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[StillMill Profile]

Stillers-Packers Postgame Analysis and Grades has been posted by Still Mill at Stillers.com.

[tourosteelersfan Profile]

A great win, but no improvement in areas of concern: there was still a 4th quarter defensive collapse; erratic special teams; and no running game. It was nice to see Wallace return to early season form. Tomlin is smarter than Bellichick in at least one respect: he gave the Packers great field position and allowed them to easily score with enough time left on the clock to give the Steelers a chance to win the game on the last possession. (By the way, another way to keep your defense off the field in the 4th quarter is to run the ball - but that chapter was omitted from Arians' playbook.) Hard hat goes to Ben; Mill tends to favor defensive players but no one on the defense was even close this game. I plan to enjoy this victory on its own terms and therefore will not even speculate about the playoffs.

[steeler_fanatic Profile]

Still - I agree on the onsides KO. I was surprised (as were the Packers) but it made sense the way the game was going. I think Tomlin figured out the Stillers couldn't stop the Packers so he rather take a chance to keep the ball or give up a short field and hope the Packers score fast and give Ben a chance to win the game late.

[clarioncall Profile]

I, too, agree with onsides. Worked out OK. Maybe some planning by MT, maybe some "grabbing at straws", maybe some dumb luck too. We needed every second on last drive and thankfully Pack scored soon enough. If Pack starts back on their 30-35, not enough time left for us to move the ball. Gotta get those 25 second pass routes run downfield since Brucie doesn't know sidelines kill the clock.

MY ISSUE: EVERYONE %$@&^% KNOWS BALL GOES 10 YDS BEFORE TOUCHING. HOW DOES A "RECOVERY TEAM" NOT KNOW WHERE THE FREAKING 40-YD LINE IS? (I am smashing my keyboard keys right now, really, really hard!) ALL THE STEELER ON IKE's LEFTSIDE (could not see who it was) HAD TO DO WAS TAKE OUT THE ONLY PACKER COMING TOWARDS THE BALL. That Would have given "Idiot Ike" another second to wait for the hop to clear the 40, if he would have even thought of that, before he grabbed it. It's the "thick lines" that go all the way across the field, boys! Get it?
How does a coach NOT hammer this point to these guys and then remind them again in the heat of battle?

SO much piss-poor coaching this year. It is sad. It worked out OK, of course, but will we LEARN anything from it? Doubt it.
Almost wish Wally missed the catch to keep draft position in top 10 but good for the Rookie. Big things await him, I think.

[relictele Profile]

To state the bleedin' obvious with or without playoffs this team and franchise are whistling past the graveyard but the most insane aspect of it all is that the situation is largely of their own making.

Now it MAY be that the coaches assessed their personnel and decided to change the offensive and defensive schemes to maximize the return on talent but that is the optimistic view. The realistic view is that on both sides of the ball it is change for the sake of change and that usually leads to disaster or at least inconsistency.

We can slam LeBeau but no matter who wears the DC hat it is still shocking to contemplate: defense in Pittsburgh is being marginalized, even eliminated from the equation so unreliable are they. The world has been flipped.

Mill does an outstanding job on the details but even the most casual fan can only stare open-mouthed in horror at the abysmal play of the secondary starting with (but alas not ending) tackling. Actually tackling involves the use of arms and hands so let's call it some Americanized form of Sumo where the DBs attempt to body-check opposing players - without the DBs attempting to use their upper limbs. Obviously the opposing players haven't read the memo so once catches are made they will bounce off the DBs and run scot-free.

[arrestee Profile]

I don't record the games, but I vaguely recall Harrison making a dive to deflect a pass, so it wasn't really zero impact -- even if the real impact was his failure to catch the damn ball. And he is held more often and more flagrantly than just about anybody in the league, which is more of an excuse for piss-poor results than the esteemed members of our elite secondary have.

Still, I agree with the analysis, and add my own voice to the screaming chorus calling for the firing (sorry, I meant "retirement") of Dick LeBeau. I favor public hanging for Arians.

For me, given that this season is a write-off, the most interesting question for the offseason will be whether Tomlin returns to his roots and installs a 4-3 style DC to replace Dick, or if he's seen the light on the 3-4.

