Game balls & Goats (browns @ Steelers 12/1/19)

After the first quarter, I was concerned about this game and where this team was heading. But the resolve they showed and the beating they put on the clowns gives me new hope.

With that being said, hand out those trophies boys & girls:

Gameballs:
Devlin 'Duck' Hodges: helluva way to bounce back from weak playcalling
Snell: He did a great job of running the ball
Whyte: not sure what happen that he carried the load late, but he did great holding on to the ball
O-Line: they finally started making some holes, and kept Hodges relatively safe
Washington: showed why the Steelers took him
Defense: making plays when the team needed them and securing the victory late

Goats:
Fichtner: passive play calling in the first quarter got this team behind
Referees: I normally don't like blaming the refs, but they obviously aren't watching the games anymore
Vance McDonald: had multiple penalties which were the most inopportune

Player of the game:
I'd love to give it to a defensive guy but in my heart I truly believe Duck Hodges earned it with his play even after his OC set him up to fail

I was only able to watch highlights so I don't want to guess about who gets GBs & GTs.

From what I was hearing Washington showed up big time and Duck showed he could be resilient. It sounded like a team effort once again. I agree Fitchner needs to get his head out of his ass and let this kid play.

solardave wrote:

I was only able to watch highlights so I don't want to guess about who gets GBs & GTs.

From what I was hearing Washington showed up big time and Duck showed he could be resilient. It sounded like a team effort once again. I agree Fitchner needs to get his head out of his ass and let this kid play.

I think Fitchner was more afraid than Devlin. This kid can sling it. When they finally let him QB, he moved the team well.

He needs to learn to step up in the pocket instead of backing away. But at least he reacts to pressure (unlike poor MR who looked like a deer caught in headlights).

Game balls:

Washington: Great contested catches. It looks like he's going to be the next great Steelers WR.
Snell: That 11 yard run from our own 1 was impressive and he has a spinning mouthpiece
Watt: He's a serious candidate for DPOY.
Dupree: He's almost as good as TJ lately.
Haden: A great interception to top off a strong game.
Tomlin: He changed the defense during the halftime and he's not wearing t-shirts that can be seen as a motivation for opponents
Freddie Kitchens: He wears t-shirts that motivate opponents.
Honorable mention: Duck: He played good, but his interception could have had big consequences.

Goats:
Diontae Johnson: His worst game in a long time.
Refs: The Hodges false start, not overturning to a touchback and the Dupree roughing the passer call were all terrible decisions that could have cost us the game.

Gameballs:

Duck
Washington...maybe he is developing into a good WR. Things might look better offensively when he teams with JuJu
The D for standing up and shutting down the Browns after the INT and for holding them to 13 points
Haden for clinching the game
Browns players on sidelines...they made my week final few minutes of game with those somber "I can't believe we're losing" faces


Goats:

Fichtner for calling that pass 1st down 4th quarter that was intercepted and Johnson for watching the INT happen. That play could have lost the game.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Gameballs:

Duck
Washington...maybe he is developing into a good WR. Things might look better offensively when he teams with JuJu
The D for standing up and shutting down the Browns after the INT and for holding them to 13 points
Haden for clinching the game
Browns players on sidelines...they made my week final few minutes of game with those somber "I can't believe we're losing" faces


Goats:

Fichtner for calling that pass 1st down 4th quarter that was intercepted and Johnson for watching the INT happen. That play could have lost the game.

That one fits the adage, "its a good play if it works, its a bad play if it doesn't." If Dionte Johnson keeps running instead of stopping short, maybe it would've been a catch, probably it wouldn't have been intercepted. On the other hand, all three of those contested balls that Washington caught, could have been intercepted. Would they have been bad plays if they'd been intercepted?

You've got to let your QB throw the ball, and your QB has to give his receiver a shot at it. The rest is just football.

nine vegetable wrote:

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Gameballs:

Duck
Washington...maybe he is developing into a good WR. Things might look better offensively when he teams with JuJu
The D for standing up and shutting down the Browns after the INT and for holding them to 13 points
Haden for clinching the game
Browns players on sidelines...they made my week final few minutes of game with those somber "I can't believe we're losing" faces


Goats:

Fichtner for calling that pass 1st down 4th quarter that was intercepted and Johnson for watching the INT happen. That play could have lost the game.

That one fits the adage, "its a good play if it works, its a bad play if it doesn't."  If Dionte Johnson keeps running instead of stopping short, maybe it would've been a catch, probably it wouldn't have been intercepted.  On the other hand, all three of those contested balls that Washington caught, could have been intercepted.  Would they have been bad plays if they'd been intercepted?

You've got to let your QB throw the ball, and your QB has to give his receiver a shot at it.  The rest is just football.

I agree Nine. Live by the sword. One of the things they said about JW early on was he makes combat catches. We didn't see that in the beginning but we are now. I always thought the potential was there. I think his confidence will grow and he is going to be something special. I think DJ will be pretty good too. By this time next year we may have one of the best WR corps in the league.

Give the Duck Hunter QB a game ball and another duck hunt quack LOL!