Game Balls, Game Goats & FU's.............week 3 vs Chargers....

[Chicoman]

Another week, another nail biter for the Steeler Nation! Coming into today's game I knew it would be a physical matchup for the Steelers. Steelers blew some good opportunities today most notably blowing a golden opportunity starting a drive on the Chargers 41 yd line. They lost the turnover battle too in this one but came away with the victory to go 3-0. All week long we kept hearing Arthur Smith saying this offense was starting to come togther.......in the 4th Quarter today we might have seen a glimpse of that as Justin Fields hit Calvin Austin on a slant over the middle of the field....he threaded the needle perfectly between 3 Defenders and Austin did the rest taking it all the way (55 yards) to put the Steelers up by 10 points with 7 minutes to go in the game. The Steelers O-line took over from there pushing the Chargers front 7 all over the field at will to finish off the game. Defensively the Steelers held the Chargers to just 61 yards rushing and in the second half they held the Chargers to -4 yds total offense.....incredible! Cam Heyward, Elandon Roberts, Nick Herbig & TJ Watt led the way in the 2nd half for the Defense as they sacked Herbert and his replacement Taylor Heinike 5 times and he never really had much of a chance after Herbert's injury. I thought Justin Fields made some good progress today and certainly didn't hurt his chances of remaining the Steelers starter. Scotty Miller is a fast, twitchy WR. Van Jefferson went down early with an injury and it was nice to see Calvin Austin step up and make the plays that you need your #2 WR to make. Looking ahead when will Roman Wilson make his debut for the Steelers. The O-line did ok today......they finally were able to create running lanes in the 4th Quarter. About the only negatives in this game were the INT thrown by Fields that was batted around and Intercepted by Bud Dupree and the penalties for Illegal Formation...I think there was 3 of those called against us, one negated a big gain that would have put us inside the Red Zone....very frustrating! So as we sit here after 3 weeks our Steelers are 3-0 and I'd be lying if I told you I expected this. I honestly thought we'd be 1-2 or 0-3 as my expectations this season were not good but I'm starting to get a little giddy watching this Defense after 3 weeks and don't look now but maybe the offense and Justin Fields is starting to get it. So far this season reminds me a little bit of 1974 season where our Defense was top notch but the offense wasn't quite there but we saw glimpses of what it could be....I see things that remind me of that season after 3 weeks. Lets enjoy this one and get ready for the Colts next week! The only thing I wish was that Tomlin ran it in for the late TD because I ******* hate both Crybaughs!

Per Tomlin's Post Game:
Cory Trice - Hamstring being evalauated
Alex Highsmith - Groin Injury beign evaluated
Van Jerfferson - Eye injury but was able to return in the 4th Quarter
Jaylen Warren - seemed injured...was pulled from the game by Coach Tomlin

Game Balls:
Justin Fields - His best game as a Steeler 25 for 32 245 yds 1 TD, 1 INT - Did a great job threading the needle to Calvin Austin in the 4th QTR. That's a BIG TIME NFL Caliber throw!
Calvin Austin - Kid stepped up after Van Jefferson went down on the first drive with an eye injury! 4 rec 95 yds 1 TD
Nick Herbig - 2 sacks today after Highsmith went down....he should have had 3 sacks but he whiffed on Herbert before halftime
Patrick Queen - 8 tackles today....should have had an INT today too but he was great in run support
Chris Boswell - He missed a 62 yd FG but he also kicked a FG that put him over 1,000 points scoring for his career! Congrats to the Wizard of Boz!
Scotty Miller - 2 nice receptions today to keep the drive going. He's fast and twitchy!
Corderall Patterson - Some nice runs late including a 3rd & 13 conversion for the first down as the Steelers took the air out of the football down the stretch
Joey Porter Jr - His tacking is a vastly improved part of his game...he made a nice tackle for a loss today. 4 tackles today

Game Goats:
None.....great team win against a physical and tough Chargers team!

FU's:
**** THE HARBAUGH'S Just because I HATE THEM BOTH!

 

[steelcan58]

I think Broderick Jones deserves a nod too. A lot of people including myself have been down on him. The entire OL got stronger as the game went on. You're only as strong as your weakest link and there wasn't one today.

 

[Sarge]

Steelers defense. They held a team averaging 195 yards a game rushing to 61 yards on 20 carries.

