TGIF Steelers’ Fans!
Today the Pittsburgh Steelers awoke to find themselves in last place in the AFC North, the very division they are so heavily favored to win. This, after Baker Mayfield rallied the Browns to their first win since December of 2016. The Steelers are hardly lacking for motivational reasons with Monday’s game looming but perhaps the realization that they are looking up from the bottom will create one extra piece of it. Here’s hoping that the Steelers get the job done Monday night in Tampa.
Antonio Brown addressed the media yesterday and it was fascinating to see the different perspectives fans took from his comments and demeanor. First off, you may hate the media as much as the President does but they were doing their jobs and they asked some very good questions. When asked about his sideline incident Brown said and I’m paraphrasing here, “we were losing and getting beat.” When told that James Conner had just tied the game Brown immediately blamed the media for twisting things. Then he tried to argue that he was available after the game Sunday when he fact was not. Again, he told the media they were wrong. Brown is an incredibly hard worker who has sacrificed tremendously to be as good as he is at his craft and I have tremendous respect for that. But his attitude yesterday lacked any type of regret or apologetic nature. I believe AB when he says he hates losing. I believe him when he says he’s sacrificed. I guess we’ll see where things go from here.
Tweet of the Day… Case in Point.
Asked why he wasn't in the locker room after the game, AB: "If you want to talk, let's talk. I'm right here. I'm not hiding from none of you. I don't hide from no one."
Reminded he wasn't in the locker room Sunday, Brown said. "I was available."
Uh, AB, no you weren't.— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) September 20, 2018
I honestly do not understand why the Steelers aren’t in “muddle mode” offensively most of the time. This is when they don’t huddle but go up to the line of scrimmage rather than huddle traditionally. It’s not a hurry up offense but it keeps the defense from rotating guys in and out. For years it is been successful more often than it hasn’t. When playing from behind last week the Steelers’ consistently used this and it had great success. It really needs to be much more a staple of what the offense does.
Let’s be clear about some things regarding our defense. Every team has communication issues. Once in awhile the offense gets the better of the defense and confuses them. It’s part of the game. The problem is that it has become the go-to excuse for this unit in Pittsburgh. Now we’ve had players this week like Joe Haden and Morgan Burnett saying that they’ve “simplified” things. With so much youth in the secondary, why wouldn’t things have been simplified in the first place? Like I said, other defenses have similar issues but you don’t hear about them nearly to the extent you do with the Steelers.
I’m pretty sure that no one is happier about Antonio Brown being in the spotlight than Chris Boswell. Fans have short memories and if he doesn’t start making some kicks more consistently the Steelers are going to wish they never gave him that raise.
The Bucs have the 31st ranked defense against the pass. While I don’t want to see Ben Roethlisberger throw it 60 times again I’ll be surprised if they don’t come out throwing.
The Tampa offense is going to present very similar problems compared to the Chiefs. They will line their tight end O.J. Howard up all over the formation and especially in the slot. If Keith Butler hasn’t figured out a better way to stop that it’s going to be another long day.
Enjoy the long weekend Steeler Nation! Monday night awaits!
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1 comment
If the Steelers were truly tired Sunday they better watch out Monday night. It’s still 90 degrees down here every day I’m assuming it will be in the 80’s with high humidity at kick-off with a touch of red tide in the air. I’m hoping they turn it around but in all honesty i see that happening next week or there after. I think this entire situation still comes from lack of preparation { coaching }. We will start playing better on both sides of the ball. But this cavalier approach during spring training and preseason has been an unaddressed problem for several years now.