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8-0 a perfect record, yes, but there is much room for improvement. There are so many people & positions we can grade here, so I'll let this thread just take on a life of it's own. I'll offer somr grades & let SN fgive their thoughts as well
Roethlisberger: A-...MVP of the league for the first half. It could be argued that no one is more valuable to his team than Big Ben. His stats aren't on par with some young studs to win the MVP because he has had some terrible halves. But when he is on, he absolutely strikes fear into the opposing team. Ben has engineered several 4th quarter comebacks & completely taken over the 4th all year. In the second half of the season we will not continue to see these slow starts as Ben will make the necessary adjustments. His ability to get the ball out of his hand at a tick above 2 seconds is an amazing transformation. 18 TDs & 4 INTs is all you need to know, as has shown he is a more mature QB at age 38 and reinventing himself. His completion percentage is very good, but needs to land an occasional bomb to really open up the offense. Ben has been the ultimate field General, is 8-0, & a legitimate MVP candidate as the best player on one of the the NFL's top 2 teams
Tomlin: B+...8-0 brings his grade up. His leadership of this squad is unmistakeable. Can't give him an A because there are issues that have not been addressed. 1. The O-Line & getting the running game up to par. Change the blocking schemes, give the opposition more mis-direction & keep them off balance. 2. Slow starts. Over rule your OC & tell him to get the team going quicker. We have abandoned the Wide receiver jet sweep & would be nice to see those early in the game. Go 5 wide in the first instead of the 4th a bit more. Still at 8-0 the man has exceeded expectations & deserves to be recognized as the top tier coach he is. Every Forum for every NFL team ******* about their teams & Head Coaches. Monday morning Quarterbacking is what makes the NFL so exciting. But all you Tomlin haters need to recognize & acknowledge one thing today. He is a HOF Coach & at the half-way point in the season, CMT is the NFL's Coach of the Year.
Receiving Corp : B...Potentially we can have the best WR & TE squad in the league, but separation has been an issue in the first halves of games. These guys can easily get up to an A- if they can just get open more. The deep ball has been non-existent because they are not getting free. Coupled with Ben still finding his deep ball, we need to become at least a threat for a long one. I look for this to be fixed here soon. We don't really have a true #1 receiver. Juju has been phenomenal when he can get open, but they are keying on him & he is not a blazer. Juju has shown up at crunch time & has been clutch. His ball protection this year has been a huge improvement over past years as teams are swiping at the ball, but watch tape of how he is protecting the ball. It is textbook. Claypool is a stud & has all the tools Ben ever wanted in a receiver. And he is one tough MF, not afraid to mix it up un traffic or stand up for teammates or himself. The rook has had incredible moments & of course also disappeared at times as focus is on him more than most rookies. He needs NFL experience to figure this out. He will...DJ has been great one moment & awful the next. To these eyes he can be a premiere #2. What he lacks right now IMO is no fear...He hears footsteps at times & is wary of getting smashed by 250-300 behemoths. I can't say I blame him, but here's the thing: He is 180 something & for him to ever get to the next level he is going to NEED to play with wreckless abandon. While he has many AB qualities, what he really lacks at this time is AB's fearlessness...That said, for all the DJ distractors here, without his 40 plus clutch catch AND run with 3:09 left we probably are 7-1. Washington has been money this year, but is #4 on the depth chart, so opportunities are lacking. I expect him to see a few more opportunies in the 2nd half and show us some highlight material as Ben spreads the ball around. He has made the most of his limited opportunities. Ebron has proven to be a #1 TE & hopefully will be featured a bit more. He is our best FA signing in awhile. McDonald has had trouble getting separation, hence lack of opportunities. Great #2 TE though. I'd like us to run a few more 2TE sets. I love our overall receivng corp & thoroughly expect them to step it up in the second half of the season & start breaking off some big plays. We have one of the, if not thee deepest receiving corps in the NFL
O-Line: C+...So far the Achilles heel of this team. Pass protection & run protection are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Passing protection is pretty darn good as evidenced by Ben being sacked only 10 times in 8 games, much better than Bens career averages over a full season. Yes, Ben gets the ball out quickly, but when they back-pedal in passing situations, they are holding up & the pocket is rarely collapsing. I give the O-Line a B in pass protection. As for run protection, the O-line as a whole is just not getting it done. They are not blowing anybody off the line & gaping holes, or even small holes are very few and far in between. The line has not been able to give us crucual running first downs with short yardage late in games, so I docked their grade accordingly. In running protection they are a straight D right now. Making our backs look worse than they really are. One thing I have noticed is the holding penalties haven't been abnormal, so I bumped them a bit for that. DeCastro is not the same as maybe his injury has brought him down a bit. He is not dominating anyone, but not terrible either. Okorafor can look great one play & then get manyhandled the next. Okie was responsible for our failed 4th &1 earlier in the Dallas game. Randy Gregory blew him back 5-6 feet & got to Conner. When Chucks gets low & drives his feet he can bully people. Needs to stay lower IMO. AV & Feiler have been below average as many of our runs left have been blown up. A couple of times Av's man got in the backfield on passing plays & almost took off Bens head. Bens personal Body Guard, Maurkice Pouncey has been shaky on on abnormal number of snaps this year. His protection is still good, but make no mistake about it, he is not playing Pro-Bowl caliber, nor is DeCastro. The O-Line is our weakest link right now & a huge reason all the talking heads & me don't believe in our Running Backs. Conner can't "hit the hole" if there ain't no hole.
