Home Quick Hitters SCB Steelers’ Quick Hitters: The “Morning After” AFC Title Game Edition

SCB Steelers’ Quick Hitters: The “Morning After” AFC Title Game Edition

by Steeldad

Good Morning Steeler Fans. Like the rest of you, I’m licking my wounds. I predicted we would lose last night but I never saw that coming. Here are my thoughts with a few hours of rest behind me about I what observed last night.

I’m going to plug myself right away. I wrote this last night and it bears reading. The gameplan, especially on defense, was based on insanity.

Many will point to the injury to Le’Veon Bell as the reason for the loss last night and while that hurt it was far from the only cause. DeAngelo Williams was very good in place of Bell and we’ve come to expect that. Sadly, it may have been the end for Williams whose contract is up. 

I know some people believe the players bear more responsibility for a lack of execution than the coaches and that is true to a point. However, I go right to the Steelers’ opening drive. On third and 1 and already down three, Todd Haley and Ben Roethlisberger chose to target Sammie Coates who hasn’t caught a pass since I can’t recall. That’s where poor coaching and poor execution meet. The ball was perfectly thrown and Coates flat-out missed it. He should have never been relied on.

Tom Brady will have “I love the Steelers’ Zone Defense” on his tombstone.

I still have no clue as to why Demarcus Ayers wasn’t active last night. His speed and quickness underneath would have been huge.

Big Ben played pretty well last night. Go back and look at the yards that were left on the field by dropped passes. 

If Danny Smith, the Steelers’ Special Teams’ Coach is back next year, then I am convinced he has naked pictures of someone. It’s time for change. Yesterday.

One of the hardest things to swallow is this; all week we heard about the Steelers. From the live video to the flu to you name it. There wasn’t a peep coming from New England. Hate Belichick all you want to but he has total control and it has results.

The Steelers should call the ‘Red Zone’ the ‘Dead Zone.’ It’s where many drives go to die.

Tweet of the Day… Many feel this way Trai.

The above tweet had little to do with the outcome of the game but Trai is right. The lack of holding calls last night was borderline hilarious.

I can’t believe I have to start looking ahead to free agency and the draft.

I thought the Patriots targeted Mike Mitchell a lot last night. The Flea-flicker is but one example. He was a complete non-factor. Mitchell is a big hitter but he’s a coverage liability. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a change there. Doubtful, but it’s possible.

Random factoid of the day: I was retweeted last night by former LA Rams’ QB Jim Everett. 

We will never know what this game could have been like had Bell been healthy for all of it but I think he would have made a huge difference in the passing game. DWill was tremendous but Bell is such a threat out of the backfield.

Sounds like Vince Williams is headed for shoulder surgery. Tough as nails guy played far less than 100% and was still making plays on Special Teams.

The Patriots’ two biggest receivers last night were a former lacrosse player and a former college quarterback.

Clearly Antonio Brown was affected by not having Ladarius Green or a true #2 receiver on the field. That said, Todd Haley struggled all season at finding ways to get Brown open and away from double teams.

Another big difference between the defenses last night? New England rarely misses a tackle. Can’t say the same for us.

I still don’t understand the fascination with an extra tight end and a fullback. The offense is so much better when it spreads defenses out with ’11’ personnel.

There’s a ton more to cover but I’ve bored you enough. Thanks for the support all year everyone! We’ll be back! -Steel City Blitz

 

 

 

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