Week 1 - Sept. 9 @ Denver

[Finnegans Wake]

Same old shit.  Open the season with half-assed execution and effort.  Of course, I'd love to play Denver 1) in Pittsburgh some time, 2) without losing a few linemen early in the game, and 3) having two safeties.  Mundy gotta go, safety has to be a draft priority.  Been sayin' it.  Broncos were getting a lot of PD, like an uncanny number that would normally be completions.  Somebody was studying tape, that's for sure.  On the pick, bad staredown but Manny coulda shoulda muscled the defender to make a play on the ball, 'cept he's just not that strong.  WTF is up with having Chris Rainey and not using him?  Saving him as an October surprise?  

Front 7 did nothing, Woodley again starts the season MIA, the slim and trim Zig Hood exhibited marvelous athleticism in not getting to Manning, did Timmons play?  Cortez looked great in preseason action, but he was soundly abused.  I read that about half of Manning's passing yardage was YAC, so:  poor tackling, out of position.  Fucking Demaryius Thomas.  I don't even want to hear his name again.  

But, as folks have noted, we could lackluster our asses to 11-5 rather easily.  Lots of questions on both sides of the ball.

AJ, we should have known the picks were screwed when we agreed down the line.  

[Finnegans Wake]

Good news is we should have Harrison back soon, Clark will be back for the Jets, and Foster and Gilbert should be back.  Mike Adams was mostly OK though.

Jets looked good because the Bills played like absolute shite. 

[Finnegans Wake]

The Steelers were trailing, 25-19, and were facing a second-and-10 from the Pittsburgh 39-yard line with 2:10 remaining on a stopped clock prior to what turned out to be the decisive play. They lined up with Sanders wide left, Roethlisberger in the shotgun with running back Jonathan Dwyer deployed to the quarterback’s right, and with tight end Heath Miller and wide receivers Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace aligned to the right of the formation. Brown went in motion to the left and then back toward where he had lined up initially prior to the snap.

The call was for a screen-right, but when that didn’t materialize as initially anticipated, Roethlisberger worked his progressions until locating Sanders.

Roethlisberger’s pass found Porter instead.

Porter did the rest, and when he crossed the goal line he had turned a six-point Denver lead into a 12-point advantage with just 1:58 remaining.

“I should have called a timeout,” Roethlisberger said. “The play clock was winding down. I hate to burn timeouts, but I should have because we were kind of all over the place.”

The Steelers had two timeouts remaining at that juncture.

“We were kind of in no-huddle,” Roethlisberger continued. “But Coach (offensive coordinator Todd Haley) called a play because he wanted a play. It was really loud out there, and I didn’t get (the play call) at first. Once I got it I relayed it, and we were just kind of late getting set up.

“(Sanders) was the last guy (in the progression). I really thought he had a step on (Porter) and I could get it to him. The guy (Porter) made a good play.”

[Finnegans Wake]

Nice breakdown of the Thomas TD.

Ike's caught like a deer in the headlights. 

[Pain]

How many shots did we take down field? Is there still something wrong with Ben's arm? Didn't he have a rotator cuff issue?

[Finnegans Wake]

How many shots did we take down field? Is there still something wrong with Ben's arm? Didn't he have a rotator cuff issue?

I don't think Ben's arm is the issue.  Ben's vision, a couple of times, Haley's playcalling, Wallace adjusting to the new playbook...  They better get this shit straight, fast. 

[aj_law]

Denver receiver Brandon Stokley say of the Steelers’ late defensive collapse: “I think they pretty much did the same thing all game.”

Well, there you go.