Game Balls & Goats (Steelers vs. Browns)

I'm going to keep this shorter than I usually do.

GAME BALLS

The entire team in the first half.

Wheaton. He showed that not only can he be a capable No. 2 receiver, but possibly even a No. 1 if the situation ever arises. I'm really looking forward to watching him and A. Brown together.

A. Brown. Brown did what Brown does.

GOATS

The entire team in the second half.

Tomlin. In the first half, the entire team played with an intensity I haven't seen in quite some time. In the second half, they came out and played like the game was already over. Sometimes it isn't about X's and O's ... it's about attitude. And it's the head coach's job to make sure the team plays with the right attitude. Regardless of the score, the head coach needs to keep the team focused and playing hard. Tomlin failed at that today.

You're right, and LeBeau's prevent reared it's ugly head the opening series of the first half.

Before the offense saw one blade of grass.

Get a three and out, get a TD, then you can empty the bench and start resting for the Ravens.

mrcrash wrote:

You're right, and LeBeau's prevent reared it's ugly head the opening series of the first half.  

Before the offense saw one blade of grass.  

Get a three and out, get a TD, then you can empty the bench and start resting for the Ravens.

I guess we're going to carry this conversation over into every thread ...

Yeah, the defense gave up a TD to start the second half. But what did the offense do on its first possession of the second half? Or second possession? Or third? Or fourth? ... It was a total team collapse in the second half. To blame only the defense is absurd.

Quote :

But what did the offense do on its first possession of the second half?

Exactly what Art Rooney II wants them to do. Run the ball, chew clock, punt and rely on that alleged defense.

And what happened? The Browns scored again.

The defense falling apart in this situation isn't news. It's been going on during LeBeau's entire DC career.

But he's a great guy and tells a mean Night Before Christmas story, so he gets a free pass.

I don't think LeBeau should carry the poor defensive performance in the 2nd half.

I think it is what it is: We are a team in transition. A lot of new players and players that never had a lot of playing time now make up our first string. LeBeau doesn't drop the possible interception on the field, nor does he miss tackles.

Having said that, I think we have a talented defense that will improve over time. How much time? I don't know, maybe this season, maybe a year or two.

I have trusted the Rooney's since 1975 and I will continue to trust them. We are still the franchise with the most Lombardi's, so they must be doing something right.

Now, let's go kill the Ratbirds

mrcrash wrote:

Quote :

But what did the offense do on its first possession of the second half?

Exactly what Art Rooney II wants them to do.  Run the ball, chew clock, punt and rely on that alleged defense.  

And what happened?  The Browns scored again.

The defense falling apart in this situation isn't news.  It's been going on during LeBeau's entire DC career.

But he's a great guy and tells  a mean Night Before Christmas story, so he gets a free pass.  

But that's just it, they didn't chew up the clock, they went 3 and out. Going 3 and out is not chewing up clock, they weren't doing their job. In the 2nd half, no one was doing their damn job.

GAME BALLS:
Antonio Brown
Wheaton

GAME GOATS:
Special Teams
Offense for their 2nd half performance
Defense for their 2nd half performance

Quote :

But that's just it, they didn't chew up the clock, they went 3 and out.

100% right, and as I said earlier today, this is what I posted 4 days ago:

Quote :

The problem was we'd get a lead early by throwing (Ben dominated the first quarter during his first two seasons when LeBeau showed up), and then they would try to run, it would fail, the defense blows the lead, and then they turn Ben loose and he saves their ass late.

 

And that's exactly what happened today, isn't it?

mrcrash wrote:

this is what I posted 4 days ago:

The problem was we'd get a lead early by throwing (Ben dominated the first quarter during his first two seasons when LeBeau showed up), and then they would try to run, it would fail, the defense blows the lead, and then they turn Ben loose and he saves their ass late.

And that's exactly what happened today, isn't it?

Here's the problem I have with your statement Crash ... you seem to think that only the offense gets credited with building a lead. In order to build a big lead, it requires great play from both the offense AND the defense.

In the first half, the offense kicked ass and scored 27 points. The defense also kicked ass and held the Browns to 3 points.

Since both the offense and defense were part of building a big lead in the first half, shouldn't both the offense and defense be responsible for maintaining that lead? Not only should the defense keep the other team from scoring, but the offense should score more points or control the ball and keep the opposing offense off the field.

The Steelers offense didn't do that in the second half. So just as you can't credit only the offense with building the lead, you can't blame only the defense for squandering it.

As is often the case, I remember stuff later ...

I'm giving a game ball to William Gay. When he was in, he was probably our best defensive back on the field today.

Quote :

Here's the problem I have with your statement Crash ... you seem to think that only the offense gets credited with building a lead. In order to build a big lead, it requires great play from both the offense AND the defense.

The first quarter ended, 15 minutes, the Steelers offense was on the field for over 9 minutes of it, the defense had one series, and promptly blew the 3-0 lead the offense handed them before they ever took the field.

Our defense is actually the offense chewing clock.

When that doesn't happen?  The defense struggles.  

The excuse used to be that when an elite QB beat them it was "he does that to everyone".  

Now?  Even the garbage QB's are shredding them.  

Did you see my summary of the 2012 Redskins game?  24 of 30 first half minutes were played.

