Steelers vs. Washington Football Team

Tim Benz summarizes nicely. I can't disagree with any of them.

https://triblive.com/sports/tim-benz-airing-of-grievances-after-steelers-suffer-first-loss-of-2020-offensive-imbalance-defensive-fade/

https://triblive.com/sports/steelers-played-end-of-game-without-both-starting-outside-cbs-robert-spillane-also-injured/

Steelers played end of game without both starting outside CBs; Robert Spillane also injured

Quote :

Haden was examined in the medical tent on the Steelers’ sideline thereafter but did not appear in either of the two final Washington possessions of the game. Washington scored all three times it had the ball after Haden left,

The Steelers’ other veteran starting outside cornerback, Steven Nelson, did not play because of a knee injury. Nelson had not practiced since the Steelers’ win against the Baltimore Ravens last Wednesday, and coach Mike Tomlin said Nelson was getting an MRI on his knee.

Inside linebacker Robert Spillane suffered an injury to his left knee while he broke up a pass early during the third quarter.

only saw the second half of the game.

Apparently Spillane is going to miss "some time"

More thoughts.

https://www.steelers.com/news/response-will-be-revealing

Colin Coward just reveling in the Steelers loss. Better teams according to him? Giants, Washington, Patriots*, Browns, etc.

.@ColinCowherd would like an apology... pic.twitter.com/lBrMONMkKY

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 8, 2020

Shalieve5090 wrote:

Apparently Spillane is going to miss "some time"

This stinks. My son pointed out that you didn't see Spillane getting blocked 8-10 yards down field on run plays last night. He was more active around the line of scrimmage, which showed not only maturation of his game, but faster recognition and reactions (the game was probably slowing down for him).

This will pressure Williamson to get up to speed faster. I thought he played poorly in Spillane's absence. The last Washington TD to their TE really appeared to be a lapse in coverage by Williamson. It's hard to tell if that was his man or Williams', but I'm speculating it was the new guy's man. Hate to say it, but he looked confused on obvious passing downs.

The Steelers will have to live without Spillane and possibly Haden (at least for this weekend). I'm not sure if Nelson will be back. And you'll note they certainly missed Dupree. I like what Highsmith is doing as a rookie, but he didn't sniff Smith at all ... no pressure from his position.

Yes, I hated some of the playcalls (throwing to a reserve Tackle on the 1 foot line, trick plays on 4th and 1, draws on 3rd & 10). But yesterday's loss, I pin on dropped footballs. You're playing a decent defense and had 6 dropped passes (I counted 8 last week). I can't remember who it was, but there was a 2nd & 10 and an 8 yard pass was dropped. They didn't convert the 3rd & 10 ... would have been nice to have 3rd & 2. Those situations, repeated throughout the game, make a big difference. Catch those passes and they win the game.

jak341 wrote:

Colin Coward just reveling in the Steelers loss. Better teams according to him? Giants, Washington, Patriots**, Browns, etc.

.@ColinCowherd would like an apology... pic.twitter.com/lBrMONMkKY

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 8, 2020

Please

We'll see in a few weeks if the Browns are better. It's easy to say the last undefeated team isn't that good and bask in some type of glory when they finally lose. The Steelers don't suck and are not average. They are one of the top teams. They've faced adversity in key roles going out with injury, but just as tough, they've had their schedule shit on.

Can't wait to see how they respond this weekend. If you're going to lose, Washington was a perfect team to lose to being a non-conference opponent.

You can disregard me, I'm just jelly that I don't get paid to say stupid stuff regardless of how accurate it turns out to be.

3 out of the next 4 games will tell this team if its really a contender in the playoffs. The Bills, Colts, and Browns will let us know real quickly if they deserve to play in the second season or not.

jak341 wrote:

Colin Coward just reveling in the Steelers loss. Better teams according to him? Giants, Washington, Patriots**, Browns, etc.

.@ColinCowherd would like an apology... pic.twitter.com/lBrMONMkKY

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 8, 2020

listening to that dickhead lowers my IQ.

man... jak341 jinxed this washington football team vs steelers game, he got the tread title all wrong, put the steelers before the washington football team, steelers were the home team, the home team is always listed last, plus he used capital letters for each team... come on man.

i've been watching to many dr. pepper fansville commerials



my favorite fansville commerial this college football season.

just trying to add a little humor into the gloomy tread.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

I just can't understand the total lack of an ability to run the football. How the hell does an offensive line do this badly at run blocking? 1.5ypc is just unacceptable, period. Our offensive line gets absolutely manhandled in the run game. They get no push, they can't open up holes, they block the wrong guys, or completely whiff on blocks... Mike Munchak being gone maybe? Seems like ever since he left for Denver our offensive line play has gone downhill.

Anyways, these dudes better wake up or they're going to lose their shot at the #1 seed and a playoff bye.

