I’m surprised it’s taken this long for an opponent to figure out how to beat this defense. Ignore the run game, and just pass. (Jets didn’t figure it out until the second half two weeks ago, and the Cardinals didn’t figure it out until the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLIII when they were already down 20-7).
There’s no one in that backfield who’s capable of covering man-to-man. Sometimes Polamalu is able to get a read on the quarterback and jump the route, but even he got burned badly 2 or 3 times last night.
And then there were the drops by the Packers receivers! 4 or 5 really bad ones. The Packers left at least 2 touchdowns on the field last night. This score could have easily been 45-25, and any other Steelers fan who argues that point today is just delusional.
If they don’t draft at least 3 DBs this year and make Taylor, Gay, Allen, Clark, and McFadden play for their jobs I’ll be very disappointed.
Just delusional, I guess then. You said it yourself - they both made mistakes, and that’s the only difference. Look at the stats, Pit clearly controlled the ground game, time of possession and the QB’s were about even with the exception of Ben’s int’s, of which the pick 6 was questionable in terms of being totally his fault. GB got lucky. You could see the worried look in their faces the whole 2nd half. I personally was confident in a Steeler win right up to the end. Great game!
But the Pack won it fair and square, no reservations.
Green Bay was giving the Steeleers a terrible whipping until important injuries made them vulnerable. The Steelers went after the drop in talent when Woodson went down. Until the injuries, the game looked like a mismatch.
I agree that they dropped a bunch. By the same token, Ben really sucked, and he left a couple of touchdowns on the field (the underthrow on Wallace early, and the throw where he led Wallace to the post instead of the flag). All else being equal, if Ben had been on instead of sucking, it could easily have been 39-31.
I still think Taylor is outstanding, but yeah there are two clear areas of need - offensive line and secondary - and only one of those areas was clearly vulnerable last night.
God was the o-line porous. Greenbay won a good game, but Jesus did Ben try and throw it away. So many big mistakes. I’m amazed the score was so high on both ends.
3 TOs, 3 TDs is pretty much all you need to know. You don’t win games turning it over then not getting the stop, and you do win games when you capitalize on the turnovers.
PIT was doing some things unexpectedly well…the O-line really stepped up, considering the circumstances. Mendenhall will be villified for the fumble, but he ran well otherwise. Big Ben came up a little small, but it wasn’t all him. Polamalu has this habit of sort of disappearing; what’s up w/that?
You can say GB got lucky, but I think they deserve props for making their own luck, and Rodgers is Money.
I enjoyed the game…two good franchises, and Jerry Jones gets embarassed even though his team wasn’t playing!
Did you really think so? Maybe it was low expectations, but I thought they did a pretty good job, and a lot of times, Ben had lots of times. I don’t want to go back and look at stats just yet - still too painful - but they really didn’t sack him all that much.
Also, a relatively minor aside, but I thought BJ Raji was supposed to be some kind of huge force in this game. Ultimately, one wouldn’t even have been aware if he was in the game or not, so props to Legursky and the o-line on that note.
This tells the real story very succinctly, better than anything else. Despite damaging turnovers totaling 21 GB points, they still kept it close. Definitely the worst of the coulda, shoulda, woulda-type Steeler games from recent memory. They beat themselves, and Ben’s gotta carry that responsibility.
Not so. The Packers weren’t able to sack or even hit Roethlisberger much, but they were able to produce pressure up the middle all game, especially on stunts. Ben was rarely able to step up into the pocket, and it really affected his throws.
Rodgers has a much more compact delivery and stride, so it didn’t affect him as much.
If you thought that was pressure, you haven’t watched a single Steelers game all year. Relative to most games, he had time and room to do his taxes and make cannolis back there.
I don’t think I saw a single play-action in the first half.
Yes, Roethlisberger choked, but a lot of that was the offensive line. And how did the Packers out-psych the Pittsburgh defense so effectively?
One Polamalou miracle would have done the trick, but it didn’t happen. Has he been “figured out”?
I have a cold and it’s raining/snowing outside and I’m at work the day after the Pittsburgh Super Bowl loss. Isn’t there some kind of hotline I should be able to call?
I think I’m comparing it to games with Pouncey, who really has made a huge difference.
Something I noticed that was interesting is that Rogers seemed to have a bit of the deer-in-the-headlights look to him. I think he very much so benefited from a strong supporting cast. I think he’s a good QB, just not a great one.
Interesting observation. That was the look that I was hoping to see from him, but never did. I know that look. I can always tell when the Colts or Patriots are going to lose a game, because both Manning and Brady get that look. With Manning, it’s glaringly obvious. We’ve seen it versus the Steelers in the '05 AFC Championship game, last year’s Super Bowl and this year’s playoffs versus the Jets. With Brady, it’s not as common. But I’ve seen it against the Giants in the Super Bowl they lost and against the Jets this year.
The only look I saw in Rodgers yesterday was pure confidence. He is a machine and I fear that he will be a problem for us in future Super Bowls. He must be hit hard early in the game or it’s trouble.
