Gameballs and Goats Bears @ Steelers 11/08

GAMEBALLS:

TJ Watt - Proves week in, and week out just exactly why he was worth the money that the front office is paying him under his new contract. 3 Sacks, high motor, high effort, extremely talented player that never gives up on a play.

Minkah Fitzpatrick - I thought this was one of his better performances this season. He was flying around to the football, and he had a pair of huge hits back-to-back on the Bears TE, and on Justin Fields making him pay for not getting out-of-bounds fast enough. We need that kind of physicality from all of our defenders.

Cameron Heyward - Continues to have a great season, while he wasn't a sack monster tonight he was disruptive and his interception was all him, he knocked down yet another pass and then had it fall right into his bread basket. Was very happy to see the big man get an INT. Everyone talks about Watt, but Cam Heyward is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career.

Pat Freiermuth - Adding him to this list, has been one of the more consistent guys on offense and is getting more involved with every passing week. Has been a safety valve for Ben, and a red-zone threat. Really like this kid, and can't wait to see how he progresses throughout his career.

GOATS:

Ben Roethlisberger - 21/30 205yds 2 TDs 0 INTs. Mistake free and efficient, but these kind of stat lines are going to burn us in the future. The offense has got to get better and it starts with the big guy under center. This offense isn't tough to figure out, stack the box, take away Najee Harris, and dare Ben to throw the football down the field. While Ben might've been efficient tonight, and didn't make any major mistakes, he's not exactly striking fear into the hearts of opposing defenses. It was hard for me to put him here, but I want to see more from Ben and this offense.

Matt Canada - I wasn't a fan of the playcalling last night. I wonder how much of this is Canada's fault, and how much of it is Ben's. Some of the blame has to fall on Canada's shoulders however. Passes behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd and long aren't going to get things done. I don't think Canada is fully to blame for this, there are other factors at play here, but he has to shoulder some of the blame when the offense continues to have it's struggles.

Offensive Line - After their last performance against Cleveland, I expected more from this unit against a Bears defense that was without Kalil Mack. I will just put this out there that if Kalil Mack had played last night, I think the Bears would've won the game. They managed to put up 4 sacks despite missing Kalil Mack and the offensive line struggled against the Bears front both in the run game, and in pass-pro. Kalil Mack would've eaten these guys for breakfast last night. They are young, and at times showing a good bit of improvement, but last night was a regression and they've got to be better overall. Kendrick Green also needs to be careful with his hot-headedness, I like his passion, and tenacity but we don't need stupid penalties.

Pressley Harvin - Bit of an up-and-down performance for Harvin. Needs to get dialed in and eliminate the mistakes. The talent is obviously there, but when he makes mistakes they're pretty damned ugly.

Keith Butler - Too many mental mistakes tonight, defense gave up 21 points in the 4th quarter alone. Inexcusable. Needs to have these guys more mentally prepared, and needs to make better in-game adjustments.

GAMEBALLS

Watt: what an incredible player. We've had greats on D over the years and he is right there with them

Freiermuth: saved the game in Cleveland last week and some nice TD catches tonight.

Boswell: when is the last time you saw a kicker make a fumble recovery in the field of play? His missed XP could have cost the game but two 50 yarders and the game winner.

Marsh: penalty or not it was a big play in the game. If he'd just gone to the sideline there would have been nothing. Apparently wanted to rub it in after Steelers left him go

GOATS:

Too many. this was just ugly all around from coaching to special teams to offensive line and QB. Unbelievable this team is 2nd place and should go to 6-3 next weekend.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

GAMEBALLS

Watt: what an incredible player. We've had greats on D over the years and he is right there with them

Freiermuth: saved the game in Cleveland last week and some nice TD catches tonight.

Boswell: when is the last time you saw a kicker make a fumble recovery in the field of play? His missed XP could have cost the game but two 50 yarders and the game winner.

Marsh: penalty or not it was a big play in the game. If he'd just gone to the sideline there would have been nothing. Apparently wanted to rub it in after Steelers left him go

GOATS:

Too many. this was just ugly all around from coaching to special teams to offensive line and QB. Unbelievable this team is 2nd place and should go to 6-3 next weekend.

Read yours and then thought how in the hell could I have forgotten Freiermuth? So I added him to my list. Honestly he was probably the best player on offense tonight.

Freiermuth is freaking awesome - love this kid! He's a huge difference maker in our offense.

Next week we are playing the winless Lions. That should terrify us. I DON'T consider it a guaranteed win.

kirklandrules wrote:

Game Balls:

• Boswell - He comes off a huge hit with a concussion last week and plays with ice in his veins. He made up for the missed PAT with the fumble recovery that required him getting crushed. Pound for pound the toughest guy on the team?
  
• Freiermuth - The greatest 2nd round TE draft pick in Steelers history? Time will tell, but he's off to a great start to his career. His adjusted route on his first TD shows the connection he's establishing with Ben. I loved his blocking on the outside runs ... watching those blocks, it's hard to remember he's just a rookie.
  

Goats:

• Offensive line - It was a bad night for every one of those offensive linemen. Dan Moore had a really bad game, but the others weren't too far behind him. I agree with Iowa that after the Browns game, I had hope this group was on it's way up. Monday night was a step back. Even Turner played poorly and he should be the one guy to provide consistency to the group.
  
• Canada - So the announcers mentioned the run game is all Canada, but the passing game is a hold over from last year (just different terminology). So now we know who is responsible for the 2 yard throws on 3rd and long.
  

It went quietly by, but Ben was on the injury report late last week for his throwing shoulder. I keep thinking about that way under thrown pass that Washington made a great adjustment on, and thinking Ben's shoulder could be a lingering problem. Could it be the reason that some downfield passes aren't called? Don't know but its crossed my mind.

Hope Mason is ready - I have a feeling his number is getting called before the end of the season.

I wish we would see more of Derek Watt. I think he's a good player - and when you struggle with your line, using a fullback to block, tight ends to help, RB's to chip on pass plays, all that helps.

Great Randino wrote:

I wish we would see more of Derek Watt.  I think he's a good player - and when you struggle with your line, using a fullback to block, tight ends to help, RB's to chip on pass plays, all that helps.

thats another way i can tell this really isnt canada's offense. his college teams used the fullback often. often lined up as an H back  that shuttle pass to watt was one of the plays you can find in his college game film

here is an excellent view of that play run to perfection. watt only gained got 3 yards because dotsons pulling block sucked ass , but look at the size of the hole when it is executed right.

Great Randino wrote:

Freiermuth is freaking awesome - love this kid!  He's a huge difference maker in our offense.

Next week we are playing the winless Lions.  That should terrify us.  I DON'T consider it a guaranteed win.

you know what is really terrifying ? statistically the lions are ahead of the steelers in every offensive and defensive category.

The Lions are way better than their 0-8 record. They should've beaten the Ravens, only a long 4th down convertion and a 66 yard field goal prevented that. They lost in a similar fashion to the Vikings and gave the Rams a hard time. They're coming of a bye week and we just have a short week. This definitely feels like a trap game.

Number of years ago I heard Mike Tomlin say something along the lines of, "You are never significantly better than your opponent."

His point was, in the NFL, with the salary cap, drafting structure, etc., everyone has good players. Hence, "Any given Sunday."

Regarding offensive and defensive stats though - if you dig down deeper, they aren't really better at passing. Our passing game is more efficient. Fewer INT's, etc. Also factor in garbage time which pads stats.

Still and all - Take anyone lightly at your own risk.

Stella Nation wrote:

The Lions are way better than their 0-8 record. They should've beaten the Ravens, only a long 4th down convertion and a 66 yard field goal prevented that. They lost in a similar fashion to the Vikings and gave the Rams a hard time. They're coming of a bye week and we just have a short week. This definitely feels like a trap game.

i dont know that they are "way better" than their record because i havent watched any of their games, but i do know the steelers are way worse than their record, just like last year. vegas has the steelers at -8 with over/under at 42.5.