Post KC Thoughts

A lot of thinking thus far was the Steelers hadn't played a top QB and offense so the defense lacked legitimacy. After doing so yesterday the Steelers defense is 3rd in NFL in total Yds/pg , #1 in pass Yds/pg, tied 2nd in sacks, 23rd in rush yards per game. 4th in points allowed but that number skewered a little by the pick sixes...w/o those they'd be 1st with 14.7 to Buffalo's 14.8.

Pats** D is dead last in NFL at 440 yards per game...next closest is Tampa Bay at 403

Baltimore's D was gashed by Jordan Howard including OT...maybe Bears are better than we thought or maybe the Ravens are just bad...

I keep falling for offseason hype that Browns have turned the corner. Another 0-6 start and looking at thier schedule the easiest game they have left is @ Chargers. Kevin Hogan was worse off than Kizer yesterday anyhow. Hue Jackson is 1-21 in Cleveland

Ben is ranked 27th in QB rating. Last week's game is dragging him down but that's the lowest I can ever remember him this late in a season. Flacco and Kizer rank dead last at 31 and 32.

Bell is 3rd in NFL in rushing after a poor start. He trails NFL leader Kareem Hunt by 80 yards at this point.

Despite some of the recent problems AB is a special player. Currently ranks #1 in receptions, total yards, and yards per game. The concentration on the TD reception was incredible.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote:

Brown reached 9,000 receiving yards in 109 games. It took Hines Ward 159 games to reach 9,000 receiving yards. Ward previously had the record for the fewest games to reach that milestone

James Harrison is one of my all time favorite players and an all time great Steeler not only for his accomplishments on field but also the integrity he carries himself. He doesn't play much this year, he's been inactive for games, but when called on he goes out and plays hard, with intensity, and plays with impact.

oHere are my post KC thoughts:

1. Our defense showed itself yesterday. Now there are zero excuses for sub-par tackling and/or sub-par performances the rest of the season.
2. We, the fans, are spoiled when it comes to the Steelers. Our expectations are high, and our demands are even higher. We've gotten use to solid victories and we really haven't seen one this year - even yesterday wasn't as solid as it could have been.
3. Our offense still hasn't reached its full potential, but the running game yesterday was outstanding.
4. We can't sleep on Cincinnati this week. We have a lead in the North, and we need to take full advantage of this week's game.

1. Our defense is legit. Awesome front 7, great corners and decent safeties. Only Mitchell (I rather would see Wilcox play more) and Williams worry me.
2. AB and Bell are the best non-QB offensive players in football. Unfortunately they (and Ben and Bryant) do too many unnecessary stupid things on and off the field. I mean, boxing against the goal post, come on  
3. If Bell stays healthy, if the offense just could focus on the game itself and if Ben can raise his current level of playing a bit... then...

Oh and 4. Haley

My post KC thoughts ...Romo is pretty good in the booth

vasteeler wrote:

My post KC thoughts ...Romo is pretty good in the booth

Couldn't agree more. When I heard him, I was like, who is that? He knows his stuff! Good choice!

Mike Mitchell is starting to piss me off, I don't know about you guys. But he doesn't seem to make any splash plays, other than tacking on extra penalty yardage for the other team. This guy plays with an absolute disregard for the NFL rules, and thinks he's still playing in the 90s. Not that I'm not a fan of heavy hits but he has to know more than anyone else that kind of crap isn't allowed now, and will hurt the team. Not to mention when he goes for a big stick, he often overpursues and misses the tackle.

TBH I preferred Wilcox starting over this guy.

stlrtruck wrote:

oHere are my post KC thoughts:

1. Our defense showed itself yesterday.  Now there are zero excuses for sub-par tackling and/or sub-par performances the rest of the season.
2. We, the fans, are spoiled when it comes to the Steelers.  Our expectations are high, and our demands are even higher.  We've gotten use to solid victories and we really haven't seen one this year - even yesterday wasn't as solid as it could have been.
3. Our offense still hasn't reached its full potential, but the running game yesterday was outstanding.
4. We can't sleep on Cincinnati this week.  We have a lead in the North, and we need to take full advantage of this week's game.

I was thinking about this too, especially in relation to the Browns. They pick at the top every year, it seems they always have multiple #1 picks, this goes on year after year, but in the end they're always the Browns. The Steelers go thru 'rebuilding', a high Steeler draft pick is low 20's, yet they still contend almost every year.

The sample size has been small so far but James Conner is looking good. It's hard to push Bell aside with what he's capable of but wish we could see Connor 8-10 times a game.

