Frustrating Steelers Loss Due To 3 Team Weaknesses

[tube517]

So long as safety Troy Polomalu and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger both stay healthy, Pittsburgh is a playoff-caliber team that can beat any opponent in the NFL on any given day.

However, the Steelers have three major weaknesses that make them beatable by many NFL teams and unlikely to win a seventh Super Bowl crown in a loaded AFC, where several teams are designed to exploit those three weaknesses All three areas were on display in a 20-10 loss Sunday at New Orleans and most prognosticators saw these as the reason why few picked Pittsburgh to even make the playoffs this year.

1. OFFENSIVE LINE IS BETTER COACHED BUT STILL LACKS TALENT

2. SUBPAR NO. 2 and NO. 3 CORNERBACKS WHO CANNOT PLAY MAN

3. LACK OF SEPARATION SPEED IN THE RECEIVING CORPS

4. Bruce Arians (Just kidding). :sofunny: This is not in the article.


(Blog)
http://www.steelerslounge.com/2010/11/frustrating-steeler-loss-due-teams-3-weaknesses/#more-2613

[SMR]

So long as safety Troy Polomalu and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger both stay healthy, Pittsburgh is a playoff-caliber team that can beat any opponent in the NFL on any given day.

However, the Steelers have three major weaknesses that make them beatable by many NFL teams and unlikely to win a seventh Super Bowl crown in a loaded AFC, where several teams are designed to exploit those three weaknesses All three areas were on display in a 20-10 loss Sunday at New Orleans and most prognosticators saw these as the reason why few picked Pittsburgh to even make the playoffs this year.

1. OFFENSIVE LINE IS BETTER COACHED BUT STILL LACKS TALENT

2. SUBPAR NO. 2 and NO. 3 CORNERBACKS WHO CANNOT PLAY MAN

3. LACK OF SEPARATION SPEED IN THE RECEIVING CORPS

4. Bruce Arians (Just kidding). :sofunny: This is not in the article.


(Blog)
http://www.steelerslounge.com/2010/11/frustrating-steeler-loss-due-teams-3-weaknesses/#more-2613

I agree mostly with #2 and #4

[SirHulka]

You forgot the fact that they fall apart in the fourth quarter.

[tube517]

See #2 - Other than Ike, we have no other CB's that can cover man to man. So 4th Q comebacks/2 minute drills/no huddle plays for the opposing team are easy.


You forgot the fact that they fall apart in the fourth quarter.

[Texasteel]

Ain't buying the lack of separation speed. The fastest guy we have only caught a couple short passes..

[tube517]

They're not talking about Wallace. They are talking about Ward, ARE, and Heath for the medium range routes. If you think about it, they are slow. Hines is no track star. El does not have the speed he had in his first stint. Heath is a pass catching offensive lineman.


Ain't buying the lack of separation speed. The fastest guy we have only caught a couple short passes..

[Psycho Ward 86]

Seperation wasn't the problem. The receivers weren't looking for the ball quickly enough.

[Merchant]

I couldn't believe we didn't make any adjustments after they brought the house on three straight 3rd downs and there was no hot-read. "Throw a screen or something goddamit!!"

[Count Steeler]

Arians stubborn tendency to not exploit what the defense was doing was most frustrating. You had to have figured out that NO was going to bring the house on every third down play. How can you not have a few plays when a team is playing that aggressive. We play the Ravens at least twice every year. Spaeth, Ward, Miller should have been the target all night long. 5-7 yards down the field, Ben off a 3 step drop or even in the shot gun. Look at the room Miller had on his fumble. A couple of more plays like that and the defense would have been crushed. Then we could have exploited their glaring weaknesses in the secondary. Instead, we had no answer for the NO blitz.

[Psycho Ward 86]

I couldn't believe we didn't make any adjustments after they brought the house on three straight 3rd downs and there was no hot-read. "Throw a screen or something goddamit!!"

We started the game with quite a few screens. They were "meh..." And besides, you can only throw so many screens before they catch on...

[psusteelerspens4life]

We were just out played and out coached. The defense can only do so much the O has to get off their ass and get it going. The way their defense brought it to us will be a blue print to other teams of what to do to shut our offense down. You think playing the defending superbowl champs we would be up for it and ready to go. Its a loss lets move on and time to have a short memory and lets take it to the bungholes.

[Moose]

I definitely think our CB's suck big time. I don't believe any of them know how to cover in man on man....they have no idea how to go for 'interceptions' unless the ball is thrown directly at them.....they let their man catch the ball and then either push him out of bounds or run along side of him down the field !! They can't read 'eyes' !! And I'm still baffled at the play on the 1 foot mark.....why didn't we go with a QB sneak ??? 1st and goal from the foot mark and you try 3 running plays outside ??? ugh ! I figured that was game then. Bullcrap play calling all night.

