Ralonzo

I guess the one "legit" way to float my own thread is to add some content, so... How bad was the DL? Let's have a brew or two tonight and find out. 1st series - 50-91-92-56 1st & 10) Handoff Najee. DaQuon stacks up two interior lineman where the run was designed and keeps Milano clean for a short gain. 2nd & 7) Quick throw left flat. Rousseau defeated the tackle to the inside, ball just came out fast. Floyd and Oliver were collapsing the pocket. 1st & 10) Handoff Najee to the same gap as the first snap with the same result. DaQuon is just not having it. 2nd & 7) Pickett bails a noisy but intact pocket and ducks inside Rousseau who went for upfield speed move. 3rd & 7) Pickett complete after stepping up as Rousseau & Oliver get taken upfield and DaQuon stoned with a double team. 1st series - 55-99-98-57 1st & 10) Handoff TD Steelers. Rut roh. 1st snap against the rotational guys goes the distance. That went right over Steeler guard #61 turning Poona Ford out, Settle got buried, Epenesa stymied. Uuuugly. 2nd series - 50-92-91-55 1st & 10) Seam throw TD Steelers. DaQuon and Oliver got handled although I think DaQuon got tripped by 61 which went uncalled. Boogie was actually closest to arriving. 3rd series - 50-92-91-56 1st & 10) Pass to left flat. Play action as OL down blocks right and Bills go with them. 2nd & 6) Pitch left gets rekt by Bills. Oliver was key on that play, recognized where the play was going, immediately disengaged from guard and was first to arrive, Rousseau mopping up. 3rd & 8) Bills middle blitz from Milano, ball came out just before the pocket collapsed (except for Floyd who got handled by LT) but the refs save the Steelers yet again. 3rd series - 50-91-92-55 1st & 10) Screen right. Oliver got through immediately but whether that was by design, dunno. 1st & 10) Deep shot inc. Bills sent a lot of guys and didn't really get close. 3rd series - 55-99-98-57 2nd & 10) That same handoff over LG. Ford & Settle wreck that hole, Basham grabs the RB trying to bounce right. 3rd & 9) Not a lot of pressure, Ford and Settle got no push. Dump off to RB and it's Basham hustling to make the stop. 4th series - 50-99-91-90 1st & 10) Handoff, Settle and Oliver both get penetration and cause a loss. 2nd & 11) Quick throw to TE. Oliver is getting upfield quick, forcing the ball to come out. 3rd & 5) Out route left for the 1st. Settle almost got there with a nice swim. 1st & 10) Sack & FF for Rousseau who the Steelers declined to block for reasons unknown. 2nd & 27) Oliver forces a Trubisky scramble. 3rd & 20) Oliver and Rousseau run a stunt which doesn't work, but Steelers don't convert. Wait, is there a flag? No, no flag. Whew. 5th series - 55-99-98-57 1st & 10) Middle dive, after AJE penetration forces it back inside. 2nd & 9) Bit of a delay safety blitz behind AJE, Trubisky makes the correct hot read and delivers an ok gain. 3rd & 4) AJE with a really wide set gives a big lane to throw a slant to convert the 1st. 1st & 10) Handoff over RT, Boogie takes on and stacks a double-team to keep Hamlin clean for the short gain. And another iffy flag. 1st & 10) Same play, same result. Boogie stuffs the double team. 2nd & 9) Trubisky under pressure forcing the early throw and inc. Looked like Dorian on the delay middle blitz forcing that. 3rd & 9) Lawson gets around the edge and flushes Trubisky. Settle draws a holding penalty. 3rd & 19) Bills show no pressure and indeed only rush 3, Boogie playing inside holds the zone. Completion is short. 6th series - 90-98-99-57 1st & 10) Another short field made shorter by ref mystery call. Lawson runs around RT this time and flushes QB the other way for a scramble. Lol Cam Lewis trying to blitz. 6th series - 55-99-98-90 2nd & 4) Lousy play action with Settle and Basham both arriving at QB as he turns, Trubisky flings it to area and prays for a flag and because it's Pittsburgh... Ford got buried. 1st & goal) Dive middle, Basham and Ford get penetration, Settle at least holds the line. 2nd & goal) Play action out to the flat inc. Basham running free again. 6th series - 57-99-98-90 3rd & goal) Fade pattern incomplete, they're gonna have to... aw, nevermind it's another flag. Ridiculous. But that one's a penalty. 