A Few Thoughts about the Steelers Game - Community Edition

[Haslett_Stomp]

1 hour ago, 2003Contenders said:

Why Is Gabe just standing around watching? LOL

 

I had the same question after looking at the pictures.

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

I’m with you on the non 1p starts … I don’t mind a few later games, but this season has been overboard with them. Then again, if you have nothing but 1p games, that tells me plenty about your team. I’m not overly impressed by the victory either, largely because I think our air attack remains pure garbage, and speaking of pure garbage? The Squealers are horrendous and they really need to face the music and blow that thing up from Tomlin on down. 

3 hours ago, nuklz2594 said:

aaron kromer should be OC. 

No. Ever hear of “The Peter Principle”?

[Old Coot]

2 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

Move to Southern California! Early games start at 10:00am and it’s almost certainly going to be 75 and sunny the rest of the afternoon.

You are just jealous of WNY weather.  Buffalo is where winter goes for the summer.

[UConn James]

Quote

 

5 - Brady - I can understand how the media and others might view Brady calling the same running play over and over again would be imposing of wills and daring the other team to adjust, but to me, it's infuriating.  Yes, it worked and we won.  But we also know that it can easily not work and Brady won't know how to get away from it.  This has been feedback against Brady all season and it's frustrating to see it continue.  Brady also confirmed again that he does not know how to incorporate wide receivers into his gameplay.

Can we erase the WR screen behind the line of scrimmage to Shakir from the playbook, please?! It hasn’t worked in weeks and was resulting in big losses. Teams are thoroughly on to it. You need to try something else but... he doesn't. And Shakir has been uncharacteristically droppy the last several including one catch on five targets yesterday. What the hell is going on?
 

Brady all year has just been like

and it's getting infuriating. This gameplan will not work for any other team in the league but he's so unimaginative and so unchanging that this is what he'll do and McD will allow.

 

As for what's going on in Josh's head. Same. He's just not the same dude. I dunno if he started believing the hype. Or if it's the life changes and commercial distractions. If someone got into his ear about his playing style. Or an injury he's hiding again.... But he just looks entirely disinterested when he goes and sits on the bench and looks at his tablet after every bad drive, INT, etc. If guys are messing up, captaincy and leadership is sometimes speaking to or even calling guys out when they didn't do the right assignment. Or rouse up your teammates in important moments. But there he's been all season, glued to the end of the bench with his face in a screen or just staring into space. There were signs of a pulse in the second half yesterday, at long last. How do we make that happen again / more?

Edited 19 minutes ago by UConn James

[thewookie1]

I agree with Sal Capaccio on the hit being the turning point but not due to a lack of effort. Instead he posed it as the team feeling uneasy and overly cautious not to make mistakes. Once the hit happens they stopped thinking about that and instead focused on kicking Steeler’s ass.

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

2 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

Simple solution Virgil:

Move to Southern California! Early games start at 10:00am and it’s almost certainly going to be 75 and sunny the rest of the afternoon. 👍

That sounds great, except for the “living in California” part 

[Success]

3 hours ago, Virgil said:

 

I don't disagree with any of this.  This season's missed expectations has definitely done a number on me.  To think that we could easily be in control of the 1 seed in a season where the Bengals, Ravens, and Chiefs aren't contenders has ruined me a bit.

 

That IS tough - especially when I look at our losses.  The Pats & Falcons games were so winnable.  

 

But that's the NFL. Nothing is given to anyone.  We're bummed because it's finally a year when the other teams that have given us a hard time in the AFC look to be struggling and possibly might all miss the playoffs - but imagine being a Ravens or Bengals fan.  Chiefs fans are probably not happy, but they have some titles under their belt at least.

 

Maybe this is the way it has to go for us.  We might look back & conclude that the adversity we had to face either as a WC on the road through the playoffs, or as a higher seed that had to really fight to re-take the division, gave us the mettle to finally win the elusive title that seemed more attainable in other years.

 

[RunTheBall]

The amount of whiners on here is breathtaking. WE PUT UP 250 RUSH YARDS IN 3 RIVERS! I mean come on people, you don’t get to see that kind of domination very often so ENJOY IT. Will this offensive philosophy beat other teams, NOPE. Did it crush the Steelers? YES. 

