The complete ripping of the coaching staff

[mzimmerman81]

Today for their offensive game plan in last night's game is fantastic and warranted.  To abandon the run against the worst rush defense in the league is ridiculous.

[aj_law]

I'm just wondering if anyone complaining about the run:pass ratio of last night's game now was saying anything about it after Pittsburgh's first series.  You know, the one where they ran like 6 or 7 pass plays to 2 run plays and scored a TD.  And, they made it look easy too.

Raise your hand if you were saying anything even remotely similar to "hey, they need to quit fucking around and run the ball."

*crickets*

[mzimmerman81]

Whether they scored on first possession or not....


They have the league's leading rusher before they had the bye week, have the second best rushing offense in the NFL, Denver has the worst running defense in the NFL.

Every team we play gears up to stop the run, and normally we still run, last night not so much.  I am all for mixing it up, but when it's that blatant, you need to go with what got ya there.

[kchopsteel]

They bottled up the run and we passed. The 1st half was atrocious in protection and Ben kept double clutching and making to much of things. The 2nd half seemed like a completly different team. Ben was making throws which in turn opened up the run a little bit.

I don't really know who to blame for this loss. The fumble by Ben is the difference in the final score, but the defense totally blew goat balls and couldn't stop anything. Maybe I'll just blame myself because the 2 games that I have actually been able to watch, well just look at the win-loss record.  

[DoctorJohnnyFever]

This isn't a running team anymore. It's Ben's team.

[steelerfaninCO]

Whether they scored on first possession or not....


They have the league's leading rusher before they had the bye week, have the second best rushing offense in the NFL, Denver has the worst running defense in the NFL.

Every team we play gears up to stop the run, and normally we still run, last night not so much.  I am all for mixing it up, but when it's that blatant, you need to go with what got ya there.

Well, WP did finish with 21 carries, so its not like they totally abandoned the run. Lynch was in the box every play and sometimes even Fergeson was there too. Its idiotic (see Bill Cowher) to think you can consistently run against 8-9 man fronts, no matter who you are. Balanced teams get it done, period. Now,the particular pass plays and formations called were suspect for sure, but I have no problem with trying to pass against 8-9 man fronts. Thats what the Pats, Colts, Dallas, and any other "good" team would have done. Denver wants to sell out to stop the run? You got to make them pay and the Steelers just couldn't get it done. Would you have rather seen them run into those fronts consistently, and seen them punt 10x? Sure Denver had the worst run D in the league(statistically), but it was obvious from the first snap that they were going to do everything they could to keep from being run on. Like I said, balanced(good) teams can beat you in many ways and Steelers just couldn't get it done. But the score would have been worse, if they had just tried to "impose their will" on the Broncos.

[pensodyssey]

I would argue that we did, indeed, "get it done" via the pass, especially in the second half.  What let us down is what DJF and others noted-- that the defense couldn't stop Cutler when we needed it.  It doesn't matter much if your offense has a 75% 3rd down efficiency, when your defense also allows a 70% conversion rate.

I'll be seeing 3rd and 14 in my nightmares for the next full week.

[steelerfaninCO]

I would argue that we did, indeed, "get it done" via the pass, especially in the second half.  What let us down is what DJF and others noted-- that the defense couldn't stop Cutler when we needed it.  It doesn't matter much if your offense has a 75% 3rd down efficiency, when your defense also allows a 70% conversion rate.

I'll be seeing 3rd and 14 in my nightmares for the next full week.

true,true. The D definately is right up there on the list of reasons why they lost. However, the Steelers failed to make Denver's D adjust. The first half was awful. Yes, they passed with some succes after they went down, twice, by 14 points, but they most certainly did not make Denver go to a 7 man front by making them respect the passing game. It was encouraging to see Ben play well in the second half, but's its hard to ignore the fact that it was out of pure necessity, rather than a calculated game plan implemented from the first snap.

[pensodyssey]

I would argue that we did, indeed, "get it done" via the pass, especially in the second half.

[DCSteelers]

This isn't a running team anymore. It's Ben's team.

DJF, I agree... the Steelers need to find a way to keep him in 1 piece now.