many times. Moore looked solid and I think that is why he was in there at the end (no matter what Tomlin says), but he just isn’t that explosive.
I give the O-line a C-, but I would give the RB a D+ at best.
The amazing thing about Mendy running into Ben is that he still managed to get a yard on it. He ran with more authority than Parker in his few attempts. It seemed like where FWP wanted to try to break a big one, Mendy was content to take what he could get from a plunge.
by BluegrassSteeler on Sep 11, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Behind the Steel Stats
Oh heck – posted this as a fanpost so I could edit, but really wanted to post it here anyway. Never mind that Blitz made half my points more eloquently!!! Just couldn’t conscience spending 45 minutes and having it outside the conversation… ( :
8 – The number of times Ben got knocked down. In a different post I complimented the O-line for great pass protection, especially in the 4th quarter. I stand by that post. For most of the 4th quarter Ben had all day in the pocket. Our guys contained a good Titans pass rush when it counted. Having said that 8 hits in a game is a lot. I put most of those on Ben. The guy can stand and deliver, the guy can run and deliver. But I have a hard time imagining that anyone , not even Ben can get hit that much and still finish a 16 game season. Prove me wrong Ben, but please dump 1-2 of those off if you can.
+11 - Steelers advantage in starting field position . Steelers started on average at the 31 yard line. The Titans started on average at their 20. This number is composed of a couple of other interesting numbers including:
4 – Punts inside the 20 for Sepulvada - Of his 7 punts last night 4 landed inside the 20. None went into the endzone. None were shanked. Robopunter 2.0.
29.0 – Kick off AVG for Stephan Logan. Robopunter plus Joystick = great special teams. 10 – Total tackles by Keryan Fox anyone miss Lawerence Timmons last night? Also credit Collinsworth with coining “Fox and Friends” for the Steelers D. Begin punning.
3 – Catches by Rookie Mike Wallace. Remember that old story about receivers needing at least two years to fit into the Steelers new system? I have new story for you. A guy who runs a 4.3 40 will get open. If he keeps catching everything thrown his way, the only real question will be can Ben throw fast and far enough to get him the ball.
1- Catch by former Steeler Nate Washington - I know, I know – Washington was hurt, but the guy literally couldn’t sleep for a week anticipating his mighty homecoming. The upshot was that the rookie we signed to replace him looked faster and more reliable. Good luck Nate, we loved you here, we wish you the best, but it doesn’t seem like we are going to miss you.
6 – Combined Tackles and Assists for Ryan Mundy and Arnold Harrison on Special Teams - Remember how losing Anthony Madison and Donovan Woods was going to kill us on special teams. Don’t believe it.
8 – Number of times that Heath Miller was targeted and number of catches Miller had - Ben feels about Heath the way a small child feels about his Blanky. For good reason.
1 – Yards the Steelers gained in the first Quarter on 4 drives - You can lay that on a ton of different things, including jitters and good Titans D. I am not an Arians hater, but I say part of the blame is his. When you have 6 months to prep for an opening quarter your script should produce more than 1 yard. It doesn’t help his case that the offense started humming when Ben took the wheel. I won’t say it was all negative from BA, but over-all I give him a C minus at very best.
1.6 – Average Yards per Carry - It’s been analyzed by many on the board, so I won’t say too much more, but the run game was awful. None of our backs averaged more than 1.6 yards a carry. The longest run was 8 by Willie Parker. In the post game Tomlin said “We are not going to abandon anything that we set out to do any given week.” Perhaps, but I wonder if we will keep trying to do the same things next week.
363 Yards- The most yards Ben has ever thrown in a win - only twice in his storied career has Ben thrown for more yards. Both were losses. His highest total came in 2006 against Denver when he threw for 433 yards and the Steelers lost 31-20. His second highest total 386, came in a 38-31 loss to Cincinnati in 2005. His fourth highest total? That would be 329 yards in our loss to Tennessee last year.
