Who was our best and our worst players against the Falcons?
Our punter and our punt returner was our best players today for me
Golden and Vince Williams was atrocious in pass coverage.
Conner has been up and down but he has talent, no doubt....I hope his drops are a fluke!
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Golden and Cockrell were both bad. Hilton played well. Good punting and ST play. Conner ran hard but dropped a couple of passes.
No question that we still need some better depth in the secondary.
“I believe the game is designed to reward the ones who hit the hardest. If you can't take it, you shouldn't play!” - Jack Lambert
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That defense, as constituted, is built to stop the Jaguars and Jets not the Falcons and Patriots. Major disappointment when the first team D was on the field. Lots to fix. Starting with getting Sutton on the field soon to see if he can unseat Cockrell (Ugh).
Only bright spots were Chick and Conner. Conner dropped some passes but he has the look of a 1,200 yard rusher in this league.
Golden is horrible, cockrell was ghastly, the first half defense was unwatchable. Connor aside from some mistakes did well, Dobbs showed poise under pressure, Hilton can flat out play
Good:
Dobbs showed great improvement and poise, wasn't lost at all.
James Conner is as good as advertised
Mike Hilton is a baller.
Bad:
Early game pass protection
He still had a good game, but James Conner's jitters resulted in a few 'doh' plays.
Ugly:
-The Defense will be lit up for 40+ against Green Bay and New England at this rate.
-Ross Cockrell severely regressed to Cortez Allen/Antwon Blake levels. Don't be surprised if he ends up demoted mid-season.
-Vince Williams cannot cover.
-Robert Golden cannot cover either.
The good!
We are 2-0 for once in preseason
Conner look better later in the game and think he was to worried about running up field in the drop passes.
Dangerfield is a good backup
Hilton is a player along with 35 who had two huge plays in the game. The return and the break up pass deflection at the end.
The bad you guys pretty much nailed it with the D and specially Cockroll and Golden. Not surprised!
35, Dangerfield, and Conner looked their best against dudes who won't be in the NFL in 3 weeks.
Steelers have noticeable depth concerns across the board.
There is reason for hope and the two lines will be fine but defensive depth at lb and db looks shaky as well as RB and Te.
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1. Hopefully Conner will be the number 2 RB to start the season.
2. Some positives from Dangerfield even if it was against lesser competition.
3. Jordan Berry has a strong leg.
4. TJ Watt is stronger than I thought.
5. Martavis was rusty but he still has it.
6. Josh Dobbs is a solid 4th round pick. (His numbers would be even better if guys would catch the ball)
7. The secondary really needs Mike Mitchell to be out there. (luckily he is durable)
8. Jesse James wasn't spectacular but not awful by any stretch of the imagination. (TE should be addressed early in the 2018 draft)
9. Artie Burns had a solid showing.
10. My favorite player on this D is without a doubt Javon Har"grave digger". Hated seeing him leave early. Hope he's alright.
Some of my thoughts, I'm on my phone, so sorry if any bad grammar.
I'm worried about the ILB position, If Shazier misses time, QB's will pick on both VW, and TM. Hopefully they look for someone on the trade block (is Mychal Kendricks still on the block?). Fort looked solid.
Golden should not be the 3rd safety over Dangerfield, ST play is why he makes the 53, Dangerfield is just solid all around as a backup. (A secondary that doesn't include Mike Mitchell isn't good, stop underrating that man.)
Cockrell...wtf happen man?? He was never this bad, did the Pats game ruin his confidence? surely not.
Dobbs, besides that one dumb rookie mistake(I have a hard time being tough on rookies) he was solid. If Connor didn't drop those 2/3? passes they could have developed into big gains, possibly put them in position to put points on the board, completely better outlook if those happen.
Hilton needs more looks as the slot CB over Gay, another player who doesn't fit the direction they want to go on defense.
McGee is making a case to be on the 53, it's time for the Grimble experiment to end. TE is another position I hope they can improve via trade(Niles Paul could come cheap, doesn't have size, but speedy receiving TE)
Could Trey Williams make a case for the 53 as a punt returner? hopefully they give him more looks. Stefan Logan years back made the roster doing exactly what TW did.
Special teams looked great, Jordan Berry was fantastic, 7 of his 8 punts landed inside the 20, great hang time also, coverage was amazing. (FYI, Rosie Nix a beast) Maybe Danny Smith can coach after all...DO IT AGAIN SPECIAL TEAMS!!!
I'll end it here, James Connor...besides those awful drops, man that guy can run with the football, the blocking helped(McGee) but he has an amazing abilty to change direction and showed great vision. I've said it before, he was a 1st round talent before the shitty cancer. He's not Bell, but I feel he can step in and be a #1 RB if Bell was to miss time, or leave in two years.
1. Graham Barton, C, Duke 2. Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida 3. Maason Smith, DT, LSU 3. Max Melton, CB, Rutgers 4. Blake Fisher, OT, Notre Dame 6. Tommy Eichenberg, ILB, Ohio State 6. MJ Devonshire, CB, Pittsburgh
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Bad:Cockrell was terrible today.
LB play was terrible (Anyone else watch DirtyRed get ran over for the Falcons score?)(How about VW in coverage?)
Secondary got toasted.
Pass blocking
Good:Special Teams played well.
Conner ran well.
Trey Williams(TD punt return), Dangerfield(2INTs), Nix(Blocked punt), and Run blocking.
