Game 1 - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

[phillyesq]

The redzone offense needs to improve. Settling for FG's was one of the reasons they lost in Denver last year after controlling much of the game.....the story rewrote itself last night.

Yeah, the red zone offense was quite disappointing. Really should have had points with Miller on the first trip.

Champ made a nice breakup of the one slant to Brown; I would have loved to see another Cedrick Wilsonesque fake on Bailey with the hard pump on the fake slant and then the corner, but it wasn't to be.

[feltdizz]

Tomlin said it's hard to get info quick on the road when it comes to challenges... he made the right call.

[feltdizz]

The redzone offense needs to improve. Settling for FG's was one of the reasons they lost in Denver last year after controlling much of the game.....the story rewrote itself last night.

nah... the offense was fine.. the pass was yuck on 3rd down. Sometimes Ben can be a little lazy with passes in the endzone. 6-7 throwing to Heath and he throws a shallow pass? Frustrating....

[Steel Life]

The Bronco's had the ball for :36 second in the 3rd quarter and outscored us 7 to 3.

PATHETIC!!!

Dizz...that was a fluke play, hardly something to be judging the quality of the defense for the rest of the season. Take away that one play & Manning's numbers are somewhat pedestrian. Now that said, like you I'm concerned that the D wasn't able to play to their pedigree but it's only the first game & the team wasn't at full strength, so let see how things look after a couple of more are in the books.

[Steel Life]

Everyone wants to criticize, but the challenge last night was a brilliant move by Tomlin.

I think you have to challenge it given how "bang, bang" it was. Yes he lost, but the upside was that a fumble out of the end-zone by the offense is a turnover & we have the ball at the 20...had to chance it. I have a bigger problem with the Tamme TD...

[nairb32001]

The good was i loved the quick passing game as far as the quick slants; but not the quick outs such as the one that cause a pick six. NO QUICK OUTS! the o line can not block longer than 3 mississippi; and when asked to do so you get three sacks in a row. Ben cant read defenses and recievers cant get open; loved the quick slants and screens; such as the one demaryus thomas broke open for a touchdown. denver was playing our game and we were playing denvers game. can we play a smart game ever.

[nairb32001]

with our o line we are asking too much; who is our o line coach; and conditioning coach ; they need to be fired

[eniparadoxgma]

Not sure why no one has mentioned HEEEEEEEEEEEATH yet. I realize he's capable of this type of game every night, but I for one was happy to see him put in a position to make plays as opposed to block the majority of the time. That move he made for the TD, while definitely helped out by Ben's pump fake, was one of beauty. He juked the defender out of his shoes.

[NJ-STEELER]

I know Tomlin has made a few questionable challenges in the past but I see nothing wrong with the one last night. He had to make a quick decision before Manning ran up to the line and snapped the ball. If by chance we win that challenge I think it changes the outcome of the game. Unfortunately it didn't go our way.

i agree

thats overturned and its a turnover. ball rolled out of the end zone

our ball on the 20..def worth the risk

[chiken]

The Good Dwyer.. I do understand that he could only go for 1 play at a time (maybe it was the altitude) but he played hard every play.. He ran through guys, he fought for everything he could get on every touch (now the conditioning may be a whole different issue) He showed plenty of heart.

The bad.. Defensively where in the heck was the emotional leader on the field.. where was the fighter, the trash talker, the hype man - the guy who freaking had enough of getting bulled over.. We got chumped last night.

[steelz09]

The Good Dwyer.. I do understand that he could only go for 1 play at a time (maybe it was the altitude) but he played hard every play.. He ran through guys, he fought for everything he could get on every touch (now the conditioning may be a whole different issue) He showed plenty of heart.

The bad.. Defensively where in the heck was the emotional leader on the field.. where was the fighter, the trash talker, the hype man - the guy who freaking had enough of getting bulled over.. We got chumped last night.

Woodley and Clark are the closest things we have to that. Clark wasn't playing and Woodley barely played.

[birtikidis]

Well, why throw the ball when your qb has a tendency to hold the ball too long, take sacks or throw devastating pick 6's so much?

