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Quick Hitters Week 1

I was thinking about not writing this for this pathetic game but I decided I have to. You can't just skip a game because it was pathetic. I am going to start with seven goods before I get to the tons of bads. 

The Good

 

  • Mike Wallace: Wallace looked like a complete receiver today, hauling in 8 receptions for 107 yards. He did it with screen passes, out routes, and comebacks. He is no longer just a deep threat. 
  • Emmanuel Sanders: Sanders has 2 huge 3rd down catches including our only TD of the game in which he redirected himself and got wide open. He looks like our #3 WR despite Brown's great Preseason
  • Ike Taylor: Taylor locked down Lee Evans. Evans had zero catches. Taylor was all over him like white on rice and was the only defensive player to earn his contract. 
  • Heath Miller: Heath had 3 receptions for 42 yards but he was much better than that. He was wide open in the endzone but Ben under-threw him and gave away six points and any momentum we had built to that point. 
  • Daniel Sepulveda: Sepulveda was booming punts today, with 4 punts averaging 52.8 yards per punt. He had two land inside the 20 and one more that could have pinned them at the 1 if William Gay was paying attention. 
  • Rashard Mendenhall: Mendy did the best he could and the fumble was not his fault. He made something out of nothing on every play and looks faster than ever. 
  • 2nd Half defense: For all the criticizing of our D today, let me tell you something. In the 2nd half we turned the ball over six times yet we only gave up 14 points. I find that incredibly impressive. They made big stop after big stop only to have to bail the offense out after another turnover over and over again. 
The Bad
  • Ben Roethlisberger: He had 3 picks, missed a few wide open receivers and looked flustered. He turned the ball over 5 times. 
  • The offensive line: The line provided no push on running plays and gave Ben no protection. The worst players on the line were Doug Legursky and Willie Colon
  • The 1st half defense: For as good as our defense was in the 2nd half, they were horrible in the 1st half. Gave up 21 easy points and never made big 3rd down stops. 
  • The Linebackers: All five LBs that played a lot today were horrible. They were hesitant and did not play too the ball. They constantly got burned by the Ravens TEs and RBs and could not do anything. People will look at Timmons 10 tackles and say he played well but that is not true. 
  • Bruce Arians: We come out and run the ball all over the Ravens on our TD drive and what does he do? Rattles off 3 straight passing plays and a 3 and out. He was not as bad as some games but he did not help the cause. 
  • Dick Lebau: Whatever his defensive gameplan was today, it was horrible. We did not disguise our blitzes at all, we played our LBs with too much of a cushion, and we could not generate any pressure. Part of that is Lebau's fault. 
  • Mike Tomlin: Part of this has to be on Tomlin as well. How can your team come out with no emotion and so ill-prepared for opening weekend with our biggest rival as our opponent. Pitiful. 
  • The Defensive Line: Keisel, Hampton, Smith, Heyward, Hoke, and Hood failed to get any pressure and they failed to eat up blockers on running plays. 
That is all I got for today. Hopefully next weeks post has more good and includes a big win. 

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