Observations.....Bills vs Steelers.....Preseason week 2.....

[Chicoman]

Well it's good to get the "W" even if it is only preseason.

First off the Offense....

Big Ben looks like he's in complete control with the no huddle. Steelers gotta get the running game going though if this is going to be a playoff caliber team. Can't keep running up and down the field and not use up some game clock. Running game has got to appear next week @ Eagles.
Marcus Wheaton nice to see him vastly improved from last season. Looks like he'll make a fine compliment to Antonio Brown
Steelers O-line I'd like to see better run blocking.....look solid in pass protection but in the running game it's not pretty. I don't even think they are averaging 2 ypc this preseason and that's really bad. Almost makes me feel bad for LeVeon Bell
Mike Adams I thought he looked fairly decent tonight with the exception of the one play where he got blown past for the strip sack/fumble but Whimper was also beaten badly on the other side too.
Didn't see much from Justin Brown tonight I'd love to see this kid become a bigger part of the passing game
Kelvin Beachum has developed into a really good LT
Landry Jones this kid belongs on the Practice Squad. If we need to goto him the season is over anyway. I'd rather keep a roster spot open for a kid like Josh Mauro, Howard Jones, Vic S'oto or Jordan Zumwalt all who have good upside potential vs a guy like Landry Jones we can call Homestead Charlie or Lefty outta retirement if we need a QB to play out the string.

Defense.....
Ryan Shazier welcome to the NFL rookie. 11 tackles, 2 assists and an INT in the first quarter and half of his first NFL game. WOW this kid could be Rookie of the Year if he keeps this up. Glad he's a Steeler
Josh Mauro this kid has been pretty solid up front in his playtime. 2 sacks tonight. If he keeps this up he won't make it to the practice squad if he doesn't make the final 53 man roster.
Robert Golden nice pass defensed on 4th down and had a nice INT
Dan McCullers the kid is a load in the middle of the field....takes 2 guys most of the time to just stand him up. I LOVE IT!!!
Stephon Tuitt this kid is quietly showing his stuff too. On the Bills TD run he blasted the RB but it was a split second after he got the ball to break the white plain of the goalline. Almost reminded me of Kendrell Bell vs the Clowns
The one thing that worries me is the Steelers DB's. I just don't see any CB who can step up this season to help us out on the backside in the passing game. It's obviously our weakest link. Oh Keenan Lewis how we miss you!
Vic S'oto this kid has made some pretty nice plays for us in the first two preseason games. Howard Jones has been the benefactor of those two plays too but S'oto deserves some recognition for his play.

 

[TAS]

Can't wait to watch this tomorrow. Good to hear about Ryan and Marcus!

 

[ark steel]

When Landry Jones comes onto the field take a sharp object and jam it into your eye. It will be less painful.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

The CBs look weak so far. Cortez has only ever shown flashes. It's time to put it together. I keep hearing how the steelers like what they have at CB and that's why they didn't make it a priority in the draft. I still haven't seen what they like so much.

I know people are in love with Archer, but the issue remains that it is much harder to find a good CB than a quick gadget player. The 4 or 5 plays each week that Archer makes had better be huge to warrant passing up secondary help.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Once Ben left, the offense was pathetic Steelers had 9 drives without Ben excluding the 1 play end of half drive, and the 2 play end of game drive. 6 of those drives were 3 and out. 1 was 4 plays, and 2 were 5 plays.

Steelers converted just 1 3rd down without Ben.

This led to the steelers having the ball for just 25 minutes. The run game was bad but with just 14 RB rush attempts and few with the starters, it's hard to judge.

There's a reason why we keep hearing Justin Brown is doing great in camp. It's because they need him to block on those quick WR screens which seem to be Archer's main use. Lance Moore is useless blocking. So is wheaton and Antonio isn't much better.


The steelers could be in trouble if Brown or Wheaton gets injured. The downside of Justin Brown is he's not that great of a WR. He's slow and not particularly athletic. Bryant is still a project. If Moye or one of the other WRs could throw a few decent blocks, i think they make the roster over Brown.

 

[Gareth]

Archer could be a helluva weapon on kick returns.......if every other team had Suisham do their kick offs.

Unfortunately, they just boot it through the end zone and leave him standing there.

We, on the other hand, allow there returners a chance nearly every time.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

anyone else concerned about our kicking?

