Jump to content

Views from the Opposition City - week 1 Pittsburgh


Lothar

Recommended Posts

Its in the Steelers fans blood.

 

My brother is a high IQ guy, level headed and pretty reserved in general.  But he’s a Steelers fan and he legitimately thinks the they are winning the Super Bowl this year.

 

“Najee Harris has been AMAZING in camp”

 

”Ben’s arm is back and looks AMAZING in camp”

 

”Minkah Fitzpatrick is flying around and looks AMAZING in camp”

 

“Melvin Ingram looks refreshed and playing like he’s 26 again….he’s looked amazing in camp”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steelers best chance to win the game is to create turnovers and control the clock.  The best acquisition the Bills made this offseason was bringing Sanders in.  He and Beasley can identify and sit in coverage gaps, allowing Allen the quick out he needs to combat aggressive defenses.  Then, as they sit back to fill the gaps, Allen can attack over the top.

 

The Bills offense is LOADED this year.  I struggle to see how any team who does not carry the same offensive talent will keep the Bills from scoring 30+ a game.  AVERAGE defensive play this year results in 12+ wins for this team.

 

With the Steelers, it will take Big Ben firing on all cylinders to pull out a win.  He needs to lead an effective offense for 60 minutes, with the knowledge that he is the best player on their side of the field.  Harris is great but I dont put him as a top 5 back yet.  Their WR's will likely struggle to create separation against the secondary.  

 

It will be a test for sure, but I expect the bills to win 34-20 or so.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

The view from the outside is that the Steelers are weak at corner and OL.  If this is true, that is a bad combination to match up with the Bills.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking when I did the matchups in my head. Cover 1 does very well made breakdowns in advance of games so I will defer to them but from a quick look I think that our strengths and their weaknesses match up very well for us.

 

The advantage of the Steelers defense is a very, very good D-line. I am not going to dismiss them, and I think they will get their due. With that said, Josh's ability to extend plays and throw on the run do mitigate that advantage. On top of that, apart from Minkah Fitzpatrick at safety they seem to be subpar in the secondary. Seeing the slant routes that Trubs nailed vs the Bears and the dump off routes to Sanders we saw vs the Packers, with the fact that we seem loaded at WR with Diggs, Sanders, Beasley and Davis I think that the Bills could pass sixty times and have the wheels to keep it fresh.

 

The Steelers finally seem to have a decent running back and Ben has some pop back in his arm, I am not overwhelmed by their WR group. Our secondary is good enough that unless they just go 5 wide all the time I think they are containable. Oh, I think that they will manage to dink and dunk well, and I will be tearing my hair out because they will make 3rd downs they shouldn't, but a weak offensive line and a rookie RB should not gash our run game weakness, and our overloaded group at D-line should keep us fresh.

 

I think the Steelers keep it close, but the Bills have an extra gear the Steelers don't have anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Sloppy analysis aside, this won’t be an easy game.  Tomlin has them ready to go when the season starts and they’ve improved from last year.

There is still plenty of talent on the Stillers.  Unfortunately for them none of it is on their offensive line.  Also it is to be seen how much is left at QB.  Rapistberger had a huge arm but I don’t know how much is left.  He couldn’t throw long last season.  I only saw him throw one deep pass this preseason and it was lofted too high.  If he is reasonably back to form then it might be a game - especially if the refs aren’t calling offensive holding.  If he’s not, then there’s no reason it should be.  It’s wonderful to be at a place where a single big flaw in an opponent equals an almost certain win. 

Edited by BarleyNY
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Lothar said:

Pitt Tribune writer thinks Bills will lose to Steelers because they are "disheveled" due to Covid. A couple other tidbits about problems along their offensive line and their linebackers.

 

https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-steelers-will-beat-disheveled-bills-in-week-1/

 

The Steelers will beat host Buffalo in the opener. The constant covid debate surrounding the Bills has them disheveled. The Steelers are all football. Steelers win. You heard it here.

 

I like when our opponent's media feels confident. I get more relaxed.

 

 

 

the author of that article is an egotistical a-hole.  (I live in Pit, he is unbearable).  

 

Yeah, the Bills looked really disheveled in the preseason.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

I expect Harris to run all over our defense, but I also expect Allen to be Allen so Bills win a close game at home.

i expect him to get hit at the LOS like their runners did last year and essentially fall forward for 2 or 3 instead of no gain.... that team lost arguably its best 3 players off a line that was the worst running unit in the NFL. They arent miraculously gonna start running all over everyone because they drafted a runner early. 

