Perplexing...

[GoSlash27]

I'm really happy we hung one on the Colts, but I'm trying to figure out how they managed to hang 34 points on us.
We shut down their running game and held Luck & company to 26/45 and 2 picks. We sacked him twice and forced a lot of hurries and errant passes and even a safety. We dominated time of possession.
Yet the guy *still* hangs 400 yards and 3 TDs on us.

What's the deal here? Was it penalties continuing drives? Our secondary getting victimized on long plays?
Not bitching too loudly, mind you... but 34 points seems a bit high for as well as our defense was playing.

[Steelman]

I have two words for you: Cortez Allen.

Seriously.

[Steeldude]

The defense isn't that great....as of yet. Also, Luck is great.

[Hawkman]

I have two words for you: Cortez Allen.

Seriously.


Two other words.......Andrew Luck. 5-300+ passing games in a row.

[oneforthetoe]

Its Goodell's fault:D Seriously, name me a defense in this league that can consistently hold a good offense down these days. Not that our defenses is good but what qualifies for good defense these days is something to behold.

[Psycho Ward 86]

I have two words for you: Cortez Allen.

Seriously.

Give credit where its due.

Andrew Luck is the easy answer to this question. This will be a game i remember him by when he becomes a full fledged legend.

[Edman]

Andrew Luck is just that good. Give credit where it's due.

But Cortez Allen is a good answer too. Luck found him and picked on him the rest of the game. Any other quarterback will seek out Cortez Allen and attack him. He's the very weak spot on the Defense. When Cortez was taken out of the game, Indy became far less effective and actually had to work.

Cortez Allen needs to hang around on the sideline and in special teams.

It was delusional to expect the Defense to hold that Indy Offense to below 20.

[venom]

Ike Taylor laughs at Cortez Allen - and that's bad !

[86WARD]

Cotex is terrible. Beyond terrible.

[Count Steeler]

1. Cortez Allen

2. Officials got the call from New York to tighten the score

3. Andrew Luck is the real deal, bit of a crybaby, but he has to mature.

4. You don't need a lot of time to score. I remember 2 of their "drives" were under 3 minutes.

[zulater]

I'm really happy we hung one on the Colts, but I'm trying to figure out how they managed to hang 34 points on us.
We shut down their running game and held Luck & company to 26/45 and 2 picks. We sacked him twice and forced a lot of hurries and errant passes and even a safety. We dominated time of possession.
Yet the guy *still* hangs 400 yards and 3 TDs on us.

What's the deal here? Was it penalties continuing drives? Our secondary getting victimized on long plays?
Not bitching too loudly, mind you... but 34 points seems a bit high for as well as our defense was playing.

1. Luck is just that good. He made accurate downfield passes with guys draped all over him. Not many qb's could have delivered the ball that well under that much duress.

2. Cortez Allen. Guy's in a slump of epic proportions. They can't let him on the field in pass defense next week. Limit him to special teams or deactivate him. But Flacco will eat him alive if he's out there.

3. Penalties. Two penalties in particuliar wiped out two big defensive plays and gave Indy a replay on downs where they lost serious yardage. Then the holds and interference calls that extended series were killers.

[ALLD]

The refs kept throwing laundry to keep the Colts in it with ticky tack contact penalties among others. I do not recall them once getting flagged for illegal motion even though their OL looked like it was doing the wave, not to mention Luck had two opportunities to ground the ball before they finally threw a flag. They got called for one hold that benefited us, but most of their penalties were offsetting.

[polamalubeast]

The Colts had 7 first down yesterday because of the penalty

[Dwinsgames]

10 penalties ......... we could not look at anyone sternly without a flag ... but the 10 is a camouflaged number too as many are not in the books because off setting penalties and replay the down

big gainers , 3 or 4 deep pass plays hurt ...

Cortez was horrible ..........

mind you the Colts had the ball just 20:17 seconds ....

[Craic]

I'm really happy we hung one on the Colts, but I'm trying to figure out how they managed to hang 34 points on us.
We shut down their running game and held Luck & company to 26/45 and 2 picks. We sacked him twice and forced a lot of hurries and errant passes and even a safety. We dominated time of possession.
Yet the guy *still* hangs 400 yards and 3 TDs on us.

