Craic
11-07-2012, 01:28 PM
OFFENSE
Adams: I was down on this kid in the preseason. However, if you've been reading my posts, you'll know that I've been up on him during the season. This game however, provided a real test for the rookie as he went against Justin Tuck. There were three plays that stood out negatively. The first play was a nifty little move where Tuck moved to the outside, waited for Adams to follow, then darted back inside on him for a sack. It was a nice veteran move on a rookie catching him flatfooted. Adams looked stiff on the play, and couldn't react fast enough to re-engage Tuck. The second play was a bull rush from Tuck that drove Adams straight back, and ended in a sack. Adams didn't have a low enough center of gravity and it caused him to lose any leverage he might of had otherwise. The third, was a series of plays on short drop/pass plays, either screens or planned three step drops. Adams is cutting his man, but seldom is he actually bringing his guy down. In one play, he left Tuck standing, who ended up getting a pass deflection.
The run plays are a different story however. He's driving his guy off the line on many of the plays, and on others, he's coming across and sealing the hole rather nicely. I've mentioned that a few times now after games. It seems Adams knows how to play this part of the game rather well. Furthermore, the few times he gets to the second level, he's looking for guys to hit. There was one play however, where he really looked like he bypassed about two or three guys. I recognize that it may have been designed that way as the LG was pulling and a FB was coming through as well, but the guys he bypassed were all able to muck up the whole.
Tuck is a very tough opponent, and vets often have as difficult a time as Adams had against him. At other times, Tuck was stuffed and not able to provide any pressure at all.
Grade: "C+"
Foster, Colon, and Pouncey: What can I say? The only critique, is that they weren't knocking people out of the hole and off the line consistently with domination. Granted, some of that is using the zone block technique, but I still want to see more strength on strength dominance.
Grade: "B+"
Starks: I didn't pay a lot of attention to Starks, but I do remember a sack from his side (or a strong pressure). Outside of that one instance however, there was no reason for his name to be called, which is a very good thing.
Grade: "B+"
Roethlisberger: It wasn't his best game, but it was better than the average game of most QB's in the league. Two plays stood out to me. The first play obviously, was the INT. That was the first time this season that I saw the "old" Ben, the backyard QB trying to make things happen and taking all types of risks that had bad risk/reward ratios. The WR was covered on all points of the compass, and the pass was low coming out as well. The second was the fumble. I know many here think it was an incomplete pass. It doesn't matter however, play the game to the whistle, then complain. Ben turn right around to the ref and started complaining that it was a incomplete pass. Two of his lineman saw, and quite on the play. Ben has to play to the whistle, and then state his case.
Outside of those two instances, he was the typical Ben. He made the passes he needed to make, drove the team when he needed to drive them, and even made plays with his feet. Matter of fact, it's the most aggressive Ben's been with is feet in quite some time (trusting himself to get yardage even with defenders around).
Grade: "A-"
Redman: So the question becomes: is Dwyer that good, or our line just giving everyone that much room to run? Redman showed that what Dwyer did wasn't quite as special as we originally thought. But that isn't exactly a fair statement. Redman has been known to drive and break tackles throughout his time with the Steelers. Last week, we saw what he could do when he was allowed to get a head of steam going, and then hit players two or three yards into the hole. Beyond that, Redman had a couple cut backs that shows he can be more than just a straight ahead runner as well. The answer to the first question, is both - Dwyer is becoming a good running back, the line is giving our RB's room to run, and Redman has proven that we have a very deep RB corp.
What I did see from him however that impressed me, was his ability to gain yards in open space. Up to this point, I have thought of him as too slow to be effective in open space - kind of like a diesel truck, a whole lot of torque, but no ability to get up to speed worth talking about. That was proven wrong yesterday, especially on the last run that sealed the game. All in all, he put out a great effort.
Grade: "A+"
Receivers and Tight Ends: I'm not going to grade this group, because I wasn't really watching them closely, however two players should be noted. First, Sanders is starting to play like the receiver that beat out Brown his first year. After injury and whatever, he's finally on top of his game and it's starting to show. Wallace however, continues to struggle. An easy pass dropped is not acceptable. His TD scamper was a thing of beauty, but I'm growing frustrated watching him and having to make sure it's not Ike Taylor out there.
