Week 14: Steelers @ Bills

To whiskey or not to whiskey? That is the question

6 of us are in the chat at the bottom of the main page if anyone else is interested.

Prediction: We win this game.

There. Meant to post this way before the game started, but I think its still fair since we're losing at halftime.

Steelers win.

....and they're starting to make me look stupid.

Welp...here comes the checkdown offense again

@jak341 wrote:

@IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Weird, run blocking non-existent.

Is it that weird though? It is what we've seen all season long.

I was using weird sarcastically.

This is not the 11-0 team that was on the field a few weeks ago. With all the injuries, including all but 1 starting lineman, this is now a team of backups and practice squad players playing. It would have been nice to have the bye week when we were supposed to. We've played on short weeks for the past 3 weeks - it shows. Players worn down, thus getting injured more often.

Every game from here on out is going to be a struggle. Every game (including the Bengals game).

Team is trash. Yeah we're banged up esp on defense but the offense is fully healthy and its hot garbage. We need a new OC bad because fichtner simply can't call plays. These stupid short fucking passes have gotten old already. If they aren't 1 and done again come playoff time I'll be surprised, but they'll still use the "tomlin has never had a losing season" excuse like always

@Shalieve5090 wrote:

Team is trash. Yeah we're banged up esp on defense but the offense is fully healthy and its hot garbage. We need a new OC bad because fichtner simply can't call plays. These stupid short fucking passes have gotten old already. If they aren't 1 and done again come playoff time I'll be surprised, but they'll still use the "tomlin has never had a losing season" excuse like always

I feel about the same as you. Ridiculous an 11-0 team crashes like this. I feel like we've been here before end of season....

From Ray Fittipaldo's game report card at Post Gazette:

Quote :

Coaching: Tomlin has to do something about his offense. The Steelers have scored 19, 17 and 15 points in their past three games. Would anyone be surprised if all they could manage next week in Cincinnati is 13? Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner has not made any adjustments to fix his regressing unit. Time is running out, too. It doesn’t matter how good the defense is, the Steelers won’t win a playoff game with an offense like this. They might not even win the division if the coaches don’t get their act together and come up with a better plan.  Grade: F

I watched the game halfway through the 3rd and then shut it down and went to bed. I've seen this shit show before too many times.
first off I know a few weeks back there were fouls on both sides. We false started and they roughed Ben. The official called offset penalties and they replayed the down. In the second or 3rd quarter they had an illegal formation and Mondeaux was called for a late hit and the ref said the IF was declined. Who in the hell would decline that and to rub salt in our would they assessed us 15 yds for the roughing. Can anyone explain how one week we replay the down and another week we get the penalty?
Next question is Why does Fitchner still have a job? Is there something going on with Ben's arm that he can't throw down the field?
It was obvious to me the bills made halftime adjustments. Why didn't we? They figured out our pressures and started to pick us apart in the middle. Same old shit show. I know our defense is decimated and just got worn down due to lack of any offense. Beasley was catching balls but he wasn't killing us so what does Butler dial up? Crickets.
Championship teams roll with who they got on the field and adjust to get the most of what they got. This team right now is an imposter. I think we might beat the Bengals but I see us losing to both the Colts and the Browns. If we continue to play like this even if we get in as a wild card we'll be one and done. I'm pretty sure no 1 dimensional team has ever made it far in the playoffs much less win the SB.
I don't know about you guys but I'm beginning to hear that creaky old window starting to close and after this year it will slam shut on us.

They need to fire Fichtner today. Not tomorrow, but today. Let someone else take over and install a new offense. That way they have 3 more games to be ready for the play-offs. With the schedule the Chiefs have left we can forget the number 1 spot anyway and it doesn't matter if you finish 2nd or 7th this year with no real home advantage. Rest our best players in week 17 and be ready to ball in the Wild card game.

didn't even watch the game knew what this was about before it started. right now wouldn't care if they fired both OC and DC.

