View topic - Stillers-Ravens Postgame Analysis and Grades

[SteelThatDon'tRust Profile]

Mill, no one expects you to change the grade. But when Dick and Co. hold the hated Ratbirds offense to a single field goal, it's pretty comical to give him a C. Two field goals you say? No b/c the one came after the D stuffed them after the Reed return. Allowed one drive for 3 points. But hey it's your site, of course.

[LenSherwood Profile]

Pommah-- I like your statement that the NFL has become something for chicks, Vegas and fantasy football. You probably have stated the future, I am afraid.

Well, arguing over whether the defense had a C grade probably is moot with Ben R. standing there with what looks like a month or more off. By then it will be too late even if he does come back. I don't like Leftwich's throwing mechanics at all...I had forgotten how bad they are. That wind up means that he will telegraph his throws if they are even on target. Shit, those mechanics are Tebow-like if not worse.

[SoCal Stiller Profile]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I said "where is Carlie Fucking Batch?" last night! It was obvious that Pusswich was hurt and could not throw. At some point in the 3rd quarter you HAVE to make that change!

The end

[Pommah Profile]

Oh, it's not sarcasm. The Ravens that showed up last night were the Ravens that the Texans absolutely mauled, yet we couldn't score more than 10. We go into that game knowing we need to rise to the occasion, yet we give up a punt return for a TD, cough the ball up deep in our own territory, can't keep our feet inbounds on a well thrown pass in the end zone for the lead, can't manage the clock, can't yank the QB who winces with every pass, and can't come up with any big game-changing plays on D (even though the stats might look okay).

This is mediocre product folks. I was hoping the Giants game was an indicator of a team turning the corner, but it was just an indicator of how crappy the super bowl defenders are this year (proved by getting trounced the very next week by the Bungles, and you know that is mediocre product).

And the reason we still appear somewhat okay is that the whole NFL is now mediocre product. I might as well be watching NASCAR. Look, everybody who gets on top screws the pooch sooner or later. Baseball did it, Boxing did it, Basketball did it, Hockey never had it and it did it anyway. The NFL has now done it. Last night's game was supposed to be prime-time, top-tier, championship level football and both teams sucked donkey dick. The fans who went knew it, an awful lot of seats showing yellow in the fourth Q of a close, meaningful game. Rather get home and into bed than watch that crap and sit for hours on the parkway as a reward.

You heard it here first. Discuss.

[Pommah Profile]

And another thing while I've got my hackles up.

"Fantasy Football" - what the fukk is that? There's nothing supposed to be fantasy about football. Football is guys playing and having fun while sorta beating the crap out of each other like you used to do with your brother when you were kids, going at it but not really wanting to seriously injure him. It's getting the pent up aggression out of your system. It's working like a bastard in practice just so you can feel the thrill of pulling off the trick play in the game. It's the source of some of the best memories I had when I was a kid, whether it was pop warner or high school or just a pickup game in a snowstorm behind the school. It was real, it was no f'n fantasy, and it was more fun than just about anything else I did. Chicks hated it, which is how you knew it was good, we tossed them the bone of being cheerleaders so we could have the real fun to ourselves. Yet some kids didn't play, they went off and played dungeons and dragons with their little dice and scorecards and shit. And now that crap has weasled itself into football? And news sites keep track of "fantasy scores", not just the real score? Grown men talking to other grown men on Monday morning about "how their fantasy team did over the weekend?" What is this, the End of Days or something? Drop all that fantasy shit out of the lexicon of football and let it get back to being what it is.

[SoCal Stiller Profile]

Pommah - you could not be more right on the whole fantasy football epidemic. It's probably the number one culprit for turning the league into the pussfest it is today. Thanks nerds!

Why the hell did Leftwich play the whole game? Now we find he had 2 broken ribs - no fucking shit. I'm not a doctor, but I could tell from my couch he had broken or cracked ribs. Tomlin's decision to leave him in the game has been his worst decision this season. Hurtwich needs to go. Inexcusable! We need to find a QB off the scrap pile now to back up Batch. Who will they get?

[relictele Profile]

No excusing - or even debating - Leftwich's performance but his injury after flopping into the end zone was obvious. Instead of springing up to celebrate he crumpled in pain.

It will be interesting to see the level of honesty/disclosure about his injury. A healthy Leftwich is a liability. An injured Leftwich shouldn't even be considered.

