Who are the real 2021 Steelers, the team that spent the summer preparing for
Buffalo, or the team that has dropped two stink bombs against the Raiders and
Bengals? You could argue that, had it not been for a blocked punt and some 4th
down playcalling malpractice by Buffalo, they’d be 0-3 now.
Young doesn’t necessarily translate to automatic improvement with experience,
that’s the worry. And you see it across the league, too, at every position in
the league. That kid the Jets have at QB and everyone says “he’s talented,
he’ll get better with age”, really? Are we sure about that? It’s about talent
and ability and applying that talent and ability and coaching it up and putting
that group in a position to perform and help the team. Are we sure that Klemm,
in his first year on the job, can do that with a pair of rookies who by all
accounts no one believed were starting calibre players on day one when they
were picked? And on defense, the Steelers just appear to have two types of
player, players picked in the top half of the draft and street free agents who
they are trying to catch lightning in a bottle with. There’s little else and
the dropoff between the two is immense. It just doesn’t add up to the
foundation of a winning football team, or for that matter a team that can
absorb the blows that injuries typically dealt to you over the course of a
season.
I too am confused that Snell gets the nod ahead of Ballage (McFarland is on IR
and is eligible to come off this week) - Snell should have been cut if
McFarland was healthy coming out of game.
Sent from my iPhone
On 27 Sep 2021, at 14:04, Russell Goodman <GoodmanR@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
One quick thought on the comparison of our team to the Chefs is that their
commitment to their OL might cost them another Super Bowl if they don’t sort
out their defense, which is pretty porous with their starting group.
I’m not going go all Pollyanna on everyone, because this is a pretty dark
day, but I always remind myself that the early portion of the season is also
the “massive overreaction” portion of the season. Was yesterday horrific in
every possible way? Absolutely! Does it mean the rest of the season will be
gawdawful? Perhaps. But I maintain that this OL is young, Young, YOUNG and
can hopefully make some strides in the coming weeks because between their
play and injuries on defense, it’s not that complicated. One just needs to
trust that the coaching staff has it in them to coach this group to the
appropriate level…which I don’t know if they’ve earned that trust at this
point.
Going to Ben, yeah his footwork, mechanics, confidence were all horrendous
yesterday but can you blame him? If he stands in there, gets blasted every
play, then he’s no better/different than David Carr ever was for the Texans.
So, I would love to be a fly on the wall in the offensive room today.
Final thought, Najee Harris is a beast, I love him, and he’s a cornerstone of
the future…unless they get him killed with the number of touches and hits
he’s taking every game. Where is Macfarland, Snell, that other RB whose name
I forget? Why not rotate the backs a bit and let those guys get pummeled in
the backfield instead of Harris on every…goshforsaken…play.
Looking forward to being at Lambeau and seeing our good guys win next
weekend, as Dave predicts, lol!!
Boomer Steeler Russ!!!
RUSS GOODMAN
Professor of Mathematics
Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach (Goalkeepers)
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From: steelers_pb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <steelers_pb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of David Reid
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2021 4:18 AM
To: Steelers List <steelers_pb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [steelers_pb] Re: Too early
A reminder of what I said in July….
"A sidenote - compare and contrast what two teams with major needs along
their OL did this offseason, the Chiefs and the Steelers. The OL cost the
Chiefs a Super Bowl, so they went out and got Orlando Brown from the Ravens
via trade, Joe Thuney, Kyle Long and drafted Creed Humphrey. Meanwhile, the
Steelers weren’t really that aggressive at all, despite the holes that
appeared both in season and after the season. The drop-off from Pouncey and
DeCastro to Hassenauer or Finney and Trai Turner is massive. Everywhere else
is a question mark. Joe Haig is nothing more than depth. They have to hope
that Zach Banner and Okorafor are the answer at tackle. The cap impacted
things, but the difference in the way the Chiefs aggressively addressed their
need whilst the Steeler took a needle and thread to theirs is the difference
between success and failure sometimes in this league.
I don’t think there is a team in the league with as many wild scenarios about
how their season could go than the Steelers have. It is just as feasible that
Ben has one last revival, the new OL clicks and an innovative scheme under
Canada becomes really productive, the running game is rejuvenated, the return
of Devin Bush energises the defense, the young DB’s step up to replace the
loss of Nelson and Hilton and the team makes a deep playoff run than it is
that the OL doesn’t gel and Ben and the running game gets a battering, the
lack of depth along the defense gets exposed and they wind up going 6-11. I
wouldn’t be surprised by either happening, though, as always, the truth will
always lie somewhere in between. What is different this year is that it’s not
just the Steelers and the Ravens battling it out. Cleveland can lay claim to
the “best roster in football” label, Cincinnati has the best young QB in the
game returning and although I have questions about Zach Taylor, they still
have a lot of talent on offense and a young, up and coming defense. I doubt
the Steelers will finish last, but again, the proud record of Tomlin never
having a losing season is under the spotlight here, especially as the depth
is so, so thin."
