5up 5 down wk1 giants

[3rivers]

up

1. ben sems back

2. defence is still good, shut down barely but giants OL is not good

3. snell is RB1

4. Claypool why he is out there

5. Johnson rebounded after a run start

 

down

1.  Injuriies, especially Banner, I was hoping he wold break out this year

2. OC

3. Nelson - is it a legit concern though

4. Boswell kickoff OOB and missed FG

5. OL - not looking good at all  even before the injuries

[43M]

I am taking week 1 around the league with an extreme grain of salt.    

The only thing I will definitely take from it is something we already knew....the offense with Ben, even an average at best Ben, is far better than anything we had last year, and if the defense can be anywhere close to what it was this year, this team is a legit threat.

Im still curious as to how we stack up to top teams, but this team has the pieces if it stays healthy.

[mwalker]

It all looked rusty - and unsurprisingly so, with no preseason.
Snell, JuJu and Claypool looked great.
I was surprised how much better Snell looked than Conner.
Disappointed with DJ a bit.
Ben ok. But Ben back and ok is a big improvement.

The D will be solid. Dupree looked pretty good. Watt always does.

This o-line needs a few top draft picks. I feel like it's looking fragile and
without DeCastro, it wasn't great. The injuries really hurt.

Overall, decent, not great, I'd say, but some of that is to be expected.
Other than the injuries, I'd put it all down to no preseason, really.

[warfelg]

UPs:

Ben is back

Juju is back

Snell looks like the real deal

The line held up despite injuries

The defense is legit

DOWNs:

Sorry but I got to call out some of y'all.  A major down for me is the reaction of the sky is falling after single plays.  Calling for guys to be cut because of one less than stellar play.  Calling for a coaching change because of the first drive of the game?  Be better than that.  I get emotions going out during a game, this is the only place with other Steelers fans to talk about the Steelers without being trolled for me.  But some of this in game stuff is exhausting.  Yes is was frustrating to see Conner slam into the back of the line on his 5th straight carry without bouncing it to another hole, but he was still gaining 3-4 yards on every carry.  So how about this: we try to enjoy a game without acting like every single play that's not an INT or TD means someone needs to lose a job.

Minkah was invisible.  I dunno if that was the Giants game plan or ours, but I don't think his name was called out at all.

Injuries.  Banner, Wiz, Conner.

This one isn't on the Steelers but a lack of a preseason lead to some conservative play.  I think the 2 minute drive to close the first half and the second half was more what to expect.

[MOSteelers56]

Diontae was definitely a down, but man I'm still excited to see him. He seemed to get it figured out by the second half. He also led the team in targets, so I think he'll mesh well with Ben. I feel really good about out pass catchers going through this season. I thought they all showed positive flashes. 

[3rivers]

Minkah was called once, and at that time I remembered he was on the team.  The Giants probably decided to stay away from him, good idea on their part. No concerns about Minkah helping out with TO's again this season.  

[43M]

2 hours ago, warfelg said:

DOWNs:

Sorry but I got to call out some of y'all.  A major down for me is the reaction of the sky is falling after single plays.  Calling for guys to be cut because of one less than stellar play.  Calling for a coaching change because of the first drive of the game?  Be better than that.  I get emotions going out during a game, this is the only place with other Steelers fans to talk about the Steelers without being trolled for me.  But some of this in game stuff is exhausting.  Yes is was frustrating to see Conner slam into the back of the line on his 5th straight carry without bouncing it to another hole, but he was still gaining 3-4 yards on every carry.  So how about this: we try to enjoy a game without acting like every single play that's not an INT or TD means someone needs to lose a job.

And its always the same people doing that.  They overreact and knee jerk to every ******* thing....particularly the negative things.  

[MOSteelers56]

9 minutes ago, 43M said:

And its always the same people doing that.  They overreact and knee jerk to every ******* thing....particularly the negative things.  

