Game Balls, Game Goats & FU's.............@ Packers

[Chicoman]

Well this was a tough matchup for a sputtering Steelers offense and a suspect Defense. More and more is getting exposed about this team on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football and we've got glaring problems. I'll start with the offense.....I hate to say it but Ben is DONE! Seeing him on the sidelines in the 3rd Quarter after last week saying "Everything Hurts" his own words....I think he's checked out already. The missed throws today to a wide open Juju....one an easy TD and several other throws off the mark that were easy completions, he needs to call it a career. He's getting absolutely pounded week in, week out and the ******* O-line can't pass protect him like he needs to be. Dan Moore is ******* HORRIBLE! Moore is constantly pushed right back into Ben's blind side. The kid can't hold up at the point of attack. Trai Turner was ******* HORRIBLE TOO! Kendrick Green & Joe Haeg looked ok....Dotson was serviceable at best and after he got hurt I thought BJ Finney did a better job run blocking and pass protecting so Dotson should be benched too. As for the Defense we really miss Tyson Alualu. Our front 7 is getting absolutely gashed in the running game. I'm sure i'm not the only one thinking this but Devin Bush is looking more and more like a BUST each and every week. We might be better off with Spillane in there instead of Bush. Terrell Edmunds is also not a good instinctive football player. This team will be lucky to win 5 or 6 games this season. It's becoming harder and more difficult each and every week as a fan to watch this team perform on the field. I can't imagine being a player on the team. I imagine their morale right now as players is in the *******! This team could be 1-5 by the time they reach their BYE. I don't see them beating Denver or Seattle even though both games are at home.


Per Tomlin's Post Game:
Kevin Dotson - Hip Flexor
Cam Sutton - Groin


Game Balls:
Dionte Johnson - 9 rec 92 yds 1 TD
Najee Harris - 15 car 62 yds 1 TD, 6 rec 29 yds - Stats aren't great but behind this O-line it's understandable. His effort alone warrants a game ball
Cam Heyward - Another solid effort but the guy can't do it all himself

Game Goats:
Steelers Run Defense - No Alualu....seeing teams rip off 6 or 7 YPC running the ball through a swiss cheese Front 7 is worrisome! Our Front 7 is getting blown off the line of scrimmage!
Terrell Edmunds - This guy always seems a day late and a dollar short. He got toasted today by Randall Cobb in the 2nd QTR for a TD was pathetic!
Pressley Harvin - Wasted a Draft Pick for this bum! A ******* 20 yd punt in the 2nd QTR when the Steelers were backed up in the shadow of their Goal Line. WTF can't we find a punter who can kick the ******* ball! BTW Jordan Berry today 6 punts 49 yd average including 2 punts a 55 & 58 yarder. NEVER DRAFT A PUNTER!

FU's:
FU to the officiating crew on that BOTCHED Offsides Call on the Blocked FG. The Steelers timed that snap perfectly....it wasn't offsides....it was a great play and should have been a Steelers Special Teams TD that gave us the lead 17-14 at the Half. Instead it was a 10 point swing....17-10 at the Half.

 

[CoolieMan]

**** yous to everyone not named Najee

**** them all

 

[GMC]

For every good play Johnson makes, he seems to make a ******* boneheaded play to counteract it.

 

[topseed]

Diontae Johnson had another solid game. Not that anyone here besides me will give him any credit.

 

[topseed]

For every good play Johnson makes, he seems to make a ******* boneheaded play to counteract it.

Like what? Please, go ahead and explain what boneheaded plays DJ made to offset his 9-92-1 performance. Can't wait.

 

[SteelerFan448]

Diontae Johnson had another solid game. Not that anyone here besides me will give him any credit.

He's their biggest playmaker and it really isn't close. Johnson seems to be everything people want Washington to be.

 

[Chicoman]

Like what? Please, go ahead and explain what boneheaded plays DJ made to offset his 9-92-1 performance. Can't wait.

He had back to back bone headed plays in the 4th Quarter....caught a pass on 3rd & 5 for 4 yds then proceeded to run to the sideline going backwards losing the yardage he would have gained trying to get the first down. After that the Steelers go for it on 4th & 4 and he False Starts and the Steelers end up punting. That was his only **** UPS today but we could argue the game was already out of reach.

 

[GMC]

Like what? Please, go ahead and explain what boneheaded plays DJ made to offset his 9-92-1 performance. Can't wait.

See above. He lacks situational awareness at times.

 

[topseed]

He had back to back bone headed plays in the 4th Quarter....caught a pass on 3rd & 5 for 4 yds then proceeded to run to the sideline going backwards losing the yardage he would have gained trying to get the first down. After that the Steelers go for it on 4th & 4 and he False Starts and the Steelers end up punting. That was his only **** UPS today but we could argue the game was already out of reach.

You mean after he broke a tackle and tried to make something happen after another 2-yard Ben pass on 3rd-and-4? Actually, he didn't have enough yardage for the first down to start with. Watch it again.

And I'll concede that the false start was indeed a mistake, but the true **** UP was Tomlin punting the ball from the 42 down by three scores.

 

[topseed]

For every good play Johnson makes, he seems to make a ******* boneheaded play to counteract it.

See above.

So DJ had a false start, and he tried to get extra yardage needed for a first down, but lost 2 yards. That's it? That's your comprehensive list of "boneheaded" plays?

