Pittsburgh Steelers Thread

dfx- · 10-09-2019 1:28pm

Apparently Haden has an AC sprain and could be back for week 3. In other off field news, Josh Dobbs is gone to Jacksonville for a 5th round pick.

If the team could now do some business on the field as well, it would be good.

dfx- · 11-09-2019 3:37pm

Great defense coverage here of one Steeler on another..

https://twitter.com/Alex_Kozora/status/1171791178402017281

The_Honeybadger · 11-09-2019 7:24pm

dfx- wrote: »

Great defense coverage here of one Steeler on another..

https://twitter.com/Alex_Kozora/status/1171791178402017281

Sums up the defensive performance although nothing will top the Sean Davis tackle on Haden last year that knocked the ball out of his hands and straight to a Chargers player for a TD

The_Honeybadger · 15-09-2019 10:39pm

Another bad outing. Moncrief drop and PI call in second half killed them. Defence got shredded once again, they just can’t ever get a stop when needed. How Butler is still over that unit is beyond me.

On the plus side Mason Rudolph looked really good when he came in. If Ben misses a few weeks with this injury it might not be as bad as you’d expect.

@SF next week and probably 0-3

dfx- · 16-09-2019 7:16am

defense started well, four sacks and a fumble return.

Then there came the indiscipline. Needless stupid foul on the return, foul on the FG that cost four points - ultimately a winning margin. Moncrief dropping Rudolph - 11 targets or 7 yards and an INT.

3rd and 16 final drive for Seattle is converted to seal the game.

OOnegative · 16-09-2019 8:45am

Defense never get a stop when needed, we always found a way to do it, but past 3-4 years it doesn’t happen. Terrible start to the season, not many teams starting 0-2 make the playoffs!!

The_Honeybadger · 16-09-2019 10:24am

We are having huge difficulties with tight ends and the run game. It’ll probably improve as the season wears on but they are really struggling at the moment. SF are flying and they have one of the best tight ends in the league. Can’t see how the Steelers are winning that one.

If Ben is out for a few weeks I’m looking forward to seeing what Rudolph can do. Conner and Ben are to have MRI’s today apparently. I love Conner but he is made of matchsticks, most important ability is availability as they say.

Given the problems with the secondary i wonder should they make a move for Minkah Fitzpatrick, he would be a nice addition. Presumably they’d want a 2020 first rounder for him.

OOnegative · 16-09-2019 4:52pm

No 7 gone for the season, couldn’t get much worse really!!

The_Honeybadger · 16-09-2019 4:59pm

2-14 here we come. At least we will get a good pick next year

OOnegative · 16-09-2019 5:01pm

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

2-14 here we come. At least we will get a good pick next year

Rudolph looked competent when he got going yesterday evening but can’t see many wins coming our way with Ben out.

The_Honeybadger · 16-09-2019 5:38pm

OOnegative wrote: »

Rudolph looked competent when he got going yesterday evening but can’t see many wins coming our way with Ben out.

It’ll be a long road back for Ben at his age with all the hits he has taken over the years, and he has never been the best to mind his body in the first place. Would not be surprised if he has played his last snap. I wonder what the cap implications are if he retires at the end of the season. They just gave him a huge extension with a lot of guarantees.

They don’t know what they have with Rudolph yet. Hopefully he turns out to be good but we can’t expect much this year. They just traded Dobbs so we are one injury away from Devlin Hodges being QB!!

The_Honeybadger · 16-09-2019 9:40pm

Ouch

https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1173652981306318853?s=21

OOnegative · 16-09-2019 9:45pm

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

Ouch

https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1173652981306318853?s=21

That’s harsh!!

OOnegative · 16-09-2019 10:29pm

https://www.steelers.com/news/statement-from-roethlisberger

Determined to return by looks of it.

The_Honeybadger · 17-09-2019 4:44am

https://twitter.com/rapsheet/status/1173795370121551873?s=21

Jesus. I know I suggested this move yesterday but given what has transpired since there is a very real chance we have a top 10 pick next year. That said Fitzpatrick could be a game changer, Saban said he was the best DB he ever coached and the Steelers have a massive hole at FS. If the defence still stinks by mid season it’s just bad coaching, pure and simple.

This is a huge vote of confidence in Mason Rudolph. The team has traded away a shot at one of the top QB’s in the draft next year in order to try and fix the D and give him a shot.

dfx- · 17-09-2019 12:40pm

There are now seven or eight first rounders in the defense now and does it look like it? Especially the secondary, covering our own players, indiscipline and 'miscommunications'. At some point it has to come down to the schemes and coaching.

Meanwhile, we still need TEs and arguably WRs who stretch the field and run deep - with either Rudolph or Ben.

discobeaker · 20-09-2019 9:42pm

AB released by the Pats.

OOnegative · 20-09-2019 9:52pm

discobeaker wrote: »

AB released by the Pats.

Hardly surprising, he appears to have serious issues of some kind. Whatever the Steelers do this season letting AB go appears to to be one of the smarter calls they made.

The_Honeybadger · 20-09-2019 10:57pm

What is the feeling ahead of Sunday? I’m finding it difficult to predict anything other than a SF win. They are playing good football and the Steelers are a bit of a mess on both sides of the ball at the minute.

You never know though. I see sky are showing the game. Looking forward to seeing Rudolph for a full game.

discobeaker · 20-09-2019 11:10pm

OOnegative wrote: »

Hardly surprising, he appears to have serious issues of some kind. Whatever the Steelers do this season letting AB go appears to to be one of the smarter calls they made.

I think as well it's a credit to Tomlin that he managed to keep AB happy and out of trouble for so long. But AB seriously does have issues. This rape alligation could take years to clear so if he plays again it will be a miracle in my eyes. As for Sunday,sadly im gonna have to go with a SF win.

The_Honeybadger · 21-09-2019 11:07am

discobeaker wrote: »

I think as well it's a credit to Tomlin that he managed to keep AB happy and out of trouble for so long. But AB seriously does have issues. This rape alligation could take years to clear so if he plays again it will be a miracle in my eyes. As for Sunday,sadly im gonna have to go with a SF win.

Another team might take him if he settles his legal issues but the days of him getting ‘upfront’ money are gone. He will be effectively pay as you play if he gets back to the league I would imagine.

I don’t mind another L tomorrow but really want to see an improved run game at the very least. The Steelers have not been able to move the ball on the ground at all in the first two games. If they can’t solve that Mason Rudolph will be in an impossible position for the rest of the season.

OOnegative · 22-09-2019 12:13am

It’s defense that the Steelers reputation was built on, the 70’s teams, Blitzburgh of the 90’s. Our defense has been woeful for 4-5 years or more. We improve that our results improve. Rudolph can move the ball no doubt about that but are the tools there for him to do it? Moncrief a man I was really delighted to see us sign has been terrible, Diontae Johnson has a bigger involvement from here on in as a result.

The_Honeybadger · 22-09-2019 1:34am

Those days are long gone. While there are definitely issues on defence it’s not as bad as being made out. A big problem is the offence constantly putting them under pressure with three and outs and stupid turnovers. The defence was on the field for over 70 snaps v Seattle and understandably they started making mistakes.

As well as defence much of the Steelers success was based on a strong run game. They went away from that in recent years, since Bell left Ben can’t wait to go bombs away at every opportunity. It worked to an extent with AB making impossible plays every game but imo they have to build around the run again now. They probably need to pick up a FA vet like CJ Anderson or Ajayi because I don’t trust Conner to stay healthy and Samuels is not able for the load either.

Moncrief has been a disaster but he is clearly not fit enough to be on the field with his broken finger. He was not this bad in Jax or Ind and even if they can get modest production from him when he is fit again im fine with keeping him. All of the others are so young you need at least one experienced guy in there.

I think they’ll be looking at several coaching changes at the end of the year. KB’s contract is up and I can’t see it being renewed unless the D improves dramatically. Fichtner now has his chance to run the offence his way, Ben was freelancing a lot and ignoring the playbook up to now. A lot of the minority owners want Tomlin gone but Rooney has saved him up to now. His job depends on the performance of the team from here out imo. I know the Steelers don’t sack coaches but he is on a very warm seat imo. If it becomes clear he is not getting a new contract he will leave by mutual consent before he becomes a lame duck.

dfx- · 23-09-2019 10:38am

Ugh.

