Goats.

[Craic]

Hero: Wheaton - what a game he had!

Not a Hero, but worth mentioning - D. Williams put in a good day's effort and can keep his head up this week, as can Jesse James, coming in as backup and playing a decent to good game.

Goat: Ben - two interceptions that were his fault (third one was Def. Interference and Brown got knocked down); whoever called the (not even close to a) trick play on the field goal; and the entire defense that forgot how to tackle.

Still not as down on Blake as most of you are - I think a lot of you are gauging him as if he's playing man-coverage rather than zone. The offenses are simply running the seams, something Butler and company are going to have to fix, quickly.

It'll be a long, long flight back to Pittsburgh. Good. They can think about the game some, and then put it behind them.

[zulater]

Ill be the first back here and admit im wrong and be pleasantly surprised but you on the other hand when and if we do get eliminated are the one thats gonna be let down. Im done getting my hopes up for this team and coaches...not worth it...id rather be surprised instead of let down.

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I wont be let down if it happens because I know it's what sometimes happen in sports.

But if you think the Steelers are done and on;t have a chance you're clueless. You think the Seahawks are sitting there tonight thinking they beat a crap team? You think the Colts are out there licking their chops for the chance t play the Steelers?

No one in the AFC including the Patriots are invincible. The Steelers A game is capable of beating anyone.

They screwed it up tonight, no doubt. If the refs call Sherman for illegal contact good chance the outcome isn't the same. But they didnt, we lost, and we got 5 more to gain a berth in the playoffs. 10 wins gets us there imo when you consider the competition. So win 4 out of 5 and then the new season starts and you see where it goes.

If it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. But I sure as shit see no reason to throw in the towel now. I still think the Steelers are capable of beating any team that stands in front of them.

[SteelMayhem72]

This game proved nobody in the organization holds Tomlin accountable.

Your right...i dont know why nobody doesnt call his ass out. He needs this shit brought to his attention. The media needs to hound his ass. Im officially done with tomlin. I dont care how good or bad he does the rest of the way im just done with him. Of course the problem is who would replace him. Hes not gonna be fired.

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[MrPgh]

I wont be let down if it happens because I know it's what sometimes happen in sports.

But if you think the Steelers are done and on;t have a chance you're clueless. You think the Seahawks are sitting there tonight thinking they beat a crap team? You think the Colts are out there licking their chops for the chance t play the Steelers?

No one in the AFC including the Patriots are invincible. The Steelers A game is capable of beating anyone.

They screwed it up tonight, no doubt. If the refs call Sherman for illegal contact good chance the outcome isn't the same. But they didnt, we lost, and we got 5 more to gain a berth in the playoffs. 10 wins gets us there imo when you consider the competition. So win 4 out of 5 and then the new season starts and you see where it goes.

If it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. But I sure as shit see no reason to throw in the towel now. I still think the Steelers are capable of beating any team that stands in front of them.

But what if Tomlin is the one standing in front of them?

[zulater]

Hero: Wheaton - what a game he had!

Not a Hero, but worth mentioning - D. Williams put in a good day's effort and can keep his head up this week, as can Jesse James, coming in as backup and playing a decent to good game.

Goat: Ben - two interceptions that were his fault (third one was Def. Interference and Brown got knocked down); whoever called the (not even close to a) trick play on the field goal; and the entire defense that forgot how to tackle.

Still not as down on Blake as most of you are - I think a lot of you are gauging him as if he's playing man-coverage rather than zone. The offenses are simply running the seams, something Butler and company are going to have to fix, quickly.

It'll be a long, long flight back to Pittsburgh. Good. They can think about the game some, and then put it behind them.

So Ben was to blame for Jones' interception on the fake fg? Check your math. Ben didn't throw 3 interceptions

[SteelMayhem72]

I wont be let down if it happens because I know it's what sometimes happen in sports.

But if you think the Steelers are done and on;t have a chance you're clueless. You think the Seahawks are sitting there tonight thinking they beat a crap team? You think the Colts are out there licking their chops for the chance t play the Steelers?

No one in the AFC including the Patriots are invincible. The Steelers A game is capable of beating anyone.

They screwed it up tonight, no doubt. If the refs call Sherman for illegal contact good chance the outcome isn't the same. But they didnt, we lost, and we got 5 more to gain a berth in the playoffs. 10 wins gets us there imo when you consider the competition. So win 4 out of 5 and then the new season starts and you see where it goes.

If it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. But I sure as shit see no reason to throw in the towel now. I still think the Steelers are capable of beating any team that stands in front of them.

