Andy Dalton’s fourth-quarter fumble was recovered by Arthur Moats at the Cincinnati 24. — GETTY
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
CINCINNATI — One last look at the Steelers’ last game …
• This won’t be yet another spanking for the secondary. Those are stale and, what’s more, to borrow Mike Tomlin’s adverb of choice, this team’s pass defense is obviously the problem at hand.
So how to fix it?
The simple answer is that it can’t be done. Which it probably can’t. It’s too late in the season for external moves, there really aren’t any internal youngsters to promote, and the backups are worse than the starters, hard as that is to fathom.
At safety, Shamarko Thomas has potential, but he’s played exactly zero defensive snaps this season — it’s stunning to me how even some diehard fans are unaware that he’s appeared solely on special teams — and Carnell Lake strongly suggested to me last week he’s anything but ready to be tossed into a role that pivotal. Quarterbacks read off the safety. It’s their No. 1 focus at the line of scrimmage. When the safety messes up — as Troy Polamalu did, in particular, on Andy Dalton’s embarrassing 20-yard touchdown jog in the Steelers’ 42-21 win Sunday — it’s easily exposed and usually with devastating results. That’s not a smart risk at this point.
Will Allen would be my choice to replace Mike Mitchell, but much more based on his steady showing as an emergency starter last season than this season, when his minus-3.1 rating in pass coverage from Pro Football Focus is almost as lousy as Mitchell’s minus-4.9. At least Mitchell has modestly upgraded his run defense.
Is that move worth it?
Or is it making a move to make a move?
And don’t even bring up benching Polamalu. His work Sunday was worse than just what was exposed on that Dalton run, but let’s deal in reality. Not going to happen. Ever.
At corner, here’s one move that must be made: Antwon Blake must start over Ike Taylor, even if Taylor’s bruised knee heals quickly. This can’t be even slightly optional. Blake has played only about 20 percent of the Steelers’ defensive snaps, and only 113 of those have been in pass coverage. But he’s been targeted 25 times and allowed a catch 15 times, a 60 percent rate that’s actually decent on this team, plus he’s got an interception, four passes defensed — one of them a beauty Sunday on a deep ball to A.J. Green — and, in the less measurable sense, he just looks fresher out there. He looks aggressive. He looks like he’s ready to defend like he means it.
Don’t misunderstand, please. I’m not suggesting he’s Mel Blount. Keep it all in context.
Brice McCain can be involved, too. Leave Willie Gay alone. He isn’t Blount, either, but he does more good than damage. McCain can spell Blake or Gay.
Best thing the Steelers can achieve in the secondary, and I hate to go this simplistic, is to play better.
But it would help, too, if they grasp reality. Cue Mitchell …
I appreciate his taking the fall for Taylor — and yes, wise guy, he literally fell on that play — but this notion of just eliminating a handful of big plays is … again, I’m running out of adjectives.
• All right, you knew I couldn’t resist: Mitchell did get his hand on the ball that Blake impressively batted away from Green, but it does not count as a pass defensed. That goes to Blake. Thus, Mitchell remains a zero in that category as well as interceptions. His minus-1.8 and Taylor’s minus-1.9 ratings brought up the rear for the pass coverage grades.
I want to emphasize here, out of fairness, that when I was writing that Mitchell hadn’t laid his hand on a football, that was in the air. He does have two forced fumbles this season.
• Last point on this front: Sometimes a corner just looks like he’s had a bad day. Taylor was targeted 10 times — telling in and of itself — and conceded nine catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. That is a bad day.
• Eight of those catches were by Green. That matchup is on Dick LeBeau, not Taylor. It shouldn’t have taken place in 2014. It was fantasyland. It was wishing. Hoping. That’s not winning thinking.
• Don’t underestimate the potential impact of Ben Roethlisberger completing a 95-yard touchdown pass, especially in the extraordinary manner in which he pulled it off, heaving the ball from 2 yards behind the goal line and all the way out to the Pittsburgh 48.
Anyway, the point here: You will never see Roethlisberger celebrate a TD quite like he does those. And you will never see a smile on his face as broad as when he’s describing one of those. He’s a big-play QB at heart. Lives for it. Should bode well for Atlanta.
• Oh, about that wrist: “I tried to tell everyone all week that there was no issue.”