1st & goal) Dive LG, Lawson and Settle move the LOS back, loss of 1. 2nd & goal) Refs giving yards, 1st downs, and now time too. Handoff, whole line stands up the OL. Except Ford who gets moved into the EZ by the guard. Loss of 2 though. 3rd & goal) Shotgun, and the patented McD timeout to allow the Steeler O time to figure out what the want to do. And another TD because of it. But that's another rant. Epenesa was ROARING around the edge and just barely didn't get there. 7th series - 55-94-98-57 1st & 10) Short field, recurring theme. Handoff but both Basham and Epenesa defeat their block, Basham gets there first for the TFL. 2nd & 11) Ford got loose in the middle, forces a quick throw, refs bail it out again with a PI. 1st & 10) That same run over LG, Basham crashes down from the other end and with Dorian smush the RB. Ford draws a penalty on the OL. 1st & 20) They try running at Basham for the 4th or 5th time and get nothing for the 4th or 5th time. He's having a night. 2nd & 20) Rudolph rolls left, AJE stays home and probably affects the throw that Neal bats down. 3rd & 20) Looks like a containment rush, allow the short throw and force 4th down. 8th series - 49-93-61-96 1st & 10) Check down right. Ray and Dale were closest. 1st & 10) Counter handoff, Ray gets buried, Vickers makes the play. 2nd & 11) Middle throw to TE. Interior DL got handled. 3rd & 5) Klein delay blitz, Cline goes upfield, Rudolph goes right between him and Dale. 1st & 10) Handoff middle, Looked like some sort of stunt where Ray crashed down to make the stop. 8th series - 49-61-94-59 2nd & 7) Jet sweep left goes right past Jonathan who's frozen. 8th series - 96-93-94-59 3rd & 3) Jonathan finally shows the chop and bend move to get the edge around the T for the sack, though Vickers had already walked the G to the QB. 9th series - 96-61-93-49 1st & 10) Handoff middle is all clogged, RB loses trying to bounce to the sideline. 9th series - 96-94-93-49 2nd & 14) Handoff right. Cline just misses in the backfield as RB cuts inside. Ray flies in from his end on the stop and gets dinged. 9th series - 96-94-93-59 3rd & 7) Bad snap, QB puts it on the ground. T forgets to block Jonathan who separates QB from picking it up, and Cline eventually gets the recovery. 10th series - 96-94-93-59 1st & 10) Handoff over RG punches through. Wish I could see who is in with their PIP interview, I assume Broughton. 2nd & 2) Handoff over LG, Vickers pushes through the double-team to force the RB into LB/S. 3rd & 1) Handoff middle, Steelers move 93 and 94 just enough to make it. 1st & 10) Quick out right, nothing to note there when the ball is out in 2 seconds. 2nd & 4) Handoff LG, that was stopped up pretty good by the interior guys. 3rd & 3) Little crosser, Vickers got held big time or would have gotten home. Thanks again zebras for keeping it "fair." 1st & 10) Draw to the middle, 93 and 94 got moved 3-4 yards downfield. 2nd & 6) Same thing, this time they don't get moved. 3rd & 4) Quick out should have been a pick-6. 11th series - 96-94-93-59 1st & 10) Pitch wide left, Jonathan and Broughton get in on it. 2nd & 9) Handoff middle, Broughton & Vickers gobble that up. 3rd & 9) Dropback, scramble forced by Broughton mainly, QB doesn't seeing Cline coming by the scenic route from behind for the sack. 12th series - who cares 1st & 10 etc) Victory formation. Overall: - I don't think they're featuring Boogie for a trade, he's earning it. My biggest positive surprise on review this week. - Settle was also much better this week than last. - Oliver doesn't always make something happen but he's usually in the area. - Rousseau gets 3 or 4 instant wins a game and that usually results in big plays (the 17 yard sack and forced fumble). - In scrub time, Vickers was better than I thought and Cline was kinda lucky. - Get f'ed refs, over-officious jerks. Tea leaves: - Poona Ford hasn't really shown me many reasons to have him on the 53. - Floyd didn't factor in on anything this game. They just ran him wide. - Epenesa is special like every fifth play, and is just... a liiiitle slow... the other 4. - Jonathan isn't flashing as many reps as I recall from last year.

