Allright time to really get serious about blogging. This should become a weekly thing for me as I breakdown the Steelers games for you.
Quarterback - C-
Dennis Dixon, making his second career start for the Steelers ended his day with 236 yards and 1 INT. On at least three drives he woefully underthrew a wide open receiver on third down which would have kept drives going. I didn't have very many expectations for him in this but I suppose it could have been worse.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends - B
Hines Ward made some clutch catches down the stretch to keep drives going. Mike Wallace showed a lot of speed on his big play early in the second half. I'm trying not to punish the receivers for Dixon's off target passes. They were doing a great job of getting open all day long.
Running Backs - B+
It was painfully obvious that we were going to feature the running game today to try and take pressure off Dixon. Mendenhall kept gaining positive yards on all his plays, and Isaac Redman was 2 for 3 in crucial short yardage situations. And of course we can't neglect that the game winning play was a huge run by Mendenhall to claim victory in overtime.
Offensive Line - B
For the most part they did a decent job giving Dixon a little bit of breathing room in the pocket. Sure they gave up 3 sacks, but I've seen worse out of this unit over the past few years. they DID do a good job pushing the defense back in short yardage situations and also giving Mendenhall lanes to run in. Overall they helped contribute to a close win. PS. Maurkice Pouncey is going to be a stud lineman.
Defensive Front 7 - A
Our Front 7 was causing a lot of pressure all day long forcing Matt Ryan off target on a few throws. They also did a phenomenal job stuffing Michael Turner all day long. he simply had no running room whatsoever. The boys showed up to play today and are a major reason the Steelers are claiming a W this afternoon.
Secondary - B+
The Falcons were able to move the ball through the air somewhat effectively, though I am hesitant to blame it on the secondary. There were a lot of plays that the Falcons just made fantastic grabs in strong coverage. Troy Polamalu showed great football instincts on his exciting interception which SHOULD have sealed a Steeler victory in regulation. Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden did a good job helping us remember how god awful William Gay was last year. Speaking of William Gay, he dropped an easy interception that really could have helped in the field position battle.
Special Teams - B-
Jeff Reed made the longest FG in Heinz Field history, then nearly broke his record on a later attempt which bounced off the right upright. His knock comes on missing a 40 yarder which would have won the game in regulation. Reed also got some good length on his kickoffs. His missed FG didn't end up hurting us so I'll give him a pass for now. We looked good on our coverages, not really allowing a big runback. Our own return teams didn't really look all that outstanding, but they didn't hurt us either.
Overall I am pleased with how the team looked except for Dixon. We were extremely fortunate that the Steelers D was up to its usual elite level. It's a good sign for the Black and Gold as they try to navigate 3 more games without Big Ben at QB.
Feel free to comment below.
-- The Voice
1 comment:
To quote sportspickle's tweet during the game: "The bad news is that your quarterback just threw an interception. The good news is that he hasn't been charged with sexual assault." :)
From what I got to see of the game, I was pretty happy with it - even though it was one of those uneventful not really enthralling kind of games. Just a solid game, I guess.
I wonder if you would have given Special Teams the B- if Reed missing the FG would have cost us the game? Just askin'. I mean FG units or even kickers for that matter only make up a portion of the Special Teams, so I guess I can agree.
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