And now we know. Injured by hitting the ground with no 'help' from defenders? Seems a bit delicate doesn't it?

At any rate it's time to sign a QB...

[anthonyc20 Profile]

The funny thing is
The best playmaker is out, the second best is hurt

Woodley sucks, Clark sucks, the corners are average, Hampton sucks, Keisel is OK, Timmons is good, Foote sucks

but even though our personnel is average at best, its Dick's fault (even though we are number 1 in the league).

Mill is a certified idiot

[PsychoWard86 Profile]

The funny thing is
The best playmaker is out, the second best is hurt

Woodley sucks, Clark sucks, the corners are average, Hampton sucks, Keisel is OK, Timmons is good, Foote sucks

but even though our personnel is average at best, its Dick's fault (even though we are number 1 in the league).

Mill is a certified idiot

Yep.

What I want to know is, what defense is playing better than ours right now?

Chicago's defense, the darlings of the NFL, is currently getting SHREDDED by a backup QB on Monday Night Football.

Could you imagine if Lebeau's defense let up 20 points in the first half to a backup QB? Yet, there they are. The supposed "best" defense in the NFL, getting their asses kicked up and down the field by a backup.

And how about the darling defense of the AFC, the good old Houston Texans? Remember them? Yeah, they gave up 37 points to Chad freaking Henne. Anyone else even realize that Henne was still in the NFL? I honestly had no idea. But he had no problem throwing 3 TDs against what was supposed to be an elite-level defense.

How about San Francisco. They're supposed to be the bee's knees when it comes to defense in the NFL, right? Oh, what's that? They gave up 24 points to the Rams last week? Well that's not very good now, is it?

So I'll ask again. What defense is playing better than ours right now?

Lebeau got a "C", which means average. That means that there must be a list of 15 or so teams playing better right now, right? So who are they?

[SteelThatDon'tRust Profile]

Steelers have not allowed a passing TD in 15 quarters. Think about this. In today's NFL.

[SoCal Stiller Profile]

It's a good thing the D is playing well right now because they're going to have to carry us for a few weeks or more. The good news is that the O-line is playing decent and getting healthier.
I'm starting to think we may have found something in Lewis. As I said several weeks ago, I believe both Ike and Keenan are more suited for press or man to man coverage than they are playing zone. As the season has gone along, it seems Dick has them closer to the LOS more with each passing game. I wish I had time to look at all of the games to see if I am correct about this trend but it seems that way. No way would they have allowed Gay to play the way they're using Lewis.

[caliswain Profile]

What I want to know is, what defense is playing better than ours right now?

Chicago's defense, the darlings of the NFL, is currently getting SHREDDED by a backup QB on Monday Night Football.

Could you imagine if Lebeau's defense let up 20 points in the first half to a backup QB? Yet, there they are. The supposed "best" defense in the NFL, getting their asses kicked up and down the field by a backup.

And how about the darling defense of the AFC, the good old Houston Texans? Remember them? Yeah, they gave up 37 points to Chad freaking Henne. Anyone else even realize that Henne was still in the NFL? I honestly had no idea. But he had no problem throwing 3 TDs against what was supposed to be an elite-level defense.

How about San Francisco. They're supposed to be the bee's knees when it comes to defense in the NFL, right? Oh, what's that? They gave up 24 points to the Rams last week? Well that's not very good now, is it?

So I'll ask again. What defense is playing better than ours right now?

Lebeau got a "C", which means average. That means that there must be a list of 15 or so teams playing better right now, right? So who are they?

This is the point I'm trying to make also.... I feel that performance should be judged on a relative scale when it comes to the NFL.... and you make good points that other 'elite' defenses are getting shredded from week to week... but Mill doesn't really talk much about other defenses when judging the Steelers D or LeBeau. To me, LeBeau has been pretty good this year considering you have no Troy, a diminished Harrison, Woodey needs to drop 20lbs (that is LeBeau's fault to some degree... or maybe Tomlins), etc. In other words... the defensive scheming the past few weeks at least has been getting the job done.

You take Mill's critical eye on ANY team right now and sure, you can tear it apart pretty easily. Again, I don't care about if Lebeau is overrated... or fawned over by the media... who cares about that? Why should be care about that?.... I care about is how he is performing compared to other teams or other coordinators

A note about Haley... I still think he's an upgrade over Arians but that's another topic : )

[PsychoWard86 Profile]

What I want to know is, what defense is playing better than ours right now?

