Gameballs and Goats Steelers @ Browns

GAMEBALLS:

James Conner - 31 Attempts for 135yds and 2 Rushing TDs in addition to 5 Receptions for 57yds is not too shabby for a guy making his first ever start, on the road, in a divisional game against a team that wanted desperately to win it's first game of the season after going 0-16 last year. Did have one ugly fumble, but I would chalk that up to the poor weather conditions and the Browns making a good play on the football, it happens. Conner looks night and day better than he did as a rookie.

TJ Watt - This guy is going to be a force. He's athletic, he can cover, he flies to the football, and he can get to the quarterback. Praying that he stays healthy this season because we're going to need him.

Antonio Brown - Still just as consistent as ever and had one very nice touchdown catch despite the coverage being very good against him. Somehow I expected a little more out of him though.... Maybe that's just me being greedy.

JuJu Smith-Schuster - Kid continues to make plays, doesn't seem to be suffering from any kind of sophomore slump. Over 100yds receiving, can't really argue with that.

GOATS:

Mike Tomlin - Team was unfocused, undisciplined, and turned the ball over way too many times. This is becoming a theme with Coach T and one that I am finally starting to get tired of. Time to stop being a player's coach, and time to get this team focused on playing their best football without the distractions, undisciplined play, and lack of focus.

Ben Roethlisberger - Horrible. Game absolutely reminded me of the first matchup last season against the Jagoffs. Some of the interception were not Ben's fault, and the weather was horrible. That being said Ben has to be better. He cannot just turn the ball over carelessly the way that he did. Stop forcing throws to Brown in double and triple coverage when there is no reason to.

Offensive Line - Dr. Jekyll in the first half, Mr. Hyde in the 2nd. Opened up a lot of running room for Conner early on and then suddenly got terrible. Need to be better and more consistent in both the running game and the passing game. Ben wasn't helping with some poor throws and decisions, but they didn't exactly give him phenomenal protection either. For a group of guys that felt they needed to publicly call out Le'Veon Bell and make the statements that he's only good because of them, they need to understand that when you're going to make those kinds of claims you better show up with your "A" game come game time.

Justin Hunter - This guy is a scrub. Sick of him. Don't know what the hell this team sees in this guy. Would've rather seen them keep Damoun Patterson, or Marcus Tucker over this dude. Doesn't turn to find the ball, can't catch the ball when it hits his hands. He's a one-trick-pony and he's not even good at his one-trick. Hoping that James Washington is healthy for the Chiefs game because Hunter shouldn't see the field unless we have a litany of injuries at WR.

Le'Veon Bell - Just because he's a douchebag.

Gameballs:

TJ Watt
Conner
Haden while he was in there
Cam Heyward

Goats:

Ben for not being prepared,
Tomlin and the coaches for not getting Ben enough reps and getting ready and for letting the O-line air their grievances about Bell publicly
Conner for the fumble (maybe poor pass protection too)
AV
Bosewell

Game Balls:

TJ- Dude was every where
Connor- Sent a pretty good message to Bell.
Haden- Heard his name a lot for good reason.
Ju Ju- Over a 100 yds.
Miles Garrett

Goats:

MILES GARRETT :banging:Dude is going to be our Achilles.
Hunter- preseason flash that goes away during the season. Sit down you clown.
Ben- Bad throws and holding the ball to long.
Berry- About 40 yd average on his punts.
Tomlin- Quit being one of the guys. Grow a pair and coach like a grown man.
The Rain

Everyone has nailed the obvious, so I'll take a different path ...

GOATS: The NFL, rule changes, and the officiating. I assume no explanation is necessary (I'm not blaming the refs for the loss ... yes, it feels like a loss ... it's just that the NFL is becoming unwatchable). I've heard fans say that for years, and now I'm starting to agree. Every time there's a big hit, I'm now expecting to see a flag.

Wallace108 wrote:

Everyone has nailed the obvious, so I'll take a different path ...

GOATS: The NFL, rule changes, and the officiating. I assume no explanation is necessary (I'm not blaming the refs for the loss ... yes, it feels like a loss ... it's just that the NFL is becoming unwatchable). I've heard fans say that for years, and now I'm starting to agree. Every time there's a big hit, I'm now expecting to see a flag.

TJ got called for a hit using his shoulder. The latest helmet rule leaves the door wide open for officials to change momentum at the very least.

you're right Wally they didn't lose this game for us but I can see it happening. Especially when we play the Patriots*.

solardave wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

Everyone has nailed the obvious, so I'll take a different path ...

GOATS: The NFL, rule changes, and the officiating. I assume no explanation is necessary (I'm not blaming the refs for the loss ... yes, it feels like a loss ... it's just that the NFL is becoming unwatchable). I've heard fans say that for years, and now I'm starting to agree. Every time there's a big hit, I'm now expecting to see a flag.

TJ got called for a hit using his shoulder. The latest helmet rule leaves the door wide open for officials to change momentum at the very least.

you're right Wally they didn't lose this game for us but I can see it happening. Especially when we play the Patriots**.

