Ralonzo

I'm gonna put on my Bono Sideline Safety Glasses and feed my ego here. How bad was the OL? Let's waste a beautiful Sunday morning taking a long look. 1st series - 73-66-60-64-79 1st & 10) Quick slant. Morse pancakes a guy. 2nd & 2) Cook does a happy dance behind the LOS. Line was blocking down right, and he needed to follow them, they got good push. That's on the RB. 3rd & 2) Josh has a good pocket but bails RIGHT into Watt and dirts it. That series isn't on the line, 2 skill position fails on 2nd & 3rd. 2nd series - 73-66-60-64-79 1st & 10) Middle run Cook snuffed by LB, looks like Morse late getting to 2nd level for that hole. 2nd & 8) Complete Davis. Allen again bailing the pocket into trouble. although it looked like pressure Dawkins had locked on and the end would have been taken wide enough to just stand in there. But it's Josh so it's a 1st down. 1st & 10) Out to Diggs. Pitts brings 5 again, line takes care of business there. 1st & 10) Handoff Cook right, Morris' man gets inside leverage and disrupts the play in the backfield. Dawkins guy was inside too, but if Morris seals it there's a big hole to run in. 2nd & 9) Josh out route to Davis on the far sideline. Dawkins was getting walked back again. 1st & 10) Herbig power-to-speed move beats Dawkins and he gets a hand on Josh, inc. Rest of the line barely budges. Pitts bringing 5+ rushers again. Refs start trying to find a reason to throw a flag starting right about here. This becomes a theme. 2nd & 10) WR screen to Harty. Brown DESTROYS a DB who turtles, causing the refs to throw a block in the back flag. Crap call. 2nd & 19) False start McGovern. 2nd & 24) Incredible throw Allen to Davis. Brown gets straightened on the power rush, and it didn't really look like a bad hold but it was one hand on the front one outside the frame, which if the end sells it will draw a flag mostly. 2nd & refs) Draw Murray, somehow they left Kincaid to block two Steelers which went predictably. 3rd & refs) Screen Murray, what can you do, that series was decided when the Steeler bailed on taking the block from Brown. 3rd series - 73-66-60-64-79 1st & 10) Steelers shift, Morris thinks they're doing something else and touches up. False start. Problem here is Morris trying to think. 1st & 15) Slant Diggs, McGovern moves a Steeler off the pile in an airborne fashion. 2nd & 7) Slant Diggs who is blanketed by the ... linebacker? 3rd & 7) It looks like Dawkins beat wide by Highsmith, but he might have been expecting a more effective chip from Kincaid. He didn't start the slide step until Kincaid had already not slowed down the edge an iota. Allen stepped up into a huge gap. In a real game Allen runs for real, rather than getting to the LOS and thinking "Oh crap, I'm not supposed to run" and doing a James Cook impression dancing to the sideline and back. In doing so he deleveraged the other 4 blockers and they had no chance. 4th series - 73-76-71-64-79 1st & 10) Murray to the left behind the pulling RT Brown, who makes the key block on the LB in the hole to spring him. 1st & 10) Murray to the left tries to take it wide behind... oh. Morris, Kincaid and Sherfield, and right into 4 or 5 black jerseys. That went predictably. 2nd & 11) False start Dawkins. 2nd & 16) Slant Kincaid for 22. Torrence gets his hands on a blitzer, and it looks like, ok he's just gonna push him wide or hold him up a second, but 55 gets LAUNCHED. That's some impressive punch. 1st & 10) Murray dive for not much. Bates got stood up and Brown lost inside leverage. 2nd & 9) False start Kincaid. 2nd & 14) Barkley dirts an easy throw to Kincaid. Line holds up, QB fails to execute. It's a case of someone being the leak wink every play. 3rd & 14) Barkley hangs Sherfield out in the middle zone but he's a brick. Dawkins was getting walked again but did enough. 76 looking solid. 1st & 10) Out to Harty. Line does a good job identifying the rushers, Brown rightly passes one off to Torrence to pick up the wide blitzer. 1st & 10) Looks like Morris was supposed to run a route to the right flat but forgot. Linemen had released and were ready to downfield block. He's playing himself off the roster so far. 2nd & 10) Slant to Kincaid continues to be uncoverable. Brown gets to punch a corner blitzer, line was just fine. 1st & goal) Murray handoff was well-blocked but they didn't account for the QB making the tackle. 2nd & goal) Barkley with a decision worthy of a 3rd or 4th stringer for the int. Pitts still blitzing the Bills right side who is consistently picking it up. 5th series - 74-76-70-71-72 <--- this is interesting, with 70 and 71 both in, Anderson is C, BATES is RG. 1st & 10) Dive Murray for a 1st down. This edition of the line was moving bodies on that play, half of them getting to the 2nd level. 1st & 10) Barkley with a luftballoon for a pick. Very well blocked in the rare event of Pittsburgh rushing only 4. Personal foul on Doyle for blocking a guy; refs trying to tip the game again (as we see on the Pitts o-series following). 6th series - 74-67-70-65-72 1st & 10) Barkley audible hits Morris left flat. Van Demark identifies the blitz and picks it up. 2nd & 8) Barkley hot read is tipped up and picked by the corner blitzer. Exactly the right read; wrong execution. 