Showing posts with label Raiders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raiders. Show all posts
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Steelers Loss Falls On Everyone
After the Steelers embarrassing attempt at playing the sport of football last night I posted on Twitter that Shaun Suisham should not hold ALL of the blame for the Steelers loss. Below is my exact tweet:
After reading the comments I received after that tweet you would have thought that I personally insulted someone's mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, and their grandmother. Some people on Twitter forget that everyone is entitled to their own opinion...that's a completely different can of worms that I am not going to open here today; however, the purpose for the above tweet was obvious. Shaun Suisham missed 2 chip shots that when looking at the final score was extremely costly. However, were those the only 2 mistakes made by the Steelers? No. How about the first play from scrimmage going 93 yards for a TD. How about the blocked punt that lead to a Raiders TD. How about Antonio Brown's drop on 3rd and 17 that would have extended a drive. How about Antonio Brown's dropped pass that lead to an interception deep in Raiders territory? How about having to burn a crucial timeout late in the game...whether thats on Haley or Ben Roethlisberger doesn't matter...it was costly. How about a defense that had the Raiders pinned at their own 1 foot line and gave up a 3rd down conversion? Do I need to continue? Hopefully you get the picture. The final score dictated that the missed FGs were HUGE, and I'm not a Shaun Suisham apologist. No, he deserves his slice of the "blame pie", but the entire loss can't fall on his shoulders.
No, this loss falls on everyone. Coaching staff, offense, defense, and special teams. Mike Tomlin continues to struggle in the time management game, and that was very evident coming down the stretch in the 4th quarter. One question that still has yet to be answered that I hope gets asked at Tomlin's press conference tomorrow is this: When you convert the 2 point conversion to make the game 21-18 with just under 2 minutes left, why would you not kick the ball deep? Kicking the ball deep would at least pin the Raiders back in their own end, and as they would run the ball 3 times to try and run out the clock you would at least be getting the ball in position to actually get in FG range. That, and many other, coaching decisions had me scratching my head.
I obviously glossed over the physical errors on the field that had a hand in the Steelers dropping their 5th game of the season, but for some reason people want to pin this loss on Shaun Suisham. Some people even want the Steelers to "make an example" of the kicker and release him. Are you nuts? The people who put ALL the blame (remember I give Suisham blame, but not all of it) remind me of a golfer that shoots 86 and someone asks why he shot 86 and he responds with, "Well I missed 2 par puts on 9 and 16." and doesn't say anything about the 3 double bogeys that he registered throughout the round. The Steelers have major issues right now, and ones that aren't easily "fixable". Oh yeah, don't forget next week the Steelers travel to see Tom Brady and the Patriots in New England. Should be a fun week.
Ppl cant blame suisham alone for this loss...the entire team played like garbage. #Steelers #SteelerNation
— Black n' Gold Blitz (@BnGBlitz) October 27, 2013
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| Shaun Suisham Can NOT Bare All the Blame For the Loss |
No, this loss falls on everyone. Coaching staff, offense, defense, and special teams. Mike Tomlin continues to struggle in the time management game, and that was very evident coming down the stretch in the 4th quarter. One question that still has yet to be answered that I hope gets asked at Tomlin's press conference tomorrow is this: When you convert the 2 point conversion to make the game 21-18 with just under 2 minutes left, why would you not kick the ball deep? Kicking the ball deep would at least pin the Raiders back in their own end, and as they would run the ball 3 times to try and run out the clock you would at least be getting the ball in position to actually get in FG range. That, and many other, coaching decisions had me scratching my head.
I obviously glossed over the physical errors on the field that had a hand in the Steelers dropping their 5th game of the season, but for some reason people want to pin this loss on Shaun Suisham. Some people even want the Steelers to "make an example" of the kicker and release him. Are you nuts? The people who put ALL the blame (remember I give Suisham blame, but not all of it) remind me of a golfer that shoots 86 and someone asks why he shot 86 and he responds with, "Well I missed 2 par puts on 9 and 16." and doesn't say anything about the 3 double bogeys that he registered throughout the round. The Steelers have major issues right now, and ones that aren't easily "fixable". Oh yeah, don't forget next week the Steelers travel to see Tom Brady and the Patriots in New England. Should be a fun week.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Steelers Offense vs Raiders Defense - BREAKDOWN
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| Oakland Has NOT Been Friendly to Big Ben |
- Big Ben = NO Big Mistake - Ben Roethlisberger doesn't like Oakland. He has never won there. Heck, the Steelers haven't won there since 1995. Big Ben's struggles date back to 2006 when coming off of the Superbowl 40 victory where the big mistake was made on more than one occasion. If the Steelers want to win this game, Ben Roethlisberger needs to be the Big Ben of the last 2 games, and not the Big Ben of the previous 4. Keep the INT / Fumble line clean and the Steelers should be sitting pretty in terms of the ability to win the football game.
- Run, Run, Run - Did everyone see the Steelers run the football against that "vaunted" Ravens defense last week? First time the Steelers rushed for over the century mark this season. Now its time to duplicate that against a Raiders defense that gives up a stingy 99 yards a game. Well, that isn't that stingy, but its actually better than the Steelers defense. The Raiders are a vulnerable group through the air (giving up 241yds on average per game), but the Steelers need to run the football to open up the passing game. Look for heavy doses of Le'Veon Bell, as well as Guy Whimper and Mike Adams as extra tackles to open up lanes for Bell to get loose.
- Redzone = Fun Zone? - The redzone has NOT been the "fun zone" for the Steelers. Mike Tomlin recently addressed that during his weekly press conference. The Steelers HAVE to be better in the redzone if they truly want to be an offensive team that can score more than 19 points. The Steelers defense is pretty solid, but holding teams in today's NFL to under 17 points is difficult. The Steelers shouldn't turn down points, but at the same time they shouldn't settle for FGs. Shaun Suisham is "money", but the Steelers need TDs not FGs. The Steelers gimmick plays typically were run between the 40s, but it might be time to expand that part of the playbook to the redzone too. Just a thought!
- Spread the Love - The Steelers passing attack has been spreading the love, and it needs to continue. Sometimes the Steelers offense gets hyper focused on one player, and this year it has been Antonio Brown, but look at the distribution chart and the Steelers are certainly spreading the love. This offense needs to keep getting Heath Miller open down the seam, hitting Antonio Brown on those quick hitters, and hopefully get Emmanuel Sanders open deep on play action. Spread the love to force the defense to say spread out, which will open up running lanes as well. Wow, look at that...a novel idea...you listening Haley?!
- Mix and Match to Confuse the Raiders - The Steelers game plan last week confused the Ravens. Anyone else see the Ravens CB not knowing what to do when Ben Roethlisberger split out wide? The Steelers need to continue to use different line combinations, different formations, and different personnel to keep the Raiders guessing on what the Steelers offense will do in certain packages. If they can't run the ball down the oppositions throats like in the past, you might as well out think them. The Steelers accomplished that last week, lets see if they can get it done again Sunday.
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