The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Week 15 - Patriots

THE GOOD:
The Steelers season is not over though getting the #1 seed is less likely.
The Steelers still control their own destiny in terms of a 1st round bye
Bell rushed 24 times for 117 yards and 1 TD
Roethlisberger completed 22 of 30 passes for 281 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT
JuJu
Steelers defense sacked Brady twice and intercepted him once.
Steelers defense contained the Patriots running game for the most part.

THE BAD:
4th quarter
Tipped Roethlisberger pass for game ending INT
Patriots defense sacked Roethlisberger twice and intercepted him once.
Even without much of a running game Brady still passed for almost 300 yards.

THE UGLY:
AB injury - especially depending upon its severity
The Steelers record against Brady and Belicheck

 

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported and PFT has confirmed with a league source that Brown has a partially torn calf muscle. He’s not expected to need surgery or play in Houston next weekend, but he is expected to return to action for the postseason.

 

I’m so pissed off


That is all

 

We have to secure a bye week. But we have never beaten NE on our way to a SB during Ben's career.

We will get Jax in Pittsburgh now, because those other teams in the wild card Rd stand no chance against them. 3 teams with a shot at the SB, Patriots, Steelers & Jaguars in the AFC.

 

What we need is fot the Chiefs to slode into the playoffs 8n such a way that they play the patriots in round 2. The Chiefs match up well vs the Pats and could very well upset them. The chiefs then would have to come to pit and we match up well vs them. I already mailed my letter to Santa on this.

 

Beloved Jeanquev, good wishes but you’re way ahead of me. Before all that I have 2 other concerns.

1. Are we confident that our beloved Super team will even get a bye? After an emotional 3 game stretch I feel a big letdown against Houston. Jacksonville is @ SF then @ Tenn, two games they “should” win. 1 Steelers loss and 2 Jacksonville wins and their bye goes bye bye.
2. If they get the bye, Are we confident that our beloved Super team can even beat Jacksonville in the Divisional round? I’m not, I believe this is a nightmare matchup for them.

Please advise

 

The Good: Tomlin and the rest of the coaching staff had the players prepared and ready to play. Other than possibly double teaming Gronk more or at all times I thought they coached a good game.

The Bad: Going from a guaranteed #1 seed to possiblely not even getting a bye in a 2 min 10 sec stretch. Catch the damn ball Davis.

The Ugly:
- losing their spark plug (Shazier) on defense 2 weeks ago and losing their spark plug (Brown) on offense yesterday.
- the inconsistent officiating. It’s insufferable.

 

I think all holding penalties need to be done away with in the NFL since the refs have no idea what they’re doing and selectively enforce those rules to screw people all the time whether intentional or unintentional. While we’re at it why don’t we do away with pass interference penalties as well. Let’s make it more gladiatorial. I am in favor of removing all protections for quarterbacks too so that that smug look on Tom Brady’s face might more easily be wiped away.

Mostly I just wish Jesse James had not gone drop ball mode and cost us a touchdown

Please advise

 

I realize this was an emotional loss. We had them and we still lost. The #1 seed is unlikely whereas for a moment it seemed all but assured. I get it.

However, I take this differently. What we saw last night was a Steelers team that wasn’t intimidated by the Patriots. Even when Brown went out, they fought hard, had a great game plan and mostly executed it. I saw a Steelers team that can beat the Patriots for the first time in as long as I can remember. I feel good this morning because I know that if the Steelers have to play them again, no matter where it is, and they have a healthy Ben, Brown and Bell, they have a great shot to win!

That’s exciting!

 

Mano, I agree with you in that we saw we are very capable of beating the Patriots. But refs are in the Patriots corner. Now no matter if we are the 2 or 3 seed we have to beat Jacksonville most likely. They are the one defense that matches up well against our offense.

 

I do sort of agree with Mano. The team presented a solid showing that lends a feeling that our team is close. I think Haley's offense went too conservative too early and the Steelers don't shit Lucky Charms (obviously). Honestly, I don't care about home field any longer. Just kill the New England Patriots in Massachusetts if that what it takes. I wanna see red/white/blue tears pouring down the faces of Foxboro fans and watch it glaze their hideous cock-sucker accents deep into their more hideous orifices. Jam 3 jumbo marshmallows into your mouth, recite the Red Rover rhyme... CONGRATS!!! you too have now mastered the New England cock-sucker accent. I'm still REALLY pissed off ...