 

Hey here’s a thought - maybe, just maybe, Brady schemed against a teams weaknesses for once? Maybe missing 2 starting offensive lineman, your starting TE, a starting WR and a WR 4 in Samuel had something to do with the game plan.

 

I think this was a turning point for these guys. I saw NASTY, I saw ANGRY, I saw EFFORT. I saw 3 RBs contributing for the first time this season.  I don’t care that it took a cheap shot to get Josh fired up. We should be running QB power in the first series of every game from here on out. It’s been that way since Josh has been our QB.

 

Get our tackles back, get Glass Kincaid out there, Cooks is going to be a factor going forward. Cooks, Plamer, Shakir is not a horrific combo. Our identity is running the ball though, it sets the tone and opens things up. Brady has to stick with it even when it’s not going great early. Let’s see what he comes up with against Cinci whose defense has been playing better. I still expect a run heavy approach but I want to see him integrate more play action and intermediate throws against a defense that has been ass most of the year.

 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

22 minutes ago, UConn James said:

There were signs of a pulse in the second half yesterday, at long last. How do we make that happen again / more?

Give our RT a bonus to whiff on a Trey Hendrickson rush and let Josh get creamed … that’ll get him going 😂

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

On point 9. I am at the point where I have no problem if Allen wants to get in his guys faces. Get angry, let them know  these penalties can’t happen. It’s hard enough with Brady to dial up points. 

[sullim4]

37 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

I agree with Sal Capaccio on the hit being the turning point but not due to a lack of effort. Instead he posed it as the team feeling uneasy and overly cautious not to make mistakes. Once the hit happens they stopped thinking about that and instead focused on kicking Steeler’s ass.

 

Except they were making mistakes - Allen threw that pick on the pass to Davis and Cook fumbled the ball.

 

Sal is a good guy but he's a homer for sure and I just think there's more to the story.  It very much feels like there is no sense of urgency coming from this team week-to-week and it's showing in the results.

[Kyle and freddy]

It’s funny how so many people on here who have all the answers to what the right play to call, what offense to run , the schemes , how to draft … are watching the games at home eating wings and nachos with no days or years of experience of coaching to be hired by anyone …

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

11 minutes ago, Kyle and freddy said:

It’s funny how so many people on here who have all the answers to what the right play to call, what offense to run , the schemes , how to draft … are watching the games at home eating wings and nachos with no days or years of experience of coaching to be hired by anyone …

Another “Let’s see you do better” contributor. Let me ask you a question: why are you even bothering to be in groups like this if everything the team does is right and everything is rainbows and unicorns at OBD? There should be nothing to discuss, right? 

[Kyle and freddy]

It’s just funny that’s all…I know Bills are not perfect … but do much sky is falling all the time 

[Evansfan322]

Going into the Atlanta game it seemed like this team wanted to skip the regular season and go straight to the playoffs. They look absolutely bored and not tuned into what the hell they need to do to win. The Steelers are terrible and that really helped yesterday. Pull your heads out of your asses Bills and be the team your supposed to be 

[SoonerBillsFan]

4 hours ago, Virgil said:

When the Bills started to get more primetime attention for their games, I thought the people on this board complaining about them were just grumpy old men.  While this wasn't a primetime game, I am finally starting to feel the non-1pm start-time fatigue.  As dumb as it sounds, I have a certain rhythm to my day before a 1pm game and these 4p or later games just don't feel the same.  

 

Also, I feel like I should note that many of these thoughts are not going to reflect a 19 point victory on the road in a crucial conference game, as I still can't figure out if the results were more about the Bills being better or the Steelers being worse.  Forgive me. 

 

1 - Late Hit on Allen - There's so many things about this moment that stand out to me.  First off, how that wasn't called by the refs is beyond insane to me.  There is no question that Queen started his tackle well after Allen began his slide and usually the refs err on the side of caution.  Not sure what happened here, but it was as bad as missed flag as I've seen.  Beyond that, so many Bills after the game said that was the turning point for them and played with attitude afterwards.  WHY?  Why does it take that hit in the final two minutes of the first half to get you motivated?  My biggest issue this season has been how this team has not even shown up for their losses, and even some of their wins.  To me, this is either coaching or the players have lost faith in the McD message.  Either way, being outside the 1 seed and the AFC East leader apparently isn't enough motivation alone.  

