43M Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 Even when Tuitt returns, the lack of impact playmakers on defense will continue to hold it back. On offense, the only thing that can really stop it is us. Last week the Jags did a good job, but I honestly think they are just in our heads, which is why we were completely owned for most of last weeks game. Today, we handed the game to the Broncos in typical-Mike Tomlin fashion. No, Im not blaming him soley for the loss or even giving him the majority of the blame, but these types of games are way to common under him. The main bright spots Ill take away from this is a) winning in Denver is hard for any team and b) at least we came back and won last week, otherwise we would be in much bigger trouble right now. We need to pray that the Steelers can win at least 2 of their difficult games remaining, and beat the teams we SHOULD beat...but obviously, thats far from a given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
43M Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 1 hour ago, Neumatic said: That’s exactly the sucking I was talking about. Wasn’t talking about the block at all. Thats what I figured, but Ive seen some act like he has been bad all year when it was just a rocky start. Cant completely blame him since poor starts seem to be the norm with this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubs10 Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 Our offense was pacing the league in redzone efficiency when we were using James Conner religiously near the goal line. The past two games we have had the ball right around the goaline with the game on the line and we didn't call a power running play either time. I understand James has been struggling the past two weeks and I worry about the pressure of knowing Bell can't come back anymore and it is officially all on him combined with these recent struggles might put him in a funk that could snowball. The one thing I don't think he could ever lose confidence in is his willingness to fight for every yard, and thats why I think I would make a concentrated effort to run some power running with him every time we get in the redzone the next couple of weeks. Not only because it has been one of our most effective tools in the redzone this year, but I wanna give James some confidence for the stretch run since we are going to need him. I'm sure, in his head no matter how much he tries to block it out, James knows if the offense falters in the playoffs or the running game struggles and our season ends, people will be coming out of the wood works to say we lost because we got too cocky with JC and didn't give Bell what he wanted. James Conner has famously delt with adversity in his past, but I think this is a completely different situation and would be understandably hard to deal with for someone in their first year really getting playing time. We all know how much pressure their is replacing an all-pro that left during the offseason. This situation is even harder because, right or wrong, there's a lot of people out there that believe the only reason Bell isn't on the team right now is because the team felt confident enough in James not to bend to any of Le'Veon's demands. Knowing the typical yinzer fans, the same people that were saying "Bell who?" a couple weeks ago when Conner was balling will end up scapegoating Conner when we lose saying it wouldn't have happened if we had Bell instead of Conner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 1 minute ago, grubs10 said: Our offense was pacing the league in redzone efficiency when we were using James Conner religiously near the goal line. The past two games we have had the ball right around the goaline with the game on the line and we didn't call a power running play either time. I understand James has been struggling the past two weeks and I worry about the pressure of knowing Bell can't come back anymore and it is officially all on him combined with these recent struggles might put him in a funk that could snowball. The one thing I don't think he could ever lose confidence in is his willingness to fight for every yard, and thats why I think I would make a concentrated effort to run some power running with him every time we get in the redzone the next couple of weeks. Not only because it has been one of our most effective tools in the redzone this year, but I wanna give James some confidence for the stretch run since we are going to need him. I'm sure, in his head no matter how much he tries to block it out, James knows if the offense falters in the playoffs or the running game struggles and our season ends, people will be coming out of the wood works to say we lost because we got too cocky with JC and didn't give Bell what he wanted. James Conner has famously delt with adversity in his past, but I think this is a completely different situation and would be understandably hard to deal with for someone in their first year really getting playoff time. We all know how much pressure their is replacing an all-pro that left during the offseason. This situation is even harder because, right or wrong, there's a lot of people out there that believe the only reason Bell isn't on the team right now is because the team felt confident enough in James not to bend to any of Le'Veon's demands. Knowing the typical yinzer fans, the same people that were saying "Bell who?" a couple weeks ago when Conner was balling will end up scapegoating Conner when we lose saying it wouldn't have happened if we had Bell instead of Conner. I don't think the pressure is on Conner, I almost think it's Fichtner thinking he no longer needs to feed Conner to piss of Bell and it's backfiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 Looking ahead to next week: Really good chance there's no Melvin Gordon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neumatic Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 17 minutes ago, FourThreeMafia said: Thats what I figured, but Ive seen some act like he has been bad all year when it was just a rocky start. Cant completely blame him since poor starts seem to be the norm with this team. Speaking of the blocked kick, was what #96 did here actually legal? I thought you couldn’t touch the long snapper right after the snap. Or am I remembering wrong and it’s only the head and neck area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rivers Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 19 minutes ago, grubs10 said: Our offense was pacing the league in redzone efficiency when we were using James Conner religiously near the goal line. The past two games we have had the ball right around the goaline with the game on the line and we didn't call a power running play either time. This has been the problem, just run Connor. We went back to garbage RZ and the scoreboard shows that. Connor will be good, just keep giving him chances. As for the rest, Bell is gone, but will the OL put the chip back on their shoulder ? Ever since Bell's deadline passed the OL and play calling has been less than it was the rest of the season, coincidence? 