Initial thoughts on raider game

[Drink IRON City]

Maybe now we can put rest the myth that the Raiders always beat us.

How about never a loss in VEGAS……….. ?


Salute the nation

 

[Stewey]

How about never a loss in VEGAS……….. ?


Salute the nation

That is also true.

 

[madinsomniac]

I will restate, I dont have any problem with Harris the RB and never did... he is a prototypical big back.

What I have had issues with were:
A. His draft position... because I dont believe any RB should go in the first round unless its a total luxury pick..
B. His use... he isnt a speed back. His runs should mostly be between the tackles and preferable behind an oline drive blocking for him..

 

[SteelerSask2]

A wins a win. They got a lot of bounces and calls. Lots of things unfixed.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

It was a solid win but i still don't feel much better about the offense in general. Run blocking was better and Najee was more decisive. Maybe Najee is pushed when Warren is active.

The passing game was still awful. I don't understand how they are not designing plays to go to Freiermuth. Today the run game was working and still almost nothing from the pass game. It's hard to tell from TV. Are there guys open and Fields is not seeing them or is nobody open? Probably a mix of both.

Decide if Fields is the guy or not. If you are sticking with Fields then modify the offense to fit him. He has trouble reading the field. I think that it's even harder for him when he has to turn his back to the defense on play action. I don't think Ben liked that either. Instead of so many pistol formations where Fields turns his back on the fake, make it shotgun where he can keep his eyes on the defense while carrying out the fake. That's his comfort zone.

Roman Wilson looked like he was on the field for only a few plays. Every week i watch other teams play guys at WR that are bench guys or practice squad call-ups. Somehow they are able to make plays in the NFL. I refuse to believe this Arthur Smith offense is so complex that Wilson is just lost.

What is more likely is that Smith would rather have a bunch of TE types on the field. Well guess what, you only have 1 TE worth anything in the passing game, Freiermuth. Washington is more like a tackle eligible. A Matt Spaeth type that can catch the occasional pass but not a primary target.

If you are drawing up plays for Connor Heyward, go to the board, erase it and draw something else.

If you think Wilson is too small and lacks physicality to play outside in this offense then why did you draft him? There were multiple bigger WRs still on the board.

Next up is the Jets and Pickens will no doubt be covered in Sauce. So it may be a good idea to have some plays drawn up to get other open. By others I mean Freiermuth and Roman Wilson.

 

[madinsomniac]

It was a solid win but i still don't feel much better about the offense in general. Run blocking was better and Najee was more decisive. Maybe Najee is pushed when Warren is active.

The passing game was still awful. I don't understand how they are not designing plays to go to Freiermuth. Today the run game was working and still almost nothing from the pass game. It's hard to tell from TV. Are there guys open and Fields is not seeing them or is nobody open? Probably a mix of both.

Decide if Fields is the guy or not. If you are sticking with Fields then modify the offense to fit him. He has trouble reading the field. I think that it's even harder for him when he has to turn his back to the defense on play action. I don't think Ben liked that either. Instead of so many pistol formations where Fields turns his back on the fake, make it shotgun where he can keep his eyes on the defense while carrying out the fake. That's his comfort zone.

Roman Wilson looked like he was on the field for only a few plays. Every week i watch other teams play guys at WR that are bench guys or practice squad call-ups. Somehow they are able to make plays in the NFL. I refuse to believe this Arthur Smith offense is so complex that Wilson is just lost.

What is more likely is that Smith would rather have a bunch of TE types on the field. Well guess what, you only have 1 TE worth anything in the passing game, Freiermuth. Washington is more like a tackle eligible. A Matt Spaeth type that can catch the occasional pass but not a primary target.

If you are drawing up plays for Connor Heyward, go to the board, erase it and draw something else.

If you think Wilson is too small and lacks physicality to play outside in this offense then why did you draft him? There were multiple bigger WRs still on the board.

Next up is the Jets and Pickens will no doubt be covered in Sauce. So it may be a good idea to have some plays drawn up to get other open. By others I mean Freiermuth and Roman Wilson.

My guess about Wilson is he is a guy they see as a middle of the field dude, and they really dont trust Fields to read the middle of the field or make those timing yac passes with any regularity... so he is basically moot...

 

[madinsomniac]

I think Tomlin sees Fields as a 25 year old young QB, like second year Pickett or Rudolph not as a 4th year starter.. and the offense as a whole is stunted because of it...

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

I think part of the problem is Tomlin really does only look at 1 game at a time. He only wants to win that weeks game. This sounds good on paper, but in reality it means you keep reducing your offense to limit mistakes rather than expanding it to score points.

This has been James Franklin's problem at Penn State as well. He is famous for saying 1-0. That's how they run all over weaker teams, then they get against Ohio State, they stop the run and they have nothing else because they haven't practiced much else. That's part of why the USC win is a bit exciting. They stepped out of the comfort zone. We'll see if they turtle up again later but that's another story.

Tomlin is too proud of his no losing season record. It really feels like the steelers now plan to Not Lose rather than to win games.

I get it that you have to gameplan to win each game, but you can't allow yourself to be deficient in an area, because at some point a good team will make you win with plan B and if you don't have one, you go home in the wildcard round. So yes, gameplan to win the game in front of you but you also have to have an eye on the big picture and expand your playbook.