A lot of people have argued that following this game we will see Tomlin abandon the run and throw 40-50 times a game. I don’t see it.
9-131-1 – Holmes Stat line for the SB and for this game. - It’s been pointed out by many, but I feel like it’s worth repeating. Leave aside the freaky symmetry for a moment. You have to love that after missing a bunch of time Holmes came on smoother and faster than Snoops chronic. Hmmm possible connection?
3 – The number of game winning drives Ben led last night - Show of hands, how many people remember what it was like to watch O’Donnell, Slash, Tommy-gun, Bubby Brister, Mark Malone or Cliff Stoudt walk on to the field for a fourth quarter drive.
For those of you who are a bit younger I will try to describe how it felt for me. In a word Nausea. When those guys took the ball with the game on the line, I had a mix of about 10% hope and 90% a dead certain feeling that we were about to lose in some horrible way. Those averages seemed fairly well founded. In contrast, I love watching Ben under pressure. It’s like watching Jordan in his prime. He didn’t always win. But you want to see what happens when the ball is in his hands.
3 times last night we put the ball the game Ben’s hands.
Trailing by 3 with 11:00 minutes left Ben led a 12 play 56 yard drive that chewed up 8:06 on the clock. He was 7-7 on the drive. The drive only stalled because 2 straight runs failed to pick up a meager two yards. You could well argue that if Ben had been given the ball that we would have been up by 4.
The second drive started on the Steelers 42 with 1:50 seconds left. Ben was 4-4.for 54 yards. A beautiful 30 yard strike down the middle to Hines should have sealed the game but luck was not with us. Instead the game went to overtime.
In overtime Ben lead a 10 play 63 yard drive – Ben was 5-7 on the drive.
If you add all those stats up Ben’s game winning drive should be listed as 16-18 for 173 yards.
1-0 – Steelers record - Let’s be honest. It was a tough game to watch. You wanted to see our guys to come out and stomp on the Titans the way they stomped on us and the terrible towel last year. You wanted LenDale White crushed in the backfield. You wanted to see our O-line establish the run and pound the ball down their throats till they acknowledged that we were the better team.
You didn’t want to see our O-Line get physically dominated at the line of scrimmage. You didn’t want to see Ben go down 8 times. You didn’t want to see stupid penalties and mental breakdowns nearly cost the game. You most certainly didn’t want to see our All-world, super-stud, Tazmanian Devil of safety go out with a stupid freak knee injury. Especially when he was making an early case to steal the DPLOY from our rabid-freak-monster of a linebacker.
But you know what, that’s football. As Coach T. said after the game. “Our guys travel light. They don’t tote baggage.”
You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the 2009 Steelers. They are not a dominant team. They are not pretty. They have major issues. They also just beat one a great team in a gutsy over-time fist-fight. They are 1-0.
So listen to Coach T. He is a wise man. “Travel light. Don’t tote the baggage.” “The 11 guys on the field at any moment are who we are.” Most importantly “don’t ride the emotional roller-coaster.”
I know some will disagree. Personally if we won by 40 points every game, I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. Leave that for the Patriots.
During the game last night two different friends (Giants fan and Niners fan) each texted me one word “boring.”
I’ll take this kind of boring every week.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 2:33 PM EDT reply actions 7 recs
Great post Buddha!!!!
Leave the cheating and flashiness to someone else. I’ll take the wins. 800 points and not in the playoffs, is still not in the playoffs. Grind it out, make plays, get punched and throw a punch right back…that’s our team.
Here’s to Troy on the field again real soon.
Even better
I liked Collinsworth, but once a Bungle – always a Bungle
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Boring Boring Boring
I’d love to see a high flying kodak moment offense excel against either one of last night’s D’s. It’s just not going to happen. All I heard form my charger friends was boring boring boring. Well, ya know what? A defensive slug fest is just that, boring. But this is a game of inches and last night we took more than Tennessee.
