On To Houston: Playoff Practice/Info Thread

[Ochmed Jones]

I think bb is smart to practice on the game field this week. Get everybody 100% comfortable. These are the little things he does that prove his greatness.

While I think we are the better team, I know Houston is going to try to be more physical than us.

The key for us is how fast we get our offensive rythum back after a week off.

 

[deroc5050]

Well Vegas is already put out odds Pats vs Steelers, Pats getting -4, I would jump on that right now. Reason being is because this weekend Pats are most likely going to blow the doors off of Houston and the Chiefs and Steelers are gonna be a dog fight. The spread will go up to -6.5 before kick off Championship weekend.

The Chiefs vs New England, New England is getting -6.5.. So Vegas thinks the Steelers have a better shot than the Chiefs. This is all perception.

 

[patfanken]

You know I feel less and less threatened by the Steelers these days. Bedard had Rothlessbergers road numbers today and they are Osweileresque in their badness. IIRC 59% completion rate, 85 QB rating, something like 250 yds per gamem and more picks than TD's Plus he mentioned that the toughest team the Steelers faced on the road the last half of the season was Miami, so it wasn't like he was facing the iron while picking up those kinds of numbers

Face it Ben has been a front runner all season. His numbers at home are Rogdersesque. Over 300 yds, over 110 QB, great TD pick ratio. Well kiddos Ben won't be playing at home come the AFCCG, in fact if those away numbers hold up, he won't be anywhere come the AFCCG but fishing....or raping young girls

 

[supafly]

Well Vegas is already put out odds Pats vs Steelers, Pats getting -4, I would jump on that right now. Reason being is because this weekend Pats are most likely going to blow the doors off of Houston and the Chiefs and Steelers are gonna be a dog fight. The spread will go up to -6.5 before kick off Championship weekend.

The Chiefs vs New England, New England is getting -6.5.. So Vegas thinks the Steelers have a better shot than the Chiefs. This is all perception.

I assume that you mean "giving," not getting, since NE would be favorites in both of these games. Just wanted to clarify, that's all.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Haven't seen much of Tedy lately...

Last on I heard, he's still making a living as an ESPN analyst and was recently slamming OBJ for creating distractions for himself and his teammates....

I tried looking for his clips on nfl.com, espn, and youtube to hear his thoughts. Haven't been successful though

 

[supafly]

You know I feel less and less threatened by the Steelers these days. Bedard had Rothlessbergers road numbers today and they are Osweileresque in their badness. IIRC 59% completion rate, 85 QB rating, something like 250 yds per gamem and more picks than TD's Plus he mentioned that the toughest team the Steelers faced on the road the last half of the season was Miami, so it wasn't like he was facing the iron while picking up those kinds of numbers

Face it Ben has been a front runner all season. His numbers at home are Rogdersesque. Over 300 yds, over 110 QB, great TD pick ratio. Well kiddos Ben won't be playing at home come the AFCCG, in fact if those away numbers hold up, he won't be anywhere come the AFCCG but fishing....or raping young girls

While you make a great point about his night/day difference away from Heinz field, we also need to take into account the fact that the trio of Roethlisberger-Bell-Brown is finally healthy and playing well together. At the time of our game vs. PIT at the end of October, the trio had only appeared together in 5/24 previous contests.

It's just something to account for when bringing up stats with them, etc. I'm guessing that his numbers were improved when the 3 of them appeared together, and also may be skewed in general due to the fact that the gameplan shifts due to Bell's rushing capabilities. Finally, I think there was a really poor outing from Roethlisberger in there that likely brings down averages. Not meaning to try to discredit your point, because it's quite valid, but just looking at it a bit closer, that's all.

 

[FourierSeries]

While you make a great point about his night/day difference away from Heinz field, we also need to take into account the fact that the trio of Roethlisberger-Bell-Brown is finally healthy and playing well together. At the time of our game vs. PIT at the end of October, the trio had only appeared together in 5/24 previous contests.

It's just something to account for when bringing up stats with them, etc. I'm guessing that his numbers were improved when the 3 of them appeared together, and also may be skewed in general due to the fact that the gameplan shifts due to Bell's rushing capabilities. Finally, I think there was a really poor outing from Roethlisberger in there that likely brings down averages. Not meaning to try to discredit your point, because it's quite valid, but just looking at it a bit closer, that's all.

No, he's 100% right. Their poor offensive performance on the road this season has many Steelers fans concerned.

 

[supafly]

No, he's 100% right. Their poor offensive performance on the road this season has many Steelers fans concerned.

