Game Balls & Goats (Steelers vs. Ravens)

Atlanta Dan wrote:

solardave wrote:

I've been watching this team for 43 years now and can't remember having a kicker this bad. If we had a legitimate kicker we could be at least 3-1 and possibly 4-0.

Maybe you have repressed your memories of Kris Brown?

The reputation of Heinz Field as a tough place to kick got its start with this 2001 performance by Brown against the Ravens in a 13-10 loss.

Three times, Brown's field-goal attempts sailed right of the uprights on the open, south end of Heinz Field, the last one from just 35 yards away with eight seconds left that would have sent the game into overtime....

Brown made his first, from 38 yards, then missed from 41, had one tipped away from 33 and missed two others of 48 and 35.

http://old.post-gazette.com/Steelers/20011105steele1105p2.asp

I said I couldn't remember. Hint (43 years) I didn't say there never was one worse. There you go throwing stats in the aguement.

At first Ben was all like



Then he was all like

funny thing is I think this game's a blow out if Ben was playing.

SteelersNorth wrote:

funny thing is I think this game's a blow out if Ben was playing.

You are correct. The game wouldn't have even been close.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Rick5895 wrote:

Lots of folks blaming the coaches for conservative play calling.  Remember, Vick had essentially 1 day of practice with the first team before this game, and it showed.  The D played a solid game but for the amount of rush yards allowed. Was McClendon hurt, Cam Thomas was out there getting blocked on all those big runs by Forsett.  HE IS  A GOAT .
I don't blame the coaches going for it 4th and 1 in OT, and Brown was wide open Vick missed the throw. But the fact they can't trust that kicker to make a 41 Yard FG is very telling SCOBEE IS THE MAIN GOAT.  In fact the 2 he made were adventures to say the least, barely making it.
Blame the Coaches, Front Office, the water boy, whoever you want, but the loss was squarely on SCOBEE

And who has kept Scobee on this football team allowing him to take up a roster spot?

the same people who had to replace a kicker after the first preseason game, and then again a few games later...

scobee was the best option available to us and he sucked.

people will blame the front office/coaches, but they did their absolute BEST to rectify a horrible situation.

tony hipchest wrote:

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Rick5895 wrote:

Lots of folks blaming the coaches for conservative play calling.  Remember, Vick had essentially 1 day of practice with the first team before this game, and it showed.  The D played a solid game but for the amount of rush yards allowed. Was McClendon hurt, Cam Thomas was out there getting blocked on all those big runs by Forsett.  HE IS  A GOAT .
I don't blame the coaches going for it 4th and 1 in OT, and Brown was wide open Vick missed the throw. But the fact they can't trust that kicker to make a 41 Yard FG is very telling SCOBEE IS THE MAIN GOAT.  In fact the 2 he made were adventures to say the least, barely making it.
Blame the Coaches, Front Office, the water boy, whoever you want, but the loss was squarely on SCOBEE

And who has kept Scobee on this football team allowing him to take up a roster spot?

the same people who had to replace a kicker after the first preseason game, and then again a few games later...

scobee was the best option available to us and he sucked.

people will blame the front office/coaches, but they did their absolute BEST to rectify a horrible situation.

Sadly they're/we're as fans are stuck with Scobee until next season when Suisham returns.
Becasue who else is available?

JonM229 wrote:

SteelersNorth wrote:

Sadly they're/we're as fans are stuck with Scobee until next season when Suisham returns.
Becasue who else is available?

Is that the kicker that blew the 25yrd FG in the 2012 AFC Title game?
Billy 'Shank' Cundiff? lol

SteelersNorth wrote:

JonM229 wrote:

SteelersNorth wrote:

Sadly they're/we're as fans are stuck with Scobee until next season when Suisham returns.
Becasue who else is available?

Is that the kicker that blew the 25yrd FG in the 2012 AFC Title game?
Billy 'Shank' Cundiff? lol

Yup. Thankfully, this miss led to the Ravens drafting Justin Tucker.

