2nd Half Defense: What Happened

[Patrick Duffy]

Steelers are a good team. They adjusted appropriately enough to move the ball. Offense/play calling/etc just couldn't do enough.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

3 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

 

The Defense was good in the first half, but "well," I think is too much praise, IMO.  4 new offensive lineman and one sack??  Too many 1st downs in the 2nd half when you must get the Steelers off the field.  Lots of quotes by defensive players such as Hyde regarding their subpar play down the stretch.   I also agree this game was a lot of coaching mistakes, I agree with 80%.  Mostly Daboll and McD, then you have uncharacteristically poor performances from Allen, really bad OL play, and Wallace getting abused.  

 

Not to nitpick, but it was 2 sacks and SHOULD'VE been a pick. They also held Ben to 188 yards, 1 TD, and a 50% completion rate. Not bad for a guy who threw for 33 TD and nearly 4000 yards last year!  I also want to mention that they held the Steelers to 75 yards rushing.

 

They gave up some chunks in inopportune times, but all in all the defense played great. It was that stupid blocked punt that did them in along w/ that mental gaff by Sanders. 

 

 

 

 

[CaptnCoke11]

14 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

 

Not to nitpick, but it was 2 sacks and SHOULD'VE been a pick. They also held Ben to 188 yards, 1 TD, and a 50% completion rate. Not bad for a guy who threw for 33 TD and nearly 4000 yards last year!  I also want to mention that they held the Steelers to 75 yards rushing.

 

They gave up some chunks in inopportune times, but all in all the defense played great. It was that stupid blocked punt that did them in along w/ that mental gaff by Sanders. 

 

 

 

 

I wouldn’t say they played great.  They did give up 200 yards in the second half and couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down in the second half.  

[JerseyBills]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:17 AM, RobbRiddick said:

Maybe they were getting tired. Plus I think they felt the pressure of coming up with a turnover because the offense was struggling so badly, looked like they were pressing a lot. 

 

To be honest there were a lot of plays where Pitt just made a great play. There was one where White had great coverage and they still managed to complete it. Sometimes things just go that way.

Dionte Johnson TD was one of them. Great coverage,  better catch , he's a great WR

[BBills_88]

Why do we allow TE's to kill us with big plays down the seems when we are in zone.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

6 hours ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

I wouldn’t say they played great.  They did give up 200 yards in the second half and couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down in the second half.  

 

Regardless, they gave up 16 points. I'll take that every single game in the modern day NFL. The offense and special teams are to blame, not the defense. We'll agree to disagree.

[par73]

They were excellent in the 1st half. 2nd half, they didn't get a stop (and no heat on Ben).

[LABILLBACKER]

We gave up 6 lousy points after 3 quarters. Wallace played the miracle catch very well. The offense and Dabol put the defense in poor field positions. The defense played well enough to win by double digits.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:53 AM, SCBills said:

 

The Defense wasn't just good in the first half, they were next level elite.

 

The Second Half, yes, they had some struggles, but still held the Steelers to FG's, while our Offense kept spazzing out.  The one TD coming on a great individual play by Johnson over Levi.  This also in conjunction with the refs deciding to call both holding on Tre and PI on Levi (I'm ok with the PI, but it's still one you don't see called sometimes, and they owed us one after that Tre White call).  Also Claypool simply made a great play on Tre.  It happens.

 

I thought Ben played really well in the second half too.  He was buying time and making good throws.  

 

Giving up 16 points in one half isn't ideal, but when your offense keeps putting the defense in bad positions all half, that can happen.... even to, what we're all hoping, is a very good defense.  

 

My gripe is that we still didn't see splash plays BUT we were also a bit unlucky...   Watt had a strip sack that they recovered.  Addison had a strip sack that they recovered, White has a pick that they erased with a ticky tack holding call and Edmunds just barely missed a deflected interception. 

 

I hate that PI call on Levi.  I get why you call it, but essentially you let the receiver climb all over the DB to get to back shoulder throws like that.  So if he throws deep, claypools got a step and is open, and if he throws behind him, you draw a PI.  Levi didn't initiate contact, he basically continued running and put hands up as claypool jumped.  That's a 3rd down that they got 26 yards on.  

 

Then they call holding on that pick?  When the Pitt receiver runs into tre?  If he doesn't touch him there he's just giving up a catch.  It's ridiculous, let them play football here.  This took a turnover off the board.

 

Almost every scoring drive in the 2nd half had an assist by a defensive penalty, and they got burned on a reverse (again...)

[PolishDave]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:08 AM, RyanC883 said:

I thought it was bad, but it was like 2 different halves.  Per NFL.com, "The Steelers scored 23 points after trailing 10-0 at halftime.  On their last four drives, they generated 231 yards and 13 first downs after opening the game with 22 yards and three first downs on their first 14 plays (6 drives)."  

 

I have no idea, wondering what everyone else thinks.  

 

The Steelers are not an elite offense by any means (Ben did not hit anyone over 20 air yards), and they started 4 new offensive lineman.  

 

As much as Daboll is rightfully taking flack for his game planning, what happened to the D?

 

 

 

I think a couple of things happened that made the biggest difference in the second half.

 

1) I think Ben was getting the ball out a little faster - which helped neutralize the pass rush Buffalo had been getting and helped the Steelers get into more of a rythm

2) Being a team that was facing a shut out from the first half - they Steelers decided to take more chances - throwing questionable balls to guys that were covered - those went their way.   Could have resulted in turnovers, but didn't.    With things already going the Steelers' way, the Bills' offense was still sputtering when it mattered.  Pittsburgh  got the punt block for 6.   That pretty much sealed it.

 

Basically, the Steelers coaches' halftime adjustments worked much better than Buffalo's.  And the Steelers got a little more aggressive with passes that paid off.

 

I think the Steelers are going to get mauled when they go up against a defense with a much better defensive line than Buffalo has.   Ben will be chucking ducks up for grabs and Najee will be eating dirt.

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by PolishDave