View topic - How do you feel about the first game?

[trenches Profile]

Ben was solid, Fast Willie was flying, Hines played big.

How do you feel? Was Houston over-hyped? Is the Black 'n Gold that good? Is it somewhere in between?

I'm more confident than before but I'm still not sure. Houston was jumped on from the start and I think they were over-hyped to begin with. At the same time, the offensive line was solid and 4.7 yd/play is a telling stat.



Defensively, the play was solid but not spectacular. I am still concerned for the defensive crew when they face more talented offenses.

[Homer J Profile]

A terrific start. Tomlin had his team ready to play. This is the second year he has had them flying out of the gate, and that's a very, very good thing. It's something Cowher had problems with.

Woodley was absolutely a beast today....and with Smith back and Hampton playing well, the defensive line looked better than it has in some time. Also, the special teams coverage was excellent....and Houston has one of the better return units in the league. Timmons was all over the field on ST's.

There was a lot to like from what we saw out there....but Houston clearly wasn't ready, and last year they were only an 8-8 team against an easy schedule.

It was the perfect opener....a confidence builder...with a win under their belt, they can go into Cleveland with some momentum. I don't ready anything into it for the long run, because we don't know how bad Houston is -- or how good the Steelers are yet. But it's going to be a long and tough season, and this was certainly the way to get things started.

[Nel Profile]

This game boils down essentially to the big plays by the Steelers D and solid performances by Ben and Willie Parker.

[WoodsonOfSteel Profile]

This seems like a great thread for people to do their 'position by position grading' posts.

I'm going to steal some things from my game notes that I still plan to tweak then post... I just feel I need to contribute to this thread so I apologize in advance if you catch yourself deja vu'ing in the coming day(s).

COACHING :

I'm with Homer J here. Tomlin certainly had them charged and ready to go for this game. His game-plan was very-much-so Stillers football... I liked how it was mixed-up. Great implementation real-time. Props need to go to Arians also. Looked like just about everyone sans the line got to touch the ball today. I really enjoyed seeing the ball find its way into so many hands.

Which leads me to...

OFFENSE :

Ben looked good. Really good. I can only remember thinking to myself one time, "Throw the damn ball away, Ben!". Aside from that, his passes where they needed to be, his play-fakes were being sold VERY well (Kudos to Ken Anderson, anyone?), and he's still quick enough to make a first down-and-then-some scramble before easing out of bounds. Leftwich didn't blow it. He can hand 'em off just as well as Charlie Batch. Man... Was that a rocket he threw at Nate? It sucked waiting the 3 1/2 minutes for his wind-up and follow through though. What a slow-ass release... But a strong-ass arm.

Willie's back, y'all. In full force. I was thinking earlier in the game... Watching him run up the middle 4 inches at a time... "Why does Arians not know this crap doesn't work?" As the game progressed, I started asking myself, "Why don't you just have faith in the run game? It'll almost always develop." I'm not a fan of Willie running up the gut over and over...and over... and over. With his speed, I think the majority of his runs should develop to the outside. But what I think isn't always right. Willie got a decent chunk of his yards up the gut. Rashard didn't fumble. Not once. He touched the ball 12 times... 10 rushing and 2 returns. I'm glad he held on. Let's ease up off his fumblitis nuts for a lil bit... Maybe start focusing closer on his twinkle-toes feet (he tip-toed down the sideline for a first-down before hitting someone in bounds) and quick moves/cuts. He's going to be fun to watch more and more. Carey Davis looked solid but dropped a gimme trying to turn and make a play before securing the ball. I'll let that one slide... But even to this day, I use such plays with Kreider on Madden with a high-success rate. I think Arians should implement Davis more... And it looks like it's happening. But yeah... That looked like a guaranteed first down. That said, he did catch another for 10. Russell must have spent all game playin' 'The Deuce Nut-Juggle'.

Hines is still our receivers' leader. Today was a great day for Hines. Nothing bad to say about him at all. Heath is a force to be reckoned with. Would HE qualify as an 'elite' tight end? I think so. Mr. Spaeth caught what was thrown his way too, only to put his shoulder down and pop someone before getting an extra yard or two. Physical big'un there. Nate... Nate Nate Nate... WHY did you drop that rocket Leftwich threw at you? It was a perfect pass. You're lucky I didn't see a replay of it because had I seen a derka derka Nate drop, this would turn out to be a really bad 'flaming'. Catch the damn ball, hero. Dallas Baker may get his time to shine in a closer game or come-from-behind game. Look for Santonio to have a MONSTER game next week.

Kemo is damn physical. We didn't give up 5 sacks. Our passing game looked on the better side of 'decent'. Our offense only surrendered 2 sacks to a DLine that's been bolstered by 1st round picks for the last 3 years. Sure there was pressure, but that's when Ben showed his effectiveness. I can deal with that. Oh yeah... And helped open the way towards 183 rushing yards and a lot of clock consumption.

All in all... Coaching and Offense Get an A.

There's more... But that's a lot to chew on.

Here's to football!

[WoodsonOfSteel Profile]

This game boils down essentially to the big plays by the Steelers D

I have a lot to say about the defense. I like what I see. I'm curious as to what other people say though. trenches seemed bitter-sweet about 'em. Though he did use the word 'solid' which is absolutely accurate.

[Nel Profile]

This game boils down essentially to the big plays by the Steelers D

I have a lot to say about the defense. I like what I see. I'm curious as to what other people say though. trenches seemed bitter-sweet about 'em. Though he did use the word 'solid' which is absolutely accurate.

I am just going by what I see in the stat sheet for the game (could not view the game at my location). The big plays by the Stillers D (sacks, INTs) seemed to seal it for us.

[indysteel Profile]

Oh, I don't know. I guess anytime you win big in the NFL it is saying something.

I also have to remember the other side is getting paid too --- and, despite our best efforts, they will make a first down, pick up yards, sack us, get an interception, etc...etc...etc...

After 1 game, half the league is 1-0 and the other half is 0-1. You cannot take anything away from this game other than we did dominant. Next week is another game and what happened this weekend will have no bearing on that.

How about my 'boy Nate Nate "Hey Crisco" Washington. Freakin handjob of a WR dropped two for the record.

[WoodsonOfSteel Profile]

Alright Nel...

I'm going to be posting my notes of the game at some point. It's pretty detailed regarding the development of the game and what happened... In order... And by who. Hopefully it'll paint a better picture than the box score, sir.

The defense looked somewhere between solid and great.

Foote made a case for Timmons to replace him as a starter today. This is something I'm sure will be discussed to death this week.

We're suspect up the middle in the pass game. Nothing new there though. Most of the 'bad' happened in our secondary after being up 35-3. Nothing to worry about... yet. Trying to keep objective here.

Outside of those two minor gripes... Lord have mercy against our opposing offenses. We're not going to go away lightly.

Stay tuned!

[indysteel Profile]

There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON Larry "Slow A Foote" should be playing. Put Timmons in there and let's see this kid play.