upstater1
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Didn't the Steelers have an issue with Polamalu doing too much freelancing? I wonder if that was the case here.
The last play was a busted play on defense. Broncos gave a cover zero look but Ike Taylor was aligned outside, so he probably expected help on the inside from Mundy. Mundy got caught moving to the box before the play and had to try to backpedal to get in position. Thomas is a big target, got good position slanting on Taylor and it was an easy pass for Tebow.
Either Mundy or the LB was supposed to be inside coverage or Taylor had poor technique in cover 0. I think Mundy blew the coverage because Taylor is a pretty damn good corner.
He's always like that, and he does his best work around the line of scrimmage. That said, he did bite on play action way too easy last night, but then again so did most of the Steelers.
I think one of the problems with not getting that much pressure on Tebow was that the Steelers were so cautious of the Broncos run-game that most of the front seven didn't come right of the line many times, but instead tried to clog the lanes and keep contain. The bit of extra time helped Tebow quite a bit imo.
The fact that they were getting burned deep repeatedly all day and they didn't adjust is just baffling. The fact that they didn't have a guy deep on the first play of overtime was just stupid. Did they really think Tebow wasn't going to take a shot there after beating them all day? I have faith that we wont do anything that stupid. The Steelers really missed Clark in this game, especially with Polamalu doing his usual guessing wrong and getting burned.
Yup, NFLN caught this and showed it. Mundy (Clark's backup) went up to show blitz, but was extremely late and when Denver snapped the ball Mundy was still within a yard of the LOS. Taylor, playing an outside technique, was expecting outside help he never received.
We were burned by two things yesterday. One was the fact that Taylor had his worst game of the year. The other is that Lebeau's strategy was to sell out to stop the run, and make Tebow beat us with his arm.
And guess what--he did. He threw great deep ball after great deep ball, and played his best game of the year. Strategies aside, sometimes you just have to credit the other guys for outstanding play. Denver outplayed us, and it wasn't just schemes or injuries. They deserved to win.
lillloyd
The Steelers obviously tried to put the game on Tebows arm rather than his and the Broncos RB legs. They sold out on the run because they thought their rush would get there fast enough for the DBs to not lose the coverage and Tebows mechanics would be too slow.
The Broncos did some nice things on the Offensive side of the ball to switch up from what they had been doing previously. And Polumalu bit on most of the shallow routes just to see the receiver turn downfield and run right past him. Broncos had a good gameplan and executed it well. The Steelers didn't seem ready for the passes Tebow threw.
Tebow didn't have a great game throwing, but he did enough to win it. But really, who could miss with most of his completions being to receivers who were wide open? Broncos won the game-planinning handily.
Steelers may have chosen that D because they had no faith in their offense. They didn't want the Donkeys holding onto the ball for longish possessions. Backfired. But Pitt's offense looked crappy too.
Hey we're the 31st ranked defense, give them some credit
How are the locals in Pittsburgh this morning?
When your QB either scores almost instantaneously, or goes three and out even faster (like Brady's offense tends to do), than you have your defense on the field a lot.
He completed 9 passes in regulation. 9 passes... you make it sound like he was Payton Manning out there.
And how did Denver manage to get those two guys out of the game so early? By doing what Denver has done for decades: Go for the legs and knees of the opposing player and try and injure him. Any wonder how Andre Carter got injured so quickly when we played them? Remember when a cheap shot from a Denver Defensive player broke Brian Cox's leg?
They've been called out for it time after time. The league, however, has never done anything about it, but Shannahan started coaching his players to play dirty on the line, and it's been handed down ever since.
The Steelers Defense is predicated on a smothering Defense which allows no rushing and a low rate of intermediate and short pass completions. That leads to opponents 3 and out situations.So................the "32nd" ranked defense can go into Denver and adjust for the final three quarters but............... the "elite" 1st ranked defense can't?
Where are our resident idiots to explain this?
Perspective anyone?
The Steelers Defense is predicated on a smothering Defense which allows no rushing and a low rate of intermediate and short pass completions. That leads to opponents 3 and out situations.
That Defensive philosophy, along with a ball control Offense that eats clock to eliminate one or two of the opponent's possessions, is their recipe for winning. Always has been as long as Cower and Le Beau were first there.
Pitt is getting old and slow. Plus it was a really banged up team this Playoff year. The list of players who went into that game dinged was long, and it was not just Rothlesberger. They got no pass rush, with a dinged Woodley and a newly returned and rusty Harrison, and without their NT and DE couldn't stop the run either, without overcomitting to doing so.
So they gambled that Tebow could not complete a lot of long passes deep and lost the gamble.
Well he completed ten passes...for 316 yards. That's pretty efficient, no? It's not like he was throwing dumpoffs and 5 yard square-ins.
Look, I'm not saying he's the second coming of Peyton Manning or anything, but can you deny he threw some fantastic deep balls yesterday? He hit receivers in stride, deep. A couple of throws were near-perfect, deep to well-covered receivers.
I realize Tebow's sort of a polarizing figure, all I'm saying is that for yesterday's game at least, he played extremely well...give credit where credit is due.
The fact that they were getting burned deep repeatedly all day and they didn't adjust is just baffling. The fact that they didn't have a guy deep on the first play of overtime was just stupid. Did they really think Tebow wasn't going to take a shot there after beating them all day? I have faith that we wont do anything that stupid. The Steelers really missed Clark in this game, especially with Polamalu doing his usual guessing wrong and getting burned.