What's the deal here? Was it penalties continuing drives? Our secondary getting victimized on long plays?
Not bitching too loudly, mind you... but 34 points seems a bit high for as well as our defense was playing.

Yes.

I remember specifically one play where we got a stop on a third down, and a penalty. On the very next play, the Colts hit for something like 30+ yards.

And the penalties are stupid. I fully blame our CBs. There is NO reason for "hands to the face" penalties. It's a mental lapse. Keep the hands down. Period. When your chucking your man. There were what, three or so of those penalties? Troy P. picked a guy coming across the middle WHILE he was being covered (well). No reason for it. That's four penalties. We took On offense, we took a delay of game penalty. I'm not worried about that, but it's there. That's half our penalties for the entire game on either mental errors, or unnecessary plays.

[tube517]

Penalties, TOs and dropped passes. Easily could have scored 60+ and Andrea wouldn't have even sniffed a chance.

I'll take the W though. I can't complain too much. We ain't perfect but we sure aren't dead.

[Steelerette]

1. Cortez Allen

2. Officials got the call from New York to tighten the score

3. Andrew Luck is the real deal, bit of a crybaby, but he has to mature.

4. You don't need a lot of time to score. I remember 2 of their "drives" were under 3 minutes.

Don't forget about playing prevent at the end of the first half.

[Count Steeler]

Don't forget about playing prevent at the end of the first half.
I am choosing a different tact with that style of defense. If I ignore it, maybe it will go away.

[st33lersguy]

I think we all could see that Luck and the pass offense was going to explode against our pass defense. It just didn't explode like the steelers pass O did

[MrPgh]

I'm really happy we hung one on the Colts, but I'm trying to figure out how they managed to hang 34 points on us.
We shut down their running game and held Luck & company to 26/45 and 2 picks. We sacked him twice and forced a lot of hurries and errant passes and even a safety. We dominated time of possession.
Yet the guy *still* hangs 400 yards and 3 TDs on us.

What's the deal here? Was it penalties continuing drives? Our secondary getting victimized on long plays?
Not bitching too loudly, mind you... but 34 points seems a bit high for as well as our defense was playing.

Simple answer: It's not 1972 anymore.

[steelreserve]

Cortez Allen was singlehandedly responsible for about 21 of those points.

Illegal contact on every play. It was going to be a high-scoring game no matter what; the officials were told to make it so, and they kept several drives going (on both sides) that way.

Piss-poor tackling in the middle of the field. At least two or three times, there was some dinky 8-yard slant that turned into a 50-yard catch and run because someone whiffed, fell down, or blew it completely and left a guy uncovered with 20 yards of open space.

Andrew Luck is good, but not that good. I'm not ready to anoint him. He made plays when he had to, but I'd give just as much credit to his receivers for turning small plays into big ones, and the game planning for beating on Allen like a drum. Hell, I'd give those things all the credit, because I'm not giving any credit to a whiny little bitch.

[zulater]

Cortez Allen was singlehandedly responsible for about 21 of those points.

Illegal contact on every play. It was going to be a high-scoring game no matter what; the officials were told to make it so, and they kept several drives going (on both sides) that way.

Piss-poor tackling in the middle of the field. At least two or three times, there was some dinky 8-yard slant that turned into a 50-yard catch and run because someone whiffed, fell down, or blew it completely and left a guy uncovered with 20 yards of open space.

Andrew Luck is good, but not that good. I'm not ready to anoint him. He made plays when he had to, but I'd give just as much credit to his receivers for turning small plays into big ones, and the game planning for beating on Allen like a drum. Hell, I'd give those things all the credit, because I'm not giving any credit to a whiny little bitch.


They need to take away Cortez's helmet for a few weeks, as in deactivate him.

[Steelman]

They need to take away Cortez's helmet for a few weeks, as in deactivate him.

I've decided that Goodell is blackmailing him. It's the only plausible explanation.

[steelreserve]

They need to take away Cortez's helmet for a few weeks, as in deactivate him.


No shit. There is literally no way to do worse than that.

