Steelers strengths and weaknesses

[Codyny13]

It’s been slow at work today so I’ve gone back and watched the Steelers V Cards this morning to get a feel for what’s coming. 

 

Watching the steelers defense there are a few things that jump out at you. The first thing being the outside rush. Both Watt, and Dupree have great speed off the edges and possess a great inside move. They were consistently able to get pressure on Murray which forced him to step up. One thing I noticed was the Steelers quite regularly brought an extra rusher and came with 5. They did a good job of plugging lanes that didn’t allow Kyler to escape easily and run. This is something they might tactically try to do against us with Josh’s mobility. The Cards chose to attack this by implementing a short passing game outside the numbers which had mixed results. The Steelers have a great group defense that does a great job flowing to the ball. Most tackles I saw were gang tackles. The Cards seemed to start gaining some success when they went to a true hurry-up. After a few first downs the Steelers were trying to sub lineman in for guys with their arms on the waists. They seemed to be getting  gassed and subsequently went to nickel and dime looks. This made it more difficult for Murray to find open receivers amongst the heavy zone looks, but the short outside passes and screens started to hit more, as well the ability for Kyler to gain yards with his legs. Another thing I noticed was the interior of the Steeler defense. While the outside rushers consistently won at the line of scrimmage, it seems the Cards interior line was able to block the defense one on one. Kenjan Drake and Johnson seemed to have more success running a and b gaps as opposed to outside the tackles. Again, once the hurry up wore down the Steelers, they had more success running the outside zones.

 

On offense, I can’t say I was impressed by the unit as a whole, but there are a few things to point out.

 

Duck Hodges. Never heard of the guy before the last cpl of weeks but I was pretty impressed. He’s very composed and comfortable in the pocket. He seems to be able to read the field and has a strong enough arm to get the ball there. That being said, he threw the ball 5 times before the final 2 minutes of the first half, maybe 1 throw was farther then 15 yards? He has movement ability and was able to pull the ball down and run for a few good gains. In the final drive of the half he threw a cpl of 50/50 balls that his receivers were able to come down with. They weren’t some awesome passes or anything but his WR’s were able to come down with the ball. The Cards have a terrible pass defense and I don’t see these passes being completed against the Bills strong secondary. Instead the Steelers rely on a ton of motion, misdirection, and play action. They run a lot of outside zone, where the Qb swings around faking that he has the ball to hesitate the defense. It didn’t work all that great, and against a better defense I see less success. The fact of the matter is, they try to manufacture offense. They’re at the bottom of the league at scoring touchdowns and finishing drives. I think their red zone td rate is somewhere around 35% and 32nd in the NFL. They’ve also turned the ball over in 20 straight games.

 

A point of note is they did score a punt return Touchdown in this game, so our special teams must be on point.

 

All in all, I think we are the better team and win on Sunday night. I don’t see their offense being able to score more than 14 or 17 points. The only way we lose this football game is if we turn the ball over on offense leaving them with a short field. We can attack their interior defensive line with the run, wear them down with tempo, and start to hit these shorter passes.

 

Go Bills.

[Rubes]

Good read, thanks.

 

I think the key to this game is if we can keep Allen upright and comfortable. When he gets pressure and doesn't have lanes to run, bad things happen. If we start seeing sacks and pressure early, it will be a long night. This one is all on the offensive line.

 

[whatdrought]

good work. Give the ball to Singletary early and often, and then use the short passing game. I will be very disappointed if the "two short runs and a deep pass" offense comes back. Allen needs to hit those throws, yes, but there's no reason to not go with our systemic attack which moves the ball down the field. 

[Seasons1992]

More Singletary and WTF happened to McKenzie on those little behind the line run-screens? More of those, please. And someone on the O-Line light a fire under all of them to be great.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

1 hour ago, Codyny13 said:

It’s been slow at work today so I’ve gone back and watched the Steelers V Cards this morning to get a feel for what’s coming. 

 

Watching the steelers defense there are a few things that jump out at you. The first thing being the outside rush. Both Watt, and Dupree have great speed off the edges and possess a great inside move. They were consistently able to get pressure on Murray which forced him to step up. One thing I noticed was the Steelers quite regularly brought an extra rusher and came with 5. They did a good job of plugging lanes that didn’t allow Kyler to escape easily and run. This is something they might tactically try to do against us with Josh’s mobility. The Cards chose to attack this by implementing a short passing game outside the numbers which had mixed results. The Steelers have a great group defense that does a great job flowing to the ball. Most tackles I saw were gang tackles. The Cards seemed to start gaining some success when they went to a true hurry-up. After a few first downs the Steelers were trying to sub lineman in for guys with their arms on the waists. They seemed to be getting  gassed and subsequently went to nickel and dime looks. This made it more difficult for Murray to find open receivers amongst the heavy zone looks, but the short outside passes and screens started to hit more, as well the ability for Kyler to gain yards with his legs. Another thing I noticed was the interior of the Steeler defense. While the outside rushers consistently won at the line of scrimmage, it seems the Cards interior line was able to block the defense one on one. Kenjan Drake and Johnson seemed to have more success running a and b gaps as opposed to outside the tackles. Again, once the hurry up wore down the Steelers, they had more success running the outside zones.

