LLT
09-13-2010, 11:37 AM
Okay...after a day to think about what we saw or what we didnt see yesterday...let's break things downs a bit.
1) QB play: I think we were all just hoping that Dixon would just control the game and not do anything to actually LOSE the game for us. And lets be honest, some of us Homers actually had a faint dream that he would come out and light up the Falcons DB's.
Dixon was 18 for 26, which is a 69.2% completion rate. That was the 8th best percentage rate of all QB's yesterday. However...his lack of TD's and the one interception gives hima QB rating of 81.6, which puts him as the #16 QB by that comparison. (by the way...Next weeks opponant Vince Young had the highest QB rating at 142.8 BUT only threw about 4 times a quarter)
2) RB Play: No surprise that Mendenhall got the majority of the carries and it was nice to see Redman get the ball occasionally.
Mendenhall ended up with 120 total running yards including a 50 yard romp into the endzone for the game winning score in OT. His 120 yards rushing statistically placed him at #3 this week, and his 5.5 ypc placed him at #2 overall out of all RB's with at least 10 carries. As a team we were the #4 top rushing team of the week.
3) WR Play: The age-defying Hines Ward had another steller day (and made "stud" CB Dunta Robinson look like a rookie at times) Wallace did what he does best and continued to stretch the defense and keep them honest. I would have liked to have seen the rookies get a couple of catches, but in a game like this, going to the sure-handed veterans was a gimme.
Ward cracked the top ten in reception yardage with 108 yards total. That placed him at #8 overall. Wallace had a very respectable 62 yards as the #2 WR. As a team we ranked #14 overall in total pass yards which is a heck of a lot better than most teams could have done with their #3 QB.
4) Overall Offense: If you would have told me last week that our offense would be ranked #10 on Monday morning...I would have been beside myself. But that is exactly were we are at this time with 354 total offensive yards.
5) Overall Defense Two sacks and one interception by the usual suspects. When our stars play well, this defense is a thing of beauty.
Noone should be surprised to see that our rush defense is still as stalwart as ever. The Steelers only allowed 58 total rushing yards which makes them the #5 rush defense right now. Our pass defense however allowed 237 yards which was #19 for the day. This has got to be improved upon.
As far as total defense we are standing at #10 overall.
Overall ST's: Jeff Reed was instrumental in the win with three FG's, including a 52 yarder. He did however miss two more including a potential 40 yard winning goal.
Emmanuel Sanders had one Kick Return for 23 yards which is pedestrian at best and ranked him at #16 for the day. However...Stefan Logan, who was picked up by the Lions, averaged 22.7 yesterday on three returns.
Our Punt Return was bulimic, with Antwaan Randle El averaging 3.5 yards per return. That placed him in the bottom five in the league.
So to sum up...As of today we have the #10 ranked offense and the #10 ranked defense. Our areas that need improvement are probably our secondary on defense, our pass blocking on offense, and our Punt Return. (I think Skippy will be okay next week against the Titans)
Granted these are just stats...so please put them in the proper perspective.
1) QB play: I think we were all just hoping that Dixon would just control the game and not do anything to actually LOSE the game for us. And lets be honest, some of us Homers actually had a faint dream that he would come out and light up the Falcons DB's.
Dixon was 18 for 26, which is a 69.2% completion rate. That was the 8th best percentage rate of all QB's yesterday. However...his lack of TD's and the one interception gives hima QB rating of 81.6, which puts him as the #16 QB by that comparison. (by the way...Next weeks opponant Vince Young had the highest QB rating at 142.8 BUT only threw about 4 times a quarter)
2) RB Play: No surprise that Mendenhall got the majority of the carries and it was nice to see Redman get the ball occasionally.
Mendenhall ended up with 120 total running yards including a 50 yard romp into the endzone for the game winning score in OT. His 120 yards rushing statistically placed him at #3 this week, and his 5.5 ypc placed him at #2 overall out of all RB's with at least 10 carries. As a team we were the #4 top rushing team of the week.
3) WR Play: The age-defying Hines Ward had another steller day (and made "stud" CB Dunta Robinson look like a rookie at times) Wallace did what he does best and continued to stretch the defense and keep them honest. I would have liked to have seen the rookies get a couple of catches, but in a game like this, going to the sure-handed veterans was a gimme.
Ward cracked the top ten in reception yardage with 108 yards total. That placed him at #8 overall. Wallace had a very respectable 62 yards as the #2 WR. As a team we ranked #14 overall in total pass yards which is a heck of a lot better than most teams could have done with their #3 QB.
4) Overall Offense: If you would have told me last week that our offense would be ranked #10 on Monday morning...I would have been beside myself. But that is exactly were we are at this time with 354 total offensive yards.
5) Overall Defense Two sacks and one interception by the usual suspects. When our stars play well, this defense is a thing of beauty.
Noone should be surprised to see that our rush defense is still as stalwart as ever. The Steelers only allowed 58 total rushing yards which makes them the #5 rush defense right now. Our pass defense however allowed 237 yards which was #19 for the day. This has got to be improved upon.
As far as total defense we are standing at #10 overall.
Overall ST's: Jeff Reed was instrumental in the win with three FG's, including a 52 yarder. He did however miss two more including a potential 40 yard winning goal.
Emmanuel Sanders had one Kick Return for 23 yards which is pedestrian at best and ranked him at #16 for the day. However...Stefan Logan, who was picked up by the Lions, averaged 22.7 yesterday on three returns.
Our Punt Return was bulimic, with Antwaan Randle El averaging 3.5 yards per return. That placed him in the bottom five in the league.
So to sum up...As of today we have the #10 ranked offense and the #10 ranked defense. Our areas that need improvement are probably our secondary on defense, our pass blocking on offense, and our Punt Return. (I think Skippy will be okay next week against the Titans)
Granted these are just stats...so please put them in the proper perspective.