Fire Arians wrote:

Mike Mitchell is starting to piss me off, I don't know about you guys. But he doesn't seem to make any splash plays, other than tacking on extra penalty yardage for the other team. This guy plays with an absolute disregard for the NFL rules, and thinks he's still playing in the 90s. Not that I'm not a fan of heavy hits but he has to know more than anyone else that kind of crap isn't allowed now, and will hurt the team. Not to mention when he goes for a big stick, he often overpursues and misses the tackle.

TBH I preferred Wilcox starting over this guy.

I'm with you Wilcox > Mitchell. I gave up on Mitchell last year.

the only thing that going to hurt the Steelers defense is the Steelers offense take the 1st half the Steelers defense had K.C.'s offense on lock down half time score 12 to 3 K.C. still in the game. the Steelers defense had K.C.'s offense on lock down for 3 quarters score 12 to 3 K.C. still in the game.

come on Steelers offense help the defense out and score some points you got the talent I would say man for man this offense has more talent then any other Steelers offense in resent memory. quit trying to be cute and wrap the offense around the running game.

vasteeler wrote:

My post KC thoughts ...Romo is pretty good in the booth

Much, much better than Simms was. I always liked him. Never have liked the Cowboys obviously but Romo has always seemed like a decent guy and he's a good color guy.

In Mitchell's defense he was shoved into Alex Smith's legs by Chickillo. It wasn't intentional. I caught it real time, and when I watched the replay I was pretty pissed off that he was flagged because it wasn't his fault.

I like that Mitchell wants to be a physical enforcer, but he needs to be more intelligent in how he uses his physicality. James Harrison adjusted his game and hasn't been penalized in a long time. Mitchell would be doing himself a favor to learn from the old man.

My post KC Thoughts:

The Offense: Still not on track. We absolutely dominated the Kansas City Chiefs statistically. Yards gained, time of possession... You name a statistical category that is measured and we should've beaten Kansas City quite handily. Instead we ended up having to win the game with a final stand on defense to protect a 19-13 lead. The offense was humming in regards to the running game. Le'Veon Bell ran hog wild on the Chief's leaky run defense. This should've really opened up the passing game, and given us big play opportunities especially with play-action. Instead the offense did just barely enough to get us by, and if it wasn't for the defense playing out of their minds most of the game, we'd of been in big trouble. Right now this team lives and dies by it's defense. The offense has yet to score 30 points in a game, which is troubling considering the amount of talent we have. We absolutely have to get back on track this weekend against the Bengals. We cannot continue this offensive struggle through the season and expect to win in the playoffs, or go to a Super Bowl.

And for the love of god use more up tempo offense... When you have a running game that is beating the hell out of an opposing defense why not use more tempo to keep the defense from making substitutions and to keep them guessing? Not only that, Ben seems to play better when we're in those up-tempo, or two minute types of situations. A lot of teams use this to great success, most notably the Patriots***. I think we need to do more of it ourselves.

The Defense: Much, much better. Run defense was fantastic. Kareem Hunt didn't do anything on the ground, and neither did West. The defense harassed Alex Smith all day and dared him to throw the football. To be quite honest, Alex Smith is the same old Alex Smith. He still isn't that big of a threat to throw the ball down the field, and if you keep him contained you can frustrate him and bog the Chiefs offense down. Our defense did just that. Given, the Chiefs offense was without the services of Chris Conley, but they still have big playmaker Tyreek Hill and we did an excellent job bottling him up and tackling him at the point of the catch. Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt are monsters, and I really can't say enough about just how good these two are. They are both dominant players and they are both effective in stopping the run, and getting after the passer. Javon Hargrave isn't too far behind them, he's developing into a force of nature in and of himself. The only issue is that when one of these guys get hurt, the drop off in talent behind them is very, very noticeable.

The secondary has been playing quite well as well. I don't remember the last time I saw opposing quarterbacks having as much trouble against our secondary as they've had this season. A lot of looking around trying to find receivers, and the coverage has been phenomenal compared to seasons past. This has lead to a fair amount of coverage sacks, and quarterbacks being forced to throw the ball away. The secondary really doesn't get enough credit for how they've played, they have made some mistakes this season (mainly missed tackles), but they're massively improved over the products we've seen over the past 5 years or so.

The Coaching: I'm just an Armchair GM but the coaching was better against the Chiefs. Tomlin/Haley seemed to figure out that the running game is the strength of this team and that we need to utilize it as much as possible to take pressure off of Roethlisberger who still seems to be in a funk of sorts. While the coaching/scheming was better, I still have my gripes about various coaching decisions.