I would say that Bleacher Report’s self-proclaimed ‘injury expert’ owes Roethlisberger and the Steelers a retraction and/or apology, but the joke was on whoever took that stuff seriously.
• If we’re going to rip Tomlin and Todd Haley when they pull all the sideways/passive stuff, it’s fair to acknowledge this terrific — if cliched — answer from Tomlin about going for the bomb there: “We were just not going to live in our fears today. We needed to be aggressive and create some splash. It worked out for us.”
It could work more often, too.
• Consider how casually Martavis Bryant describes it …
• David DeCastro earned a ton of accolades for his pull blocking, including on this site. But the best blockers weren’t offensive linemen on this day. Matt Spaeth not only caught two passes but also posted a 3.1 run block rating that was best on the team. Second was fellow tight end Heath Miller at 1.7. And the best overall blocker, as is becoming the case week after week now, was Kelvin Beachum at a golden 4.1
Man, what a find Beachum has been. And credit, too, to Mike Munchak for instilling the technique and smarts any undersized offensive lineman needs to succeed.
• Stephon Tuitt played all but eight snaps. It’s about time. You saw it. He was solid against the run and had a QB hit — a nasty one at that, crushing Andy Dalton in the ribs — and a hurry, too.
• Ryan Shazier suited up and watched. Never played a down.
• I’d mention how red-faced the Steelers’ front office must have been to have their third-round pick this year (Dri Archer) and fourth-round pick last year (Landry Jones) healthy and inactive — not to mention Shazier suited up and just watching — except that their second-rounder last year is buying those gentlemen a whole lot of good will these days.
• Tomlin signaled that the Steelers would go for a two-point conversion immediately after Arthur Moats recovered Dalton’s fumble at the Cincinnati 24 early in the fourth quarter.
Did the TV show that?
That’s some serious red-zone confidence right there.
• The Steelers’ top four rated defenders with 300 or more snaps, in order: Cam Hewyard, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison … and Moats. On the pass rush alone, Moats has four sacks, three QB hits and 14 hurries.
• One simply has not experienced all that is ‘AFC North football,’ as Roethlisberger and others were calling it, until watching that famous escalator above the riverside open end and the fans sadly riding it down, heads hanging, no music playing. The ‘Escalosers,’ as those who dislike the Bengals call it.
The Penguins and Pirates have a couple of good rivalries, but the Steelers’ setup, with an entire division of teams they know so well and dislike so much, is without parallel.
Just thought I’d share the very thought I had in riding one of those Escalosers out of the place myself.
Yep, not much that can be done at this stage of the season. Ike is done, perhaps he can cover the TE in Atlanta.
You have to point fingers at the coaching staff for this. They must have told Colbert they had enough secondary help and don't go overboard at the draft.. Carnell Lake should know better but look for him to be bounced at season's end.
Colbert also needs to take responsibility for Mike Mitchell, a terrible signing that they are stuck fo at least another season if not more.
This team can win but I see them wasting great years by Ben AB and Bell.
What exactly did Carnell not do to deserve to be bounced? He was given a bag crap to work with. Its not exactly fair to expect a low-level coach to make miracles happen. I was actually really impressed with his video interview with DK. It's an obviously uncomfortable position for a coach to be in, yet he managed to answer the questions honestly without disparaging his unit. Too many coaches would just give BS answers and avoid the tough question.
I'm gonna be a contrarian when it comes to Mitchell. I've slammed him as much as anybody for his attitude and all around crappy play, but a friend pointed out that it's no piece of cake being dropped into Lebeau's defense at safety, especially considering that he's playing with Troy, who's a loose cannon on his best days, and it's obvious that those are behind him. It sounds like excuses to a point, but it also sounds pretty reasonable as well. We're going to see him next year, at least in camp, so we'll see if he does take the leap and improve, or else he'll prove that he's the bust he appears to be.
Also, it breaks my heart to see Ike go out this way. Remember all those years he covered the other team's best receiver, game in and game out, and most of the time you forgot the guy was even playing, he got so few passes thrown his way? A.J. Green in particular was a victim of Ike's shutdown coverage so often, which was why it was so hard to see what happened yesterday. But most fans I see comment couldn't care less about what Ike did and what kind of guy he is, and are ready to discard him like a leftover turkey carcass. Don't get me wrong, I think Ike's done, but can't we show an iota of respect to a guy who's given his heart and soul to be a Steeler?