[Tonydesal Profile]

Drugs are bad. Everyone knows this. So, if someone abuses drugs, we say the problem is with the person, not the drug, because we know, drugs are bad.

The problem here is us, people. We know the Steelers are bad. Yet we still 'use'. We can't blame the drug. It's our fault.

Sadly, after the 'high' I got last night, I'll be back for more next week. I can't help it, I'm a 35+ year addict.

Oh, and Mill, one thing to correct in your post: "R. Clark - living proof that ya can’t polish a turd."

Please see: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbus ... -turd.html

This only proves that you can polish a turd, but R. Clark still stinks.

[SteelMex Profile]

I totally agree with Mill's assesment. Still I believe that playoffs are possible, with 2 key conditions:
1) Stiller have to won next games (RatBirds and Phinx)
2) Denver loss to Philly or Raidas (last one, three weeks ago, almost impossible to think, but now, who knows)

what do you think?

[oldschoolhunkie Profile]

Hey touro, would you have preferred booting it deep, which seemed to give the ball at about the 40 every time anyhow and letting them take off the whole clock before scoring? Tomlin was just acknowledging the obvious: we couldn't stop them. Wake up, bro.

[jaybaileys Profile]

Guys we would get torched in the playoffs! We need draft picks who will make an impact. You know they aren't gonna bring in any stud free agents. I want to beat the Ravens too, but playoffs? Playoffs? Are you talking about Playoffs? (in my best Jim Mora voice) That would be a horrible development. With no Pola we would get humiliated. Who wants to see Farrior wiffing at Leonard out of the backfield again? Or Tomlinson in SD. Plus then they might keep Arians!

[rifraff Profile]

What a great game, so glad I watched it live! Tomlin is a tactical genius with the on-sdie kick. He didnt take the safe route, kick deep and let the inevitable happen and blame the D. He took the only chance (no fear) we had and if we miss maybe they score quik and our O gives us a chance with some time left, brillant! The only thing is why have Ike "no hands" Talyor as the wing man? Now we can add "no sense" to his moniker. Why in the fuk cant he keep his mitts, this one he catches hahahaha, off the ball till after the 40?
I secretly watched the Jets & Dolphins games with our next to impossible playoff scenario, what the hell its 1-2 Sundays per year Im going down with the ship and the extra beers help smooth things out. Ill watch and root against Jets, Jaqs, Donkos and Texans, hope I can keep it straight on who Im rooting for by games end
Oh god, I thought Arains called a good game, not enought runs, but the shorts passes to Mendy were like runs, more please, the only problem is its working too well, so the defenses will be expecting it so better not to call any accorrding to Arians thinking If Lebeau gets into hall of fame in Jan he could consider riding off into the sunset? Tomlin states to the world that our secondary stinks! Pola really makes Clark tolerable but Gay, Carter and Clark can be upgraded, free agent a priority. Pola can tackle by becomig a human missle but these other guys gotta stop copying him and wrap up. We cant beat the Ravens next week and pull em down with us, if u cant win it then take em down with u!
We can throw a scare into em next week so they got to beat Oak, will have to make the playoffs so we can knock em out there, even sweeter

[AZ Steel Profile]

I think the onside kick by Tomlin was a great call as well. The defense couldn’t have stopped my grandmother on Sunday so why not try to either get the ball or let the offense have time to get another crack at it after GB scored. Fact is that if GB got the ball, they were either going to score from the Steelers 40 or their own 30. Tomlin was playing the correct odds by giving his offense more time. It's a sad statement about the lack of confidence Tomlin has in the defense, but it is completely warranted.

I’m pretty sure Ike T was in there because Tomlin didn’t want to show his hand by putting in players that were not normally on the kickoff team. Ike Taylor is just a dipshit for not waiting till the ball went 10 yards. Reed could have kicked it a little further too. Otherwise, it would have been our ball because we caught GB with their pants down. Again, the problem of execution haunts the 09 Steelers.

Suggestion for 2010 training camp, FUNDAMENTALS till players drop – tackling, catching, blocking, man coverage etc. etc. FUNDAMENTALS and EXCECUTION – screw fancy schemes and complicated packages. This team needs to relearn the basics.