 

The Bad:
There was no conclusive evidence to overturn the Jesse James TD. I agree the ball moved, but you can't tell me with certainty that he still didn't have control of the ball when it moved even if it touched the ground. The call was a TD on the field. Nothing showed me that it should of been overturned.
BS, they never took into consideration the call on the field.
JMac

 

The NFL absorbs another punch to the head due to the absolute fact that the league as an organization, cannot with absolute certainty determine what a catch is or is not. The rule book itself is vague and roundabout. Officials are... human idiots in ridiculous clothing, so they can't explain a catch either without the audience catching wind of their ineptitude or be taken seriously. NFL fans... forget it. They wear <team name>-A-Vizhun Goggles, so that's out. This ambiguity ever since the Dez Bryant catch/no catch, the NFL is at odds with, well damn near everyone, and in its course, it has produced another layer of fan vitriol this holiday season. Yay, Roger! Since the Dez incident, I understand the NFL rule to be ABSOLUTELY 100% MYSTERIOUS, and COMPLETELY UN-DEFINABLE <better chance at not only finding Bigfoot, but also enrolling it in an Ivy League School>, and NFL fans have been and felt, rightfully, cheated. This one is. This one isn't. This one might be, not sure... I'm not complaining about the official call on Jesse James' game-winning TD, since I understand the rule as well as anyone here. The Steelers "should've/could've" done more to put themselves in a better position to NOT LET THE REFS AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME. Due to the specific language in the rule book that clears up absolutely nothing about "a catch", the rule allows for a myriad of interpretations. Its like the old definition of porn. "I can't explain it, but I know it, when I see it." Well... that probably flies just fine in some places, but some Steelers' fans (and other NFL fans too) are having none of it.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/apos-nfl-rigged-apos-steelers-162402949.html

For a much deeper understanding of the NFL's catch rule, I've just tracked Bigfoot to a lecture hall in New Haven, CT and found THIS . . .

 

Get rid of instant replay

The game was better without it

Technology ruins everything

Sincerely,

-Tech

 

And the first time they cost the Steelers a game because the call on the field was wrong, then what?

 

The more I watch this game...and yes I have watched it again...the more I like what the Steelers did. The truly played a great game. The worked the clock, kept Brady off the field, forced him into bad decisions and bad throws at times. They struggled with Gronk, but who doesn't? That's where Shazier would have been a big help.

Give me a healthy AB and a healthy Joe Haden and I REALLY like this team against the Pats in January.

 

Problem is that will likely be played in Foxboro..............and that place has been one of utter EMBARRASSMENT for this team.

 

Its not like they had been competitive in Pittsburgh recently!

I don't care where the game is. This team can beat them. They can get the interior pressure that Brady struggles with. They can play press man (and should be able to do it better with Haden in January) and disrupt the routes and force Brady to hold the ball a bit longer. They can score from anywhere on the field.

 

There are 2 ways to look at it we played great and canhange with them and should win or we played great they played average and we still lost.



Im one of those who thinks late in the season the patriots tend to water down the game planning so they dont show their fellow playoff teams much.

 

Well, tough loss. One bobbled pass from victory. Great game and I was encouraged by what I saw. The Steelers moved the ball, almost at will. All they had to do was slow Brady down to have a chance and they did that. I know there's no moral victories but I am willing to bet the Steelers gained a lot of confidence in this match up. Remember, if they face the Pats again they will, most likely, have Brown and Haden

The good:

JuJu. He is playing the best of the rookie WRs and he has been hampered by a hamstring
The D; They couldn't stop Gronk but they did some good things yesterday. Davis gets that INT and we're singing a different tune
Bell. Another great game for him.
Bryant. I was happy with him

The Bad:

Can't cover Gronk.
Ben lost it a bit after the overturned call. They still had a chip shot FG for OT and who really knows what happens. The Steelers could win the toss and score a TD. Gotta play better in that area but I won't jump on Ben too much. He went toe to toe with Brady and only a overturned TD kept him from an historic drive.

The ugly:
Brown gone. He'll be back and will be fine. He's so tough.
What is a completion. I don't know anymore and neither does the NFL. It wasn't just this game. The Car-GB game has two plays that were controversial at best. Get it right.

Summary:

Let's remember that the Steelers are 11-3 and in great position for a bye. They play two bad teams and I get the whole "they struggle with bad teams" thing but this team won eight in a row so they are doing something right. I see 13-3 with a two seed and a bye. No one knows what happens after that so what's the point of lamenting anything until it happens. Bottom line is that any team that wants to win it all will have to beat three good teams to do it. The Steelers are no different. I think the Jags are very good but this Steelers team is not the same one that lost to them earlier in the season and frankly, we don't know who they will play after a bye until it all shakes out. Let's talk about it then. Next week it's the Texans and I expect a win and that's all that's worth talking about.

Steelers lost but they are 20-4 in their last 24 games. This a very good team that can beat anyone, even the Pats on a good day(I believe it). New winning streak starts next week.