11-0, 11-1, I don't care about their record. Records don't matter when you get to the playoffs. What I've seen the past three weeks is an offense out-of-sorts that can't run the football and is totally one-dimensional. All they throw is 2-3 yard passes and they can't even catch those, receivers dropping passes all over the field. A total lack of focus. That's not going to hack it in the playoffs. They will be one and done if that's the product they're going to put on the field from an offensive standpoint. There's no reason with our personnel that we shouldn't be better. It seems like we can't do anything offensively without going shotgun, up-tempo, or empty sets. They need to fix that. We cannot continue to be one dimensional forcing Ben to throw the ball 50 times a game. We have to be able to run the ball with at least some kind of success, and we have to be able to push the ball down the field. Defenses have zero respect for us over the top, they're manning up, getting in our receivers faces, and daring us to hit them over the top. They're stacking the box and shutting down the run game. We're bland, predictable, and unbalanced. Fichtner needs to come up with something new, and I think that it starts with them  getting back to the fundamentals and the execution of said fundamentals.

well if you watched the arthur moats video i posted awhile back compares the run game from early in the season when they had moderate success to the shit show we have seen the last 5 weeks or so. he explained that these guys cant line up and just out physical the guys in front of them , so they used different formations and motions to keep them off balance...then they just stopped doing that ...
to me it looks like they are pass blocking even on a running play. they aren't firing off to push guys backwards. it looks like they are just trying to stop the progress of the rushers.

look at this mess...where is snell supposed to go with this ball other than run smack into the backs of his blockers...there are 4 unblocked guys to make sure he cant even bounce it to the outside.

effyou515 wrote:

man... jak341 jinxed this washington football team vs steelers game, he got the tread title all wrong, put the steelers before the washington football team, steelers were the home team, the home team is always listed last, plus he used capital letters for each team... come on man.

i've been watching to many dr. pepper fansville commerials



my favorite fansville commerial this college football season.

just trying to add a little humor into the gloomy tread.

That is exactly what happened. In fact, here is how it went down.

Fitchner: God damn. jak341 screwed up the thread title at Steelersextreme.com
Ben: Randy, are you going to call in the play? It's 2nd and goal from the 1.
Fitchner: [caught off-guard] Throw the ball to Hawkins!

ben needs to get smarter where he is going with the ball. he leaves a lot of would be easy completions on the field in exchange for low percentage passes.
here is an example. they did get the pass interference call on this play , but an easy first down with a chance of being an even longer gain than the pass he threw had it been completed.
instead of here


he goes here and had he made a better throw it might have a chance if he leads claypool


but he under throws

it is amazing the things you see watching replays at 1/4 speed...i am the greatest monday morning QB of all time !!!  

but anywho..im sure they watch the film and spot these flaws just as i do....yet they dont seem to correct them ..

here is an utter failure on the defense. im not sure but it looks like they have vince williams assigned to the TE logan who was chewing them up all game. at least VW is the only one who seems to react to his pattern.
asking a slow linebacker to cover a much faster TE when they are lined up pre snap on the opposite side is just crazy. of course i could be wrong and VW was mot his assignment in which case kudos to vince for being to only one to see they just royally fucked up. it could be that avery williamson picked up the wrong guy and VW tried to cover his assignment.

The whole thing stinks!

Kirkland - some very good analysis.

This is a very good football team that has Earned a trip to the postseason - but has been shaky in back to back games.  Losing might be the best thing though - takes the pressure off.  

There's a lot of work to be done.  As you pointed out, the drops really killed them.  8 drops.  Or 7 drops.  Can NOT happen.  Its why Ebron hasn't stuck and was available, too.  He's a beast when he catches it but....
If you've got a receiver that can't catch the ball - you don't have a receiver.  He has no value if he can't catch it.  Remember Limas Sweed?
Ben did not play well.  He was man enough to say so.  A lot of others didn't play well too.  The team needs to be able to run the football.  The D needs to be elite, they are the linchpin of this team.   And they need to be elite whether guys get hurt or not.  Losing Nelson and Haden were huge losses - but no excuse for receivers to be wide open 3 straight plays.

Side note:  Did you guys catch this?  Right before halftime, Alex Smith walks off the field with the football - causing the "administrative issue" where the referees stop the clock and find a ball - giving their FG team time to line up and kick.

Here's what people missed:  he did it intentionally.  Replay shows him carrying the football off the field, and then a wry grin across his face.  

That dude is smart.  I hold no hostility toward him for that move - I've always liked Smith.  Its just an example of a really smart move by a veteran QB who had a deep understanding of how the rules work (correction needed, however: it should have been a delay of game or just run the clock down, by the rules).

Great Randino wrote:

Kirkland - some very good analysis.

This is a very good football team that has Earned a trip to the postseason - but has been shaky in back to back games.  Losing might be the best thing though - takes the pressure off.  