JonM229 wrote:

SteelersNorth wrote:

JonM229 wrote:

SteelersNorth wrote:

Sadly they're/we're as fans are stuck with Scobee until next season when Suisham returns.
Becasue who else is available?

Is that the kicker that blew the 25yrd FG in the 2012 AFC Title game?
Billy 'Shank' Cundiff? lol

Yup.  Thankfully, this miss led to the Ravens drafting Justin Tucker.

You need the kicker more than that 20mil QB you guys are paying lol
Now THAT guy is worth 20mil lol

JonM229 wrote:

At first Ben was all like



Then he was all like

that was me as well

Guess I'm in the minority here. I thought the gameplan was spot-on. They played conservative by most part with a QB learning the system. We win this game save a choking kicker and one bad pass by Vick. Didn't really have a problem with that 4th down QB option call, either. It was a surprise move but Beachum totally whiffed on his block. He gets on a hat and Vick probably would've been able to use his position to get the 1st.

marvology wrote:

Guess I'm in the minority here.  I thought the gameplan was spot-on.  They played conservative by most part with a QB learning the system.  We win this game save a choking kicker and one bad pass by Vick.  Didn't really have a problem with that 4th down QB option call, either.  It was a surprise move but Beachum totally whiffed on his block.  He gets on a hat and Vick probably would've been able to use his position to get the 1st.

I think they should've used Bell. He was killing it for 5.6 per tote. They couldn't stop him.
The other thing they didn't do were the naked boot legs for Vick to either throw or run with a fake to one side. On that 4th down call that should've been the play call where he rolls back in the other direction since they didn't do anything like that all game long.

Goats- me and direct tv.


Already had been up for 18 hours and watched the 1st qtr. but decided to record the game and watch it this morning. It only recorded 55 minutes and 30 of that was pregame BS.

I'm not happy

Gameballs: None. I would have given it to Cockrell, but just can't do it when he let up that TD. He got caught up jousting with the receiver instead of following the route.

Goats:
1) Vick - He played not to lose and forgot to win. There are plenty of excuses to give this guy a break, but at the end of the day it's really on the QB to win the game. This was a game that he could have won on any one of several plays. But he didn't have the nads to make the play. I love the block he set on Bell's TD run, but that's not enough to get him out of the goat category. He's also a reminder of why I hate running QBs. Under pressure, they give up on the pass and take off running. Early in the game they faced 3rd down (might have been the very first down of the game), Vick had Bell wide open with an easy first down within his reach. But he chose to run it and failed to get the yardage needed ... didn't even look at Bell.

2) The ILBs - I love Timmons and he did a great job delivering huge hits. But he and Spence were nowhere to be seen on those big run plays. The days of having Big Snack, Keisel, and Aaron Smith that held their ground and kept 6 blockers occupied are long gone. The middle linebackers have to do a little work to fill the holes and stuff the run. On one particular play late in the second half (might have been in OT) I saw Spence totally out of position with a hole you could drive a semi through.

Ultimately, gang, our team once again lost to the worst team in the NFL. Let me be clear (and no offense Jon), but the Ravens suck this year. They are a horrible football team. Their run game sucks (yet they ran all over the Steelers), their pass game sucks (they only have Steve Smith), their defense sucks. Their kicker is the only thing on that team that is worth more than the dump I took this morning.

If I wasn't a Steelers fan, I would have turned that game off in the 1st quarter. It was terrible football. Oh, there were some good plays made and again, I loved seeing some of the hits the Steelers laid on the Ravens. But overall, it was obvious one team sucked and another team played scared. The Steelers didn't win long enough that the dump of a team in purple finally figured out how to.

I think a lot of people are forgetting this game was in our pocket. Ravens went for it on 4th down from their own 30 (or so) and turned it over. We had the ball on the raven 30 with 2:04 left in the game up 20-17. Baltimore had 1 time out.

