2 good things and everything else is bad and ugly

Week 1 thoughts -

- for some of us Picket looked like we thought he would before last years draft. Including myself we were fooled in the preseason.

- Canada’s offense has been one of the easiest to defend and prepare for in the last 3 years, multiple opposing players and analysts have said that.

- the defense is overrated, with Watt they are slightly better than average, without him they’re below the line. And that’s with or without Heyward.

- I like Tomlin but heavens to Betsy how many times does he field a team that looks unprepared and he and his coaching staff get thoroughly outcoached by a top 10 coaching staff in the league

- 49ers are a legit SB contender and on Sunday we saw that our beloved Super Steelers are far from that, at least after week 1.

- if they lose this Monday night we’re probably looking at another .500 season at best. They’ll have a big win here and there but after Sunday’s performance it looks like another 9-8 season and no playoffs. We’ll see, it’s a long season

 

In Pittsburgh Dad ways: I’m going to return my fire stick and cancel my Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. At least I won’t have to sit in front of the TV and watch another shit fest like last Sunday.

 

My biggest regret for the Steelers is not being able to hold onto Hargrave. We could have had the nastiest front seven in the league with him still there. We hit it out of the park when we drafted him in the third round.

 

Hindsight is 20/20 but at the time sure looked like the Steelers made the right decision prioritizing Tuitt over Hargrave. Damn what a bad decision it turned out to be, but no way to predict how it turned out.

 

Finally watched that crap game. Pretty ugly to say the least.

Pickett looked like crap, bad decisions compounded by worse throws. First INT DJ didn’t help by slipping, but it was a bad decision. His second one, idk wth he saw. Heyward was bracketed. The first drive of the 2nd half he locked onto Heyward when he had Washington (I think) and Najee open on the left and his eyes never left 83.

Canada - What can I say? Something like 15 rush attempts? I know the 49ers run defense is good and the game got away but dang didn’t even test them really. Honestly the way the players played, Canada wasn’t even a top 5 reason for this loss.

ILBs - I like Roberts, but damn he just is not fast enough to get to the edge on those stretch plays. Love his physicality, love the downhill style, not enough speed. Where was Alexander? Felt like he was a ghost most of the game. Holcomb? Saw a lot of him. Unfortunately it was mostly getting washed out of the play, or getting juked in the open field by Brock Purdy. Not CMC or Deebo, Purdy.

Austin - DC doesn’t miss out on the blame when you give up almost 400 yards. Miscommunication? Fix it fast. Coverage was way too soft. Losing Heyward is going to hurt. Playing JPJ 7 snaps is criminal considering how that game was going. Games out of reach, let him get a few snaps on Aiyuk, couldn’t do worse than Peterson or Wallace.

Peterson- gets his own section when he talks smack and gets beat for 2 TDs. Even if he didn’t slip, that first one is an easy score. Second one is forgivable, good coverage, better throw and catch. Already had a lot of people calling me out and rightfully so. Couple of pass breakups help improve the overall performance.

Bright spots- TJ Watt getting 3 sacks. Really felt like Bosa was held in check, mostly a non-factor. McFarland looks like he is going to pop one on a kickoff return. Hopefully defense can force a punt or two and give Calvin Austin a shot. Calvin Austin had a pretty decent game, got open and made a few catches. Pretty sure he was wide open for a huge score if Pickett didn’t get pressure. CB had slipped and pretty sure it was Austin running free, but OL allowed pressure and Kenny had to tuck and run early.

Overall it was a horrible game, but time to turn the page to week 2. Need to have this next game.

 

Last thought before moving on to Cleveland: I miss Terrell Edmunds. May lack great ball skills, but damn it he was where he was supposed to be more often than not and he was a fairly reliable tackler. Way better than Neal, and IMO better than Kazee.

 

I’ve mentioned it before but Edmunds excelled at doing his job. Was never going to fill up a stat sheet, but he knew his role and played it well. Minkah benefited from him as well.

 

The Steelers essentially replaced Edmunds with 2 backups in hopes that one of them can play well enough each week.

 

With nothing to lose I might try Desmond King at Safety, cannot be worse than the 2 turds they rolled out there on Sunday. Got to get JPJ more snaps, we are doomed if Wallace and Peterson are the starting CB's.

 

I felt that way, I was mighty disappointed that Kazee was the one resigned. A lot of fans called him a bust, but honestly he got better every season and was super reliable.