 

[BLITZ]

Game balls- the coaches. great gameplan on O and D.

 

[stillwright]

I think Broderick Jones deserves a nod too. A lot of people including myself have been down on him. The entire OL got stronger as the game went on. You're only as strong as your weakest link and there wasn't one today.

I thought he would be ok today. Our entire OL needs to do better run blocking early on in games though.

 

[stillwright]

Game balls- the coaches. great gameplan on O and D.

Props to Tomlin for letting his coaches coach today.

 

[stillwright]

Steelers defense. They held a team averaging 195 yards a game rushing to 61 yards on 20 carries.

The old man showed up numerous times today.....big plays. Great job Cam!!!!

 

[stillwright]

I don't understand why Warren is playing. He obviously isn't 100%. Give his hat to someone else and let him rest and heal.

 

[CoolieMan]

Game ball - Roberts

sack and knocked Herbert out of the game

 

[TimesAreChanged]

Tomlin deserves a game ball with the added benefit of watching craniums explode

 

[speedicut]

We didn't hurt ourselves much with penalties like last week.
The two for illegal formation are easy to fix.

 

[Steeltime]

Nice summary, Chicoman. One other point - remember how the Steelers got two road wins only because the Falcons and Broncos are terrible?

Yeah, maybe not.

 

[slashsteel]

Props to Tomlin for letting his coaches coach today.

I got that feel. That he hasn’t been micromanaging Smith.

I always say when losing he gets blame

When they are three and OH?

He gets kudos

 

[Steeltime]

I got that feel. That he hasn’t been micromanaging Smith.

I always say when losing he gets blame

When they are three and OH?

He gets kudos

And as Sarge noted in the Game Thread, Smith very plainly adjusted as the game progressed. The first 3 drives were finding out what the Chargers were doing and where they might be attacked. Those drives consisted of 9 plays, -5 yards. The rest of the game consisted of 56 plays, 351 yards, an average of 6.3 yards per play against a good defense.

 

[CoolieMan]

And as Sarge noted in the Game Thread, Smith very plainly adjusted as the game progressed. The first 3 drives were finding out what the Chargers were doing and where they might be attacked. Those drives consisted of 9 plays, -5 yards. The rest of the game consisted of 56 plays, 351 yards, an average of 6.3 yards per play against a good defense.

the Steelers scored on their 3rd drive of the game

 

[Troglodyte]

Najee gets a game ball. If you didn’t find him impressive, you don’t understand the game of football.

 

[Steeltime]

the Steelers scored on their 3rd drive of the game

 

[SteelerFan448]

Nick Herbig - monster pass rush today.
Joey Porter Jr. - big stepping up in run defense.
Justin Fields - easily his best game as a Steeler. Had 2 good throws dropped and anther good pass knocked away.

 

[Ike Kelly]

Another week, another nail biter for the Steeler Nation! Coming into today's game I knew it would be a physical matchup for the Steelers. Steelers blew some good opportunities today most notably blowing a golden opportunity starting a drive on the Chargers 41 yd line. They lost the turnover battle too in this one but came away with the victory to go 3-0. All week long we kept hearing Arthur Smith saying this offense was starting to come togther.......in the 4th Quarter today we might have seen a glimpse of that as Justin Fields hit Calvin Austin on a slant over the middle of the field....he threaded the needle perfectly between 3 Defenders and Austin did the rest taking it all the way (55 yards) to put the Steelers up by 10 points with 7 minutes to go in the game. The Steelers O-line took over from there pushing the Chargers front 7 all over the field at will to finish off the game. Defensively the Steelers held the Chargers to just 61 yards rushing and in the second half they held the Chargers to -4 yds total offense.....incredible! Cam Heyward, Elandon Roberts, Nick Herbig & TJ Watt led the way in the 2nd half for the Defense as they sacked Herbert and his replacement Taylor Heinike 5 times and he never really had much of a chance after Herbert's injury. I thought Justin Fields made some good progress today and certainly didn't hurt his chances of remaining the Steelers starter. Scotty Miller is a fast, twitchy WR. Van Jefferson went down early with an injury and it was nice to see Calvin Austin step up and make the plays that you need your #2 WR to make. Looking ahead when will Roman Wilson make his debut for the Steelers. The O-line did ok today......they finally were able to create running lanes in the 4th Quarter. About the only negatives in this game were the INT thrown by Fields that was batted around and Intercepted by Bud Dupree and the penalties for Illegal Formation...I think there was 3 of those called against us, one negated a big gain that would have put us inside the Red Zone....very frustrating! So as we sit here after 3 weeks our Steelers are 3-0 and I'd be lying if I told you I expected this. I honestly thought we'd be 1-2 or 0-3 as my expectations this season were not good but I'm starting to get a little giddy watching this Defense after 3 weeks and don't look now but maybe the offense and Justin Fields is starting to get it. So far this season reminds me a little bit of 1974 season where our Defense was top notch but the offense wasn't quite there but we saw glimpses of what it could be....I see things that remind me of that season after 3 weeks. Lets enjoy this one and get ready for the Colts next week! The only thing I wish was that Tomlin ran it in for the late TD because I ******* hate both Crybaughs!