I hear you, DK. His poor play is totally fair game of course, and he's man enough to own up to it. I just find so much of the criticism of him, though certainly not yours, to be vicious and dismissive, as if he's personally insulting people with his play. I guess that comes with the territory, but I think it stinks.
It's a shame about Ike. He has been great for a lot of years, but he was a liability last year. and this year he's been worse. I agree with DK that Antwon Blake should start. Let's hope. I believe Ike's making a little over $4 mill. They could have added some better depth with those bucks.
i have never understood why Troy was not moved over to the FS position a few years ago...slowing down is inevitable, sooner it later it was going to happen to #43. regardless of being a superior athlete at age 33 or 34, whatever speed he lost has severely impacted his ability to play that "rover" position he excelled at for years. Troy is a bright and a once in a generation talent, moving over to FS would have both extended his career and really helped this D, IMO...
I think Blake had a good game once he got in and I think McCain will be a help for us as well. I would still like to see more pressure on the QB, especially on the 5 and 7 step drops. It would be nice for the secondary to just make up their minds prior to the game, "No one beats me deep" I don't know if it is a trust issue or not. The deep ball to Green over Ike, was a man under single high FS. Mitchell has to know the personell in the game, he knows Ike is locked up man to man with the best WR on the field, he decides to help out Troy and bite down on the TE going across the field. Dude you are the Safety, no one gets deeper than you....At least Troy was over the top when Green had the other long pass and yes Mitchell was late getting over on that one as well. Troy displayed terrible ball skills on that completion. I think we are on the verge of being a better defense, once everybody gets healthy and gets used to playing with one another on Defense. Kinda like our OLine continues to get better because they are healthy and being able to play with one another and upping the level of comfort they have with playing with each other. On to Atlanta where I surely hope(and Pray) we don't have another let down in Atlanta, which has been par for the course, playing sub .500 teams.
Give credit where credit is due, great long ball by Ben to Bryant. But can we agree that nicely thrown long ball was more the exception than the rule for Ben. Over the years I've seen him miss more open WR on deep throws.
Since the Steelers really can't stop any teams defensively (11 of 13 teams have scored at least 20 points on them and a 12th scored 19), maybe they should just go all out in attempting to strip the ball from the opposition on every play from scrimmage. It's not as though things can get much worse. Sure, it would result in even more big plays against our defense, but it might also result in a couple of fumbles by the opposition per game. Maybe we'd even pick one up and take it in for a score. Can you imagine what a QB of the skill of Peyton Mannin or Tom Brady would do to this group? Andy Dalton and Bobby Hoyer, among other mediocre QBs, have lit them up this season.
DK - Excellent insight on Shamarko Thomas. I had no idea that he hasn't played a single snap on defense. Hence a question:
I recall joking with a friend during Troy's rookie year, when he rarely saw the field except on special teams, that Polamalu must be Samoan for "Huey Richardson." And of course the next year Troy proved what an idiot I am and confirmed that it takes at least a year to learn how to play safety in Dick LeBeau's system.
Given that, should we be worried that Shamarko still can't find the field after nearly two injury-plagued years? Or is this the case of the Steelers wanting to make sure he knows every wrinkle of the defense before sending him out to replace a beloved franchise icon?
Good analysis DK, but here's is where I am goignt o slightly disagree.
From what I've seen (pre season for him and regular season for his competition), I think OLB Howard Jones, currently on the PS, helps this team, right now.
First off, he's 6'4" and 240, runs the 40 in 4.6 seconds; that's impressive for a man that size and his speed is what the Steelers need at that position. (He was small college POY in his senior year, last year. So his skill set and heart are in the right place.)
He still may be learning LeBeau's playbook, but he can help right now on ST and who knows what he may do if they ever put young players into game situations..
The worst would be if someone needs an OLB and plucks HJ from their PS, as they did Josh Mauro.
He's got to bring more to the game than the 53rd player on their roster.
Haley has been great starting with the Texans game (the Jets game is an outlier here). Ben is generally way on or way off and fortunately for the vast majority of the year it's been way on. But the breakdown of Ben's performance by halves might prove interesting.
