My final gameday thoughts on Steelers vs. Patriots today here at Gillette Stadium:
Must-win?
Wow, no. It’s nothing of the kind. To borrow from Aaron Rodgers’ tone when he answered my question a week ago about being frustrated … come on … it’s Week 3 … come on … come on.
He was right then, and he’d be right again even if the Steelers don’t put up more points than the Patriots this afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Because a loss would leave them at 1-2 with only 14 games and the entire AFC North schedule still in front of them. Plenty of time to stack enough successful results toward making the playoffs.
That said, my goodness, they need to start performing better. In general. Like, today.
Which is to say, principally, that they need to tackle better.
A hell of a lot better:
I’ve let loose with multiple levels of invective over this coaching staff the past two weeks, but I’ll make this just as plain: Neither Mike Tomlin nor Teryl Austin can take the field and make tackles for these guys. And within that, neither Tomlin nor Austin can be exceedingly culpable for their most-expensive-in-the-NFL $163 million defense now leading the league in missed tackles with 28.
The Rams, for the record, have zero missed tackles. Or 28 fewer than the Steelers.
That’s gross. As are the Steelers' 789 total yards allowed, sixth-most in the NFL. As are the 63 points, fourth-most. As are the three sacks, tied for fourth-fewest. As are the yards allowed through the air -- meaning the actual distance from throw to catch -- that's seventh-highest. As are the 299 rushing yards given up, sixth-most. (And hey, doesn't that number sound familiar?)
And to name the names, grosser still is the brutal breakdown of the whiffs: Payton Wilson has four, Juan Thornhill and Darius Slay three each, T.J. Watt, Keeanu Benton and Jack Sawyer two each.
I don’t know why it’s happening, but I’m confident Cam Heyward came up with at least a partial explanation this week in putting forth, “I think it’s about just us getting back to tackling well, getting off blocks, setting the edge, coming downhill ... and then we can focus on getting after the passer. Until we stop the run early, we’re not gonna have a chance to get after the quarterback.”
Yep. This comes first.
But there’s got to be more to it. Maybe it’s been a mistake all along to have built a defense on a bunch of thirty something’s. Maybe Cam, who’s gone seven games without a sack and at least that long without making a Cam-like impact, finally has slowed. Maybe T.J., who’s gone six games without a sack and just as long in totaling two whole quarterback hits, finally has lost an edge. Maybe Jalen Ramsey, who’s still equipped with splash to spare, can’t run through the regular routes as he once did. Maybe Slay’s hit that same precipice. Maybe Wilson can only tackle people from behind. Maybe Benton’s bombing out entirely.
I mean, it could also be the communication, the cohesiveness and all these very real injuries, which today alone will keep out DeShon Elliott, Alex Highsmith, Joey Porter and Isaiahh Loudermilk. I’m not downplaying those, much less dismissing.
But at the end of the day — or the end of the play, to be more precise — make a bleeping tackle.
No results will matter until that’s resolved.
• Not sure it’s any different on offense. It’s the basics that’ve been absent. That's why we’re still talking about the line. We’re talking about pass-blocking well enough for Rodgers to have more than 1.5 seconds to stretch — or even survey — the field. We’re talking about run-blocking well enough that the running backs aren’t engulfed at the same time they’re handed the ball.
I hate these subjects, believe me. They’re boring. They’re monotonous. They’ve been atop the Steelers’ apparent priority list for more than a half-decade now and, with apologies to Zach Frazier, there’s barely been a positive blip in the script. This past week alone, we saw Troy Fautanu’s grade dip to Broderick Jones depths, and that might’ve been scarier than anything else that occurred.
But real is real. And this offense really will go nowhere until it’s buried.
• Repeating for emphasis: I’m citing players here, but I get that someone acquires the players and instructs the players. They’re eminently culpable, as well. I’m not an idiot.
• The Patriots have nine sacks through two games, a colossal leap from being last in the league a year with a total of 28. Credit old friend Mike Vrabel for that, as he's handled the pinning of the ears, but don't dare omit Harold Landry, who's already got 3.5 by himself.
Imagine the rabidity on that side to pursue the 41-year-old quarterback on the other.
• No amount of sideways screens to Jonnu Smith can avoid the need for extra measures to block. I'll say that in advance, so it's not hindsight. If Darnell Washington's not going to be targeted -- once in two games, plus the successful two-point conversion -- might as well have him shore up the offense's greatest shortcoming.
• No one cares how hard anyone schemed all summer to have Kenny Gainwell be some big contributor to this offense ... if he's no such thing. Jaylen Warren's ready to run. Feed him.
• I have little else to share this week that wouldn't involve some snark or stats about blocking or tackling, so hey, awesome spot to cut this one off.
THE ASYLUM
DK: My final gameday thoughts
My final gameday thoughts on Steelers vs. Patriots today here at Gillette Stadium:
Must-win?
