Clark Judge on Pats/Steelers

[Sivy]

I would pick the Steelers too, until we can stop the pass and show that Cassel is for real against a top five calibur defense we are nothing but a big, fat question mark. I hope you are all ripping me for that in 48 hours but if I had to put money on it, it wouldn't be on the Patriots.

I got this advice from the bookie once, he said "never bet against brady" to bad brady aint playing. Oh well, I still think bill will pull it out.

 

[Ghost of Ben Dreith]

I don't know what Squeeler team you all have been watching, but they have not impressed me at all this year on Offense or Defense. They lost to the Dolts at home...on a crappy weather day.

Little Ben has been inconsistent all year, although the Pats defense might make him look like an all pro again.

I like the Pats in this game. If the Squeelers blitz too often, look for Cassell to bust a few runs on them. That is something they have to take into consideration.

Plus....if you compare head coaches....please...

 

[Rob0729]

You want to bet on that statement tomorrow? knowing how our Scheme love to play CB's Ten yards off WR's i wouldn't rule out Pittsburgh going against the grain so to speak. If we can make weak armed Chad Pennington look like Joe Montana...what do you think we would make Strong Armed Big Ben look like? Pittsburgh have guys who can do damage in the passing game ie...Hines Ward - Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington. Throw in RB Mewelde Moore who is a threat in the passing game and TE *Heath Miller* who is having a sub par year watch him wake up tomorrow Pittsburgh should have something here. Our Defense just cannot generate a Pass Rush which leaves our CB's in limbo. We are a middle of the pack Defense which is not saying much...we are giving up an average of 215yds against the pass and 100 against the rush. Thats Balance to any opposing Offense. We need AD back to generate a consistent rush which would take pressure off our CB's. Until them i have lost all hope in our D that 3rd and 15 against the Jets was very telling. That said long live our Offense!

First, Pennington is having a better year than Roethlisberger and being successful with deeper passes this year. Pennington has thrown for nearly 500 more yards, 5 less INTs, a higher completion rating (66.0% to 61.6%), 43.8 more passing yards per game, 11 passes over 20 yards, and 3 more passes over 40 yards than Roethlisberger. If we can make Pennington look like Montana, we still have a pretty good chance of making Roethlisberger look mediocre.

Second, Roethlisberger is having a miserable year. He is 18th in passing yards, 14th in TDs, 21st in completion percentage, 22nd in passing yards per game played, and tied for fourth for the most INTs. Roethlisberger may be a better QB in general than Pennington, but Pennington is having the better year and it isn't even close.

Third, the Steelers have an iffy offense. They are the 26th ranked offense (yards). They are 23rd in points scored and 15th in 3rd down percentage.

The Pats aren't playing Roethlisberger's career stats tomorrow. They are playing the 2008 version of Roethlisberger which is lesser competition than the 2008 version of Chad Pennington.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't know what Squeeler team you all have been watching, but they have not impressed me at all this year on Offense or Defense. They lost to the Dolts at home...on a crappy weather day.

Little Ben has been inconsistent all year, although the Pats defense might make him look like an all pro again.

I like the Pats in this game. If the Squeelers blitz too often, look for Cassell to bust a few runs on them. That is something they have to take into consideration.

Plus....if you compare head coaches....please...

Their defense is impressive. There is no way you can argue against that. But their offense could be the worst one the Pats have faced since St. Louis back in October.

 

[Fencer]

The Pats aren't playing Roethlisberger's career stats tomorrow. They are playing the 2008 version of Roethlisberger which is lesser competition than the 2008 version of Chad Pennington.

Thank you!

I hadn't thought of a good way to express that point.

 

[Pats726]

First, Pennington is having a better year than Roethlisberger and being successful with deeper passes this year. Pennington has thrown for nearly 500 more yards, 5 less INTs, a higher completion rating (66.0% to 61.6%), 43.8 more passing yards per game, 11 passes over 20 yards, and 3 more passes over 40 yards than Roethlisberger. If we can make Pennington look like Montana, we still have a pretty good chance of making Roethlisberger look mediocre.

Second, Roethlisberger is having a miserable year. He is 18th in passing yards, 14th in TDs, 21st in completion percentage, 22nd in passing yards per game played, and tied for fourth for the most INTs. Roethlisberger may be a better QB in general than Pennington, but Pennington is having the better year and it isn't even close.

Third, the Steelers have an iffy offense. They are the 26th ranked offense (yards). They are 23rd in points scored and 15th in 3rd down percentage.

The Pats aren't playing Roethlisberger's career stats tomorrow. They are playing the 2008 version of Roethlisberger which is lesser competition than the 2008 version of Chad Pennington.

Good points...the Pitts D will be an interesting obstacle for the Pats..as Matt's Machine is rolling again...that is a BIG test!

 

[mesoslo]

Lamont Jordan is a pretty good catching RB, so if the steelers blitz, the patriots could audible to a screen. Cassel could aslo scramble out of the pocket and burn the steelers.

The article said that the steelers could run the ball, and if they dont run the ball then ben rottenburger could throw the ball, well ben rottenburger has not thrown the ball well this year so I dont think he will throw it well on the pats. The steelers cant run the ball, so I dont know why the article would state that the steelers can run the ball.

Also ben rottenburger has a good chance of getting sacked when he steps back to throw the ball, the steelers Oline is awful, so the patriots front 7 will get pressure, with out a heavy blitz. What kind of Oline gives up many sacks, and is not very helpful in run production?

The article brought up protection, but didnt really mention how horrible the steelers Oline plays.

 

[ClosingTime]

I don't know what Squeeler team you all have been watching, but they have not impressed me at all this year on Offense or Defense. They lost to the Dolts at home...on a crappy weather day.