Yeah, I deal with them on a daily basis in every facet of my life (but here), and they are concerned about the possibility of playing New England. I have yet to see many concerned about the KC Chiefs, however.

Since we're focusing solely on the QB position though, how are a guy like Le'Veon Bell's stats on the road this year? I remember seeing a couple of games where he just completely dominated. Also, as mentioned, the trio being together helps to put things in perspective. Anything without those three together doesn't really show much, and as of our game in Oct (which Ben missed), they had only appeared together in 5/24 previous games. Having them all playing together changes things a bit.

 

[SVN]

KC gives up ton of yards on the ground. Steelers will just run Bell all over them.

 

[VrabelJr]

KC gives up ton of yards on the ground. Steelers will just run Bell all over them.

If only Mike Tomlin was a good head coach...

 

[oldrover]

how are a guy like Le'Veon Bell's stats on the road this year?

Pretty damn good.

Le'Veon Bell: Situational Stats at NFL.com

 

[Mountain_Commando]

And i'm sure some idiot will bring up 2010. Problem with that is that jests team beat that Pats team earlier in the year by 14 points after going on a 21-0 run in the 2nd half. So that jets team proved they could beat that Pats team. 45-3 was just fresh in people's minds but any logical thinking person remembered that 28-14 game and they also remembered losing to ****ing mangini and the browns that year.

To me, the biggest reason the 2010 Jets divisional loss isn't comparable is this: the 2010 team was heavily reliant on Gronk, A-Hern, Dmac...and moderately reliant on Jermaine Cunningham, Brandon Spikes, Mesko...ALL of whom were rookies, experiencing the jitters their first divisional game while being NFL #1 seed.

Also, Brady was alleged to have the flu that game and definitely looked it too.

This year is an entirely different story altogether.

 

[FourierSeries]

KC gives up ton of yards on the ground. Steelers will just run Bell all over them.

KC's run defense is indeed bad, but they've managed to win some key games this season while giving up a lot of rushing yards. I don't think it will be enough for Pittsburgh - they'll need a more balanced attack, which they haven't had on the road.

NE is more of a match up problem for KC, because both the pass and the run game are legit threats. KC's run defense has been bad up the gut, which Blount should be able to exploit. NE's efficient short/quick passing game is also the type of passing attack that has given KC problems.

 

[supafly]

Pretty damn good.

Le'Veon Bell: Situational Stats at NFL.com

Yep, that was mostly my point. There seems to be a relationship to Ben's numbers dropping while Bell's rushing production increased. Thank you for bringing the numbers up for us.

I still don't know who I'd rather face, though.

 

[FourierSeries]

Yep, that was mostly my point. There seems to be a relationship to Ben's numbers dropping while Bell's rushing production increased. Thank you for bringing the numbers up for us.

I still don't know who I'd rather face, though.

But his efficiency stats drop dramatically on the road. He's less accurate and his TD to INT ratio is much worse. This isn't simply due to them giving Bell a higher workload on the road - Bell's numbers aren't even significantly better on the road than they are at home. Ben has visibly and statistically struggled away from Heinz Field.

 

[deroc5050]

I assume that you mean "giving," not getting, since NE would be favorites in both of these games. Just wanted to clarify, that's all.

Yes sorry New England is giving -4 to Pitt.

 

[Brewskies]

"My forehead is nowhere near the size of Peyton's. And no, it has nothing to do with eating cardboard (Papa John's)."

I have never had pPapa John's pizza, is the cardboard reference that it is ****.

 

[irishfanatic]

ugh, its only tuesday

On a brighter note, lt's now Wednesday.

 

[supafly]

But his efficiency stats drop dramatically on the road. He's less accurate and his TD to INT ratio is much worse. This isn't simply due to them giving Bell a higher workload on the road - Bell's numbers aren't even significantly better on the road than they are at home. Ben has visibly and statistically struggled away from Heinz Field.

There's no denying that Roethlisberger has played differently on the road. I'm not taking away from that as much as I'm questioning what the difference is if you throw 0 TDs vs. 3 INTs (@BUF), when your all-purpose RB racks up 300 yards and you still win the game?

By showing that Bell actually improves on the road, I'm reminding him that it's a team game with different components, and that Roethlisberger has actually had horrible days where the team makes up the production in the running game and they still win. Ultimately, there's no denying your point that he's a different QB, which has been that way most of his career.

 

[supafly]

I have never had pPapa John's pizza, is the cardboard reference that it is ****.

It's a very basic and almost "generic" type of pizza, that's for sure. It will do in a pinch, but many refer to it as ketchup on cardboard. It's mediocre at best, in my opinion.