Ugly:Not enough good LB play. Good depth at Dline. Should see more 4-2-5/4-3-4 defensive packages than last year. That's where the talent is on this defense.
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Originally Posted by BlackAndGold
Agreed, McGee is knocking people on their asses. He made some really nice blocks for Conner. Feed him the ball and see how he does on that side of the position.
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Davis in the secondary was running around a few seconds behind the ball. The whole secondary looked like it just learned the game or there is a new playbook that was only available in chinese.
All Defense!
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NFL draft analysis
STRENGTHS
Hands for days. Uses every bit of his catch radius and has elite concentration. Can adjust and catch it high, low or behind him with hands like a shortstop. Former high school quarterback who recognizes when he's hot receiver against blitz and opens quickly. Scouts rave about his outgoing personality and ability to bring locker room together. Considered great teammate who leads by example. Used frequently as a move blocker in Florida offense and has tools to improve in that area. Has acceleration on crossing routes to separate from safeties and linebackers.
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Thanks for the info!
Well hopefully they will start to throw his way! I believe he was open in the end zone on the Hunter TD
more bad than good and that is never a positive thing ...
most has been covered here with literal shit play early on in the secondary ....
but lets face it 94 yards passing for the game as a team is NOT a positive in any way either ...
McGee had a consistent College career. Pretty cool he wore #83 at Virginia https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb...e-mcgee-1.html
Hence Big Ben Roethlisberger
What I like about Dobbs is that there were a few times where I thought he would be sacked but wasn't (albeit one of those times he threw that hideous interception). The guy already seems to possess a level of composure under pressure that you figure you would only see in seasoned veterans
You might as well call out Laundry Jones lol. Ps as someone said in the game post, I also love Houston's confidence even though he sux. To bad Laundry will never have that or Dobb's escape skills.
Hmmm...I wonder if sometime in the upcoming season will Matakevich take Williams' spot.
Hater = Realist
I wasn't impressed with Sean Davis. He got man handled by Sanu early in the game and was always a step behind in coverage. Part of the secondary not looking so great tonight was due to a lot of man to man coverage. I'm guessing the coaches are trying to get the guys prepared for a lot more man to man, so I expect to see it often the rest of the preseason. It could also mean our guys getting beat as well, but that's what the preseason is for.
I don't know what happened to Cockrell, but every indication this preseason is that he somehow got so derpy that he can't take two steps without stepping on rake that hits him in the face and then he falls off a cliff, and then he lands on a trampoline and bounces back up and smashes into the underside of the cliff, then a crack runs up the cliff and it breaks off, and he falls again and the piece of cliff lands on top of him, then a lump pops up on his head and breaks the piece of cliff in half, and the camera zooms in on his face and his eyes are spinning like slot machine reels, and they stop on Jackpot-Jackpot and coins start pouring out of his mouth.
At any rate, whatever is going on, they need to have a backup plan in place, like, ASAP, because I do not want to be going through the same shit 6 or 8 games into the season where throwing at his side is a guaranteed touchdown on the first 4 possessions in a row.
See you Space Cowboy ...
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Dobbs continued to impress me. He made a single rookie mistake, and it was not one of the rookie mistakes he made last time, which is exactly what I wanted. Better he make them here than in the reg. season. He also only had two bad passes all game (outside of the rookie mistake), and neither of them were close to being interceptions. On the other hand, every time he starts moving, he's trying to stay behind the LOS and make a play downfield, rather than running the ball. Moreover, I noted he wasn't locking onto a receiver and telecasting his throws like he did on tape (he did a few times, but not nearly as much as the college tape showed).
TJ Watt impressed me more this game than last game. He did the small things this game that showed strength against a good OT, and that's what I hadn't yet seen in his college tape.
I feel Conner felt the pressure to perform, and overthought before doing. Once he settled down, he got good. Very good.Conner look better later in the game and think he was to worried about running up field in the drop passes.
The dude can definitely play, though.
took a bunch of pics of Cockrell in action during the game but they all turned out the same ....
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Steelers were prepared to let Cockrell walk but are cursed when it comes to breaking in rookie CBs - Burns missed much of the 2016 preseason and Sutton has not yet seen the field
So we get Cockrell and Big Play Willie Gay
Cockring continues to improve on his Antwan Blake imitation. He's terrible.
The offensive line has been less than impressive. A lot of pressure on Dobbs and the run lanes aren't open very long.
Vince Williams...ugh. My thoughts of him being a massive drop off from Timmons are coming to fruition.
Dobbs has been okay. Not overly impressed. His throws are extremely inaccurate and the WRs have bailed him out several times, maybe because of the O-Line. Ironically, his highest QB rating comes when he is pressured.
Bryant looks rusty.
Connor showed some nice moves out there.
Atlanta game performance, I again wasn't impressed. I have to go back to my reply in an earlier response to what I expect from this team for this game. I also apologized for some of my comments. I regress. This team needs work in many areas. MY opinion is the pass rushing sucks big time. The defense sucks. Dobbs causes me to yawn ( another Landry). There is NO secondary with this team. Red zone needs alot of work. I do have to give 'thumbs up' so far to Conner ( fun watching him bust out runs), and Watt smacking guys around. Shouldn't be too hard to get down to 53 LOL.
I don't know - I hope that is true. Because if it isn't we do need to acknowledge that most of his yards came against 3rd and 4th string guys.
Hopefully just first game jitters and he does better against 1's and 2's in the future.
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