I admire your optimism but this team doesnt give me good feelings

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[StillCurtains]

A few things.

Anyone who thinks Ben is a goat. You're an idiot. No more needs to be said, but I'll say this anyway. The first interception the ball slipped out of Ben's hands.this either just was one of those things, or came about because Ben saw the db in position to make a play and tried to pull up on the pass and it slipped out. Either way when you;re passing in tight windows against a good team this will eventually happen. The second interception, it should have been a penalty against Sherman. Any other corner in the league it's called a defensive hold or illegal contact. But there's a separate set of rules for Sherman. He literally knocks Brown down. Off his feet. And Ben throws to a predetermined spot. At worst without the mugging it's a 50/50 ball and the most likely result is an incompletion. But because Sherman is allowed to throw AB down he's all alone to make the pick. anyone who faults Ben for this pick is a moron. If Ben doesn't throw these sort of passes we have no offense. Again moron!!!!!

There was one obvious goat in this game, and it was Tomlin . The fake fg call was ridiculous, game changing, and put wind in the sails of the Seahawk offense. I'm not saying that was a terrible idea. Except it was simply because the quarter changed and the Seahawks were able to distinguish who came onto the field and were waiting for it. In a normal situation that might work. But showing you're going to go for it before the quarter change put the Seahawks on alert. They were ready for the play. It failed, it not only took 3 (potential) points off the board, it changed the games flow and momentum.

But worse than that was kicking the fg from the 3 yard line down by 5 points. First off you have about a 50/50 chance of taking the lead there. But even if you fail, you give them possession inside the 5 with two time outs and the two minute warning in your pocket. Teams play tight inside their own 5. If they get the first down and finish you off take your hat off and applaud them. But don;t be a pussy and kick the fg from the 3! It was beyond stupid! Tomlin was the goat today! Period.

Yup! I absolutely agree. First off, you don't pull that cute fake fg crap against teams like Seattle. Tomlin single handedly swung the momentum of this game. The main thing is that you're on the road. Secondly this is the beginning of the game. You already have a 3 point lead in Seattle's territory. You have to take the points. The beginning of the game is about establishing a lead then trying to build it by executing on high percentage plays.

If you're in the middle of the second half and lead by at least 17, then that would be a good time to go for the juggler with a trick play if you choose to. You would be past the middle of the 3rd and up by 3 scores. The risk would be low, and the worst case scenario would be for the opposition to score from there, but you would still have a 2 score lead.

Then Tomlin talks about not playing in his fears at halftime and turns right around and does just that by not going for the TD inside the 5. As you said, the D wasn't stopping squat, and if we don't get the TD, we have Seattle inside the 5 with over 3 minutes left and 2 timeouts. What a doofus!

I also would like to add Blake to the list. He's awful! Missed tackle after missed tackle. Giving up catch after catch, and big play after big play! However, I blame Tomlin for that too for constantly putting him in there.

[teegre]

This season has the stink that the 2009 season had. In 2009, the team lost games they shouldn't have and that is what is going on this year.

You consider playing at Seattle a "should win"???

- - - Updated - - -

Shame the front 7 has no support from the back 4.

The yards given up caught up to them today. Usually bend but don't break, well today they broke. Big time.

Bingo!!!

The he secindary has usually bent (forced FGs). Today, they allowed TDs. That's a difference of 20 points.

Really.

If they had held the Seahawks to FGs: 19 points
Today, they allowed the Seahawks to score TDs: 39 points

[steelreserve]

You consider playing at Seattle a "should win"???

Well, we should've won THAT game. Seattle was not impressive. We just blew it.

[zulater]

I admire your optimism but this team doesnt give me good feelings

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Fair enough. No hard feelings. I'm pissed off just as you are tonight, but I still see this team as having a pulse. And it until it's extinguished I'm keeping the candle lit.

[teegre]

Well, we should've won THAT game. Seattle was not impressive. We just blew it.

Can you honestly say that at the beginning of the season, you circled the Seattle game on your schedule as a "win"?

[Craic]

If the Steelers had won this thread wouldnt have any hating on Tomlin, Ben , Haley , or forum members. We be hootin about "how great thou are".


You, my friend, have not spent much time on this board, have you?

So Ben was to blame for Jones' interception on the fake fg? Check your math. Ben didn't throw 3 interceptions

Of course he was. He called the play.