I would take Billy Cundiff. ALLLL DAYYYYY

Didnt sound right.

Seriously though. Billy couldnt be worse.

kirklandrules wrote:

Gameballs: None. I would have given it to Cockrell, but just can't do it when he let up that TD. He got caught up jousting with the receiver instead of following the route.

Goats:
1) Vick - He played not to lose and forgot to win. There are plenty of excuses to give this guy a break, but at the end of the day it's really on the QB to win the game. This was a game that he could have won on any one of several plays. But he didn't have the nads to make the play. I love the block he set on Bell's TD run, but that's not enough to get him out of the goat category. He's also a reminder of why I hate running QBs. Under pressure, they give up on the pass and take off running. Early in the game they faced 3rd down (might have been the very first down of the game), Vick had Bell wide open with an easy first down within his reach. But he chose to run it and failed to get the yardage needed ... didn't even look at Bell.

2) The ILBs - I love Timmons and he did a great job delivering huge hits. But he and Spence were nowhere to be seen on those big run plays. The days of having Big Snack, Keisel, and Aaron Smith that held their ground and kept 6 blockers occupied are long gone. The middle linebackers have to do a little work to fill the holes and stuff the run. On one particular play late in the second half (might have been in OT) I saw Spence totally out of position with a hole you could drive a semi through.

Ultimately, gang, our team once again lost to the worst team in the NFL. Let me be clear (and no offense Jon), but the Ravens suck this year. They are a horrible football team. Their run game sucks (yet they ran all over the Steelers), their pass game sucks (they only have Steve Smith), their defense sucks. Their kicker is the only thing on that team that is worth more than the dump I took this morning.

If I wasn't a Steelers fan, I would have turned that game off in the 1st quarter. It was terrible football. Oh, there were some good plays made and again, I loved seeing some of the hits the Steelers laid on the Ravens. But overall, it was obvious one team sucked and another team played scared. The Steelers didn't win long enough that the dump of a team in purple finally figured out how to.

This is every Ravens/Steelers game as I see them. Both teams just seem to make the other retarded. Thats why I hate them. Theyre long ass nail biter games that end up won by three points but the game itself is just a blur of "WTF was that??" (Coming from both team's sidelines)

KeepHarrisonTilHes92 wrote:

This is every Ravens/Steelers game as I see them. Both teams just seem to make the other retarded. Thats why I hate them. Theyre long ass nail biter games that end up won by three points but the game itself is just a blur of "WTF was that??" (Coming from both team's sidelines)

I actually texted Buddha and Teegre when the game went into overtime with, "Fuck this game. I want to go to bed."

KeepHarrisonTilHes92 wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

Gameballs: None. I would have given it to Cockrell, but just can't do it when he let up that TD. He got caught up jousting with the receiver instead of following the route.

Goats:
1) Vick - He played not to lose and forgot to win. There are plenty of excuses to give this guy a break, but at the end of the day it's really on the QB to win the game. This was a game that he could have won on any one of several plays. But he didn't have the nads to make the play. I love the block he set on Bell's TD run, but that's not enough to get him out of the goat category. He's also a reminder of why I hate running QBs. Under pressure, they give up on the pass and take off running. Early in the game they faced 3rd down (might have been the very first down of the game), Vick had Bell wide open with an easy first down within his reach. But he chose to run it and failed to get the yardage needed ... didn't even look at Bell.

2) The ILBs - I love Timmons and he did a great job delivering huge hits. But he and Spence were nowhere to be seen on those big run plays. The days of having Big Snack, Keisel, and Aaron Smith that held their ground and kept 6 blockers occupied are long gone. The middle linebackers have to do a little work to fill the holes and stuff the run. On one particular play late in the second half (might have been in OT) I saw Spence totally out of position with a hole you could drive a semi through.

