So, did you hear that Ryan Shazier had a pretty good game last weekend? Shazier's game is an instance where the actual performance exceeds the hype. I'm not sure that Shazier knows exactly where he is going yet, but his athleticism jumps off the screen at you when you watch him play the game. Shazier has the fluidity of movement of a corner. That movement allows him to make plays, even when he finds himself in bad position. This first play is a perfect example:
Shazier is supposed to go the A gap opposite of Lawrence Timmons. What is so impressive here is how he moves laterally to catch CJ Spiller, even though Spiller is moving forward. Timmons also does a very nice job on this play occupying two blockers. Moreover, watch the technique of Cam Thomas. He does a great job of holding the point of attack and shedding the blocker.
Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown pass to Antonio Brown was a thing of beauty. Brown's speed was easy for us to notice. Harder to notice was the veteran move that Roethlisberger did to get Brown so open.
This is such beautiful move by Ben. Also, kudos to Todd Haley. The screen to the top and the slant arrow combination at the bottom really stresses the defense. Notice how the defense is not playing with Nickel personnel (they still have two linebackers in the game). Here is strength of having a running back who can catch. The defense has to respect the ability of the offense to run the ball with Le'Veon Bell and Heath Miller in the game. This causes more stress. This is a difficult, difficult offense to defend.
Speaking of difficult to the defend, the sail route in the red zone is just about impossible.
The key to this play is protection. It is going to take between 4 to 5 seconds to get this ball off. The corner is not going to get yelled at in films, the defensive line is. What else is special about this play is how Ben is able to make a perfect thrown even though he has to slide in the pocket. Most quarterbacks, if you get them off their spot, they become a lot less accurate. Not Ben.
The Steelers right now feature speed and youth on offense and defense, and a veteran quarterback who is looking to have a tremendous year. So far, Camp Tomlin 2014 looks to have been a success.