Wow, no. It’s nothing of the kind. To borrow from Aaron Rodgers’ tone when he answered my question a week ago about being frustrated … come on … it’s Week 3 … come on … come on.
He was right then, and he’d be right again even if the Steelers don’t put up more points than the Patriots this afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Because a loss would leave them at 1-2 with only 14 games and the entire AFC North schedule still in front of them. Plenty of time to stack enough successful results toward making the playoffs.
That said, my goodness, they need to start performing better. In general. Like, today.
Which is to say, principally, that they need to tackle better.
A hell of a lot better:
I’ve let loose with multiple levels of invective over this coaching staff the past two weeks, but I’ll make this just as plain: Neither Mike Tomlin nor Teryl Austin can take the field and make tackles for these guys. And within that, neither Tomlin nor Austin can be exceedingly culpable for their most-expensive-in-the-NFL $163 million defense now leading the league in missed tackles with 28.
For real, the only teams in the twenties:
• Steelers: 28
• Jets: 26
• Vikings: 22
• Bengals: 21
The Rams, for the record, have zero missed tackles. Or 28 fewer than the Steelers.
That’s gross. As are the Steelers' 789 total yards allowed, sixth-most in the NFL. As are the 63 points, fourth-most. As are the three sacks, tied for fourth-fewest. As are the yards allowed through the air -- meaning the actual distance from throw to catch -- that's seventh-highest. As are the 299 rushing yards given up, sixth-most. (And hey, doesn't that number sound familiar?)
And to name the names, grosser still is the brutal breakdown of the whiffs: Payton Wilson has four, Juan Thornhill and Darius Slay three each, T.J. Watt, Keeanu Benton and Jack Sawyer two each.
I don’t know why it’s happening, but I’m confident Cam Heyward came up with at least a partial explanation this week in putting forth, “I think it’s about just us getting back to tackling well, getting off blocks, setting the edge, coming downhill ... and then we can focus on getting after the passer. Until we stop the run early, we’re not gonna have a chance to get after the quarterback.”
Yep. This comes first.
But there’s got to be more to it. Maybe it’s been a mistake all along to have built a defense on a bunch of thirty something’s. Maybe Cam, who’s gone seven games without a sack and at least that long without making a Cam-like impact, finally has slowed. Maybe T.J., who’s gone six games without a sack and just as long in totaling two whole quarterback hits, finally has lost an edge. Maybe Jalen Ramsey, who’s still equipped with splash to spare, can’t run through the regular routes as he once did. Maybe Slay’s hit that same precipice. Maybe Wilson can only tackle people from behind. Maybe Benton’s bombing out entirely.
I mean, it could also be the communication, the cohesiveness and all these very real injuries, which today alone will keep out DeShon Elliott, Alex Highsmith, Joey Porter and Isaiahh Loudermilk. I’m not downplaying those, much less dismissing.
But at the end of the day — or the end of the play, to be more precise — make a bleeping tackle.
No results will matter until that’s resolved.
• Not sure it’s any different on offense. It’s the basics that’ve been absent. That's why we’re still talking about the line. We’re talking about pass-blocking well enough for Rodgers to have more than 1.5 seconds to stretch — or even survey — the field. We’re talking about run-blocking well enough that the running backs aren’t engulfed at the same time they’re handed the ball.
I hate these subjects, believe me. They’re boring. They’re monotonous. They’ve been atop the Steelers’ apparent priority list for more than a half-decade now and, with apologies to Zach Frazier, there’s barely been a positive blip in the script. This past week alone, we saw Troy Fautanu’s grade dip to Broderick Jones depths, and that might’ve been scarier than anything else that occurred.
But real is real. And this offense really will go nowhere until it’s buried.
• Repeating for emphasis: I’m citing players here, but I get that someone acquires the players and instructs the players. They’re eminently culpable, as well. I’m not an idiot.
• The Patriots have nine sacks through two games, a colossal leap from being last in the league a year with a total of 28. Credit old friend Mike Vrabel for that, as he's handled the pinning of the ears, but don't dare omit Harold Landry, who's already got 3.5 by himself.
Imagine the rabidity on that side to pursue the 41-year-old quarterback on the other.
• No amount of sideways screens to Jonnu Smith can avoid the need for extra measures to block. I'll say that in advance, so it's not hindsight. If Darnell Washington's not going to be targeted -- once in two games, plus the successful two-point conversion -- might as well have him shore up the offense's greatest shortcoming.
• No one cares how hard anyone schemed all summer to have Kenny Gainwell be some big contributor to this offense ... if he's no such thing. Jaylen Warren's ready to run. Feed him.
• I have little else to share this week that wouldn't involve some snark or stats about blocking or tackling, so hey, awesome spot to cut this one off.
• Thanks for reading!
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