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View Full Version : Steelers vs. Saints - Game Goat/Game Ball - October 31, 2010



HometownGal
10-31-2010, 10:28 PM
A couple of game goats here, the first one being our beloved Heeeeath. Damn - the O was moving nicely down the field towards paydirt, the lead and grabbing up the momentum when Heath coughed up that pigskin. :doh: Another game goat goes to our OL pass coverage - they couldn't hold back a paper bag most of the night and give Ben some decent time to get his passes off. The third - and I hate saying this - goes to Troy. Yes - he hit a couple of guys hard, but Brees was having a field day all night playing peek-a-boo with him and fooling him over and over again. Not a good night overall. I would give Skippy a game goat tag, too, but I don't think that FG would have really mattered much in the grand scheme of things.

Game ball goes to - obviously - Mendy. An honorable mention to the Steelers D that showed up in the first half. As has been the problem this season thus far, they seem to let up on the QB in the second halves of games and gave Brees time tonight to burn 'em good. Don't know what the problem is there. :noidea:

zulater
10-31-2010, 10:29 PM
1 Mike Tomlin. 4 terrible decisions, his coaching decisions greatly contributed to 13 Saint points. Pathetic! :mad2:

2. Arians. Team was ill prepared for Saints blitz packages. Didn't bother passing on first down until falling behind.

3. Heath Miller, doesn't catch a pass all night, then when he does, fumbles the game away!

4. Polamalu. He sucked when it mattered tonight

5. Mike tomlin. I can't express enough how his idiotic decisions cost us a minimum of 10 points

JayC
10-31-2010, 10:30 PM
goat: heath for the fumble
game ball: i want to say someone on defense but the 2nd half was pathetic. no one gets one from me.

way to lay a turd on a national tv

XxKnightxX
10-31-2010, 10:31 PM
Cant agree any more with you on that one, dont forget Sanders as well, basically played defense for the Saints and didnt allow Ward to get that ball for a TD. Arians for not sneaking him in on 1st and 3 inches on the goal line. and Polamalu got embarrassed by Brees.

kmsteelerwr15
10-31-2010, 10:32 PM
Goat is the offense

and no gameball

The Duke
10-31-2010, 10:34 PM
Everyone played awful tonight, hard to give a gameball/goat

Wallace108
10-31-2010, 10:36 PM
No one gets a game ball.
It's easy to blame the defense in the second half, but you can't expect them to hold a good offense to under 10 points.

Goat: The entire offense

hotrodder07
10-31-2010, 10:37 PM
Goats (in no particular order):

1. Tomlin - Bad coaching decisions all night, from challenges to 4th down attempts.

2. Arians - He called an awful, awful game. Very predictable, and he didn't make any adjustments. They blitzed us like crazy, and he continued to call deep pass routes that take a long time to develop. Then he refused to take advantage of the aggressive defense with some play-action or screens on first down. Frustrating!

3. O-line - This one I can't blame completely, because I believe a large part of this was the mediocre play-calling. We can't expect 5 offensive lineman to block 7 defensive players for more than 3 seconds.

4. Heath - For obvious reasons.

Game balls:

1. Mendenhall - Played a pretty good game

2. Ike Taylor - Played well for the most part. Sure tackler and an interception.

zulater
10-31-2010, 10:38 PM
Game ball? We lost. No game ball.

Steeldude
10-31-2010, 10:39 PM
2. Arians. Team was ill prepared for Saints blitz packages. Didn't bother passing on first down until falling behind.


it's always been that way. i really don't know why teams don't blitz the steelers like crazy every game. arians cannot figure out how to stop it. press the WRs and blitz a ton of players. that's how you stop the steelers with ease.

SteelCityMan786
10-31-2010, 10:39 PM
Goat-OL and MOST ESPECIALLY Heath.

Ball-Rashard and Ike

BlastFurnace
10-31-2010, 10:39 PM
Goat goes to Tomlin. Tomlin needs to understand a few things:

1. Jeff Reed cannot hit anything beyond 50 yards. Quit trying to kick FG's like that and giving the opposing team a short field at the end of a half. Pin them deep at the end of the half and make them earn it.
2. It's a 3 point lead. No need to go for it on 4th down and...again...give them a short field.

That being said, next week is huge and can make up for this loss next week.

