I would just like to start by going back to something Coach Tomlin said last week...and that is -
"We're going to play our game, we don't let people dictate to us how we're going to play defense."I don't know about you all, but it sure as shit looked to me like we let New England dictate to us how we played defense today. Maybe I'm wrong. And I'll admit that I'm still tasting the bitterness of defeat. But it didn't look to me like the #1 Defense in the league wanted a win. Poor tackling. Giving up big plays. Hitting softly. What Defense was that out there? Because it didn't look like the Steelers to me.
I don't want to beat a dead horse here - but look, the Offense played relatively well, at least in the 1st half, and yet the Defense, which has been our calling card all year, could not come through. We plead up and down last week - this is a game primed for Steeler football. We're gonna hit 'em early and often. Physical this and physical that. I didn't see nearly enough physicality on the field today. They weren't hitting the Pats receivers, and even worse, they were letting them turn nothing into something all day. Yes the Pats had some luck and some calls go their way, but it is my personal feeling that the Steelers Defense just did not get it done.
Anyways, since I've already said enough and I'm short on time - here's who made OFTOT's 1st ever edition of "The News." Let's see...oh, um...
- Anthony "No Money Back Guarantee" Smith ~ Honestly man, I don't know what to say to you. I maintained last week that if you were going to make that claim, you'd have to be able to back it up. Sure enough, the Pats went after you and you let them make you look like a bitch. Youthful mistakes man. Biting on the play action and the flea flicker. You were responsible for both of those scores. Sorry buddy, you better make up for it.
- Larry "I don't hit other Michigan Alumni" Foote ~ Let's get one thing straight here Larry - when you have a shot on Tom Brady, you better take advantage of it. And what was that shit near the end of the game, hugging him and what not? Did you know that this was a football game? You gotta hit your mother if she's playing for the other team. I think you took it way too easy on the guy. Would you have done that for an Ohio State alumni? Yep, that's what I thought...
- "Fast" Willie Colon ~ Somehow that doesn't seem right, does it? Well that's because it's not. If I had a dollar for every time I saw Mike Vrabel coming around the edge, blowing right by Colon, I'd be a rich man. There were a couple times in the 1st half where it looked like Vrabel might have been offsides. But in hindsight I think that could've been because Colon just had no chance of blocking him on account of the fact that he sucked all day (and ok, he had little help). Maybe it's time to give Max Starks another shot? Ok, let's not get crazy now...
- Nate "Hotrod" Washington ~ At what point do you just acknowledge that a guy can't catch and move on? I think I might be overreacting a bit. But it's hard to watch a guy get hit right in the hands and not be able to bring the ball in. You're a wide receiver. Just catch the god damn ball! I have nothing more to say to you Nate...
- Bruce "Show Me All Your Trick Plays" Arians ~ Dude...I mean, dude...An end around to Hines Ward when you're on the 1 yard line and it's 4th down and you're losing 24-13? They hadn't stopped the run really at all. But you went with an end around to Hines Ward. I could've seen pound it in with Najeh, Ben keeper, play action roll out to Heath Miller. But not that. People at The Shannon in Hoboken now think I'm nuts because I was yelling at the TV with a passion they had apparently never seen before. Earth to Bruce Arians - sometimes the obvious choice is the obvious choice for a reason.
I'm done with this game. Bring on Jacksonville.
What did you guys think? Did you also almost have an aneurysm during this aberration? Were you also ready to jump through the TV and punch Rodney Harrison in the face? Did you also want to make out with Tom Brady? Oh wait...not that last part...uh...all heterosexual here as usual. Carry on.
GAME RECAPS:
[DC Steeler Nation]
[Die Hard Steel]
[Doubt About It]
[Football Braniac]
[Joey Porter's Pit Bulls]
[Ladies...]
[Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies]
[Associated Press]
[Post-Gazette 1]
[Post-Gazette 2]
[Tribune-Review]
8 comments:
Cleveland worries me still. That's because Jacksonville REALLY worries me.
No reason to worry about Cleveland. They would have to win out, in addition to the Steelers losing 2 more games.
Notice how I'm avoiding talking about yesterday's game? That's no accident.
cleveland still has a good shot to win out with an easy schedule..and is on the fast track to a wild card berth. i would rather see them in the playoffs as opposed to the jags.
The non-calls on the Vrabel offsides and the Rodney Harrison holding really bugged me. You can't blame the loss on them, obviously, but if they were called the Steelers would have been in great position to score each time. Actually... scratch that. With their play calling lately at the goal line I'm not so sure they would have scored still.
All told, I'm honestly not all that upset. It is not the end of the world and baring any huge meltdown, the Steelers will be in the playoffs. From there it is a whole different ball game.
You're absolutely right about the defense. They seemed to show absoultely no emotion at all. I really thought the Steelers could beat the Pats because they don't respond well to a physical, I'm-gonna-punch-your-kid-in-the-face defense. But that's not how Pittsburgh played.
What's with lining up 8 yards off the line covering these receivers? No wonder they just threw 5 yard passes the entire second half? I would too!
The truth is that New England deserved to win this game.
I'm listening to all the "analysts" on ESPN monday night countdown about their remarks from yesterday's game. I dont necessarily feel that the steelers were "blown out," no matter how bad the game finished.
The following is a list of "if" statements (while i'm fully aware that they did not happen...just looking ahead if there is a rematch)
If the steelers traded the field goals for tds add 14 points. Who knows what would have happened later in the game as well as most likely, a halftime lead.
If the ball didnt bounce off william gay's leg....a missed possession while we still had a little momentum.
Steelers d gets to the moss fumble/pass to brady/you know the rest. Big turnover/momentum swing.
Anthony Smith didnt have to pick up his jock strap after getting beat by a (i must admit it) textbook play-action pass. Was it just me or was that the same play that polamalu bit on in the playoffs a few years ago?
If the steelers dbs tried to get physical with the pats wide outs at the line of scrimmage...10 yards off the line of scrimmage = tom brady picking you apart and sucking you towards the line of scrimmage, only to be read and beat deep.
Probably a bunch more I missed...am I crazy? i think the steelers left a few plays on the field that could have swung the momentum. But, on the other end of things the pats probably could say it could have been worse.
Hoping for a rematch or someone surprises the playoffs.
JPPB - The Cleve still worries me as well. They have shite for a remaining schedule - Buffalo, Cincy, San Fran. The good news is they're the Browns and that probably negates any chances they have of not sucking.
Jason - That's the right attitude man. When I wrote this post I was still angry myself. But after a day of reflection I've also decided that I really don't care. However, I will say - the one thing I wanted to see that I didn't was the Steelers HIT Tom Brady. Oh well, there's always next time...
Braniac - Whats up with it is that we think we have a cookie cutter gameplan that will stop any team. They've been playing receivers soft all year (see Denver, Jets, et al). At some point, we're all going to have to realize that the one size fits all method of scheming no longer works in the NFL. And yes, you're right, much as it pains me to say - The Patricheats deserved to win that game. Fuck their fans though. Bunch of ball bags.
Domski - Man I thought about all that shit too. Personally I think this is all Chad Brown's fault.
Sorry, but it tok me all week to become coherent and level-headed. I'm still pissed and disgusted at both our defense and the officials, but relatively sane again comparitively.
I have to agree with Domski(as usual):
Except for those isues he listed and a general loss of emotion after it was clear we couldn't win i saw a lot of good football from the Steelers. We were NOT that badly out-played.
And Cotter's right about Arians. WTF was he thinking in the red zone???
We, i, the team all need a big win this week. i think we'll see one.
Post a Comment