The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped to 0-2 in the preseason with a 17-0 loss to Philadelphia. The following were my thoughts at halftime about the first half and then as the second half unfolded.
First Half
Sammie Coates bounced back with a few catches including a beauty along the sideline but there is still work to do. He needs to come back to the ball and put up more of a fight for it.
Alejandro Villanueva looks better tonight as well. He’s dealt with both speed and power rushers this evening and has fared well.
If Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt aren’t in the top three for defensive line duos then someone needs to investigate.
Landry Jones threw four first half interceptions the first of which went for six points. If there were any doubt about whether or not he can be a stating quarterback in the NFL there should be absolutely zero now.
Not sure what got into Lawrence Timmons but he was flying around tonight like a man on fire!! Made a couple of nice stops and had a pass defended.
Maurkice Pouncey saw his first significant game time in a year and looked solid. Had to feel good for him to be out there.
Eli Rogers…. I’m sold. He deserves a shot in the slot.
I think Ricardo Mathews is already better in reserve than Cam Thomas ever was on the defensive line. Two straight weeks he’s provided good interior push.
Our tight end situation is not good. We don’t have anyone who can block in-line with any sort of power or consistency.
The tackling was much better in the first half than we saw last week.
Second Half
That poor tackling made a return…
The Eagles did a nice job on their opening drive of the second half. They were penalized twice and eventually marched right down the field exposing a soft Steelers’ middle.
The best battle in terms of watching two guys go after one spot is at running back. Both Fitz Toussaint and Daryl Richardson played hard tonight and did different things in the running and passing game.
Steelers’ reserve offensive lineman Chris Hubbard is the classic ‘Jack of all trades master of none.’ He can play anywhere on the O-line but he worries me a lot especially at tackle.
Steelers finally get a turnover with two minutes left…
The Steelers are dangerously thin at quarterback and at tight end and I’ll even suggest they have to be careful with their secondary as well. The group on the field in the final quarter was pretty bad.
The best part of this evening, as of this writing, is that the Steelers appear to have avoided any significant injuries.
The Steelers play next week in New Orleans. It is expected that most players who didn’t play tonight will suit up for this game.
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2 comments
What are you expecting the Steelers to do at QB? If they go get somebody else then that guy would have to learn a whole new offense which the Steelers don’t have time for so as much as many fans won’t like it Jones is the backup QB end of argument. TE is a real concern and it wouldn’t be if Speath passed his physical. For all the grief he gets for not being a good pass catcher at least he can block unlike James who had 1 year of tutelage from Miller which is not even close to being enough time for James to learn how to block. With Green he better find out what is really holding him back if it’s the ankle then ask the doc how much longer until it heals or if it’s persistent headaches just retire and focus on your health. Rogers looked good but he is another Wheaton type of WR and not the big play WR that Ben likes. If Coates is going to make for himself then stick him with the 1st team Offense at the No.3 WR spot and let’s see what happens when Ben throws him the ball.
My answer at QB would be to drop Gradkowski, bump Jones to third and bring in a veteran that at the very least can manage a game. Right now, Jones has shown no ability to even do that without turning the ball over.