Initial Thoughts on the Atlanta game

[CoolieMan]

Offense still sputtering need more TDs than FGs but the OL was giving Fields a lot of time to pass

Damn Boz can kick though - Thank God for him - who knew he could punt also

Defense could be really good - Wilson is going to be a player

Watt continues to get mugged

Fields played better than I expected once they started to open it up a little



Pickens had some big plays but nearly ****** up at the end of the 1st half

going for it quick late in the4th was not smart, I can see why they did it but you have to go up 8 there

Watt closing it out with a sack was perfect

 

[TDX27]

I actually like the 4th down call. They should have gotten that and need to work on something better. Having that dude fly over the top like Troy back in the day wrecked the play.

Fields definitely did enough today. His running was very important today in the win. He converted at least a few 3rd downs. The TD's will come for that O.

The D and Boz carried the day.

And, another FU to the officials!!!!!! You all suck!

 

[JMM]

Great summary. Hats off to Frazier in his first start and Naj had some great runs. We didn't bust the end zone but I think it was a game to build off. Face it, we're still in preseason.

 

[Litos]

going for it was ******* stupid winning by 5, also that 5 wide play on short down with ******* calvin austin blocking... The kid got pushed like a rag doll. The whole play gave me Arians memories.

Great D in the 2nd half.
Nice blocking by the OL, good enough for a group with so many changes and youth, the future looks bright

 

[steelcan58]

Thought the offense showed a lot of potential after a slow start. I was concerned about the OL but they may gel faster than I thought. A lot of things to work out finishing drives. I think Fields will get a lot if not most of the snaps once Wilson is healthy.

Defense was outstanding. I think Queen needs to get better but will once he gets acclimated. Beanie Bishop will be a stud.

 

[madinsomniac]

1. The offense is too conservative. Did we even take a single shot into the end zone?

2. Fields isnt ready. He did ok, but he still is too run reliant and isnt a fully ready passer... he would have the same issues Lamar has.. the guy can be a good passer... he needs to be taught that before he is thrown in there

3. The DJ for DJ trade is a win

4. Getting trice and rush, who are both in the mold of JPjr, makes continuity when he is out easier... they arent as good yet, but they play the same style so you dont have to change things up

 

[jitter77]

Refs were bad
Only 2-3 punts not bad at all
Watt is a wrecking crew
Secondary was much better than expected
Oline played much better than expected
Fields did what he had to do and was above average
Boz should be NFL MVP after week 1

 

[slashsteel]

D started off shaky but lived up to billing in the second half.

Thought the refs were sloppy.

Pickens had some key plays.

Our secondary looks like a strength as is the pass rush.

Fields needs to be in the shotgun the majority of the time.

I thought Smith showed better than Canada.

When we win I don’t really hit on the negatives because we won *******!

But I will say I hope the punter will be ok…

 

[madinsomniac]

1. The offense is too conservative. Did we even take a single shot into the end zone?

2. Fields isnt ready. He did ok, but he still is too run reliant and isnt a fully ready passer... he would have the same issues Lamar has.. the guy can be a good passer... he needs to be taught that before he is thrown in there

3. The DJ for DJ trade is a win

4. Getting trice and rush, who are both in the mold of JPjr, makes continuity when he is out easier... they arent as good yet, but they play the same style so you dont have to change things up

5. Boz is amazing... MVP today

6. We cant have nice things ... our punter upgrade lasted 3.5 quarters

7. No Tds... again... liked tons about the O till we got on the other side of the 50

8. Pickens is gonna be a very well paid player next year

9. TJ got screwed out of a player of the week performance

10. If tge browns lose, we have an early 1 game lead in the Division...

 

[Stainless]

I saw zero preseason action. I thought we looked a lot better than I expected based upon reading this forum and they seem to have lots of room to improve. I'm much more optimistic than I was before the game.

Oh, and I'm glad to see that Tomlin finally shaved his melon, or at least trimmed it super close.

 

[Stewey]

If Atlanta is what they’re cracked up to be, then we may be better than we think.

 

[SteelerFan448]

1. The defense was good. Watt dominated, Fitzpatrick was all over the field, Jackson showed he can be an upgrade at CB2, Wilson got a lot of snaps.

2. The offensive line played better than expected.

3. More of the same from the offense. Rarely taking any chances playing safe. It'll win games but keep the Steelers in the middle of the league and not a threat. I really hope it opens up as the season moves on. If nothing else, while conservative it wasn't AS painful as watching it the last two years.

 

[BLITZ]

Punter position is cursed. hopefully he is ok. do not want fat boy back
D. Elliott- great signing
secondary overall much better
TJ- wow
54 got destroyed on that 4th down QB sneak but over all great 1st game
Spencer played well again for 1st game
GP was not touched down.
Did TJ jump?
Refs again suck
the stench of the Canada offense is gone. even with 6 field goals.

 

[madinsomniac]

If Atlanta is what they’re cracked up to be, then we may be better than we think.

Tge D may be really really good. That was an extremely accomplished vet qb behind a top 5 oline... with a stud WR and RB and TE... tgey pretty much shut them down

 

[speedicut]

Very happy with the D but was disappointed with some of the offensive play calling.

Can we stop tossing the ball back 6 yards to Najee? It rarely turns out well.

 

[TimesAreChanged]

Huge win against a bad opponent. How much is cousins guaranteed?

O was limited by coaching and QB but got it done. Does fields not know PB yet or they want to limit his errors

Watt is MVP if he stays healthy

Going for it on 4th didn't bug me because birds suck on O but could have backfired.

