5 UP / 5 DOWN. Disaster in Ohio.

[steelcurtain29]

Let's hear them.

[MOSteelers56]

Connor was a big up

The defense looked pretty good too. Bud won a few, the secondary looked strong. 

Downs....

ummm we tied the Browns?

[August4th]

ups

Conner/run blocking to start the game

Watt

Downs

Ben

pass protection

[CKSteeler]

I more or less just have questions. Like, is Washington so behind the 8-ball that he should really be playing behind Hunter and Switzer. Why does Berry still have a job? Is it really that difficult to replace Bell's pass blocking to the point that they thought it was a great idea to just go empty sets for most of the game?

It was not a good game for Fichtner, Ben, Brown, or pass protection. The passing attack was way out of sync. Couldn't even rely on the old faithful relationship between Ben/Brown with Brown missing time/Ben basically resting up most of August. Easing into the season, if you will. Add in the weather.

The offense is a Ferrari. On paper, it's an impressive machine. In reality, something's always breaking and the oil is leaking and it's too often not quite right.

[BlaqOptic]

15 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said:

Connor was a big up

The defense looked pretty good too. Bud won a few, the secondary looked strong. 

Downs....

ummm we tied the Browns?

Connor has to also get a down for the fumble. Whether you love or hate Lev, he's had notorious ball security since his sophomore season.

[BlaqOptic]

Up:

1. TJ Watt: I only counted 3 but NFL.com and ESPN.com both have him with 4 sacks on the game and of course the season-saving blocked kick!

2. JuJu Smith-Schuster: When he was given opportunities he took advantage of them. Crazy to think that Ben somehow forgot he existed!

3. Interior O-Line: Kept Ben upright for the most part. And were great with runs up the middle for Connor.

4. Mike Hilton/Joe Haden: Is cementing himself as the best slot corner in the league. When he was on Landry he basically shut him down except one reception. Haden also covered Landry well.

5. James Connor: Up until the 4th quarter he took his opportunities and earned them.

Down

1. Ben Roethlisberger: Just did everything wrong but the AB touchdown today. Had no idea when to look for JuJu or AB. No pocket presence either and the interceptions were unforgivable minus the Jesse James one.

2. Cam Sutton: You have to have a "next man up" mentality, and when you know you're going to get targeted you have to step up. He didn't.

3. Villy/Gilbert: I understand the rain make sit hard to pass protect but their inteptitude in the second half cost the team the game. Villy got abused by Myles Garrett, making him loo like an All-Pro.

4. James Connor: Gotta hold onto the ball in the 4th quarter young blood.

5. The Refs: Just couldn't help but insert themselves into the game at the worst times.

[Bobikus]

Huge mess of a game all around but i'm trying not to take too much from it due to the weather.  TJ and JuJu were good all game, Conner was good outside of the fumble.

[CKSteeler]

Okorafor is a big up. Tomlin put a high priority on making sure that he checked in as an eligible receiver when he went on the field. That level of attention to detail is going to pay off big. Maybe not today. Maybe not even this year. But one day.

[3rivers]

up

1. connor against what should be a good D got 5ypc and in the end zone . The fumble was a down but overall he is staying in the up category.

2. secondary - many good plays today from everyone (mostly - more on that a few lines down). I am seeing improved play across the secondary, nice work for all those involved.

3. Watt- they tried to rush dupree more yet Watt still easily outperforms and this is  with a tweaked Hamstring. If I am coaching I just send Watt. The blocked kick could save our season. He is the real deal

4. Switzer - good trade again he is a spark on ST, keeps AB from getting ST hits

5. AB - can't have the up's completed without AB as usual

HM - the weather wasn't to bad and the game was entertaining until the end. The fans in the stadium were having a great time all while being rained on. Good atmosphere

downs

1. Ben - he got the 3 Ints rather sooner that I can remember , but I never saw the jags game either. Did he seem similar in that game as this all retirement in his mind? Lousy today, what happened? All this hype about his arm better than ever and more accurate than ever, yet I have not seen that yet this season . 

