Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

[papillon]

I was unable to watch the game in its entirety I was with our oldest son at a soccer tournament all evening. I did get to see it snippets, but not with enough continuity to get a feel for the game. There seemed to be pressure on Flacco and good coverage by the secondary (save for Boldin and Houshmanzadeh).

Here are my questions to those of you who watched the game in its entirety and the ebb and flow of the game.

How many seconds, on average, was Flacco getting to get rid of the ball?
Heap had an uneventful day, was Timmons that good?
Do you think given the time that Flacco had in the pocket that Brady might make some mistakes?
Are the Patriot receivers as good as Mason, Boldin and Houshmanzadeh?
When the Steelers did bring pressure, how many were rushing in general? 4? 5? 6?

If the Patriots win today the Steelers Super Bowl aspirations will hinge on being able to stop the Patriots passing game. One other thing that would really help their cause is they need to be as violent (legally) with the Patriots as they are with the Ravens. I don't think that Woodhead would make it through a game if they hit him like they hit Rice, McClain and the receivers of the Ravens.

Pappy

[BURGH86STEEL]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

Maybe you can re-watch the rebroadcast on NFL network this week? I thought they did a good job getting pressure on Flacco. Defense played a hell of a game. Flacco didn't see open WR's on a few occasions.

[Chadman]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

When they came out in the 2nd half, the D played as if the light was switched on. People will credit Harrison, who played as if possessed by a rather annoyed Demon, but Brett Keisel & Casey Hampton...heck, and the Zig, were crushing the pocket & giving the LB's room to run.

The D played ángry'in the 2nd half- and the Ravens couldn't match up.

[BURGH86STEEL]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

When they came out in the 2nd half, the D played as if the light was switched on. People will credit Harrison, who played as if possessed by a rather annoyed Demon, but Brett Keisel & Casey Hampton...heck, and the Zig, were crushing the pocket & giving the LB's room to run.

The D played ángry'in the 2nd half- and the Ravens couldn't match up.

It was like a snow ball, once it started to roll it turned into an avalanche.

[papillon]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

When they came out in the 2nd half, the D played as if the light was switched on. People will credit Harrison, who played as if possessed by a rather annoyed Demon, but Brett Keisel & Casey Hampton...heck, and the Zig, were crushing the pocket & giving the LB's room to run.

The D played ángry'in the 2nd half- and the Ravens couldn't match up.

They can't wait for the second half against the Patriots; it will be too late. They can have a first half faux pas against the Jets, but not the Patriots.

Pappy

[proudpittsburgher]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

When they came out in the 2nd half, the D played as if the light was switched on. People will credit Harrison, who played as if possessed by a rather annoyed Demon, but Brett Keisel & Casey Hampton...heck, and the Zig, were crushing the pocket & giving the LB's room to run.

The D played ángry'in the 2nd half- and the Ravens couldn't match up.

I agree that the rest of the defense played a tremendous second half, but that was pretty much all on Harrison. He played out of his mind. He completely took over an entiire series . . . sack, tackle,a nd then finished it off by running flacco OOB after a missed sack. And on the last series, it was a lineman leaving hood to doubleteam Harrison which opened the door for a pair of Steelers to bury Flacco. Not to take anythign away from the rest of the defense because they were tremendous, but James completely dominated that second half and it might have been his best half of football of his career.

He routinely got past Oher through a mix of his outside speed rush and a bull rush that put both Harrison and Oher in Flaccos face. It was a simply dominant half.

[Chadman]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

Honestly- it looked like the week off put them behind in preparation.

It was very unSteelerlike in the 1st half when they went against the season mantra of not giving away possession.

But also- Steelers-Ravens games are NOT an indication of how well each team is playing on any given day- both sides lift for this & what we see is a contest that is, once again, decided by the smallest of margins. They could both be 0-17 & we'd see a great game.

Chadman is finding it funny how quickly we dismiss the Jets...

[papillon]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

Honestly- it looked like the week off put them behind in preparation.

It was very unSteelerlike in the 1st half when they went against the season mantra of not giving away possession.

But also- Steelers-Ravens games are NOT an indication of how well each team is playing on any given day- both sides lift for this & what we see is a contest that is, once again, decided by the smallest of margins. They could both be 0-17 & we'd see a great game.

Chadman is finding it funny how quickly we dismiss the Jets...

It's a quarterback's league and Sanchez is a young quarterback that can and will make mistakes. You have to force Brady into a mistake or he won't make them; or, you need to make more plays than he makes.

It's not dismissing the Jets, its giving Brady his due for being a great quarterback.

Pappy

[frankthetank1]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

i thought it was the best game for the d-line. ziggy and kiesel played lights out and hampton was great too. its beyond me why brett kiesel is so under rated. the guy is a beast and i also love his beard

[feltdizz]

Re: Quarterback Pressure and Coverage

The D played well all game IMO... The O and ST's was the problem.