Pickens is very very good and only getting better

I love Boswell. If he isn't perfect today the game could have gone the other way.

Clowns are about to get handled so 1st in AFCN sounds good to me

 

[JMM]

If Atlanta is what they’re cracked up to be, then we may be better than we think.

They didn't show me much but it doesn't get much earlier . Who knows how things will pan out. I do think they have something to build on. There's a lot said for not shooting yourself in the foot this early and making dumb turnovers.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Offense still sputtering need more TDs than FGs but the OL was giving Fields a lot of time to pass

Damn Boz can kick though - Thank God for him - who knew he could punt also

Defense could be really good - Wilson is going to be a player

Watt continues to get mugged

Fields played better than I expected once they started to open it up a little



Pickens had some big plays but nearly ****** up at the end of the 1st half

going for it quick late in the4th was not smart, I can see why they did it but you have to go up 8 there

Watt closing it out with a sack was perfect

8 for 8 perfect score one upping Boz’s 7 for 7

Yeah I’m counting the punt

 

[jitter77]

They didn't show me much but it doesn't get much earlier . Who knows how things will pan out. I do think they have something to build on. There's a lot said for not shooting yourself in the foot this early and making dumb turnovers.

Yes the Bears won 24-17 w/ less than 150 total yrds

 

[Fiji Mariner]

going for it was ******* stupid winning by 5, also that 5 wide play on short down with ******* calvin austin blocking... The kid got pushed like a rag doll. The whole play gave me Arians memories.

Great D in the 2nd half.
Nice blocking by the OL, good enough for a group with so many changes and youth, the future looks bright

Absolutely

 

[SteelerFan448]

Are there any good free agent punters out there? That knee injury looked like a long-term one.

 

[steelhurt]

The Wizard of Boz was great as usual. Thank God he can still punt.
Thank you to the backup holder to. That was a crucial FG.
Justin did ok! Had some nice passes downfield when they allowed him to pass downfield. The call on Pickens for Offensive Interference was bs.
Justin will be fine if he’s allowed to grow with this offense. He’s was nervous in the beginning but settled down.
OL played better than I expected.
Najee ran pretty good today. Warren needs to be used more.
Muth made some clutch catches.
Pickens came up clutch.
We have nothing behind Muth and Pickens.
Where was Van Jefferson?
Defense after starting out slow got into form and played well.
TJ was pissed and played like it. One man wrecking ball.
Payton Wilson looked good.
Pass rush picked it up in second half and made a difference.
Johnson the punter was excellent but we’re ****** if he’s out.
No, we do not want pudgy Harvin back. He sucks!
Tomlin should have gone for the FG rather than for the first down. That could have turned out badly.
Donte Jackson made key int at the end of game.
Need to be able to punch in for TDs in the red zone.
Felt more rhythm like on offense for a change. Especially the drive in the fourth quarter that ended in not making the first on fourth down.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

1) It was nice to see the package with Watt, Highsmith and Herbig all out there together

2) Watt is the **** and gets choked, I mean “blocked” too frequently without flags

3) the refs blew

4) the refs blew- I really like that point (they were still preseason form) did I mention they blew?

5) Mike needs to learn to take the 3 vs an opponent that is scoring challenged when said 3 puts team up 8 in the 4th- stop being bad at in game decisions…swear he’s getting paid extra to keep it “interesting”

6) Najee could use some better blocking cuz he’s always giving max effort

7) Action Jackson performed as I expected he would

8) Love the Peanut Butter Elliot and Chocolate Fitzpatrick treat at safety we have working

9) Survived game 1 with the young OL missing its best player

10) Fields did just enough-good win

 

[Phoenix1172]

1. The offense is too conservative. Did we even take a single shot into the end zone?

2. Fields isnt ready. He did ok, but he still is too run reliant and isnt a fully ready passer... he would have the same issues Lamar has.. the guy can be a good passer... he needs to be taught that before he is thrown in there

3. The DJ for DJ trade is a win

4. Getting trice and rush, who are both in the mold of JPjr, makes continuity when he is out easier... they arent as good yet, but they play the same style so you dont have to change things up

I'd say the reason for 1, besides the normal Tomlin conservative mess the past few years, is because of 2.

I miss the days of Ben in his prime airing it out to AB. The offense was great, but the defense often wasn't. If I had to chose, I'd probably go with something like today where the defenses is smothering, but the offense does just enough to win, but not lose the game.

However, the problem with that approach in today's NFL is one just above 500 season after the next. You can't turn into a dynamic offense in games where you are down a bunch or against the teams in the NFL with elite passers without actually at least practicing to play like that.

 

[Punxsutawney]

It doesn't seem like they trusted Fields to do much beyond play action and some shots to Pickens.

He wasn't bad by any stretch, but I still feel the passing game will be limited with him, especially on obvious passing downs.

I prefer to see what the offense looks like with Wilson.

The OL performed well, I thought. Frazier could be a great one.

Time will tell, but it looks like they may have finally fixed the holes at ILB and DB that have plagued them for years now. Couldn't ask for a much better debut from Donta Jackson, though he did have the face mask penalty that negated a 3rd down sack by Watt.

Speaking of Watt, it is business as usual from him. Fans who are still reluctant to view him as one of the greatest Steelers ever need to loosen their grip on the past a little bit. He's approaching Greene and Lambert territory with his dominance.

No other player has led the league in sacks three times.

It's just a shame he may never whiff a Superbowl, to little fault of his own.