2. refs - saw too many lame calls both ways, the league is going down the sewer

3. dupree - you aren't running a triathlon out there, no need to run a circle around the entire OL and hope the QB runs to you 6 seconds later. The objective is to defeat the OT and get the quickest route to the QB in around 3 seconds , not the furthest and most time consuming route.  Remember, this was a 4th year RD1 pick that got the 5th year option vs a rookie UDFA, but I would have never known either by the play. How these coaches tolerate this is beyond me, but if it continues then they will feel the wrath here in the future. 

4. burns - he can't keep composure and still has to prove his coverage skills, but to me hasn't yet anyways.  He needs to be careful because he could get ejected and more important is that other teams will try to agonize him in the future

5. Boswell - signed the big deal only to miss? The snap and hold were good from what I saw

I expected a close game, and we got it . With our schedule the way it is, this tie could be a problem when the playoff picture is final. If ben plays like this a few more times, it could be the season if the schedule is going to be as difficult as I think it will be.

[43M]

Im not going to make a full list since most ups and downs have been adequately covered, but Ill leave a few notes...

1.  People seem to be downplaying or overlooking the role the weather played in todays game...from QB play, to OLine play to Boswell missing the FG.   Im not making excuses for them (Ben made too many bad DECISIONS and Boswell still couldve made the FG), but there is a reason they call weather in sports "the great equalizer".    Being that it was week 1 in a downpour, its hard to really say where this team is at.

2.  This defense still desperately misses Shaziers speed.     Not that that is shocking, but it doesnt seem like they did much to change the defense to make up for that.    I mean, until late in the game, we looked good vs runs up the middle, but we had no one that could get outside fast enough to stop backs or Taylor from getting around the corner.     They need to figure something out or its going to be a long season on D.

3.   Just another game where we look flat on the road...and vs a team we are better than.    At some point, the Rooney's have to start putting some pressure on Tomlin to clean these things up.      I doubt they will straight up fire him unless something really goes wrong, but they need to start looking at alternatives for after his contract ends in 2020 if he doesnt fix some of these issues.

4.   Watt looked great today and was flying around everywhere, but none of his sacks were particularly impressive.    Two of them I wouldnt even really consider sacks (even if they were technically considered as much).   This might draw some heat, and Im not dogging on TJ, but the sack numbers today, just like last year, were not reflective of how effective the pass rush is.   

[Chieferific]

I'd count the Secondary as an up. Besides Landry (who caught a 39 yrdr) they kept the Browns passing attack in check.

The biggest issue (imo) was the lack of containment especially in the 1st Half. TT made several plays running outside. Depending on the play, it was the DEs and/or OLBs fault. Also, the lack of speed at ILB allowed those plays to be so successful. 

It was hard for me to tell because games are televised in QB cam (also because I'm old) but I didn't see Edmunds close to the LOS and appeared to be in coverage more times then not. Is that accurate? If so, it would have been nice to have him down a little closer to negate those QB runs. 

[3rivers]

2 hours ago, FourThreeMafia said:

Im not going to make a full list since most ups and downs have been adequately covered, but Ill leave a few notes...

1.  People seem to be downplaying or overlooking the role the weather played in todays game...from QB play, to OLine play to Boswell missing the FG.   Im not making excuses for them (Ben made too many bad DECISIONS and Boswell still couldve made the FG), but there is a reason they call weather in sports "the great equalizer".    Being that it was week 1 in a downpour, its hard to really say where this team is at.

2.  This defense still desperately misses Shaziers speed.     Not that that is shocking, but it doesnt seem like they did much to change the defense to make up for that.    I mean, until late in the game, we looked good vs runs up the middle, but we had no one that could get outside fast enough to stop backs or Taylor from getting around the corner.     They need to figure something out or its going to be a long season on D.

