Originally Posted by
StillCurtains
Hello Guys!
So I know that there are some here that are not happy with the comments that Tomlin has made in his interview with Dungy and most particularly his comments about the Patriots. Rodney Harrison has spoken in how Belicheck wouldn't look past an opponent.
Skip Bayless made a tweet about how they struggled with Hundley on defense and saying good luck against Brady. I have been one to be critical of this team. Baltimore shut this team out last week, so what happened?
Honestly with those factors in mind, I expected a struggle with the Packers yesterday. First off, since Haden's injury big plays in the secondary have been coming at a high rate. Burns has missed assignments and has gambled at times which has burned us. Golden has been terrible in his spot safety duty before Mitchell's return giving up huge plays.
Yesterday Shazier overpursued the screen giving up a huge TD. Our tackling has been wildly inconsistent all season. McCarthy also knows this Steeler team very well as he has guys like Capers and Perry on his coaching staff. We all knew that Sensabaugh was not the answer. Besides his interception last week, he is a true weakness.
McCarthy attacked Coty in last year's playoff game against the Giants and he attacked him again this game which I truly expected. Well how did Hundley play so well when he was so bad against the Ravens? He did so by what I stated above. Coverage breakdowns on Burns' side, overpursuit on Shazier's TD assignment and a weakness in Sensabaugh.
It was stated last night also that Hundley attempted to run wide on Baltimore's defense. It didn't work. McCarthy made the adjustments and had him run up through the gaps of the running lanes. Was what happened to this defense last night ideal? Of course not. I agree it needs to be cleaned up. What does this have to do with Tomlin's comments?
I mentioned these things because if there is anyone that feels that this game vs Green Bay is an indicator that the Steelers looked past the Packers by evidence of Tomlin's comments, I would have to disagree. The eye test told me that this team was taking Green Bay seriously. The game turned out the way it did moreso to deficiencies and mistakes than them looking past the opponent.
I'm hoping that this was a game for the Steelers to prove to themselves that they have their mojo back on offense for good after last week. Is the Packer's defense great? No! However, the Steelers have struggled to score against ANY defense all year prior to the 2nd half of last week.
The difference I have seen in Ben is apparent. Yes he threw 2 picks, but his decisions are better. He's taking what the defense is giving him instead of throwing long shots all game. He is playing with more urgency and fire even taking off running at times which is a good sign.
It looks like Bryant is rounding into shape which is huge for us. Bryant had 1 drop but the multiple drops by our other targets show JuJu's value. Getting him back with an on track Bryant can pay huge dividends. We all know what Haden's return does for this defense.
So in actuality I have no problem with Tomlin's comments about the Patriots. I would be more concerned if they weren't thinking about them. These are 2 teams at 9-2 fighting for home field. Despite the Patriots success against us, it's impossible not to be thinking about the other team in that situation. The Patriots can give the politically correct response to the media, but they're thinking it as well.
Draymond Green for the Golden State Warriors said he wanted the Cleveland Cavs in the Finals in the beginning of last season. Did they look past everyone else? No! Magic Johnson said the Lakers used to look in the paper to see how Bird and the Celtics were doing. They were the Lakers' constant rivals in the Finals. Thinking about the Celtics didn't affect them vs upcomming opponents.
They gave the one game at a time Mantra in 2007 to the media prior to playing the Giants in the Superbowl. Do you think they weren't thinking 19-0 even prior to that? It's impossible not to. Just because you don't say it to the media doesn't mean they're not thinking it. It doesn't really matter. It's not going to make the Steelers or Patriots play or prepare any better or any less.
The truth is, when you have a dragon to slay, it's going to be on your mind. Let's just hope that the Steelers can clean up their deficiencies and get some guys back so that they can badly wound the dragon in week 15 to take home field, then cut off the dragon's head in the playoffs en route to a 7th Superbowl victory.
As fans, that's what we're hoping for.
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