Home Quick Hitters SCB Steelers Quick Hitters for December 2nd, 2014

SCB Steelers Quick Hitters for December 2nd, 2014

by Steeldad

With today being Tuesday that means the Steelers are off today.

-Head Coach Mike Tomlin gives his most important press conference to date today at Noon Eastern. You can access the presser at steelers.com and at ROOT Sports.

-It came as no surprise last night when the Steelers announced Brett Keisel would miss the remainder of the season with a torn triceps muscle. The team also announced the signing of Clifton Geathers, a sixth-round choice of the Cleveland Browns in 2010. Geathers has played in 37 career games has started once while playing with Miami, Dallas, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Washington.

-As I explained in this piece on Sunday night, replacing Keisel this season is impossible. Geathers is nothing more than a body at this point which makes him on par with Cam Thomas. Dick LeBeau will need to dial up some special things in order to compensate for the lack of depth and talent on the defensive line.

-I started watching film of the game today and made it through the first quarter. Two things stuck out to me offensively; David DeCastro struggles against bull rushes and the flea-flicker call had to be among the worst play-calls I can remember. As far as the play-call, you don’t run a flea-flicker in the first quarter of a game. You take the time to set it up by getting the defense to think you are going to actually run it. The game was nearly underway long enough for the Saints to have been fooled.

-I’m really torn about what was going on with Ben Roethlisberger. His first couple of throws were very good, then the hand hit the helmet and everything started sailing high. That tells me that the footwork was suffering and his point of delivery was coming down. When that happens, the ball slings, or “sails” in most cases. I say I’m torn because he seemed to get things under control while driving the Steelers to two straight touchdowns after they fell behind. Not sure how you go from good to bad to good without something being really off.

-Did any of you hear the caller on the Steelers’ postgame radio show? He suggested that Big Ben spends too much time with his family. And I thought I had heard everything….

-I see no way that Le’Veon Bell does not get named to a lot of postseason all-pro teams. He is the best three-down back in the game right now.

-With so much focus on the secondary getting carved up by Drew Brees we can’t forget that Saints’ running back Mark Ingram ran 23 times for 122 yards. That’s more than five yards per carry.

-I thought the offensive gameplan on Sunday was designed for two purposes; keep Drew Brees and the Saints’ offense on the sideline and to protect Dick LeBeau’s defense. Neither worked and the sooner Mike Tomlin and Todd Haley realize they have to score and stay aggressive offensively the better chance this team has to win. The defense is giving up over 25 points per game.

-If I had to wager a guess right now, Ike Taylor, James Harrison, Brett Keisel and Troy Polamalu will all be elsewhere in 2015. Whether that means retired or with other teams I do not know. I also think Cam Thomas and Mike Mitchell are on thin ice…

Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on game day on the Trib-Live Radio Steelers Pre-Game

 

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.