Hey, I’m trying to be a “glass-half-full” guy. I know it could have gone the other way, but why would I go that way? As for the Ravens, I don’t see that there’s anything to go nuts about. The Ravens haven’t exactly played stellar teams, and when they play Pittsburgh their records don’t matter anymore due to the pure, unadulterated hate between the two.
I’m not worried.
Yet.
I don’t think the Ratbirds are all that great either, AD. Aging defense, no more Rex Ryan, mediocre wideouts and RB’s…
One thing really stands out about the Ravens. Cam Cameron is a very intelligent play caller and compensates for their weaknesses quite well I think. What I find most impressive abut him is his willingness to adapt his strategy form game to game and within the game.
The Steelers definitely lack that capability. Bruce Arians designs some nice passing plays but shows very little creativity responding to the different packages other teams bring in against them. It happened last year too. Strong opening drive, defense responds, Steelers gameplan stays the same and the offense bogs down. Some of that blame probably belongs to Roethlisberger too since he wants to be the linchpin of the offense à la Dan Marino.
On the other side of the ball, historically Dick Lebeau plays the D soft for the first series until he sees what the other team is doing and then tightens things up. Typically you’ll see Steelers teams play their best D in the second and third quarter because of this. You would think the Steelers offense would learn something from that but it’s been a problem since Tomlin took over.
Ah well, it wasn’t Bruce Arians dropping a touchdown in the end zone so I should stop shitting on him. I’m sure he doesn’t like losing either.
The Steelers have announced that Carey Davis is back. I had big hopes for Frank Summers but he has a back problem and they had to put him on IR. I’ve never seen a guy whiff on so many blocks. If nothing else he made Carey Davis look better. Certainly he’s much faster so he should be able to get on his block sooner even if he can’t hold them for long. Summers was just too slow to get into position and then had to throw himself at guys to try and engage and they would just step around him.
Tomlin also read the riot act to Sweed and Mendenhall. Sweed was put on notice for dropping passes and Mendenhall hasn’t been doing well on the written tests the players write to see how well they know their assignments. I think we’re starting to see why these guys fell to the Steelers in the draft. 
Mendenhall will be OK I think. I’m not so confident in Sweed.
OK, so the Ravens lost, that is good for us. Now we need to win.
Go Steelers!
C’mon Sproles! I need the fantasy points!
Let’s hope last week’s benching had the right effect on Mendenhall. I don’t have a good feeling about Parker’s injury. Also, we should get to see what Ziggy Hood can do now that Eason has been released. We’ll probably only see him on passing downs but still, Aaron Smith can’t play forever.
They let Bronco Legursky play Fullback in the goal line formation?! I love it!
It has been a great first half! I’m liking Mendenhall, if he keeps holding onto the ball, I think I like him better than parker.
Yeah, Mendenhall certainly got the message, and the Steelers looked amazing in the first half. One of the best offensive halves I’ve seen out of them. As disappointing as the early season has been, I am convinced Ben is playing the best football of his career…he’s just been incredible this season. His 4 INTs this year are misleading since I think only one has actually been his fault…one I know was a hail mary INT, which I don’t worry about, and one was Santonio’s blown route…he’s just seeing the field so well and throwing the ball really well.
Now we just need to finish out the game. The one difference between this game and the last two is that we’ve finished off our drives tonight. You know you’re performing well when the worst possession was 57 yards. Let’s close 'em out Steelers!
I think it’s more of a situation where the Steelers suddenly found themselves in unfamiliar territory (being 1-2), they are playing at home, and trying to respond to losing two games in a row.
Unfortunately, they are responding well. San Diego is overrated.
Looks like the Pen’s luck from last night is rubbing off on the Steelers.
You spoke too soon.
If we lose this game we can just go ahead and pack it in.
Steelers Defense - used to be 60 Minute Men. Now they look to be 50 minute men. I know 43 is out, but still, that’s just no excuse.
One factor is that the league has still decided that it’s okay to hold James Harrison. I don’t have any freaking clue why, but every game there are multiple plays where the O lineman simply wraps his arm around Harrison’s neck, even from behind, and it’s somehow okay. One of those occurred tonight on Gates’ final touchdown.
Also, perhaps Triplette’s crew needs a refresher on when forward progress is stopped.
Nice job O line. Perhaps people will stop glorying in the Willie Parker show and we can get back to a real run game.
There is so much holding going on it’s almost ridiculous to complain about it (not that it stops me!).
That’s the problem with that particular penalty. It’s very similar to ticky-tack fouls in the post in basketball. Either you’re “calling everything” or “letting them play”.
I don’t think the same weird distinction exists in football. I think it’s acknowledged that a certain amount of it is “OK” as long as it isn’t blatant or seen by a ref.
It’s weird. I say the same things about the Bengals olinemen when a run play just should have worked, if not for.…
Whew! That was damned close! Okay, hopefully this is a start. crosses fingers
Well, that’s about as good as our offense has looked, well, ever. Unfortunately, special teams nearly killed us tonight (and the defense again became porous with 10 minutes to play). On the fumble for touchdown, there’s no doubt in my mind the refs should have blown the whistle well before the fumble occurred, but there’s no excuse for Logan not to be getting down. When he first got touched, he should have slid to the ground in this situation…our offense was so good last night, just keeping possession likely burns another 4 minutes and probably adds points. No excuse in that situation to keep grinding for one extra yard. Similarly, I have no idea why we didn’t have a hands team for the onside kick…I know I’D have expected an onside kick in that situation, and I’m not sure why we didn’t seem to.
O line looked awesome tonight. If they keep playing like that (and Kemoeatu is not injured…I know he came back, but still), the offense might really be able to build off of this.
Still, we’ve got to fix the 4th quarter issues. We can’t be a team that needs a 28 point lead headed to the 4th to have a shot to win.
I went to sleep and it was 21-0. I woke up and it was (I don’t remember but much closer.) Q4 is killing us this year!
I agree, except that it used to be that one of the consistent times it was “blatant” was when the defender had gotten by the o-lineman, and the o-lineman still had his arm looped around the guy. Pretty blatant holding goes on against James Harrison nearly every game.
I can only assume that he’s so fast and strong the league gives a handicap to the offensive linemen he’s up against. Perhaps because he’s a bit shorter than most of them, they see it as somehow okay to loop an arm around his neck.
If you watch another Steeler game this year, check it out. It’s really gotten pretty fascinating.
Here’s an admittedly biased source with a brief mention of it. I’d love to read what he has to say about it, but I don’t feel like paying for the privilege.
Missed the window for further edits. Here’s something quoting Harrison directly, and based on this, it seems like it ought to be called more often.
ETA: Here’s another story on the matter: