Studying the Steelers Week 7
DE - FENSE! DE - FENSE! DE - FENSE!
The offense struggled mightily with itself; thankfully the defense emerged from its shell to put away the Vikings, 27-17.
Breaking down the Steelers Offense:
Big Ben - Ben had a normal QB average day today going 14/26 for 175 and a TD. He was sacked three times and had a hard time finding WRs deeper than 10 yards.
It was kind of a surprising performance given the 400+ yard game he had last week and his status in the league as the top QB in passing yards. I thought he had
some running room late in the game on third down and 2 and he opted to force a pass that was incomplete. And I don't know why he was so upset when the
Vikings were flagged for a hit out of bounds, when the replay shows he was inbounds when the Viking player was in flight to hit him. I hope he see's that
in the film room, maybe it will humble him a little.
Offensive line - Not a bad game by these five guys. The Vikings have 4 quality down lineman and Williams in the middle is a load to block. They gave Ben time
to throw and did get some decent holes for the backs. Still I wonder how Kemoeatu can have the size and ability to be a guard, yet misses blocks that could
turn average gains into defense breaking runs. Still, I like what these guys have brought to the team this year.
Running Backs - Mendenhall only carried 10 times for 69 yards, and don't get too excited. He had one 17 yard run and fumbled inside the 10. FWP was only
awarded one carry and his own lineman disrupted him after a gain of two. Moore got to play in the fourth and had a pedestrian 3.5 ypc.
Wide Receivers - Welcome addition Mike Wallace continues to be a clutch receiver as a rookie, grabbing 3 for 72 yards and his first TD. I hope he got that air
tumble out of his system. Ward only caught one for 3 and Holmes had 2 for 59. The Vikings played nickel and dime defenses more than they may have normally not
wanting to get beat deep. This keep the majority of Ben's passes underneath and limited the effectiveness of the WR to stretch the field. McDonald was
activated for this game in place of Sweed, but I can't say that I saw him out there.
Tight Ends - Heath Miller got more work again this week with 6 receptions for 38 yards. David Johnson caught his first of the year for four yards and Matt
Spaeth got the disciplinary "ride the bench for a while" role for his actions after last week's game.
Breaking down the Defense:
Defensive Line - Casey Hampton continues to show his worth in the middle of the defense and he still was able to pressure Farve in the rare occasion he was in
the game on a pass play. Keisel made a few big plays, not all show up on the stat sheet. One was jumping up to make Farve hesitate or have to hold the ball to
throw of his passing and once to cause a sack. He also striped Farve of the ball on Woodley's fumble TD return.
Kirshke was the best sub once again for Aaron Smith. Eason struggled and Hood was even worse. We really need a solution there, but all in all not bad form this
group.
Linebackers - Well, well, well, Woodley finally makes a "splash" play to quiet the restless Steeler faithful, by returning a Farve fumble 77 yds for
a TD. He also had a pass defense and a QB hurry. Farrior played his best game this season, as he was in on 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hurry, and a PD. Timmons
was doing well until he injured his right leg. Enter Keyaron Fox and his "look what I found"
interception return 82 yards for a TD. Harrison is steadily regaining the lead in the debate for DMVP honors with 2 sacks and the tracking down from behind of
Adrian Peterson. Amazing!
Defensive Backs - Ike Taylor didn't have a bad day but it wasn't a great day like he's been having. Gay, on the other hand, has a new nickname,
Toast. Troy got sucked in on the TD in the first half and shouldn't have; he's better than that. He also missed a couple tackles, which isn't good.
Clark had a rough game too, but his hit on Harvin was masterful. These guys need the bye week.
Breaking down the Special Teams:
Jeff Reed - Quietly he had a good game hitting all his FG attempts and even getting his KO deep, except for the returned on and the pouch kick afterwards.
Dan Sepulveda - Not sure what happened with Danny boy, but he was about 6 yards off his average. He did have two inside the 20, but I think he can do
better.
Return teams - Logan continues to be a breath away from taking a return to the house, 26.3 on KOR and 8 on PR.
Coverage teams - Other than the KOR for a TD the coverage teams were very good. Keeping the PR to less than 3 ypr and the KO (less the TD) under 20 ypr. Logan
and Bailey shined making 2 tackles each
Last Thoughts:
I just don't get it. There is still no rhyme or reason to our play calling. It looks like the HS game I watched last Friday. We come out and get a 14-yard
run on the first play with Mendenhall. Then we try to pass on first down and get sacked, the pass two more times! In the first quarter we had 15 plays and only
4 were runs and one of those was am end around! What are we doing running 3 end arounds in one game, back-to-back screen passes, and allowing the defense the
upper hand by showing that we are passing with the empty backfield??? The G-T gap and the G-C gap, pending the way Williams was set-up, was there all day and
we didn't exploited it. Nearly all the pass routes with 4 WR sets never had a route less than 10 yards! With the way the offense is playing, we should not
be worried about moving the ball and scoring points, but we are.
Thanks to the defense we one the game and they camouflaged there shortcomings, like the TOP, the 50% 3rd down efficiency, and the 380+ yards given
up. Two TD in the fourth quarter on long returns was very impressive and welcoming. Holding Adrian Peterson to 69 yards is impressive, but they have to get off
the field on 3rd down. That said Farve still got it.
I know the Vikings are good and they are undefeated for a reason, but I really thought that the Steelers could have shamed them out of Pittsburgh. As the game
wore on we got to watch some of the absolute worst play calling and under utilization of talent by our dear BA. At some point Tomlin has got to take the bull
by the horns and find an identity for this offense and it can't be. "Let's wait to get behind and let Ben sling it." He's got to get more
methodical in destroying opponents.
Thank goodness for the Bye week, we need it to regroup and regain focus.
Remember winning is what we expect to do not what we hope to do.
I quit drinking almost entirely now.