If you put in McCain or Blake and they stink the place out - oh well, we're no worse off. Not exactly expecting the world from them, but even halfway to competent would be a good start.

[Craic]

Piss-poor tackling in the middle of the field. At least two or three times, there was some dinky 8-yard slant that turned into a 50-yard catch and run because someone whiffed, fell down, or blew it completely and left a guy uncovered with 20 yards of open space.

This.

Once again. Wrap when you tackle, rather than going for the ESPN hit. NO, you won't always get your arms around the guy, or even bring him down, but even if you whiff, you can grab jersey and slow him down, which cuts the next 50 yards down to 10 yards.

[86WARD]

Think Troy reads this?? ^^^

[Shoes]

They need to take away Cortez's helmet for a few weeks, as in deactivate him.

I expected him to be benched for the Colts game, but lo there he was. It wouldn't surprise me to see him starting this week too. I guess the FO doesn't want to look stupid for giving him a big contract, even tho it's worse when he plays. He easily gave up at least 14 points Sunday.


Right from the horses mouth

Steelers Gameday Plus: Tomlin: 4 things you must know vs. Ravens | http://bit.ly/1sAv57R
http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Tomlin-4-things-you-must-know-vs-Ravens/02cf48b2-2a3f-4178-9122-25164f701569

[steelreserve]

This.

Once again. Wrap when you tackle, rather than going for the ESPN hit. NO, you won't always get your arms around the guy, or even bring him down, but even if you whiff, you can grab jersey and slow him down, which cuts the next 50 yards down to 10 yards.


I got less of the feeling that they were missing tackles because they were hot-dogging instead of form tackling ... and more of the sense that they were constantly out of position and easily fooled - in other words, either playing stupid defense or simply overmatched.

How many times did a receiver catch the ball, then our guy got caught flat-footed while the receiver sped around the corner, and the best the defender could manage was to make a weak lunge while trying to change directions and subsequently fell on his face, and the whole thing ended up looking more like a surfer getting hit in the back by a wave than a guy trying to make a tackle. That was almost as frequent as Allen getting burned.

[Craic]

I got less of the feeling that they were missing tackles because they were hot-dogging instead of form tackling ... and more of the sense that they were constantly out of position and easily fooled - in other words, either playing stupid defense or simply overmatched.

How many times did a receiver catch the ball, then our guy got caught flat-footed while the receiver sped around the corner, and the best the defender could manage was to make a weak lunge while trying to change directions and subsequently fell on his face, and the whole thing ended up looking more like a surfer getting hit in the back by a wave than a guy trying to make a tackle. That was almost as frequent as Allen getting burned.

ESPN hits aren't "hotdogging" anymore. It's the the way they do it now. ANd that's the problem. ONe clear image sits in my mind, and that's Troy P. throwing his body into the legs of a WR, only to have the WR step around him and continue on for a bunch of yards. If Troy had kept his head up and wrapped, sure, he may not have brought him down, but he would have held on to the guy, or slowed him down until help arrived. That's what I'm talking about.

[tube517]

ESPN hits aren't "hotdogging" anymore. It's the the way they do it now. ANd that's the problem. ONe clear image sits in my mind, and that's Troy P. throwing his body into the legs of a WR, only to have the WR step around him and continue on for a bunch of yards. If Troy had kept his head up and wrapped, sure, he may not have brought him down, but he would have held on to the guy, or slowed him down until help arrived. That's what I'm talking about.

Troy is just out of control and wild (in a bad way) this year. He looks healthy but mentally he looks like he guesses wrong and is just flying all over the place. I figured him and Mitchell would have some growing pains as a tandem.

[zulater]

I expected him to be benched for the Colts game, but lo there he was. It wouldn't surprise me to see him starting this week too. I guess the FO doesn't want to look stupid for giving him a big contract, even tho it's worse when he plays. He easily gave up at least 14 points Sunday.


