2022 GDT Da Steelers 1-4 host Da Bucs 3-2

[warfelg]

Some guys are just good at what they are and you need to figure out how to use that. I think that’s something Fitchner got out of Claypool. He’s a situational mismatch player. And that’s fine and something you can make a career out of. 
 

Canada hasnt asked him to be that, he’s asked for a WR. Which Claypool isn’t. 
 

Do you hope someone you took in the 2nd round would develop that? Hell yes. Would you also hope your offensive staff understands that too? Hell yes. 
 

But also – why does your GM approve that pick?

 

If we move away from Claypool the full time WR to Claypool the situational matchup guy, you would see that early production return. 

[Steeler Hitman]

 

(In my Rod Serling voice) Imagine this: The Pittsburgh Penguins scored more points in three periods of hockey that the entire Pittsburgh Steelers offense their last four quarters of football. 

 

Sid Crosby has more points in one game than several Steelers receivers have for the season (And I am definitely not talking fantasy points. In reality)! 

We have switched QB's, so it isn't (ain't sounds better) Mitch.

Or the Matt Canada offensive scheme.😉😜

Edited October 14, 2022 by Steeler Hitman
Type-o

[warfelg]

11 minutes ago, Steeler Hitman said:

We have switched QB's, so it isn't (ain't sounds better) Mitch.

In all fairness - it was partially him. 

[Dcash4]

47 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I remember Kozora was asked during TC of Chase's 2nd year if he'd improved any over the offseason. He said that he looked like the exact same guy. That was kind of eye opening to me at the time. I really don't think he's gotten markedly better at any one thing in his time in the league. He has all the tools to be an All-Pro, but will probably never put them together. 

I have always had this theory based on absolutely nothing that the worst thing that can happen to a rookie that has tools but lacks details is having success in year 1. I remember a Richard Sherman interview he was asked about the most important trait a corner could have and his answer was studying and that it's the part of the game so many young, talented people ignore. The small details matter so much in a sport filled with incredible athletes/talents. I always worry about guys who walk right into success. 

Claypool just hurts because he was drafted 49th after we had drafted receivers at 66, 62, and 60 before him. That top 50 pick hurts when I am not sure he is any more productive than the 62nd overall pick that he immediately replaced. Looking at those numbers of draft capital is a big reason why I am still on the side of extending DJ, flaws and all. Gotta stop pushing all your best resources into the same area at some point. 

 

[Steeler Hitman]

13 minutes ago, warfelg said:

In all fairness - it was partially him. 

Toe-mato

Toe-motto

 

Mitch's only problem was he played not to make a mistake rather than to let her rip.  He tried not to make a mistake so badly, that he didn't make enough plays (nor did he get the support with drops and penalties when he did).  The dropped passes, poorly timed penalties, and poor decisions/reads by him resulted in missed opportunities and points. He took the brunt of that fairly or unfairly.

I was not a fan of signing Mitch to begin with, but supported him as a Steeler and I kind of felt like he got more blame than he deserved, but that's life as an NFL QB. Truthfully, the guy I wanted us to pursue is struggling worse in Washington, D.C.  (Carson Wentz), so I can't say my answer was better.  I have supported Matt Canada and have been patient with the offenses struggles and play calling as well. 

The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Matt Canada has been spinning his wheels with some stuff that he deserves some call out on. 

[warfelg]

3 minutes ago, Steeler Hitman said:

Mitch's only problem was he played not to make a mistake rather than to let her rip.  He tried not to make a mistake so badly, that he didn't make enough plays (nor did he get the support with drops and penalties when he did).  The dropped passes, poorly timed penalties, and poor decisions/reads by him resulted in missed opportunities and points. He took the brunt of that fairly or unfairly.

I agree with this part, but if I were to put the order of what got him benched, the dropped passes/penalties are so far down the list that it shouldn't register here.

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I was not a fan of signing Mitch to begin with, but supported him as a Steeler and I kind of felt like he got more blame than he deserved, but that's life as an NFL QB. Truthfully, the guy I wanted us to pursue is struggling worse in Washington, D.C.  (Carson Wentz), so I can't say my answer was better.  I have supported Matt Canada and have been patient with the offenses struggles and play calling as well. 