Per Tomlin's Post Game:
Cory Trice - Hamstring being evalauated
Alex Highsmith - Groin Injury beign evaluated
Van Jerfferson - Eye injury but was able to return in the 4th Quarter
Jaylen Warren - seemed injured...was pulled from the game by Coach Tomlin

Game Balls:
Justin Fields - His best game as a Steeler 25 for 32 245 yds 1 TD, 1 INT - Did a great job threading the needle to Calvin Austin in the 4th QTR. That's a BIG TIME NFL Caliber throw!
Calvin Austin - Kid stepped up after Van Jefferson went down on the first drive with an eye injury! 4 rec 95 yds 1 TD
Nick Herbig - 2 sacks today after Highsmith went down....he should have had 3 sacks but he whiffed on Herbert before halftime
Patrick Queen - 8 tackles today....should have had an INT today too but he was great in run support
Chris Boswell - He missed a 62 yd FG but he also kicked a FG that put him over 1,000 points scoring for his career! Congrats to the Wizard of Boz!
Scotty Miller - 2 nice receptions today to keep the drive going. He's fast and twitchy!
Corderall Patterson - Some nice runs late including a 3rd & 13 conversion for the first down as the Steelers took the air out of the football down the stretch
Joey Porter Jr - His tacking is a vastly improved part of his game...he made a nice tackle for a loss today. 4 tackles today

Game Goats:
None.....great team win against a physical and tough Chargers team!

FU's:
**** THE HARBAUGH'S Just because I HATE THEM BOTH!

Chico is the man because he’s the only one to bring up Boz. Quietly ihis way to be the best Steeler kicker ever (yes even Anderson).

 

[Sarge]

Najee gets a game ball. If you didn’t find him impressive, you don’t understand the game of football.

I’m not so sure. He was 14 carries for 30 yards at one point. His last 4 carries netted 40 yards and he finished 18/70.

Perhaps he found another gear, or maybe the defense was gassed and beat up late in the game. I mean, even Cordarelle Patterson was ripping off big gains late in the game.

I tend to believe that the Steelers OL wore the defense down more than Najee took the game over. I guess it doesn’t matter much as the result is what is most important.

 

[slashsteel]

I’m not so sure. He was 14 carries for 30 yards at one point. His last 4 carries netted 40 yards and he finished 18/70.

Perhaps he found another gear, or maybe the defense was gassed and beat up late in the game. I mean, even Cordarelle Patterson was ripping off big gains late in the game.

I tend to believe that the Steelers OL wore the defense down more than Najee took the game over. I guess it doesn’t matter much as the result is what is most important.

I think what we can’t measure statistically is the effect of what each physical runner has on an opposing defense. So while an O-line can impact the running game so can a physical back.

Both go hand in hand in this instance IMO.

 

[SteelerSask2]

Great write up!

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

I think the O line is coming together better. They looked progressively better as the game went. Also better than the first 2 games.

 

[Sarge]

I think what we can’t measure statistically is the effect of what each physical runner has on an opposing defense. So while an O-line can impact the running game so can a physical back.

Both go hand in hand in this instance IMO.

If that’s the case, then we can’t measure statistically what effect a physical offensive line has on the opposing defense. So while a physical back can impact the running game, so can a physical offensive line.

If the two go hand in hand, and I agree they do, why does the back get the credit for taking the game over rather than the guys blowing holes open for him?

 

[Djfan]

If the two go hand in hand, and I agree they do, why does the back get the credit for taking the game over rather than the guys blowing holes open for him?

I have often asked this as well.