This offense right now has absolutely no positive features right now, with
the possible exception of Harris, though even he dropped 4 passes yesterday
and can’t do it all by himself. The line is mess, individually and
collectively, penalties, lack of attention to detail, missed blocks, I see
nothing in that group that is redeemable at this stage. The wisdom of firing
an OL coach and then hiring his assistant needs to be examined. The receivers
are banged up and it seems that every one of them had at least one drop
yesterday. The QB has zero confidence at all, mechanically, he isn’t setting
his feet or striding into his throws, he is either forcing everything or
checking down to whatever is in front of him. The offensive co-ordinator,
whose innovation got him the job and his commitment to pre-snap speed motion
and misdirection and receivers running combination routes to confuse
secondaries is the standard in modern football, has abandoned absolutely
everything he believes in already, leading to a dump off pass on 4th and 10
from the Cincinnati 11, down 14 points.
Defensively, they’ve been killed by injuries in the front seven, that much we
know, but the lack of quality depth has always been lurking. Cam Heyward and
a bunch of undrafted FA’s yesterday on the DL, LB’s signed off the street, a
secondary in continuous flux (and again, with Minkah wanting big money,
Edmunds and Haden heading for free agency, there’s another ticking bomb
that’s about to go off). It’s not that they are bad, it’s the fact that this
was all, too predictable. Granted, no one saw the injuries coming in the
numbers of players that have been out after just three weeks, but the depth
was never there in the first place.
Where do they go from here? Depends who’s healthy of course. Do they wait for
Ben to get injured too before putting Mason in, or do they decide to cut the
cord now? Ben won’t be able to take this punishment for much longer. Banner
might be back this week, but what difference will that make? Who knows where
Tuitt is right now. Hell, even Boswell yesterday missed from a distance where
he is usually automatic.
It’s a disaster…. and it would be in keeping with this silly situation and
this silly team that they went on the road to Green Bay next week…. and
win…...
On 27 Sep 2021, at 02:34, Steve Rhoton <sprhoto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I don’t think Ben is ok at all. You can frame it as a combination of factors,
but I think the end result is he’s done. For example, in that 4th down play
at 3 minutes left, he had someone wide open in the end zone (can’t remember
who), but decided to flair it out to Najeh. You can say it’s lack of
confidence in his oline, you can talk about the scheme being wrong, but he
has to know that ball needs to be in the end zone. I see someone who is
panicking and has a deer in the headlights look. He’s missing a lot of open
looks. It’s like he’s suddenly a mental rookie. Again, I’m not saying it’s
just him, and trying to learn a new scheme at 39 is damn hard, but I think we
are done being an effective offense with him in control. Just my two cents.
On Sunday, September 26, 2021, Scott H <blitzum@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I don’t think Ben is cooked, I think he is feeling his mortality. Every
report is that he is making every pass in practice. I think he doesn’t trust
his O line and is hesitant. He doesn’t like the new offense but is trying to
do his best to be brave and put on a happy face. The play calling is bad, the
execution is worse and Ben is conflicted.
Sadly the passing game goes like this:
1. O line gives Ben no time and is rushed
2. Ben’s accuracy is off
3. WR and Ben aren’t on same page
4. Ben makes great pass and it’s dropped
5. The play called is a bubble screen or quick pass to the line when we are
3rd and long
I could go on and on but you get the idea
I think if we had a stud O Line Ben is stacking TDs and yards with our
weapons BUT we don’t so he has to step up his play , trust the line and take
a beating. I don’t think he really wants to do that.
Scott in Jersey
On Sep 26, 2021, at 6:23 PM, Steve Rhoton <sprhoto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There is a lot wrong with this team. But I will say, Ben looks cooked. Pair
that up with that oline and injuries, and this is not good at all. Also,
does Matt Canada’s playbook look like Fincher’s because he just can’t do
anything else, or because it’s the same playbook?
Thanks,
Steve
On Sunday, September 26, 2021, Scott H <blitzum@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Every year I am cautiously optimisitic after camp. This year I really thought
Highsmith/Ingram would be an uprgade over Bud, Harris over Conner and the
O-line would be no worse tbhan last year.
Now all I want is Dave's way too early evaluations of QBs and to go 1-16. I
don't want a 6-11 or 7-10 useless season.
The first half of the season was supposed to be the "easier" part of the
schedule.
Too many things to go into , but much sooo much wasted talent, bad play
calling, poor execution it is almost amazing.
I do believe that they will get better, but I see no way that Ben's last
season is Tomlin's first losing season.
Scott in Jersey