I would say exclusively negative things. I didn't even see much smoke about Claypool after his big 1st catch. We definitely have a bunch of negative nancies, but I think maybe all teams do. At least the baseball Cardinals do, so maybe I'm just bad luck? lol

[bigben07MVP]

1 hour ago, MOSteelers56 said:

Diontae was definitely a down, but man I'm still excited to see him. He seemed to get it figured out by the second half. He also led the team in targets, so I think he'll mesh well with Ben. I feel really good about out pass catchers going through this season. I thought they all showed positive flashes. 

One small thing I noticed that I loved from Ben is after DJ ran that wrong route and the pass hit him in the back of the helmet, Ben immediately went to him on a nice back shoulder throw the very next play. This demonstrated that 

A) Ben and DJ already have a nice chemistry, despite what we saw the play before

B) Ben has a lot of trust in DJ

I am not worried at all about DJ. He bounced back huge in the 2nd half. We are 4 deep with playmakers at WR and Cain on the PS isn’t bad insurance in case one of them goes down.

[Steeler Hitman]

FIVE UP

1. Ben is back! Overcame the early jitters and lack of any game action against someone with a different uniform on.  The second quarter drive before halftime was old school classic Ben.

2. I was really impressed with Bennie Snell's violent rushing. He seemed to ignite the running game and showed a little more quickness than I thought he had. If he can improve his ball security, he may play more.

3. Chase Claypool and James Washington - - Very solid effort from the #3 and #4 WR.  Washington looked stronger and made a great effort for his second quarter TD with time running down. Claypool showed some of what he can do and took advantage of his opportunities. Great sideline catch and I was equally as impressed with his effort on the 4th and 1 jet sweep. 

4. Coaching adjustment. We have been critical of the Steelers coaching staff's ability to make in game adjustments. They did just that and put this team in a good position to come back and finish the game strong.

5. The run defense. I can't remember when I seen the Steelers defensive line flex their muscles like that. Wow!  Great efforts from Cam, Tuitt and especially Tyson who filled in at NG and seemed to make an impact along the DL as well. Bush made a tremendous stride this game. He was all over Barkley and seemed to have a great understanding of the defense. His pass coverage seemed to improve as well.

FIVE FOR IMPROVEMENT - - Not going to say down because this team played well considering no pre-season, a pandemic, protests, and playing on the road. The last few years the Steelers were winless 0-1-1. It is great to be 1 - 0, but there is still work to do, adjustments and improvements to make. 

1. Special Teams. I am not going to be ultra critical of any aspect considering the circumstances, but the Steelers did not look to be ready on ST. Boz missed EP was probably a result of new holder. Johnson's decision making and ball security have to improve. It is great that he may be able to take one to the house, but if he turns the ball over in the redzone or gives an opposing offense another shot to score, the juice ain't worth the squeeze. Something to pay attention too. Switzer was two yards and no dust, but had great ball security. I would almost prefer to use him and allow Johnson to come in at certain key times. Punt coverage was not great. Peppers is a dynamic returner, but there were missed tackles and some guys not in their lanes. Can be adjusted/fixed, but also not ready for prime time. I understand the fan base in Washington  D.C.'s frustration with ST Coach Danny Smith.  He is inconsistent and I would have liked to see a better effort overall by ST. Bright spot was Ray Ray Mc Cloud almost breaking one on a KOR.

2. Secondary. Not one of their better performances. Not real concerned, but they made some mistakes. Edmonds is still getting picked on and he is still a half step or so behind. The Giants stayed away from Minkah and did some things to take advantage of his aggressiveness in coverage. I expect to see him bounce back quickly. Ditto for Steve Nelson.  Haden and Hilton were solid and a decent performance from Cam as well. This is a team strength and I expect that the coaching will adjust and these guys will improve.

3. OL Line injuries. You hate any injury. The early prognosis doesn't look good for Banner and Wiz.  I think everyone was pulling for Banner after the work and dedication that he put in competing for the starting RT job.  Losing Wiz can be even more devastating as he is extremely versatile being able to fill in at C or either OG spot. I hope neither injury is as bad as many suspect. 