Bring a towel to the game. Black or gold or yellow. If you don't have one buy one, If you can't buy one, dye one!!!
by SoCalSteelerFan on Sep 11, 2009 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Tell your Charger fans that they should get ready for a “boring, boring, boring” postseason…watching the Steelers all throughout January/February.
breathe in deep feel your heart beat, just to know that life's worth livin'. feel your feet on the earth, better love it while it's still here spinnin'.
by NoCal-SteelCity on Sep 11, 2009 7:20 PM EDT up reply actions
well said, sir
As for your friends who thought the game was boring, maybe it’s time to get new friends? Or maybe they were watching “Grey’s Anatomy” and forgot to change the channel? I don’t get how anyone could think this was a boring game.
Bill Beeelichick proved that in America it’s okay to cheat, as long as you cheat your way to the top. – Eric Cartman
LOL
Couldn’t agree with you more. I am sending it to my friends right now.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions
99.27 Big Ben's QB rating (if you don't count the Hail Mary INT.
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile - Albert Einstein.
Nice
Great stat, but I totally love that Ben played an amazing game, threw for over 350 yards and still left fantasy owners shaking their heads. I honestly think that his lack of respect as a QB is related to his fantasy stats. And I love it.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 13, 2009 10:55 PM EDT up reply actions
1-0
1-0 are the most important numbers you post wise Buddha.
If the Steelers are to continue winning sans 43 they will need to improve on some other numbers;
1.6; When you run the ball, good things happen. BA needs to find a way. The Steelers will NEED to run the ball and control the clock thus limiting the exposure of the D less 43.
1; BA, 1 yard on the first 4 series? Rust maybe? My major problem with the BA era is that it has lacked offensive ingenuity. That and he is a weak judge of talent. Week one was same old Arians.
When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen
RB
I’d like to see Mendenhal start and get at least 20 carries to see what he is like once he gets warmed up. I think FWP has too many thoughts going on in that big head of his. Frank plain out was terrible and I know a lot of people will say we should have Redman instead of Frank and maybe as a lead blocker I would agree but as a RB he was just too slow, great against the 2nd string in pre-season but not enough to cut it in prime time but that is just my opinion. Where I really think they missed the boat was taking Spaeth(no offense to him) instead of Micheal Bush in the 08 draft,
SteelerBuddha
great points, all of them. How happy are we to have superman punting and a joystick running kicks back. Special teams were great last night. Yes, I remember the agony of the old QB’s, at least they were usually pretty quick at destroying hope instead of waiting until the last minute to fail. I do agree that T probably won’t call for 40-50 passes a game but I think he should, not that they should do it all year but we won’t ever get a run game going until we spread out defenses more. Santonio will have a PB year he has really grown up and is turning into an absolute beast.
Agree on all
Santonio’s pro-bowl will also be determined by how often he gets the ball. I can’t see him getting 10 looks a game all season though. But maybe I am wrong.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 11, 2009 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions
40-50 passes???
Ben already calls damn near 40 passes a game anyway. The fact is that Mendy ran hard while Willie missed at least three holes, and didn’t seem to have that extra gear we’re used to seeing from him. I’d like to see Mendy get more carries and see how he does with a regular workload. Bottom line is that this team doesnt seem committed to the run. They don’t seem to want to try and wear teams down. How much of that is ineffective blocking vs running vs playcalling I honestly can’t say.
The no-huddle has improved
a lot since last year – maybe because we have better receivers for the spread.
My heros have always been Steelers...
Receiver strength
Agree on that, our receivers are much stronger, Santonio is much better, Sweed(although we didn’t really see him last night) is vastly improved, Heath is just typical great Heath, Wallace looks very promising, Hines looks like he has gotten a step back( I thought at times last year he looked a little slower) and McDonald (who we also didn’t see last night) catches everything thrown at him. Washington was fast but inconsistent so if the Titans want him as their number 1, have at it I say. Now if we could only squeeze a couple of shovel passes to Logan in a game I think that would be really special.