Running Backs: B-...No one is harder on Conner than me. I KNOW HE CAN DO THIS...But he falls flat sometimes. But a RB needs a good O-Line & well we ain't got one. That said, you still gotta make things happen if your O-Line is suspect. As a pass catcher Conner is Elite. He isn't shifty, & to me HE IS OUR POWER BACK, not Snell. They keep bringing Snell in for short yardage, but that needs to stop immediately. Snell IMO is now too small. He is just getting swallowed up by swarming defenses who know when he comes in there is a pretty good chance he actually gets the ball. They may as well put a flashing neon sign on Snell that he is getting the carry. McFarland has done well overall as a rookie in both running & catching. He is gonna bust a long, long one this year....Wait for it...I personally wouldn't care if JaySam ever gets on the field again, he has been that bad. Prove me wrong JaySam. If you don't you could be out of the league in a year. Would like us to do a few 2 back sets with Conner & Snell & even Mcfarland. Give them something else to think about. Bottom line is our running game scares no one in the NFL...It's no secret to even the talking heads that "The Steelers can't run the football'. We need a "closer" the second half of the season & the playoffs to make a serious run in the playoffs.
D-Line: A-... Cam has been pushing the line & as Romo said yesterday "Is a man among boys in the NFL". A throwback one man wrecking crew. Stephon Tuitt is pretty damn quick & elusive for his size & is playing at a Pro Bowl level. Starting to rack u the sacks. Alualu has been dynamic when healthy, & Buggs his replacement has filled in admirably after a disasterous first half against the Rats. #99 is stirring the pot every now and then when on the field. The man has all the markings of a Steeler Nation cult hero. The D line is a match up nighmare. Would have gotten an A, but the Ravens 265 yards rushing, dropped em.
Linebackers: A-.... Would have gotten an A, but Bud & TJ haven't really been quite as dominant the past 2 games. And the LB's are also responsible for the 265 yard the Ravens laid on us. Still they are the OLB's in the game IMO. Vince has been a monster in the middle. Spillane had a good first game, against Dallas he was neur=tralized a few times, but still kept digging to the ball. Spillane is Vince Williams light who loves to take flight, & has a nose for the ball. I don't think he wants to just hand this job or the green dot to Avery Williamson. I don't expect him to givwe up the starting job without a fight. Special recognition to Highsmith as he makes plays when he gets the opportunity.
Secondary: B-...Minkah is making his presence felt once again & that is bad news for the rest of the NFL. Minkah has been our "closer' the last 2 games as he has swatted away 2 potential game winning TD passes in a row to preserve the game. Haden & Nelson have both had their share of issues this year with penalties (Haden) & tackling (Nelson) But they still come upo with clutch plays. Edmunds though not a star, brings much needed length and athleticism to our secondary. We have given up a few big plays this year, but not an abnormal amount. This grade would have been lower, but damn this secondary saved our ***** 2 weeks in a row. We could have been 6-2 if our secondary didn't step up as time expired...Clutch football
Special Teams: B... Been solid all year, yesterday was a disaster. Ray Ray is gonna bust a few more before the year is over. DJ actually ran one back that was called back, right before Claypools coming out party. Boz was money all year, till yesterday. Good to finally see him get a shot at a long FG. He DOES have a big leg. Berry kicked *** yesterday, but let's not get it twisted, we know who he is.
Offense: B.... We are 5th in points scored per game. That's cool, that's good...But we have not been the juggernaut that stat would imply. I don't care if we have scored 24 plus in all our games, the consistency just has not been there. We are among the league leaders in 3 & outs and we are near the bottom of yards per game. If we can shake off the slow starts, we can start putting up some Madden-like #'s...All the nit picks & the crits aside, in crunch time Ben & the offense has delivered. This offense has not yet hit their stride, which doesn't bode well for our last 8 opponents.
Defense: B+... Been absolutely dominant at times.... We lead the league in sacks, tied for 4th in points allowed per game 9th in rushing yards allowed, 5th in passing yards allowed & 6th overall. The D has a reputation around the league, but still needs to improve. We still have a tendency to let people march down the field every now & then. But we have been dominant when we need to be, especially at the end of games...
