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In the Film Room (Week 1-@Steelers)


wargograw

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Ok gents, about 4 weeks until the preseason starts. I just bought NFL Rewind and will be going through every game from 2014. Started doing this last year with A&M and found it very useful in closing the book on the previous season as well as learning a few things about the team you didn't know about. Hopefully I'll be able to get through all 16 games. If you have Rewind or still have the game recorded on your Tivo, then great. Pop that tape in (to use an outdated phrase) and I would love to hear your thoughts. If not, have no fear, you are still welcome to comment and just give general observations that you remember from when you watched the game live. I'll make a new thread for each game as I go through them and we can all participate together. Or you can all tell me I'm a douchebag and should stop. Whatever the board wishes :P

 

Now I'm not the biggest Xs and Os guy around by a long shot but I love to evaluate the tape of individual players in general. This won't be too in depth and will just be a bunch of scattershooting throughout the game then maybe I'll do a summary at the end.

 

In this game Pittsburgh starts with a long drive that scores a Le'veon Bell touchdown on the ground but is called back due to a hold of Kruger. Pittsburgh subsequently stalls. We did an ok job of stopping the run. Obviously Roethlisberger is brutal to play against because every time you think you've got him, he pulls something out of his rear and kills you. See: the would-be sack that ends up an Antonio Brown touchdown. So I'm sympathetic to the idea that it's tough to play against him. But we only rush the DL (3 players) for the entire first quarter and then some. Even the commentator questions the move. I actually thought we got a decent rush with just those 3, so a 4th would have been that much better. Then again, maybe the thinking is that whether you send 3 guys, or 6, Roethlisberger is going to find ways to extend the play, so you might as well send the minimum amount you can get away with and focus on maximizing the efficacy of your secondary. Then again, we sacked Roethlisberger in the third quarter with a 4-man blitz with the DL + Kirksey.

 

Gilbert is simply awful in this first half, allowing two consecutive completions to Marcus Wheaton and a completion to Justin Brown on a push-off. Then later gets beaten by Wheaton again, this time in zone coverage. To boot, Gilbert gives up the 20 yard pass to Wheaton on the second to last play in the game to allow Pittsburgh to go from solidly OUT of FG range to just a 41 yard attempt for the game winner.

 

I've seen people post that the reason our run defense was so bad was because we had so many injuries. Well it's pretty bad in this game, did we already have injuries? Boy am I glad we got Shelton. We seem to struggle tackling guys. We'll be holding up the OL up front and the Steeler RB will just wait and wait until the D finally relents. They also love to go to the draw for this purpose as well. Got to penetrate with someone and target the back better. I realize Bell is known for his patience (like Roethlisberger is known for his elusiveness and Brown is simply amazing) but hey, we play these guys twice a year. Gotta figure it out (and we have to a great degree).

 

At the moment I'm at the 9:00 left in the 2nd quarter mark and our offense has looked pretty poor outside of a 47 yard pass to Jordan Cameron. I realize our offense took on a different identity as the season went on with the release of Ben Tate and Gabriel, Crow, etc. stepping up. The angles we're taking against Pittsburgh's frequent screens are poor.

 

If I recall correctly, 2 of Pittsburgh's sacks on Hoyer were allowed by our tight ends. One by Cameron and one by Dray. Granted, tight ends can't be trusted to hold a 1 on 1 pass block for very long, and maybe it's on Hoyer for holding on to the ball too long, but it's unacceptable.

 

1st possession of the second half was a thing of beauty. Long run by West. Couple nice throws to Gabriel and Hawkins. Great blocks for the Crowell touchdown. Great run on his second. Hoyer really settled in nicely. Our run blocking seems to be pretty up and down against a solid Pittsburgh front. Either busting it for 8+ or having penetration (like the big hit on West by Ryan Shazier as well as the 4 yard loss also by Shazier, this time on Crowell in the 4th) in the backfield. Then again West's vision is a little suspect.

 

Man, at least in this game, we would have had so much more success if we had a passing attack from our runningbacks. Pittsburgh realizes TG is giving them fits. Hawkins is doing well. Austin and Cameron have a couple catches a piece and even Benjiman has a touchdown. So they're devoting everything they have secondary-wise to the receivers. Slip a back right out of the pocket and take a quick 8-10 yards and the offense could have been pretty deadly in this one.

 

We are dominating their offensive tackles with our pass rush but Roethlisberger either gets rid of it quickly or takes a step the other way and we miss. Still though, we muster up 4 sacks (so far, starting the 4th). On Pittsburgh's last possession, the draw call with Legarette Blount on 3rd and 1 to potentially get in FG range is a real head scratcher. Great blitz we dialed up though to force the punt and put our squad in a position to win. Schwartz gives up the sack on first down. He actually had a really nice set and then in just a split second got pushed off balance and from that point Heyward had a beat on Hoyer. Schwartz turns around on 3rd down and completely whiffs attempting to block Gay on the screen, forcing a loss of like 8.

 

We seem to be fragile in this game. Gabriel gets dinged early. Tate leaves the game in the first half. Hawkins takes a pop. Skrine gets popped in the third quarter. Cameron has a shoulder issue.