 

On offense, I can’t say I was impressed by the unit as a whole, but there are a few things to point out.

 

Duck Hodges. Never heard of the guy before the last cpl of weeks but I was pretty impressed. He’s very composed and comfortable in the pocket. He seems to be able to read the field and has a strong enough arm to get the ball there. That being said, he threw the ball 5 times before the final 2 minutes of the first half, maybe 1 throw was farther then 15 yards? He has movement ability and was able to pull the ball down and run for a few good gains. In the final drive of the half he threw a cpl of 50/50 balls that his receivers were able to come down with. They weren’t some awesome passes or anything but his WR’s were able to come down with the ball. The Cards have a terrible pass defense and I don’t see these passes being completed against the Bills strong secondary. Instead the Steelers rely on a ton of motion, misdirection, and play action. They run a lot of outside zone, where the Qb swings around faking that he has the ball to hesitate the defense. It didn’t work all that great, and against a better defense I see less success. The fact of the matter is, they try to manufacture offense. They’re at the bottom of the league at scoring touchdowns and finishing drives. I think their red zone td rate is somewhere around 35% and 32nd in the NFL. They’ve also turned the ball over in 20 straight games.

 

A point of note is they did score a punt return Touchdown in this game, so our special teams must be on point.

 

All in all, I think we are the better team and win on Sunday night. I don’t see their offense being able to score more than 14 or 17 points. The only way we lose this football game is if we turn the ball over on offense leaving them with a short field. We can attack their interior defensive line with the run, wear them down with tempo, and start to hit these shorter passes.

 

Go Bills.

This was definitely more needed than whatever you're supposed to be doing at work on a Saturday ; great analysis points OP! The upshot is if we bring our A game I don't think they will be able to survive what we throw at them on either side of the ball. I didn't realize that in addition to being opportunistic, they've turned the ball over themselves 20 straight games--we need to keep that streak alive, as takeaways are a category we could use some improvement on as well.  

[SCBills]

Our OL has kept Allen upright against lots of blitzing teams this year.  Can’t expect them to do it against the zero blitzes of NE and Balt though.  
 

The Steelers don’t have the personnel to zero blitz like those two teams so I’d expect us to be more effective if they try it.    
 

If the Steelers do send five, we’ve been pretty good against teams that can rush the passer and/or send five. 

[LABILLBACKER]

47 minutes ago, Rubes said:

Good read, thanks.

 

I think the key to this game is if we can keep Allen upright and comfortable. When he gets pressure and doesn't have lanes to run, bad things happen. If we start seeing sacks and pressure early, it will be a long night. This one is all on the offensive line.

 

Yes it is. They will blitz alot on cover 0. Keep passes short and crisp. No bombs. Run screens, draws and short slants. And pray our defense can score at least once. Their offense is pedestrian. Basically a gameplan similar to Dallas.

[RyanC883]

1 hour ago, SCBills said:

Our OL has kept Allen upright against lots of blitzing teams this year.  Can’t expect them to do it against the zero blitzes of NE and Balt though.  
 

The Steelers don’t have the personnel to zero blitz like those two teams so I’d expect us to be more effective if they try it.    
 

If the Steelers do send five, we’ve been pretty good against teams that can rush the passer and/or send five. 

 

I'd rather see zero blitz than just 5.  The Steelers can send 5, they have 2 defensive player of the year candidates in Watt and Fitzpatrick.  Both can and have blitzed this year.  Allen will need to know where Hayden is lined up.  Throw to other side.  Allen will also need to not get rattled if/when he makes a bad play.  Everyone will make a bad play against a chaotic and talented Steelers D.  But I don't think they can shut us down all game.  

 

I'd also like to see some shotgun handoffs.  Let the pass rush show what it's going to do, then hand it off and either beat it, or be prepared for later.  

3 hours ago, Codyny13 said:

It’s been slow at work today so I’ve gone back and watched the Steelers V Cards this morning to get a feel for what’s coming. 