 

[bmoritz]

I've been concerned about our kicker for a while. Though Suisham played well last year, I could never just feel "comfortable" when he took the field. I don't like the extension we gave him. I was really hoping we'd have brought back Rob Bironas to give him some competition.

 

[Atlanta Joe]

I heard Tomlin say on post game radio that he ordered us to kickoff short the past two weeks so that he could see how we covered kicks. Said that he didn't want to get surprised once the season started. Makes sense.

 

[bermudasteel]

anyone else concerned about our kicking?

Yes; Suishy is normal pretty reliable - he's missed one in the both games so far...hmmm....

But heres something for the OP.

This week we featured the passing game. Last week it was the running game. Go back put both offensive tapes together and you'll be more than pleased with the offense.

Our first team D is going to be special -again. Last night they played w/ out Jarvis and still ran rough shod over the Bills.

I'm no soothsayer or fortune teller; but, I feel very good about our chances this season to rebound with a better record and some post season activity...

 

[diver]

The CBs look weak so far. Cortez has only ever shown flashes. It's time to put it together. I keep hearing how the steelers like what they have at CB and that's why they didn't make it a priority in the draft. I still haven't seen what they like so much.

I know people are in love with Archer, but the issue remains that it is much harder to find a good CB than a quick gadget player. The 4 or 5 plays each week that Archer makes had better be huge to warrant passing up secondary help.[/QUOT

It is harder to find good corner play, especially at the end of round 3. How can you state it is hard to find good corner play and relate that to Archer with where he was picked? Doesn't make sense.

 

[antdrewjosh]

Would of been interesting to see their pick if the CB Gaines was still on the boatd and not picked by KC

 

[diver]

True. But it was stated how hard it is to find good CB play. If it is that hard, I think it is safe to assume you may not find it late in the 3rd round. So finding good corner play where they picked Archer doesn't really seem possible, since it is hard. So why not pick Archer?

 

[antdrewjosh]

I only say that because it was said after Gaines was taken the next highest rated CB they had was Richardson. I really liked Gaines. They felt there was a drop off after Gaines and felt they could get Richardson later. We might not have a142 page thread if Gaines had made it to 97 lol.

 

[Supersteeler]

If there was a corner they really liked that was still there at the end of the 3rd Round they would have taken him. They didn't. Obviously they weren't enamored with a lot of the corners in this year's draft.

 

[Punxsutawney]

If there was a corner they really liked that was still there at the end of the 3rd Round they would have taken him. They didn't. Obviously they weren't enamored with a lot of the corners in this year's draft.

...or their boner for Archer took precedence over everything else at that point in the draft.

 

[SteelerAl]

Does the NFL still allow CBs to cover receivers? I don't know where the comment about our CB play came from as EJ Manuel is a complete dink-and-dunker (and Watkins was injured early) so he didn't really test our CBs in a meaningful way...seems more like Tape just needed to ***** about picking Archer rather than making a relevant point...

 

[SteelerFan448]

Does the NFL still allow CBs to cover receivers? I don't know where the comment about our CB play came from as EJ Manuel is a complete dink-and-dunker (and Watkins was injured early) so he didn't really test our CBs in a meaningful way...seems more like Tape just needed to ***** about picking Archer rather than making a relevant point...

If they were looking for a "good" cornerback who could contribute this year or next year, are you passing on Shazier or Tuitt, because those are your options. But the cornerback play will be a concern, particularly Allen. He hasn't displayed the growth that we expected.

 

[deljzc]

It's going to come down to offensive line play/run game efficiency, defensive pressure on the quarterback and allowing big plays in the secondary.

Those have been thorns in our side a lot.

Ben looks incredibly sharp right now and healthy, but the truth is he has a tendency to get a little more inconsistent when the nicks and bruises and ankle injuries start to pile up through the season. We can't expect Ben to be our only path to victory every game.

It's a long season.

I hope we are proactive at fixing the run game and QB pressure and defensive backfield play rather than kind of ignore it when we win games. If that means shake up the starters at OLB or CB or OT for a game or two.

Things are looking pretty good though. Not a lot to complain about with the 1st units.

 

[Rod Farva]

Archer could be a helluva weapon on kick returns.......if every other team had Suisham do their kick offs.

Unfortunately, they just boot it through the end zone and leave him standing there.

We, on the other hand, allow there returners a chance nearly every time.

And the Steelers' KO coverage was fairly weak a couple of times.

