I’m glad they went for it. With a fresh new kicker and unreliable QB you can’t pass up inches to go with one of the best backs in the game. Really happy with how the defense has played!
Man, that was a hell of a game. It didn’t have to be, though.
First: Todd Haley. I know Vick isn’t what he was, I know he hasn’t played in the offense for very long, I even understand that the playbook might have to be truncated a bit to aid him in his performance… but you put Vick in handcuffs last night (pun intended).
Vick did none of the things he does best until the 4th quarter when the Steelers had no choice but to let him try. The bomb to Wheaton? Big Ben put that together on the sideline. Haley quite literally had no positive input on the game except to call for endless handoffs to Bell, which isn’t an entirely bad choice until you do it 5 times in a row and they put 10 in the box because they know Vick won’t be passing. Vick isn’t the worst backup in the league. He’s not Landry Jones. At least pretend to respect that instead of going out with that rigid whatever-that-was game plan last night.
Second: the defense. It’s still not the best defense in the league by any measure, but it’s been adequate to the task for two weeks now. Lots of injuries, especially to Ryan Shazier (who must be made out of glass, he’s always hurt), are sapping potential. They played 45 snaps in the second half alone last night. Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers had their way passing. Yet there they were, producing pressure, getting a pick-six, and holding when they had to hold. Very scrappy performance. They’ve done what they needed to do to put the team in a position to win, and that’s all anyone can ask.
Third: Le’Veon Bell. He has to be the best back in football. The guy is simply unbelievable. They put the game almost entirely in his hands last night, and with the last play they actually DID put it in his hands, and he came through. If anybody thinks that there is a better back out there, I want to hear who it is and why you think so.
The end of that game was absolutely nuts, but isn’t that so very Steelers? Heart attack games seem to happen every week. At least it didn’t come down to a kick this time, though Boswell made his 3 kicks so it wasn’t so cringeworthy had it come down to what was essentially an old-style extra point. Can you imagine the abuse Tomlin would be getting if Bell hadn’t scored? But he did, and so now everybody’s talking about how it was a gutsy call.
Next week is Arizona in Pittsburgh. Ben thinks he’s good to go already. He won’t play, though. No way will Pittsburgh risk that and maybe blow the rest of the season. I kinda think the Cardinals are good enough to make this ugly, but I can’t count the Steelers out yet. We’ll see how it goes.
From the Chargers perspective, it felt like a game that was there for the taking, but the Chargers just didn’t have the ability to capitalize. Rivers is having to make a huge effort just to make marginally positive plays. He’s able to do it fairly often, but it takes a bunch of plays strung together to amount to anything, and they’re making occasional mistakes that end up as pick-sixes or 70 yard TDs.
One thing that I don’t think was mentioned too much was the defenceless receiver call on the second-last play to Heath. The yardage didn’t matter much but it stopped the clock. I wonder if the Steelers would still have gone for it without a timeout left?
Steelers had a timeout left and Tomlin says they were going for it as far as that goes. He favours an aggressive approach in those situations. The penalty was probably moot in the end as far as affecting the outcome. The lost 18 seconds could have been an awfully big deal too. I’m shocked no one on the Steeler sideline picked up on it.
I think you’re right that the Chargers lost a game they should have won. Rivers really impressed me with the production he gets no matter who is on the field. Vick gave them way too many chances to turn the field around for Steeler fans to feel confident about that one.
Once again, I have no idea how the Steelers won that game. The defense (!) kept them in it until LANDRY FUCKING JONES (!!!) came in to save the day. Boswell made all his kicks! The world no longer makes any sense.
Let the one week QB controversy begin!!!
And I have to say, other than the ridiculous confusion of Week 1, the defense has looked really good this season.
Well my mind is blown. The next man up philosophy often seems like so much wishful thinking but aside from Landry Jones there’s Villanueva coming in as the LT and playing well, never mind the guys already filling in at C and LB. Amazing!
Rapistburger should be back for the titanic struggle in two weeks in the 'Burgh between the division leading Bengals and the second place Stealers.
Should be a good game. My boys are playing pretty good football right now. Stealers defense seems to be improving and Bell is an incredible RB.
Right before the interception with 2:00 remaining I was thinking “Palmer is due for a screw up”. Glad I was right! Once a bungle, always a bungle! Hopefully the defense can keep it going next week against a KC team that looked pretty bad without Charles for most of the game this week.
Fuck the Pittsburgh Steelers (NSFW)
Well, they lost yesterday, putting them at 2-2 without Big Ben.
Considering that I thought the season was over, I’ll take it. It’ll be nice to see the offense without Todd Haley putting the handcuffs on. I mean, how does that guy still have a job? You got the clearest example of his competence you could ever want at the end of the game.
5 minutes left, down 10, 80 yards to go. It took the Steelers almost 3 minutes to go 25 yards culminating with a Jones fumble while he was trying to make something happen. Pittsburgh has Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and Markus Wheaton, even DHB somehow learned how to catch, you’ve got Bell out of the backfield, you’ve got Miller… all those weapons, game on the line, quick score absolutely imperative, and what do we get? Screen passes. HaleyBall. The time for that had long since passed. Time to take some shots down the field, yo. You can’t win if you don’t score.
Anyway, second place in the division, early good position for the wild card, plus two games against the Bengals which could reshape the division standings. We’ll see how it goes from here.
It’s going to reshape your season in the form of two additional losses. I’d be surprised if the Bengals lose the next game. Their o-line, d-line, skill positions and general overall play are so much better than the Steelers on paper, but as we know, that’s why they play the games.
That said, I fully expect my Tigers to be 8-0 after next Thursday.
Really? AJ Green over Antonio Brown? Any running back over Bell? Dalton, who still hasn’t won a playoff game, over Big Ben?
It’s OK to say your team is better, but you know as well as I do that the Bengals have no advantage whatsoever at skill positions.
I still can’t believe the jailed bumblebee uniforms are still a thing.
Hey, I love the bumblebees. The Steelers always play well when they wear them.
Le’Veon Bell was just taken down awkwardly on his knee. This is very bad.
Awkwardly doesn’t cover it. I think his season is over.
I’m afraid you may be right. If it’s not the season it’ll be the very end when he gets back. Let’s see if DeAngelo Williams can do yeoman’s work like he did the first two weeks.
Never, ever could I have imagined when the season started that the Steelers’ best unit on the field would be the defense at this point. The defense is almost stout. It’s weird.
Another heart attack special. If Ben just hadn’t tried to force that ball…
But he did.
Good game, Bengals.