DEFENSE
D Line: looking at the entire line, they're starting to come on a bit stronger. Hampton had a couple of nice plays. Keisel is slowly regaining form. They're rounding into shape (no jokes about Hampton here), but there are times when they are still getting worked off the line pretty easily, or moved out of the play with what looks to be not a lot of effort. Before we become a solid playoff football team, the line needs to step it up again. I'll be generous with the grade here and add a "+"
Grade "C+"
Linebackers not named Harrison:Woodley may not have gotten sacks, but I saw something as I re-watched the game that I haven't seen in a while. He actually drove a double team back into Eli. That bodes well if he's able to start overpowering the blockers on his side. Timmons is Timmons, and is still playing lights out football. I've always seen Foote as a stand in between our last great lineback and our next great linebacker. I saw him that way in the early part of the last decade, and I still see him like that. Nevertheless, those three (plus DB/Cb's) are the primary reason that the opposing run game is starting to get shut down against our defense. However, this isthe Pittsburgh Steelers LB corp, and what they've been doing of late, still isn't at the level that is needed for the heart of this defense. The grade here includes all four LB's, as the defensive scheming really doesn't allow for taking one player out of the overall grading.
Grade "C"
James Harrison: what do we say about James? There was a play where he knifed through and made a nice tackle on a runningback for a loss. Then there was a play where he drove the Tackle inside, allowing the RB to get around him to the outside. A few times, he had the burst that forced a Tackle to strangle him in order to bring him down. At other times, he looked like he was taking the play off. This James Harrison is not the same Harrison that we are used to watching. Not even close. I know that he's just coming back from surgery, but right now, he's the weak link on the LB corp. I've heard that he's able to set the edge now. I watched, and even that is situational. I'm really losing confidence in him for this year.
Grade "D"
Corner/Defensive Backs: Let's see if I got this right; we let go of our number two CB, watch as the league's best SS gets injured and doesn't play but one half of one game the entire season, and somehow, this group has become the best elements of the entire defense? It's hardly believable, but very true. Lewis had a great game against the Giants. The phantom PI call aside, he had one PI call that was legitimate, and had he turned around for the ball, that would have been a non-call. Beyond that, he defended at least two or three passes, shot in through the big bodies for a few tackles on run plays, and all in all, had a great game. Ike also had a great game (we'll ignore the dropped INT in the end zone), covering well enough that there just weren't a number of balls thrown his way, and when they were, he took care of business rather well, as his "Player of the Week" award suggests. Ryan Clark has learned how to hit, and was flagged for a hit that was a good hit. I won't recount what I think of that here, but suffice it to say, he's learned how to play within the rules, and still do it with his punishing technique. Allen however, is the surprise of the DB's. He's hitting both hard and legally, defending passes/causing drops, and is generally mucking up the offensive plays. Anyone who's followed the Steelers for any length of time would be shocked that the CB/DB's have earned this grade, I know I am.
Grade "A"
SPECIAL TEAMS
There's a lot that can be said in breaking this group down, but for the saek of time, I want to look at this group as a whole. Kicker and Punter? I haven't been this comfortable with both elements in I don't know HOW long. I'll admit, I got a little edgy when Squeezeme's kick when over the upright, but I'll tack that onto a single mental mistake that didn't end up costing us, and hope that he corrects it. BTW, how nice is it to see a punt drop on the three yard line (or thereabouts), and take a little hop backwards?.
Our return guys make me shake my head. Does anyone remember when we would hope the ball would end up in the endzone because it was the best return we could hope for? That was back in the days of Najeh "Dookie-can you see my buttcrack" Davenport. Today, unless there's a penalty on the play (likely), we're more apt to be starting someplace beyond our thirty yard line - and punts are getting just as if not more exciting for our returners. The penalties have been cut down tremendously has well. Only one that I remember, and though people have argued about it, the rule book clearly states that you cannot block the way he blocked on that play - not to mention he hit the guy from behind, as both shoulders of the defensive player are visible through the entire hit (from the end zone camera). The label of the penalty was a bad call, but it was still a penalty. Factor in the fact that there were a few more return yards than I would have liked to see, and the grade ends up as it is here.
