Game Balls, Game Goats & FU's.............week @ Broncos

[MTC]

Jones did hold a bit on the penalty that negated the Pickens catch. A lot of that goes on, he unfortunately got caught.


I thought the wr pick penalty that negated a touchdown for Pickens was soft as hell.

I also thought Porter played solid overall. Plenty of cb’s get away with worse. The hands to the face penalty? I didn’t see any hands to the face.

Bad officiating but they won

 

[Steelr4evr]

We got absolutely shafted on the OPI by Jefferson on George's TD catch.

When will NY call down and intercede w/ these atrocious calls??? I thought they were introducing some sort of instant replay assistance today???

BS

That one got me steamy. The defenders initiated that contact. That was clear as crystal.

The week before Pickens gets a OPI on a deep ball. That was nonsense as well.

The TJ Watt offsides.

To me it looks like slanting of games by the officials. I see the opposite occur in the playoffs when certain pet teams get no calls for blatant infractions.

The refs just swallow the whistle. The NHL used to do this crap for years. One set of rules for regular season and one set for the playoffs.

They've cleaned it up a lot since then.

 

[ZonaBurgh]

Watching the MNF game last night, the Bears RT had a choke hold from behind on the Texans DE/OLB, literally pulling him back in the process and nothing.
Jones doesn't do much more than touch a jersey and the flags are flying.
I don't get it. What about the shield, the shield?

 

[Hines57]

Well I thought last week was an ugly but this week our Steelers took it to a whole new level! This offense started off today looking pretty good jumping out to a quick 10-0 lead behind Justin Fields. Congratulations to Darnell Washington on his first TD catch....he showed BIG soft hands out there as the football stuck in his hands for the easy TD. The second half for this offense was really bad.....52 yds total offense in the 2nd half and we were only 1 miscue from disaster as a miscommunication between Fields & Frazier caused a snap to bounce off Fields face mask....luckily Jaylen Warren was johnny-on-the-spot and grabbed the football in mid-air. I still see Justin Fields very uncomfortable under Center and sitting in the pocket. It's just not Justin's comfort zone. He's at his best when they roll him out and get him out in space and let him make plays with his legs if there's no one open. Today they didn't really let Fields do that very much....maybe it was by design...I don't know but Fields is not a Pocket Passer....and I doubt he ever will be. 1 Touchdown in 2 full games is not what I'm comfortable seeing from Justin Fields and this offense. As for the offensive line....I saw good run blocking from Frazier, Daniels & Fautanu out there leading the way for Najee on a couple runs. The O-line is still a work in progress and yes Broderick Jones looks really bad right now and Dan Moore is not much better. They gave up a couple sacks today but those were on Fields who had plenty of time back there. I felt like the game could have slipped away but our Defense was able to do just enough to keep the game out of reach for Denver. The Steelers are getting good pressure from their Defense on the QB's and they really aren't blitzing much at all in their first 2 games. Last week the Steelers were +3 on turnovers. This week they were +2 and one of them was an INT by 2nd year DB Cory Trice who intercepted Bo Nix in the endzone late in the 3rd Quarter. On the backend the Steelers DB's had a couple penalties out there today....most notable Joey Jr. that had 2 penalties called on him but they were both off-setting penalties. Someone said this is the first time since 1975 the Steelers have started 2-0 winning their first two games on the road. 2-0 sure feels nice and I'll take it but I'll continue to keep my expectations low because this offense is just not good. Next week is the Steelers Home opener and it's going to be interesting because the Chargers are a hard-nosed, well prepared, well coached football team. We should see Troy Fautanu matching up most of the game against Joey Bosa which will be a great test for the young kid. Can the Steelers Defense shut down the Chargers running game? We shall see.......I'm happy to be 2-0 but this offense....my god man....it's no better than it was last season! I wanna see more than 4 targets a game to George Pickens and I wanna see more touches for Jaylen Warren behind Najee Harris! Will Roman Wilson add anything to this passing game when he comes back? I'm still on the fence about Arthur Smith as our OC. He's better than Matt Canada but that's not saying much.

