Craic
09-21-2014, 11:21 PM
The more I think about this game, the more I'm not surprised by how we played. Why? Well, in hindsight, there's been a few things coming together:
Run Defense: I know, I know, it sucks, right? Well, maybe. But also note that there were large sweeps of the game last week where the run defense shut down the Ravens's run game. This game, the run defense played beautifully, limiting the Panthers to 42 yards TOTAL running.
Turnovers: at first, they may look more like Panther's errors, but I noticed something in the last two games that was different than the last couple of years. The Steelers defense was swarming to the football. It wasn't consistent, but it was more than before. That pressure and constantly looking to be around the ball paid off this game.
Offensive Line: they've been inconsistent and I wasn't happy with them last week, but they didn't look horrible. A couple weeks spots, yeah. But not horrible. Cody Wallace really did firm up the interior. If we can either fix Marcus Gilbert's bad football, or replace him, I think we'll have seen the line take a nice step forward.
Running: Bell and Blount are beginning to take a hit, er . . . I mean they're beginning to hit their stride, learning how the O line is blocking, waiting, exploding into the holes, driving the pile, etc. Again, I've seen shades of it here and there, but tonight it came together.
Don't know if we can continue this through the rest of the season, but 2-1 heading into our fourth game is a nice place to be.
Run Defense: I know, I know, it sucks, right? Well, maybe. But also note that there were large sweeps of the game last week where the run defense shut down the Ravens's run game. This game, the run defense played beautifully, limiting the Panthers to 42 yards TOTAL running.
Turnovers: at first, they may look more like Panther's errors, but I noticed something in the last two games that was different than the last couple of years. The Steelers defense was swarming to the football. It wasn't consistent, but it was more than before. That pressure and constantly looking to be around the ball paid off this game.
Offensive Line: they've been inconsistent and I wasn't happy with them last week, but they didn't look horrible. A couple weeks spots, yeah. But not horrible. Cody Wallace really did firm up the interior. If we can either fix Marcus Gilbert's bad football, or replace him, I think we'll have seen the line take a nice step forward.
Running: Bell and Blount are beginning to take a hit, er . . . I mean they're beginning to hit their stride, learning how the O line is blocking, waiting, exploding into the holes, driving the pile, etc. Again, I've seen shades of it here and there, but tonight it came together.
Don't know if we can continue this through the rest of the season, but 2-1 heading into our fourth game is a nice place to be.