 

2 - Obstacle Required? - Call me crazy, but do the Bills tend to play better when they have an obvious obstacle on the team, or if there's a focal point on the opposing defense they need to scheme around?  It seems to me that whenever the Bills are going up against a TJ Watt, Parsons, missing offensive lineman, etc, that they are able to devise a scheme that overall results in a win.  However, when it's just a "must win" or scheme against an overall good team, they can't get the same results.  Watt and our minted Tackles were talked about, but never came to be a factor in the outcome of the game.  Watt didn't get a sack, nor did anyone else, and the Bills ran the ball at will.  But why do they need that extra motivation to achieve that result?

 

3 - Vintage Gabe - Remember when we were ready to let Gabe walk because he consistently gave up on routes, or ran the wrong ones?  Maybe I'm wrong, but the Josh interception seemed to be a prime example of Gabe not following through on his slant route and then not fighting for the ball.  Outside of that, Gabe was fairly non-existent as were the other receivers.  I don't want to give Coleman his own slot, but he also looked disinterested in his routes again, but thankfully came away with a touchdown.

 

4 - Benford - Benford stated post-game that he was assigned to follow Metcalf all over the field, and overall shut him down.  I can't remember many games where McD allowed that kind of shadow coverage to happen, but I'm glad to see the flexibility and result.

 

5 - Brady - I can understand how the media and others might view Brady calling the same running play over and over again would be imposing of wills and daring the other team to adjust, but to me, it's infuriating.  Yes, it worked and we won.  But we also know that it can easily not work and Brady won't know how to get away from it.  This has been feedback against Brady all season and it's frustrating to see it continue.  Brady also confirmed again that he does not know how to incorporate wide receivers into his gameplay.

 

6 - AJ - I'm sorry, but McD should have pulled him off the field after that stupid Unsportsmanlike Penalty.  AJ, you are not good enough to be pulling crap like that.  It was pointless and extended a Steelers offensive drive that was all but dead. 

 

7 - Villian - Can we please get someone from the opposing team to fight with Josh at the beginning of every game?  Clearly the vomitting, McD, and playlist aren't working for Josh anymore and he needs something else to get him going.  Thank you Heyward.  

 

8 - Cook - I mean, what else can you say about the guy.  So glad we extended him as you can just see the difference he makes out there.  His vision, cuts, burst, and overall speed is such a game changer.  His recent receptions surge has also been a nice bonus.  Many Steelers players said in the post game that they knew Cook was good, but it was next level seeing him in person.  With the way Shakir and the receivers have been non-existent as of late, it's good to know Josh has other support.  

 

9 - Josh - I would literally give anything right now for Josh to have an open and honest conversation about what's going on in his mind right now.  Josh wasn't bad in this game.  You could see him get fired up after some good runs, make some good throws, and the fiery competitor shine through at times, but Josh still isn't quite Josh.  I have no idea why, but I really do believe he's as frustrated with the coordinators and effort around him as we are.  It's very unlike Josh to show his frustration towards teammates, but you saw it on some of the false starts and broken plays.  I know Josh wants to be a good captain, but I think that also means knowing when to call people out.  Granted, not the way that Rodgers did in his postgame, but somewhere in-between.

 

10 - Pass Rush - When you only give up 7 points off a turnover, it's hard to want to talk negative about the defense.  I do still think the Steelers being inept on offense made us look better than we were.  With all of that, I'm very worried about the Bengals coming into town next week with our lack of pass rush.  We haven't received a status update on Bosa's hamstring, but he seems to be the only one that can generate any pressure right now.  Bosa's hit on Rodgers was amazing in both the execution and timing.  Burrow, with all day to throw, is a scary thought.  We aren't the same Bills offense that can keep up with a high scoring offense, so next week it going to require some work.

 

Go Bills!!!

Im with you, I like the win, but there are still glaring issues that have been there all season.