7th series - 74-67-70-65-72 1st & 10) Big mess on the right side of the line. Boettger gets buried, Doyle tries to come off his block and make up for it and cripples himself. Boettger tried to get Doyle's leg last week too. 7th series - 74-67-70-65-77 2nd & 10) Mims behind Broeker and Anderson who MAUL the interior of the Pitts line. 1st & 10) Barkley to Isabella. Boettger beat again but ball came out. 1st & 10) Mims tries to roll up Anderson's left knee 2nd & 10) Quessenberry destroyed by Herbig who gets to Barkey before he even finishes his drop, causing the fumble & turnover. 65-77 on the right side is a disaster. They can't make this roster. 8th series - 74-67-70-65-77 1st & 10) Handoff Evans, 70-65-77 actually does a good job down blocking left, but RB cuts right into the defense. 2nd & 6) Pitts crowding the box. Handoff goes right for no gain. Boettger goes to the 2nd level to block their Matakevich 2.0 who sheds him easily and makes the tackle. Sheesh. 3rd & 6) Slant to Shorter for 1st. Pitt actually runs a stunt against 65-77, lol, you don't need to do that. Just rush them. 1st & 10) Handoff Evans loses 1. 65-77 down block left, Steenbergen comes across to wham the edge, but whiffs the edge instead. 2nd & 11) Slant Shorter. Quess was getting walked by Herbig, most of the line was getting walked but it was a rhythm throw. 3rd & 3) Thompson quick throw for the 1st. Perfectly adequate there, 70 had nobody to block but was hunting. 1st & 10) Deep shot inc. Anderson doing everything you want the C to do assisting the guards. 2nd & 10) Quick out to Shavers. Anderson flings another Steeler to the turf, Evans with a good job on the blitz pickup. 3rd & 3) Pittsburgh brings 6, Allen correctly throws hot but Quess' guy jumps and bats down the pass. 9th series - 74-67-62-70-77 1st & goal) TD Mims, nice cut behind Anderson sealing TWO Steelers inside for the walk-in. Anderson is a hoss, that was impressive. 10th series - 74-67-62-70-77 1st & 10) Evans cutback behind Anderson's block again for 9. What stands out about 70 is how easily he turns defenders to gain his leverage and open the holes. 2nd & 1) Another run, this time behind Broeker and Van Demark on the left who move the Steelers easily. 1st & 10) Another dive run behind Broeker and the pile moves a bit. 2nd & 7) Swing to Evans. Middle blitz picked up, ball comes out hot but minimal gain. 3rd & 5) Pitts shows everything but only rushes 4. Consequently the hot throw is doubled and inc. Blocking was fine there too. 11th series - 74-67-62-63-75 1st & 10) Quick out to Shorter. Mean low block by 74 on the edge #40. Gouraige engulfs his edge rusher. 2nd & 3) Nice job Broeker & Van Demark opening a hole for the RB. 2 minute warning now. 1st & 10) Slant to Thompson, line holds up easily. We're going hurry-up, Pitt only rushing 4. 2nd & 5) Out to Wilson, again quick rhythm and Pitt not doing crazy stuff. 1st & 10) Scramble, dumpoff to Mims. Gouraige gets beat inside on a speed-to-power but tackles his guy, that was far worse than what Brown did for his hold. Van Demark runs his guy around the world. 1st & 10) Allen to Steenbergen. Gouraige shows good anchor on his single block. 1st & 10) Out to Shorter. Left side 74-67 handles a stunt easily. 2nd & 3) Skinny post to Shorter TD. Van Demark starts to budge on a bull rush but Broeker comes over to smack. 2PT) Mimsy walks in behind LG GOOD. Broeker turns his man out easily and Mancz mops up. Overall: - Every member of the starting OL was the weak link on a play or two. - Dawkins had the roughest game among the starters, but generally there was enough sloppiness all over. - Brown was not as bad as the forum is making out, he probably have made more plus plays than most other starters. He's just high variance. - McGovern's quick exit means either he was dinged or he's got it locked down at LG. - When the Steelers went basic rush-4 drop-7 they didn't accomplish much. It looked like they game-planned this one, tons of blitzes all game long. or, that's just what they do all the time. The Bills adjusted pretty well, Pitts didn't get a whole lot of free rushers for the amount they sent 5+. IRL it'll burn 'em against Allen, or maybe even Allen. Not so much against Barkley. - Get f'ed refs, over-officious jerks. I have no explanation on the Doyle PF, for instance. - How the f did a Danny Smith-coached ST pwn the Bills, wasn't he the WOAT special teams coach when he was here? Like, "Special" had an alternate interpretation? Tea leaves: - Anderson ought to be the primary backup at C at this point. He looks like he can be a plus-starter down the road a little and may be ready now. With Torrence obviously elevating to starter and McGovern locked in I don't think there's room for him, Bates, and Edwards to back up the interior 3 positions, though. There's a trust factor with Bates but honestly, but he's peaked. 70 did some athletic/strength things 71 can't. I wouldn't want to expose Anderson to waivers with the tape he's laying down. Edwards as G-only while Anderson and Bates having 5-position flex might make a difference, although Edwards has done nothing to not make the team. - 65 and 77 don't make my final roster. I have to assume the long look at the latter after Doyle was carted off was deciding whether he can play at even a stopgap level anymore. Both were a notable liability even against the 2nd team. - Broeker should make it to the practice squad, he was solid. - Van Demark is a roster lock as the swing tackle right now. - If you're bringing Peters in it's not to replace 73 or 79, it's to replace 77. Unless Gouraige gets a long look next week and shows out and does that himself.

