The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Week 14 - Raiders

THE GOOD:
Ben was 25 of 29 for 282 yards 2 TD 0 INT
J2S2 caught 8 of 12 passes for 130 yards 2 TD
Steelers only gave up 1 QB sack
The Ravens lost to the Chiefs 27-24 OT
The Steelers still have a shot at a winning season

THE BAD:
Another AFC loss
A third loss in a row (see ugly)
Derek Carr was 25 of 34 for 322 yards 2 TD 0 INT
Jared Cook was not shut down
Boswell was 0/2 FG (10 of 16 on the year)
When the Steelers need a late defensive stop it likely won't happen.
Steelers chance to win the AFCN took a big hit.
Ben still hasn't won in Oakland.

THE UGLY:
The Patriots lost to the Dolphins in Miami and now play in Pittsburgh. In 2017, this scenario resulted in a Patriots victory.
The Steelers face the real possibility of a 5-game losing streak.
Seriously how bad does a Raiders team have to be for the Steelers to win in Oakland?
Oakland leads the all time series with their "bad" teams defeating "good" Steeler teams.

 

N ational
F ake-football
L eague

 

2018 Steelers = 2009 Steelers

Tomlin just needs to win the last game against the Bungals to keep his non-losing seasons streak going, masking a growing list of abomination losses against teams that his team should beat.

 

Just asking...who do U think will win the AFCN?

 

Mimeng don’t mean any disrespect so don’t take this the wrong way

“Only one QB sack allowed” - against a team that only had 10 coming into the game.

Add in getting outscored by a team in the 4th quarter that was a minus 59 points in that quarter coming in.

The game was an abomination and there are no excuses to lose to arguablely the worst team in the NFL.

 

Pitt is still the favorite to win the division...85% odds

 

Go ahead and make that bet!

Steelers have the Pats, Saints and Bengals.

Ravens have the Bucs, Chargers and Browns.

If the Ravens beat the Bucs and Browns...both more likely than not...then the Steelers would have to beat either the Pats or the Saints, as well as the Bengals, in order to win the division...not nearly as likely.

 

I will say this...Saints are beat up and that loss may have a carry over effect w NE...I think Pitt loses that game vs NE cause Brady will convert 3rd downs but I can see Pitt beating Saints and Bengals to finish the year

 

For what its worth...this is the first time in over a decade that I've honestly wanted Tomlin fired.

If Ben was healthy halfway through the 3rd quarter and Tomlin left Dobbs in the game, as he seemed to imply in his presser, then he's a complete fucking idiot and should have been fired before the 4th quarter even started!

Maybe then, someone with half a brain would have realized calling a timeout to try and save some time for your offense was a smart thing to do! There is ABSOLUTELY NO reason not to call those two timeouts! None. If they score, you have more time to answer. If they don't, you can kneel on the ball and run the clock out (Raiders only had one timeout left).

 

We may never find out in our lifetime. You can't get much more lopsided from a personnel standpoint than we have in our last three trips there, and we haven't won any. In 2006, we held them to UNDER 100 YARDS TOTAL OFFENSE.........and they still won the game.

This team just can't play complete games in any phase..........offense, defense, coaching, or special teams. Every week none of the aforementioned play well for an entire game. And it varies week to week, so making adjustments or changes in practice literally doesn't matter. If one area improves one week, one or more regress the same week come game time. And you win consistently, let alone contend for anything, when you play like this, year after year.

 

New England has lost consecutive games like 3x in the last decade. I'd say the odds are FAR GREATER that they come into Heinz fired up and sharp, knowing they still have a shot at the #2 overall seed with Houston losing.

We shouldn't have to count on a team not being 100% or sharp to beat them, and it sure hasn't mattered the last several weeks anyway. Broncos shorthanded on defense.........didn't matter. Chargers down Gordon........still won. A hapless Raiders team that basically threw in the towel this season trading away both their best defensive and offensive players...........doesn't matter against us.

Yet you think we somehow have a good chance vs Brady and company next week? A team Ben has beaten ONCE at home since his rookie year?

 

Pretty sure those odds were BEFORE today's game.

I'd bet oddsmakers have them at LESS than 50/50 at this point. Win the division?...........at this point I'd be surprised they even make the playoffs. Dolphins, Ravens, Colts, Titans all sit at 7-6, and looking at their schedules, almost two are virtually assured at finishing 9-7. Meaning the only chance Pitt has to make the playoffs is to win the division and/or beat either New England or New Orleans, and finish 9-6-1. We'd likely win the division and host the Chargers...........WITH GORDON this time.

 

I'm just going to address the elephant in the room here. What is this teams record if Bell is signed and plays the yeat? They obviously have defensive issues but with some of these close games, how much does Bell turn the tide.

Even if they just let him go and sign another RB, they couldve addressed their defensive issues with Bell's money. It's been poor planning in my book.

 

If u read above I think they lose vs NE

 

We need to move on from Ben. He has dementia. He makes throws that even Brett Favre would question.

 

i would think the possibility existed that Tomlin may have been worried about another one of those throws in the second half with Ben slightly injured but then Tomlin's own dementia lost the game so what did it matter.

Here's something not many are discussing (cherry on top of the sundae):

Why not snap and center the ball for the kick and then call the TO instead of the crazy rush!? If you are going to be so dumb as to not take the timeouts when on defense, then isn't this the kind of thing you MAY want to use the saved timeout for? Or does he like to use them after the game somewhere ??????

 

If anyone still cares, you’re routing for the chargers Thursday night. If they lose they have nothing to play for against the Ravens.

 

Wow. That's just plain nasty

 

Ben is done.

 

Three loses in a row after a six straight wins.

This team is capable of winning the next three and making a run at a Super Bowl. They are equally as capable of losing the next three games. Story of the Mike Tomlin era.

Boswell should be cleaning his locker out today. He is inconsistent and unreliable. If they keep him around it's further proof the leadership needs to change. You can't keep a specialist around that isn't effective. What's the message to the rest of the team.

Tomlin thinking the flow of the game was going well....so he left Dobbs in to show how incapable of running an NFL offense he currently is. If Randolph isn't a better option than Dobbs then he was a wasted pick. I know Dobbs is super smart and pretty raw but he was garbage yesterday. The accurate passes he threw had zero zip on them so they were broken up.

Playing on the road in a place that you've struggled after two consecutive loses and the playoffs on the line. Ben not being in the game much sooner if he was capable of going in is unforgivable.

Defensively this team can not be counted on. I do not think it's a lack of talent. I think it's a coaching and scheme issue. Tomlin owns the defense. Butler is nothing more than a shield for Tomlin. I am going to predict Butler is the fall guy for Tomlin and gets axed after this season.