Per Tomlin's Post Game:
MyCole Pruitt - Knee that's being evaluated
Tyler Matekavich - Hamstring injury....severity is not known

Game Balls:
Darnell Washington - Congrats to him on his first NFL TD. BIG BOI showed BIG HANDS, SOFT HANDS and swallowed up that football for the TD
Cory Trice - Kid came in after Donte Jackson went down with an injury and played it perfectly...dropping off his man as he ran across the field and coming across the back of the endzone to make his first career INT. So happy for him after spending all last season on IR.
Deshon Elliot - 9 tackles today 4 solo......perhaps the most overlooked Free Agent signing this off-season but what a signing. Glad he's a Steeler!
Minkah Fitzpatrick - 7 tackles today, 5 solo.....just another day at the office for him but he's all over the field out there and gave good effort on that trick play by Denver to catch backup to the receiver for a TD saving tackle as both Steelers DB's fell down as the pass was completed. He saved a TD there on that play and Denver had to settle for a FG.

Game Goats:
Broderick Jones - Had 3 penalties on the 3rd Steelers drive essentially killing the hopes of scoring any points that drive. That's 5 penalties in 6 Quarters of Football for him. Not sure what is wrong with Jones but he was god awful today!
Joey Porter Jr - 3 penalties today 2 of them offsetting......I love this kid's heart but god damn he gets penalized alot! Too grabby! Without those offsetting penalties we really would have put Denver in some bad opportunities.

FU's:
Watching the Broncos tackles absolutely bear hugging and hooking and grabbing TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith & Nick Herbig the entire friggin game was infuriating! #69 on the Broncos should have been called for a handful of penalties against TJ Watt. This was really bad Officiating.....I know what I'm seeing and our OLB's are being mugged out there and the officials are letting it happen week in, week out!

Its painful to watch Watt and Highsmith get mugged with no calls.

Fields looked better than week 1 but still isn't finishing drives. The OPI in Jefferson did screw us out of 4 more points.

They either misjudged Jones when trading up for him or need to get his *** over to LT. If he is still nursing an arm/elbow injury, let him sit and get healthy. If he is to be the LT of the future; time to sit Moore. This is a real strange situation where they have back to back first round tackles and the newer tackle replaces the one from a year ago. I'd hate to think we wasted a first rounder and the collateral to trade up for him if he isn't panning out.

The defense is very good. We will see how they do v a much better QB next week. The offense needs to score more than 20. We won the game but are we much better off than we were with Pickett last year when we can't get 20+? That's no support or defense of Pickett; he was a wasted pick from the second they turned in the draft card. Fields may just be the care taker until Russ is healthy. Who knows. We need more points each week.

 

[oicu8ad]

I don't know what the question is, but I know that Justin Fields is not the answer.

 

[Confluence]

The officiating favors the home team. Well, until next week I guess.

The 2nd hold on Jones was not legit. The 2nd hold on JPJ - same. The refs go into games looking for "x" and they always find what they are looking for.

Especially compared to the no calls against the Donks OTs.

 

[Confluence]

Bush, Pickett.....and now Jones?

At least KFP and Bush got to play their way out town....it's brutal to see the lack of faith in Jones vs the guy, Moore, that caused the team to trade up for Jones. WTF?

Who is accountable for drafts, personell strategy, etc.?

 

[Troglodyte]

Waitman was a good signing. He can boom it.

I wanted to keep him after his first go round with the Steelers.

 

[Shane Falco]

Watching the MNF game last night, the Bears RT had a choke hold from behind on the Texans DE/OLB, literally pulling him back in the process and nothing.
Jones doesn't do much more than touch a jersey and the flags are flying.
I don't get it. What about the shield, the shield?

2 words. Caleb Williams. He’s the next golden boy for now. Everytime he threw a pass I was sure Collinsworth was going to blow his load Everytime

 

[6Lombardis]

Its painful to watch Watt and Highsmith get mugged with no calls.

Fields looked better than week 1 but still isn't finishing drives. The OPI in Jefferson did screw us out of 4 more points.

They either misjudged Jones when trading up for him or need to get his *** over to LT. If he is still nursing an arm/elbow injury, let him sit and get healthy. If he is to be the LT of the future; time to sit Moore. This is a real strange situation where they have back to back first round tackles and the newer tackle replaces the one from a year ago. I'd hate to think we wasted a first rounder and the collateral to trade up for him if he isn't panning out.