Chicago's defense, the darlings of the NFL, is currently getting SHREDDED by a backup QB on Monday Night Football.

Could you imagine if Lebeau's defense let up 20 points in the first half to a backup QB? Yet, there they are. The supposed "best" defense in the NFL, getting their asses kicked up and down the field by a backup.

And how about the darling defense of the AFC, the good old Houston Texans? Remember them? Yeah, they gave up 37 points to Chad freaking Henne. Anyone else even realize that Henne was still in the NFL? I honestly had no idea. But he had no problem throwing 3 TDs against what was supposed to be an elite-level defense.

How about San Francisco. They're supposed to be the bee's knees when it comes to defense in the NFL, right? Oh, what's that? They gave up 24 points to the Rams last week? Well that's not very good now, is it?

So I'll ask again. What defense is playing better than ours right now?

Lebeau got a "C", which means average. That means that there must be a list of 15 or so teams playing better right now, right? So who are they?

This is the point I'm trying to make also.... I feel that performance should be judged on a relative scale when it comes to the NFL.... and you make good points that other 'elite' defenses are getting shredded from week to week... but Mill doesn't really talk much about other defenses when judging the Steelers D or LeBeau. To me, LeBeau has been pretty good this year considering you have no Troy, a diminished Harrison, Woodey needs to drop 20lbs (that is LeBeau's fault to some degree... or maybe Tomlins), etc. In other words... the defensive scheming the past few weeks at least has been getting the job done.

You take Mill's critical eye on ANY team right now and sure, you can tear it apart pretty easily. Again, I don't care about if Lebeau is overrated... or fawned over by the media... who cares about that? Why should be care about that?.... I care about is how he is performing compared to other teams or other coordinators

A note about Haley... I still think he's an upgrade over Arians but that's another topic : )

Yeah, everybody knows Mill has his ax to grind with Lebeau. Why? I don't know.

On one hand, Mill seems to think that being overly negative means he's being more in-depth in his analysis, which is completely false. True analysis relies on objectivity, and true objectivity requires that you don't have ANY slant, whether that be positive or negative. Yes, analyzing a game with the patented "rose-colored glasses" isn't good analysis and needs to avoided. That's true. But being overly negative isn't any better. You're just talking about different sides of the same coin. The more naive readers may very well interpret it as being truer analysis since it often contains nuggets that most casual (and positive-thinking) fans don't dare say, but it just don't hold up under the parameters of what true analysis should abide by. And I think this is where Mill loses a lot of credibility among the less naive readers.

On the other hand, I can't fight this nagging thought that Mill knows quite well how inaccurate his negative slants are, and that this is all basically a giant troll attempt on his part. Ask yourself this....how many posts would this thread have if you took away all the people complaining about the Lebeau analysis? It'd be every bit as dead as the other article threads. Kind of a disturbing thought for a site that has a tagline of "When it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Steelers, no one comes close", isn't it? Of course, the flaw in this angle is that if he actually wrote good, objective analysis, the board might actually get more people willing to read those articles and, in turn, spark some meaningful debate; as opposed to post after post complaining about Mill complaining about Lebeau.

[isfry Profile]

Ha! We have finally got to the point where Mill is an idiot because of the readers' responses to his articles. Priceless.

[isfry Profile]

And another thing while I've got my hackles up.

"Fantasy Football" - what the fukk is that? There's nothing supposed to be fantasy about football...Drop all that fantasy shit out of the lexicon of football and let it get back to being what it is.

I couldn't agree more, Pommah. One interesting thing about the "fantasy" bullshit is that it seems to have coincided with the free agency period. When the players care more about their own stats for the sake of landing a bigger contract elsewhere than they do about the outcome of the game, why be surprised when the average fan feels the same way? People talk to me about fantasy football and I say the same thing every time. My fantasy team is this year's Steelers. I want everyone else to fail, and if they get hurt in the process that's just a bonus.

Alexander the Great is rumored to have said, "It is not enough that I succeed. Everyone else must fail."

Equally on point, Steve Garvey said, "The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new ballplayer cares about the name on the back.

[LenSherwood Profile]

Pommah--how old are you because you sound like an old fart like me? Can't agree more with your take on football today and the broader implications for society! Rant on brother!