Goats and Balls

[Rotorhead]

Goats: Fitchner terrible gameplan as the norm, the second to last drive, down by 3 in the RZ and basically no chance given to win the game, only turtled and went for the FG with over 3.5m left. Gave the Bungles the opportunity to get the W.
MR: another rotten performance that got him benched and probably for the rest of the season
OL: once again allowed too much pressure, lately they can block the run or the pass, they need to get it together

Balls: Def again, once again they kept us in the game, 4 forced fumbles with one recovered, should have had a safety, closed out the game at the end
Duck: came in cold and drove the team for a TD, moved out of the pocket to try to extend drives, played well for zero practice
New guys: showed they want to play, made good plays

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

I'll add a goat and it is AV and he is really bad this year.

[st33lersguy]

Ball: Defense continues to make plays and force critical turnovers. The pass rush is savage, Minkah records another turnover, and Bush makes a tremendous play to change the complexion of the game. Also I don't think Kevin Colbert is being given enough credit for the moves to trade for Bush and Minkah. His wheeling and dealing got us Bush and Minkah, and their playmaking has been the difference in the Steelers battling for a playoff spot instead of battling for a top pick. Another game ball to Bos who at this point may actually be the best offensive player on this team

Goat: Offense is just downright unwatchable. 16 points against a defense averaging 27.6 points surrendered thus far. Watching this offense is like watching grass die, from the play-calling to the execution. Only saving grace is Deon Cain whose catch probably qualifies him as the 2nd best receiver on the team and Snell who actually picked up some nice yards on the ground

[teegre]

Ball: Defense continues to make plays and force critical turnovers. The pass rush is savage, Minkah records another turnover, and Bush makes a tremendous play to change the complexion of the game. Also I don't think Kevin Colbert is being given enough credit for the moves to trade for Bush and Minkah. His wheeling and dealing got us Bush and Minkah, and their playmaking has been the difference in the Steelers battling for a playoff spot instead of battling for a top pick. Another game ball to Bos who at this point may actually be the best offensive player on this team

Goat: Offense is just downright unwatchable. 16 points against a defense averaging 27.6 points surrendered thus far. Watching this offense is like watching grass die, from the play-calling to the execution. Only saving grace is Deon Cain whose catch probably qualifies him as the 2nd best receiver on the team and Snell who actually picked up some nice yards on the ground

1. Outstanding point about Colbert.

2. The bolded line above. BRILLIANT!!!

[Moose]

GAME BALL- DEFENSE

GAME GOAT - OFFENSE just ugly to watch anymore. Like there just isn't any 'fire in their asses' and unprepared. Game calling is unbelievably terrible.

[teegre]

This defense is insanely good. Aside from the plays we all saw, here are the ones that were close to being great:

-Watt had a strip sack... that we almost recovered.

-Watt deflected a screen pass... that Barron could have taken back for a pick-six.

-Barron was inches away from recording a safety.

-Haden almost had two INTs.

[86WARD]

Game Balls - BJ Finney (10-1 in games he starts), Duck Hodges, Defense, second ball to TJ Watt.

GoaTs - Mason Rudolph, O-Line, Fichtner, Special Teams, Danny Smith

[teegre]

Why do we return kickoffs!?! Really. If we would just kneel, we’d start at the 25. Instead, we return it to the 17... and get a penalty which pushes us back inside the 10.

[AtlantaDan]

Game Balls - defense (causing the key turnovers it could not get last season)

Goat - guess who? You are not having a good week when this is your ESPN headline

Steelers QB Mason Rudolph benched for poor play; denies using slur

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...ies-using-slur

[86WARD]

Why do we return kickoffs!?! Really. If we would just kneel, we’d start at the 25. Instead, we return it to the 17... and get a penalty which pushes us back inside the 10.

Been saying that for about 4 years...lol.

[st33lersguy]

I want to give a separate game ball to Bush. That forced fumble was a great play, and they probably lose without Bush making that play

[teegre]

I want to give a separate game ball to Bush. That forced fumble was a great play, and they probably lose without Bush making that play

To which I ask: Why isn’t he playing more?????

[tube517]

To which I ask: Why isn’t he playing more?????

Don't know. But the Butler said this....

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/11/ke...d-in-coverage/

[teegre]

Don't know. But the Butler said this....

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/11/ke...d-in-coverage/

Oh... that makes sense. More Mark Barron is always a good thing.

[HollywoodSteel]

Why do we return kickoffs!?! Really. If we would just kneel, we’d start at the 25. Instead, we return it to the 17... and get a penalty which pushes us back inside the 10.

I totally feel the same way. ESPECIALLY when we don’t have Ben under center. We can’t afford to be taking that gamble... and for what? So that we can maybe return it to the 28?