I don't think he got more than he deserved.  In the world of having to pick a side, rather than understand it's both lead to that feeling.  Is Canada's play calling great? Not even close.  But are there concepts that work? Absolutely.  Just like did Trubisky miss an open guy on every single play? Not even close.  But were the ones he missed back breaking? IMO - absolutely.

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The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Matt Canada has been spinning his wheels with some stuff that he deserves some call out on. 

I saw someone offer something interesting for through the rest of the season:

Let Matt Canada stay as the offensive coordinator, but give Mike Sullivan the play calling duties.  Akin to what happened at the end of Todd Haley's tenure.  Sullivan tends to have the pulse better on what needs to happen play to play.  But Canada's offense has some interesting things in there to use.  Like the article I posted where he wants to keep things simple....like dude the problem isn't the guys can't execute the simple.  I would agree if guys were running wrong routes and stuff like that.  But they aren't doing that.  They are failing at the things the position coaches should make sure they are in position to do - catch the daggon ball.  

Take that fly/deep in concept.  There's nothing built off of it. Hell you can even learn in Madden how to build off of that.  Have the outside guy run the in while the slot runs the fly.  Call the post off of it.  Call the deep comeback off of it.  Have the inside WR run a shallow slant off of it when there's off coverage.  My issue with Canada in these 6 quarters, now that Kenny is throwing at these guys, is he's taking (Canada) the dropped pass as the play not working.  Now he calls the same thing, instead of calling a play off of it.  Now you ran a different route combination off the same look.  Do the same thing for a 3rd straight time, and now you got 3 play calls off the same concept that makes the offense guess.

I feel that's what makes Reid/Shanahan such good offensive coaches.  They play with you by having 10 plays all have the exact same motion, exact same players, in the exact same spots, hell even hit their break points running the exact same way; then chaos happens as Kelce breaks out as opposed to in, Juju runs a curl rather than the in, and MVS is suddenly wide open on a streak.  Hell Shanahan called the same run play 2 straight times with Deebo and then called it a 3rd time on the same drive but had Kittle sneak off the backside wide open.

Haley was the last OC we had who understood how to do that.  I think the issue with Fitchner and his lack of a playbook, was he (like Arians) understood that Ben was a gunslinger, and the best way to help a gunslinger is to spread everyone apart and have them run routes that don't interact.  Allows the QB to process the field after the snap.  Kenny is polar opposite where he can read the defense before the snap really well.  He can process in real time on option routes who should break where.  DJ and Pickens can match that, as can Pat.  I have my doubts about Najee and Chase.  So we need someone who will call plays who can make sure that the ability to alter out of the formation into something new is calling those plays in.  Canada's play calling seems to lock in the QB to the play called or a kill.  Not much flexibility to get out there and audible the routes into something new based on what Kenny is seeing.

[warfelg]

 

[August4th]

Damn near our whole secondary has been ruled out to play this game.

[August4th]

I think I'm going to put money on this game 

[MOSteelers56]

2 minutes ago, August4th said:

I think I'm going to put money on this game 

With Minkah, Sutton, Wallace, Spoon, and Leal out 8 points is not nearly enough. Put money down now before the line changes. We're going to get TORCHED

[warfelg]

8 minutes ago, August4th said:

I think I'm going to put money on this game 

I just got good odds on a create a line of Bucs -14.5. 

[Steeler Hitman]

4 hours ago, warfelg said:

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I agree with this part, but if I were to put the order of what got him benched, the dropped passes/penalties are so far down the list that it shouldn't register here.

I think that the missed opportunities due to dropped passes, penalties, etc. have been a root cause of the problems. Many of the drops where on third down or situations that would have helped sustain drives and potentially shift field position, score points, and at the least give the defense a breather. Dionte catches the third and short pass in the second half against Cleveland, who knows? I have seen this trend in every game. Even against Buffalo and New England they dropped key passes that could have kept the defense off the field and potentially helped win games. Of course there are other things: Gunner muffed punt against the Pats and Suttons dropped INT hurt as well.  But that has been the 2022 Steelers and it all counts between winning and losing.