26 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Its in the Steelers fans blood.

 

My brother is a high IQ guy, level headed and pretty reserved in general.  But he’s a Steelers fan and he legitimately thinks the they are winning the Super Bowl this year.

 

“Najee Harris has been AMAZING in camp”

 

”Ben’s arm is back and looks AMAZING in camp”

 

”Minkah Fitzpatrick is flying around and looks AMAZING in camp”

 

“Melvin Ingram looks refreshed and playing like he’s 26 again….he’s looked amazing in camp”

its crazy right? my best friend since 1st grade is one of the most level headed and knowledgeable guys i've ever talked football with. He's making bets with me about them beating us week 1 and how we wont be able to handle their "weapons" and new RB. They didnt have a single 1000 yd "weapon" last year. I'm convinced its just 100% willed denial and ignorance.....Him and i were 19 yrs old the last time they didnt have a HOF qb. He and the rest of the fan base are in for a rude awakening and they want no part of accepting it.... 

 

.... i'm sure your brother has told you how amazing haskins has looked too, right? 3 years ago it was that they STOLE rudolph and that they wouldnt skip a beat when ben retired. 

  • Like (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this is hard for me as a Bills fan to grasp and perhaps even harder for the haters, but this Bills team has taken the step from “team you don’t want to play” to a top 5 team in the league.  
 

This is obviously in large part because of Allen taking an enormous leap and he’s showing no sign of slowing down.  The Bills should be a favorite at home vs any team in the league and only really even be considered the underdog vs KC at Arrowhead (as of last season).    I’m not saying the Steelers don’t have a chance, but this is a team you are going to come into the game knowing, you have to be perfect to beat because they will score a lot in a hurry, from anywhere on the field.  Allen has to be absolutely infuriating for opposing D’s, he’s just never out of it.  I love having that on our team for once lol. 
 

 

Now to my eye, KC is still the better team, but the Bills could take that step up IF the D-Line can generate consistent pressure and still contain the run, they can not afford to sell out to one or the other as they had to do a lot last year.   It worked well enough against more 1 dimensional teams, but it was not enough against the dynamic teams, namely KC.  They will also need a big step up by the LBs and a little more solid play from the secondary.  
 

Lastly, any sort of threat from the TE position in the passing game and obviously some more success in the run game would be a help to round out the team.  I think the run game will be ok this year, they really sold out to the pass last year and the scheme kinda sucked for the backs, I’m hoping to see some more looks where we spread out and then hammer the run.  Implementing some formations that give the backs more space should help get them going and keep the D a bit more honest.  I think Daboll did a great job last year, there are areas he can take it up a notch this year and I believe he has to be aware of it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Steelers best chance to win the game is to create turnovers and control the clock.  The best acquisition the Bills made this offseason was bringing Sanders in.  He and Beasley can identify and sit in coverage gaps, allowing Allen the quick out he needs to combat aggressive defenses.  Then, as they sit back to fill the gaps, Allen can attack over the top.

 

The Bills offense is LOADED this year.  I struggle to see how any team who does not carry the same offensive talent will keep the Bills from scoring 30+ a game.  AVERAGE defensive play this year results in 12+ wins for this team.

 

With the Steelers, it will take Big Ben firing on all cylinders to pull out a win.  He needs to lead an effective offense for 60 minutes, with the knowledge that he is the best player on their side of the field.  Harris is great but I dont put him as a top 5 back yet.  Their WR's will likely struggle to create separation against the secondary.  

 

It will be a test for sure, but I expect the bills to win 34-20 or so.  

 

I think the big challenge for buffalo will be how they deal with the blitzing nature of the pittsburgh defense.  It ate them up last time, and they really couldn't run the ball effectively either.  

 

On defense, the front 4 needs to make some noise against a pretty average offensive line.  The steelers have 3 solid WRs and Ebron is pretty good.  Harris is probably an upgrade at RB, but the reason they were always dumping it off to JuJu last year was because they couldn't run the ball at all.  Usually thats a symptom of a problem up front.  