The secondary can only be helped this year with a more effective pass rush. It wasn't great again yesterday until it was late and they could pin their ears back with a big lead. I'm aware the Bengals line is pretty good, though.
Really have to hope Jarvis and Shazier can come back and contribute. The chances of that might seem slim, but there's a chance.
They did show Tomlin calling for two early on TV. Also, they caught him yelling very loudly at "WING! WING!" to knock it deep. And that was before the third down play. I didn't see either as confidence or lack thereof, but I did note them both as insight into how a coach must always be several steps ahead.
I'm not sure I relish anything more in sports than watching Bengals fans go down that escalator with time still left on the clock. Maybe seeing Bernie Brewer have to take the stairs at the end of a game.
DK: Perfect comment on the escalator at PBS. I am a Yinzer who has been living in Cincinnati for a number of years. Two of my favorite things are watching that line of departees after a loss to the Black and gold AND listening to callers on local sports radio that night and the next day.
Great column as usual. I was pretty negative on the team in the first half. However, the team played well when they had to in the 2nd half. Credit to Ben, Bell, the O line and Haley on a job well done. I will believe in this team if they can go down to Atlanta and win!
Was flat out shocked that Steelers won. I probably should not have been, given the Jekyll and Hyde character of this team, but I was. The win certainly puts us in a great position, but only if we can beat the Falcons. The Bengals seem shaky, but the Rat Birds are up to their old tricks again. Should be an interesting three weeks.
They may have something in Blake. He's only 24 years old and while he certainly has some head-scratchers, he's made a lot of impressive plays and positioned himself well to defend.
As for Mitchell, best thing I can say is he was actually in the picture frame of my TV this week when AJ Green was streaking through the secondary. Progress I suppose.
Green even alluded to it in his post game comments, Arriba. I mentioned on the blog yesterday that Ike used to be Green's kryptonite. I felt like he held him to pedestrian stats over & over in prior seasons. Ike was one of the best cover corners in the NFL for many yrs.
Since Allen is now a question mark, all four starters need to be replaced next year. that is a tall order. Old age, bad roster decisions and lack of drafting a top corner is just starters.
Some recent thoughts on the steelers & their recipe for success
After last several weeks the o-line has quietly become a very effective & sound unit. I was hard on them first half of season......The biggest variable or wild card on offense has been Ben......this team isn't winning a Super Bowl with this defense, but they can make the playoffs & win a game, I believe. To do that, the offense has to get up early with touchdowns, not field goals. My thoughts are that the pressure our defense cannot apply opposing offenses on its own, can be applied by our offense by jumping out to a lead. This defense has made opportune stops at times. The offense needs to capitalize on them, because inevitably the D will give up some big plays
Yes, yes, the defense is abysmal...but wow that pass to Bryant was a thing of beauty. If the defense could just patch a couple of holes, this team really could be something.
Said very early this season Steelers better off with more conservative play from Troy. Don't want to see him within 5-7 yds of line of scrimmage pre-snap. Mitchell has zero ability to read off Troy and adjust. So Troy/Steelers need to adjust. More than ever, Troy needs to keep play in front of him first . . . and then close.
Incidentally, this is not Troy's nature because he LOVES signature splash plays, but for good of team he needs to sacrifice, and LeBeau needs to demand it.
Problem with that is then we have even Troy playing LeBeau's "just don't give up the big play" defense, and that hasn't worked for us either. It only "seemed" like it did, back when Ike was a beast in his prime and Townsend was nearly as good, and they actually WERE blanketing receivers. Give receivers a big cushion and the QB's will eat us alive.
ONLY way we have any chance in a playoff game THIS particular year (again, IF we make playoffs) is being more conservative, not aggressive, at safety. Overwhelming majority of big plays THIS year is when we played too aggressive at that position.
Again, we hold teams to 24 pts and we have a chance. We don't and we won't have a sniff of another win -- both remaining games and in playoffs. Formula this year -- given personnel / lack thereof -- has changed and we need to adapt to give us best CHANCE (only that) to win. Lebeau and Troy haven't.
