Well that's a great way to start. A win against a playoff team in their house. Offense started to click a little better in the second half and that's what matters! Defense looked good and kept the Bills under 20 and that's a good day!
an ugly win reminiscent of the ugly wins from last years 11 game streak to make people believe they were better than they actually were. just as we feared the Oline was horrendous. now we will see what kind of coach Canada is. i missed the first quarter and part of the 2nd and only casually watched the rest of it. did anyone see anything different ? any under center snaps ? line shifts ? different formations ?
SteelerFreak58
Posts : 2866 Join date : 2015-09-13 Location : Modesto CA
an ugly win reminiscent of the ugly wins from last years 11 game streak to make people believe they were better than they actually were. just as we feared the Oline was horrendous. now we will see what kind of coach Canada is. i missed the first quarter and part of the 2nd and only casually watched the rest of it. did anyone see anything different ? any under center snaps ? line shifts ? different formations ?
Some good adjustments in the second half they started moving the ball better. I think Canada started to see what the O could do well as the game progressed. For their first game as a unit in real football conditions they started to look better quarter by quarter.
If they can go 5-3 or 4-4 the first 8 games I think they have a good shot at going to the playoffs. IF they stay healthy and learn to work as a unit.
There was a lot of ugly but we knew their would be. They beat the AFC East champs in their own house so it wasn't a fluke. They have something to work with.
IowaSteeler927
Posts : 5231 Join date : 2015-04-11 Location : Des Moines, Iowa
an ugly win reminiscent of the ugly wins from last years 11 game streak to make people believe they were better than they actually were. just as we feared the Oline was horrendous. now we will see what kind of coach Canada is. i missed the first quarter and part of the 2nd and only casually watched the rest of it. did anyone see anything different ? any under center snaps ? line shifts ? different formations ?
Some good adjustments in the second half they started moving the ball better. I think Canada started to see what the O could do well as the game progressed. For their first game as a unit in real football conditions they started to look better quarter by quarter.
If they can go 5-3 or 4-4 the first 8 games I think they have a good shot at going to the playoffs. IF they stay healthy and learn to work as a unit.
There was a lot of ugly but we knew their would be. They beat the AFC East champs in their own house so it wasn't a fluke. They have something to work with.
the steelers won the first 11 games last year with good defense ,critical penalties and turnovers while keeping their own mistake to a minimum. we saw what happened when the other teams stopped giving them those gifts. Ben was forced to try to do more and it was a disaster. this game looked like one of those games from last year.the bills made more mistakes. costly penalties , a fumble and a blocked punt. im not saying they cant or wont right the ship. just saying this game shouldnt inspire any type of confidence that this is a SB contender. my expectations for this year is pretty low. i predicted tomlins first sub .500 year. i hope he proves me wrong.
LambertWardSteel
Posts : 1643 Join date : 2015-05-14 Location : Myerstown PA
Defense is legit, offense needs time to gel with the new o-line.
Agree with this. The D holding a SB contender to 16 opening day in their stadium with a mega hostile crowd is fantastic. I really thought the O, and running game, was going to be better but I think they improve with time.
Most 'experts' were giving Steelers about 9 wins for the season. This is one they weren't supposed to have so they are on pace for 10 now.
Congrats guys Pretty much everyone picked us to lose this
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anyone else notice our new center got benched for awhile at halftime ?
I didn't actually. Probably Coach trying to light a fire under his ass. Kid's being asked to do a lot right now. I like his tenacity, and he is athletic, he can get to the second level and block downfield but he's susceptible to stunts and power rushers right now. Just going to take some time and experience to recognize stuff, and I think he could stand to get a bit stronger.
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"Success isn't owned, it's leased and the rent is due every day." - TJ Watt
Defense - TJ Watt showed why he just got a huge contract. Cam Heyward was an animal. I love the Watt, Highsmith, Ingram rotation. Ingram is so damned strong. And the secondary played very well. Hats off to Colbert for find/drafting these guys.
