The sky just might be falling. Max Starks might be out for the year. Even if Flozell Adams moves back to the left side (which I don’t think he will) we don’t have much depth at Tackle. Tony Hills did look good in the preseason though. We’ll see…
Starks is out for the season and will need neck surgery. This is very bad.
So, what’s the conventional wisdom on tonight’s game? All of ESPN’s “experts” except Jaworski have the Steelers winning. Should I find that encouraging, or should I worry about it? Not that the Steelers won’t give me plenty to worry about, they make virtually all of their games exciting even when they shouldn’t be.
My concern is the offensive line, which is banged up and not terribly steady to begin with. Not that the Patriots have a defense, mind you, but free shots at Ben won’t do any good. Also, the Patriots can’t run so the Steelers only had to worry about the pass this week. Yeah, about that… the defense has been quite porous against the pass, and I’m concerned that Bieber will try to pick them apart.
I still think the Steelers will win. I’m a fan, after all. But are they 4.5 points better? That spread seems awfully large against the Patsies.
I suppose we’ll find out in a few hours.
I’m more concerned about this game than any other remaining. I’ve already given my opinion on the right side of the o-line. Having Starks and Kemoeatu out means poor pass protection on that side but just as bad I think the back side pursuit on the 22-Double will be lacking. That has been the bread and butter running play and if the hole doesn’t break open Mendenhall will spin himself right into the trailing defenders. I think Foster will be OK over there; it’s Scott that concerns me. I have to say though, I have as much faith in the new line coach , Kugler, as I do in anyone not named Lebeau.
The Patriots will pass the ball 70 times if they have to and not bother establishing the run if that’s what it takes to win. I admire that about them. The thing about Lebeau though, is he rolls out the defense in stages throughout the season. We will see formations and schemes tonight that we haven’t seen yet. I guarantee it. He does it every year in games like this. Against Brady confusing zones can be as good as getting pressure.
James Harrison had back spasms yesterday morning. Let’s hope he’s ready to go. Those are an eleven on the pain scale but he’s a tough mofo.
With Aaron Smith out for the season again, the defense has once again gone to shit. And with the injuries on the O-Line, that unit is playing even worse than usual.
At least we know what to draft next April.
The Steelers are stumbling in their march to the Superbowl. New England seems to be able to shut down the Steeler offense.
WTF, they just called the guy holding Harrison. That ref will get sent to the NFL gulag for that mistake.
That’s it an a nutshell. We desperately need a Right Guard. Trai Essex should be the backup at most.
I know. Did you see those hundred dollar bills spilling out of his pocket from drawing the flag out? Crazy.
This is Reed’s last year in Pittsburgh. Perhaps his last game.
With the Browns crushing the Pats, and the Pats crushing the Steelers, by the transitive property of football, the next time they meet the Browns will beat the Steelers 106-9.
Yeah yeah I know. At least everyone in the AFC North lost this week.
I’m not surprised by the offense, nor by the Patriots’ offense. I’m VERY surprised by the Pittsburgh defense.
The AFC North failed its saving throw.
Touchdown Wallace! The comeback begins???
Yeah, I don’t think so either.
Well, hell. Everything, everything that I was afraid would happen came to pass. There was not a single person on Earth that follows the NFL that didn’t know that Brady was going to pass, and what did he do? Pass.
It’s hard for me to say this, but Dick LeBeau (Dick fucking LeBeau!) was about as unprepared as a coach has ever been. There are inmates on Death Row more prepared than LeBeau was tonight. Wall-to-wall passing? It was obvious. And where were the D-backs? Soft coverage, all night. Pathetic.
Congratulations to the New England Biebers. Good on you for using the Steelers up. But don’t get too cocky, the Steelers will see you again in the playoffs. Maybe by then they might resolve some of their glaring pass defense problems.
I need a drink. I’m out.
While it was an ugly loss, at least we will soon learn just how serious this team is about winning it all. If the season ended now, they’d be a 6 seed. This is unacceptable, considering the talent level. Last year’s self destruction is hopefully still etched in everyone’s memory.
There are many positives to take away from the game, considering the injuries. There were a few plays that could have swung the game around that all went in the Pat’s favor, including the Green-Ellis run in which Crumpler obviously held Harrison. I think that the NFL rule for holding Harrison is: 3 strikes and you’re called.
As much as I hate the Pats and Brady, they deserved to win the game. I’m so glad that Brady spiked that ball and stared at the crowd. If that doesn’t propel this team, they’re a lost cause.
All the ESPN talking heads were yapping about how the Pats are 22-2 after losses in the last few years or something like that, where they never have 2 bad games in a row, etc. I’m not convinced there’s a causal relationship there, but if there was, that means the Browns crushing the Pats played a role in the Pats crushing the Steelers, and, well, that just makes my Monday a tiny bit brighter.
Incidentally, regarding the earlier McCoy talk, the drive he put together to tie the Jets at the end of the game was the first time I’ve been impressed with him. So far I’ve got a cautious approach to him - he started showing a little too much Charlie Frye stuff - but he’s been growing fast.
Your team is on the rise. My team needs blown up, from the GM/owner, to the coaching staff and down to the players. An amazing meltdown. The offense of the Bengals is just…mystifying. Just good enough to hang around in games and make them close at the end but not to seize the day and win, like last season.
Jeff Reed out…Shaun Suisham in
I always liked Jeff Reed for his ability to weather the conditions at Heinz Field but let’s face it, he lost whatever mojo he had. He was never there for his strong leg and Tomlin has always dismissed his lack of leg strength on kickoffs as unimportant but we should see some improvement there as well if teams aren’t returning every single kickoff. He probably didn’t help his cause by getting into an argument with a fan as he was leaving the field the other night.
I’m still trying to figure out what to make of the Pats game. The soft zone in the secondary wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it was to allow the backs to see the play in front of them and be able to jump routes or knock some balls loose but they were too far off to even do that. Of course nothing good will ever happen when you give Tom Brady ten “steamboats” to find a guy, plant, and throw. I haven’t watched the game over yet but I think the d-line was getting pushed back a lot. I’d like to see them run a heavy nickel against the Patriots, 2-linemen and three safeties. William Gay won’t cut it, he gave up all three touchdowns to Gronkowski.
The offense is just hopeless with the line that we have. When was the last time you saw some quick passes from Ben to throw off the timing of the D. I can only think of one this season when they had soft coverage on Wallace.