Week 2 - Broncos at Steelers

Dotson and Chuks handled themselves pretty well. That was a bright spot. We may have some young men that can handle the right side going forward into the future.

I'm really liking this young WR group right now a couple of drop passes Sunday but these last 2 games are kinda like hybrid preseason games that count you can tell the difference in the offense since the QB Coach Canada took over. Imho this offense will be get better as the season goes on. liked the way the o-line passed blocked Sunday hopping this group can stay healthy the rest of the season.

@effyou515 wrote:

I'm really liking this young WR group right now a couple of drop passes Sunday but these last 2 games are kinda like hybrid preseason games that count you can tell the difference in the offense since the QB Coach Canada took over. Imho this offense will be get better as the season goes on. liked the way the o-line passed blocked Sunday hopping this group can stay healthy the rest of the season.

Yeah, agree with you. I expected to hear a lot more about the line yesterday. Really it seemed they were a non-issue. A couple times it looked like Ben could have tied his shoes and still had time to throw. I am disappointed in the run game but I don't know that's the o-line or not. Conner ended the game with the 60 yd run at the end but before that it wasn't much of anything.

I'm really liking McCloud....glad he's here this year over Switzer.

I was really hoping Snell stood up with the opportunities he was given but ended up fumbling.

I really like how the D has been getting after and to the QB.

It was good to see Ben make the long throw to Claypool. It's good to see his arm is capable. It's been a small sample size but I am really liking Claypool.

While I was complimenting Claypool I forgot about Ray Ray. I really like his speed and shiftiness. We have every right to be happy with this WR group.

PFF gave good grades for Dotson.

Steelers guard Kevin Dotson in 2020:

Pass-block snaps: 43
QB pressures allowed: 0

Only rookie offensive lineman with 10+ pass-block snaps and ZERO QB pressures allowed. pic.twitter.com/ONse6A2VKW

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 21, 2020

I was focusing on Dotson and Chuks for a lot of the O play and they handled themselves very well on passing plays. The run plays to their side was a pretty small sample size and their wasn't a lot to look at.

@solardave wrote:

This was a sloppy game that in the past we probably would have lost. There were also a 3 PI calls that didn't happen. 2 on us and 1 on them. Fitz played lousy for most of the game.Ben was off and Dionte dropped 2 or 3 he should have caught. The referees missed a fumble that Tomlin didn't challenge. We had the return called back because of a penalty.
What I did see that I liked was the Oline pass protection in the second half. I can't remember the last time Ben hit a WR in stride 55 yards down field. Claypool on STs is a sure tackler and seemed to be the first guy there all day. My stream froze so I missed Connor's long run late but from what I heard Watt made a great block to free him up.
The bottom line is we won even though we played bad. I'll take it.

Still showing rust, guess you're gonna have that when there wasn't a proper training camp, and there were no preseason games at all. I would think things would get better as the season goes along. From what I read a lot of Ben's issues were just timing with the receivers, definitely something that will be improved upon. The lackluster secondary play had me a little more worried, it's not like the Broncos are some kind of powerhouse throwing the football and they were playing with their backup QB. The DBs and LBs have got to be better in coverage.

@IowaSteeler927 wrote:

@solardave wrote:

This was a sloppy game that in the past we probably would have lost. There were also a 3 PI calls that didn't happen. 2 on us and 1 on them. Fitz played lousy for most of the game.Ben was off and Dionte dropped 2 or 3 he should have caught. The referees missed a fumble that Tomlin didn't challenge. We had the return called back because of a penalty.
What I did see that I liked was the Oline pass protection in the second half. I can't remember the last time Ben hit a WR in stride 55 yards down field. Claypool on STs is a sure tackler and seemed to be the first guy there all day. My stream froze so I missed Connor's long run late but from what I heard Watt made a great block to free him up.
The bottom line is we won even though we played bad. I'll take it.

Still showing rust, guess you're gonna have that when there wasn't a proper training camp, and there were no preseason games at all. I would think things would get better as the season goes along. From what I read a lot of Ben's issues were just timing with the receivers, definitely something that will be improved upon. The lackluster secondary play had me a little more worried, it's not like the Broncos are some kind of powerhouse throwing the football and they were playing with their backup QB. The DBs and LBs have got to be better in coverage.

I understand what you're saying about our secondary, but we're blitzing like 70% of the time leaving our DB's one on one most of the time, in particular Haden and Nelson have a tough job. I give them some slack for that. We're also playing in man coverage more than last year so they need to adjust to that too.

After two games Alualu is a pleasant surprise for me, he had two great games. Dupree is scary good right now. I like our young WRs and I'm happy Juju is back to his normal self. McCloud is a great KR. Dotson and Chucks looked good. I'm still not convinced about our RBs, I hope Conner stays healthy, because Snell already has two fumbles. He runs well but we can't have him to turnover the ball every game. Colquitt is no improvement over Berry so far

I agree about Colquit not being any better than Berry. I don't understand all the blitzes when our front 4 are getting there consistently. Dupree is proving that he'll need to get paid but I don't think we'll be able to keep him and that's a shame because in 2 games he is on fire. These young O-lineman Chuks and Dotson held their own. I thought we were going to see McFarland in that game. I like Snell's angry running style but if he keeps fumbling the ball he really is no help. Hopefully we got rid of some rust because the Texans lost last week and they usually play their best ball after a loss.I think this next game will be a test for us.

