Go.
Array title="GBMelBlount has a reputation beyond repute">
Go.
"With love, with patience, and with Faith
....She'll make her way" ~ Natalie Merchant
situation football(red zone,3rd down,etc.)
Going to have to score a lot of points .
"Zeds dead baby, Zeds dead." - Butch
Array title="DesertSteel has a reputation beyond repute">
Ben have his 4th 500 yard game.
Defense...
red zone offense and defense. were still ranked low in both i believe
Originally Posted by XxKnightxX
Array title="43Hitman has a reputation beyond repute">
3 Reel Treasure Slots Champion!The biggest concern for me after last night is how easily they got to the edge with their running game. This could be a big problem next week with the speed that NE has, even when JH was in there last night he had a hard time setting the edge. On one play I saw VW pass him to make the tackle and JH had a 5 yard head start. That is not good, and as much as I love JH and what he's done for us, he just doesn't have the speed anymore and that's a big problem and probably the primary reason we haven't been seeing him much this year.
1. They need to get a push up the middle and force Brady to move side to side. If Brady has any weakness that is one of them. But in order to do that you need great pass rushers and guys that can cover man to man long enough. We have neither at this moment so #2 & #3 may be our only hope. Brady does not pass well on the move. If you can make him move (not just step up) his efficiency goes way down.
2. Have a run game that can EAT clock. It's simple, control the ball and you limit Brady's ability to score. If you can put together 3-4 long drives that end in TD's (not FG's) and eat a lot of clock up, you help your chances immensely. We have the ability to do this but we are simply not consistent enough at it.
3. Score a lot of points. The last few games we've been better at this but unless Ben puts another 500 yard game up with no INT's trying to run and gun with the Pats usually equals loss.
4. Win the turnover battle. It sounds silly but if we can turn the ball over and protect it we will win.
5. Get lucky. Yep you need some weird bounces to go your way. Tipped balls that get picked, muffed punts, etc ...
6. The right officials. If we can finally get a decent crew that isn't 90 years old and blind I like our chances in this department. The last two crews we have had were the proverbial WORST out there.
Array title="ETL has a reputation beyond repute">
You have to hit Brady early - even if it risks a penalty - he has to know that this is a physical game. The Pats play finesse football. Just blitz him early and smack him. Give up some points but just smack him
- - - Updated - - -
Also - Sean Davis needs to shadow Gronk. If Shazier was playing - he could have covered Gronk but none of our LBs can cover him
Array title="AtlantaDan has a reputation beyond repute">
Agreed - Brady has been getting hit much more often this season and he likes it less than ever
But this is the highest profile regular season game of the year and the word will come down from Goodell that the league needs to make the game "safer" by throwing flags whenever Brady is hit
Array title="Born2Steel has a reputation beyond repute">
DBs will need to step it up. LBs HAVE TO get home on pass rushes, offense needs to play mistake free.
Regular season matchup doesn't mean as much as is being hyped. #1 or #2 seed are both at home for the 1st playoff game anyway. I don't like the Pats chances against the Chargers, Ravens, Chiefs, or Jags. I think they will roll the Titans(Lebeau). I like us against the Pats in the playoffs too, our house or theirs. Our concern in this playoffs is Chargers, Jags, or a rematch with the Ravens. We seem to have the Chief's number, plus the Titans won't scare anyone in this playoff year.
Goal #1 make the playoffs. Check
Goal #2 win the North. Check
Goal #3 win a home playoff game. Check
Goal #4 win a first round bye. Check
Goal #5 win homefield throughout. We'll know Sunday evening.
Totally different ILBs? VW, Moats, and Spence were targeted and exposed by the Ravens on almost every play. All 3 are too slow (at least right now) in recognition and maybe even in physical ability, to flow to the edge, fight through traffic, and make plays against a nimble RB on the perimeter. That is where the Pats offense lives. The whole point of their RB rotation is to force those kinds of match-ups and exploit just that type of weakness.
So, unless Butler has a way to scheme around that or a massive line-up change, or Spence just needed a week to knock the rust off, etc -- this is going to be a bloodbath.
No one out of the ILB's was as bad as Spence. I almost missed Matakevich watching him try to tackle Collins
Fair enough. But Moats really struggled to disengage from blockers and fight through traffic from the ILB position. That was surprising, as he is usually able to readily fill his gap and find a path to the ball-carrier at OLB. Different position, different viewpoint I guess. But he got "blocked" on a ton of plays by simply being caught up in traffic.
VW is never going to win a footrace to the edge against Collins. So that wasn't too surprising.
Spence looks like a guy who hasn't played meaningful football in how long? And was sitting at home on his couch for a reason rather then being on a roster somewhere.
I still say that Harrison at OLB and Watt at ILB is the best way to get the best athletes on the field in base. The coverages may get dicey, but if you can't stop the run -- who cares about coverages?
Yeah we need to figure out who's playing ILB next to VW and who's playing CB in Haden's stead fast.