Edman
10-31-2010, 10:48 PM
Holy Crap. The Game Goats are so obvious it's not even funny.

Ben- He played small on the big stage against the defending champs. I mentioned this week he needed to play big, and he didn't.

Heath Miller- Silent all game, first catch, and he delivers the dagger. That play lost the game.

Bruce Arians- Crippled the Steelers O all game with his pussy playcalling. Once again, he has no answer for the blitz.

O-Line- Sucked.

Overall, the Steelers Offense blew chunks in this game from coaches on down. D makes a play for you to get you back in the game and you bumble it badly. I can't blame this on the D. I would if we were playing a mediocre nobody, but tonight we were up against All-Pro Drew Brees. You never give a QB like Drew Brees second chances. Period. I don't care how good the D is. The O has to do their job too.

Game Balls? No one gets a game ball. We Lost.

steelpride12
10-31-2010, 10:55 PM
No Game balls in a loss. The D would get mine, but ended up giving up 20 points tonight and that is not Steelers D, and for the goats read all the above posts.

salamander
10-31-2010, 10:59 PM
Aside from a few bright spots, I'd say the entire team pretty much deserves a kick in the butt for sh*tting the bed on national tv.

Merchant
10-31-2010, 11:01 PM
Goat - Heath. And he knows it.

Game Ball - Ike. TWO picks on the season?? That's two more than I would have predicted at the start.

urgle burgle
10-31-2010, 11:01 PM
goat: Tomlin
one...no diversity in playcalling on Saints 1 yd line. pound, pound, pound. No play action, fades, etc.
two...should not have gone for the field goal at the end of the half. skippy sucks from 50 out, and too much time for brees to go down the field.
three...going for it on the 4th down. o wasnt in any flow, and could have pinned NO deep.

additional goat...arians(per usual). waited too long to go to the no huddle. no deep throws, and no adjustments for constant blitzing.

add add goat....Heath, obvious reasons, but he was trying for extra yds...so, there you go.

game ball....shouldnt be one, but, sylvester for that awesome hit on the punt return. thats about it.

urgle burgle
10-31-2010, 11:02 PM
Goat - Heath. And he knows it.

Game Ball - Ike. TWO picks on the season?? That's two more than I would have predicted at the start.

what sucks, is that we are 0-2 with an Ike pick.

Merchant
10-31-2010, 11:08 PM
what sucks, is that we are 0-2 with an Ike pick.

Coincidence? I think not.

pepsyman1
10-31-2010, 11:22 PM
What really sucks is the number of turnovers we've forced this year and how few points we've actually gotten out of them.

X-Terminator
10-31-2010, 11:25 PM
Got to give the entire team, from the coaches on down, the goat this week. That was not a very good performance AT ALL. I'm particularly disappointed in the offense, for not taking advantage of the Saints' 2 starting corners being out of the lineup and refusing to make adjustments until they were down by 10. WAY too conservative all night long.

El-Gonzo Jackson
10-31-2010, 11:34 PM
-Missing that FG and letting the Saints score at the end of the half is a 6 point swing.

-Not being able to get a TD from the 1 yard line.......pitiful, but par for the course in Steelers short yardage for the past 4 years.

-The Miller fumble..........costly for sure. maybe a 10 point swing if we at least get a FG try (but again, not guaranteed to make it)

Scoring only 10 points against a team depleated in the secondary..............pitiful. Ben and BA gotta take some for that.

Steeldude
11-01-2010, 12:42 AM
tomlin, arians and lebeau are the goats.

IUSteel
11-01-2010, 01:20 AM
Scoring only 10 points against a team depleated in the secondary..............pitiful. Ben and BA gotta take some for that.

My problem with that is in the first quarter, we ARE reading the hot routes, we ARE getting blitz pickups, we ARE getting the ball out of the pocket. If receivers turn their heads, we have at least three defused blitzes, and the Saints potentially back off. It wasn't until the second quarter our protection schemes broke down and we looked helpless. Receivers not having the awareness to bail out their QB had a lot more to do with it than people are seeing.

I don't think it was a poorly called game necessarily. It did seem like Ben got shakey halfway through the first.

Lambert_Loonie
11-01-2010, 02:20 AM
GOAT: The Pittsburgh Steelers

Gameball: To all the Steeler fans who drove to New Orleans & shelled out their hard earned money to watch their favorite team lay an egg on national television.