First of all, it was established, right here, that Mitchell had two passes defensed against Cleveland. Double-checked online; that's what both ESPN.com and http://www.pro-football-reference.com say. Furthermore, Mitchell DID get a PD yesterday, giving him three for the year. That's two more than Polamalu (though Troy's missed games). Or, just four less than Richard Sherman. And as someone pointed out last week (Rico?), the ball is hardly thrown Mitchell's way, anyway. The time-after-time bashing of his PD stat is gratuitous. And it is simply incorrect to keep repeating that he "remains a zero in that category."
Also, everyone thinking the play on which Green burned Ike for the TD was bad play by Mitchell, the latter came from the other side of the field where he was helping Gay, I think, on top. Coming across the field at full speed like that, he had no choice but to take his shot, either hitting or missing Green, because Green was most certainly going to make a sharp cut. The unknowable was "when" that cutback would come. What defender does not go down on a change of direction at that speed? Ryan Clark used to be pretty darn good at making saving tackles, though I don't know if even he doesn't get juked there. Most players -- not just Mitchell -- aren't making that play.
And I like Mitchell's upbeat approach in the face of adversity, after the game.
You LIKE your Steelers to be ignorantly confident to the point of delusion and arrogance? You're in the minority. I understand being "upbeat," but saying the defense is "awesome" for 55/60 snaps is simply laughable. Awesome was the 2005 SB winning defense. Awesome was Troy Polamalu when he won Defensive POY honors. Mike Mitchell? The guy celebrates an average tackle after a 3 yard gain. I can't stand him.
DJ, he ain't no Ryan Clark (though nowadays, even Ryan Clark isn't Ryan Clark), but I disagree that he "sucks." Not only has the two forced fumbles, but he's second on team in tackles. Has been all season. What I see with Mitchell is that he's flying all over the field, admittedly whiffing more than Ryan used to, but whiffing on attempts to catch opponents that have broken away because someone else has blown his assignment / missed on a tackle. And again, I happen to like his refusal-to-get-down attitude.
Bulky,
Ben speaks the exact same way (We'll be fine." "We just gotta clean up a few things, that's all.") I DO like my Steelers being positive. "Delusional" and "arrogant" is how your post strikes me.
Anyone else notice Mark Kaboly in the background while Mike Mitchell said, with a straight face, "for 55 out of 60 snaps, we're awesome"? Priceless. I felt like Kaboly was incredulous then simply entertained by Mike Mitchell's words. This guy is unbelievably easy to dislike.
"This guy is unbelievably easy to dislike." Baloney. Learn to think for yourself.
And, yes, take away Green burning us deep on a pair of plays and Bengals don't get out of single digits on the scoreboard. Again, learn to think for yourself instead jumping on the bandwagon.
Time to take Colbert to task for his cap waste. I got banned on Steelersdepot for suggesting months ago that Colbert was highly reckless with all his offseason signings including moves that seemed financially insignifccant as not asking Troy to take any real paycut or Ike being asked to take a cut to the vet minimum or overpaying Allen and Gilbert. Even if you differ with the Steelers assessment of their values by a less amount than I did, that is still wasted money. Take the Ike Taylor signing. I felt they overpaid him by at least a million even with the reduced 2.7M salary. Even if Troy would be unwilling to take a big paycut like they wanted Harrison take last year, why not try to get him a million less? A half million here a half million there adds up.quickly to an amount that could get you a good second tier corner in free agency(Brandon Flowers for example). Or if you didn't sign Mitchell, cut Ike, didn't extend Allen, you could have signed Revis.
Example of cap miserliness that enables NE to sign a revis: They were actually open to bringibg back Leblount this season. But they wanted him back at a cut rate deal. THis is how careful NE is with their cap money. Even when Blount was available for a bargain during waivers, NE took a chance on them not being picked up, then waited for him to clear waivers so they could get him a bargain 2 year deal, then promptly make him the #1 RB without even waiting a week. Sure, they benched a guy who overslept, But they kept LeBlount as starter even for the following week. Do you think Colbert would do that>?
NE rated Logan Mankins decently even now. But they felt he was overpaid at this stage in his career. And they traded him. It backfired initially, but they overcame that with proper development of replacements plus they have cap room to get in reinforcements. Do you think Colbert does that? NO. He ends up overpaying for a Gilbert instead of playing hardball with his agent. If Gilbert can get 6M a year in new moneyt, what do you think Decastro will get?