No, I transposed Jones's last INT. on Ben. I still place this one on Ben, however, at least somewhat. We saw a little too much of the gunslinger when checkdowns and short passes were eating up the defense. I understand, and agree, with going over the top and backing off the safeties now and then, but we saw too much of that tonight, and ultimately, the decision where to throw the football is Ben's. That's not to say he played horribly. He just didn't play top caliber ball today, despite his yards. But, in this loss, pretty much everyone except Wheaton and Williams has some blame to share.

[Mojouw]

I have a serious question. If the Steelers gain over 350 yards of offense through the air, did the other team blow it on defense or did the Steelers offense perform well?

Alternatively, if Seattle, a team since after their bye has seemingly fixed their offensive line woes and therefore their entire offense, hangs 32 points and 300+ yards of offense on Arizona (5th ranked D in the league) and then roles up a ton of yards and points on San Fran (well that doesn't say much now does it) and then puts over 30 points and 400+ yards on the Steelers - did they execute and perform well or did 3 defenses in a row blow it?

I'm not trying to call anyone out personally or start a fight. I just have a hard time determining how much of the reactions here are just emotion or are trying to think all this through. We can't have it both ways can we?

Steelers do good = this team is awesome and they just out performed the other team
Steelers do bad = this team is just stupid and finds ways to lose games.

At some point the other team has to enter into the equation, don't they? I mean I know the Steelers made plenty of mistakes today, but so did the other team. I mean can you imagine if the Steelers had left their DBs in the same coverages all game that let Wheaton role up 200+ yards?

[MrPgh]

I have a serious question. If the Steelers gain over 350 yards of offense through the air, did the other team blow it on defense or did the Steelers offense perform well?

Alternatively, if Seattle, a team since after their bye has seemingly fixed their offensive line woes and therefore their entire offense, hangs 32 points and 300+ yards of offense on Arizona (5th ranked D in the league) and then roles up a ton of yards and points on San Fran (well that doesn't say much now does it) and then puts over 30 points and 400+ yards on the Steelers - did they execute and perform well or did 3 defenses in a row blow it?

I'm not trying to call anyone out personally or start a fight. I just have a hard time determining how much of the reactions here are just emotion or are trying to think all this through. We can't have it both ways can we?

Steelers do good = this team is awesome and they just out performed the other team
Steelers do bad = this team is just stupid and finds ways to lose games.

At some point the other team has to enter into the equation, don't they? I mean I know the Steelers made plenty of mistakes today, but so did the other team. I mean can you imagine if the Steelers had left their DBs in the same coverages all game that let Wheaton role up 200+ yards?

I think regardless of the other team, people have a right to be pissed the coach keeps playing a bum at CB rather than the guy the GM traded a draft pick away for.

[Craic]

I have a serious question. If the Steelers gain over 350 yards of offense through the air, did the other team blow it on defense or did the Steelers offense perform well?

Alternatively, if Seattle, a team since after their bye has seemingly fixed their offensive line woes and therefore their entire offense, hangs 32 points and 300+ yards of offense on Arizona (5th ranked D in the league) and then roles up a ton of yards and points on San Fran (well that doesn't say much now does it) and then puts over 30 points and 400+ yards on the Steelers - did they execute and perform well or did 3 defenses in a row blow it?

I'm not trying to call anyone out personally or start a fight. I just have a hard time determining how much of the reactions here are just emotion or are trying to think all this through. We can't have it both ways can we?

Steelers do good = this team is awesome and they just out performed the other team
Steelers do bad = this team is just stupid and finds ways to lose games.

At some point the other team has to enter into the equation, don't they? I mean I know the Steelers made plenty of mistakes today, but so did the other team. I mean can you imagine if the Steelers had left their DBs in the same coverages all game that let Wheaton role up 200+ yards?

I agree with you to a point. However, there's some things we saw in this game that make it a Steelers' secondary problem, rather than just a good game by Seattle. First, the number of missed tackles was pretty bad. Had those tackles been made, the game would have been different (including the long TD to put the game out of reach). Second, we're seeing too many wide-open players. That means either an assignment was blown, or the scheme isn't working. Third, we seem to be having problems adjusting to teams adjusting to our defense after half time. So, for those reasons (and probably others), I say it's more of a bad steelers performance tonight. I don't think I saw more than one or two passes against our D where I said, "That was just a great pass!" or "That was a very good catch!" Had we had a number of those situations, I'd say we just got beat by a better team today, and let's move on. The thing is, we didn't, IMO.

[SteelMayhem72]

Fair enough. No hard feelings. I'm pissed off just as you are tonight, but I still see this team as having a pulse. And it until it's extinguished I'm keeping the candle lit.

Im trying to keep the candle lit...sorry for snapping at you. We are in this together brother.