Grade "B+"
COACHING
Offense: this offense is beginning to really click. Todd Haley says he cut down the playbook to just a few run plays, and what a difference it made. I wish he'd of done that after the first game, or the second, third, or well, you get the point. However, he's done it now and along with pushing Ben to throw the ball on shorter routes, it's been very effective.
Grade "A"
Defense: what a difference a few games make. Sure, the line and LB's need to step up their game in order to make this team what it needs to be, however from where they've come to where they are now, it's a vast improvement. We didn't get pressure on the QB like we would want, but the schemes are working and the right players are in the right positions to make a difference. Lebeau has adjusted once more to the league's adjustments of his defense, and it's starting to make a heck of a difference. Especially in the fourth quarter. Furthermore, in this last game, if you take away the points given by two bad penalties (one drive, equaling seven points), and the INT by Ben, that means this defense only allowed three points - and shut down the hottest fourth quarter offense and QB in the league.
Grade "A"
Head Coach: if it wasn't for that fake FG attempt, this would be the easiest grade to give. Tomlin kept his guys on target both through an unusual game day travel (only an hour, but for creatures of habit, that's a big change), and through a horrendous second quarter that included two bad calls that ended up as a TD, and other call that seemed at the time to be another horrendously bad call, and ended up as another touchdown. His call to go for it on fourth down worked, the confidence he's showing his guys is starting to instill confidence in themselves. What I am having a hard time overlooking however, is the decision to hang our kicker out for injury on an ill-advised play. Had he been injured, it may have affected not only this game, but games to come. For that, he gets a definite downgrade from a "+" to a straight letter.
Grade "A"
OVERALL GAME GRADE: B+
Get the number 1 receiver to stop dropping passes, and the D line and linebackers to keep making the improvements back to the type of game we're used to seeing, and this grade goes up next week. I'm not worried about Adams, he's not facing Tuck next week. I think a B+ is fair for a winning game against the team that was supposedly one of the best in the league coming into the game. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't nearly as sloppy as what we've seen before. Every phase of the game was won by this team, though not in a dominant manner. That needs to be improved if we want to go deep into the playoffs, but I like where we are now for the mid point of the season.
Adams: I was down on this kid in the preseason. However, if you've been reading my posts, you'll know that I've been up on him during the season. This game however, provided a real test for the rookie as he went against Justin Tuck. There were three plays that stood out negatively. The first play was a nifty little move where Tuck moved to the outside, waited for Adams to follow, then darted back inside on him for a sack. It was a nice veteran move on a rookie catching him flatfooted. Adams looked stiff on the play, and couldn't react fast enough to re-engage Tuck. The second play was a bull rush from Tuck that drove Adams straight back, and ended in a sack. Adams didn't have a low enough center of gravity and it caused him to lose any leverage he might of had otherwise. The third, was a series of plays on short drop/pass plays, either screens or planned three step drops. Adams is cutting his man, but seldom is he actually bringing his guy down. In one play, he left Tuck standing, who ended up getting a pass deflection.
The run plays are a different story however. He's driving his guy off the line on many of the plays, and on others, he's coming across and sealing the hole rather nicely. I've mentioned that a few times now after games. It seems Adams knows how to play this part of the game rather well. Furthermore, the few times he gets to the second level, he's looking for guys to hit. There was one play however, where he really looked like he bypassed about two or three guys. I recognize that it may have been designed that way as the LG was pulling and a FB was coming through as well, but the guys he bypassed were all able to muck up the whole.
Tuck is a very tough opponent, and vets often have as difficult a time as Adams had against him. At other times, Tuck was stuffed and not able to provide any pressure at all.
Grade: "C+"
Foster, Colon, and Pouncey: What can I say? The only critique, is that they weren't knocking people out of the hole and off the line consistently with domination. Granted, some of that is using the zone block technique, but I still want to see more strength on strength dominance.
Grade: "B+"
Starks: I didn't pay a lot of attention to Starks, but I do remember a sack from his side (or a strong pressure). Outside of that one instance however, there was no reason for his name to be called, which is a very good thing.
