Comments on: Big Night on Offense Paves the Way for a Big 38-28 Win Over Chargers http://www.steelersgab.com/2009/10/04/big-night-on-offense-paves-the-way-for-a-big-38-28-win-over-chargers/ The Definitive Pittsburgh Steelers Blog! Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:48:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: mark http://www.steelersgab.com/2009/10/04/big-night-on-offense-paves-the-way-for-a-big-38-28-win-over-chargers/comment-page-1/#comment-11757 mark Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:47:22 +0000 http://www.steelersgab.com/?p=2076#comment-11757 I have the same breakdown for that game. Many positives and a scary negative that continues to haunt this team on defense. Special teams wise, the onside kick should have been grabbed but my problem is with Reeds kickoff at the end of the game. Why would he kick deep to Sproles? The only thing the team didnt need at that point was a big return. Luckily, Sproles was tackled at mid field. The short passing attack by our foes are just torturing this team. When a team has become so 1 dimensional as the Chargers were at halftime, there is no excuse to why the Steeler defense wasn't sharper in stopping this. No one jumps any routes, Rivers-Gates was so dominant that they were making it look too easy. Gates is great and Rivers is a top QB, but why werent Townsend,Ratliff or Carter anticipating making a play on the ball? I almost wanted to see Taylor covering Gates.As for Moore, Mike Tomlin can take credit for Woodley and Timmons but he deserves just as much credit for bringing Moore to Pittsburgh. I said it last year, Moore was an MVP candidate for that team's championship run. He has turned out to be as dependable a Steeler that is on that roster. The defensive and certainly the offensive lines were dominant last night. Arguably, the best performance for this o-line in years.I would like to see Mendenhall get the bulk of carries next week too. Its like basketball, feed the hot hand!Timmons still looks a bit lost on some pass assignments and Woodley is struggling with the double teams. Carter, for as much as I like him and have said so, just seems to be a bit too slow in underneath coverages. Is there a more underrated player in football than Aaron Smith? The Steelers have a critical win under their belts this morning. Lets see if this equates to a nice run of wins than can position them for the winter. 6-2 at the halfway point is where they need to be.I dont think Tomlin takes any team lightly, so I expect a focused team next Sunday in Detroit and I expect to see even more production from the defense. At least I hope so. I have the same breakdown for that game. Many positives and a scary negative that continues to haunt this team on defense. Special teams wise, the onside kick should have been grabbed but my problem is with Reeds kickoff at the end of the game. Why would he kick deep to Sproles? The only thing the team didnt need at that point was a big return. Luckily, Sproles was tackled at mid field. The short passing attack by our foes are just torturing this team. When a team has become so 1 dimensional as the Chargers were at halftime, there is no excuse to why the Steeler defense wasn’t sharper in stopping this. No one jumps any routes, Rivers-Gates was so dominant that they were making it look too easy. Gates is great and Rivers is a top QB, but why werent Townsend,Ratliff or Carter anticipating making a play on the ball? I almost wanted to see Taylor covering Gates.As for Moore, Mike Tomlin can take credit for Woodley and Timmons but he deserves just as much credit for bringing Moore to Pittsburgh. I said it last year, Moore was an MVP candidate for that team’s championship run. He has turned out to be as dependable a Steeler that is on that roster. The defensive and certainly the offensive lines were dominant last night. Arguably, the best performance for this o-line in years.I would like to see Mendenhall get the bulk of carries next week too. Its like basketball, feed the hot hand!Timmons still looks a bit lost on some pass assignments and Woodley is struggling with the double teams. Carter, for as much as I like him and have said so, just seems to be a bit too slow in underneath coverages. Is there a more underrated player in football than Aaron Smith? The Steelers have a critical win under their belts this morning. Lets see if this equates to a nice run of wins than can position them for the winter. 6-2 at the halfway point is where they need to be.I dont think Tomlin takes any team lightly, so I expect a focused team next Sunday in Detroit and I expect to see even more production from the defense. At least I hope so.