Harrison hit on Scaife, dirty? What?
I remember thinking it was a good hit and nothing more last night. I just decided to pop over to MCM and they are claiming, as well as Scaife, that it was a dirty hit? What?
I tried to find a video of it to see again what I thought, and I found a good article over at Steelers Depot. They make a good case that it was not a dirty tackle because Harrison was already diving toward Scaife before he turned around.
Thoughts?
" I’m glad we play Pitt twice, and not Tenn this year." - Salty Browns Fan.
Nothing dirty
If you don’t want Harrison to hit you, better not set foot on the field. You can’t hold anything back when trying to tackle a big dude like Scaife. But definitely not a dirty hit. I agree it was a textbook tackle.
I believe someone’s tagline on BTSC is something to the effect of “haters only hate.” Case and point here. People who don’t like the Steelers will never end with the accusations, no matter how unfounded they are: they play dirty, they’re cheapshot artists, the refs are always on their side…
Same old song and dance.
breathe in deep feel your heart beat, just to know that life's worth livin'. feel your feet on the earth, better love it while it's still here spinnin'.
by NoCal-SteelCity on Sep 11, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Would like some input
Seems to me that many of the running plays fail because they are so slow developing. Ben will take a snap then run backwards holding the ball in order to rendevous with FWP who has set WAY BACK in the backfield. By the time he reaches the line of scrimmage it feels like I could have run over to the stadium and be waiting for him.
I like Parker but he’s not a great vision guy and not decisive enough. How about moving him closer to the line and trying to hit the holes a bit earlier? To honest I think sometimes that we run plays in circumstances where we won’t be successful so that the complainers can be blown off with comments such as (we tried.)
by Ivan Cole (RickVa) on Sep 11, 2009 7:06 PM EDT reply actions
finally
Ding ding ding give that man a tall frosty beer. I was just saying that to my wife(yes she actually loves football) as we were watching the game. By the time he hands off the defense is already in the back field, and there is no misdirection he puts it out there so far it is like hey everyone we’re running to the left, did you get that the left.
+1
Yeah I agree. I’ve wondered why the team doesn’t have some plays where they pitch the ball to FWP rather than hand it to him. Too much perceived risk, I guess.
Last year I watched an old tape of the great 1985 Bears team. Most of their running plays were pitches to Walter Payton, even between the tackles. They didn’t literally hand it off that much. I couldn’t believe how FAST McMahon would get the ball to Payton. There isn’t a team in the league that gets the ball to their RB that quickly today, unless it’s a direct snap out of the Wildcat. It makes a huge difference.
by Steelers in XLIV on Sep 12, 2009 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Should the Titans Have Won?
I have real work to do, which might explain why I’ve wasted so much time reading about the game. In that vein, I was reading the Titans “Music City Miracles” blog today.
I was amused to see that pretty much everyone there thought the Titans had the game won if not for a couple of small mistakes.
On the one hand I get where they are coming from. They dominated the line of scrimmage on defense. They missed one easy field goal and had another blocked. They were leading in the fourth.
On the other hand, it seems absurd to take if only attitude on the game (if only Bironas makes the field goals, etc.) I don’t feel the Steelers dominated the Titans, but I do feel that they were they were clearly the better team. Both teams made tons of little mistakes, but when push came to shove our offense was more dangerous than their offense and our defense was more capable than theirs.
Curious if others saw it differently.
back and forth
I don’t think either team dominated the whole game, I would give the Titans about the first quarter and a half and the Steelers the rest minus immediately after Troy got hurt. I would have to go back and check but I think we had a slight advantage in total yards and a fairly substantial advantage in time of possession. Overall a little sloppy on both sides but a close game which is about what I expected. The Titans are a good team, pretty solid all the way through, their lines on both sides are obviously their strongest units.