 

[topseed]

Fields has done an admiral job.

He's more like a lieutenant in this offense right now, but his efforts have been admirable.

 

[topseed]

1) Najee looked a bit lighter and faster today. That burst of speed down the sideline for the TD was impressive.
2) Watt is something special, but they need either Highsmith or Herbig healthy on the other side. #49 made a big play on special teams with the blocked punt, but he can't rush the passer for shlt.
3) I like that they tried to get Pickens involved later on, even though the game was pretty much decided. He's a diva, and everybody knows it. Might as well try to keep him happy, or at least pacified.
4) Please, for the love of God, when are they going to realize that Broderick Jones sucks at right tackle? I understand that the OL is thin right now, but watching this guy try to block someone like Crosby without any help was painful.
5) Don't understand what all the fuss with Queen is about. He had another solid game today. Comparing him to Devin Bush is complete bullshit.
6) Nice to see some of those roughing-the-passer calls go the Steelers way for a change.
7) Great weekend for PA teams as the Steelers, Eagles, Pitt, and Penn State all won.

 

[SteelerFan448]

If you are drawing up plays for Connor Heyward, go to the board, erase it and draw something else.

Real good breakdowns, Tape! Agree with just about everything you said. I cracked up about Heyward, but you aren’t wrong.

 

[Stewey]

7) Great weekend for PA teams as the Steelers, Eagles, Pitt, and Penn State all won.

.500 for the Buckeye State this weekend.
In Ohio it started out promising with Ohio State losing. The Stains lost but unfortunately, the Bungles and Guardians won.

 

[Stewey]

Best game I can remember from Najee in a long, long time!

Long, long time? Like a year ago?

That run yesterday against the Raiders brought back memories!

 

[TDX27]

Nice win against a team we should beat. Both teams did have a ton of injuries. Need to get these next 2 before the bye. That would be nice.

 

[slashsteel]

That's it right there. As a first-round running back, the expectation is to occasionally create yards on his own.

coming in I knew the Raiders run D wasn’t good. I also remember that egg game that Harris recently gave.

Does he get kudos for the game? Sure no doubt he played great.

But does he game in and game out on a team that is built to be a running team give you that needed difference maker?

Not so much. He has decent short area explosion but you can’t leave out his lack of a long game or his spotty vision. Or the times he simply doesn’t run like he is capable.

Is that all on him no.

I do feel like you can win with him not because of him more often than not.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

coming in I knew the Raiders run D wasn’t good. I also remember that egg game that Harris recently gave.

Does he get kudos for the game? Sure no doubt he played great.

But does he game in and game out on a team that is built to be a running team give you that needed difference maker?

Not so much. He has decent short area explosion but you can’t leave out his lack of a long game or his spotty vision. Or the times he simply doesn’t run like he is capable.

Is that all on him no.

I do feel like you can win with him not because of him more often than not.

Exactly, well put!

His best abilities are availability and he doesn’t fumble much.

In a backfield that 2 out 3 can’t stay healthy availability is indeed a crucial ability.
In the Tomlin turtle offense ball security is paramount.

Dude ain’t scaring any defenses tho and such a high percentage of the offense going through him shows him to be a key contributor in the under 20 pts this squad has been putting up for years on a regular basis.

 

[steelcan58]

You might not.....but ask Tomlin what his thoughts were.

Colbert too.

 

[madinsomniac]

https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-time-for-the-steelers-to-ride-with-russell-wilson/

Take this with a grain of salt... because Madden is usually trying to stir controversy,

But his points about the game being won more on luck than execution holds true...
-two Steelers TD drives were kept alive by borderline roughing the passer calls... one that wiped out a bad interception...
- a Vegas Td came off the scoreboard because of a very borderline penalty
- the play before the goal line fumble was probably a TD they didnt challenge.

 

[Stainless]

Well Denver sucks, but Atlanta at 4-2 and LA Chargers at 3-2 don’t necessarily suck.

I was just bitching. I didn't even get to watch much of yesterday's game. I live in Michigan and was out with some friends for a large portion of the game. Unfortunately, the bar we were at had the Lions on every television, with the exception of one where they were showing the Red Zone. It was hard not to wonder how we lost to the Cowboys. The Lions destroyed them. but Detroit appeared to be firing on all cylinders, which is strange considering they were coming off a bye and should have been totally unprepared.

 

[bigben]

Perhaps a coincidence. We complain about our offensive line being terrible. Could it be that they play great only 2 or 3 times a season too?

Baltimore doesn't have any better of an O-line, banged up with nobodys's playing, Derrick Henry is 6 yds shy of 4 100yd games out of 6 and he's nearly 31.

 

[bigben]

coming in I knew the Raiders run D wasn’t good. I also remember that egg game that Harris recently gave.

Does he get kudos for the game? Sure no doubt he played great.

But does he game in and game out on a team that is built to be a running team give you that needed difference maker?

Not so much. He has decent short area explosion but you can’t leave out his lack of a long game or his spotty vision. Or the times he simply doesn’t run like he is capable.

Is that all on him no.

I do feel like you can win with him not because of him more often than not.

Harris had a good juke in the open field in the first or second quarter, so much space. 30% of NFL RB take that to the house. He got a nice chunk gain. but there was more there.
Not complaining Najee looked like a stud yesterday 100%