This led to the steelers having the ball for just 25 minutes. The run game was bad but with just 14 RB rush attempts and few with the starters, it's hard to judge.

There's a reason why we keep hearing Justin Brown is doing great in camp. It's because they need him to block on those quick WR screens which seem to be Archer's main use. Lance Moore is useless blocking. So is wheaton and Antonio isn't much better.


The steelers could be in trouble if Brown or Wheaton gets injured. The downside of Justin Brown is he's not that great of a WR. He's slow and not particularly athletic. Bryant is still a project. If Moye or one of the other WRs could throw a few decent blocks, i think they make the roster over Brown.

I noticed at one point late in the 1st half the Bills had double TOP.....could be a result of the emphasis on the passing game last night, idk.

Considering the importance of good WR blocking skills to this offense I hope they are working on this.....pointed it out last week about Wheaton and if it doesn't improve they need to find a replacement play for those screens.

Landry Jones this kid belongs on the Practice Squad. If we need to goto him the season is over anyway. I'd rather keep a roster spot open for a kid like Josh Mauro, Howard Jones, Vic S'oto or Jordan Zumwalt all who have good upside potential vs a guy like Landry Jones we can call Homestead Charlie or Lefty outta retirement if we need a QB to play out the string.

LJ needs to be selling insurance. The rest of this list has an incredible amount of upside / potential. Mauro is sneaky good and S'oto and HoJo just seem to have a nose for the ball.
Defense.....
Ryan Shazier welcome to the NFL rookie. 11 tackles, 2 assists and an INT in the first quarter and half of his first NFL game. WOW this kid could be Rookie of the Year if he keeps this up. Glad he's a Steeler

STUD! But where are his eyebrows? Prank the rook gone bad?

Josh Mauro this kid has been pretty solid up front in his playtime. 2 sacks tonight. If he keeps this up he won't make it to the practice squad if he doesn't make the final 53 man roster.
Robert Golden nice pass defensed on 4th down and had a nice INT
Dan McCullers the kid is a load in the middle of the field....takes 2 guys most of the time to just stand him up. I LOVE IT!!! Yep.

Stephon Tuitt this kid is quietly showing his stuff too. On the Bills TD run he blasted the RB but it was a split second after he got the ball to break the white plain of the goalline. Almost reminded me of Kendrell Bell vs the Clowns
The one thing that worries me is the Steelers DB's. I just don't see any CB who can step up this season to help us out on the backside in the passing game. It's obviously our weakest link. Oh Keenan Lewis how we miss you!
Vic S'oto this kid has made some pretty nice plays for us in the first two preseason games. Howard Jones has been the benefactor of those two plays too but S'oto deserves some recognition for his play.

 

[Ironcitysteelers]

Who is the dude #21 golden. He was flying all over the field. Not sure if that was him out of position, but he seemed to always be around the ball and making plays.

 

[Rod Farva]

Golden's been around a couple years.....udfa.

 

[diver]

Does the NFL still allow CBs to cover receivers? I don't know where the comment about our CB play came from as EJ Manuel is a complete dink-and-dunker (and Watkins was injured early) so he didn't really test our CBs in a meaningful way...seems more like Tape just needed to ***** about picking Archer rather than making a relevant point...

Lets look at this from a football angle. You make a very relevant point. What can CBs do anymore, especially if they are going to call it the way they are in the preseason? When Parcells was coaching the Cowboys he made the comment that the way the game is being played, he would never take a corner in RD1. Now add into that the way the Steelers play their corners. Even in Rod Woodson's day they would back off and allow the underneath stuff. I have a feeling if they had drafted Dennard in RD1 it wouldn't look much different than what you see out of Blake or Green. So passing on a guy who could make explosive plays like Archer for a guy to back off and allow positive gains all the time makes no sense.

This is something I would love to ask LeBeau, as great as he has been. Teams are getting rid of the ball quick. It is obvious they are being coached to do this when playing the Steelers. Why not jam more? It would have to throw some things off for the offense, right?

 

[hamster]

anyone else concerned about our kicking?

I am. Kickers are a tricky breed, and can lose confidence quickly. Remember that dude on the Colts that miss that playoff field goal against us? He was one of the most accurate kickers, and after that one miss, was worthless after.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

I am. Kickers are a tricky breed, and can lose confidence quickly. Remember that dude on the Colts that miss that playoff field goal against us? He was one of the most accurate kickers, and after that one miss, was worthless after.

vanderjagt.. (spelling)