Right from the horses mouth

Steelers Gameday Plus: Tomlin: 4 things you must know vs. Ravens | http://bit.ly/1sAv57R
http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Tomlin-4-things-you-must-know-vs-Ravens/02cf48b2-2a3f-4178-9122-25164f701569

Along the same vein, Marcus Gilbert is recovered from his concussion and practicing and going to start against the Ravens. The same Marcus Gilbert who was abused by Courtney Upshaw all game long in our first meeting with the Ravens. Want to know why our red zone offense often bogged down? Quite often because our right tackle was having his ass handed to him, and Ben was preoccupied by the guy that Marcus was supposed to block rather than finding his target downfield. :frusty:


It was real easy Tomlin.This is what you could and should have said. Something along these lines. Yeah it's nice Marcus is back from his concussion and is back practicing but we're going to start Mike Adams for at least for another week. You could have said it was precautionary. Or better yet you could have said we're coming off the best offensive performance of my career. The offense hasn't given up a sack in over 6 quarters. We passed 49 times last week and Ben was barely pressured let alone sacked. So for the time being we're going to keep the status quo in regards to our offensive line. How could anyone have argued this? Especially being as besides Cortez Allen no one has consistently under-performed to the extent that Gilbert has.

You almost wonder if this decision come from up higher? Is it the fact that they've invested heavily into Cortez and Gilbert weighing into the decision? All I know is if we have a drive stall out because of a missed block or penalty on 78. Or if Ben fumbles or is pressured into a interception because of Gilbert. I'm going to be howling!

[Texasteel]

Along the same vein, Marcus Gilbert is recovered from his concussion and practicing and going to start against the Ravens. The same Marcus Gilbert who was abused by Courtney Upshaw all game long in our first meeting with the Ravens. Want to know why our red zone offense often bogged down? Quite often because our right tackle was having his ass handed to him, and Ben was preoccupied by the guy that Marcus was supposed to block rather than finding his target downfield. :frusty:


It was real easy Tomlin.This is what you could and should have said. Something along these lines. Yeah it's nice Marcus is back from his concussion and is back practicing but we're going to start Mike Adams for at least for another week. You could have said it was precautionary. Or better yet you could have said we're coming off the best offensive performance of my career. The offense hasn't given up a sack in over 6 quarters. We passed 49 times last week and Ben was barely pressured let alone sacked. So for the time being we're going to keep the status quo in regards to our offensive line. How could anyone have argued this? Especially being as besides Cortez Allen no one has consistently under-performed to the extent that Gilbert has.

You almost wonder if this decision come from up higher? Is it the fact that they've invested heavily into Cortez and Gilbert weighing into the decision? All I know is if we have a drive stall out because of a missed block or penalty on 78. Or if Ben fumbles or is pressured into a interception because of Gilbert. I'm going to be howling!

You mean, " I signed him, now you play him?'

OMG,,,,,,,,,,, We're the cowboys.

[Count Steeler]

Gilbert is 77.

If the FO is forcing this, then Tomlin may quit before he is fired.

Better be a short leash on Gilbert.

[polamalubeast]

The next few games are very important, especially the game against the Ravens, so you have to play the best players in the team.If Gilbert and Allen have a bad game against the Ravens, many will be angry to Tomlin again.


If this is not Tomlin that takes the decisions, it's ridiculous from the front office

[zulater]

Gilbert is 77.

If the FO is forcing this, then Tomlin may quit before he is fired.

Better be a short leash on Gilbert.

Oops :doh: Guess I should have looked that up first! :doh2:

[Count Steeler]

Oops :doh: Guess I should have looked that up first! :doh2:

Doesn't change the validity of your post.

If this is from the FO then then they should FO.

[Mojouw]

Most likely it is from the long-standing tradition and practice across all sports that you can not lose your starting spot to injury - only ineffective play.

This is not unique to the Steelers or any team for that matter. Despite what we as fans may prefer, I reckon that an NFL head coach would have a extremely poor relationship with his players if individuals could regularly get "wally pipped".

[Renegade]

The whole deal is the fact that andrew luck is a good quarterback. but I still said, we could smash the colts and squeak out a win against the ratbirds. in my evaluation i see that cortez allen is not a good cornerback. if he plays at all against the ravens, we will lose. i hope he practices bad because tomlin said he is going to be competing for a starting job. and if he practices well, this is a dumb enough coaching staff to match him up against a rebounding torrey smith. the way to beat the ravens is to use, and only use mid zone defenses while sending 4 (or 5 counting harrison) over the top safety help and having the starting corners be the outstanding brice mccain and the surprising find antwon blake.