Here is something to chew on - The four highest paid players in the secondary - Troy, Mitchell, Ike, Allen - have 2 INTs(both Allen), 2 fumbles, and single digit pass defensed total. Gay makes 2.5M or so. Blake and Mccain make the minimum. These three have 4 or 5 INTS already.
The Steelers really need to review how they are managing their cap and evaluating talent. For all the reasons you brought up, saneman, their old ways of thinking just aren't cutting it any more. New England is several steps ahead of them of them in this regard with their "Moneyball" approach. The Steelers are no longer an innovative organization.
Was at he game and couldn't believe the rush for the escalators after Bryant's long touchdown. Sure it was a dagger but they were still only down by 14 points. Haven't they watched our pass D and knew they still had a chance? Was very unimpressed with Bengals fans.
Over the last several weeks...(Ok ...All year), I've heard, Both coordinators suck and shouldn't be on the staff. The defense is old and washed up, The Steeler corner backs and safeties are the worst in the NFL, Colbert has slept through the last several drafts, Roethlisberger is inconsistent, And the most ridiculous one of all is that Mike Tomlin, regardless of everything else wont be fired because he's black.
Well let me tell you something. Tomlin, Haley, Lebeau, Colbert, The defensive secondary and the QB all have 1 thing in common. in a league of parity, THEY HAVE A BETTER RECORD IN STANDING THAN 21 OTHER NFL TEAMS. And because of their late season relevance, Ketchup stadium will be over flowing with beer swilling fans on week 16 and 17. And thats all that matters.
December 8, 2014
Steelers PATs: Grasping for defensive answers
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Steelers
Andy Dalton’s fourth-quarter fumble was recovered by Arthur Moats at the Cincinnati 24. — GETTY
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
CINCINNATI — One last look at the Steelers’ last game …
• This won’t be yet another spanking for the secondary. Those are stale and, what’s more, to borrow Mike Tomlin’s adverb of choice, this team’s pass defense is obviously the problem at hand.
So how to fix it?
The simple answer is that it can’t be done. Which it probably can’t. It’s too late in the season for external moves, there really aren’t any internal youngsters to promote, and the backups are worse than the starters, hard as that is to fathom.
At safety, Shamarko Thomas has potential, but he’s played exactly zero defensive snaps this season — it’s stunning to me how even some diehard fans are unaware that he’s appeared solely on special teams — and Carnell Lake strongly suggested to me last week he’s anything but ready to be tossed into a role that pivotal. Quarterbacks read off the safety. It’s their No. 1 focus at the line of scrimmage. When the safety messes up — as Troy Polamalu did, in particular, on Andy Dalton’s embarrassing 20-yard touchdown jog in the Steelers’ 42-21 win Sunday — it’s easily exposed and usually with devastating results. That’s not a smart risk at this point.
Will Allen would be my choice to replace Mike Mitchell, but much more based on his steady showing as an emergency starter last season than this season, when his minus-3.1 rating in pass coverage from Pro Football Focus is almost as lousy as Mitchell’s minus-4.9. At least Mitchell has modestly upgraded his run defense.
Is that move worth it?
Or is it making a move to make a move?
And don’t even bring up benching Polamalu. His work Sunday was worse than just what was exposed on that Dalton run, but let’s deal in reality. Not going to happen. Ever.
At corner, here’s one move that must be made: Antwon Blake must start over Ike Taylor, even if Taylor’s bruised knee heals quickly. This can’t be even slightly optional. Blake has played only about 20 percent of the Steelers’ defensive snaps, and only 113 of those have been in pass coverage. But he’s been targeted 25 times and allowed a catch 15 times, a 60 percent rate that’s actually decent on this team, plus he’s got an interception, four passes defensed — one of them a beauty Sunday on a deep ball to A.J. Green — and, in the less measurable sense, he just looks fresher out there. He looks aggressive. He looks like he’s ready to defend like he means it.
Don’t misunderstand, please. I’m not suggesting he’s Mel Blount. Keep it all in context.
Brice McCain can be involved, too. Leave Willie Gay alone. He isn’t Blount, either, but he does more good than damage. McCain can spell Blake or Gay.
Best thing the Steelers can achieve in the secondary, and I hate to go this simplistic, is to play better.
