Report Card: Steelers vs. Falcons, 27-20

[Lady Steel]

TEAM GRADE: OVERALL: C+



http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2014/12/15/Report-Card-Steelers-vs-Titans/stories/201412150097




Hmmm, I don't know if I necessarily agree with that overall grade. I think I would have given the O-Line a B+. Not their fault Haley keep pushin' an ineffective run game.

[fansince'76]

OFFENSIVE LINE Grade: C+

The Steelers could not get their counter play working...

Uh, that's because the Falcons were loading the box with 8 and 9 guys all day. A few more play action passes on first down to force them out of doing that instead of playing right into it with a bunch of runs up the middle and draws would have probably helped the situation. Don't blame the OL for Haley's stubbornness.

We should have made them pay and pay dearly for completely selling out against the run the way they did. Someone needs to let the coaches and FO know that we don't have the handicap of a Kordell Stewart/Kent Graham/Turnover Tommy under center anymore. When a team that is ranked dead last in the league against the pass stacks the box and basically dares you to beat them through the air (in the middle of December in a climate-controlled dome, no less), and you have a top-5 QB and a top-3 WR, you torch their ass! This very easily could have been another 5/6-TD, 500-yard game for Roethlisberger if it had been called better.

[GBMelBlount]

Uh, that's because the Falcons were loading the box with 8 and 9 guys all day. A few more play action passes on first down to force them out of doing that instead of playing right into it with a bunch of runs up the middle and draws would have probably helped the situation. Don't blame the OL for Haley's stubbornness.

We should have made them pay and pay dearly for completely selling out against the run the way they did.

Completely agree.

In fact I think we should focus on more passing early every game UNTIL we KNOW the running game has opened up.

The way Ben spreads it around gives defenses fits.

[zulater]

Reading the overall team grade of C+and then contrast that with the individual unit breakdowns and you have to come to the conclusion that Dulac was sitting too close to exhaust fumes somewhere when he made up his final grade. :heh: The worst unit grade was C+ for the offensive line, every other unit was B or higher. Now it's debatable whether some of those grades are accurate. For example I would take issue with the coaches being graded at A. To me Haley, and Tomlin's over conservative game plan made what should have been a Steeler blowout into a one score game at the end. Anyway getting back to Dulac's assessment, off his grades the team grade should be B+, B at worst.

[Mojouw]

The gameplan was conservative a bit. I think they were trying to avoid getting into a shoot-out/track-meet on the road. Even with/out Jones, the Falcons at the Steelers secondary alive.
Even though it meant the score was closer than it could/should have been, it kept the Falcons to fewer possessions.

Besides, despite the close score, did anyone feel like the Falcons had a chance from half-time forward? I know I didn't.

[Craic]

Uh, that's because the Falcons were loading the box with 8 and 9 guys all day. A few more play action passes on first down to force them out of doing that instead of playing right into it with a bunch of runs up the middle and draws would have probably helped the situation. Don't blame the OL for Haley's stubbornness.

We should have made them pay and pay dearly for completely selling out against the run the way they did. Someone needs to let the coaches and FO know that we don't have the handicap of a Kordell Stewart/Kent Graham/Turnover Tommy under center anymore. When a team that is ranked dead last in the league against the pass stacks the box and basically dares you to beat them through the air (in the middle of December in a climate-controlled dome, no less), and you have a top-5 QB and a top-3 WR, you torch their ass! This very easily could have been another 5/6-TD, 500-yard game for Roethlisberger if it had been called better.


Completely agree.

In fact I think we should focus on more passing early every game UNTIL we KNOW the running game has opened up.

The way Ben spreads it around gives defenses fits.

What was that phrase we heard the other day around here? In the first three quarters, there's no such thing as a bad run. I don't fault the OC for running the ball against a stacked box, because you're simply are not going to know until the fourth quarter whether doing it has had the effect you want and then you can eat up yards and clock on the ground if it did. In this game, it didn't. So let's take a look at the playcalling after that:
Pass, run (TD).
Pass, pass, run, pass, run, pass
Run, pass, pass (inc. penalty), run, pass, run, pass, pass, kneel, kneel.

So, that's 10 pass plays and 5 pass plays in the fourth quarter.

Heck, going back to the third quarter:
Run, run, pass (Brown's penalty taunting). Pass
run, pass, run, pass.

That's 4-4, or 50/50, and one of those run plays went for 11 yards.

Heck, overall, we ran the ball only 35 percent of the time, and past it 65 percent of time. That's virtually a 2-1 ratio. I'm the last one to want to go back to three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-mediocrity football, but I get running the ball even when they stack the box. That's not to say, however, that they shouldn't have taking advantage of it a few times, but overall, I get it.

[steelreserve]

I don't fault the OC for running the ball against a stacked box, because you're simply are not going to know until the fourth quarter whether doing it has had the effect you want and then you can eat up yards and clock on the ground if it did.


I would disagree with that. Back in the Parker days, there were plenty of games where it was obvious by the middle of the first quarter how effective the running game was going to be. This one had all the same marks.

It is easy to tell when you are getting your ass handed to you at something. It's just a good thing we didn't absolutely need to have our "A" game to beat the Falcons.

[Lady Steel]

Dulac screwed up. :lol:


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TEAM GRADE: OVERALL: A



http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2014/12/15/Report-Card-Steelers-vs-Titans/stories/201412150097