THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY - PS #2 - FALCONS

THE GOOD:

James Conner. Started off slow, but found more room to run as the game went on. His frustration with himself after several runs needs to be harnessed and used against his opponent. His hands and eye discipline need a ton of work. Left a good amount of yardage on the field because of them.

Martavis Bryant. Good to see him on the field again. Shame he didn't get a real opportunity to show us what he brings now. maybe next week with Ben in the lineup against the Colts.

Trey Williams. Showed he might be able to make this team as a special teamer/specialist returner. The only problem I saw with this kid is he isn't the best at reading his blocks. Should have cut right on the punter for a much easier route to the end zone.

Anthony Chickillo. Filled the starting role rather nicely. 2 sacks on the day. Steelers may just be okay at OLB.

Jordan Dangerfield. 2 picks, the second being a much more difficult one.


Rosie Nix. Great blocked punt. Shame damn ball bounced wrong way.


THE BAD:

The "starting" defense in the first quarter. Yeah, I know they were missing a few real starters, but the Falcons didn't have a zero or negative play the entire quarter.

Josh Dobbs. Got worse from week to week. His reads were slow, his passes were deliberate, and dude STARES down his receiver. Looks like Landry will continue to back up Ben.

Me just writing looks like Landry will continue to backup Ben.


THE UGLY:

Just one: Ross SUCKrell. Wow, this dude is easily the worst corner on the roster. I mean, getting beat by 5 yards on a go route is just awful. Sensabaugh, Hilton and Shepard are all better options. Hell, even Will Gay outplayed this turd. How can any watch that game and not see it?

 

I could not agree more if I tried, Jackal, on all of your above points.

 

I was hoping Dobbs could replace Jones but ain't happening. Conner could hurt us in negotiations with Bell. Team might think he is good enough to replace him.

 

Hilton and Williams are two guys that I think are going to be hard to cut. They both made the most of their opportunities.

At WR I'm really liking Hunter. It's going to be interesting to see who they keep.

The first team defense looked pathetic. The Falcons carved them up. The middle of the field is wide open over and over. Tomlin mentioned it can be two things the pass rush or the coverage. The middle of the field is wide open! It's the scheme coach. Fix it PLEASE!!!

 

Dennis Dixon part 2?

Conner doing decent is a good prob to have but no way do I think that effects Bell's status at all.

 

Anything less than Cockrell being cut and some of these other guys elevated is a mistake imho.


Brian Allen needs to make this team too

 

Keep Williams for his return abilities and cut Cockrell.

 

Good:
The WRs. They are among best in the league. AB, Bryant, Coates, Hunter, Juju, and Rogers is a great receiving corps. Hamilton and Ayers battle for PS spots.

Special teams: Doesn't happen frequently that I can mention them in the good section but this game was extremely good. A blocked punt, another partial block plus a TD return? Awesome game. Coverage was good too, Dangerfield and Davis both had hard open field tackles on kickoffs and Berry put most of his punts within the twenty. Ducre showed good hustle and knocked the ball back to Holba to down a punt at the 4. Great all around game.

Bad
Conner: started off slow, dropped a few passes but once the nerves settled he showed pretty good vision. So why is he on the bad list? Basically for 3 plays: the first was a drop on third down. Should've been a big play, but instead it became a punt. The second was another drop on third down which leg to another punt. The last one was on a 3rd and 2: he hesitated. Rather than dropping his shoulder and getting the 2 yards, he hesitated and was dropped for a no gain. A bonus reason for being on the bad list is he seemed to go down on first contact. Easy ankle tackles brought him down early in the game. The silver lining is that all of the bad I listed is correctable and can probably be attributed to nerves. He will be fine, still have hope he could be a starter if Bell isn't re-signed.

Ugly:
Jackal pretty much covered it when he talked about Cockrell. He is doing his best to play his way out of town. Golden wasn't much better. Dangerfield might pass him up.

