Game Balls & Goats (Steelers vs. 49ers)

best throw of the night

Vis wrote:

best throw of the night

on the run, 50 yards through the air... Right on the money.

Shazier was the player we all dreamed he would be. I mean, WOW. He was everywhere. I've always believed he could be good but seeing CJ Mosley develop last year planted some seeds of doubt, and he completely erased them and more in one game. He made this defense actually fun to watch for the first time in 5 years.

Pretty much everyone on offense gets a gold star.

People will point to Super Bowls or games where he had 500 yards or 6 TDs, and they may be right, but IMO that was the best overall game of Ben's entire career. He was flawless. In complete control. Moved the offense and scored at will. A thing of beauty to watch. Anyone who doubts him as an elite QB or HOFer should have to watch this game.

Jarvis looked good. The sacks aren't coming for Jarvis but he is playing well. He's an unsung hero right now. He's generating pressure, playing the run well, dropping into coverage well. He's no 2008 Harrison and maybe still not worth the early 1st rounder, but he's not a liability anymore either, and that's huge progress.

Dupree is coming along. 2 sacks already is impressive. He still needs some work but you can see that his explosiveness off the line is going to make him a monster sooner than later.

Scobee deserves the criticism. I still think he could get it together and be decent. But I also think we should go for 2 after every single go-ahead TD now. I just see no reason for a team with this offense to ever bother with the extra point unless we are losing and need to tie things up, where the conversion attempt presents a serious risk. If we have a lead, just keep going for it, keep piling on. No reason whatsoever to kick.

Rhyno wrote:

HeinzMustard wrote:

Goat:  Mitchell for that cheap shot on Hyde.

That was horrible. Mike Mitchell is a coward. POS said he was going to start targeting knees and is now doing it.

Game Ball goes to Ben. I thought that was one of the best games he has played. Hope he keeps it up.

Yea , and what is with Mitchell getting up from the pile and celebrating like he is Ray Lewis? 2 other defenders made the play and he dove in late. Thumps his chest like Tarzan, but plays like Jane

Gameball: Shazier and AB - both played great football.
Honorable mentions: There are so many here like Ben, the O-Line, D Williams, the D-line, the damned punter.

Goat: Secondary - They made many more plays than against the Patriots*, but they still allowed big plays (even when they were playing prevent) and the 49ers dropped several other passes that could have shifted momentum. I still think this is more a coaching issue than a player issue (which is the reverse of what I normally state). However, the secondary issues are all fixable and once the coaches start to find the solutions, I expect this group to become much stronger against the pass.
Honorable mentions: Officiating. That game sucked from an officials stand point. I agree with the points Underground made about all the blown calls. Plus, Jones and Harrison were blatantly held just about every pass play, but I've come to expect that at this point.

I'm not worried about Mike Mitchell acting like an ass. He's got a bit of Lee Flowers in him. If someone in that secondary doesn't get some emotion going, those guys will literally fall asleep on the field. Besides, I thought he showed more of the skills he has. He got to the plays faster, missed few tackles and brought some hurt behind his hits. The low hit was questionable, but it seems the Steelers RBs are taking those hits weekly.

the last time a steelers running back had 3 td's in a single game was willie parker in 2008.

PhantomJB93 wrote:

Shazier was the player we all dreamed he would be.  I mean, WOW.  He was everywhere.  I've always believed he could be good but seeing CJ Mosley develop last year planted some seeds of doubt, and he completely erased them and more in one game.  He made this defense actually fun to watch for the first time in 5 years.

I am not a fan of Mosley. IMO he got into the Pro Bowl off of legacy "warm and fuzzies" over his predecessor. He's very suspect in the pass game, and holds damn near every time. About jumped through my TV when he had CJ Anderson in a chinlock on one of Denver's 3rd down plays in week 1.

PhantomJB93 wrote:

Jarvis looked good.  The sacks aren't coming for Jarvis but he is playing well.  He's an unsung hero right now.  He's generating pressure, playing the run well, dropping into coverage well.  He's no 2008 Harrison and maybe still not worth the early 1st rounder, but he's not a liability anymore either, and that's huge progress.

Dupree is coming along.  2 sacks already is impressive.  He still needs some work but you can see that his explosiveness off the line is going to make him a monster sooner than later.

Another guy I've been defending, if you truly watch the games, he's getting back there and collapsing the pocket, which is creating opportunity for everyone else. I feel the same way about Dupree and Harrison on the same line change (is that a thing in football?) You watch the way both of them bend their bodies and both edges are coming together like me making an OK sign with my fingers.