 

Watching the steelers defense there are a few things that jump out at you. The first thing being the outside rush. Both Watt, and Dupree have great speed off the edges and possess a great inside move. They were consistently able to get pressure on Murray which forced him to step up. One thing I noticed was the Steelers quite regularly brought an extra rusher and came with 5. They did a good job of plugging lanes that didn’t allow Kyler to escape easily and run. This is something they might tactically try to do against us with Josh’s mobility. The Cards chose to attack this by implementing a short passing game outside the numbers which had mixed results. The Steelers have a great group defense that does a great job flowing to the ball. Most tackles I saw were gang tackles. The Cards seemed to start gaining some success when they went to a true hurry-up. After a few first downs the Steelers were trying to sub lineman in for guys with their arms on the waists. They seemed to be getting  gassed and subsequently went to nickel and dime looks. This made it more difficult for Murray to find open receivers amongst the heavy zone looks, but the short outside passes and screens started to hit more, as well the ability for Kyler to gain yards with his legs. Another thing I noticed was the interior of the Steeler defense. While the outside rushers consistently won at the line of scrimmage, it seems the Cards interior line was able to block the defense one on one. Kenjan Drake and Johnson seemed to have more success running a and b gaps as opposed to outside the tackles. Again, once the hurry up wore down the Steelers, they had more success running the outside zones.

 

On offense, I can’t say I was impressed by the unit as a whole, but there are a few things to point out.

 

Duck Hodges. Never heard of the guy before the last cpl of weeks but I was pretty impressed. He’s very composed and comfortable in the pocket. He seems to be able to read the field and has a strong enough arm to get the ball there. That being said, he threw the ball 5 times before the final 2 minutes of the first half, maybe 1 throw was farther then 15 yards? He has movement ability and was able to pull the ball down and run for a few good gains. In the final drive of the half he threw a cpl of 50/50 balls that his receivers were able to come down with. They weren’t some awesome passes or anything but his WR’s were able to come down with the ball. The Cards have a terrible pass defense and I don’t see these passes being completed against the Bills strong secondary. Instead the Steelers rely on a ton of motion, misdirection, and play action. They run a lot of outside zone, where the Qb swings around faking that he has the ball to hesitate the defense. It didn’t work all that great, and against a better defense I see less success. The fact of the matter is, they try to manufacture offense. They’re at the bottom of the league at scoring touchdowns and finishing drives. I think their red zone td rate is somewhere around 35% and 32nd in the NFL. They’ve also turned the ball over in 20 straight games.

 

A point of note is they did score a punt return Touchdown in this game, so our special teams must be on point.

 

All in all, I think we are the better team and win on Sunday night. I don’t see their offense being able to score more than 14 or 17 points. The only way we lose this football game is if we turn the ball over on offense leaving them with a short field. We can attack their interior defensive line with the run, wear them down with tempo, and start to hit these shorter passes.

 

Go Bills.

 

I agree.  That, and special teams mistakes.  The Steelers like trick plays on ST.  I would expect a full-out punt block attempt, and/or a fake FG/punt.  

Edited December 14, 2019 by RyanC883

[Steptide]

I'd like to see some no huddle tomorrow night run at a fast pace. Make that steelers defense tired in the first half and get them off their game 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

2 hours ago, SCBills said:

Our OL has kept Allen upright against lots of blitzing teams this year.  Can’t expect them to do it against the zero blitzes of NE and Balt though.  
 

The Steelers don’t have the personnel to zero blitz like those two teams so I’d expect us to be more effective if they try it.    
 

If the Steelers do send five, we’ve been pretty good against teams that can rush the passer and/or send five. 

 

Rewatching the all 22 they sent 6 or 7 so many times and our WRs were running 30 yard sideline fades or post patterns ? 

[Phil The Thrill]

Listening to Joe Buscaglia, it made it sound like the Bills have zero chance at moving the football.  He thinks Pittsburgh’s defense is the best that the Bills will face.  Much better than NE and BAL.  

 

Given the pressure on the edges,  the strong blitz packages, and the zone scheme with players like Fitzpatrick as ballhawks, that Pittsburgh will pressure Josh Allen into turnovers and end up winning a close game.  
 

On offense he didn’t see Pittsburgh as much of a thread but thinks that Hodges won’t lose the game and that the offense will move through a returning James Conner.

 

Joe is something like 11-2 on the season, so this prediction has me kind of worried

[ogham26]

hoping for yeldon to be active I think short passes to him and singletary could be the key to winning this game.  let watt and Dupree rush and get our rbs on screens and swing passes.  Huge plays can be made on these simple routes against the steelers imo.