Not at RT he isn't. Vam Demark kept getting ruined by the same power-to-speed rush wide to his right all 2nd half last week. Gouraige in his series today and without me going over the tape in detail looked to be enveloping his man rep over rep.

What's interesting is he's at RT this week, rather than LT like last week.

Scouts?

Curious to see if Shorter can catch a ball while not falling down.

Cline finally chased the car... and caught it!

Not me, I'm wearing the Blue-Blockers!

I guess if the guy is double-covered, throw it as hard as possible and hope you knock one of the defenders down.

Anderson out, Mancz in. Can't be a good sign for 62.

OT: Have you tries that Overpack'd or whatever thing? 3 each IPA, 2xIPA, Juicy, Hazy and Tropical IPA's. I thought that would last a little longer than it did, really good and good value.

Gotta have a punt catcher on the roster.

Man this is sad when a 60-year-old running back like Greg Bell is ripping off 8-yarders.

Only you know and I know? (jk, i get the reference)

TD right behind Anderson. I think the Bills will regret it when they lose that guy. Not as much as Teller but still.

interesting that Dodson is in the game in the 4th Q with the shoe clerks.

Steenbergen is one of the worst blocking TEs. He's like Gesicki who can't catch.

Did I hear that right? Danny Smith is the Steelers ST coach that is owning the Bills tonight? That Danny Smith??

I'm gonna need to rewatch the replay, but I'm liking Anderson at C, and of course the RB immediately tries to blow out his knee.

Boy if you could just take Doyle's toughness and transplant 1/5th to each of the starters on OL, they'd be something.

Why would we ever do that?

At the presser I really hope someone asks McD what he thinks of his team's execution tonight.

Darren 10 continues the first half theme on the KR.

If I had to sum up that half in one tweet... guess which one is Pittsburgh and which one is Buffalo?

It's either those, or Blue-Blockers to protect his retinas from the visual horror of the Bills performance.