1. James Harrison: Why exactly wasn't he playing since Day 1? Not saying he should be the starter, but he should've been in the rotation. It's painfully obvious he's better than Chickillo. Perhaps the coaching staff was trying to see what they had in Chickillo early on? I don't know about that for sure, but I know that 39 year old James Harrison is still better than Chickillo and should've been in the rotation from the get-go. TJ Watt is going to be a playmaker for us, but we can't expect him to do everything as a rookie, and a rotation of fresh-legged pass rushers is a good thing.

2. James Conner: Why did we draft a guy just so he could ride the pine 98% of the time? I get that Bell is dynamic, but it seems to me like Conner picks up 5-10 yards every time he touches the ball. Not saying he should be getting a huge portion of snaps or anything, but I think Bell is going to be gassed again and end up getting hurt if we don't start using Conner to give him a break here and there, and if Conner comes in and has success, why not give him a few more carries? Young man could do with a little more in game experience. I think we should also utilize some two-back sets to keep defenses guessing as to who will be getting the football. Conner looks to be a good, powerful North-South runner, let's use him a little bit at least.

3. Put an end to the distractions: I think it's high time that Coach T says enough is enough with the media and social media BS with these guys and puts the focus on the task at hand, and that's winning football games.

I think the Steelers are giving James Conner a year to build himself back up after over coming cancer.

He could be Bells replacement plus Terrell Watson.

Here is why I have to knock Haley a little in this game. Bell was running like a well oiled machine. They couldn't stop him. Ben under center was the message. We're gonna run again. The only other set was Ben in the shotgun with an empty backfield.
I don't remember seeing more than 1 play action pass. The stage was set. Maybe it's because lately Ben's been over throwing every long ball.
I don't know but they need to figure that out or good as it is our defense is going to get tired. Especially if we go into the "make a backup RB look like Barry Sanders" mode.

effyou515 wrote:

I think the Steelers are giving James Conner a year to build himself back up after over coming cancer.

He could be Bells replacement plus Terrell Watson.

James Conner doesn't look like he needs to build himself up at all. He's looked very strong as a runner the few times he has had the ball. If anything he needs to work on his pass catching, but the one time he got a heavy workload running the ball in the preseason he looked pretty damn good.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

2. James Conner: Why did we draft a guy just so he could ride the pine 98% of the time? I get that Bell is dynamic, but it seems to me like Conner picks up 5-10 yards every time he touches the ball. Not saying he should be getting a huge portion of snaps or anything, but I think Bell is going to be gassed again and end up getting hurt if we don't start using Conner to give him a break here and there, and if Conner comes in and has success, why not give him a few more carries? Young man could do with a little more in game experience. I think we should also utilize some two-back sets to keep defenses guessing as to who will be getting the football. Conner looks to be a good, powerful North-South runner, let's use him a little bit at least.

I agree. Bell should be limited to 20 touches a game until the play-offs, except for maybe the Pats* game. Split the other carries between Conner and Watson and we'll be fine.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

effyou515 wrote:

I think the Steelers are giving James Conner a year to build himself back up after over coming cancer.

He could be Bells replacement plus Terrell Watson.

James Conner doesn't look like he needs to build himself up at all. He's looked very strong as a runner the few times he has had the ball. If anything he needs to work on his pass catching, but the one time he got a heavy workload running the ball in the preseason he looked pretty damn good.

To be honest, it seems like Conner is more explosive than Bell (at least as far as straight-line speed). Like if this kid gets daylight, he's more of a threat to break one long.

Fire Arians wrote:

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

effyou515 wrote:

I think the Steelers are giving James Conner a year to build himself back up after over coming cancer.

He could be Bells replacement plus Terrell Watson.

James Conner doesn't look like he needs to build himself up at all. He's looked very strong as a runner the few times he has had the ball. If anything he needs to work on his pass catching, but the one time he got a heavy workload running the ball in the preseason he looked pretty damn good.

To be honest, it seems like Conner is more explosive than Bell (at least as far as straight-line speed). Like if this kid gets daylight, he's more of a threat to break one long.

I guess I see things different run the hell out of Bell make him earn every penny of his 12 million free agent salary if he wears down at the end of the season the Steelers have 2 fresh RBs to finish the year out.

If nothing else if Bell can't find holes to run up the middle Connor has shown he has the speed and power to go around the edge. Why not use him? It doesn't make sense not to.
In goal line situations Watson can get you 3-4 yards. It doesn't make sense to me to have these 2 hammers and leave them in the shed.