1 and done come playoff time folks mark my words. This team is tired, beat up, and running on empty. Our Oline is older then dog shit and its showing more and more as each week progresses. Multiple Bills players were in our backfield every running play even before Connor was handed the ball.

We get worse at the half. Our coaches simply do not adjust at the half well and haven't in years now. The Bills and Washington both came out and spanked us in the second half pretty embarrassing.

Tell me who was playing O-line for us at the end of the game. This is especially directed at all who consider the offense to be "fully healthy".

Right.

Too many short weeks in a row.

Too many injuries.

I would love to know, in the history of the NFL, how many teams have played 3 consecutive short weeks in a row? Can't be many.

The Steelers lost because Ben played poorly. There's a lot of things that did not go well, but it was his play that resulted in a loss. 1-10 on 3rd downs absolutely sucks. Yes, the pick 6 right before the half was a killer, but the general failure to get the ball into scoring opportunities lays at the feet of the QB. That pick 6 was not only off target, but his receiver wasn't open ... which seems to be a trend that he's trying to jam his passes into situations that he probably shouldn't. His other pick can be blamed on poor mechanics. He checked down from his primary target on the left and saw Washington open deep on the right side, but he didn't set his body to throw a deep pass over there and under threw it. He's not hitting deep passes which allows teams to keep the short routes in front of them and focus on tackling the catch.

Are there other issues? Yes. 2 straight drops by the guy who leads the league in dropped passes is a poor way to start a game. The second drop stopped a drive, and the first drop was part of the reason they didn't convert on their opening drive. And that same guy didn't run a route well on another critical 3rd down (that failed) and we all saw Ben gesticulating in a manner that indicates his expectations weren't met. It was great seeing Johnson on the sidelines for a good portion of the game and Washington, in replacement duty, score a TD. BTW, Claypool was on the sideline for most of the 4th quarter, so there's obviously something going on there as well.

The run game improved from Sucks to Bad. Maybe next week they will improve to Meh. I know the O-line went through a bunch of guys, which was sad to see. But we've faced other teams with O-line replacements that seemed to be effective. What isn't clear is if they really want to run the ball because they haven't really committed to it yet.

The defense had struggles, but that's to be expected when you're playing without 4 starters you had at the beginning of the season and those missing guys are very good. Can they win without Bush? Yes. But trying to win without Bush, Dupree, Williams, and Haden is a tall order.

It's easy blaming Fitchner for the Steelers struggles. And maybe he deserves blame. However, the receivers need to catch very easy passes and run their routes correctly, the QB needs to perform up to his capabilities and not give the game away, and the defense needs to stop resembling a MASH unit, basically the players should execute before before I jump on the wagon of blaming the failure on quality of the offensive game plan.

The good news is they finished their 3 games in 12 days gauntlet. They now have a normal prep week against an opponent they should have an opportunity to get back on track against.

@kirklandrules wrote:

The Steelers lost because Ben played poorly. There's a lot of things that did not go well, but it was his play that resulted in a loss. 1-10 on 3rd downs absolutely sucks. Yes, the pick 6 right before the half was a killer, but the general failure to get the ball into scoring opportunities lays at the feet of the QB. That pick 6 was not only off target, but his receiver wasn't open ... which seems to be a trend that he's trying to jam his passes into situations that he probably shouldn't. His other pick can be blamed on poor mechanics. He checked down from his primary target on the left and saw Washington open deep on the right side, but he didn't set his body to throw a deep pass over there and under threw it. He's not hitting deep passes which allows teams to keep the short routes in front of them and focus on tackling the catch.

Are there other issues? Yes. 2 straight drops by the guy who leads the league in dropped passes is a poor way to start a game. The second drop stopped a drive, and the first drop was part of the reason they didn't convert on their opening drive. And that same guy didn't run a route well on another critical 3rd down (that failed) and we all saw Ben gesticulating in a manner that indicates his expectations weren't met. It was great seeing Johnson on the sidelines for a good portion of the game and Washington, in replacement duty, score a TD. BTW, Claypool was on the sideline for most of the 4th quarter, so there's obviously something going on there as well.