I like the idea of Harrison at his normal ROLB spot and Watt at ILB as well. But I think Watt flipping over to LOLB more frequently with Harrison across from him is a viable strategy as well. TJ's been doing that for stretches at a time anyways, starting with I believe the 1st bengals game. he looks like a really ambidextrous pass rusher. looked comfortable on that side when he ended the game on the strip sack
Array title="Rotorhead has a reputation beyond repute">
Can't fault Spence for being rusty, he came off his couch to play his first game in less than a week. Hopefully he will be that much better next week. Any word on Haden's return, was hoping for that this week but looks like a big no. I can see us playing with Gay in the box more often, we need someone to break up those crossing patterns (Hilton maybe) for the NE game. Putting Gay in and using Hilton as the slot cover guy fills in the middle. I would like someone to jam Gronk off the line to slow him up a little.
Array title="zulater has a reputation beyond repute">
Don't beat yourself. Believe! If you can put up 500+ yards and 39 points against the Ravens you can do the same to the Patriots. The Steelers offense lets the Patriots get in their head and under perform whenever they line up against that team! Do what you're capable of offensively and the rest will fall in place. Put it this way. If we score 35+ against them and lose you take your hat off to them and hope a team that matches up with them better takes them out in the playoffs. But in my opinion if the offense puts on their big boy pants and gets the job done , at some point the defense will step up and force a critical turnover or make the timely sack and we'll stir the Heinz field faithful to a frenzy and come out with the W!
"A man's got to know his limitations."
Array title="Craic has a reputation beyond repute">
Not quite. We haven't yet won a first round bye. We need to win all but one game here on out, or lose two games, but have the winner of the Jags/Titans game lose another game in order to win a first round bye.
As for the key to beating the Patriots. That's easy. Change the signals and make sure all footballs are properly inflated.
And headsets... we're gonna need working headsets.
Array title="smokin3000gt has a reputation beyond repute">
we need 7 points in the RZ. As soon as we start kicking 3's we've begun losing
PATRIOTS**
BUNGLES
Steelers - 18 Bengals - 16 #0in25 #anotherseasonBungled
-Ī HTG Ī-
Oh, and don't forget to send someone to the Pats hotel and pull the fire alarm at 2am on game day...
Array title="Born2Steel has a reputation beyond repute">
I'm more ok with this now though, than later. I don't think the Pats' defense is set up to stop us right now either. Both teams will run the ball, both will move the chains, and both will hit big plays down field. This should be a very competitive game. I like us at home, AND I believe our front 7 will put Brady on his back enough to force a mistake. I like Ben over Brady in this one.
1. Need Haden back, otherwise can't see them winning
2. Need to figure out the ILB issue now, the Pats will exploit that to their advantage
3. Run no huddle against them, I know it should be about clock eating drives and taking time off the clock, but the Steelers offense performs better in the no-huddle
4. Ball security and situational football, Patriots D has made a living off this, got to beat them at that
5. Pass rush and hitting Brady, which everyone knows already
6. Keep Sensashit out of the game
7. Coaching needs to step up it's game in all three phases
Array title="tube517 has a reputation beyond repute">
Yeah, Spence playing all those snaps after being out a couple of months was surprising. I didn't think he would play that much. He was in on special teams as well.
Array title="tube517 has a reputation beyond repute">
As Beano Cook once said, "In order to beat them you will have to outscore them!"
Even if our D was at 100% strength, it still has enough flaws to expect the Pats to score -- a lot. As it is now, holding them to 30 points seems reasonable to me. The key to winning is a balls to the wall, take no prisoners style of offense that doesn't settle for a 20 point game. This is where we have faltered so much in this matchup. Everyone likes to point out the Zone scheme getting picked apart by Brady. And that is true.
But we also typically under perform for points as well. If this particular Steelers team wants to win against a team like the Pats, they need to match the Patriots score for score all the way, until they make a key mistake. Brady gets frustrated, their D gets tired, somebody runs the wrong route, something. And they will be there waiting for our guys to do the same. That's why this has the potential to be such an exciting matchup, just the sheer football excellence that might happen.
One thing though - - this is likely round 1. And our guys are younger, and have more room to learn than their guys. If we lose, but come away better prepared to win in the playoffs, I'll take that any day over the reverse.
Dissolv
Array title="DesertSteel has a reputation beyond repute">
I don't think there's any way that Haden returns. Just too soon. As for the state of the D. The NFL is a week to week league. Our D is not as bad as they showed against the Ravens but it's not top 3 either. That said, I'd say it's top 8 at full strength and about 13-15 without Haden and Shazier. The O will have to take over this game.
Honestly, unless a more detailed review of the game tape shows otherwise, the answer is staring the Steelers in the face -- Sutton. He looks leaps and bounds better than Sensabaugh to me. That being said, rookie defenders are prone to significant mental mistakes. But maybe not this rookie - as Teegre pointed out the kid is wicked smart. So who really knows?
They defense needs to limit them to 28-30 and, the Steelers have a good chance. Problem is after what we saw last night we might need another heroic performance from Ben, AB, Bell everybody on the offense.
Array title="GBMelBlount has a reputation beyond repute">
I think the keys will be:
1. Pressuring Brady
2. Turnovers
3. The offense scoring 30+
"With love, with patience, and with Faith
....She'll make her way" ~ Natalie Merchant
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