PhantomJB93 wrote:

Scobee deserves the criticism.  I still think he could get it together and be decent.  But I also think we should go for 2 after every single go-ahead TD now.  I just see no reason for a team with this offense to ever bother with the extra point unless we are losing and need to tie things up, where the conversion attempt presents a serious risk.  If we have a lead, just keep going for it, keep piling on.  No reason whatsoever to kick.

Jury's out. I never believed Heinz was that difficult to kick in as they say, but if you're ever down there during warmups, that wind really messes with the kickers and punters.

9 missed XP in 30 regular season NFL games: Scobee isn't the only one struggling. Not ready to pull the plug yet, and I'm not sure there's a better street free agent we could bring in at this point.

PhantomJB93 wrote:

Shazier was the player we all dreamed he would be.  I mean, WOW.  He was everywhere.  I've always believed he could be good but seeing CJ Mosley develop last year planted some seeds of doubt, and he completely erased them and more in one game.  He made this defense actually fun to watch for the first time in 5 years.

Pretty much everyone on offense gets a gold star.

People will point to Super Bowls or games where he had 500 yards or 6 TDs, and they may be right, but IMO that was the best overall game of Ben's entire career.  He was flawless.  In complete control.  Moved the offense and scored at will.  A thing of beauty to watch.  Anyone who doubts him as an elite QB or HOFer should have to watch this game.

Jarvis looked good.  The sacks aren't coming for Jarvis but he is playing well.  He's an unsung hero right now.  He's generating pressure, playing the run well, dropping into coverage well.  He's no 2008 Harrison and maybe still not worth the early 1st rounder, but he's not a liability anymore either, and that's huge progress.

Dupree is coming along.  2 sacks already is impressive.  He still needs some work but you can see that his explosiveness off the line is going to make him a monster sooner than later.

Scobee deserves the criticism.  I still think he could get it together and be decent.  But I also think we should go for 2 after every single go-ahead TD now.  I just see no reason for a team with this offense to ever bother with the extra point unless we are losing and need to tie things up, where the conversion attempt presents a serious risk.  If we have a lead, just keep going for it, keep piling on.  No reason whatsoever to kick.

Personally I think Ben's best game is the game last year against the Colts.
And not because of the 500+ (although that helps) but he was only the 2nd guy to have 80% completion when chucking it for 500+. Plus the week before the Colts man handled the Bengals 27-0 but overall the Colts D leading up to that game was playing pretty good.
I'm also biased to the following game against the Ravens when he had the 2nd 6TD game only because I was there and had a stupid Packers fan texting me and chirping me, and when the 6th TD happened I said 'Aaron who?' lol

SteelCityUnderground wrote:

So how about the officiating?

What an embarrassing attempt at officiating, eh? When I see crap like that it renews my suspicions about bad calls all over again, of which I had coincidentally just been talking about. It bears repeating though, that every once in a while a game like this comes along where one obviously bad call after another is made, and there's never any good explanation for it. Just like the Dez Bryant situation I feel more than ever that the NFL has an agenda it wants pushed, and that's why bad calls hold up even under close scrutiny. Right before one of these mind-bending calls, you hear the announcers and commentators all indicating which way the call should go, and it's almost always in agreement with myself and the people I'm watching the game with. And of course, right after said call, all you hear is confusion about how officiating could've made that particular call. After that first bad call on Sunday, I turned to my friends and said: "Watch, this is just going to be the first of several absurd calls that'll all be against us, and no matter how obvious it is to everyone that it's wrong, it will still stand." And I was right. It got to the point that anytime the 9ers got anywhere close to the goal line, we were all saying: "Touchdown." Why the fuck not? Just give them an extra yard on every damn play. I know I'm not the only one who sees this happening.

Hawaii 5-0 wrote:

Ben, Tuitt receive top PFF grades for play against 49ers:

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/09/steelers-roethlisberger-tuitt-receive-top-pff-grades-for-play-against-49ers/

I'm glad they mentioned the LOS domination by Tuitt and Heyward, as most of the defensive attention went to Shaz, who deserved it as well.

Steel Peon wrote:

SteelCityUnderground wrote:

So how about the officiating?