This is what Oviedo sounds like when it comes to lebeau. I just used Ben to show how ridiculous he sounds.

[DukieBoy]

The BIG UGLY is how badly we got beat at the LOS on both sides of the ball. Watching this Cinci-Balt game, and I am thinking we could get massacred in the trenches in our own division. These teams both play highly aggressive ball at the LOS.

[Chadman]

Looks to Chadman that the Steelers lacked a certain...attitude on defense. Could be that, instead of drafting athletes in the near future, the Steelers need to draft attitude. The Steelers don't look 'old & slow' to Chadman- they look 1 dimensional. They are fast coming forward, but retreating & laterally...slow & caught out. The D-Line looks like it needs an injection of angry. Thought the LB's were not too bad, particularly Foote. They obviously need Harrison. The DB's....it looks to Chadman like the Steelers are still playing the 'big DB' theory in order to stop the running game. That'd be fine if the DL did it's bit to help. In coverage, however, they all look a step behind. Is it field intelligence? Physical ability? Hard to say. Like Mr Pittsburgh said- the Steelers D is 'reactionary'. They don't 'impose their will' like they used to, or believe they still do. In Chadman's opinion, the Steelers D needs a more "live by the sword" attitude. Why not sell out on the blitz more? Why not throw everything at stuffing the run? This 10 yard cushion, reacting to the play stuff gets them nowhere. If the Manning's & Brady's are going to throw no-huddle offense at the Steelers, and the Steelers counter with the soft cushion- they'll get beat. If Manning/Brady goes no-huddle...blitz the bejesus out of them. Hurry THEM up. Will the Steelers give up TD's? Yes, probably. But it'll take away the dink-dunk offense that they lose to every year. Play a 4 DB mid/short-zone defense, and send the rest after the QB. Chadman still thinks Curtis Brown might be the best answer at CB.

On Offense- thought there were some signs there, particularly with the shorter passing game. Ben was really only under pressure late when they were forced into the longer passing game. Before that, thought it was very effecient. Not convinced that Redman can be more than a situational RB. Dwyer looks more complete. Batch & Rainey could be the keys to the Haley offense though. They should see the field more. Mendy is, without a doubt, the best RB on the roster. The OL looked ok in pass protection. They looked poor in run blocking...on the right side. Thought the left held up in the run game. Colon looked pretty good at OG. Adams got beat a couple of times, but Von Miller will beat better OT's than him during a season. Thought Adams held up pretty well, to be honest. Gilbert looked ok in his time, but he's definately a lumbering hulk on the field. Foster struggled, Legs struggled more. If those guys were the back-ups, and not starting, the OL would be pretty good. DeCastro is a big loss. The Steelers might have the best WR/TE group in the NFL. They are THAT good. Sanders did nothing wrong, all day.

[winwithd]

Sanders did actually drop a catchable ball right before Rahim Moore hit him helmet to helmet. Fortunately it didnt matter cause we got the yards with the penalty. But I get your point, he did play well.

Anyone else think it was pass interference on the short slant to Brown at the goal line? I thought it definitely was.

However this loss goes on Ben. We lost 4 points when he didnt loft the ball to a WIDE OPEN Heath in the end zone. Those points would have made the 2 pt try unnecessary. That would have made a tie game on our last possession. Then in the fourth Denver blows a coverage and Wallace is left wide open but Ben is staring down the opposite side of the field and never sees him. On the pick-6 it appears he is staring at Sanders the whole time, making an easy pick. This is not the first he has made those kinds of mistakes, (2nd loss to Balt last year when Suggs jumps a pass). He seems to have one of those horrible WTF plays about once every few games and I think it keeps him from being mentioned as one of the very best QBs. I don't know if it is lack of discipline or what but it drives me nuts and I think it cost us the game last night.

I liked a lot of the play calls last night. I thought it was much less predictable than it has been. I miss the deep throws though, but I think they will come more as the season goes on and the offense develops.

DLine was bad. Why do we always seem to have someone (usually one of our own guys) falling on the back of our linemen's legs?

The ugly was John Elway. Why the heck did we have to see his ugly mug so often last night?