Early Postgame Thoughts – PIT

I don’t need to see more of Matthews At MLB. I’m not overreacting he’s just not ready right now. Chaney is the solution. I don’t get the love affair with Matthews. I just don’t .

Really looking forward to the analysis on the LBs from Tommy. Although, no need to panic on what happens in preseason. This might have been just what was needed . Get those issues exposed and fixed before the games actually count…

@TyPhilly21
I agree about Chaney. He looked so promising last year. I also fail to see how Matthews is granted a starting position as a rookie. I don’t care about his bloodline — Eli is not Peyton. I can’t understand why he is not being challenged at the position.

@Tommy
Asante will always gamble, that’s his game, plus this is this pre-season. He can afford to try and pull an inside straight. If he gets it, there’s cheers. If he doesn’t, it’s just the pre-season.

Seems like we play crappy the game after we break camp every preseason. Guys minds are just somewhere else. Combine that with the road thing and we get debacled.

I know it sounds like I’m really being harsh on Matthews but I just don’t think he is being put in a position to succeed. Seems idk just seems strange to just give a 4th rder the job of being the brain center of the D without contesting him with anyone but fellow rookies

Going into this game, there were a couple of things I was hoping to see. First and foremost, I wanted us to stay healthy. Second, I wanted to see how Matthews AND the LB core would play against a team that likes to run the ball. Third, I wanted to see how our STers performed, specifically our kicker/punter/returner.

In terms of health, it sounds like we suffered no significant injuries. It doesn’t sound like Avant or Cole’s injuries should affect them next week, so I was happy about that.

As for the LBs, Fokou was the guy who stood out from the bunch to me, at least among the starting three. I wasn’t all that focused on Chaney, but he never stood out throughout the first half. That concerns me, especially considering he is supposed to be the one guy we are most comfortable with. As for Matthews, I’m no scout, nor do I have an indepth knowledge of how our defense should run, but he looked incredibly hesitant to me. At the start of every play, it seemed like he basically would stand there for a full second trying to understand what is going on in front of him before reacting. Now even if he is being told to read and then react on D, that amount of time to react seems like it takes too long. Once he reacted though, I felt he either got blocked and couldn’t shed the block or ran away from the play. With the way our wide 9 technique is setup, it seems like he has to hit the right hole quickly and clog it up or make the play in order to succeed, and based on the live game, it didn’t seem like he managed to do that all that well.

I guess for me, the Matthews thing just seems like it is our coaches, whether it is Reid or Juan or both, simply being stubborn about wanting to be right with Matthews. Don’t get me wrong, Matthews may turn out to be a quality player, and maybe all it takes is for him to react quicker (which is something you expect a rookie to get better at over time), but why the heck would you not have a legitimate backup plan/competition for the MLB spot. While there is certainly potential for Matthews to be a solid player, there is so much potential for him to fail, particularly this year. I understand that Chaney can slide back to MLB if need be, but that still requires additional shuffling. Bringing in a guy who can legitimately push Matthews can only help the team. Anyway… enough of a rant for now. I really look forward to your review on all of the LBs Tommy.

As for the STers, we really got to see nothing from them. Chas Henry had the one nice punt, although you could argue it took a bit of a lucky bounce. Regardless, I am not overly concerned about Henry right now. Henerey on the other hand sounded as if he had a tough week at camp and I was really hoping to see him attempt a few quality kicks. Lastly, our defense didn’t make any stops that forced the punter to actually allow a return, so for a second straight preseason game, we didn’t really get to see Higgins. Unless they decide to change the rules back, I don’t know that we will see a ton of kick returns. In fact, while I hate the new rules, I think it makes zero sense to try and run it out the way Moss did when the ball is more than a few yards into the end zone. Teams didn’t do that before the rule change, so why does it make sense to do it after the rule change when the defense is now 5 yards closer to being able to tackle you? It’s as boring of a play as it gets, but I think you risk a lot by running it out of the endzone when it is kicked 6 or 7 yards deep into the endzone. That being said, I still think a punt returner is a valuable player. I realize Higgins had a few drops, including one awful one on the beautiful deep ball from Kafka, but to me, the value of a 6th WR is more in terms of his value to STs than his value as a WR, and so far, Higgins hasn’t had a chance to show whether he can be a quality return man.