Tough to say
I don’t think enough credit has been given to how good the Titans are. I don’t expect any other team to protect their QB as well as they did. And Chris Johnson is, outside of AP, as explosive a running back as the Steeler D will see all season. Collins really kept his cool and the one pick was just a freakish play by Troy. Plus, although they got a little help from the zebras, very few penalties and only one killer (illegal formation bringing back a third down conversion).
But from the perspective of a Titans fan, I’d say that despite the obvious strengths of that team, this game revealed some serious weaknesses that the Steelers exploited:
-lack of depth in the secondary. Yes, Hope, Griffin and Finnegan went to the Pro Bowl last year, but the rest looked suspect. The Steelers absolutely ate them alive in the no-huddle. Ben looked great, but Hines, Tone and Wallace were practically uncovered. It looked like Lee Flowers had suited up for Tennessee.
-The passing game revolves around the tight ends. Once Scaife was out, their offense couldn’t make a play. People here are legitimately critical of Bruce Arians but he looks like a reincarnation of Don Coryell compared to the Titans staff. Is our defense tough? Absolutely, but with the protection that Collins can get, they have more opportunity to make plays down the field than anybody else and they wholly failed to take advantage.
-The Titans couldn’t cover Heath Miller. Not even a little. 8 attempts to Miller resulted in 8 completions.
-we know how special teams can screw up an otherwise winnable game. Tennessee could have played worse on special teams, I suppose. But they were putrid. Awful returns, missed field goal, blocked field goal, fumbled punt, botched fair catch call, allowed a big return on the opening kickoff, shanked punt at the 2 minute warning in the 4th quarter.
Good game from the Titans? Absolutely. But they’re like a classic Cowher-era Steeler team. When they can run and the other team has a limited passing offense, they dominate the key matchups and can overcome the special teams lapses and lack of scoring threats. As soon as a quality opponent can create favorable matchups, their limitations are exposed and they struggle.
by pghnorthside on Sep 12, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Well Said
I got the feeling that Tennessee matched up well and that their D-line dominated our O-line for three quarters and their O-Line fought our D-Line evenly for four quarters. But in many other aspects of the game we had a slight edge. Our secondary played better than theirs. Our receivers played better than theirs. Our special teams is clearly much better than theirs. There isn’t even a contest at QB.
It seems to me absurd to say that the Steelers got outplayed. It seemed to me that the two teams are pretty evenly matched but that the better team definitely won.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 12, 2009 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions
If I Were A Titans Fan.....
I would probably feel like my team got flat outcoached in the second half.
The vanilla four-man rush was doing absolutely nothing in the second half. Chuck Cecil called kind of a bad defensive game in his first crack at being a coordinator, IMO.
And hindsight is 20/20 of course but even at the time I thought Fisher should have used a timeout when the Steelers were in the no huddle. The Titans defense was gassed and they desperately needed to get some wind and some fresh bodies on the field. I understand the desire to conserve timeouts but the game got away from them in that moment.
by Steelers in XLIV on Sep 12, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Great call
We also kind of shot ourselves in the foot by going to the huddle on 2nd and 2. They were on the ropes and we let them off the hook. Thankfully we didn’t repeat that mistake. My sense is that when we won the coin toss we basically won the game. Their D was so gassed at that point that they had no real ability to stop us.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 12, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Good stuff. The Titans left their LB’s in when we spread them out and they paid for it with WR’s running open across the middle of the field.
And sure, if the Titans didn’t make a couple mistakes, they would have won. But then, if Ward hadn’t fumbled, or if Ben hadn’t underthrown Wallace on the 3rd play, or if William Gay didn’t break containment (he ran up the middle of the field like someone was controlling him in a Madden game) on the backside of CJ’s big run & penalty, they never would have been close. WAAAAAAA!!!!!!
It was a good game with a lot of mistakes on both sides. We won the coin toss so we’ll never know, but our defense would have put up a better fight than their did in OT.
charity standing orders
Memo
R we even in the game without this guy – even without him touching the ball the threat of him in the flat allows Ben BB to pump fake and hit his targets deep – Bar none are best utility back kinda Faulk like – we take this guy for granted and how many games has this guy won for us
good point
plan on writing about him. seems like coaches have a whole lot of faith in him compared to FWP and Mendy. at least in lots of late-game situations.
Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)
by Michael Bean on Sep 11, 2009 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Stat from postgameheroes
Mewelde Moore: 42 snaps
Willie Parker: 25 snaps
Frank Summers: 5 snaps
Rashard Mendenhall: 4 snaps
I think that is both about confidence and scheme. We had 5 no huddle drives. Memo is clearly the guy you want in on those drives. Mendenhall might eventually become that guy, but he isn’t there yet.
by SteelerBuddha on Sep 12, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Bullock looked like a headless scarecrow in pass defense.
Holmes must have sharted because Harper stayed 10 yards off on 3rd and 2…. friggin 3rd and 2!
DIDN’T any Titan coach watch the AFC Championship game? Lambs to the slughter. Who’s running that ship in Tenn….Oh that’s close but no cigar Fisher. The southern Billick. Fisher and 4th quarters is like exploding golf balls- Hey what happened.
Fanaca, Smith, and Simmons gone. It takes time.
In the past 2 seasons we lost 3 major pieces on our line. It very difficult to then throw a bunch of guys together and have immediate success. Yes; we won the Super Bowl last year with a ‘patchwork’ OL. But we did see the warts (short yardage and sacks).
And they didnt exactly pile up the rushing yards in the playoffs and SB (except FWP against SD).
These guys need time to gel and work together. Hopefully we will then see better results and more PUSH in short yardage. I am concerned about the lack of ‘early round’ draft talent however. OL is not a skill position, but there is a reason that high draft-pick lineman make 10 Pro Bowls in a row and right now we dont even have one of those ‘college studs’.
Perhaps we are seeing the impact of losing a HOF’r like Fananca on the line. Although I agree with the decision to spend the money elsewhere given his age and keeping with the Steelers ‘dont pay for the past’ strategy.
Would haven been nice if Urbik had showed up and was a beast in training camp, but it was not to be.
Hey Blitz
Great write up as always, but the Ohio State dig maybe a bit much. :) I know the Buckeyes have lost a number of big profile games of late, but college vs pro they are two different animals. You can be a great college player or coach, and suck in the NFL. Pete Carroll, Reggie Bush, Archie Griffin, Troy Smith, and so on..
To me a Fisher/Cowher comparison makes more sense. Lost a super bowl, run oriented defensive team, and plays to close to the vest with the lead, but I think Fisher will win a super bowl.
Not to be a complete Homer (doh!) right now, Penn St. is the class of the Big Ten. Right now just hoping PA born Pryor can lead OSU over USC.
Fun seeing Tone on game day with a OSU shirt and a super bowl ring. :)
Too easy...
But being the class of the Big Ten is like being the class of the AFC West.
by pghnorthside on Sep 12, 2009 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
LOL
fair enough! Just leave my milkshake alone PGH!
by SteelBuckeye on Sep 12, 2009 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Quit all the Redman love
Please, someone tell me how many carries Mendy has in the regular season…less than 30? Don’t you think it’s a little premature to call him a bust? He has the look of a player that will only get better with reps. Let’s give him a chance.
Also, note that he was the only Steelers running back that didn’t get stopped on 3rd down. Because the coaches wouldn’t give him the chance. Just like all of you so called fans who don’t want to give him a chance, yet want to throw the starting job to an undrafted rookie who had a few good runs against 2nd and 3rd team defenses in PRESEASON. Add to that, Mendy was the only running back that moved the pile against the Titans, which everybody in these posts said he couldn’t do. Give the boy a chance in the regular season. All-pros aren’t made in the preseason!
Lets see after Sunday
How the rest of the 30 teams stack up, hopefully some will realize some rust and preparation doe take place during the first game of the yr that counts.
i agree with mactastic
What the steelers need is for Mendy to get more touches. Not only will it give him opportunity, but it will give him confidence and push FWP to work harder and perform better.