 

When Golden played last year I wondered how the Steelers couldn't find a better option than him. He's not good.

Cockrell looks like he doesn't want to be on the field at this point. I know it's preseason but he looks awful. Let's hope he pulls it together! The team is counting on him playing at least as well as he did last year.

It's crazy how well this team finds WR talent but struggles to find talent for the secondary.

Vince Williams is a guy I like but he's not the long term answer. If all Williams has to do is stop the run and pressure the QB we are ok but he is not good in coverage.

 

I don't think its just the Steelers. I think its every team that has trouble finding elite defensive secondary talent. My guess is its because of the new rules that inhibit secondary play.

 

You might be right Lyman. The rules really do tie the defenders hands. And the Steelers love of playing soft makes it even more difficult for a defender to have success.

 

Again, its not that the Steelers love of playing soft. Its the new rules that force them to play soft.

 

I'm talking about the Steelers consistently playing DBs 5-10 yards off the LOS and often back peddling at the snap. They can still jam a WR in the first 5 yards under the new rules. The scheme allows QBs to make quick passes. Good QBs pick the Steelers defense apart with short quick passes.

The NFl has gone overboard with illegal contact and defensive holding calls. The inconsistency in the way they call illegal contact and defensive holding is even more frustrating.

 

Dobbs needs time in the incubator. That's all. Comments overreacting to it are just captain hindsight. Not sure what was expected of him. Just stash him deep on the roster and let it be.

Conner isn't a threat to Bell. Not even close. However, he gave us plenty of reason to believe we're set at RB.

Roosevelt Nix is wildly underrated.

Nary a peep and chat from wazoo's boy Hamilton. Instead, Justin Hunter, who actually has a legitimate chance to make this roster, showed grit on his TD catch.

Much ado is being made with regards to the Falcons' opening TD drive. It's pointless to look into it very deeply because the Steelers had no defensive gameplan. I'm only concerned about one piece on the entire unit. It won't take teams long to figure out that Ross Cockrell covers like a tarp in a tornado and focus entirely on him, since Artie Burns is starting to look like the real deal. I wouldn't be mad if the Steelers did end up trading for Trumaine Johnson since they're built to win now. Unless we have some special hidden gem waiting in the depths of camp then we're screwed at corner #2 otherwise.

T.J. Watt took a break from rushing the passer to help out in run defense. I told you this guy was gonna turn out great.

Are our special teams really that good, or are the Falcons' special teams that bad? At least we know it's a potential strength on this team.

 

Can't really judge overall offense or defense performance as both units were seriously short on starting players. No Shazier, Dupree, Harrison & Mitchell on D, & no Ben, Brown, Bell or Pouncey on offense. All these guys could play if the games meant something.

 

Coaching staff obviously seeing what most of us have . . . Cockrell playing like he's trying to get cut. Coty Sensabaugh in at 1st team corner Wednesday.

 

I saw that Coty is running with the ones. Cockrell just isn't good enough.

 

Not sure Sensabaugh is any kind of long term answer, but he can't be worse that Cockrell at this point. Hopefully Sutton gets back on the field and up to speed. Would love to see him make a move for that spot.

 

Agreed. The Steelers' draft picks at DB over the past few years seemed to be unable to make through August without losing significant time. Cockrell is a hot mess. I can't see how the guy makes the 53 considering how awful he's been. Gay, Burns, Sensabaugh, Sutton, Hilton, Allen, and even Shepherd have all shown much better than Cockrell. I can't see them keeping 7 just to keep him around. Next Saturday will be interesting. I think he's safe, but I sure hope he falls on the depth chart.

 

One of the veterans needs to get these young guys together as soon as they get drafted and show them what NFL conditioning is. Every year we get a promising draft pick who can't make it through camp without a soft tissue injury of some sort. It isn't a coincidence that T.J. Watt, who trains with his two brothers that are in the league, has not missed a single rep or snap so far. This trend of injured draft picks is getting tiresome.