 

[Chicoman]

You mean after he broke a tackle and tried to make something happen after another 2-yard Ben pass on 3rd-and-4? Actually, he didn't have enough yardage for the first down to start with. Watch it again.

And I'll concede that the false start was indeed a mistake, but the true **** UP was Tomlin punting the ball from the 42 down by three scores.

I'm not criticizing the effort....just pointing it out. I did give him a game ball....I do like DJ. Reminds me of a young Tyrek Hill.

 

[wig]

Diontae Johnson had another solid game. Not that anyone here besides me will give him any credit.

He runs backwards and OOB with the best of em.

 

[topseed]

I'm not criticizing the effort....just pointing it out. I did give him a game ball....I do like DJ. Reminds me of a young Tyrek Hill.

You classified it as a boneheaded play. It wasn't.

I've lost count of how many times the boneheaded quarterback hasn't thrown the ball far enough down the field to convert on third or fourth downs this year. Can hardly stand to watch it anymore.

 

[Steel Reign]

How does the entire top coaching staff (Tomlin, Canada and Butler) not get an FU?

 

[topseed]

He runs backwards and OOB with the best of em.

That's just a ******* stupid comment. Watch the play again.

 

[insaniti]

Actually, the blocked FG would have given us the lead at 17-14. Would have completely changed the dynamics of the game and given us momentum. Not that it would have carried the rest of the game, but it was a huge missed call.

Also, on the 20 yard punt, he was avoiding contact (still got hit, no call). But he has to learn to kick thru it and hope for the flag.

 

[Chicoman]

Actually, the blocked FG would have given us the lead at 17-14. Would have completely changed the dynamics of the game and given us momentum. Not that it would have carried the rest of the game, but it was a huge missed call.

Also, on the 20 yard punt, he was avoiding contact (still got hit, no call). But he has to learn to kick thru it and hope for the flag.

Looked to me like Harvin tried to do his best Joe Nedney impression as the Defender ran past him and he flopped to the ground hoping for a flag.

 

[wig]

That's just a ******* stupid comment. Watch the play again.

Actually, you can watch the play once and see him run backwards at least 2 times on the same play.
All he needs is Benny HIll music.

 

[TDX27]

What happened on that Harvin punt? It looked like they plowed right into him for a penalty. Then, no flag and no replay. I thought we were getting a first down out of that. Did he just shank the punt and fake getting run into like soccer players do all the time?

 

[Troglodyte]

Regarding the D-line, when is Tuitt coming back? Ever? Not to sound insensitive, but it’s been four months since his brother was killed.

 

[deljzc]

I didn't watch much of the game, but when I checked in I kind of felt bad for Najee Harris.

That guy is going to take a beating this season. He doesn't come across on TV as being very big and some of the hits he takes or when he gets stacked up and pushed back by 300 lbs. DL are going to add up over a (new) 17 game schedule.

The "plan" this year by our front office just failed. It's so completely obviously after three games of tape.

I said this before the season started. The "plan A" (and it's the only plan we had) was:

1. Defense continues to generate turnovers at an otherworldly pace
2. Ben Roethlisberger plays considerably better than last year.
3. Najee Harris is the next coming of Ladainian Tomlinson and carries the running game and becomes the engine for our offense
4. The young O-line matures into a decent, over-achieving unit with youth and a chip our their shoulder

The problem with that "Plan" is there is nothing other than hope in that whole thing. Not one analytic or metric or scientific based forecast would indicate ANY of those things happen. Defenses, throughout history, do not maintain takeaway rates as high as the Steelers. Roethlisberger had NO indication that he could "get better" or improve (changing OC's and expecting it to happen was just a pipe dream). Harris is NOT Ladainian Tomlinson as evident by the fact we got him at the back-end of the 1st round. And not one metric or talent evaluation was out there to believe our young O-linemen were ever better than their mid-draft positions.

Honestly, that's really THE FAILURE of Tombert. Maybe they were just so strapped for answers they kind of had to "fudge" their bets and just play the "hope" game and fake it to ownership/fans. Lord knows any real fix involves firing both of them because I think the message is old and the building is stagnate (and falling further and further behind to the rest of the league).

The whole thing needs a shake up. And really the only way that happens at this point is a new GM/Coach/QB trio and you let the chips fall where they may under something new. For God's sake we need something new like that just to get interested again because this broken record has been falling on my deaf ears for a LONG time.

 

[wig]

That's what I've been seeing since the breakdown started last year.
It feels as though the coaches just assume somehow Ben Roethlisberger is going to come up with a few play-extensions, find Johnson or JuJu deep for a few miracle plays every game and the Steelers just keeeep on truckin'.

They seem to have no idea whatsoever to do if Ben can't extend the plays anymore and is struggling at all. They're just doing the Mike Tomlin blank stare into eternity, dumbfounded that their crazy plan to once again focus solely on skill players on offense while taking linemen as afterthoughts could somehow NOT translate into the most skorz eva!

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

Tuits absence isnt about his brother..

 

[6Lombardis]

Tuits absence isnt about his brother..

Do we know what the reason is?

 

[Drink IRON City]

Actually, you can watch the play once and see him run backwards at least 2 times on the same play.
All he needs is Benny HIll music.

AND the thing is where he caught it and just turned up field and drove his legs he would have gotten the first down. I like DJ and he is becoming a very good receiver but he needs to have better mental out there.




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