Galax Steeler
11-01-2010, 03:20 AM
Not a very good performance by the Steelers.

stlrtruck
11-01-2010, 04:53 AM
All 53 men wearing Black and Gold last night. Lackluster performance.

HometownGal
11-01-2010, 05:21 AM
Why wouldn't there be a game ball? While the team overall didn't look as sharp as we are used to seeing them (albeit against the defending Champs) - there were some bright spots I feel should be duly noted - particularly Mendenhall. The D was awesome for the first half of the game and as has become routine since last season, let down in the 2nd half and particularly the 4th Q. :doh:

Butch
11-01-2010, 06:53 AM
Goats

Special teams 1) Dan Sep for 2 horrible punts to start the game 2) Reed missed FG yeah it was a long one but that's why we pay him weather is no excuse this week 3) Giving up the long return late in the game

Offense for not being able to do anything on the 6 inch line even though I thought we scored on 2nd down. Also not being able to bail out either special teams or the D when they let down or when they get the turnover and not showing up until the last 1/2 of the damn 4th quarter.

Game ball

Mendy great run to get us back in the game!!!

D for keeping us in the game most of the way despite a lackluster performance by an offensive excuse of an offense. Offense sucked both from a coaching approach and from a player performance aspect. I will cut the offense slack when they bail out the team against a good defense. The same way we expect the D to step up against all the offensive juggernaught.

SteelerSal
11-01-2010, 06:57 AM
Goat- Me for staying awake way past my bedtime to watch that mess.

GoSlash27
11-01-2010, 09:30 AM
Game ball to Ziggy Hood, who did an excellent job. Game goat to Bruce Arians, who made no attempt whatsoever to take advantage of NO's empty secondary. A 13 year old with 3 games' experience on Madden would have called a better game.

Texasteel
11-01-2010, 10:11 AM
I going to go in a different, maybe unpopular, direction and say Maurkice. He seemed to be the only lineman that had control of his area for the most part. Sides, you know I love the big uglies.

El-Gonzo Jackson
11-01-2010, 10:23 AM
My problem with that is in the first quarter, we ARE reading the hot routes, we ARE getting blitz pickups, we ARE getting the ball out of the pocket. If receivers turn their heads, we have at least three defused blitzes, and the Saints potentially back off. It wasn't until the second quarter our protection schemes broke down and we looked helpless. Receivers not having the awareness to bail out their QB had a lot more to do with it than people are seeing.

I don't think it was a poorly called game necessarily. It did seem like Ben got shakey halfway through the first.

Sorry, but 10 points with a QB that many here think is top 5 in the game....against a team with their top 3CB's injured?? QB and OC gotta admitt they were not on their game.

Look at the final drive, where the team needs 2 scores. Steelers keep Miller and Moore in the backfield to max protect on the first play of that series. Its not the time to only run 3 guys into a pattern.

fansince'76
11-01-2010, 10:40 AM
I going to go in a different, maybe unpopular, direction and say Maurkice. He seemed to be the only lineman that had control of his area for the most part. Sides, you know I love the big uglies.

I still don't know why we didn't try a QB sneak on the goal line. :doh:

LLT
11-01-2010, 01:55 PM
Game Ball HAS to go to Timmons...he was a bright spot on a very average night....11 tackles and 1 assist is one HELL of a night.

Goat has to go defensive secondary who was biting on the pump fakes and misdirection all night long.

tube517
11-01-2010, 02:00 PM
:sofunny:


Goat- Me for staying awake way past my bedtime to watch that mess.

LLT
11-01-2010, 02:21 PM
By the way...New category:

Best Costume went to the due dressed all in black that the dozens of the letter "e" all over his shirt and pants. I literally starting chuckling an hour after i saw him when I realized he was an.....e-male (e-mail).

Sometimes I'm slow.

HometownGal
11-01-2010, 03:44 PM
I was listening to the sports talk on WDSY this morning and there was a short interview with Troy where he basically gives himself a goat for last night's game. Brees played peek-a-boo with Troy all night and basically beat him like a rented mule and we're not used to seeing that from Taz.

