A bit concerned about our D-Line...

SalemPats said:

The D-Line had a rough game. I think i counted 3 times that we got pressure on Big Ben and one of them was Hightower on a nice move. I think we were playing a lot more conservatively, but more than not did the Pitt O-Line dominate us.

I thought Malcolm Brown made a couple of nice plays, Sheard had a bad first half, but made a couple of nice plays in the 2nd half. Too bad Easley got injured early.

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If you only counted 3 times that they got pressure on Big Ben, you missed 3/4 of the game because they got more pressure than that on him..

Not sure how you can say that Sheard had a bad 1st half..

DaBruinz said:

If you only counted 3 times that they got pressure on Big Ben, you missed 3/4 of the game because they got more pressure than that on him..

Not sure how you can say that Sheard had a bad 1st half..

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I watched the game, Ben had a lot of time in the pocket. I thought Sheard missed a couple of tackles in the first half that he should have made.

SalemPats said:

I watched the game, Ben had a lot of time in the pocket. I thought Sheard missed a couple of tackles in the first half that he should have made.

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If you watched the game, then you'll forgive me for doubting your football acumen then. Yes, there were times that Ben had a lot of time in the pocket. That happens when you're rushing 4 and have to beat 6 blockers. It also happens when you are using DEs on the inside most of the 2nd half.. But, you are ignoring the fact that the Pats made 3 sacks, drew 3 flags, had 3 QB pressures and 2 QB hits.. Keep in mind that the 3 flags nullified plays by the Steelers.. So, this idea that they only pressured Ben 3 times doesn't have any validity..

Which plays do you think Sheard should have made tackles on?

Did anyone really think that Pittsburgh was a bag of potatoes? I did not...

I think it was/is near impossible to replicate what the Patriots D-Line would face last night in practice and/or pre season ... not worried and I think it will take at least 4 - 6 games to get it going. Chandler Jones cannot set the edge ... that project needs to end IMO ... let Chandler play to his strengths.

where is Chris Jones?

I'm more concerned about the secondary

SammyBlueCat said:

Did anyone really think that Pittsburgh was a bag of potatoes?

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To be fair, we did closely resemble an actual sack of potatoes in the Red Zone. And on FG attempts.

Plus two minute drills.

Oh, and gadget plays.

Am I leaving anything out?

lillloyd said:

To be fair, we did closely resemble an actual sack of potatoes in the Red Zone. And on FG attempts.

Plus two minute drills.

Oh, and gadget plays.

Am I leaving anything out?

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Your coach making excuses and whining.

BTW you QB made some stupid good throws. The TD to Brown was a perfect throw, same with the Wheaton sideline throw.

MrNathanDrake said:

where is Chris Jones?

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On PUP.

patsfan13 said:

Your coach making excuses and whining.

BTW you QB made some stupid good throws. The TD to Brown was a perfect throw, same with the Wheaton sideline throw.

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Yeah for all the hand-wringing about the pass defenses (and maybe it will prove to be warranted over time), the reality was that the QB play overall was pretty lights-out. Lots of pinpoint throws by both guys.

MrNathanDrake said:

where is Chris Jones?

I'm more concerned about the secondary

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PUP I believe

lillloyd said:

Yeah for all the hand-wringing about the pass defenses (and maybe it will prove to be warranted over time), the reality was that the QB play overall was pretty lights-out. Lots of pinpoint throws by both guys.

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You've got to be encouraged by what you saw last night, without Bryant, Bell and Pouncey. Great addition in Williams, apparently...and on the D-Line Jarvis Jones looked like a player indeed, and Shazier nad the new kid, Dupree...well.

With Ben having Bryant, Wheaton, Brown, Williams, Bell, and Miller, and a very good OL...Pitt wins the north. We might well have watched a preview of the AFCCG last night. I'd certainly rather play the Colts than the Steelers.

Far be it for me to say that last night's performance was not a little worrisome.

However, there are a few things that stuck out to me:

- they seemed to be in coverage packages most of the time, and six man fronts are probably not the best way to stop opposing running games.

- Williams looked like his 2008 version as opposed to the one who plodded the last few years in Carolina.

- There was a lot of incorrect gap-shooting and inability by the edge defenders to get off blocks to set the edge.

- It may be a few weeks before the front seven gets their legs under them and begin to play like they did towards the middle through the end of 2014. The reason may be due to the lack of hitting allowed in training camps these days, and/or rust on the part of players returning from injury to major roles.

It definitely wasn't a good performance by our D-line but it is only 1 game. Last year we had problems as well early in the year. The big difference between last years team and this years team is our secondary. We didn't need for our front 7 to be dominant because our secondary was so good last year. This year, we don't have that luxury. We are going to need for our front 7 to be more dominant, be better against the run and get more pressure on the qb.

If anyone watched the '13 game against the Broncos where Denver had 280 yrds on the ground for a 5.8 ypc average or a good portion of the Green Bay game last year, you'll know that this is the Patriots game plan versus high-end passing attacks and not a good game to evaluate the line on.

They play small guys and they play back. The rushing is almost exclusively up to players outright beating their man. No secondary rushing and only a little from the backers. Often only 3 down lineman. They were already missing Jones and lost Easily, which allowed Roethlisberger to step up in the middle of the pocket with confidence. A lot more than BB probably wanted. Collins had issues against the run, but even Spikes guessed wrong and looked out of position in those situations where the box is empty and he has no help. In a normal game where the running game is very good, all three linebackers will be in the game, and Mayo will be his usual tackling machine self. This wasn't one of those games.

Gave up the outside too many times. I think our coaching staff will correct that.

Our inside DL was decent enough against the run.

Wished we blitzed more on obvious passing downs. We couldn't get much of a pass rush from our front 4.

The scheme will be very different against the Bills.

Think they did a lot of controlled rushing vs Ben, he can hurt you with his feet to.

slash83 said:

Think they did a lot of controlled rushing vs Ben, he can hurt you with his feet to.

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Getting to Roethlisberger is one thing. Tackling him is another. He's deceptivly quick and he is TE strong. 300+ guys wrap him up and still come away without a sack almost every game. I really dislike him for his off the field stuff, but he is one of the best QBs and a future HoFer for a reason.

A lot of it was scheme, rust, new players and rookie mistakes. It will be better this week as I expect a more stacked line with 4-3 front and Mayo playing much more snaps.