Little Ben has been inconsistent all year, although the Pats defense might make him look like an all pro again.

I like the Pats in this game. If the Squeelers blitz too often, look for Cassell to bust a few runs on them. That is something they have to take into consideration.

Plus....if you compare head coaches....please...

And Cassel has been consistent?

The Steelers offense this year has not been impressive, but no one can argue that their D hasn't been. Polamalu and Clark are back at safety, two players that weren't there last year.

fact is, the Pats have put up points on extremely bad defenses. Pitt has played some very good defenses.

There is no way the Pats score more than 20 on the Steelers. If the Steelers can put up 21, they win. mark it down.

 

[ausbacker]

And Cassel has been consistent?

The Steelers offense this year has not been impressive, but no one can argue that their D hasn't been. Polamalu and Clark are back at safety, two players that weren't there last year.

fact is, the Pats have put up points on extremely bad defenses. Pitt has played some very good defenses.

There is no way the Pats score more than 20 on the Steelers. If the Steelers can put up 21, they win. mark it down.

The Pats will put up more than 20 on the Steelers. Mark that down. The Offense is starting to roll.

 

[ClosingTime]

I've not only marked them putting up then less than 20, I've put money on it.

 

[mesoslo]

last year when the patriots played the steelers, the steelers actually had a running game, ranked 3rd best?, this year their running game is horrible. The steelers passing game last year and this year are both similar, ranked 20th?.

Comparing stats going into this game with the stats going into the game in 2007, two major differences are, the steelers dont have a running game, while the patriots do have a running game. Every other aspects are very similar with out major changes. Sure this year the patriots dont have Brady, but Cassel did have back to back 400 yards games recently, and the patriots can run the ball.

The steelers #1 passing defense and #1 rushing defense is not much of an improvement from last year, last year the steelers defense was still in the top 5, so I dont see whats all the fuss about. The steelers had a strong defense, and a really good running game last year and still lost. This year they still have a strong defense, but their running game is horrible, and ben rottenburger has had a really bad year, the steelers probally will lose this time also.

 

[ClosingTime]

This is the best Steelers defense I've seen since 94-95. Also Polamalu and Ryan Clack, their 2 starting safties weren't playing last year. Plus the absence of Brady, but, yeah, other than that everything is the same.

 

[swheeler23]

I've not only marked them putting up then less than 20, I've put money on it.

Dont put a lot of money on it. Unless you want you lose it.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

I've not only marked them putting up then less than 20, I've put money on it.

Hope that wasn't the mortgage!

Pittsburgh's Fabulous D shines in the offensively-challenged AFC North, what with Baltimore (24th ranked offense), Cleveland (27th) and Cincinnati (32nd). Against top-10 D's, they are 2-2 (I use top 10 because the Pats are 12th, and since Pitt hasn't faced #11 Arizona, it's a decent watermark line).

They haven't scored over 30 since week 6. They have a running game that is virtually non-existent (26th). Is Mr. Parker playing Sunday? With him, that running game is churning out 3.6 yrds/gm. Without him, forget it. Not only will there be no running game, there'll be non-effective play-action passing options.

When you have no running game, you see the opposing defenses running a lot more stunts and blitzes. Given the quality of play from Pittsburgh's offensive line this year, it could prove to be a very long day for Ben.

In their last 5 games (which is perhaps the better gauge for measuring a team's momentum), both teams are 3-2. For Pitt, it's defense faced a #5 offense (NYG, which they lost), a #32 offense (Cincy, which they won), and 3 middle of the pack O's, where it was 2-1, including that 11-10 squeaker against San Diego).

For the Pats in that span, their D faced a #28 offense (St. Louis, which they won), and a #8 offense (Miami, which they won) and a #11 offense (NYJ, which was a loss).

It is perhaps worth noting that their 2 losses in that span could have been turned to Ws by dint of a Jabar Gaffney drop of a certain TD (Indy) and a simple coin flip (Jets - at the end of regulation in that game, the Pats had all the momentum).

But that is neither here nor there.

Of equally inestimable importance, this game is not being played in the House of Horrors (from the Patriots' point of view) that is Heinz Field, but in the House of Horrors (from the Steelers' point of view) that is Gillette Stadium.

The question now becomes, at 6½, can the Steelers cover?

You'd better hope so!

 

[ClosingTime]

Steelers had control of both the Giants and Colts game but had costly turnovers. Neither of them could move the ball. Colts had a freak TD and Rothelisburger had his worst game as a pro. Both the Giants and Colts have more prolific offenses than the Pats. And don't give me Miami and the Jets. A lot of teams have put up huge numbers against them.

The Patriots have played the Chiefs, Jets, Phins, Niners, Chargers, Broncos, Rams, Colts, Bills, Jets, and Phins again. "Elite" isn't a word that comes to mind. In terms of defense the Jets (13) and Bills (16) and Colts (18) are the only teams in the top 20.

 

[ClosingTime]

The question now becomes, at 6½, can the Steelers cover?

You'd better hope so!

6.5? The Pats are favored by a point.

 

[mesoslo]

If Cassel, proves to the NFL that he can make the same quality throws on a top notch defense, just like Brady did last year, then the steelers will loose. Last year the steelers had a running game this year they dont have a running game, and their defense didnt improve by that much compared to last year.

 

[ClosingTime]

It sure did.
Both starting safeties back, which includes the best safety in the game. Plus Woodley and better depth along the DL and the defense is much much better.

If CAssel can carve up this D then my hats off to him and then i will say that he is a very good QB. Until then I am skeptical. He's been going against he dregs of the league so far.

 

[ClosingTime]

My moratge is just fine