3.   Just another game where we look flat on the road...and vs a team we are better than.    At some point, the Rooney's have to start putting some pressure on Tomlin to clean these things up.      I doubt they will straight up fire him unless something really goes wrong, but they need to start looking at alternatives for after his contract ends in 2020 if he doesnt fix some of these issues.

4.   Watt looked great today and was flying around everywhere, but none of his sacks were particularly impressive.    Two of them I wouldnt even really consider sacks (even if they were technically considered as much).   This might draw some heat, and Im not dogging on TJ, but the sack numbers today, just like last year, were not reflective of how effective the pass rush is.   

Rooneys might have, we just don't know about it now. The hint could be in the way the draft and roster has been completed. As long as Tomlin wins, he stays from what I gather and for some reason I am not quite on the fire tomlin tirade that at times has occurred in the past. I am seeing things differently as of late.

Watt might not have has the same quality pressure that von miller had but he is more legit than dupree thats for sure. Dupree running around in circles out there  was about as lame as it gets for a pass rusher. It's too bad the coaches never found a way to better utilize his athleticism and improve technique . If this continues for another 8 weeks, I expect Adeyini to eventually take over that spot in the lineup.  Watt's blocked kick was a play that defines his will IMO. He saved the game with that play,  he is going to anchor the D for years .  

[43M]

6 hours ago, 3rivers said:

Rooneys might have, we just don't know about it now. The hint could be in the way the draft and roster has been completed. As long as Tomlin wins, he stays from what I gather and for some reason I am not quite on the fire tomlin tirade that at times has occurred in the past. I am seeing things differently as of late.

Watt might not have has the same quality pressure that von miller had but he is more legit than dupree thats for sure. Dupree running around in circles out there  was about as lame as it gets for a pass rusher. It's too bad the coaches never found a way to better utilize his athleticism and improve technique . If this continues for another 8 weeks, I expect Adeyini to eventually take over that spot in the lineup.  Watt's blocked kick was a play that defines his will IMO. He saved the game with that play,  he is going to anchor the D for years .  

As I said, Watt still played very well...but this is an instance where stats are overrated.   In reality, it was SOMEWHAT reflective of how he played overall, because he was flying around everywhere,, but 2 of his sacks were laughably cheap ones he didnt really earn.

[warfelg]

I'm going to throw out some thing that I find very week 1 over reactionary, possibly not hot takey, but should be a hot take:

The idea of promoting from within needs to go the way of the Dodo bird; extinct.  We've tried it a few times now (Butler, Arians, Fili) and IMO it's failed miserably.  I'm also against the "bringing home the hometown coach", because that feels like it failed too.

But the times that we brought in a coach with no ties to the organization, we've seen improvements at their area.  I'm not sure who is forcing these guys up within the coaching ranks but it smells of favoritism as opposed to actual improvement.  

So the hot take week 1 overreation, that might not be a hot take:

Our Coordinators shouldn't be our coordinators.  They learned from guys that were part of the problem as to why they lost their jobs.

[warfelg]

Oh FWIW I'm going to put this out there:

I have 0 problem with Switzer getting snaps over Washington and Hunter.  He's the prototypical slot WR.  He's quick twitch and in and out of breaks fast.  He's quickly earned those snaps IMO.  His punt returns were also great in that he got north south fast.  Didn't break the big one but was always positive yards on the return.

But.....Hunter out there over Washington as the deep threat was a mistake.  Hunter is not reliable enough, and I think despite problems with the route tree, Washington proved that as a pass catcher he can make those tough contested catches and get behind a defense.

Yesterday should have been a Juju/Switzer feast for yards.  LB's were playing within 5 yards of the LOS and the Safeties were playing 20 yards off the LOS.  But we weren't running routes to that area.  Between the hashes intermediate throws should have been happening all game long to make the safeties drop into the box, but those plays were never called.