[SteelMayhem72]

Hell yes...pats went down!!!

[Mojouw]

I agree with you to a point. However, there's some things we saw in this game that make it a Steelers' secondary problem, rather than just a good game by Seattle. First, the number of missed tackles was pretty bad. Had those tackles been made, the game would have been different (including the long TD to put the game out of reach). Second, we're seeing too many wide-open players. That means either an assignment was blown, or the scheme isn't working. Third, we seem to be having problems adjusting to teams adjusting to our defense after half time. So, for those reasons (and probably others), I say it's more of a bad steelers performance tonight. I don't think I saw more than one or two passes against our D where I said, "That was just a great pass!" or "That was a very good catch!" Had we had a number of those situations, I'd say we just got beat by a better team today, and let's move on. The thing is, we didn't, IMO.

I can see that. And I agree with the majority of your reasons. I will say that you can only put so much lipstick on a pig. Butler, Lake, Tomlin, and whatever magical talisman they used early in the season can only cover up so many weak spots in the secondary.

I strongly feel that Seattle and others have no had a chance to see enough on film to push on certain weak spots. I saw Seattle run a bunch of route combinations today that forced Steelers DBs to deal with two men in their "Cover 2" zone/area at the same time and engage in a series of attempts to pass route runners from one zone to the other with out creating a gap in the coverage. Clearly, they failed at that. I saw Allen critically late in rotating over at least twice and I saw him unable to stay with his man on multiple big plays (in other words he was in trail position as the receiver left the middle zone to the area outside the hash marks). Additionally, there were far too many missed tackles, as you mentioned.

I get that the Steelers "failed to execute" and there were questionable/debatable coaching decisions - BUT - but Seattle's entire passing game was isolating the "gaps" or rather the areas in the Steelers zone scheme where one zone of coverage responsibilities overlapped with another and forced individual players to make snap decisions. Or at least that was what I thought I saw (but what do I really know? I was grading papers and yelling at my TV and I really don't know dick about what the Steelers coverage responsibilities are or were). In practice they really banged away on Allen and Blake - the two leas talented members of the secondary.

I don't know if I really have much of point. But other than playing Boykin, which I have reversed my opinion on and now argue that it HAS to happen, what else can this team do? The roster is the roster at this point.

[Steelman]

Blake. How he doesn't get pulled halfway through the 2nd quarter is beyond me.

Secondary as a whole, they all played like shit. The front 7 seemed like they were at least trying, but overall weren't much better either. Really bad show by the defense coming off a bye week.

Marty B had a forgettable game. Sweep touchdown aside, he played like a raw rookie today. Bad routes, drops, not fighting for the ball. There's a lot to learn for him from this game.

Tomlin. He's obviously a popular topic of debate week to week, but so many questionable decisions today it's impossible not to include him here. I knew he on something special today when he dropped a useless bag of Tomlinisms on the halftime reporter.


Maybe no heroes in a loss, but there were a couple of bright spots:

DeAngelo is hands down our best FA pickup since Farrior. Hard to imagine where our backfield would be without him right now.

Wheaton had his best game in a Steelers uniform. Honestly didn't even know he had something like that in him. Maybe just his 15 minutes of fame, but nice to finally see something, especially on a day when AB was relatively quiet and Marty was struggling.

[SteelerFanInStl]

I agree with you to a point. However, there's some things we saw in this game that make it a Steelers' secondary problem, rather than just a good game by Seattle. First, the number of missed tackles was pretty bad. Had those tackles been made, the game would have been different (including the long TD to put the game out of reach). Second, we're seeing too many wide-open players. That means either an assignment was blown, or the scheme isn't working. Third, we seem to be having problems adjusting to teams adjusting to our defense after half time. So, for those reasons (and probably others), I say it's more of a bad steelers performance tonight. I don't think I saw more than one or two passes against our D where I said, "That was just a great pass!" or "That was a very good catch!" Had we had a number of those situations, I'd say we just got beat by a better team today, and let's move on. The thing is, we didn't, IMO.

Absolutely! I believe that all but one of the Seattle TDs were from receivers that were wide open.

[Rotorhead]

I agree with most here:

Goats: Blake, The Fake FG call, the idiotic FG call at the end . . .

