Moving on to the Raiders

[SteelCityMom]

Ok, so last night sucked big time and mistakes were made in every facet of the game. Time to move on to the next game though.

Yeah I know...you're all pissed and I expect to hear the usual broad remarks like "nothing cause we're gonna lose" or "we can't do anything, we suck"...but if you were the coaching staff, what adjustments would you make (yes I know Arians should be fired)? What can the players do better to prepare for this game?

I know a lot of you are looking at this game as a loss already, but I'm not ready to give up just yet. I might end up being wrong, but I'd like to think that this whole team is pissed off at their lackluster performance. I hope they get their heads together and focus on what needs to be done.

And yes, Gay needs benched...or at least not put on a 6'6" TE.

[Lord of Lombardi]

SCMom,

I'll be driving 5 hours to see this game. I am actually going to the Pens game on Friday and staying in the Burgh with family and then going to the Stiller game on Sunday. I have off Monday hoping that I will be celebrating two victories over the weekend. A lot of similarities to last year have me worried. We won a Monday night game then went on a losing streak in 09. Cincy was Monday night as you know. We will however beat Oakland since we will get to Campbell and he sucks with pressure. Key is pressure. We never get pressure on Brady and that is why they always beat us. Not sure why we don't ever work on our OL to protect our QB who is good if given the time. We will win over Oakland by 11. Timmons and Ward must return or we become a below average team. What ever happened to Ziggy?

[SteelCityMom]

Originally Posted by Lord of Lombardi

SCMom,

I'll be driving 5 hours to see this game. I am actually going to the Pens game on Friday and staying in the Burgh with family and then going to the Stiller game on Sunday. I have off Monday hoping that I will be celebrating two victories over the weekend. A lot of similarities to last year have me worried. We won a Monday night game then went on a losing streak in 09. Cincy was Monday night as you know. We will however beat Oakland since we will get to Campbell and he sucks with pressure. Key is pressure. We never get pressure on Brady and that is why they always beat us. Not sure why we don't ever work on our OL to protect our QB who is good if given the time. We will win over Oakland by 11. Timmons and Ward must return or we become a below average team. What ever happened to Ziggy?

I hope you're right and have a great time at both games!

Something odd I've noticed the past couple years...when the Pens start playing really well and go on a win streak, the Steelers seem to struggle a bit and vice versa. I know it's just coincidence, but I guess at least I'm not dealing with both of them playing like shit at the same time.

As far as Ziggy goes...I have no clue. He's pretty invisible to me, so I don't have much input into his play really. I guess that's his biggest problem. He doesn't make any "splash plays" as Tomlin would put it lol.

You're 100% right about pressure too. The D didn't start to see any really good plays until they started forcing Brady's timing off last night. Why they don't do that all the time is beyond me. Man coverage with lots of pressure is they way to go with him. Just poor preparation by Lebeau. Campbell should be a lot easier to get to. They've rattled him before, and hopefully they remember how to do it again.

[MillerMania83]

I'll be there also this Sunday for the Raiders game....Comin' about 5 hrs also, we'll be there Sat, spend the day, then it's gameday Sunday.

And after what we all witnessed last night, I have NO IDEA how we are going to be this Sunday, but it can't be much worse from what went down against the Pats.

Anyone have a little prelim forecast for the weekend/gameday in Pittsburgh this weekend...Yeah I know it's only Monday, lol.

[SteelCityMom]

Originally Posted by MillerMania83

I'll be there also this Sunday for the Raiders game....Comin' about 5 hrs also, we'll be there Sat, spend the day, then it's gameday Sunday.

And after what we all witnessed last night, I have NO IDEA how we are going to be this Sunday, but it can't be much worse from what went down against the Pats.

Anyone have a little prelim forecast for the weekend/gameday in Pittsburgh this weekend...Yeah I know it's only Monday, lol.

So far, The Weather Channel is predicting partly cloudy with a high of 53 and a low of 43. This is Pittsburgh though, so a blizzard wouldn't surprise me at all lol.

[Lord of Lombardi]

I'm not sure Lebeau is all that. We had some great defensive players for him back in the 90's and we never won anything willing to brag about. Where is his in game adjustments, his halftime "changes' to the other team's game plan?

Against Arizona, the D was not awesome just good enough. And Ben was running for his life during that last drive. I would just once, like to see an O line like NE's. Pouncy is a great start. Let's get more this draft. And a Shut down DB would be great. I will hand it to NE. They know how to prey on stupid ass organizations to fork over draft picks. They draft well and their young corp of players (usually high picks) will make them a solid opponent for years to come. That doesn't bode well for us since they have our number.

We'd have 1 or 2 more Lombardy's if not for them.

[steelcity1974]

I would blitz more. We cannot guard WRs and TEs when we drop 8, so we might as well mix it up and send some all out blitzes. Also, what happened to the corner blitz? It forced a fumble against the Saints, and was effective against the Bengals too. Non-existant v Patriots.

[mikegrimey]

Originally Posted by steelcity1974

I would blitz more. We cannot guard WRs and TEs when we drop 8, so we might as well mix it up and send some all out blitzes. Also, what happened to the corner blitz? It forced a fumble against the Saints, and was effective against the Bengals too. Non-existant v Patriots.

If I recall they did send McFadden on one, and Brady got the ball out to the open receiver on time.

Moving on to Oakland:

We have a much easier assignment defensively this week, but I expect the Raiders to try and test us with the run because it is that much of their identity. Campbell is easy to rattle and holds onto the ball a lot longer than the last 3 QBs we've played, we should be able to register 3-5 good sacks in t his one.

Offensively, I have no clue what we're going to see, I'm just hoping they can put their act together for a solid 4 quarters of play.

[Third Rail]

IF we can stop the run, I think we will be okay. I'm still convinced that Jason Campbell sucks and the only reason his numbers have been good is because people are expecting them to run the ball. If we can eliminate McFadden and Bush, then that puts the game on Campbell's profusely pathetic passing and piss-poor pocket presence.

Offensively... come out throwing. Like Denver did this week. To hell with running the ball, at least until you get a comfortable lead. I know Ben hasn't exactly been at the top of his game, but just ONCE, can we not start the game with multiple 3 & outs (or multiple "drives" that lead to a couple of 1st downs but end in punts)? I have a lot more faith in Ben (even throwing to mediocre receivers) than I do in Mendenhall right now.

[stb_steeler]

Originally Posted by SCMom

Ok, so last night sucked big time and mistakes were made in every facet of the game. Time to move on to the next game though.

Yeah I know...you're all pissed and I expect to hear the usual broad remarks like "nothing cause we're gonna lose" or "we can't do anything, we suck"...but if you were the coaching staff, what adjustments would you make (yes I know Arians should be fired)? What can the players do better to prepare for this game?

I know a lot of you are looking at this game as a loss already, but I'm not ready to give up just yet. I might end up being wrong, but I'd like to think that this whole team is pissed off at their lackluster performance. I hope they get their heads together and focus on what needs to be done.

And yes, Gay needs benched...or at least not put on a 6'6" TE.

What most of us fans worry about is that we dont see any changes week after week. We cant expect our QB to scramble every single game, it just doesnt pay off most of the time. Its seems like their ok with how the OL is, things like that are what leads us fans into thinking they dont prepare very well at all.