Friday, October 2, 2015

Ravens 23 - Steelers 20; The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly


Well, if you care at all about it, you already know what happened at Heinz Field last night, so let's just break it down as follows:

The Good

  • The Steelers defense was going to be the downfall of the team this year, everybody said, but since being torched by Brady and the Pats in Week 1, that unit has turned in three very respectful performances.   Granted, the 49'ers, Rams, and Ravens may turn out to be bad teams, but you can only play the teams the schedule puts out in front of you.
  • Le'Veon Bell is back and appears to be as good or better than ever.
  • At least it didn't rain and turn the Heinz Field turf into a quagmire that would have been an embarrassment on national television.
The Bad
  • The offensive playbook seemed to have been dumbed-down for new QB Mike Vick, but why?  It seemed like the Steelers were afraid to let Vick even try to throw down field.  As a result, we got a lot of screen passes that gained six yards in third-and-eight-type situations.  Is it because....
  • ...Vick just isn't any good anymore?  Time was, Vick was an all-pro QB who could run, and, just as importantly, sling the ball all over the place.  Vick is only two years older than Ben Roethlisberger, and three years younger than Tom Brady, so I am guessing that there ability is still in there, so the Steelers offensive game planners may need to let him loosen up a bit.  
  • Or, perhaps I'm wrong on that, and Vick really is over the hill, in which case, that Big Ben injury really is going to take down this whole season for the Steelers.
The Ugly
  • Do I really have to say it?  All I'm thinking is that Kevin Colbert has been on the phone all day looking up out of work place kickers.
  • Because of Josh Scobee's performance, I will NOT criticize Mike Tomlin for going for first down in the overtime.  I wouldn't have either.  
  • If I will be critical of Tomlin, it will be for attempting a FG on fourth and four near the end of regulation after Scobee missed a FG attempt earlier.  (A) The Steelers might have made the first down, which would have clinched the game, (B) even if they didn't make it, it would have bled some time off the clock, and (C) it would have caused Baltimore to start seven yards deeper than they did after the missed FG; those yards could have made a big difference.
I will close it out with this meme seen on Facebook this morning, which I thought was pretty funny:


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