The defense was on the field TWICE in those 24 minutes, and one drive they gave up a TD.

The score was 17-6 Steelers.  

Surely you aren't crediting the "defense" for that lead, are you?

Game balls:
Wheaton
Brown
Suisham (for making an important kick with the game on the line)
Bell (for showing patience and making some nice runs)

Goats:
The second half Steelers defense

Game Balls:
Ben, Wheaton, Brown, Bell...awesome first half
Goat:
Ike Taylor (any surprise there Wally? lol) Responsible for 2 TD's. One from penalties getting them into scoring range and one for poor coverage in the endzone over his head for a TD while he threw his hands up looking around acting like it was someone else's fault.

mrcrash wrote:

Quote :

But that's just it, they didn't chew up the clock, they went 3 and out.

100% right, and as I said earlier today, this is what I posted 4 days ago:

Quote :

The problem was we'd get a lead early by throwing (Ben dominated the first quarter during his first two seasons when LeBeau showed up), and then they would try to run, it would fail, the defense blows the lead, and then they turn Ben loose and he saves their ass late.

 

And that's exactly what happened today, isn't it?

There are two things I don't believe in for the NFL:
1. Prevent Defense
2. Prevent Offense

In the case of yesterday's game, the Steelers went in to the prevent offense instead of putting their foot on the throttle and putting the browns out of their misery.

So, what I'm reading in your post, is that because the offense went in to prevent at the start of the 2nd half, then it's the defenses job to maintain the score regardless of the halftime changes the other team makes? And while the defense did allow the 3-0 lead to go away, they also held the browns to those 3 points even after Ben's turnover in the 1st half.

In the 2nd half, the responsibility should go to both the offense and the defense, IMHO. The offense for not throttling the browns off the field and the defense for not making adjustments to what the browns did in the 3rd quarter.

With that being said, if not for the defense doing their job holding the browns deep in their own endzone, then Ben never would've had a chance to move the team within FG range.

Game Ball:
A. Brown
L. Bell
W. Gay
S. Suisham

Goat:
M. Gilbert

Unlike a lot of fans, I thought this was an awesome victory for the Steelers. They beat a divisional opponent in the opening game and started the season 1-0 (something they haven’t done the past few years). Those guys also showed they have some pretty good firepower on offense and defense, something that surprised me this early in the season.

For those that have an issue seeing the win in this game and hold onto disappointment due to the second half performance, this might be a chance to dispel a few myths:

• This Cleveland Browns team does not suck (not the actual players nor their coaches). Prior to this game, I would have rated the Browns defense higher than the Steelers. Their offensive line is decent and if Gordon hadn’t hosed his team over, they would have had a balanced unit that would be tough to stop.
• The offense looked to grind out the clock in the second half after being nearly unstoppable in the first half. Usually that’s what you want your offense to do after building a big lead and where the term “shortening the game” comes from. Unfortunately, the Browns pretty much knew when the Steelers would run and when they would throw which very much gave their defense an advantage you didn’t see in the first half. The multiple 3-and-outs on the part of the offense did not allow the defense enough time on the sideline to work through their issues, let alone catch their breath.
• I didn’t see a single defensive play for the Steelers where they were in prevent. There were plenty of plays where they were in sub-packages, but there have been several articles during the off season of how the sub-packages are becoming the norm given the pass happy nature of the league. But they weren’t playing prevent.
• Dick LeBeau is a Hall of Fame coach and he proves it every year. The Steelers defense carried this team year-in and year-out and sometimes when they didn’t necessarily have all the talent some of use think they had. The last time I checked, it’s been several decades since LeBeau pulled on the pads and played defense. He’s a coach and it’s up to the players to make the plays. As a coach, he has to work with what he’s given as far as talent and experience goes. For the first time, maybe ever, LeBeau has defensive talent built to stop a spread offense. They just lack the experience (and maybe one more good corner) to shut down spread and no-huddle offenses.
• According to Tomlin and LeBeau, the real issue on defense was between getting plays from the sideline and communicating those calls to the rest of the team … before the Browns snapped the ball from a no-huddle. Shazier is a rookie who receives the plays from the sideline and needs to make the calls to his teammates, the defensive line is a mix of new and old, Mike Mitchell is new to this team, Jarvis Jones showed good improvement, but isn’t an aged veteran, and Worilds no doubt is still getting accustomed to playing on the left side. I figured it would take time for this unit to become a team (initial thought was mid-season or after). Maybe they started to learn how to handle the no-huddle because they stopped the final two Browns drives, with the last drive losing 11 yards.

Personally, I thank the Browns for showing this young Steelers team where they need to focus their efforts over the next few weeks. How disappointing it would have been to see a team exploit these weaknesses for the first time later in the season or into the playoffs when the outcome could have been a loss. But as it stands, I’m very happy the Steelers are 1-0 and sharing a lead in their division.

kirklandrules wrote:

Dick LeBeau is a Hall of Fame coach and he proves it every year. The Steelers defense carried this team year-in and year-out and sometimes when they didn’t necessarily have all the talent some of use think they had.

Captain, the following thread could use your insight: http://www.steelersxtreme.com/t5238-steeler-nation-may-learn-to-love-todd-haley

Kirklandrules just kept it real. Loved everything about that post!