The_Honeybadger · 23-09-2019 11:10am

I saw somewhere that the record of teams that get five turnovers in games prior to last night was 45-1-1

It’s going to be a long season watching that offence.

dfx- · 23-09-2019 11:15am

Expanding on that^....

five turnovers, strong performance from the defensive line and instant impact from Fitzpatrick. Barron was terrible. Dupree not great against a rookie. But the defense largely positive, but where are they going to score enough points on offense?

The offense was dreadful. Rudolph's interception was awful, he's not seeing who is open and he's not being given extra time because the OL was beaten. The WRs may as well have stayed in Pittsburgh with Moncrief for the first half and Vance goes down. Rudolph overthrowing everything, screen passes eveywhere, failure to convert 3rd downs, can't stay on the pitch for longer than 2 minutes and then the turnover at 20-17 is immediately handed back to them by Connor.

Where are the TDs coming from?

The_Honeybadger · 23-09-2019 11:27am

Agreed. O-Line has to be a huge concern. They are supposed to be the strength of the team but they got owned last night, particularly AV and Feiler. Mason has no chance under that pressure. Jury still out on him but very hard to assess anything last night the way the O-Line got pushed around.

The WR corps is not going to scare anyone, there’s no deep threat so teams can stack the box and shut the offence down completely. We spoke a while back about the need to get a decent backup TE. Vance can’t stay healthy and Grimble is utterly useless.

That said, they won’t meet too many defensive fronts as good as what they faced last night. Bosa, Buckner and Ford are scary. They’ll push a lot of teams around this year.

dfx- · 23-09-2019 11:36am

Realistically who can they beat looking at it now...

Miami, Cleveland x 2 maybe, Cincinatti x 2 I'd be confident, Jets maybe? Cardinals maybe, Colts maybe but they've a strong O-line from what I remember.

Rams, Chargers, Ravens x 2, Bills even I just don't see it.

The_Honeybadger · 23-09-2019 12:05pm

I wouldn’t be sure about sweeping Cleveland and Cincinnati tbh. Maybe beat both at home? Ravens are looking great. Jets, Cardinals, Dolphins and a couple of surprise wins would probably be as good as you could hope for now, 6-10. If the offence figure it out then maybe they can do better but statistically speaking the chances of making the playoffs are all but gone now.

It’s looking very much like a rebuilding year. Clear out some of the coaching staff in the off season and go again. The defence is stacked with good young players. Under the right DC they could be very good in the future.

dfx- · 25-09-2019 4:17pm

Another trade: a TE from Seattle for a 5th round 2020 pick..

The_Honeybadger · 25-09-2019 6:34pm

dfx- wrote: »

Another trade: a TE from Seattle for a 5th round 2020 pick..

Don’t know anything about him but he can’t be worse than Grimble. Hopefully this guy can block and help the tackles before Mason gets killed, and hopefully Vance injury is not serious.

The_Honeybadger · 01-10-2019 9:49am

Great to have a W on the board. Couldn’t stay up as I’d an early start this AM but going by the short highlights they kept things very simple, lots of dink and dunk around the LOS to the running backs etc. Samuels and Conner looked good and another TD for Johnson who looks to be a very good receiver in the making. Hopefully they start taking some shots down the field once MR is more comfortable.

A win v Baltimore on Sunday would be dreamland but I’ve a feeling they will run all over the Steelers.

dfx- · 01-10-2019 10:28am

Woke up around the 3rd quarter for a bit. You'd have to be disappointed not to beat them again, their OL is awful - Dalton was sacked eight times by various Steelers, the most he ever had been sacked.

But looking at the scorecard, it looks like another slow start and a lot of reliance on short screens to RBs. You've got to imagine Ravens will shut that down and ask Rudolph beat them over the top.

Which is not good.

The_Honeybadger · 01-10-2019 10:52am

It was important to get a win and it looks like they got the game plan spot on for last night. I’m looking forward to watching it later on. Defence had a night by the sounds of it.

By all accounts JuJu and other receivers were getting open in previous games and he is either not seeing them, is afraid to throw it, or is being instructed to check down. Something has to change there.

dfx- · 01-10-2019 11:32am

Important to get the win psychologically before it became a stats thing to beat up a new QB.