The defense is very good. We will see how they do v a much better QB next week. The offense needs to score more than 20. We won the game but are we much better off than we were with Pickett last year when we can't get 20+? That's no support or defense of Pickett; he was a wasted pick from the second they turned in the draft card. Fields may just be the care taker until Russ is healthy. Who knows. We need more points each week.

Compared to Pickett, Longer sustained drives and winning TOP helps now even if FGs are the end result. However MORE points are needed. I do think Fields' running ability is a wrinkle for which opposing defenses must plan.

 

[Ike Kelly]

It's whatever they want it to be, whenever they want it to be.

It certainly has no consistent application. The same goes for many other infractions.

That’s the problem that the league won’t address it. They know exactly what a Hold is. Each official has his own interpretation, and they are inconsistent with each other. Each crew has their own idea, that’s why it’s different each week. All these broadcasters say coaches tell the players to adjust to the officials viewpoint. I call Bullshit on that. The rule book DEFINES what a Holding penalty is. Every official should officiate the rule the exactly the same. They sure do with protecting the QB. Same with PI, however, they really need to start using the Booth official on subjective calls.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

The holding call against Jones that wiped the 50 yard bomb to George was ticky tacky, at best. Jones did 'tug' the jersey, slightly, but let it go before Justin passes him. BS call IMO...

He dropped a dime in there for sure

If that was holding on Jones (the standard by which a flag is deemed appropriate) then I challenge Goodell to rewatch the game and mark the plays where TJ wasn’t getting held.

They’d still be playing

 

[slashsteel]

That’s the problem that the league won’t address it. They know exactly what a Hold is. Each official has his own interpretation, and they are inconsistent with each other. Each crew has their own idea, that’s why it’s different each week. All these broadcasters say coaches tell the players to adjust to the officials viewpoint. I call Bullshit on that. The rule book DEFINES what a Holding penalty is. Every official should officiate the rule the exactly the same. They sure do with protecting the QB. Same with PI, however, they really need to start using the Booth official on subjective calls.

Each game they should allow for two penalty challenges per team. Low amount to not be excessive and slow the game down too much, but a few for the really bad calls that seems to occur more often than not.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Each game they should allow for two penalty challenges per team. Low amount to not be excessive and slow the game down too much, but a few for the really bad calls that seems to occur more often than not.

That would further emphasize how bad the officiating is

I would love to see it tho

There is either a **** the Steelers directive or a keep the games close directive, maybe both

 

[slashsteel]

That would further emphasize how bad the officiating is

I would love to see it tho

There is either a **** the Steelers directive or a keep the games close directive, maybe both

Oh and that means it can be either something not called that should have been or something called that shouldn’t have been.

If they don’t already know how bad officiating is now they never will…

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Compared to Pickett, Longer sustained drives and winning TOP helps now even if FGs are the end result. However MORE points are needed. I do think Fields' running ability is a wrinkle for which opposing defenses must plan.

For a coach that loves close games and killing clock minimizing the number of possessions it fits his system to a T, 4 first half possessions

Maybe that’s why the league hates the Steelers, shortening games and killing advertising dollars for them…so they call penalties to add more TV time

Mike got us in and out of Denver in less than 3 hours of game time, does he get fines for that???

 

[Steeltime]

I don't know what the question is, but I know that Justin Fields is not the answer.

What if the question is, "Who on the Steelers wears #2?" Or, "Who is the Steelers backup QB behind Russell Wilson?"

What then?

 

[Ike Kelly]

Each game they should allow for two penalty challenges per team. Low amount to not be excessive and slow the game down too much, but a few for the really bad calls that seems to occur more often than not.

Why just two Slash? Hell, the challenge system they have down to less than 3 minutes before confirming/overturning the call. I’d let the skybox official confirm specific penalties, that are subjective (hold, INT, RTP). All the pre-snap penalties don’t need reviewed. Neither do unsportsmanlike conduct fouls. Point being, the league needs to get the old eyes officials off the field. Chief officials (Referees) they have removed, since they are audience facing. But the Umpire and Judges (back/side/field/line) still have some 60+ year olds trying to run with penultimate condition athletes 35 years younger than they are. If they are really serious about cleaning up the inconsistency, make the officials a full time league position. No more part-time/retired real life attorneys or bench judges. Elder officials should be training younger ones for field duty. We already see part-time officials at the high school level and can pick out those who have no business wearing stripes. Professional level officials should have the highest standards to meet. You can’t do that part-time.