 

I'm 50-50 on this game, Pittsburgh won 11 straight to start the year and faded down the stretch.  But all things considered they probably have the best defense in the league (3rd in yards, 3rd in points, 2nd in takeaways).  Their offense is probably better than last year, but Buffalo is fully healthy going into the game as well.  Looks like a toss-up to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Lothar said:

Pitt Tribune writer thinks Bills will lose to Steelers because they are "disheveled" due to Covid. A couple other tidbits about problems along their offensive line and their linebackers.

 

https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-steelers-will-beat-disheveled-bills-in-week-1/

 

The Steelers will beat host Buffalo in the opener. The constant covid debate surrounding the Bills has them disheveled. The Steelers are all football. Steelers win. You heard it here.

 

I like when our opponent's media feels confident. I get more relaxed.

 

 

 

Yes its the same guy

  • Haha (+1) 1
  • Awesome! (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Not saying they will run all over everyone… I’m saying they’ll have success running on us…..I still expect our defense particularly up the middle to struggle against the run. 

 

It's going to depend upon how much passing threat Big Ben can muster.

The Bills D can shut down the run just fine when they don't have to contain a dangerous passer (see Jackson, Lamar)

 

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Not saying they will run all over everyone… I’m saying they’ll have success running on us…..I still expect our defense particularly up the middle to struggle against the run. 

Obviously every year is different. But i dont expect their OL to be any better than last year, we're getting a piece of our run d back(Star), and we had no issues with their run game last year. Again, until anyone actually sees them able to run the ball should we be afraid of them running all over us? Nah.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, dneveu said:

I think the big challenge for buffalo will be how they deal with the blitzing nature of the pittsburgh defense.  It ate them up last time, and they really couldn't run the ball effectively either. 

 

I think that's one reason the Bills wanted Sanders.

 

Quick passes to the backs and TE are the bread-and-butter way most teams.  We don't have that.  Our equivalent is the quick pass to Beasley.  Well there's just one of him, teams can shut that down.  Against Pitts, we changed the routes Diggs was running and hit him quickly.  So the idea is , if they have to defend 2 WR who can find the seams, they have to back off the pressure a bit.  Having Sanders means they still have to defend Diggs on the intermediate stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Its in the Steelers fans blood.

 

My brother is a high IQ guy, level headed and pretty reserved in general.  But he’s a Steelers fan and he legitimately thinks the they are winning the Super Bowl this year.

 

“Najee Harris has been AMAZING in camp”

 

”Ben’s arm is back and looks AMAZING in camp”

 

”Minkah Fitzpatrick is flying around and looks AMAZING in camp”

 

“Melvin Ingram looks refreshed and playing like he’s 26 again….he’s looked amazing in camp”

 

The Steelers are a good team but how will Ben's health hold up throughout the season is a concern for them. Just in their division alone they will have their hands full with the Browns and Ravens who could very well finish ahead of them. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Steelers are a good team and will be a tough test for us. 

 

I don't think we beat them last year without that pick 6 at the end of the 1st half. 

 

The idea that we're disheveled due to COVID is utter nonsense. He might've had an argument if he pointed out we are one of the least vaccinated teams and all it will take is 1 staffer testing positive to send a number of our starters onto the close contact list. It's a fact that we have a higher risk of losing games due to COVID protocols than most other teams. It could even happen against the Steelers. 

 

I still think we'll win, but I don't think it'll be easy or by a lot. 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Stank_Nasty said:

i expect him to get hit at the LOS like their runners did last year and essentially fall forward for 2 or 3 instead of no gain.... that team lost arguably its best 3 players off a line that was the worst running unit in the NFL. They arent miraculously gonna start running all over everyone because they drafted a runner early. 

its crazy right? my best friend since 1st grade is one of the most level headed and knowledgeable guys i've ever talked football with. He's making bets with me about them beating us week 1 and how we wont be able to handle their "weapons" and new RB. They didnt have a single 1000 yd "weapon" last year. I'm convinced its just 100% willed denial and ignorance.....Him and i were 19 yrs old the last time they didnt have a HOF qb. He and the rest of the fan base are in for a rude awakening and they want no part of accepting it.... 

 

.... i'm sure your brother has told you how amazing haskins has looked too, right? 3 years ago it was that they STOLE rudolph and that they wouldnt skip a beat when ben retired. 

 

It is crazy.

 

He didn't tell me he Haskins was looking amazing but did say he's surprised he's looked impressive.  

 

The Steelers are going to be roughly .500 this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...