RECORD: A+...8-0...Scoreboard baby !!!
Roethlisberger: A-...MVP of the league for the first half. It could be argued that no one is more valuable to his team than Big Ben. His stats aren't on par with some young studs to win the MVP because he has had some terrible halves. But when he is on, he absolutely strikes fear into the opposing team. Ben has engineered several 4th quarter comebacks & completely taken over the 4th all year. In the second half of the season we will not continue to see these slow starts as Ben will make the necessary adjustments. His ability to get the ball out of his hand at a tick above 2 seconds is an amazing transformation. 18 TDs & 4 INTs is all you need to know, as has shown he is a more mature QB at age 38 and reinventing himself. His completion percentage is very good, but needs to land an occasional bomb to really open up the offense. Ben has been the ultimate field General, is 8-0, & a legitimate MVP candidate as the best player on one of the the NFL's top 2 teams
Tomlin: B+...8-0 brings his grade up. His leadership of this squad is unmistakeable. Can't give him an A because there are issues that have not been addressed. 1. The O-Line & getting the running game up to par. Change the blocking schemes, give the opposition more mis-direction & keep them off balance. 2. Slow starts. Over rule your OC & tell him to get the team going quicker. We have abandoned the Wide receiver jet sweep & would be nice to see those early in the game. Go 5 wide in the first instead of the 4th a bit more. Still at 8-0 the man has exceeded expectations & deserves to be recognized as the top tier coach he is. Every Forum for every NFL team ******* about their teams & Head Coaches. Monday morning Quarterbacking is what makes the NFL so exciting. But all you Tomlin haters need to recognize & acknowledge one thing today. He is a HOF Coach & at the half-way point in the season, CMT is the NFL's Coach of the Year.
Receiving Corp : B...Potentially we can have the best WR & TE squad in the league, but separation has been an issue in the first halves of games. These guys can easily get up to an A- if they can just get open more. The deep ball has been non-existent because they are not getting free. Coupled with Ben still finding his deep ball, we need to become at least a threat for a long one. I look for this to be fixed here soon. We don't really have a true #1 receiver. Juju has been phenomenal when he can get open, but they are keying on him & he is not a blazer. Juju has shown up at crunch time & has been clutch. His ball protection this year has been a huge improvement over past years as teams are swiping at the ball, but watch tape of how he is protecting the ball. It is textbook. Claypool is a stud & has all the tools Ben ever wanted in a receiver. And he is one tough MF, not afraid to mix it up un traffic or stand up for teammates or himself. The rook has had incredible moments & of course also disappeared at times as focus is on him more than most rookies. He needs NFL experience to figure this out. He will...DJ has been great one moment & awful the next. To these eyes he can be a premiere #2. What he lacks right now IMO is no fear...He hears footsteps at times & is wary of getting smashed by 250-300 behemoths. I can't say I blame him, but here's the thing: He is 180 something & for him to ever get to the next level he is going to NEED to play with wreckless abandon. While he has many AB qualities, what he really lacks at this time is AB's fearlessness...That said, for all the DJ distractors here, without his 40 plus clutch catch AND run with 3:09 left we probably are 7-1. Washington has been money this year, but is #4 on the depth chart, so opportunities are lacking. I expect him to see a few more opportunies in the 2nd half and show us some highlight material as Ben spreads the ball around. He has made the most of his limited opportunities. Ebron has proven to be a #1 TE & hopefully will be featured a bit more. He is our best FA signing in awhile. McDonald has had trouble getting separation, hence lack of opportunities. Great #2 TE though. I'd like us to run a few more 2TE sets. I love our overall receivng corp & thoroughly expect them to step it up in the second half of the season & start breaking off some big plays. We have one of the, if not thee deepest receiving corps in the NFL
O-Line: C+...So far the Achilles heel of this team. Pass protection & run protection are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Passing protection is pretty darn good as evidenced by Ben being sacked only 10 times in 8 games, much better than Bens career averages over a full season. Yes, Ben gets the ball out quickly, but when they back-pedal in passing situations, they are holding up & the pocket is rarely collapsing. I give the O-Line a B in pass protection. As for run protection, the O-line as a whole is just not getting it done. They are not blowing anybody off the line & gaping holes, or even small holes are very few and far in between. The line has not been able to give us crucual running first downs with short yardage late in games, so I docked their grade accordingly. In running protection they are a straight D right now. Making our backs look worse than they really are. One thing I have noticed is the holding penalties haven't been abnormal, so I bumped them a bit for that. DeCastro is not the same as maybe his injury has brought him down a bit. He is not dominating anyone, but not terrible either. Okorafor can look great one play & then get manyhandled the next. Okie was responsible for our failed 4th &1 earlier in the Dallas game. Randy Gregory blew him back 5-6 feet & got to Conner. When Chucks gets low & drives his feet he can bully people. Needs to stay lower IMO. AV & Feiler have been below average as many of our runs left have been blown up. A couple of times Av's man got in the backfield on passing plays & almost took off Bens head. Bens personal Body Guard, Maurkice Pouncey has been shaky on on abnormal number of snaps this year. His protection is still good, but make no mistake about it, he is not playing Pro-Bowl caliber, nor is DeCastro. The O-Line is our weakest link right now & a huge reason all the talking heads & me don't believe in our Running Backs. Conner can't "hit the hole" if there ain't no hole.