Here come the BA boo birds right on cue. I don't recall BA being on the field when the Saints scored their 2 TD's in the 4Q nor do I remember him standing behind Ben and forcing him to overthrow on several key pass attempts last night. Jesus Christ - not everything is BA's fault for Christ's sake. There's more than enough blame to go around for last night's performance and I'm going to include the Steelers OL on pass protection too while I'm handing out goats.

It's about time Dick Lebeau gets some heat for his unit continuing to suck it up in the 4Q which has been going on since last season. He is the best DC of all time, imho, and a HOF'er and though he may get a free pass from some of you, he sure doesn't get one from me.

Craic
11-01-2010, 03:47 PM
Situational Goat: Miller. He is golden, yes. But in that particular situation, you HAVE TO protect the ball. As much as I like the guy, and when he fumbled I actually said, "Its Miller, its okay, that just doesn't happen to him often" I also have to be honest and admit that he killed our last true chance to win the game.

Situational Goat 2: Ben. See above. You must protect the football. Not throwing INT's on the last drive is a good way of doing that.

Game Goat 1a: Arians- Two reasons. 1. It is my guess that the final decisions on offense fall to him. I can't help, upon first read (I'll have to go back and watch the game to make sure) to notice that our O' line's noticeable decline came with the return of Essex. When that interior was looking as good as it was over the last few weeks, I have to call that a bad decisions. 2. Just seemed to be a number of bad calls in last night's game. I got the overall feel that he just wasn't in his groove, much like the game against the Browns last year, but just not as blatant.

Game Goat 1b: Lebeau. Ok. We all love the guy. But something has to be done with our pass defense. I know, I know, "we are number 1 against the run... stats are lopsided" and on and on. How about these stats:

Second half:
22 Passes attempted
20 passes completed
191 yards
2 TD's
QB Rating: 133.14

There are no arguments against those stats IMO. Lebeau gets the blame for not fixing something that has been a problem for almost two years now.

Game Goat 2: Mendenhall. When you Take away is big run: He had 14 carries for only 33 yards. That includes 1 run for neg yards 3 runs for 0-1 yards 1 run for 2 yards-(NOT COUNTING THE 1st and goal series!) That means out of his 15 total carries, he only had 7 productive runs (not scoring from the 1 is not productive).

So, 8 runs for a total of 3 yards and no TD's.
6 runs for 4.2 yard avg.
1 run for 38 yards and a TD

That's not getting it done folks.


HM in the goat category: a. O line. come on guys, our boys need more time. I know they threw overloads at us all game. But if you pick it up ONCE... we have points because NO ONE can contain Wallace 1 on 1.

HM in the situational goat category Troy P. Troy, it KILLS me to put you here. However, while your gambles pay off big time most of the time. Yesterday, your gamble gave up a 50 yard play, while we were down by 3 points with under 10 minutes in the game. Sure, we got the ball back with a fumbled. However, in the game of field position, we lost... which made Miller's fumble so much more devastating, as it gave a short field for NO to drive the stake in our hearts and virtually end the game.


Game Ball: Ike Taylor. Is it a contract year? He is catching INT's, making plays, and generally looking very sharp.

Game Ball 2: I thought we would lose a game or two do to a rookie mistake by him. How wrong I was, he seems to be the best veteran on the offense outside of Ward and Miller... and for a rookie, that is saying a LOT!

Game Ball 3 Timmons. The best LB in the Steelers LB corp. is what they say Butler (LB coach) is saying. I am starting to believe it. There are break-out seasons, and then there are Break-out seasons. Timmons is blowing the top of this season half way through.

Making the Most of it Game Ball: Emmanuel Sanders. Ok, put the ball way. Now that is said, let's take a look at those numbers.
3 KO returns for 32 yards, a long of 41!
1 Punt return for 38 yards.

Please, go get some stick'um and apply it generously. Then, get on with your bad self!!!


HTG: Interesting post! I started this about an hour agao (Went and had lunch, then came back and finished it). Seems I wasn't the only one to speak of Troy, though I don't think I am hard on him as he is on himself.

El-Gonzo Jackson
11-01-2010, 04:08 PM
I still don't know why we didn't try a QB sneak on the goal line. :doh:

Yeah, gotta wonder if the 6'5 QB could have gotten in on a sneak.

Consider that he tried to pretend he was QB Ronny Bass from "Remember the Titans", by flipping DE Will Smith off his back in the 2nd quarter. He's no some frail QB back there.