I guess they blitzed constantly because they played against young and inexperienced QBs. If they chose to go with the same defensive gameplan against Watson they're likely in for a beating. Although the Texans have a poor OL, so who knows. I expect this to be a close game, the Texans might be 0-2 but they have played the two best teams in the conference and maybe the league. This is a must win game for them so they have the motivational factor on their side.

@Stella Nation wrote:

I guess they blitzed constantly because they played against young and inexperienced QBs. If they chose to go with the same defensive gameplan against Watson they're likely in for a beating. Although the Texans have a poor OL, so who knows. I expect this to be a close game, the Texans might be 0-2 but they have played the two best teams in the conference and maybe the league. This is a must win game for them so they have the motivational factor on their side.

imho game plan be stop the run and keep Watson in the pocket stay in rush lanes.

@effyou515 wrote:

@Stella Nation wrote:

I guess they blitzed constantly because they played against young and inexperienced QBs. If they chose to go with the same defensive gameplan against Watson they're likely in for a beating. Although the Texans have a poor OL, so who knows. I expect this to be a close game, the Texans might be 0-2 but they have played the two best teams in the conference and maybe the league. This is a must win game for them so they have the motivational factor on their side.

imho game plan be stop the run and keep Watson in the pocket stay in rush lanes.

I agree. Also for a mobile QB Watson has been sacked a lot in the past. We need to keep that trend going.

@solardave wrote:

@effyou515 wrote:

@Stella Nation wrote:

I guess they blitzed constantly because they played against young and inexperienced QBs. If they chose to go with the same defensive gameplan against Watson they're likely in for a beating. Although the Texans have a poor OL, so who knows. I expect this to be a close game, the Texans might be 0-2 but they have played the two best teams in the conference and maybe the league. This is a must win game for them so they have the motivational factor on their side.

imho game plan be stop the run and keep Watson in the pocket stay in rush lanes.

I agree. Also for a mobile QB Watson has been sacked a lot in the past. We need to keep that trend going.

Well if any defense can get after Watson it'd be ours. D-line is stout, and we have probably one of the most athletic LB groups in the entire NFL. They just need to keep Watson contained. He no longer has Deandre Hopkins at his disposal. I don't know if Cooks is playing or not but if he is, he'd be their fastest guy so we can't let Watson get out of the pocket and launch anything deep. Just gotta be disciplined.

I'm a little late to the party, but I'll add my two cents on a few positives and negatives from last week.

Positives
Coming into the game, there was a lot of concern about the O-line, but Dotson and Chuks stepped up.

Ben seems to always start the season slowly. A lot of us attributed it to lack of playing time in preseason games. But so far, he doesn't seem to have the rust on him that he usually does to start a season, which is a bit surprising after he missed most of last season.

JuJu seems to have rebounded from whatever was plaguing him last season. I don't think he's going to be a dominant No. 1, but I look for him to have a solid year.

It's still early, but so far Claypool looks like a beast. If he hasn't already, he's going to make JuJu expendable.

Negatives
I need someone smarter than me to explain it, but even with a really good defense, they still can't seem to get off the field in 3rd and long situations. Against less than stellar QBs, no less.

Tomlin's decisions are still baffling sometimes. On fourth down in the second half, they line up and look like they're just trying to draw the Broncos offsides. They call timeout, and then go for it on 4th. They fail with a horrible play call and waste a timeout. Later, Tomlin wastes another timeout by challenging a catch that was clearly in bounds. If the Broncos had scored on their final drive, the Steelers would have had only 1 timeout left and not much time on the clock.

What bothered me most about the game is that it felt like too many past Steelers games vs. weaker teams. This game shouldn't have been close, but the Steelers have a knack for letting weaker teams hang around. Great teams don't do that. And that's what scares me. With Ben back, lots of weapons around him, and a solid defense, I felt this team had the potential to be great. But from what I saw Sunday, they're not great ... just good. Good gets you into the playoffs, but it doesn't win you a Super Bowl.

With all that said, it's only Week 3. They're heading into it 2-0. And there's lots of room for them to get better.

https://triblive.com/sports/steelers-mike-hilton-minkah-fitzpatrick-fined-for-personal-fouls-called-against-broncos/

Steelers’ Mike Hilton, Minkah Fitzpatrick fined for personal fouls called against Broncos

The plays happened on subsequent third-quarter drives in the Steelers’ 26-21 victory at Heinz Field.

Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was fined $11,619 for a horse collar tackle on Broncos tight end Noah Fant that led to a field goal, cutting the Steelers’ lead to 17-6.

Slot cornerback Mike Hilton was fined $15,000 for a roughing-the-passer penalty on the next drive. This play drew a 15-yard penalty, and the Broncos scored on the next play, a 20-yard pass from Jeff Driskel to Fant (and 2-point conversion) that reduced the Steelers’ lead to 17-14.

got to clean these penalties up. imho Hilton's penalty was a little tic tac.

Tomlin calling out Snell.

Coach Mike Tomlin said '(Benny Snell) needs to assume they stood up in a meeting room in Houston, Texas, this week and put those two clips (of his fumbles) on a reel and characterized him as a fumbler. You have to answer for that.' https://t.co/QiWzthBra7

— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) September 27, 2020

^^^^^^ I could be wrong, but I don't recall Tomlin publicly calling out Conner for his fumbles, which actually cost us games.

@Wallace108 wrote:

^^^^^^ I could be wrong, but I don't recall Tomlin publicly calling out Conner for his fumbles, which actually cost us games.

I thought he did at some point the year before. I could be totally wrong though.