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I don't think he got more than he deserved.  In the world of having to pick a side, rather than understand it's both lead to that feeling.  Is Canada's play calling great? Not even close.  But are there concepts that work? Absolutely.  Just like did Trubisky miss an open guy on every single play? Not even close.  But were the ones he missed back breaking? IMO - absolutely.

I agree completely with what you are saying here. Not saying it is all Matt Canada and none of Mitch. I think in the court of public opinion many fault Mitch more and the calls for put in Kenny have been louder than fire Matt chants early on.

 

I saw someone offer something interesting for through the rest of the season:

Quote

Let Matt Canada stay as the offensive coordinator, but give Mike Sullivan the play calling duties.  Akin to what happened at the end of Todd Haley's tenure.  Sullivan tends to have the pulse better on what needs to happen play to play.  But Canada's offense has some interesting things in there to use.  Like the article I posted where he wants to keep things simple....like dude the problem isn't the guys can't execute the simple.  I would agree if guys were running wrong routes and stuff like that.  But they aren't doing that.  They are failing at the things the position coaches should make sure they are in position to do - catch the daggon ball.  

I agree with you here as well. The position coaches should be helping out. Tony Romo pointed out a route where Chase ran away from the ball instead of straight across that would have led to an easy completion.  That is coaching.  And yes, catch the friggin ball. That is on the receivers.

 

Quote

Take that fly/deep in concept.  There's nothing built off of it. Hell you can even learn in Madden how to build off of that.  Have the outside guy run the in while the slot runs the fly.  Call the post off of it.  Call the deep comeback off of it.  Have the inside WR run a shallow slant off of it when there's off coverage.  My issue with Canada in these 6 quarters, now that Kenny is throwing at these guys, is he's taking (Canada) the dropped pass as the play not working.  Now he calls the same thing, instead of calling a play off of it.  Now you ran a different route combination off the same look.  Do the same thing for a 3rd straight time, and now you got 3 play calls off the same concept that makes the offense guess.

Excellent points.

I feel that's what makes Reid/Shanahan such good offensive coaches.  They play with you by having 10 plays all have the exact same motion, exact same players, in the exact same spots, hell even hit their break points running the exact same way; then chaos happens as Kelce breaks out as opposed to in, Juju runs a curl rather than the in, and MVS is suddenly wide open on a streak.  Hell Shanahan called the same run play 2 straight times with Deebo and then called it a 3rd time on the same drive but had Kittle sneak off the backside wide open.

I think that is having a feel for the game.  I don't doubt Matt Canada's football acumen, but the redundancy and the lack of creativity that you mentioned. Finish some of these drives, don't drop the ball, don't hold on the play or go downfield to block too fast and it ends in a TD rather than a punt or FG attempt.  Then he seems more like an offensive guru. 

4 hours ago, warfelg said:

Haley was the last OC we had who understood how to do that.  I think the issue with Fitchner and his lack of a playbook, was he (like Arians) understood that Ben was a gunslinger, and the best way to help a gunslinger is to spread everyone apart and have them run routes that don't interact.  Allows the QB to process the field after the snap.  Kenny is polar opposite where he can read the defense before the snap really well.  He can process in real time on option routes who should break where.  DJ and Pickens can match that, as can Pat.  I have my doubts about Najee and Chase.  So we need someone who will call plays who can make sure that the ability to alter out of the formation into something new is calling those plays in.  Canada's play calling seems to lock in the QB to the play called or a kill.  Not much flexibility to get out there and audible the routes into something new based on what Kenny is seeing.

Your comments are all very sound and definitely on point. I agree and concur.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Steeler Hitman

[Steeler Hitman]

Can anyone explain or does anyone have any insight into what has happened with Loudermilk? 

[warfelg]

1 minute ago, Steeler Hitman said:

Can anyone explain or does anyone have any insight into what has happened with Loudermilk? 

IIRC it’s a rib injury. 

[Steeler Hitman]

I was wondering why I didn't see more of him. Especially with some of the issues stopping the run in the fourth quarter.