Week One Post-Mortem

[Beck Bristow]

Ugh. We played awful, Pittsburgh's defense was way ahead of us and we still only lost because of a long snapper injury and failure to eat the bad snap in overtime.  A few things stand out to me:

I know Heyward is a very good player, but Volson clearly isn't up to handling a guy of that level. It was a pretty bad offensive line day overall as Williams and Collins both had some pretty bad reps. 

Karras and Cappa look like upgrades from last season but the rest of the line needs to step it up.

Sample had a great block on Mixon's run.

Pass interference in the end zone annoys me, especially when contact us initiated by the offensive player, especially when we don't get the exact same call on the next possession. Didn't lose this game because of refs though.

Joe wasn't very cool today. No rhythm ever got established and he forced quite a few throws.

Losing Higgins on a helmet to helmet hit, that no one cared about was a big loss. Hopefully he gets back next week. Some of those misses to Thomas were completions with Higgins. 

Really came clear why the long snapper is so important. Hard to move off a guy who never screws up when you see how bad it can go.

Disappointed in Huber, who's still here because of his consistency as a holder, didn't have the presence to eat that high snap on third down. 

Frank Pollack needs to do better. Pittsburgh's offensive line was a mess last year and rebuilt and performed much better. We need to be too.

[Who-dey]

That was about as bad of an offensive performance as any of could have thought up.  Maybe next year the starters will get some preseason reps. Couldn’t have hurt. 
 

There is a bright side though.  Our D looked good all game. We had 5 turnovers and was sacked six times and still would have won if Harris would have stayed in.  Not sure how but we still might have the worst O line in the league. 

[Beck Bristow]

10 minutes ago, Who-dey said:

That was about as bad of an offensive performance as any of could have thought up.  Maybe next year the starters will get some preseason reps. Couldn’t have hurt. 
 

There is a bright side though.  Our D looked good all game. We had 5 turnovers and was sacked six times and still would have won if Harris would have stayed in.  Not sure how but we still might have the worst O line in the league. 

Yeah, defense was excellent.  Got bogged down with my negative thoughts, but kudos to the defense. They repeatedly got put in bad spots and only gave up one touchdown which was after they got a second chance after a questionable PI call. Would like to see some more pass rush, bit I do like what they brought.

[fluhartz]

20 minutes ago, Who-dey said:

That was about as bad of an offensive performance as any of could have thought up.  Maybe next year the starters will get some preseason reps. Couldn’t have hurt. 
 

There is a bright side though.  Our D looked good all game. We had 5 turnovers and was sacked six times and still would have won if Harris would have stayed in.  Not sure how but we still might have the worst O line in the league. 

this.. sooo much

[Beck Bristow]

1 hour ago, fluhartz said:

this.. sooo much

The one starter who did get preseason snaps, was probably the worst. I don't know. Collins was pretty obviously rusty and Williams was either bad or playing next to a lost rookie, probably a bit of both. Has to get better, that's all there is to it.

[fluhartz]

9 minutes ago, Beck Bristow said:

The one starter who did get preseason snaps, was probably the worst. I don't know. Collins was pretty obviously rusty and Williams was either bad or playing next to a lost rookie, probably a bit of both. Has to get better, that's all there is to it.

yep

[THE DUKE]

Burrow's appendectomy and not getting those training camp reps clearly had his timing off.

I wasn't shocked at the line having issues either.  It takes time to gel in new pieces and we have 4 out of 5 linemen new.  I think that will improve, plus Pittsburgh has one of the best front sevens in the league, so not a surprise to me.  Disappointing a bit, but not a surprise.

Defense was everything we wanted to see, the fact that we almost won that game was a great testament to them.

[ochocinco4pres]

O line was bad. But overall this game came down to Huber and Taylors decision making. Taylor should have challenged the TD catch by Chase. On the FG kick in OT, we kicked on 3rd down to ensure things go well. As soon as the snap was screwed up, fall on it and retry. Huber is a vet and should know that. Then punting with 15 seconds left on the clock in OT. Just too many mental errors there. 

 

I expect Burrow and Line to play better with more reps. 

[Beck Bristow]

1 hour ago, ochocinco4pres said:

O line was bad. But overall this game came down to Huber and Taylors decision making. Taylor should have challenged the TD catch by Chase. On the FG kick in OT, we kicked on 3rd down to ensure things go well. As soon as the snap was screwed up, fall on it and retry. Huber is a vet and should know that. Then punting with 15 seconds left on the clock in OT. Just too many mental errors there. 

 

I expect Burrow and Line to play better with more reps. 

I don't mind the not challenging the touchdown catch. It was just as probable to be an incomplete catch on review and Chase wasn't claiming he got in. Also, the ref was right there, you'd think he had the right view of it. Should have easily been able to s ore from there, so the issue is the execution on that play. That's my problem.  Have to be able to get it in from the half yard line.

They should have let the play clock expire in ot,  then punt. No need to rush it.

[Carson4MVP]

I will be honest, I’m completely fine sitting starters and looking rusty week 1. I much prefer that than the season being over before week 1 because of a big injury. I’m sure I’m in the minority but if guys are getting practice reps, especially vs other teams 1’s in the joint practices, that is sufficient. The offense playing 6-7 downs a game would have had very low impact IMO. 

[Carson4MVP]

I don’t mind my teams losing because they get out played. I absolutely hate losing on mental errors and bad coaching and we had that in spades on Sunday. 

[INbengalfan]

Agreed to both posts carson.  The starters got way more in those two days than they would have in games 1 and 3 for sure.  This loss was maddening.

[ochocinco4pres]

Absolutely agreed. I am fine playing rusty and losing. The way we lost is frustrating.