Good Tuesday to you Steelers fans.
Today is of course “Tomlin Tuesday.” This means the players are enjoying the day off while Mike Tomlin goes before the press at Noon Eastern. I fully expect that he will be dismissive of how well the coaches adjusted at halftime and will likely chalk it up to “that’s what we get paid to do.” He will also update on any injuries that occurred and will make the Las Vegas Raiders sound as if they are the 1960’s Green Bay Packers. That my friends is “Tomlin Tuesday” in a nutshell. Well, I guess we should expect some Tomlinisms too right?
Spreading Them Out
I have no problem telling you when I’m wrong. I had the Bills winning Sunday and I was clearly incorrect. One thing I was correct about was the halftime adjustment made by Matt Canada. While running the SCBlitz Twitter account I suggested that the offense had to spread things out. The Bills were taking advantage of the Steelers being packed in with bunch formations. They could walk 7-8 guys up in the box and effectively shut down the run. When the second half opened the Steelers mixed some 11 personnel with 12 but also kept the receivers wider. This created more room for the running game and the passing game as well. Canada still used some bunch and tight formations (Chase Claypool’s 25-yard run came out of a bunch formation) but the spreading out definitely made a difference.
Tweet of the Day… Streaks are made to be broken.
Up until Monday night’s overtime loss to the Raiders, the Ravens had won 98 straight games dating back to 2004 when they had a 14+ point-lead.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 14, 2021
Unsung
While no player is perfect in week one I thought there were some guys that played unsung roles defensively on Sunday. Start with Isaiah Buggs and Carlos Davis. Combined they had 25 snaps but that’s huge when you have to spell both Cam Heyward and Tyson Alualu at times. As long as Stephon Tuitt remains out these guys along with Chris Wormley who had 40 snaps have to do their jobs. Rookie Tre Norwood was on the field for 68 snaps. That’s pretty incredible for a rookie in a Steelers’ defense but his play I thought allowed Minkah Fitzpatrick to be a little bit more free in what he was able to do.
Peyton and Eli
The best part of last night’s Monday Night Football contest, besides the Ravens losing of course, was the simulcast of Peyton and Eli Manning. This was far from perfect due to both being in different locations and just the overall newness of it. At one point, a fire alarm went off in Eli’s studio prompting some funny moments. I guarantee you that I learned more in ten minutes of listening to them than I ever got from a color analyst and that includes John Madden. Tremendous insight from both guys. I highly recommend this continues.
Do You Really Miss Al?
Former Steeler Alejandro Villanueva started at right tackle for the Ravens last night and it did not go well. He was beaten consistently and forced Lamar Jackson to scramble more than usual. People often wondered why the Steelers gave up on Big Al because his stats showed he wasn’t giving up any sacks… Credit the quick throws of Ben Roethlisberger for keeping his numbers down because he looked awful last night.
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Have a great day Steeler Nation!
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