Game Balls, Game Goats & FU's......................Week 17.....................@ Ratbirds

[FordFairLane]

I agree he said this

Could be wrong but I think it makes sense. It was a “great ******* play.”

 

[steelreeling]

I think the D performance and victory masks that Canada's offense still struggled to produce TDs. I loved the win but there is still some obvious issues there.

Now c'mon! My man is gonna have your occasional jet sweeps and jump balls thrown in there. Canada can't help himself.

 

[steelreeling]

Collinsworth had obviously never heard of Spillane before. He thought he was a special teams player.

Prolly cause he's been playin the last two years like he was 'special'.

 

[wig]

A thing of beauty. Won't get much national attention though.

I raved about that catch with my Bronco friends who were watching.

 

[Hypocycloids]

Hah, the Ravens game thread is worth reading. Some frequent comments:

• The HC is living off his one SB win years ago
• The OC sucks
• The defense is overrated and can't make a big stop
• The owners need to clean house and start over

Huh, sounds familiar.

Yep, They sound exactly like us.

I love what they call their head coach....Harbage.

 

[topseed]

Too many dumb mistakes in the first half, but the Steelers somehow ended up getting away with it:

1) Freiermuth false start penalty from the 2 on first-and-goal. The guy can't remember the snap count? Probably a 4-point swing there.
2) Pickett staying on the ground. Did he think he was back at Pitt playing the Maryland Terrapins? If he gets up and gains 3 yards, the next play results in a first down.
3) Fitzpatrick holding call on a fair catch. Cost 10 yards in field position, maybe the Boz could've made a 38-yarder. Why is Minkah on the punt return team to start with?
4) Pickens illegal touching penalty. Not one but two steps out of bounds. Negated a great throw by KP on the run, where he escaped an unblocked defender.
5) Boswell missing another field goal in a close game. The 5 million dollar man's reliability has gone in the shltter. Is he still injured, or what?
6) Heyward's personal foul penalty. He wasn't even in on the tackle. He pushed #72 onto the pile, late, then drove his right hand down on top of #79's throat. Then he pushed 72 again, off of the pile. Then, and only then, did 79 grab him by the collar and pull him down. The referees got the call correct. Heyward instigated it, and he personally handed the Ravens 4 points in a game where scoring was at a premium.

They made enough plays in the end to get the W, but they should have already had a fairly comfortable lead at halftime, instead of trailing by seven.

 

[Stryker]

Yep, They sound exactly like us.

I love what they call their head coach....Harbage.

I like how they are all pulling out their hair and gnashing their teeth that they got outcoached by Canada. Baltimore fans know him from his Univ of Maryland days.

 

[Confluence]

My wife sent me the best text last night:

"Both Harbaughs lost this weekend!"

It was a great weekend to hate Harbaughs!!

Some under the radar performances that we need to appreciate.

PH3 had some monster kicks. On a night when we need him the most, he came to play. His sideline punt was freakin perfect! No punt returns last night, all KRs...

Derek Watt coming into his own in short yardage. I think we can't afford him and his replacement is already on the roster (Conner), but I like the way he runs the ball with power and intensity.

KP on QB sneaks. We are now expecting to convert 3rd and 4th and shorts with a QB that ins't afraid to do whatever it takes for a yard. You don't know how much this killed me watching Big Ben never wanting the easy conversion. At least KP has the balls and ability to pull it off. Also love how calm he was when he had to move to avoid the pass rush and delivered excellent throws downfield when he got some space.

Simms. He was being targeted a lot, and didn't wilt. Also had a tough job fielding punts with no room for returns. Clutch performance.

O-Line. Harbaugh's post game presser's biggest quote was "They Flipped the Script" (from the previous matchup) and the oline controlled the LOS. Was it all Cambell being out? IDK, that D is stacked and it helped, but they were moving mountains last night.

Tomlin, Canada & Austin. Tomlin managed the game masterfully, and the last drive at 4min forced the Ravens to burn all of their TOs. Canada's commitment to the run kept this game close, controlled the time of possession, and did something the Ravens never expected. Control the LOS with the run. Austin, his ability to recognize that the personnel that they had last time they met the Ravens, wasn't good enough. Robinson started, Spillaine never came off the field, and Bush didn't get a snap until the 3rd QTR. KZ, Pierre all getting quality snaps. This is a D that couldn't stop the Ravens when we knew they were running 3 weeks ago, to become a D that gave the Ravens fits in the run game, and was stout in short yardage. If you guys think they can't coach, you missed a great adjustment from game to game to deliver us a win on the road last night.