What an embarrassing attempt at officiating, eh? When I see crap like that it renews my suspicions about bad calls all over again, of which I had coincidentally just been talking about. It bears repeating though, that every once in a while a game like this comes along where one obviously bad call after another is made, and there's never any good explanation for it. Just like the Dez Bryant situation I feel more than ever that the NFL has an agenda it wants pushed, and that's why bad calls hold up even under close scrutiny. Right before one of these mind-bending calls, you hear the announcers and commentators all indicating which way the call should go, and it's almost always in agreement with myself and the people I'm watching the game with. And of course, right after said call, all you hear is confusion about how officiating could've made that particular call. After that first bad call on Sunday, I turned to my friends and said: "Watch, this is just going to be the first of several absurd calls that'll all be against us, and no matter how obvious it is to everyone that it's wrong, it will still stand." And I was right. It got to the point that anytime the 9ers got anywhere close to the goal line, we were all saying: "Touchdown." Why the fuck not? Just give them an extra yard on every damn play. I know I'm not the only one who sees this happening.

I officiate, but in a different sport, so I understand a few dynamics. First, the referees aren't going to make anyone happy. Second, sometimes one of the two teams is just "worse" than the other, meaning they will commit more penalties or shoot themselves in the foot. Third, when a game is out of hand (score wise) you start to some nit picky things happen, for the sake of KISS method: you don't want a blowout game getting out of control with a fight or anything, because one team is frustrated they're getting their asses kicked.

But that's where I start to question these things. I understand I won't like every call. I will not see every call the way they do, nor will they see every call, because it's impossible to do so with the amount of bodies they are watching, at the speed they are watching it.

That said, I always felt the NFL referees were pretty damn good at what they do, especially their precision with spots, out-of-bounds, etc. HOWEVER, this is where I feel, if they have any doubt, you want to lean toward the replay option. Why on Earth would you NOT call a close touchdown a TOUCHDOWN or a close turnover a TURNOVER when they get automatically reviewed?

I think the problem is an internal referee union one, and one we'll never hear about in public. I'd love to know if they have a % they are "permitted" to get overruled... which would be silly, but if you have a room full of egos who are stuck on having cameras replace human bodies with a whistle, I could see it happen. So the bug is up your butt, you're SURE it's not a fumble or it IS a TD, and that's how you call it on the field. Then one of your cronies in New York reviews it on film, and has your back.

It's freaking wrong and detrimental to the game.

Supposedly they watch this stuff in real time, as to not be influenced by slow motion... but the entire freaking point of replay IS TO GET IT RIGHT and slow motion is part of that!

It just goes against the spirit of the game when you have stuff like that Gay strip/fumble go against you, or can clearly see Boldin's foot out. And don't even get me started on the Dallas playoff games.

It does feel like an agenda and someone on Twitter said sometimes it comes off as WWE. I have to say I agree with them.

SteelCityUnderground wrote:

Steel Peon wrote:

SteelCityUnderground wrote:

So how about the officiating?

What an embarrassing attempt at officiating, eh? When I see crap like that it renews my suspicions about bad calls all over again, of which I had coincidentally just been talking about. It bears repeating though, that every once in a while a game like this comes along where one obviously bad call after another is made, and there's never any good explanation for it. Just like the Dez Bryant situation I feel more than ever that the NFL has an agenda it wants pushed, and that's why bad calls hold up even under close scrutiny. Right before one of these mind-bending calls, you hear the announcers and commentators all indicating which way the call should go, and it's almost always in agreement with myself and the people I'm watching the game with. And of course, right after said call, all you hear is confusion about how officiating could've made that particular call. After that first bad call on Sunday, I turned to my friends and said: "Watch, this is just going to be the first of several absurd calls that'll all be against us, and no matter how obvious it is to everyone that it's wrong, it will still stand." And I was right. It got to the point that anytime the 9ers got anywhere close to the goal line, we were all saying: "Touchdown." Why the fuck not? Just give them an extra yard on every damn play. I know I'm not the only one who sees this happening.

It just goes against the spirit of the game when you have stuff like that Gay strip/fumble go against you, or can clearly see Boldin's foot out. And don't even get me started on the Dallas playoff games.
.

Which game specifically regarding Dallas? lol
I mean the WC game was pretty bad I agree, but you see it with DBs all the time and nothing is called.
I think the Divisional game was worse only because when Dez caught the ball he took 3 STEPS, 1 initially, 1more, and the 3rd was the dive to the endzone where in actuality his elbow hits causing the supposed fumble, which he then recovers in the endzone, TD!
Of course it was overturned because it was the Packers. that was brutal.