The 8th Annual Steelers March to the Super Bowl Thread

The Game Room
401

I’m ambivalent about the Jeff Reed thing. His average is certainly terrible, but that is in part a function of some bad decision making around when to try field goals. It seemed to me that Tomlin and the Steelers were operating as if 50+ yard field goals should regularly be attempted. In particular, I thought the decision to try a 50+ yarder at the end of the first half against the Saints led directly to the Saints getting their own field goal before the half ended, which ended up having an impact on how that game played out.

Reed actually hadn’t missed one from inside the 40 until the Pats game.

Having said that, I believe he ought to be able to make them from outside the 40 pretty regularly, and he was struggling there. His misses also put us in jeopardy of losing the Falcons game, the Cincinnati game, and cost us some games last year. He was also often a distraction off the field.

Seems sudden to pull the trigger now, and I worry about whether Suisham will do any better, but I’m not rending garments over it.

As to the Patriots game, I don’t think that game was much different than any other game we’ve played against them in the past decade save one. As genius as LeBeau is, he’s never been able to figure out how to stop the Patriots short yardage passing game. It’s actually pretty typical of the Steelers to really struggle in pass defense if they are not able to generate any pressure on the quarterback with their linebackers. It seems in the past that the corner blitzes were the only way to bring any pressure on Brady, but IIRC we only tried that once on Sunday.

What concerns me more is the continued shakiness of Ben. He’s still guiding passes and seems to be feeling a lot more pressure than appears to be evident. He was very inaccurate on Sunday. Sure, several balls were dropped, arguably three touchdown passes that should have been caught, but there were a lot of other plays that failed because of him. For instance, early in the game Randle El had the secondary beaten, but Ben short-armed the ball and Randle El had to pull up, allowing the secondary to catch up.

Any word on a fine for the helmet to helmet against Ward? I’m certainly no fan of the situation, and I typically wouldn’t be looking for any sanction of a hit like that, but I am very curious about whether there will be consistency or not in regards to these decisions.

402

I forgot to add: Boy, do I hate Tom Brady with a passion. His hysterics always piss me off. I’m always shocked at the disparity between the degree of success he’s had and his inability to act like it on the field. I’ll never forget when he made a point of running over to get in the face of and taunt Anthony Smith a few years ago, who had made some guarantee that the Steelers would beat them.

You may be saying “Anthony who?” and that’s kind of the point.

Would someone please, please, please just get a big linebacker in on Brady’s blind side and blow him up?

403

Well, based on Sunday night, that linebacker won’t be playing for the Steelers. Brady had enough time in the pocket to file his tax return.

404

Yes, I agree. I said the same two posts above, and that’s been true of the Steelers versus the Patriots for about 10 years now.

405

I think we’re seeing the effects of our weakened line. It would be nice having Keisel there but he doesn’t make the difference that Aaron Smith does. When Smith is in the opposing o-line has to use two guys on him or at least one guy and another guy chipping in or helping on the edge. They don’t need to do that against Ziggy Hood so they have extra protection on the edge. Even worse, the Steelers have to keep Casey Hampton more in the center of the line than usual. Normally they shade him to the weak side a bit but he can usually push his guy and another guy towards the strong side if he has to. I didn’t see what happened up front on the passing downs in the last game but I suspect he had his hands full inside. I did notice some strong push from Chris Hoke when he was in but he’s a high motor guy and can’t play every down, not effectively at least.

The more I think about it the more I think they’re going to miss Jeff Reed.

BTW: I totally expected more blitzes from our secondary or at least having Polamalu press the line and make them shift their protection to free up the other side. It’s hard to imagine they gave the deep zone that much respect without Moss there.

406

The general consensus around here is that LeBeau plays his defense pretty much every week, and challenges you to beat it. That defense is really good at shutting down the run, and has an all-world safety to help make the resulting 3rd and longs even lower percentage plays, potentially becoming big turnovers.

However, their zone-blitzing scheme leaves a lot of holes on the field, that a good passing team, like NE, SD or Indy, can pick apart underneath as long as they can protect the quarterback. Brady is perfectly happy to abandon the run and use short passes to go down the field on long drives, and has enough quality receivers, including TEs and RBs, that there is usually at least one guy open.