I don’t know what all you guys are complaining about. I thought they looked pretty good.

I’m not too worried about Matthews, remember not long ago, same position, we had unknown Joe Mays starting, who played quite poorly in the preseason, but then regular season started and. Oh wait.

Is Trotter still available ?

If anything, this is a good game to get stuff like this out of the way. With our offseason, followed by all the major love from the Baltimore game, I think we were in danger of starting to believe our own hype, which could be especially dangerous with such a young team.

Far better we get a kick in the pants now, and get brought back down to earth in PS, than in week 1. You can bet we’ll be p***ed off going into game 3.

@matt even tho allen is playing SS he didnt changed positions , castillo changed the names of the positions

The Steelers executed well to expose our weakness at the LB positions. Once their ball carriers got over the LOS, there was open field for them to run. Ben also carried the ball himself on snap and up the middle, as our middle was wide open and not a single player there for about 10 yards. Our DL lined up on both sides WIDE and LB dropped off 10 yards. It was an open space inviting abuse!

The tackling was not up to par last night. The first defender was in the proximity but failed to get hold of or slow down the ball carrier. Once the first chance of tackle was missed, we didn’t have another guy behind to stop the run. They better find a way to scheme it right for the real games.

One observation on our 2nd/3rd string WR connection with QB. They seem to be throwing only to 1-2 WR, without checking on other openings. Perhaps it was the play called, or the QB has a special connection with certain WR: Young to Hall and Kalfa to Higgins, though Jones was the recipient of 2 TDs. This makes it easy to defend them.

For god’s sake, Allen’s assignments is the same as last year, he did not switch position, only the name changed. I also think it’s too early to say what Chaney’s best position is.

And finally I simply refuse to believe for one second that any NFL coach even think the slightest about bloodline. The only people thinking about that is the fans constantly beating on Casey for not being his brother. He’s a 4th round pick, not 1st round like his brother. He’s a 4-3 linebacker. Not a pass rushing 3-4 outside linebacker.

Casey was handed the stating job because Castillo and most likely Andy too, liked what they saw from him on tape and thought he would be a good fit for the scheme. If it turns out he’s not ready to be the starter it’s a good thing there’s is still some guys available on the streets. Or Chaney can be moved to the middle

Tommy

would you take a flyer on Lofa Tatupu? The fact he hasn’t signed with anyone yet might be causing concerns, but maybe teams just wait to sign him before week 1 in order to avoid guaranteeing him a full season’s salary?!

Ok, I’ll refrain from pushing the panic button but it is hovering ever so slightly above.

One thing that caught my attention during the game is that the commentators pointed out that Tomlin really got on his players to play well after the Washington game.

My belief (really hope at this point) is that the game simply meant more to the Steelers than the Eagles. They needed to win while the Eagles more-or-less were more laxadasical with their approach.

(But that defense was pathetic even if that was the case. UGLY)

A lot of mistakes are correctable, but lack of physical ability (Matthews’ inability to get off blocks, Dunlap not being able to pull) aren’t.

Kurt Coleman just doesn’t seem strong enough to start against physical teams. Coleman definitely plays physical, but he doesn’t lay the wood. It wouldn’t shock me to see Jarrett start sooner, rather than later. Jarrett never had any issues around the box.

Not sure whay Asante would jump a route when he knows he has no help behind him. A veteran should not make that mistake. I love Asante, but at times, his mouth is better than his play.

Also, Matthews will be a good LB, but he’s been exposed. Yes, having Patterson and Dixon in there to take on the guards would help some, but teams are going to scheme to attack him now. Time to sign a Kirk Morrison or another veteran to help Matthews along and leave Chaney and Moises in at SLB and WLB.

And finally what is wrong with Nate Allen? You’d think he was a rookie….he was routinely out of place last night. Kurt looked like the second round pick and Nate like the 7th.

I know it’s preseason, but man I have never seen a team so dominated in every part of the game like last night.

@Tommy

Not sure if that play when Ben ran for a mile up the middle was a design flaw of Wide 9. It seems odd to me that our middle LOS was wide open, not just that play but in a number of snaps. They purposely lined up the DL to both sides which was not commonly seen.