 

Per Pro Football Focus, we had a decent overall performance by our offensive players. Only players with negative ratings were Hoyer and Tate and I would imagine Hoyer was positive in the second half. Defense was average. Gilbert and Haden together combined to go -9. Some decent ratings against the run.

 

By the way, happy fourth of July!!!

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Unfortunately with sending 3 at Ben you play right into the strength of his game and his desire - to hold onto the ball and extend the play. Defenses stand the best chance of getting at him with 4 and 5 man pressures then limiting the YAC on the underneath stuff. On the flip side the issue with a 4-5 man pressure and pinning your ears back is that Pittsburgh has become a good screen team. So playing with discipline up front is vital. If the opposing Oline is having trouble with 3 man fronts, send your 4th. Chances are you'll draw more holding calls, then force their offense to keep a back or TE in to block. That's how you start winning the numbers game with less receivers in the pattern.

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Good insight. They seemed to abandon the screen after running 3 or 4 of them early on, and I suppose that may have been Pettine's goal all along. Then once they're sufficiently convinced we won't bite on it, start blitzing your 4th guy.

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Week 1 was a classic tale of two halves. We came out tentative in the first and let fly in the second. Big debate around here the next week was about "morale victories".

 

Our growth over the next few weeks was notable... especially in the O-line play. Here was my Week One account for reference: http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30217&hl=week

 

I never did grade out Games 15 and 16. If you make it that far, I just may join you.

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Gilbert is simply awful in this first half

 

I've seen people post that the reason our run defense was so bad was because we had so many injuries. Well it's pretty bad in this game, did we already have injuries?

 

Brutal game to lose in the end like that.....if a play or 2 goes differently, then we're discussing a win.....none the less, it was one loss that...."somehow".....left me optimistic enough to want to see more..... ;)

 

Yes, Gilbert was awful...though, Id say Haden was just as bad.....in fact, it was his worst game ever as a pro....so, had those 2 played just a little better, it could have been a lot different outcome.....

 

And, yep....the injuries were already in full force.....D Bryant and J Hughes were already down before the first game even started and then Kitchen & Mingo both went down in game 1.....so, there are 3 primary DL & 1 LB out before we even finished game 1.....(Rubin and A Bryant were soon to follow)

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Re dealing with Big Rapist---a personal observation/opinion:

 

The following week against Baltiwhore, we are given a blueprint on how to handle Ben---

on the third play of the game Courtney Upshaw knocks the ever-loving fuck out of him with

a helmet directly on the number 7. Roethlisburger said after the game that it was the second

hardest hit he ever took in his life---second only to Bart Scott in 2006.

 

Yes, it was a 15 yard penalty (very early in the game), and there was much butthurt from the

Steelers and their fans---but it set the tone for the game and it adversely affected Ben for the

rest of the game.

 

Drill him early and make it count.

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Re dealing with Big Rapist---a personal observation/opinion:

 

The following week against Baltiwhore, we are given a blueprint on how to handle Ben---

on the third play of the game Courtney Upshaw knocks the ever-loving fuck out of him with

a helmet directly on the number 7. Roethlisburger said after the game that it was the second

hardest hit he ever took in his life---second only to Bart Scott in 2006.

 

Yes, it was a 15 yard penalty (very early in the game), and there was much butthurt from the

Steelers and their fans---but it set the tone for the game and it adversely affected Ben for the

rest of the game.

 

Drill him early and make it count.

 

Willie McGinest roughed up Ben Rapen pretty good too. That might have been in between Ben Riden and Ben Rapen; but it was the same clod that had bouncing off of hard surfaces in his fate. Bumbles bounce and so do Pittsburgh QBs...

 

I don't know wtf ever happened to Atenears posting on this message board; but he had that McGinest tucking Ben into an adorable Sunday afternoon nap as his avatar. The entire highlight.

 

That was before he went on to coach kids in baseball where all starting jobs were determined by hotness of mothers. Some poor kids had to hope he was drinking before games if they wanted to get any action. Those were prolly the games they won. And sportsmanship? "We don't shake their hands unless we've kicked their asses."

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Ok gents, about 4 weeks until the preseason starts. I just bought NFL Rewind and will be going through every game from 2014. Started doing this last year with A&M and found it very useful in closing the book on the previous season as well as learning a few things about the team you didn't know about. Hopefully I'll be able to get through all 16 games. If you have Rewind or still have the game recorded on your Tivo, then great. Pop that tape in (to use an outdated phrase) and I would love to hear your thoughts. If not, have no fear, you are still welcome to comment and just give general observations that you remember from when you watched the game live. I'll make a new thread for each game as I go through them and we can all participate together.

 

Good idea.

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Week 1 was a classic tale of two halves. We came out tentative in the first and let fly in the second. Big debate around here the next week was about "morale victories".

 

Our growth over the next few weeks was notable... especially in the O-line play. Here was my Week One account for reference: http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30217&hl=week

 

I never did grade out Games 15 and 16. If you make it that far, I just may join you.

Thanks! Please keep posting these on the other film threads I start.

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