I think the RBs need some internal competition and to have a fire lit under their collective asses.
by pixburghese on Sep 13, 2009 1:09 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
My thoughtages
Good game to watch honestly. I like these type of games.
Ben looked rusty early, missing open Mike Wallace and that overthrow that got Picked.
But still overall, as I predicted, he moved the ball.
Why the hell was memo getting all those short yardage carries though? Never even gave Summers a try on that one.
Also thought Trai Essex did really poorly at his position, just sometimes letting a guy right through. It wasnt a great night overall for the line, but the right side appeared far worse.
And lastly my final thoughtage, Why did lebeau call such a bad defense at the end of the first half? He left the deep sideline WIDE open, and put Taylor in the flat. They got 50+ yards.
Then he does it RIGHT AGAIN on the TD pass, the exact same coverage. Not sure what was going on there.
But I felt like our errors were mostly mental, and we showed promise for the year to come.
Last Call for FWP in Pittsburgh and here's why:
- The Steelers have officially become a pass-first team and FWP can’t catch the ball. Mendy and M. Moore can. He really doesn’t offer that much in pass protection as well.
- FWP’s game pretty much consisted of his burst. During the preseason and the first game, it appeared his burst wasn’t there. In fact, he looked slow to me. There were a couple of times where I waited for him to switch and he didn’t (or maybe he did and nothing happened).
- It’s no secret FWP doesn’t run well against the good defenses. He’s just not the type of back that is going to make someone miss and get you that extra yard. M. Moore does that and I wasn’t all that impressed with Mendy, but I did see where he carried Bullock for a ride a couple of times after being hit at the line of scrimmage.
- FWP is in the last year of his contract and I don’t think the Steelers will give big money to a guy on the decline. Besides the normal free agents looking to get paid here (R. Clark, Big Snack, J. Reed) the team will have S. Holmes and L. Woodley both in the last year of their deals next year. All of the above mentioned (particularly Holmes and Woodley) are more of a priority than FWP.
- With Mendy, M. Moore, Summers, Redman and whomever the Steelers draft and find in the rookie free agent bin, the Steelers would still be okay with FWP. It’s better to let a player walk a year early than keeping them a year too long. Look at the situation Carolina is in with Jake Delhomme, $20M guaranteed to a player that is a pretty terrible QB right now.
- Lastly, all this isn’t FWP’s fault. The OL that he is playing behind isn’t very good right now, but he is just too one-dimensional right now for a Coach that preaches the more you can do. If FWP is getting you any yards on the ground, what is he doing for your team? He can’t catch the ball out of the backfield, he’s not the best in blitz pick up, he doesn’t offer you anything in special teams. Just being realistic that we’re probably seeing the last of him in a Steelers uniform. I hope that I’m wrong on this but I don’t think so.
Meant to say ...
that the Steelers with its current RB’s and whomever it drafts or finds among rookie free agents next year will be fine without FWP and that if FWP isn’t picking up any yards for you on the ground, what is he doing for your team?
Polamalu Injury
Ye of little faith! Steelers are 6-2 (recently) with Troy out. Have faith in Coach Lebeau. While he is a great, great player, our defense can still be just as good without him. It’s all in how the defense is drawn up.
We’ll be just fine and Troy will be even fresher late in the season a.k.a. playoffs.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
"Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history."
Art Rooney Jr.
"Level-headed thinking." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
SBNation.com Recent Stories
In Association With
Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
- Puppy Bowl VIII: The Scouting Report
- Giants get ahead of themselves with ‘Super Bowl Champions’ home page … on Saturday
- Smarter Stats: Super Bowl Edition — Giants’ offense vs. Patriots’ defense
- Curtis Martin’s mother helped drive him to the Hall of Fame
- Patriots heartlessly release Tiquan Underwood on the eve of Super Bowl XLVI
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