The LB needs to come up to the line to stop the run up the middle. Or only one side of DL is on Wide 9 position, like how Titans ran it. A big DT in the middle would also help, which can be put in when Patterson returns or some of our DT to fill that role. I should think this can be fixed.

JO said: “Not sure whay Asante would jump a route when he knows he has no help behind him. A veteran should not make that mistake. I love Asante, but at times, his mouth is better than his play.”

I think Nate Allen was really the one to blame on the first Steelers TD. The D was running an overload blitz, so Asante was looking for the ball to come out early. And the design of the blitz did get a free runner headed straight at Big Ben. But instead of taking his free run at the QB to make him throw the ball or take evasive action, Nate Allen slowed up and jumped as high as he could in the air when he saw Ben pump fake, eliminating the pass rush and leaving Asante out to dry.

(It kind of makes you wonder if all the stories about Castillo emphasizing tipped passes so much in camp had anything to do with Allen’s decision on that play.)

@Steve
DRC blitzed on the right side of the D (was picked up by the the RB). Allen was a free runner from the left side of the D. If he doesn’t jump, he hits Ben (maybe even before he throws the ball). You’re taught never to jump but to keep your hands up. Unfortunately, your natural instinct is to jump.

FYI, I’m not a fan of DRC as a blitzer. He’s not physical enough.

Joe Buck sounds like death, I think it’s time to pull him and let him get his voice back. I thought Bradshaw was drunk. Have you ever heard 3 people who wanted to be at a preseason game less then those 3 last night. Awful production by FoxSports.

Matt D,

Let’s not forget to add Nate Allen to that list.

Not a big Juan Castillo fan. I was very surprised that we did not go after a real defensive coach for the coordinator position. However, I will defer to Reid’s decision for a little while. To me, he is overmatched. The screaming anf yelling and pacing the sidelines are theatrics best saved for position coaches. In my opinion, I want a more cerebral and caclulating coordinator.

Also, the whole Casey Matthews “bloodline” thing is only front and center because Juan Castillo keeps talking about it. Every chance he gets, he is talking about how “the dinner table conversations went in the Matthews house”. I don’t think it is a TATEr thing at all. Also, not sure about this wide nine stuff. It looks like we will get hammered on run defense. What happens when we don’t jump out to an early lead and a tema like the Giants are playing with us, not from behind. I think Brandon Jacobs has got to be drooling looking at our tiny defensive unit, he is bigger than some of our defensive tackles.

Cliff –

It’s not that people are expecting Casey to be as good as Clay. They play a different game.

It’s that Casey has been handed a starting job right from the get-go, unseating a guy who impressed down the stretch last year, and his defensive coordinator can’t stop talking about the family dinner conversations the Matthews’ have.

Watched the game again. Matthews was worse than I expected. We should play Jordan-Chaney-Fokou, our best 3 LBs. Even better we should of got Tulloch for the peanuts Detroit had to pay him.

Sorry, forgot putting name. But Juan really does deserve a dinner with the Mathews for doing everything in his powers to make Casey a starter. He’s more than showed his affection for their son.

Relax, everyone. I was kind of upset last night until I thought of “When We Were Kings,” the documentary about the 1974 Ali/Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle.” Back when Ali was training for this fight, observers were concerned that his sparring partners were constantly getting the best of him. What they didn’t know, however, was that Ali was purposely exposing his weaknesses and working on them, making him a stronger, better fighter in the process. This strategy allowed him to recapture the heavyweight title from the heavily-favored George Foreman on a sweltering night in Zaire.

The Eagles are doing the same thing here. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself today to make myself feel better about last night’s beatdown.

People hated on Casey before we picked him and before Juan was talking about the dinner table.

I also don’t think that a guy like Brandon Jacobs will get the best of us. As I saw it last night, the problem was that their RB were at the line quite fast and we didn’t catch them in the backfield. Jacobs is not exactly a speedster so we might catch him in the backfield

@nicolajNN
It’s not about disliking Casey, I thought he was 1 of the top three 4-3 MLB’s in the draft and would have been perfect for the Eagles past defensive scheme. Now the DT’s job isn’t geared primarily to stopping the run like b4 and Casey isn’t the fastest, strongest or greatest at shedding blocks in order to get to the RB. It just might have not been the right draft for the Eagles to draft him(or a player of his skill set’s).