The run game improved from Sucks to Bad. Maybe next week they will improve to Meh. I know the O-line went through a bunch of guys, which was sad to see. But we've faced other teams with O-line replacements that seemed to be effective. What isn't clear is if they really want to run the ball because they haven't really committed to it yet.

The defense had struggles, but that's to be expected when you're playing without 4 starters you had at the beginning of the season and those missing guys are very good. Can they win without Bush? Yes. But trying to win without Bush, Dupree, Williams, and Haden is a tall order.

It's easy blaming Fitchner for the Steelers struggles. And maybe he deserves blame. However, the receivers need to catch very easy passes and run their routes correctly, the QB needs to perform up to his capabilities and not give the game away, and the defense needs to stop resembling a MASH unit, basically the players should execute before before I jump on the wagon of blaming the failure on quality of the offensive game plan.

The good news is they finished their 3 games in 12 days gauntlet. They now have a normal prep week against an opponent they should have an opportunity to get back on track against.

Thanks for posting again. Your logical analysis this game and last were good to read.

@solardave wrote:

I watched the game halfway through the 3rd and then shut it down and went to bed. I've seen this shit show before too many times.
first off I know a few weeks back there were fouls on both sides. We false started and they roughed Ben. The official called offset penalties and they replayed the down. In the second or 3rd quarter they had an illegal formation and Mondeaux was called for a late hit and the ref said the IF was declined. Who in the hell would decline that and to rub salt in our would they assessed us 15 yds for the roughing. Can anyone explain how one week we replay the down and another week we get the penalty?
Next question is Why does Fitchner still have a job? Is there something going on with Ben's arm that he can't throw down the field?
It was obvious to me the bills made halftime adjustments. Why didn't we? They figured out our pressures and started to pick us apart in the middle. Same old shit show. I know our defense is decimated and just got worn down due to lack of any offense. Beasley was catching balls but he wasn't killing us so what does Butler dial up? Crickets.
Championship teams roll with who they got on the field and adjust to get the most of what they got. This team right now is an imposter. I think we might beat the Bengals but I see us losing to both the Colts and the Browns. If we continue to play like this even if we get in as a wild card we'll be one and done. I'm pretty sure no 1 dimensional team has ever made it far in the playoffs much less win the SB.
I don't know about you guys but I'm beginning  to hear that creaky old window starting to close and after this year it will slam shut on us.

It seemed to me earlier in the season the coaching staff was making half adjustments better than they ever have. That seems non-existent now....at least for our side. It seemed to me the D was playing well first half but the offense needed to possess the ball and keep them off the field. When Johnson dropped those 2 balls on the first drive it felt like the night was set against them. It was like: more of the same..here we go again.

I've been wondering about the deep throws all season. Ben's comment after the game may have been just heat of the moment but it makes you wonder when he says if he can't do it anymore it's time to hang it up.

I want to be optimistic going forward, but really starting to wonder if this may be an epic collapse from 11-0.

@LambertWardSteel wrote:

Thanks for posting again. Your logical analysis this game and last were good to read.

Unlike our receivers, Kirkland never drops the ball. I've always been a big fan of his analysis. We should be careful with the praise though. He'll get a big head and start demanding to be paid.

@Wallace108 wrote:

@LambertWardSteel wrote:

Thanks for posting again. Your logical analysis this game and last were good to read.

Unlike our receivers, Kirkland never drops the ball. I've always been a big fan of his analysis. We should be careful with the praise though. He'll get a big head and start demanding to be paid.

Wait a sec, you said the check was in the mail!