Heroes: Wheaton, DW

The only point I would like to make is the gameplan was actually good, we used Heath effectively until he was injured, then we went to Wheaton as our WR depth is very good. Bryants drops hurt alot. Our Def definately took a step back, but those bashing Allen . . . he blew one play, get over it. We need to get Blake out of there, it is obvious teams are game planning for Blake, they throw the ball to his guy and it is an automatic completion, probably for a first down. Also, wrap up kid! Blake and dumb calls pretty much killed this game. As for the defensive letdown, when we give a very short field to teams for 2-3 of their scores, you really can not blame that on the defense too much, yes they didnt have a great game, but the short fields certainly didnt help.

[Mojouw]

Allen blew at least 2 plays. One in coverage that led to a TD and on the final TD pass he missed a tackle that your safety has to make 10 out of 10 times. Allen had just as bad a game as Blake did.

[BnG_Hevn]

No heroes in losses.

-Defense, Shit tackling in particular kills the Steelers again. By and large the worst performance by the Defense all year. We know the drill by now, invest in some defensive backs and undergo tackling drills next offseason.

-Ben with two second half interceptions leading to Seaduck touchdowns.

Overall, yet another mistake-ridden team loss. Not winning many games in the NFL turning the ball four times.

On to December.

The defense held them in check the ENTIRE game. The only reason Seattle scored the majority of the points is due to turn overs.

- - - Updated - - -

The FG at the end was the right decision. They held Seattle in check all day, no reason to think it would be any different.

[steelreserve]

Can you honestly say that at the beginning of the season, you circled the Seattle game on your schedule as a "win"?

I didn't have it circled as a loss, that's for sure. I didn't really get that sense with the schedule - there were no games that we should have EXPECTED to lose, and I don't mean that in the cliche sense. More like "We are good enough to win any individual game but probably will play like crap in up to half of them - which ones? Who knows!"

Seattle looked like a tough game, but by no means impossible. And with the way they've looked for the first two-thirds of this season (and still do look, for that matter), I'd say yeah, that should've been a win for sure.

[Steelman]

The defense held them in check the ENTIRE game. The only reason Seattle scored the majority of the points is due to turn overs.

- - - Updated - - -

The FG at the end was the right decision. They held Seattle in check all day, no reason to think it would be any different.

Honestly not sure how you arrived at that assessment.

When Doug Baldwin is running all over your secondary you know you have problems.

[Rotorhead]

Ok, so Allen had 2 bad plays . . . hardly our biggest issue in the secondary. Maybe Golden would be an upgrade, but if so not a giant upgrade. Blake is killing us and along with a bad game by Allen, Cockrell (who has been a pleasant surprise and solid) also had a poor showing. The point it, Blake needs to go and we should at least give Boykin a run to see if he is worth trying to sign for another year (although I could see him spitting in the face of whoever they send it to talk to him). We better hit on a CB in the draft that is for sure.

[Born2Steel]

Goats all over the place. the fake took 3 from us and gave them 7. Turnovers and penalties lose games. Even with all we did wrong we had a chance at the end until they Tebowed us for the final score.

[zulater]

The refs deserve a goat for this game. Two killer calls that went against the Steelers had as much to do with the final result as any individual play. The non call on Sherman, he knocks AB to the ground 17 yards past the LOS. Which of course as Ben throws the ball to the spot he anticipates Brown to be at, but of course he's not, because he was knocked off his feet by Sherman, so a huge pick swings the momentum to Seattle and they take the lead. Then there was the bullshit call on Timmons for a late hit on Wilson when he shoved him out of bounds a clear two yards in the field of play.

One other thing I would like clarified, why did they give Carroll the challenge when he was unable for whatever reason to get out his flag? I mean why do the officials have an obligation to recognize his incompetence to perform the simplest of functions?

[TeeTee]

Seahawks only won by the score. A Steelers win would have been nice but I'm satisfied with there overall play. Yeah , they should have run more but the real reason they lost was those crucial turnovers.

When you throw the ball 55 times and run 8, there is a much higher chance of FOUR turnovers to occur.

#1 GOAT - "Deer in headlights stare" (That's his name when he's not wearing cool shades.) The "fake" FG was made all too obvious when Pgh took a time out right before the play so the Hawks could plainly see who was in the game for that play. Simms even brought this up.

#2 goat - entire D and shit tackling. They were just terrible.

#3 goat - Bryant's "Sweed-like" hands. Now we see he lasted until the 4th round. That was the knock on the guy all along. Even after he catches it, I always hold my breath because he is likely to drop it even after the catch.

#2 and #3 would have been offset if we didn't have such shit coaching. And Cool Shades explanations for his decisions make his decisions seem even more asinine. 'We aren't going to live in fear, we are going to live in hope????"

[Rotorhead]

So . . . Bryant is now Sweed because of one bad game? Are you just mad because your Cheats lost?