 

[slashsteel]

Why just two Slash? Hell, the challenge system they have down to less than 3 minutes before confirming/overturning the call. I’d let the skybox official confirm specific penalties, that are subjective (hold, INT, RTP). All the pre-snap penalties don’t need reviewed. Neither do unsportsmanlike conduct fouls. Point being, the league needs to get the old eyes officials off the field. Chief officials (Referees) they have removed, since they are audience facing. But the Umpire and Judges (back/side/field/line) still have some 60+ year olds trying to run with penultimate condition athletes 35 years younger than they are. If they are really serious about cleaning up the inconsistency, make the officials a full time league position. No more part-time/retired real life attorneys or bench judges. Elder officials should be training younger ones for field duty. We already see part-time officials at the high school level and can pick out those who have no business wearing stripes. Professional level officials should have the highest standards to meet. You can’t do that part-time.

I just was tapering the amount down as thinking how they would present it for a vote. If someone thought it slowed the game down too much they might hesitate voting it into existence. I guess I was just thinking what it would take to initially get it into existence.

For me sure whatever it takes to get the game judged accurately and fairly.

 

[Stryker]

And GP had 7 targets. Penalties on targets don't count on the stat sheet.

Bad hold on the gadget play, but I will go back to my mantra, if they split the QB out wide, put a LB on him and hit him as hard as you can. That will stop any wildcat against your team.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

And GP had 7 targets. Penalties on targets don't count on the stat sheet.

Bad hold on the gadget play, but I will go back to my mantra, if they split the QB out wide, put a LB on him and hit him as hard as you can. That will stop any wildcat against your team.

So more sic em and less whoa is the defense for the play, would’ve loved to see a LB play a game of sic em there indeed!

 

[stillwright]

FU to Pittsburgh sports media for declaring a QB controversy after the Falcons game. No, we need to see the offense with Wilson at the helm. STFU.

I read Fields get the start this Sunday again. Having Wilson playing on the sleds hasn't worked out to well for Tomlin.

 

[Ike Kelly]

I just was tapering the amount down as thinking how they would present it for a vote. If someone thought it slowed the game down too much they might hesitate voting it into existence. I guess I was just thinking what it would take to initially get it into existence.

For me sure whatever it takes to get the game judged accurately and fairly.

Yep, your logic is sound on the issue Slash. Goodell, however does everything he can to keep the product mainstream moving. Improving the product isn’t the 1st item on their agenda. Heck, the “player safety” mantra is spotlight one. Speeding up the game just to say you’ve sped up gameplay isn’t the answer. Find and implement something that works. It’s a multi-billion dollar league, think of, try to, and implement change that works.

 

[Stewey]

I don't know what holding is anymore.

Well I can think of 2 ways.
When the refs take no responsibility for making bogus calls, we’re left holding the bag…
…and when the refs don’t make calls when TJ and Highsmith get mugged, the refs are left holding the flag.

 

[bermudasteel]

Why just two Slash? Hell, the challenge system they have down to less than 3 minutes before confirming/overturning the call. I’d let the skybox official confirm specific penalties, that are subjective (hold, INT, RTP). All the pre-snap penalties don’t need reviewed. Neither do unsportsmanlike conduct fouls. Point being, the league needs to get the old eyes officials off the field. Chief officials (Referees) they have removed, since they are audience facing. But the Umpire and Judges (back/side/field/line) still have some 60+ year olds trying to run with penultimate condition athletes 35 years younger than they are. If they are really serious about cleaning up the inconsistency, make the officials a full time league position. No more part-time/retired real life attorneys or bench judges. Elder officials should be training younger ones for field duty. We already see part-time officials at the high school level and can pick out those who have no business wearing stripes. Professional level officials should have the highest standards to meet. You can’t do that part-time.

Gold star for you. The NCAA has 1000% better officiating then the NFL because they're letting NY or HQ oversee every game. They have 5 times the total amount of teams and yet Roger trots the same substandard officiating year after year and week after week.

#ridiculous