@LambertWardSteel wrote:

@solardave wrote:

I watched the game halfway through the 3rd and then shut it down and went to bed. I've seen this shit show before too many times.
first off I know a few weeks back there were fouls on both sides. We false started and they roughed Ben. The official called offset penalties and they replayed the down. In the second or 3rd quarter they had an illegal formation and Mondeaux was called for a late hit and the ref said the IF was declined. Who in the hell would decline that and to rub salt in our would they assessed us 15 yds for the roughing. Can anyone explain how one week we replay the down and another week we get the penalty?
Next question is Why does Fitchner still have a job? Is there something going on with Ben's arm that he can't throw down the field?
It was obvious to me the bills made halftime adjustments. Why didn't we? They figured out our pressures and started to pick us apart in the middle. Same old shit show. I know our defense is decimated and just got worn down due to lack of any offense. Beasley was catching balls but he wasn't killing us so what does Butler dial up? Crickets.
Championship teams roll with who they got on the field and adjust to get the most of what they got. This team right now is an imposter. I think we might beat the Bengals but I see us losing to both the Colts and the Browns. If we continue to play like this even if we get in as a wild card we'll be one and done. I'm pretty sure no 1 dimensional team has ever made it far in the playoffs much less win the SB.
I don't know about you guys but I'm beginning  to hear that creaky old window starting to close and after this year it will slam shut on us.

It seemed to me earlier in the season the coaching staff was making half adjustments better than they ever have. That seems non-existent now....at least for our side. It seemed to me the D was playing well first half but the offense needed to possess the ball and keep them off the field. When Johnson dropped those 2 balls on the first drive it felt like the night was set against them. It was like: more of the same..here we go again.

I've been wondering about the deep throws all season. Ben's comment after the game may have been just heat of the moment but it makes you wonder when he says if he can't do it anymore it's time to hang it up.

I want to be optimistic going forward, but really starting to wonder if this may be an epic collapse from 11-0.

well they would save 41.25 million against the cap next year if he hung it up . that would solve a lot of problems for omar khan. like it or not a rebuild period is coming. they have a few building blocks on the team now, but could be forced to give some of them up if Ben stays another year. is one more year of Ben worth losing guys like JuJu , hilton or sutton ? i say

MM with observations. His critique of Ben is valid, and MM is one of Ben's biggest supporters.

https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-shortcomings-piling-up-for-ben-roethlisberger-steelers-offense/

I am also starting to think of a comparison to another QB at the end of his career: Payton Manning.

@kirklandrules wrote:

The Steelers lost because Ben played poorly. There's a lot of things that did not go well, but it was his play that resulted in a loss. 1-10 on 3rd downs absolutely sucks. Yes, the pick 6 right before the half was a killer, but the general failure to get the ball into scoring opportunities lays at the feet of the QB. That pick 6 was not only off target, but his receiver wasn't open ... which seems to be a trend that he's trying to jam his passes into situations that he probably shouldn't. His other pick can be blamed on poor mechanics. He checked down from his primary target on the left and saw Washington open deep on the right side, but he didn't set his body to throw a deep pass over there and under threw it. He's not hitting deep passes which allows teams to keep the short routes in front of them and focus on tackling the catch.

Are there other issues? Yes. 2 straight drops by the guy who leads the league in dropped passes is a poor way to start a game. The second drop stopped a drive, and the first drop was part of the reason they didn't convert on their opening drive. And that same guy didn't run a route well on another critical 3rd down (that failed) and we all saw Ben gesticulating in a manner that indicates his expectations weren't met. It was great seeing Johnson on the sidelines for a good portion of the game and Washington, in replacement duty, score a TD. BTW, Claypool was on the sideline for most of the 4th quarter, so there's obviously something going on there as well.

The run game improved from Sucks to Bad. Maybe next week they will improve to Meh. I know the O-line went through a bunch of guys, which was sad to see. But we've faced other teams with O-line replacements that seemed to be effective. What isn't clear is if they really want to run the ball because they haven't really committed to it yet.