407

Sounds right to me. I think that’s why the Steelers emphasize good tackling corners more than good cover corners (plus they’re easier to find in mid rounds of the draft). They need to be able to knock some of those balls loose. I just don’t think they had the time to do that in this past game. Does anyone else think Ryan Clark has lost a step? I love his style but he doesn’t seem to be closing on the ball carrier as well as he used to.

408

You could see the Reed thing coming, but I am surprised they didn’t work out more kickers. Conor Lee played in college at tough-to-kick Heinz Field and he seemed all right. I wanted to see more of Piotr Czech whom we’ve had in camp before.

409

I agree Reed’s days were numbered. They lost confidence in him and then missing that chip shot likely sealed the deal.

The Raiders aren’t a good match-up for us this weekend despite a lot of their problems. From what I’ve seen they’re interior offensive linemen look decent. Maurkice Pouncey can’t play all three inside spots. If I were the Raiders I would blitz the a gaps all day. The worst part is that the Raiders have the right corner to hold Wallace in check and his speed is the biggest weapon in the offensive arsenal right now with Ben under so much pressure every play.

410

Y’know, it’s been 1 1/2 seasons now that haven’t been as good as they should have been. And there are two reasons for that. 1. Jeff Reed can’t be trusted. They’ve fixed that problem. And 2. The goddamned secondary gives up huge numbers every game. I’m not sure why the opponents don’t just pass on every single play. The Patriots realized this, and they threw 70% of the game. There’s just no way that Pittsburgh can stop the 5-10 yard dumps. THAT’s why we lost every game in the fourth quarter last year. Teams were down, so they had to start throwing, and they just walked down the field like they were the marching band.

To fix this, we need to do two things. On, bring back Polamalu’s focus. LeBeau stopped using him in favor of our line backers, and that’s cost us. As a result, Troy’s been silent this season. Second, we need better corners and they need to play closer man-to-man. It’s good that McFadden is back, but I sincerely hope that Ike Taylor’s days are numbered.

411

I strongly disagree. Ike Taylor is one of the best shut-down corners in the league.

412

I actually like our corners. They fit the system we have. All zone coverage turns into man coverage at some point in the play and when you blitz you necessarily leave gaps. They have a tough job since they have to read the play developing so much and their zone responsibilities change so much throughout the game. When the front seven struggle to get pressure and receivers have time to break through those zones the secondary guys can be made to look pretty bad. I find it hard to tell on a given play where they should have been. If anyone has been watching Chalk Talk on the Steelers’ website they do a nice job sometimes of explaining where guys should have been.

In other news, no fine for the helmet-to-helmet hit on Ward but Woodley got fined for a late hit on Brady. Go figure. (I wouldn’t have fined anyone for anything in that game unless I could fine the Steelers for playing like shit)

413

At least it’s fully evident as to whether this bullshit is going to be handled equitably or not.

414

I thought the Steelers had the refs in their hip pocket and they got all the calls. Isn’t that the usual bullshit that we see year in and year out?

Looks like the league wants a new winner. Let’s figure that out and cry like all the other fans do. It’s our turn, and it’s only fair.

415

I don’t like to cry foul but they are going too far. The Patriots did get a fine in that game but it was to Benjarvus Green-Ellis for that chop block. I forget who it was that he blocked. Frankly that seems unfair to me too. Green-Ellis didn’t seem to know that his guy was coming back to chip the Steeler player. He got a penalty, that was enough IMO. It wasn’t dirty or malicious, he just got mixed up on his blocking assignment.

416

I agree with you. That’s probably the least justifiable fine I’ve heard of so far. To hyperbolically quote from Red October: “This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.”

417

I’m feeling a bit more confident about tomorrow’s game after reading up a bit. I forgot how much press coverage they ran at the line. If Wallace can get free behind them we could see some serious damage being inflicted. Assuming the line can protect Ben a bit more that is.
I won’t get to see it live since I have to work nights. Let’s hope we don’t see a repeat of last year’s meltdown.

418

Nah. Something will have to give, but when it’s all worked out the game will adjust. It always does.

419

Two Raiders possessions. Two complete bullshit personal foul calls against the Steelers.

Two Steelers possessions. Two completely inept performances by Roethlisberger. He better get his head out of his ass immediately.

420

Wow is RoethlingIatetoomanyburgers fat. He looks like a 300 pounder now.