Ultimately, gang, our team once again lost to the worst team in the NFL. Let me be clear (and no offense Jon), but the Ravens suck this year. They are a horrible football team. Their run game sucks (yet they ran all over the Steelers), their pass game sucks (they only have Steve Smith), their defense sucks. Their kicker is the only thing on that team that is worth more than the dump I took this morning.

If I wasn't a Steelers fan, I would have turned that game off in the 1st quarter. It was terrible football. Oh, there were some good plays made and again, I loved seeing some of the hits the Steelers laid on the Ravens. But overall, it was obvious one team sucked and another team played scared. The Steelers didn't win long enough that the dump of a team in purple finally figured out how to.

This is every Ravens/Steelers game as I see them. Both teams just seem to make the other retarded. Thats why I hate them. Theyre long ass nail biter games that end up won by three points but the game itself is just a blur of "WTF was that??" (Coming from both team's sidelines)

I hear you, some of the better games I've seen had 6-3 or 10-7 outcomes. But as opposed to past Steelers/Ravens games where great defensive play limited decent offenses, and those decent offenses would occasionally hit a huge splash play against a great defense ... well that's not what we saw last night. There was no "Imposing of will" going on. I agree, it was a nailbiter of a game only because our fandom provided an interest in the outcome for us. Last night's game was slop, pure and simple. One team couldn't and the other team didn't want to ... great, after three and a half hours we finally witnessed the team that couldn't kick a long ass fieldgoal to end it. So now we all know that a team that can't will ultimately beat a team that won't.

Courtesy of NFL Live on ESPN:

Highest Conversion Percentage rushing with 2 or fewer yards to go-RBs last 2 seasons:

Le'Veon Bell   80%  (28 of 35)

Jamaal Charles   78%

LeSean McCoy   76%

DeMarco Murray   76%


Among 26 running backs with at least 20 rushes






Unbelievable

Gameball:
Vick, Bell, and the defense

Goats:
Haley for calling a conservative game
Scobee for, well, having the shanks!

Gameballs:  NONE  (Butler was close, thought he called a good game.)

Goats:  Scobee, Haley

I'm giving Vick a pass on this one, very little time to prepare for a BIG game.

If Ben played, the game's not close...he would have torched their secondary.
The Ravens are not a good team this year.  They were very lucky to win this game.
I look forward to our game in Baltimore when Ben is back.    

With regard to goats, if you thought it would be really difficult for play calling by Tomlin and Haley to find a way to screwup a win after the Steelers got the ball with 2:05 to go you were correct

The Steelers did the impossible by losing to the Ravens on Thursday night. According to numberfire.com, the Steelers had a 99.82 percent chance of winning with 1:59 remaining.

At that point in the game they faced a third-and-5 after Le’Veon Bell rushed for a 4-yard gain. The Steelers ran Bell up the middle again for 1 yard and ran the clock down to 1:06 before calling a timeout to bring Scobee on for a 41-yard field goal.

http://sportsblogs.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers-steelers-blog/2015/10/02/This-loss-could-have-lasting-effects.html

So let's recap. Pittsburgh was essentially a lock to win with about two minutes left, but Josh Scobee failed to make a field goal, giving the Ravens a short field. Then, in overtime, the Steelers had 65.77% and 76.74% win odds at different points of the extra period. Both times, they failed to simply run the ball with their best offensive weapon, opting to put the game in a 35-year-old backup's hands.

http://www.numberfire.com/nfl/news/6288/the-math-behind-pittsburgh-s-epic-thursday-night-loss#

FrancoLambert wrote:

Gameballs:  NONE  (Butler was close, thought he called a good game.)

Goats:  Scobee, Haley

I'm giving Vick a pass on this one, very little time to prepare for a BIG game.

If Ben played, the game's not close...he would have torched their secondary.
The Ravens are not a good team this year.  They were very lucky to win this game.
I look forward to our game in Baltimore when Ben is back.    

Totally agree. The Ravens absolutely suck. But they still have their starting QB. Once Ben is back, we'll start firing on all cylinders again.