[Count Steeler]

Most likely it is from the long-standing tradition and practice across all sports that you can not lose your starting spot to injury - only ineffective play.

This is not unique to the Steelers or any team for that matter. Despite what we as fans may prefer, I reckon that an NFL head coach would have a extremely poor relationship with his players if individuals could regularly get "wally pipped".

I get that. But Gilbert was not performing well. Regardless of how you get there, you need to play your most effective players.

[zulater]

Most likely it is from the long-standing tradition and practice across all sports that you can not lose your starting spot to injury - only ineffective play.

This is not unique to the Steelers or any team for that matter. Despite what we as fans may prefer, I reckon that an NFL head coach would have a extremely poor relationship with his players if individuals could regularly get "wally pipped".

So I guess Tommy Maddox should still be starting?

[steelreserve]

Most likely it is from the long-standing tradition and practice across all sports that you can not lose your starting spot to injury - only ineffective play.

This is not unique to the Steelers or any team for that matter. Despite what we as fans may prefer, I reckon that an NFL head coach would have a extremely poor relationship with his players if individuals could regularly get "wally pipped".


Nothing wrong with sticking with the hot hand. They're in business to win games, not the Star of Loyalty Award or whatever.

It's a cutthroat business. Players lose their jobs all the time just because someone better comes along, whether it's injury or something else. I really wish they would go with the best player.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAqszxJSP6I

[Mojouw]

So I guess Tommy Maddox should still be starting?

Clearly.

ALso, is it really clear that Adams is better than Gilbert? If so, by how much? Gilbert has looked both good and terrible in stretches over the last 2 seasons. So has Adams.

[zulater]

Clearly.

ALso, is it really clear that Adams is better than Gilbert? If so, by how much? Gilbert has looked both good and terrible in stretches over the last 2 seasons. So has Adams.


My thought is that you take it game by game. Maybe even quarter by quarter. The thing is you don't have to promise anything. As I said before if I'm Tomlin I just say we're coming off a record setting performance, one where no sacks were allowed in 50 drop backs, so we're going to maintain the status quo for the time being. You can define it anyway you like. But we're staying with what worked until it no longer is working as well.

[Steeldude]

Right, because Adams won't get eaten up by the Ravens' pass rushers. Pick your poison(Gilbert or Adams).

[X-Terminator]

You almost wonder if this decision come from up higher? Is it the fact that they've invested heavily into Cortez and Gilbert weighing into the decision? All I know is if we have a drive stall out because of a missed block or penalty on 78. Or if Ben fumbles or is pressured into a interception because of Gilbert. I'm going to be howling!


Doesn't change the validity of your post.

If this is from the FO then then they should FO.

Been saying for a while now that Tomlin is nothing but a puppet for the FO, and does what he is told to do. This would be another example of that. No, I do not have any proof of this, it's just my opinion.


Right, because Adams won't get eaten up by the Ravens' pass rushers. Pick your poison(Gilbert or Adams).

He didn't get eaten up by the Colts' pass rushers.

Just saying.

[Shoes]

There is no way I would start Gilbert or Allen. Why would you change anything (except for injury or piss poor play ) after last weeks game? If this is Tomlin's decision it's proof he's elevated himself to the level of moron, if its the FO and Tomlin is a puppet, then I have no respect left for a man without balls.

[SteelerFanInStl]

Allen shouldn't even get a helmet this week unless if it's for special teams. The guy can't cover anyone right now.

Adams also deserves to start over Gilbert. Gilbert wasn't exactly tearing it up before he was injured and Adams has played well.

[Dwinsgames]

Troy is just out of control and wild (in a bad way) this year. He looks healthy but mentally he looks like he guesses wrong and is just flying all over the place. I figured him and Mitchell would have some growing pains as a tandem.

its old man time ... his mind knows what he wants to do , but his body simply does it .2 seconds later than he did 5-6 years ago ... still splash play capable just not as high of a percentage of effectiveness as it once was ..