[123719bwiqrb]

Run a successful screen pass for once this season.  Do that and it would change the pass rush.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

6 hours ago, Codyny13 said:

Duck Hodges. Never heard of the guy before the last cpl of weeks but I was pretty impressed. He’s very composed and comfortable in the pocket. He seems to be able to read the field and has a strong enough arm to get the ball there. That being said, he threw the ball 5 times before the final 2 minutes of the first half, maybe 1 throw was farther then 15 yards? He has movement ability and was able to pull the ball down and run for a few good gains. In the final drive of the half he threw a cpl of 50/50 balls that his receivers were able to come down with. They weren’t some awesome passes or anything but his WR’s were able to come down with the ball. The Cards have a terrible pass defense and I don’t see these passes being completed against the Bills strong secondary. Instead the Steelers rely on a ton of motion, misdirection, and play action. They run a lot of outside zone, where the Qb swings around faking that he has the ball to hesitate the defense. It didn’t work all that great, and against a better defense I see less success. The fact of the matter is, they try to manufacture offense. They’re at the bottom of the league at scoring touchdowns and finishing drives. I think their red zone td rate is somewhere around 35% and 32nd in the NFL. They’ve also turned the ball over in 20 straight games.

 

This is exactly why we have to collapse the pocket!

 

1 hour ago, ScotSHO said:

Run a successful screen pass for once this season.  Do that and it would change the pass rush.

It happened once, which is ridiculously too few times.

Edited December 14, 2019 by Formerly Allan in MD

[Phil The Thrill]

2 hours ago, ogham26 said:

hoping for yeldon to be active I think short passes to him and singletary could be the key to winning this game.  let watt and Dupree rush and get our rbs on screens and swing passes.  Huge plays can be made on these simple routes against the steelers imo.

Frank Gore seems like an awesome person and a great teammate.  I read that he has selflessly taken the role of mentor to Singletary and has really helped his development.

 

With that being said, I do feel that TJ Yeldon offers more to this team as an RB in limited duty being Singletary.  I‘m not quite sure why he isn’t active

[Buffalo Junction]

6 hours ago, SCBills said:

Our OL has kept Allen upright against lots of blitzing teams this year.  Can’t expect them to do it against the zero blitzes of NE and Balt though.  
 

The Steelers don’t have the personnel to zero blitz like those two teams so I’d expect us to be more effective if they try it.    
 

If the Steelers do send five, we’ve been pretty good against teams that can rush the passer and/or send five. 

Allen has done an excellent job of escaping through the B gap and extending plays. Particularly when Ford can ride the edge rusher along the arc. 

[Big Turk]

Basically their offense sucks ass and their defense and ST are good. Specifically their ability to generate sacks and takeaways on defense and their return game on special teams.

[John from Riverside]

This is a game we should be running 2 TE sets and running the ball like our playoffs depended on it........

 

Quick passes.......and run t he friggen ball...DO NOT TURN THE BALL OVER

[Max Fischer]

7 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Yes it is. They will blitz alot on cover 0. Keep passes short and crisp. No bombs. Run screens, draws and short slants. And pray our defense can score at least once. Their offense is pedestrian. Basically a gameplan similar to Dallas. Denver

 

This is a lot like the Denver game but Pittsburgh has a better defense and Duck may be a lesser QB. 

[Sherlock Holmes]

TJ Watt is a future HoF player.

[Big Blitz]

1 hour ago, John from Riverside said:

This is a game we should be running 2 TE sets and running the ball like our playoffs depended on it........

 

Quick passes.......and run t he friggen ball...DO NOT TURN THE BALL OVER

 

 

Agreed.  2 or even 3 TE looks where we get Knox the ball.  Hunter Henry ate this team up.  So did Kittle and the Ravens TEs.  

 

I'd play it safe let the D win the game.  They just haven't allowed much in terms of points this season.  I'm not sure they've even allowed more than 28 in a game.  

[eanyills]

21 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Agreed.  2 or even 3 TE looks where we get Knox the ball.  Hunter Henry ate this team up.  So did Kittle and the Ravens TEs.  

 

I'd play it safe let the D win the game.  They just haven't allowed much in terms of points this season.  I'm not sure they've even allowed more than 28 in a game.  

You might want to double check that. Henry had a great game but Kittle and Andrews were kept in total check by Pittsburgh’s defense.

 

 

This game will not be easy. Pittsburgh has hung tough with the league’s elite when they’ve played.  Lost by two to Seattle, 4 to SF, and lost to the Ravens in OT.

Edited December 15, 2019 by eanyills

[TAinLack.]