Agrees with what I saw. Yep, you caught that exactly right IMO.

I knew he was a hanger-on the P/S last year but hardly knew a thing about him. What I know about him is 2 weeks of game film and that's what is telling me this guy might be the future after Morse.

Ateman is a hands catcher. Shavers has had several good hands catches and at least one hands drop.

"WARRIOR" dude got lumped.

Boettger and Quessenberry match up for pass pro. Van Demark and Alec Anderson not being on the list implies their pass pro grade was > 77.6 according to the sort. This also matches up to the eye test. Edwards as well, who was this weeks McGovern for being non-descript while just winning rep after rep. Torrence is an outlier for sure, and definitely looked better than that to me. Maybe he gets dinged by PFF for turning his feet like a duck.

Gouraige? He got beat on a speed-to-power move one rep and tackled his guy but no call. Other than that he was fine.

I disagree with C-1's categorization of Torrence getting his hands on the blitzer #55 at ~11:00 as a rep "loss". He flung that guy like a soggy trash bag. He didn't even need proper tech to properly wreck.

12 accepted. In a half. I was thinking Willie Totten might come out for the 2nd half.

Quessenberry needs service.

Van Demark played all LT snaps from the time Dawkins exited the game. Doyle going down meant the guy behind him on the depth chart - Quessenberry - replaced him. And he was bad until Gouraige replaced him on the final drive, and wasn't nearly as bad. Beane has to be looking to upgrade tackle #4. Shell would have been fine. Doyle would been ok. Quessenberry is a potential disaster. I'm fine rolling the dice on a younger guy on the ascent, or a cutdown casualty or street FA who can perform better than Q right now.

Would love to have both Bates and Anderson in 2024 if, as we surmise, Morse moves on from the Bills or vice versa. One starts and one is interior primary backup. The question is how to get from here to there with both.

You also notice that Murray is downhill while the backer is still turning around to chase. That was Brown pulling from RT into the LG gap to spring the run. Ugly, but mission accomplished, Murray goes for 10+ and the first down.

That's awful. The 4 or 5 plays he got this preseason, he was ok. The problem is playing on a line with Boettger means there's potential for chaos on any snap.

Should follow up on this a little. I liked Mims more this game than last, where there was maybe 2 runs where he got what I felt were more yards than a JAG would. Evans has been better at that. I don't think he's showed near as well as Blackshear last year who was cut anyway in favor of Moss. Cook, Murray and likely Harris will be the 3, Evans could be a P/S candidate. Jonathan was a guy who had a great preseason last year, got cut and his film got him signed to the Bears' active roster. He doesn't look as fast or bendy so far this year and he's not holding up against the run at all. He might be a cut-and-resign-till-Von-is-off-PUP candidate at best. I was hoping he'd have upside but looks closer to maxing out than I thought in '22.

Sure hope so. Chicago comes to mind, lol. But what I'm seeing is, Anderson is out-performing Bates at Bates' former role - primary backup to the 3 interior positions, and a guy who can get you out of a game at tackle. Bates went from that, to starter, but with McGovern signed and Torrence ascending, he needs to outperform Anderson and Edwards and he just isn't.

If I didn't make it obvious in other threads: Trending up: Alec Anderson - C/G - Not sure when the light went on for him, but he was very good last week and better this week. Didn't see him lose a rep, and was THE key block in maybe a half dozen snaps. And he has some attitude, casually pitching opponents to the turf. Seems to have superior balance and core strength, much like Teller. His emergence might make Bates the surprise cut this year? If Anderson continues his trajectory like this you could be looking at your post-Morse starter for 10 years. Trending down: Ike Boettger G / David Quessenberry T - Boettger landed on his face just before Doyle wrecked himself trying to block the guy that went by Ike. Quessenberry's mark made multiple plays - i.e. the Barkley fumble. Quessenberry was bad last year and is a shell of that this year. Boettger was Just A Guy at a time when the Bills interior situation made that a vast improvement, and he's also a shell of the player he was before the Achilles. If I get to watching the defensive snaps for analysis, I'll follow on. I will say Hamlin looked like he was in molasses trying to get to the runner at the sideline on one play where Neal flew past him and made the play. Also Dorian looks small standing next to Hamlin lol.

I'm questioning what you expect them to do when Allen runs past both them, and the guys they're blocking. Block them in the back? Tackle them? Why are you so singularly focused on this one down which almost certainly never plays out that way in the regular season with Allen changing his mind and sprinting first to the sideline and then back to the middle of the field? Legitimately, what are you expecting there in the middle of a completely broken play?

Van Demark is a cinch IMO but he's much better at LT than RT. Doyle was supposed to be the insurance at RT, but that's gone. Quessenberry can't be an option here, he's losing reps badly against rookies and crumb bums. The guy I'm really really high on after two games now is college T Anderson. He's been spectacular in run and pass pro sets, at both C and G, getting to the second level, and physically demolishing guys. Let's not do the Teller thing again and keep the marginally serviceable vets over the kid with big upside. I wonder if Chicago wants Bates' contract? I mean, they wrote it... "Deleveraged" means, 4 OL are blocking their opponent in <--- that direction, i.e. <--Steeler-Lineman-Allen-. Allen runs past the pocket so that now it's <--Allen-Steeler-Lineman-. Tough to block that assignment, and yes the lineman ease down because as far as they're concerned the play has gone past them, their job is done. Dawkins was a try-hard there because he got posterized by Highsmith.

1) Pittsburgh didn't run basic defense - they played to their bullyball identity. 2) Most of the Bills errors were between the helmet holes.

Well, there's the rub. Watching play-by-play, it wasn't as bad as it's being made out to be. That should be in the synopsis. And there were guys who outperformed expectation - Anderson most notably, but also Van Demark and Broeker.

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.