Running Backs: B-...No one is harder on Conner than me. I KNOW HE CAN DO THIS...But he falls flat sometimes. But a RB needs a good O-Line & well we ain't got one. That said, you still gotta make things happen if your O-Line is suspect. As a pass catcher Conner is Elite. He isn't shifty, & to me HE IS OUR POWER BACK, not Snell. They keep bringing Snell in for short yardage, but that needs to stop immediately. Snell IMO is now too small. He is just getting swallowed up by swarming defenses who know when he comes in there is a pretty good chance he actually gets the ball. They may as well put a flashing neon sign on Snell that he is getting the carry. McFarland has done well overall as a rookie in both running & catching. He is gonna bust a long, long one this year....Wait for it...I personally wouldn't care if JaySam ever gets on the field again, he has been that bad. Prove me wrong JaySam. If you don't you could be out of the league in a year. Would like us to do a few 2 back sets with Conner & Snell & even Mcfarland. Give them something else to think about. Bottom line is our running game scares no one in the NFL...It's no secret to even the talking heads that "The Steelers can't run the football'. We need a "closer" the second half of the season & the playoffs to make a serious run in the playoffs.
D-Line: A-... Cam has been pushing the line & as Romo said yesterday "Is a man among boys in the NFL". A throwback one man wrecking crew. Stephon Tuitt is pretty damn quick & elusive for his size & is playing at a Pro Bowl level. Starting to rack u the sacks. Alualu has been dynamic when healthy, & Buggs his replacement has filled in admirably after a disasterous first half against the Rats. #99 is stirring the pot every now and then when on the field. The man has all the markings of a Steeler Nation cult hero. The D line is a match up nighmare. Would have gotten an A, but the Ravens 265 yards rushing, dropped em.
Linebackers: A-.... Would have gotten an A, but Bud & TJ haven't really been quite as dominant the past 2 games. And the LB's are also responsible for the 265 yard the Ravens laid on us. Still they are the OLB's in the game IMO. Vince has been a monster in the middle. Spillane had a good first game, against Dallas he was neur=tralized a few times, but still kept digging to the ball. Spillane is Vince Williams light who loves to take flight, & has a nose for the ball. I don't think he wants to just hand this job or the green dot to Avery Williamson. I don't expect him to givwe up the starting job without a fight. Special recognition to Highsmith as he makes plays when he gets the opportunity.
Secondary: B-...Minkah is making his presence felt once again & that is bad news for the rest of the NFL. Minkah has been our "closer' the last 2 games as he has swatted away 2 potential game winning TD passes in a row to preserve the game. Haden & Nelson have both had their share of issues this year with penalties (Haden) & tackling (Nelson) But they still come upo with clutch plays. Edmunds though not a star, brings much needed length and athleticism to our secondary. We have given up a few big plays this year, but not an abnormal amount. This grade would have been lower, but damn this secondary saved our ***** 2 weeks in a row. We could have been 6-2 if our secondary didn't step up as time expired...Clutch football
Special Teams: B... Been solid all year, yesterday was a disaster. Ray Ray is gonna bust a few more before the year is over. DJ actually ran one back that was called back, right before Claypools coming out party. Boz was money all year, till yesterday. Good to finally see him get a shot at a long FG. He DOES have a big leg. Berry kicked *** yesterday, but let's not get it twisted, we know who he is.
Offense: B.... We are 5th in points scored per game. That's cool, that's good...But we have not been the juggernaut that stat would imply. I don't care if we have scored 24 plus in all our games, the consistency just has not been there. We are among the league leaders in 3 & outs and we are near the bottom of yards per game. If we can shake off the slow starts, we can start putting up some Madden-like #'s...All the nit picks & the crits aside, in crunch time Ben & the offense has delivered. This offense has not yet hit their stride, which doesn't bode well for our last 8 opponents.
Defense: B+... Been absolutely dominant at times.... We lead the league in sacks, tied for 4th in points allowed per game 9th in rushing yards allowed, 5th in passing yards allowed & 6th overall. The D has a reputation around the league, but still needs to improve. We still have a tendency to let people march down the field every now & then. But we have been dominant when we need to be, especially at the end of games...
RECORD: A+...8-0...Scoreboard baby !!!
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