[Butch]

For all of you calling out our DB's remember we got a key turnover late in the game when...Heath (used to be dependable) Miller fumbles!!! We had the MoJo on our side up to that point. We had only given up a Whopping 13 points to a team with a pretty prolific offense.

As for the screen pass I agree it should have been used a few more times, not talkin' about the stupid swing pass to Ward I'm talkin' about the true screen that worked for a big gainer early in the game and then it vanished like a fart in the wind.

It is to bad we lost it was a very winnable game thanks to the D keeping us in it for most of the game.

[86WARD]

2 and 4 you are right. 1...they are 10 times what they were last season. 3...you couldn't be more wrong. Sanders, Wallace and Brown...I'd put them up against any other teams fastest three. If you want to go by overall average, Ward's 6.4 40-time definitely slows the group...lol.

[zulater]

We lost because....

We couldn't punch it in from the 1 foot line on 3 downs. From the one foot line a qb sneak would have looked good to me on either the 1st or 3rd down play.

Arbitrary enforcement of the offensive PI rule against Hines combined with an ignored helmet to helmet hit against Hines on the very same play. The ten yard loss contributed greatly to the lack of a field goal on that possession. If that one play is ruled correctly ( offsetting penalties) the game could have had a different complexion.

Heath Miller fumble. The Steelers were well on their way to either tying the game or going ahead. they finally had found their offensive rythm. and boom one fumble, followed by a Saints td drive and it's all she wrote.

So really the game turned on just a few plays. the Steelers didn't play a great game, but they weren't overwhelmed either. Turn around any of the above plays and the end result is likely a favorable one.

[86WARD]

We lost because....

We couldn't punch it in from the 1 foot line on 3 downs. From the one foot line a qb sneak would have looked good to me on either the 1st or 3rd down play.

Arbitrary enforcement of the offensive PI rule against Hines combined with an ignored helmet to helmet hit against Hines on the very same play. The ten yard loss contributed greatly to the lack of a field goal on that possession. If that one play is ruled correctly ( offsetting penalties) the game could have had a different complexion.

Heath Miller fumble. The Steelers were well on their way to either tying the game or going ahead. they finally had found their offensive rythm. and boom one fumble, followed by a Saints td drive and it's all she wrote.

So really the game turned on just a few plays. the Steelers didn't play a great game, but they weren't overwhelmed either. Turn around any of the above plays and the end result is likely a favorable one.

BINGO!

[SteelerEmpire]

The defense can only do so much. In this game, the offense definately let us down...

[tube517]

Sanders and Brown aren't the #1 or #3 WR's. Ward and El are.

Sure, I'd love to see either of them as the #3 WR on the field before El but that ain't happening unless El gets hurt.



2 and 4 you are right. 1...they are 10 times what they were last season. 3...you couldn't be more wrong. Sanders, Wallace and Brown...I'd put them up against any other teams fastest three. If you want to go by overall average, Ward's 6.4 40-time definitely slows the group...lol.

[Merchant]

We started the game with quite a few screens. They were "meh..." And besides, you can only throw so many screens before they catch on...

Those were WR screens though. I think a RB screen would've worked perfectly against the blitzes they were bringing.

[SteelerFanInStl]

I can't say that I disagree with 1 & 2. The OL is better but I think that most of it is due to Pouncey.

Our CBs are poor after Ike. If Keenan Lewis still can't get on the field with this group of CBs then I'm not feeling too positive about his future either.

[Merchant]

I can't say that I disagree with 1 & 2. The OL is better but I think that most of it is due to Pouncey.

Our CBs are poor after Ike. If Keenan Lewis still can't get on the field with this group of CBs then I'm not feeling too positive about his future either.

Sometimes it's not an issue of Talent. Keenan Lewis and Crezdon Butler might be better than McFadden and Gay talent-wise but just ask Harrison - learning Lebeau's ultra-complicated system is not easy.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Sometimes it's not an issue of Talent. Keenan Lewis and Crezdon Butler might be better than McFadden and Gay talent-wise but just ask Harrison - learning Lebeau's ultra-complicated system is not easy.

Alright, everyone uses this line. I think some should actually make sure they know a thing or two about Lebeau's system before they say how complex it is. Personally I don't know jack :chuckle:

[NCSteeler]

I can't believe of those choices no one has even touched on our patchwork O line. These are guys no one else wanted, and that was the starting line before all the injuries, now we playing with guys we really didn't want either.

[Steeldude]

i agree with 1, 2 and 4.