5 minutes ago, Neumatic said: Speaking of the blocked kick, was what #96 did here actually legal? I thought you couldn’t touch the long snapper right after the snap. Or am I remembering wrong and it’s only good point, but that is DeCastro who isn't the snapper but still, is that legal? The refs might have missed that . Maybe FG's should allow a challenge if someone breaks the rules and gets away with it? #51 looks to be breaking the rules too. I liked the energy the broncos had on this play, because not many go for the block and get it. Cheating though, thats a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 9 minutes ago, Neumatic said: Speaking of the blocked kick, was what #96 did here actually legal? I thought you couldn’t touch the long snapper right after the snap. Or am I remembering wrong and it’s only the head and neck area? No that's illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neumatic Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 51 must be the one I’m thinkin of, I just quick grabbed the picture and decastro looks like he’s in a long snappers stance lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rivers Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 1 minute ago, Neumatic said: 51 must be the one I’m thinkin of, I just quick grabbed the picture and decastro looks like he’s in a long snappers stance lol I think there are a few issues with this play. I don't have the rule book (don't want one) but others here will clarify this. Maybe send a letter to NY and have them explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 4 minutes ago, Neumatic said: 51 must be the one I’m thinkin of, I just quick grabbed the picture and decastro looks like he’s in a long snappers stance lol 3 issues with it. 51 lined up over Cannady - Illegal. 51 made contact whole Cannady was still in his stance - illegal. 31 made contact with Cannady while jumping over him - illegal. 3 flags on one play could have happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubs10 Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 38 minutes ago, warfelg said: I don't think the pressure is on Conner, I almost think it's Fichtner thinking he no longer needs to feed Conner to piss of Bell and it's backfiring. I don't know man, maybe with the level headed fans that have the ability to see the whole picture and not overeact week after week depending on their emotions immediately after the game. The media knows where its bread is buttered though and drama revolving around two well known players is much juicier than an offensive coordinator that other teams' fans have never heard of. On top of that, the vocal majority of the fans that tend to interact with the media and can cause a media narrative to become a bigger story locally, tend to lack the critical thinking to put things into perspective. And lastly, you have all the former players who work in the media now, that have been white knighting Le'Veon every single week, arguing that the Steeler's did him wrong for not giving him the contract he wanted, and poo-pooing James' numbers every week. They are eagerly waiting for their "I told you so" moment. I don't see anyway the running game struggles down the stretch and the narrative isn't that the Steelers cost themselves a chance at a title because they didn't get Bell to report and James Conner failed to adequately fill Bell's shoes. I don't want to get it twisted, I am not trying to say Conner won't deserve blame or doesn't need to play better, but the same characteristics that garnered him so much support from his team mates early on in the year, make him more susceptible for something like this to snowball. I will always pull for the guy, but most likely his fumble cost us the game today and at the very least cost us much stronger positioning down the stretch to win the game. I just know that no one is being harder on James right now than himself. He wasn't a highly rated prospect coming out of high school or college and has always been a humble, team mentality type of guy. Knowing that his mistakes have let the team down is probably sticking in his head in the tight moments, and I'm not sure he has developed the confidence of an elite pro player that can allow him to forget the bad plays and move on without allowing them to continue to effect him. I've always given Tomlin a lot of credit for having the leadership skills to positively impact the team and for developing the types of relationships with his players that allows them to trust him and want to play for him. He needs do everything he can to make sure James is back on the up swing heading into the playoffs. I'm worried they start taking away some of his snaps because of these mistakes and damage his confidence even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rivers Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 1 minute ago, warfelg said: 3 issues with it. 51 lined up over Cannady - Illegal. 51 made contact whole Cannady was still in his stance - illegal. 31 made contact with Cannady while jumping over him - illegal. 3 flags on one play could have happened. The league needs to enforce the rules and if they don't want to then let the coaches have a challenge on scoring plays. I thought #31 got through too easy , and now we know why. What about what #96 is holding DDC down, is that allowed? Losing is tough to deal with but mistakes and then refs can really ruin the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 Just now, 3rivers said: The league needs to enforce the rules and if they don't want to then let the coaches have a challenge on scoring plays. I thought #31 got through too easy , and now we know why. What about what #96 is holding DDC down, is that allowed? Losing is tough to deal with but mistakes and then refs can really ruin the game. Yes, DDC is not the snapper. The rules are about protecting the snapper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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