If they're going to keep these new rules, which they obviously will at least for the foreseeable future, they should at least make them reviewable.

Game Balls:

I was really impressed with Conner and Watt. I know the sample size is too small, but out of curiosity I wanted to compare Bell's 2017 game averages to Conner's 1st start. Bell averaged (rounded up) 47 yards receiving per game and 86 rushing. Again, it is only one game but Conner is starting off with the kind of production they need after 135 rushing and 57 receiving.

Goats:

There were many goats in the game, this is going to seem stupid, but it really annoyed me how the players around Tomlin celebrated when Cleveland missed the FG. I didn't take note who they were. It would have been different if there was 2 minutes left in the game instead of 9 seconds, it just seemed stupid to be celebrating a tie...or we're glad we didn't lose

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Game Balls:

I was really impressed with Conner and Watt. I know the sample size is too small, but out of curiosity I wanted to compare Bell's 2017 game averages to Conner's 1st start. Bell averaged (rounded up) 47 yards receiving per game and 86 rushing. Again, it is only one game but Conner is starting off with the kind of production they need after 135 rushing and 57 receiving.

Goats:

There were many goats in the game, this is going to seem stupid, but it really annoyed me how the players around Tomlin celebrated when Cleveland missed the FG. I didn't take note who they were. It would have been different if there was 2 minutes left in the game instead of 9 seconds, it just seemed stupid to be celebrating a tie...or we're glad we didn't lose

I agree on both points. It's too early to compare Connor to Bell. Let's give him 15 more games so we can see.

Celebrating a missed field goal with 9 seconds left is great if said field goal would have tied the game. Celebrating a tie is what losers do IMO.

solardave wrote:

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Game Balls:

I was really impressed with Conner and Watt. I know the sample size is too small, but out of curiosity I wanted to compare Bell's 2017 game averages to Conner's 1st start. Bell averaged (rounded up) 47 yards receiving per game and 86 rushing. Again, it is only one game but Conner is starting off with the kind of production they need after 135 rushing and 57 receiving.

Goats:

There were many goats in the game, this is going to seem stupid, but it really annoyed me how the players around Tomlin celebrated when Cleveland missed the FG. I didn't take note who they were. It would have been different if there was 2 minutes left in the game instead of 9 seconds, it just seemed stupid to be celebrating a tie...or we're glad we didn't lose

I agree on both points. It's too early to compare Connor to Bell. Let's give him 15 more games so we can see.

Celebrating a missed field goal with 9 seconds left is great if said field goal would have tied the game. Celebrating a tie is what losers do IMO.

Right, I maybe shouldn't have posted the stats. one game isn't proof of anything. I only wanted to compare Conner's 1st start to what Bell averaged last year. We'll see how he's doing after several more games.

solardave wrote:

LambertWardSteel wrote:

solardave wrote:

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Game Balls:

I was really impressed with Conner and Watt. I know the sample size is too small, but out of curiosity I wanted to compare Bell's 2017 game averages to Conner's 1st start. Bell averaged (rounded up) 47 yards receiving per game and 86 rushing. Again, it is only one game but Conner is starting off with the kind of production they need after 135 rushing and 57 receiving.

Goats:

There were many goats in the game, this is going to seem stupid, but it really annoyed me how the players around Tomlin celebrated when Cleveland missed the FG. I didn't take note who they were. It would have been different if there was 2 minutes left in the game instead of 9 seconds, it just seemed stupid to be celebrating a tie...or we're glad we didn't lose

I agree on both points. It's too early to compare Connor to Bell. Let's give him 15 more games so we can see.

I hope you didn't take my comment on Connor as a knock on you. I meant give him the 15 remaining games this season to help us forget LeVeon what's his name. I'm gonna root for Connor all damn year.

Celebrating a missed field goal with 9 seconds left is great if said field goal would have tied the game. Celebrating a tie is what losers do IMO.

Right, I maybe shouldn't have posted the stats. one game isn't proof of anything. I only wanted to compare Conner's 1st start to what Bell averaged last year. We'll see how he's doing after several more games.

Not at all    I just meant to stress that I wasn't saying he was better than Bell after one game. I just wanted to see how Conner's first start looked alongside Bell's averages for last year.

I'm with you...I'm ready for Conner to be the next in a long line of great Steelers RBs  

I really hope that Conner keeps it up. He has fought hard to get to this point and I want him to succeed so much. He's very humble and it is a breath of fresh air after the last few years of Bell drama.

I'm having a hard time deciding if I want a JuJu or Conner jersey next.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Goats:

There were many goats in the game, this is going to seem stupid, but it really annoyed me how the players around Tomlin celebrated when Cleveland missed the FG. I didn't take note who they were. It would have been different if there was 2 minutes left in the game instead of 9 seconds, it just seemed stupid to be celebrating a tie...or we're glad we didn't lose

As I told a friend when I saw that, I'm glad Tomlin wasn't at least celebrating...