Special Teams - Outside of the opening kickoff, I thought this unit did well and scoring a TD should get you a gameball.
Goats:
Offense - Yes, they moved the ball in the 2nd half, but 3 FGs and 1 TD in the redzone sucks. And I blame the 1 Bills TD at the end of the 1st half on the offense (simply because they couldn't stay on the field long enough to keep their defensive partners on the sideline)
Ben - It might have been the swirling wind, but there were more than a few throws that looked off-target. He got better as the game went on, but the Steelers can't go entire halves of games with the QB not making plays.
D. Johnson - He had an outstanding TD catch, because he has outstanding talent. But way too many times he and Ben were not on the same page. Given it was almost always Johnson that Ben was throwing a ball that wasn't even close, and not other receivers, leads me to believe Johnson isn't running his patterns correctly. He's no longer a rookie and should be expected to do his job much better. It happened enough that I would say professionally he sucks. On the positive side, I didn't notice obvious drops, so maybe there's hope he learns how to play WR in the NFL and not just be a very athletic guy who makes the occasional play. A. Brown worked his tail off to be good every play.
Notables:
Kendrick Green played with a ton of energy. I didn't see his absence that MOP called out, but know he was out of the game briefly because his helmet was pulled off. Love to see him showing the 4.3 speed on Claypool's end-around. Pouncey was really quick on his pulls, but damn Green was hauling ass for a center!
Harris - Najee played like a 1st round rookie. He made some plays that he shouldn't have gained a yard, but he didn't own this game by any measure. I'm sure he's seeing film and wishing he could have some plays back ... good news is he'll get his chances. Oh, Ben also gave him a few looks after pass plays that made me think Najee didn't pass protect correctly. Growing pains for sure. He didn't do anything that made me think he won't/can't fix going forward and begin to show his true value.
Ulysses Gilbert III got that blocked punt TD. So happy for this guy. Thought he was going to be the odd man out for the 53 before the season started. The play was probably more of being in the right place at the right time, but he worked hard enough to be on the field to make that play yesterday.
Bush didn't seem to have much of an impact on the game. He seemed slower that he was 2 years ago, but I think that was more lack of playing than his recovery from his knee injury. It looked like he just wasn't where he needed to be on several plays.
it was the guy on KDKA post game video that said Green did not start the 2nd half. he cited his poor play in the 1st as the reason they discuss it at the 6:30 mark. where's the love for cam sutton ? he seemed to make a lot of plays. even the TD he gave up he was still in good position.
it was the guy on KDKA post game video that said Green did not start the 2nd half. he cited his poor play in the 1st as the reason they discuss it at the 6:30 mark. where's the love for cam sutton ? he seemed to make a lot of plays. even the TD he gave up he was still in good position.
Ah, ok, didn't notice Green missing to start the 2nd half and haven't heard anything about it. Since you missed the beginning of the game, I will say he didn't sail the 1st snap 10 yards over Ben's head, so Green's got that going for him
SNR with Moats and Uhler were talking about Sutton's play. Hell, I think Pierre played well also. In fact, most of that secondary was pretty tight for most of the game. I know the Bills moved the ball in the 1st half, but they only gave up 1 TD. One thing I noticed was some strong physical play by Fitzpatrick and Edmunds.
well i just watched the BTSC podcast and one of them said tomlin pulled green briefly because he was getting "chippy" , and tomlin wanted to avoid a personal foul so they gave him a short cool down timeout. i can see that. you can tell by his interviews he a pretty intense dude. i mean if they yanked him just because of his play , i would think it would have been for the rest of the game.