Craic
11-01-2010, 04:17 PM
Yeah, gotta wonder if the 6'5 QB could have gotten in on a sneak.

Consider that he tried to pretend he was QB Ronny Bass from "Remember the Titans", by flipping DE Will Smith off his back in the 2nd quarter. He's no some frail QB back there.

::lol::
And a bonus point for the movie reference. OF course, you'd hit the triple word bonus if you could have worked a "Slapshot" quote in there!

El-Gonzo Jackson
11-01-2010, 04:57 PM
::lol::
And a bonus point for the movie reference. OF course, you'd hit the triple word bonus if you could have worked a "Slapshot" quote in there!

That is the Randy Moss thread where he said in the press conference........"Trade me right f@#king now"

Moose
11-01-2010, 07:40 PM
I can't agree with the 'goat' going to Mr. Miller. His fumble definitely hurt us, but it wasn't what lost the game for us. There were many missed opportunities all night long by many of the players. They just didn't seem into the game Sunday night. Their hearts were somewhere else. Their eyes didn't look determined to kick butt. So that being said I'm going to go with the 'goat' going to the offensive line and play calling. If you can't score a TD on the 1 foot mark and have 4 tries to do it, then get on the bus and head home ! Why didn't Ben try a QB sneak ? Crap, his size and weight, he could definitely fell forward and picked it up. 3 tries of running around the side was assinine. I knew game was over at that point. The game 'ball' ? I have no one that stands out on the Steeler's that deserve it, so I guess I'd have to give it to Brees because of the way he ate up our secondary and moved the ball at will where ever he wanted and when ever he wanted. He was taking Troy to school all night long !!

86WARD
11-01-2010, 07:49 PM
Unfortunately, Miller is the goat as a player. The coaching staff in my mind is the bigger goat here. The game plan was garbage, the play calling was garbage, Tomlin's decision making was shit, the execution was shit. One play (Mendenhall's) was executed properly...let's be real here.

Polamalu get's the game ball for being one of the only players to show up last night.

Psycho Ward 86
11-01-2010, 08:30 PM
Can't give the goat to Heath imo because that's just one play where he really messed up. I always pick a goat who messed up over and over again.

I gotta give the goat to our 2ndary, especially McFadden and Gay. McFadden, I like that you don't let the ball get over your head, but that doesn't mean you let them dink and dunk all day on you. Gay, you look exactly the same as last year....and this time your playing the easier nickel corner role.

And in the back of my pocket, I almost ALMOST want to reach for Troy. Yes the Tasmanian Devil had probably the worst game ive ever seen him play while uninjured. (See my thread about him). But Troy made some decent plays to make up for it too, so I'll give him a hall pass.

Seriously though 2ndary, 20/22 passing for Drew brees in the 2nd half? He's a damn good QB but holy criminey :(

Craic
11-01-2010, 10:42 PM
Point of Clarification:

Miller= SITUATIONAL Goat. Not game goat. Which means, he made one mistake in one situation that had serious implications.

Craic
11-01-2010, 10:43 PM
That is the Randy Moss thread where he said in the press conference........"Trade me right f@#king now"

:rofl:

Then hang up the phone!

ring ring... "Hello?" "Oh, Reggie, for you."

Psycho Ward 86
11-01-2010, 11:04 PM
Point of Clarification:

Miller= SITUATIONAL Goat. Not game goat. Which means, he made one mistake in one situation that had serious implications.

^This. And this will offend a lot of you, but Troy was on the highlight reels all night long for all the wrong reasons. I know i've been on his ass a lot lately lol. I'm just restless with Aaron Smith gone. Still love ya like crazy #43!

Wallace108
11-01-2010, 11:10 PM
Point of Clarification:

Miller= SITUATIONAL Goat. Not game goat. Which means, he made one mistake in one situation that had serious implications.

I agree. No way I'm calling Miller a goat.

Last week against the Dolphins, we said they couldn't whine over the controversial TD and say that's why they lost the game because they had plenty of opportunities during the game to put up some points, and didn't do it.

Same holds true for us. We had an entire game to put up more than 10 points and didn't do it. Had we gotten that first touchdown or scored after Ike's INT, then Miller's fumble doesn't matter.