But it would help, too, if they grasp reality. Cue Mitchell …
I appreciate his taking the fall for Taylor — and yes, wise guy, he literally fell on that play — but this notion of just eliminating a handful of big plays is … again, I’m running out of adjectives.
• All right, you knew I couldn’t resist: Mitchell did get his hand on the ball that Blake impressively batted away from Green, but it does not count as a pass defensed. That goes to Blake. Thus, Mitchell remains a zero in that category as well as interceptions. His minus-1.8 and Taylor’s minus-1.9 ratings brought up the rear for the pass coverage grades.
I want to emphasize here, out of fairness, that when I was writing that Mitchell hadn’t laid his hand on a football, that was in the air. He does have two forced fumbles this season.
• Last point on this front: Sometimes a corner just looks like he’s had a bad day. Taylor was targeted 10 times — telling in and of itself — and conceded nine catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. That is a bad day.
• Eight of those catches were by Green. That matchup is on Dick LeBeau, not Taylor. It shouldn’t have taken place in 2014. It was fantasyland. It was wishing. Hoping. That’s not winning thinking.
• Don’t underestimate the potential impact of Ben Roethlisberger completing a 95-yard touchdown pass, especially in the extraordinary manner in which he pulled it off, heaving the ball from 2 yards behind the goal line and all the way out to the Pittsburgh 48.
Fifty yards in the air!
Can’t watch this play enough. It’s as beautiful as the great game of football gets.
Anyway, the point here: You will never see Roethlisberger celebrate a TD quite like he does those. And you will never see a smile on his face as broad as when he’s describing one of those. He’s a big-play QB at heart. Lives for it. Should bode well for Atlanta.
• Oh, about that wrist: “I tried to tell everyone all week that there was no issue.”
I would say that Bleacher Report’s self-proclaimed ‘injury expert’ owes Roethlisberger and the Steelers a retraction and/or apology, but the joke was on whoever took that stuff seriously.
• If we’re going to rip Tomlin and Todd Haley when they pull all the sideways/passive stuff, it’s fair to acknowledge this terrific — if cliched — answer from Tomlin about going for the bomb there: “We were just not going to live in our fears today. We needed to be aggressive and create some splash. It worked out for us.”
It could work more often, too.
• Consider how casually Martavis Bryant describes it …
• David DeCastro earned a ton of accolades for his pull blocking, including on this site. But the best blockers weren’t offensive linemen on this day. Matt Spaeth not only caught two passes but also posted a 3.1 run block rating that was best on the team. Second was fellow tight end Heath Miller at 1.7. And the best overall blocker, as is becoming the case week after week now, was Kelvin Beachum at a golden 4.1
Man, what a find Beachum has been. And credit, too, to Mike Munchak for instilling the technique and smarts any undersized offensive lineman needs to succeed.
• Stephon Tuitt played all but eight snaps. It’s about time. You saw it. He was solid against the run and had a QB hit — a nasty one at that, crushing Andy Dalton in the ribs — and a hurry, too.
• Ryan Shazier suited up and watched. Never played a down.
• I’d mention how red-faced the Steelers’ front office must have been to have their third-round pick this year (Dri Archer) and fourth-round pick last year (Landry Jones) healthy and inactive — not to mention Shazier suited up and just watching — except that their second-rounder last year is buying those gentlemen a whole lot of good will these days.
• Tomlin signaled that the Steelers would go for a two-point conversion immediately after Arthur Moats recovered Dalton’s fumble at the Cincinnati 24 early in the fourth quarter.
Did the TV show that?
That’s some serious red-zone confidence right there.
• The Steelers’ top four rated defenders with 300 or more snaps, in order: Cam Hewyard, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison … and Moats. On the pass rush alone, Moats has four sacks, three QB hits and 14 hurries.
• One simply has not experienced all that is ‘AFC North football,’ as Roethlisberger and others were calling it, until watching that famous escalator above the riverside open end and the fans sadly riding it down, heads hanging, no music playing. The ‘Escalosers,’ as those who dislike the Bengals call it.
The Penguins and Pirates have a couple of good rivalries, but the Steelers’ setup, with an entire division of teams they know so well and dislike so much, is without parallel.
Just thought I’d share the very thought I had in riding one of those Escalosers out of the place myself.