4. James Connor.  God I feel bad for this kid. He cannot seem to stay on the field. I will continue to pull and pray for this guy who has overcome cancer and is a high character young man. Hoping that they kept him out for his long term health rather than having another dreaded high ankle sprain.  It is a long season and I look for Connor to bounce back.  He also seemed to have some opening game rust/jitters early on before the injury. We have all seen what Connor can do when he gets running downhill and his confidence and swag.  

5. Dionte Johnson - - Poor start and he did a solid job of keeping his composure and rebounding. After muffing the opening punt, he did a solid job of hanging in there and competing. He made some mental mistakes and had a drop or two, but came up big when it counted. He helped put the game away with some key third down catches. If the same pattern holds true, Johnson should have a good game this week against Denver. Last year he seemed to rebound after an off game.  This game Claypool and Washington seemed to outplay him in terms of consistency and ball security. 

[Dcash4]

Up:

Ben. Knew there would be rust - there will still be rust for the next 2-3 weeks - but he really rebounded well. Its hard to get acclimated to the rush speed after any time off and that for sure showed in his footwork. Reps in pre-season would have been so valuable for him, but just gotta be patient. Still, no turnovers (I really cant even remember a "Ben Ball" he usually throws where he smacks the DB right in the chest with the football one time a game) overall a passing grade for missing almost a year. 

Vince Williams needs some love. Real good game. 

Bud Dupree's run game is legit. He just isnt a top pass rusher, but Im not sure there are many better against the ground game right now. He has been a stud. 

Footballs back

.....profit?

Down:

Thanks for making me look awful, James. Bummed for the dude, but he is going to meet with the NFL reaper soon. Wondering if he is a potential trade asset for an IOL?

DJ - the knock on him in college was also the concentration issues. Showed up in the punt game and in his receiving. Missing a call from Ben on that quick screen game wont go over well. Needs to lock it up in game because he can be special. 

I need someone who knows OLine play more in depth to chat with me. I know a decent amount about the position in general, but I dont know higher level concepts. I cant figure out whats up with our game. Too often, especially early, Connor would get the ball, make a dude miss, then there would be 3 more blue jerseys surrounding him with no Steelers in sight. Do we work downfield too quickly? Is our design flawed? Are we not counting correctly? Its a bit of the same that we saw last year and I dont think its talent (other than Wis....). Something really seems flawed in the way we are operating in that element of the game and I dont know what it is. 

Special teams. God almighty. That's it. That's the end of the thought. 

Just really bummed for Banner. Seems like a genuinely good dude you can just tell he worked his tail off. For a guy that was undrafted and shouldnt be any sort of household name to get as much national twitter attention as he did after the injury -- you know the guy was getting his due and sucks he cant cash in on that. 

Bonus Up/Down - Glass half full fellas. These injuries to the Oline could really be a valuable commodity looking at a tight cap 2021. If Dodson is a legit starting option as well as Chuks being the potential starter at RT, that can save us cash on both Feiler and Banner and makes their walking very helpful. Hate to see the injuries, but in the NFL injuries are just opportunities -- and we never would have gotten the chance to see Dodson and Chuks full game action without it. Could be huge going into 2021.  

[warfelg]

2 hours ago, Dcash4 said:

Just really bummed for Banner. Seems like a genuinely good dude you can just tell he worked his tail off. For a guy that was undrafted and shouldnt be any sort of household name to get as much national twitter attention as he did after the injury -- you know the guy was getting his due and sucks he cant cash in on that. 

Not to nit pick but he was a 4th round pick and cut in camp his rookie year. 

[jebrick]

The Giants have a awful Oline.  Glad the Steelers could dominate it.

The refs kinds of sucked. in line calls.  Anyone else see TJ get tackled from behind on a passrush?

 

[MOSteelers56]

So I know he only played about 10 snaps, but I was kind of impressed by Spillane against the G-Men. He's a slightly less physical, but more athletic Vince. I think he's the BUCK of the future for us. I know he might not be a world beater, but that position is rarely used anyway. It's good to have a cheap, solid guy once we have to pay Bush. 

[DR43]

What is a legit concern for Nelson?