]]> By: DrGeorge http://www.steelersgab.com/2009/10/04/big-night-on-offense-paves-the-way-for-a-big-38-28-win-over-chargers/comment-page-1/#comment-11755 DrGeorge Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:44:51 +0000 http://www.steelersgab.com/?p=2076#comment-11755 Matt Loede's article above is journalistically sound, but very misleading. What I saw was a spectacular effort by Ben and the O-line nearly wiped out by shoddy play on special teams, including a coaching blunder in failing to anticipate the on-sides kick, and another collapse by the defensive secondary in the 4th quarter (again). The special teams gaffes are obvious and easily correctable; the inability of the secondary to cover short passing routes is more problematic. When the Steelers are ahead 28-0 and the opposition has abandoned the running game, it would seem safe to substitute faster players for the two interior linebackers. And assigning our best pass rusher (Harrison) man-to-man coverage twenty yards downfield is aburd. Our pass rush rarely had time to get to Rivers, because he found open receivers quickly and consistently under our coverage. On offense, the O-line made enormous holes for the RBs and protected Ben beautifully. Give Arians credit for adapting his beloved spread offense to accommodate the run. Last night, the Steeler O-line was one of the best run blocking teams in football. Behind the O-line, Mendenhall racked up big yards for the first time in his career, and is now being prematurely heralded as The Anwer. But he is still most effective off tackle, and runs adequately inside only if the hole is mammoth. He is not able to take on a LB by himself; he diminishes his own power in traffic by running too high. He also missed several wide holes by popping outside (lack of vision?), instead of cutting back behind his blockers. The use of Legursky as a FB on the goal line was conceptually brilliant and effective. His consistent use in that role on short yardage and goal line situations would help to compensate for our lack of a power back. Any back could gain 2 yards behind the block Legursky made. The unsung hero of the night was M. Moore, whose 19 yard RAC for a TD, through three defenders, was exceptional. His bullet pass to Miller on a HB option for another TD was nothing short of superb. Why Moore doesn't get more playing time is beyond me. Ben was brilliant; if two easy passed had not been dropped, his passer rating would have been out of sight. Cary Davis blocked very well on limited practice; he is clearly better than the injured F. Summers he replaced. The receiving corps was solid, with Wallace playing far above his rookie status and Ward repeatedly making tough, courageous receptions in heavy traffic. Against Detroit and Cleve. the Steelers have an opportunity to: a) fix the special teams tendency to overrun the return man and get out of their lanes on coverage; b) find faster ILBs to cover short on obvious passing situations (nearly the entire second half against S. Diego); and c)perfect the pulling guard and double team blocking schemes on offense that proved so effective against S. Diego, and hopefully give Redman a few carries between the tackles. If the team can get these things done before the Minnesota game and get our safeties healthy, the Steelers still have a legitimate shot of going deep into the playoffs. Matt Loede’s article above is journalistically sound, but very misleading. What I saw was a spectacular effort by Ben and the O-line nearly wiped out by shoddy play on special teams, including a coaching blunder in failing to anticipate the on-sides kick, and another collapse by the defensive secondary in the 4th quarter (again). The special teams gaffes are obvious and easily correctable; the inability of the secondary to cover short passing routes is more problematic. When the Steelers are ahead 28-0 and the opposition has abandoned the running game, it would seem safe to substitute faster players for the two interior linebackers. And assigning our best pass rusher (Harrison) man-to-man coverage twenty yards downfield is aburd. Our pass rush rarely had time to get to Rivers, because he found open receivers quickly and consistently under our coverage.

On offense, the O-line made enormous holes for the RBs and protected Ben beautifully. Give Arians credit for adapting his beloved spread offense to accommodate the run. Last night, the Steeler O-line was one of the best run blocking teams in football.

Behind the O-line, Mendenhall racked up big yards for the first time in his career, and is now being prematurely heralded as The Anwer. But he is still most effective off tackle, and runs adequately inside only if the hole is mammoth. He is not able to take on a LB by himself; he diminishes his own power in traffic by running too high. He also missed several wide holes by popping outside (lack of vision?), instead of cutting back behind his blockers.

The use of Legursky as a FB on the goal line was conceptually brilliant and effective. His consistent use in that role on short yardage and goal line situations would help to compensate for our lack of a power back. Any back could gain 2 yards behind the block Legursky made.

The unsung hero of the night was M. Moore, whose 19 yard RAC for a TD, through three defenders, was exceptional. His bullet pass to Miller on a HB option for another TD was nothing short of superb. Why Moore doesn’t get more playing time is beyond me. Ben was brilliant; if two easy passed had not been dropped, his passer rating would have been out of sight. Cary Davis blocked very well on limited practice; he is clearly better than the injured F. Summers he replaced. The receiving corps was solid, with Wallace playing far above his rookie status and Ward repeatedly making tough, courageous receptions in heavy traffic.

Against Detroit and Cleve. the Steelers have an opportunity to: a) fix the special teams tendency to overrun the return man and get out of their lanes on coverage; b) find faster ILBs to cover short on obvious passing situations (nearly the entire second half against S. Diego); and c)perfect the pulling guard and double team blocking schemes on offense that proved so effective against S. Diego, and hopefully give Redman a few carries between the tackles. If the team can get these things done before the Minnesota game and get our safeties healthy, the Steelers still have a legitimate shot of going deep into the playoffs.

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