There's a lot of work to be done.  As you pointed out, the drops really killed them.  8 drops.  Or 7 drops.  Can NOT happen.  Its why Ebron hasn't stuck and was available, too.  He's a beast when he catches it but....
If you've got a receiver that can't catch the ball - you don't have a receiver.  He has no value if he can't catch it.  Remember Limas Sweed?
Ben did not play well.  He was man enough to say so.  A lot of others didn't play well too.  The team needs to be able to run the football.  The D needs to be elite, they are the linchpin of this team.   And they need to be elite whether guys get hurt or not.  Losing Nelson and Haden were huge losses - but no excuse for receivers to be wide open 3 straight plays.

Side note:  Did you guys catch this?  Right before halftime, Alex Smith walks off the field with the football - causing the "administrative issue" where the referees stop the clock and find a ball - giving their FG team time to line up and kick.

Here's what people missed:  he did it intentionally.  Replay shows him carrying the football off the field, and then a wry grin across his face.  

That dude is smart.  I hold no hostility toward him for that move - I've always liked Smith.  Its just an example of a really smart move by a veteran QB who had a deep understanding of how the rules work (correction needed, however:  it should have been a delay of game or just run the clock down, by the rules).

Yeah that was a smart move but it was also DELAY OF GAME and should have been penalized.

jak341 wrote:

Colin Coward just reveling in the Steelers loss. Better teams according to him? Giants, Washington, Patriots**, Browns, etc.

.@ColinCowherd would like an apology... pic.twitter.com/lBrMONMkKY

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 8, 2020

Funny, considering we took the Brownies out back behind the woodshed and gave them a thorough beating last time we played them. We also beat the Giants at full health with their starting QB and RB. The Patriots* really aren't that great either, if you rattle Cam Newton you can beat them handily.

As for Washington, I don't know if they're the better team overall. I think if we hadn't been playing them as the third game in a 12 day stretch we probably would've won. Not to take anything away from them, they're playing good football right now, particularly from a defensive standpoint, but full health vs full health I think we beat them if we had to play them again.

It's amazing how much other teams and their fans become salty haters when your team is having success. Nobody acted like this when the Chiefs got beat by the Raiders.

solardave wrote:

Great Randino wrote:

Kirkland - some very good analysis.

This is a very good football team that has Earned a trip to the postseason - but has been shaky in back to back games.  Losing might be the best thing though - takes the pressure off.  

There's a lot of work to be done.  As you pointed out, the drops really killed them.  8 drops.  Or 7 drops.  Can NOT happen.  Its why Ebron hasn't stuck and was available, too.  He's a beast when he catches it but....
If you've got a receiver that can't catch the ball - you don't have a receiver.  He has no value if he can't catch it.  Remember Limas Sweed?
Ben did not play well.  He was man enough to say so.  A lot of others didn't play well too.  The team needs to be able to run the football.  The D needs to be elite, they are the linchpin of this team.   And they need to be elite whether guys get hurt or not.  Losing Nelson and Haden were huge losses - but no excuse for receivers to be wide open 3 straight plays.

Side note:  Did you guys catch this?  Right before halftime, Alex Smith walks off the field with the football - causing the "administrative issue" where the referees stop the clock and find a ball - giving their FG team time to line up and kick.

Here's what people missed:  he did it intentionally.  Replay shows him carrying the football off the field, and then a wry grin across his face.  

That dude is smart.  I hold no hostility toward him for that move - I've always liked Smith.  Its just an example of a really smart move by a veteran QB who had a deep understanding of how the rules work (correction needed, however:  it should have been a delay of game or just run the clock down, by the rules).

Yeah that was a smart move but it was also DELAY OF GAME and should have been penalized.

. Yes - as I mentioned above.

Madden also breaks it down nicely.

https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-steelers-need-better-running-game-to-be-legit-contender/

Next game more JuJu/Washington and less Diontae/Ebron please. Steelers had 14 dropped balls the last 2 weeks, 6 by Diontae and 4 by Ebron

Ben falling back into bad habits started 3 games ago.

Not want we want to hear, but probably accurate.

Ben Roethlisberger on the struggles with the run game

“If we had the answers we would’ve had it fixed by now. Sometimes it’s on me, it’s an RPO, sometimes I throw it and maybe I should’ve handed it off.”

— Jenna Harner (@JennaHarner11) December 9, 2020

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

here is an utter failure on the defense. im not sure but it looks like they have vince williams assigned to the TE logan who was chewing them up all game. at least VW is the only one who seems to react to his pattern.
asking a slow linebacker to cover a much faster TE when they are lined up pre snap on the opposite side is just crazy. of course i could be wrong and VW was mot his assignment in which case kudos to vince for being to only one to see they just royally fucked up. it could be that avery williamson picked up the wrong guy and VW tried to cover his assignment.

Note: I don't know what defense they called on this play.

If they called an underneath man coverage, then I think VW gets stuck on the crossing pattern of the receivers and it was his man that was open for the TD. I suspect, though, that VW has the inside route and AW the outside (zone coverage). I'm just guessing because although VW isn't the fastest cover LB in the league, he very much understands his assignments. AW seemed lost or slow on several pass plays. So I'm just laying blame on the new guy.