one thing i did notice that destroyed my prediction was i saw highsmith subbing for Watt. i thought since ingram has moved around the line his entire career he would be the swing man and watt and alex would stay strictly on their side of the ball. thats what i get for trying to apply logic ... ...i like the rotation though. keep them tackles off balance having rushers with different styles and moves while giving them all a breather. watt got the sacks, but the other two were giving those blockers hell
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solardave
Posts : 6365 Join date : 2011-09-30 Location : State of Confusion
So much for my prediction of a high scoring game. I thought the D played strong and really liked what the secondary brought.I think we have an outstanding rotation with TJ Highsmith and Ingram. The Oline finally started to protect Ben better in the 2nd half but still didn't open many holes for Harris and the fact that he seemed to be running up the backs of both Guards all game leads me to believe some of that was scheme. If I'm right some of the responsibility falls on Canada. Hey these guys are young and seem to play with intensity we haven't seen in awhile so I'm hoping once they get in sync we'll see a much better running attack. I did notice that DJ and Ben weren't on the same page. 10 targets 5 catches is not good. Claypool was 3/5. Freiermuth was 1/1. I want to see him become Ben's security blanket like Heath was. Ebron 1/2 and Washington was 2/2 but for only 10 yards. Maybe next week we get the running game going and Ben can take some shots downfield. I just thought the offense looked dumbed down or something. I did like the sweep to Claypool for 25.
Yeah it was a win but we look like a work in progress. Like a team trying to find an identity on offense.
So much for my prediction of a high scoring game. I thought the D played strong and really liked what the secondary brought.I think we have an outstanding rotation with TJ Highsmith and Ingram. The Oline finally started to protect Ben better in the 2nd half but still didn't open many holes for Harris and the fact that he seemed to be running up the backs of both Guards all game leads me to believe some of that was scheme. If I'm right some of the responsibility falls on Canada. Hey these guys are young and seem to play with intensity we haven't seen in awhile so I'm hoping once they get in sync we'll see a much better running attack. I did notice that DJ and Ben weren't on the same page. 10 targets 5 catches is not good. Claypool was 3/5. Freiermuth was 1/1. I want to see him become Ben's security blanket like Heath was. Ebron 1/2 and Washington was 2/2 but for only 10 yards. Maybe next week we get the running game going and Ben can take some shots downfield. I just thought the offense looked dumbed down or something. I did like the sweep to Claypool for 25.
Yeah it was a win but we look like a work in progress. Like a team trying to find an identity on offense.
It was only one game, but I was disappointed in the offense. They looked very much like they did to close out last season. I really expected with all the emphasis they put on the running game that it would be better. I believe the offense has lethal weapons and should improve.
Again, only one game but the D looks awesome. The 3 headed monster of Watt, Ingram, Highsmith could be really lethal. They had 3 sacks Sunday, but there were (if I remember right) 6 holding penalties on the Bills that were called and probably another dozen that weren't. I read somewhere they got that pressure despite only blitzing 2x in Allen's 54 drop backs. The secondary seemed better than expected. I was surprised Norwood played so much.
I don't think it can be emphasized enough how huge it was going into a hostile environment like that, beating a team game 1 that many pick to at least go to the SB, and coming out with a win. This could set the tone for the season. We are one win ahead of where everyone predicted. It should be a huge confidence builder for the players, especially for the 6 rookies who saw extensive action Sunday.
The sea of blue leaving the stadium before the game was over Sunday was fun to watch after listening and seeing their actions all day long
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effyou515
Posts : 5233 Join date : 2011-09-28 Location : from upper Ohio Valley to Conyers Ga.
derick watt - 4/7%...what the hell is he on the roster for ?
Special teams and keeping his very expensive brother happy
what?
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effyou515
Posts : 5233 Join date : 2011-09-28 Location : from upper Ohio Valley to Conyers Ga.
_________________ Trump is living the American dream! From a McDonalds employee to garbage man, to President. The red wave hit Kamala so hard, FEMA gave her $750. "Try paying as little taxes as possible it only encourages them."
Pretty much everyone picked us to lose this 
...i like the rotation though. keep them tackles off balance having rushers with different styles and moves while giving them all a breather. 
watt got the sacks, but the other two were giving those blockers hell
