A short thread on watching a Steelers' offense that made me very, very sad Sunday. In a word: dysfunctional. Couple of clips. #Steelers
The Ben chest pass. Half the offense doesn't fire off the ball in time. Snap may have been early. Harris gets too wide so Roethlisberger tries to chest-pass it. "Luckily" ruled incomplete.
Fun fact. Canada had the balls to call this again in the 2nd half. It lost five yards.
Gap run turns into a mosh pit. Turner can't get around, the middle is just a mess and there's no lane for Najee Harris. Dead on the snap.
Pistol (yay) followed up by the world's worst RPO. Both DTs split the double-team. McCloud not open on the slant. Maybe Ben should've hit Diontae on the slant but he just gets destroyed.
Failed RB screen #1
Failed RB screen #2
Najee ducks away from the football. Maybe his brain telling him don't catch it so Zach Cunningham doesn't try to break every bone in his body. Would've have a free shot to lit him up.
Hey, a screen that could work! Blockers out in space for Chase Claypool. This could be a big pl...and he drops it.
Ben with the "Lord give me strength" look to the sky
Trying to better sell playaction with the false key guard pull. But Turner can't explode and trying to reach Bud Dupree is asking a lot. Roethlisberger sacked before he can even turn around.
I could show another half-dozen but now I'm sad and you probably are too.
This offense is bad.
Last last thing. These are seven plays. They only ran 45. So 15.5% of them were just dead in the water or had fatal errors (like Claypool's drop). Almost 1/5 of the offense just completely crapped the bed.
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Steelers gotta win three of their last four games to have a shot to make the playoffs. Kansas City on the docket next week so...Tennessee feels like a must-win. Here's what to watch for today. #Steelers
Titans' offense. No Derrick Henry but they still have the same identity. More committed to the run than any other team. Thunder/lightning attempt with Foreman/Hilliard. Can't let Foreman get YAC with his power, pushing piles forward.
Starting FB is out today but they have a backup. They'll run same concepts out of 1 and 2 back (IZ/gap). Vikings fooled Pittsburgh last week with RB misdirection and not following path of FB. Maybe Titans try same thing.
Curious comment from Mike Tomlin in his weekly Sunday interview with Bob Labriola.
Acknowledges Steelers needed NFL ready center. Says Kendrick Green was that guy despite leaving school early and primarily playing guard at Illinois. Doesn't add up. #Steelers
Green wasn't the "Day One ready" pick. He was the opposite, the upside pick. The tools and traits but needed experience and had to refine his technique.
While he did spend four years at Illinois as Tomlin said, he wasn't a senior. And began college as a DT. He was/is raw.
When Tomlin says "as opposed to who was an underclassman with upside who may be less of a finished product," he's literally describing Kendrick Green. To a T.
Big game tonight. Pittsburgh loses, going to be hard to be the #1 seed. Some things to watch for tonight between the Steelers and Bills...
Josh Allen has had a monster, breakout season. Every stat has shot up. Completion percentage most notably. Under 60% last year, now almost 70%. Use him in a lot of ways
- Vertical shots
- Rollouts
- Designed runs
- Scrambles (DBs have to plaster)
- Watch the sneak!
Allen is their leader in rushing TDs with six. All have come inside the five yard line. Sneaks and draws.
Devin Singletary taking better care of the ball this year. Zack Moss a big back finding his footing now that he's healthy. Get gap, zone runs. Alert sprint draw on 3rd down.
Some things to watch for in todays Steelers/Jaguars game. Records are two different ends of the spectrum (9-0 vs 1-8) but these games always find a way to be close...
Starting with Jags' offense. Tomlin touched on issue of lack of familiarity with QB Jake Luton. Third career start. Had issues with Driskel off the bench vs DEN, Gilbert vs DAL. So focused on run, forget about pass game. Luton has live arm + speed at WR.
Chark, Conley, Cole all have ability to get vertical. Chark & Conley ran 4.34/4.35 coming out. Cole big-play guy too including STs (91 yard PR TD last week vs GB). All three averaging over 12 YPC. Use playaction for vert pass game. PIT can't keep blowing coverages like they have.