You'd hope Ben will be an advantage being on the sideline.

The_Honeybadger · 05-10-2019 11:07am

Xavier Grimble has been cut. Writing was on the wall I suppose once they signed Vannett who looked more than decent last week. They apparently also may need to cut Moncrief before week 10 in order to recoup the compensatory third round pick they were due for Lev Bell, this came off the table when the Eagles cut Fort due to whatever crazy formula the league uses. Moncrief has done nothing to convince anybody that he is worth a roster spot to date so you’d imagine he will be gone before the deadline as they really need that pick.

Can’t watch the Raven game this week as I’ll be travelling. The more the week goes on the better I’m feeling about it. I think they’ve a good chance of turning them over if they can contain the run damage.

dfx- · 11-10-2019 2:36pm

dfx- wrote: »

Ugh.

.

The_Honeybadger · 11-10-2019 9:27pm

The Paxton Lynch era is upon us! They cut Fred Johnson and Elliot to make room for Lynch and Edmunds. Johnson won’t clear waivers you’d imagine as he looked quite promising and there are over a dozen teams with chronic lack of oline depth. Same thing happened with Skipper a few weeks back. I guess Rudolph will be out for a while.

OOnegative · 11-10-2019 9:47pm

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

The Paxton Lynch era is upon us.

Probably defines our season in a sentence this!!

The_Honeybadger · 11-10-2019 10:07pm

OOnegative wrote: »

Probably defines our season in a sentence this!!

Yep, comical disaster at this stage. In fairness we have always been in the shake up for the playoffs up to now so can’t really complain.

One bright spot is that the secondary looks much improved and the defence is getting lots of sacks and takeaways. If the offence wasn’t such a liability or even if Ben was healthy I think the Steelers would be doing fine. Even with the insane run of injuries they have been competitive in all games except the opener.

Always Tired · 11-10-2019 10:10pm

Chargers will win easy on Sunday night.

The_Honeybadger · 11-10-2019 10:22pm

Always Tired wrote: »

Chargers will win easy on Sunday night.

Given the Steelers are starting a guy at QB that was on the street a few weeks ago that’s hardly a brave prediction.

I do think that the Steelers pass rush will get to Rivers though so if Duck isn’t terrible at QB there is slim hope.

OOnegative · 11-10-2019 10:24pm

Always Tired wrote: »

Chargers will win easy on Sunday night.

Yawn......

The_Honeybadger · 14-10-2019 1:58am

Steelers D completely shutting down the Chargers. Wish I could stay up for the rest of this but so far so good anyway.

OOnegative · 14-10-2019 7:15am

The Duck with the win!!!

The_Honeybadger · 14-10-2019 8:42am

OOnegative wrote: »

The Duck with the win!!!

Watched the first half but had to go to bed then. Defence won it for them. Duck is as good as you could hope for for a UDFA though.

Great to have the bye week now because the number of injuries is gone beyond a joke.

dfx- · 14-10-2019 9:54am

Watched it through. Great defense until the 4th quarter where they nearly let them back into it, getting beaten by Henry and Williams over the middle.

Two very long offense drives helping the defense stay off. Conner ran riot.

Note for Berry for the final punt pinning them to the one yard line.

The_Honeybadger · 15-10-2019 8:51am

F**k it anyway

https://twitter.com/kdka/status/1183874879864627201?s=21

dfx- · 15-10-2019 10:56am

Any chance of Hargrave being traded to get back a pick is surely gone now.

The_Honeybadger · 15-10-2019 11:51am

dfx- wrote: »

Any chance of Hargrave being traded to get back a pick is surely gone now.

They’ll need him until the end of the season and may even look to re-sign him? Cam and Alualu are pushing on and Tuitt is constantly getting injured. If he has any interest in staying in Pitt I wouldn’t be letting Hargrave go personally, especially given their lack of draft capital.

Through all the issues with the offence the bright spots this season were the improved secondary and pass rush. Tuitt was playing at a pro bowl if not an all pro level. This leaves them really thin on the D line.

The Ravens and Browns are not particularly great but any slim chance the Steelers has of making a run at the division has passed with this news you’d imagine.

Pittsburgh Steelers Thread

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