Grade: "B+"
Roethlisberger: It wasn't his best game, but it was better than the average game of most QB's in the league. Two plays stood out to me. The first play obviously, was the INT. That was the first time this season that I saw the "old" Ben, the backyard QB trying to make things happen and taking all types of risks that had bad risk/reward ratios. The WR was covered on all points of the compass, and the pass was low coming out as well. The second was the fumble. I know many here think it was an incomplete pass. It doesn't matter however, play the game to the whistle, then complain. Ben turn right around to the ref and started complaining that it was a incomplete pass. Two of his lineman saw, and quite on the play. Ben has to play to the whistle, and then state his case.
Outside of those two instances, he was the typical Ben. He made the passes he needed to make, drove the team when he needed to drive them, and even made plays with his feet. Matter of fact, it's the most aggressive Ben's been with is feet in quite some time (trusting himself to get yardage even with defenders around).
Grade: "A-"
Redman: So the question becomes: is Dwyer that good, or our line just giving everyone that much room to run? Redman showed that what Dwyer did wasn't quite as special as we originally thought. But that isn't exactly a fair statement. Redman has been known to drive and break tackles throughout his time with the Steelers. Last week, we saw what he could do when he was allowed to get a head of steam going, and then hit players two or three yards into the hole. Beyond that, Redman had a couple cut backs that shows he can be more than just a straight ahead runner as well. The answer to the first question, is both - Dwyer is becoming a good running back, the line is giving our RB's room to run, and Redman has proven that we have a very deep RB corp.
What I did see from him however that impressed me, was his ability to gain yards in open space. Up to this point, I have thought of him as too slow to be effective in open space - kind of like a diesel truck, a whole lot of torque, but no ability to get up to speed worth talking about. That was proven wrong yesterday, especially on the last run that sealed the game. All in all, he put out a great effort.
Grade: "A+"
Receivers and Tight Ends: I'm not going to grade this group, because I wasn't really watching them closely, however two players should be noted. First, Sanders is starting to play like the receiver that beat out Brown his first year. After injury and whatever, he's finally on top of his game and it's starting to show. Wallace however, continues to struggle. An easy pass dropped is not acceptable. His TD scamper was a thing of beauty, but I'm growing frustrated watching him and having to make sure it's not Ike Taylor out there.
DEFENSE
D Line: looking at the entire line, they're starting to come on a bit stronger. Hampton had a couple of nice plays. Keisel is slowly regaining form. They're rounding into shape (no jokes about Hampton here), but there are times when they are still getting worked off the line pretty easily, or moved out of the play with what looks to be not a lot of effort. Before we become a solid playoff football team, the line needs to step it up again. I'll be generous with the grade here and add a "+"
Grade "C+"
Linebackers not named Harrison:Woodley may not have gotten sacks, but I saw something as I re-watched the game that I haven't seen in a while. He actually drove a double team back into Eli. That bodes well if he's able to start overpowering the blockers on his side. Timmons is Timmons, and is still playing lights out football. I've always seen Foote as a stand in between our last great lineback and our next great linebacker. I saw him that way in the early part of the last decade, and I still see him like that. Nevertheless, those three (plus DB/Cb's) are the primary reason that the opposing run game is starting to get shut down against our defense. However, this isthe Pittsburgh Steelers LB corp, and what they've been doing of late, still isn't at the level that is needed for the heart of this defense. The grade here includes all four LB's, as the defensive scheming really doesn't allow for taking one player out of the overall grading.
Grade "C"
James Harrison: what do we say about James? There was a play where he knifed through and made a nice tackle on a runningback for a loss. Then there was a play where he drove the Tackle inside, allowing the RB to get around him to the outside. A few times, he had the burst that forced a Tackle to strangle him in order to bring him down. At other times, he looked like he was taking the play off. This James Harrison is not the same Harrison that we are used to watching. Not even close. I know that he's just coming back from surgery, but right now, he's the weak link on the LB corp. I've heard that he's able to set the edge now. I watched, and even that is situational. I'm really losing confidence in him for this year.