Stryker,
How likely is it that at least some of the adjustments, including benching Bush, came from Flores?
It seems like he has been given no credit anywhere thru the past 6-2 run.....I mean, isn't he likely to have been included more and more as the season progressed, especially after the 2-6 start?

 

[Stryker]

Stryker,
How likely is it that at least some of the adjustments, including benching Bush, came from Flores?
It seems like he has been given no credit anywhere thru the past 6-2 run.....I mean, isn't he likely to have been included more and more as the season progressed, especially after the 2-6 start?

You are probably on to something there since he's the Senior Defensive Assistant and Linebackers Coach.

I'm not sure if it was his idea, but he's closely involved with the LBs, and he'd be able to suggest and implement the hard personnel decisions since he is above Olsavsky (ILB Coach) and Martin (OLB Coach).

If you're asking me who exactly came up with the decision to bench Bush, I don't know, but Olsavsky, Flores, Austin, and Tomlin would have all been involved, and fortunately they did it, because it was the right decision.

I remember the preseason hype linking Bush's potential success this year to Flores and his teaching. Even Flores couldn't correct all of Bush's mistakes. Too bad, he's an athletic player that lost his nose for the football after his injury. He's just going through the motions out there now...

 

[Confluence]

You are probably on to something there since he's the Senior Defensive Assistant and Linebackers Coach.

I'm not sure if it was his idea, but he's closely involved with the LBs, and he'd be able to suggest and implement the hard personnel decisions since he is above Olsavsky (ILB Coach) and Martin (OLB Coach).

If you're asking me who exactly came up with the decision to bench Bush, I don't know, but Olsavsky, Flores, Austin, and Tomlin would have all been involved, and fortunately they did it, because it was the right decision.

I remember the preseason hype linking Bush's potential success this year to Flores and his teaching. Even Flores couldn't correct all of Bush's mistakes. Too bad, he's an athletic player that lost his nose for the football after his injury. He's just going through the motions out there now...

Since we saw a very different Steeler D in this game vs the same Rats team, it seems like the most likely variable was the new guy.

 

[Stryker]

Since we saw a very different Steeler D in this game vs the same Rats team, it seems like the most likely variable was the new guy.

That helped. Having Adams and Alualu on for 75% of the snaps helped. Having a tackler at safety with KZ on 33% of the snaps helped. Leal played 52% Larry played 81%, Spillane played 100%. There were a lot of personnel moves we made that helped shut down their running game. It wasn't just one change.

 

[BLITZ]

That helped. Having Adams and Alualu on for 75% of the snaps helped. Having a tackler at safety with KZ on 33% of the snaps helped. Leal played 52% Larry played 81%, Spillane played 100%. There were a lot of personnel moves we made that helped shut down their running game.

Now they gotta do it again this week

 

[madinsomniac]

That helped. Having Adams and Alualu on for 75% of the snaps helped. Having a tackler at safety with KZ on 33% of the snaps helped. Leal played 52% Larry played 81%, Spillane played 100%. There were a lot of personnel moves we made that helped shut down their running game. It wasn't just one change.

They basically decided to play straight run D for once and not some overloaded zone trying to prevent the dink and dunk… there were actually guys playing run first.. it was beautiful against that lunkhead team

 

[Confluence]

They basically decided to play straight run D for once and not some overloaded zone trying to prevent the dink and dunk… there were actually guys playing run first.. it was beautiful against that lunkhead team

It was like an outsider with different ideas was finally "listened to". Thanks Coach Flores!

 

[21STEELERS21]

If I were head coach and had 3rd and goal at the 2 on opening drive against biggest rival, I would call timeout and tell Pickett, tell them we are running the ball twice
with the same play. You don't get it in the first time, you line-up with no huddle and run it again. Worse case scenario you leave them with the ball at the one.

 

[Confluence]

If I were head coach and had 3rd and goal at the 2 on opening drive against biggest rival, I would call timeout and tell Pickett, tell them we are running the ball twice
with the same play. You don't get it in the first time, you line-up with no huddle and run it again. Worse case scenario you leave them with the ball at the one.

You should put that gem into your book!!!!