[teegre]

I totally feel the same way. ESPECIALLY when we don’t have Ben under center. We can’t afford to be taking that gamble... and for what? So that we can maybe return it to the 28?

Exactly ...especially when Switzer was back there. That guy could get tackled by a string wind, and his decision-making was simply awful.

[Butch]

Game Balls - that's the Defense we have been wanting to see for so long. A couple of no-name guys we just picked up (Who) Cain and (What) Whyte both made contributions on Offense. Some love for Dionte Johnson as well. Duck for Coming in cold and driving us down field for a HUGE drive that we needed, and add Washington in there for his catches. Hilton who didn't make many splash plays but is doing great none the less and Haden as well. The trio of Minkah, T.J. and Busch...just WOW. Bothe Boz and Berry to finish it off.

Goats - Looks like the Reindeer games are coming to an end? Mason played horrible for 2nd game in a row, I think the concussion had some affects on him...maybe? Offensive play calling and by that in particular the calls to try to run up the middle on 2nd and 9 or 10 after a screen pass got blown up on 1st down. UGH!!! That being said not having Ben is killing the O, I certainly pray when he comes back next year he's as good as he ever was.

[Rotorhead]

Game Balls - that's the Defense we have been wanting to see for so long. A couple of no-name guys we just picked up (Who) Cain and (What) Whyte both made contributions on Offense. Some love for Dionte Johnson as well. Duck for Coming in cold and driving us down field for a HUGE drive that we needed, and add Washington in there for his catches. Hilton who didn't make many splash plays but is doing great none the less and Haden as well. The trio of Minkah, T.J. and Busch...just WOW. Bothe Boz and Berry to finish it off.

Goats - Looks like the Reindeer games are coming to an end? Mason played horrible for 2nd game in a row, I think the concussion had some affects on him...maybe? Offensive play calling and by that in particular the calls to try to run up the middle on 2nd and 9 or 10 after a screen pass got blown up on 1st down. UGH!!! That being said not having Ben is killing the O, I certainly pray when he comes back next year he's as good as he ever was.

I particularly liked Washington’s stiff arm, reminded me of Vance lol. It is crazy that one play opened up the running game for us. The fact that Duck can complete those crossing routes and downfield passes will allow us to actually play some offense I am hoping, not have the defenses stack the box and dare us to beat them through the air.

[DesertSteel]

Balls: Washington, Watt, Snell
Goats: Rudolph

After the first series of the 2nd half, I was completely done with Rudolph. Forever. Trade him for a 12th round pick.

[SteelMember]

DEFENSE!... Boz and the Duck pass to Washington. Stiff arm gets the honorable mention along with Snell's run at the end.

[teegre]

Snell's run at the end.

Snell falling down in bounds was a heady play. Most players would have tried for the extra few yards and gotten driven out of bounds (stopping the clock). Snell stopped/collapsed... and kept the clock running.

[SteelMember]

Snell falling down in bounds was a heady play. Most players would have tried for the extra few yards and gotten driven out of bounds (stopping the clock). Snell stopped/collapsed... and kept the clock running.

Yup. The previous drive, I would have liked to see Hodges slide down before he threw that 3rd down play into the stands, so the clock would have kept running as well. It wouldn't have changed that FG try and killed another 40 sec.

[teegre]

Yup. The previous drive, I would have liked to see Hodges slide down before he threw that 3rd down play into the stands, so the clock would have kept running as well. It wouldn't have changed that FG try and killed another 40 sec.

Exactly!!! He should have slid, lost two yards, and taken 40 seconds off of the clock.

[Fire Goodell]

Game Balls - Defense, Benny Snell, James Washington

Honorable Mentions
- Hodges. No game ball for completing below 50% of passes, but his willingness to sling it downfield forced the safeties to back up and not sell out on the run, which opened up the running game.
- New additions Whyte and Cain. These guys, unlike Edmunds, Holton, and Jones, showed some promise and actually contributed. Whyte should get a roster spot over Trey Edmunds. Edmunds is pretty much Benny Snell without the vision, pass protection, and receiving ability (aka Jon Dwyer #2). Whyte is more of a scatback who brings a dimension that the current RB stable was lacking

[Craic]

Game Balls:

Washington. He is steadily improving. I like what I see there.
Coaches: whoever decided to pull Mason and put in the Duck, it was a great call at the right time.
DBs. Sure, there were a couple of blown coverages, but they were flying all around that ball.
Bosworth. For the first time this season, I forgot to be scared when he came on the field to kick a field goal. Yes, last year traumatized me quite a bit. But, he's been playing great.
Oh, and how about BJ Finney? Great work at Center.

Goats:
We went into that game without JuJu, Pouncey, and our RB. Our QB struggled (although I actually liked his arm strength in this game). That is a recipe for a loss. And yet, we walk out with a win. No goats.

[SteelMember]

Bosworth!?!... how dare you, sir!