The defense had struggles, but that's to be expected when you're playing without 4 starters you had at the beginning of the season and those missing guys are very good. Can they win without Bush? Yes. But trying to win without Bush, Dupree, Williams, and Haden is a tall order.

It's easy blaming Fitchner for the Steelers struggles. And maybe he deserves blame. However, the receivers need to catch very easy passes and run their routes correctly, the QB needs to perform up to his capabilities and not give the game away, and the defense needs to stop resembling a MASH unit, basically the players should execute before before I jump on the wagon of blaming the failure on quality of the offensive game plan.

The good news is they finished their 3 games in 12 days gauntlet. They now have a normal prep week against an opponent they should have an opportunity to get back on track against.

this is pretty much Ben most of his career, yes he'll have good games and offensive series in games but he can stink up the place, most of his career he's had a dominate defense to help him out. at 33 million dollars he's getting paid this year l expect close to perfection a QB who can put a team on his shoulders win. l don't think ben like to get up under center or call running plays he want to get back in shotgun and junk the ball down field want to call his game instead the game the defense is giving him. also think Ben has all the freedom to call the plays.

this defense even with all the injuries is good enough to win but the offense has to do their part and not be hanging the defense out most of the time.

@jak341 wrote:

MM with observations. His critique of Ben is valid, and MM is one of Ben's biggest supporters.

https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-shortcomings-piling-up-for-ben-roethlisberger-steelers-offense/

I am also starting to think of a comparison to another QB at the end of his career: Payton Manning.

That has popped into my thinking as well.

@Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

@LambertWardSteel wrote:

@solardave wrote:

I watched the game halfway through the 3rd and then shut it down and went to bed. I've seen this shit show before too many times.
first off I know a few weeks back there were fouls on both sides. We false started and they roughed Ben. The official called offset penalties and they replayed the down. In the second or 3rd quarter they had an illegal formation and Mondeaux was called for a late hit and the ref said the IF was declined. Who in the hell would decline that and to rub salt in our would they assessed us 15 yds for the roughing. Can anyone explain how one week we replay the down and another week we get the penalty?
Next question is Why does Fitchner still have a job? Is there something going on with Ben's arm that he can't throw down the field?
It was obvious to me the bills made halftime adjustments. Why didn't we? They figured out our pressures and started to pick us apart in the middle. Same old shit show. I know our defense is decimated and just got worn down due to lack of any offense. Beasley was catching balls but he wasn't killing us so what does Butler dial up? Crickets.
Championship teams roll with who they got on the field and adjust to get the most of what they got. This team right now is an imposter. I think we might beat the Bengals but I see us losing to both the Colts and the Browns. If we continue to play like this even if we get in as a wild card we'll be one and done. I'm pretty sure no 1 dimensional team has ever made it far in the playoffs much less win the SB.
I don't know about you guys but I'm beginning  to hear that creaky old window starting to close and after this year it will slam shut on us.

It seemed to me earlier in the season the coaching staff was making half adjustments better than they ever have. That seems non-existent now....at least for our side. It seemed to me the D was playing well first half but the offense needed to possess the ball and keep them off the field. When Johnson dropped those 2 balls on the first drive it felt like the night was set against them. It was like: more of the same..here we go again.

I've been wondering about the deep throws all season. Ben's comment after the game may have been just heat of the moment but it makes you wonder when he says if he can't do it anymore it's time to hang it up.

I want to be optimistic going forward, but really starting to wonder if this may be an epic collapse from 11-0.

well they would save 41.25 million against the cap next year if he hung it up . that would solve a lot of problems for omar khan. like it or not a rebuild period is coming. they have a few building blocks on the team now, but could be forced to give some of them up if Ben stays another year. is one more year of Ben worth losing guys like JuJu , hilton or sutton ? i say  

maybe the Jets will let Sam Darnold walk?