Daboll..,  come up with an innovative game plan!!!

Edited December 15, 2019 by TAinLA
spelling

[Real McClappy]

Steelers are going DOWN Gary!

 

Great post and observations. Hope we can exploit these fools tomorrow night.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Real McCoy

[Hapless Bills Fan]

10 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

Listening to Joe Buscaglia, it made it sound like the Bills have zero chance at moving the football.  He thinks Pittsburgh’s defense is the best that the Bills will face.  Much better than NE and BAL.  

 

Given the pressure on the edges,  the strong blitz packages, and the zone scheme with players like Fitzpatrick as ballhawks, that Pittsburgh will pressure Josh Allen into turnovers and end up winning a close game.  
 

On offense he didn’t see Pittsburgh as much of a thread but thinks that Hodges won’t lose the game and that the offense will move through a returning James Conner.

 

Joe is something like 11-2 on the season, so this prediction has me kind of worried

 

Perhaps you should play FEARLESS instead of listening to Joe B

 

You say the hill's too steep to climb, chiding
You say you'd like to see me try, climbing
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb the hill in my own way
Just wait a while for the right day
And as I rise above the tree-line and the clouds
I look down hear the sounds of the things you said today

 

 

[RyanC883]

10 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

Listening to Joe Buscaglia, it made it sound like the Bills have zero chance at moving the football.  He thinks Pittsburgh’s defense is the best that the Bills will face.  Much better than NE and BAL.  

 

Given the pressure on the edges,  the strong blitz packages, and the zone scheme with players like Fitzpatrick as ballhawks, that Pittsburgh will pressure Josh Allen into turnovers and end up winning a close game.  
 

On offense he didn’t see Pittsburgh as much of a thread but thinks that Hodges won’t lose the game and that the offense will move through a returning James Conner.

 

Joe is something like 11-2 on the season, so this prediction has me kind of worried

 

it is the best the bills have faced.  Daboll needs quick passes, not long fade routes.   JA needs to throw with more accuracy and not fumble.  Thats the game there. .  

5 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Agreed.  2 or even 3 TE looks where we get Knox the ball.  Hunter Henry ate this team up.  So did Kittle and the Ravens TEs.  

 

I'd play it safe let the D win the game.  They just haven't allowed much in terms of points this season.  I'm not sure they've even allowed more than 28 in a game.  

 

slowly and steady move the ball down the field.  I like the Knox pass idea, use it with run game and short routes to beasley and brown.  

[CSBill]

A few thoughts and keys to winning:

• Make their O score points--I do not see them being able to score more than 17 at best.
• Conversely, no turnovers that lead to points (see the first point)
• Score 20 points--any way, any how
• Ball control, get the running game and short passing game going to keep their D honest
• Force the Duck to have to play from behind and prove he can throw the ball ... that is still a question, can he throw when he absolutely has to?
• Or, another way to say the last point, take their run game away from them.
• Get a score on Defense (when was the last time that happened?) or Special Teams
• And just to cause an eruption in WNY, just for the fun of it (not necessarily needed to win, but sure would help), complete a deep pass for a TD! Oh what Christmas Joy that would bring.

Edited December 15, 2019 by CSBill

[Da webster guy]

20 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 

Rewatching the all 22 they sent 6 or 7 so many times and our WRs were running 30 yard sideline fades or post patterns ? 

 

I hate when pro receivers do this.  i swear high school teams are better at sight adjustment than many NFL teams.  We did it horribly vs the Ravens.

Receivers are taught to run into the empty spot vacated by a blitzing player instead of running their pre-assigned pattern. The QB sees the free rusher or blitzing LB/CB and knows that the receiver will sight adjust accordingly and run a route that takes him into the hole left by the defender.  But the WR needs to make a quick post-snap glance to the Dline to be aware, and I dont usually see our guys do that.

This is the first thing I watch when a blitz comes-- where is the hole and why arent our receivers adjusting.  They're supposed to do the same thing when the cb is playing way off them, change the route to take advantage.  John Brown stands out to me as excellent on route adjustments, and I'm sure its done more than I can see, but it sure seems like a shortfall and I'll bet Daboll was all over them about it this week.

    The other thing we messed up w Ravens was the Oline wasn't presnap adjusting enough to allow Josh to see the free rusher.  The idea is someone is coming unblocked, and he needs know its not a blindside rusher so he can deal with it.  The line usually shifts assignments to prevent this, but we need to get this right.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

23 hours ago, Steptide said:

I'd like to see some no huddle tomorrow night run at a fast pace. Make that steelers defense tired in the first half and get them off their game 

Yes please!