Grade "D"
Corner/Defensive Backs: Let's see if I got this right; we let go of our number two CB, watch as the league's best SS gets injured and doesn't play but one half of one game the entire season, and somehow, this group has become the best elements of the entire defense? It's hardly believable, but very true. Lewis had a great game against the Giants. The phantom PI call aside, he had one PI call that was legitimate, and had he turned around for the ball, that would have been a non-call. Beyond that, he defended at least two or three passes, shot in through the big bodies for a few tackles on run plays, and all in all, had a great game. Ike also had a great game (we'll ignore the dropped INT in the end zone), covering well enough that there just weren't a number of balls thrown his way, and when they were, he took care of business rather well, as his "Player of the Week" award suggests. Ryan Clark has learned how to hit, and was flagged for a hit that was a good hit. I won't recount what I think of that here, but suffice it to say, he's learned how to play within the rules, and still do it with his punishing technique. Allen however, is the surprise of the DB's. He's hitting both hard and legally, defending passes/causing drops, and is generally mucking up the offensive plays. Anyone who's followed the Steelers for any length of time would be shocked that the CB/DB's have earned this grade, I know I am.
Grade "A"
SPECIAL TEAMS
There's a lot that can be said in breaking this group down, but for the saek of time, I want to look at this group as a whole. Kicker and Punter? I haven't been this comfortable with both elements in I don't know HOW long. I'll admit, I got a little edgy when Squeezeme's kick when over the upright, but I'll tack that onto a single mental mistake that didn't end up costing us, and hope that he corrects it. BTW, how nice is it to see a punt drop on the three yard line (or thereabouts), and take a little hop backwards?.
Our return guys make me shake my head. Does anyone remember when we would hope the ball would end up in the endzone because it was the best return we could hope for? That was back in the days of Najeh "Dookie-can you see my buttcrack" Davenport. Today, unless there's a penalty on the play (likely), we're more apt to be starting someplace beyond our thirty yard line - and punts are getting just as if not more exciting for our returners. The penalties have been cut down tremendously has well. Only one that I remember, and though people have argued about it, the rule book clearly states that you cannot block the way he blocked on that play - not to mention he hit the guy from behind, as both shoulders of the defensive player are visible through the entire hit (from the end zone camera). The label of the penalty was a bad call, but it was still a penalty. Factor in the fact that there were a few more return yards than I would have liked to see, and the grade ends up as it is here.
Grade "B+"
COACHING
Offense: this offense is beginning to really click. Todd Haley says he cut down the playbook to just a few run plays, and what a difference it made. I wish he'd of done that after the first game, or the second, third, or well, you get the point. However, he's done it now and along with pushing Ben to throw the ball on shorter routes, it's been very effective.
Grade "A"
Defense: what a difference a few games make. Sure, the line and LB's need to step up their game in order to make this team what it needs to be, however from where they've come to where they are now, it's a vast improvement. We didn't get pressure on the QB like we would want, but the schemes are working and the right players are in the right positions to make a difference. Lebeau has adjusted once more to the league's adjustments of his defense, and it's starting to make a heck of a difference. Especially in the fourth quarter. Furthermore, in this last game, if you take away the points given by two bad penalties (one drive, equaling seven points), and the INT by Ben, that means this defense only allowed three points - and shut down the hottest fourth quarter offense and QB in the league.
Grade "A"
Head Coach: if it wasn't for that fake FG attempt, this would be the easiest grade to give. Tomlin kept his guys on target both through an unusual game day travel (only an hour, but for creatures of habit, that's a big change), and through a horrendous second quarter that included two bad calls that ended up as a TD, and other call that seemed at the time to be another horrendously bad call, and ended up as another touchdown. His call to go for it on fourth down worked, the confidence he's showing his guys is starting to instill confidence in themselves. What I am having a hard time overlooking however, is the decision to hang our kicker out for injury on an ill-advised play. Had he been injured, it may have affected not only this game, but games to come. For that, he gets a definite downgrade from a "+" to a straight letter.
Grade "A"
OVERALL GAME GRADE: B+
Get the number 1 receiver to stop dropping passes, and the D line and linebackers to keep making the improvements back to the type of game we're used to seeing, and this grade goes up next week. I'm not worried about Adams, he's not facing Tuck next week. I think a B+ is fair for a winning game against the team that was supposedly one of the best in the league coming into the game. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't nearly as sloppy as what we've seen before. Every phase of the game was won by this team, though not in a dominant manner. That needs to be improved if we want to go deep into the playoffs, but I like where we are now for the mid point of the season.