I will Say It First; AFC North Champs!

[stillthere]

I do like the fact that they tell the OLB to just smack Jackson in the mouth on every zone read play if he gives it up or not. OLB just has to know the slot or the safety is next to attack the RB outside of you.

That too

But back to your point - The idea that an edge can just pin his ears back and go after the QB is an archaic idea in the modern NFL. Is there a top QB in the NFL right now that isn't mobile?

LT just barrelling down on Jaws seems like just yesterday.

[Kodiak.]

[One billion percent. On top of the game being an week 1 our D was on the field for like 40+ miutes. I think that game hurt them the following week as well. The O fucked the D. Hopefully this year the O comes out and gets opening drive TDs and allows the D time to rest so the hounds can be unleashed every play.

Watt also got injured part way through Wk2 in 2021. Again, too many snaps in Wk1 might have been a contributing factor. We'll see if they've learned. Doubtful.


Only other sport that might be comparable is hockey, or rugby. In no other sport, at least not with this level of contact, do guys come out full tilt in Wk1. In baseball pitchers ramp up relatively slowly to a full pitch count. In none of the endurance sports, or even gymnastics, do they attempt to perform at peak capability in Wk1.

[LakecrestSteeler]

I do like the fact that they tell the OLB to just smack Jackson in the mouth on every zone read play if he gives it up or not. OLB just has to know the slot or the safety is next to attack the RB outside of you.

That too

But back to your point - The idea that an edge can just pin his ears back and go after the QB is an archaic idea in the modern NFL. Is there a top QB in the NFL right now that isn't mobile?

There was actually a great example of this in Saturday's game. Minkah came up and just completely set the edge, gave up his body, and took the guy inside at the line of scrimmage, forced the guy to go wide behind the LOS. I believe Pierre cleaned it up, but there was clearly some sort of play called and the secondary new exactly what to do in terms of responsibilities....this was the secondary...I would never imagine they would have something setup like that in the secondary, essentially the secondary setting the edge on a play.

Going from my mind's eye, I imagine it was a safety blitz and the slot corner was in on it, and Highsmith went into coverage.

Great result...I believe a tackle for loss or very close to it, and Minkah was nowhere near the tackle, but he made it obvious what he was doing, and I feel like Pierre read Minkah's body like an offensive lineman and immediately sprinted to the flats, and was there for the tackle.

[stillthere]

I do like the fact that they tell the OLB to just smack Jackson in the mouth on every zone read play if he gives it up or not. OLB just has to know the slot or the safety is next to attack the RB outside of you.

That too

But back to your point - The idea that an edge can just pin his ears back and go after the QB is an archaic idea in the modern NFL. Is there a top QB in the NFL right now that isn't mobile?

There was actually a great example of this in Saturday's game. Minkah came up and just completely set the edge, gave up his body, and took the guy inside at the line of scrimmage, forced the guy to go wide behind the LOS. I believe Pierre cleaned it up, but there was clearly some sort of play called and the secondary new exactly what to do in terms of responsibilities....this was the secondary...I would never imagine they would have something setup like that in the secondary, essentially the secondary setting the edge on a play.

Going from my mind's eye, I imagine it was a safety blitz and the slot corner was in on it, and Highsmith went into coverage.

Great result...I believe a tackle for loss or very close to it, and Minkah was nowhere near the tackle, but he made it obvious what he was doing, and I feel like Pierre read Minkah's body like an offensive lineman and immediately sprinted to the flats, and was there for the tackle.

That was beautiful.

[jeemie]

The Steelers are going to look at what happened to Isaiah Bolden and put all the starters in bubble wrap until the home opener.

And even though I get what you are saying…I won’t blame them if they do that.

I would think someone has researched this, probably not PIT but they could see if other teams were doing it.

Like you said, it's the CYA-approach to keep guys in bubble wrap. But, at least with some players, that would actually be taking increased risk of injury when the season starts.

I don't know. The extra game, plus the extra 7th playoff team, and maybe the view now is just to sit a guy for some snaps, even potentially a game, if it takes longer for their body to adapt to a full workload.


Take a guy like TJ Watt. Maybe his style lends itself to more injuries, but it's a decent bet that a full-tilt OT game in Wk1 last year contributed to his injury. You can't and don't want guys fitness peaking in Wk1, but they probably should havedone a better job of managing his reps in that game and maybe he doesn't break down.

Last year, TJ played 66 snaps in Wk1. Now that was only 66% of the snaps, but his next most snaps of 56 (88%) came in the last week against CLE. He typically played 80-90% of the snaps. WTF - in 2021 against BUF in Wk1, TJ also had a season high of 69 snaps (81%).


IMO, these guys should be on a pitch count the first 2-3 games. Should be an easier call to make with the depth we're seeing so far in preseason.

This post will just be about Watt.

Last year, the anemic offense that couldn’t fucking turn four turnovers into any more than 13 points kept the Bungles in a game they should have been blown out of. And since as we saw there was no depth behind TJ, he had to play all those snaps. And he played under high pressure too.

This year, with Herbig looking so good and with Markus Golden, the Steelers have two guys that could wave in for Watt and Highsmith and maybe we don’t miss a beat.

One can hope…and one can hope that preseason has shown the training wheels are finally off the offense.

[Stosh-67]

Golden looks pretty stoudt.
Hope they go 60/40 with Watt first week
And 65/35 with Highsmith.

Keep these guys fresh and injury free.

Always have to cross your fingers getting out of week 1 with a bad one

[Stosh-67]

Did Benton not get a helmet Saturday?
Like to see him get 2 quartets on Thursday

[tbsteel]

Did Benton not get a helmet Saturday?
Like to see him get 2 quartets on Thursday

I believe he played 5 snaps exclusively on STs. Likely precautionary as he's still working his way through that ankle injury.

Hopeful he'll get some run on Thursday, but wouldn't be shocked if they keep playing it safe. Even though he's a rookie and still has areas he can work on, I think he showed enough for them to be confident that they can plug him in when the regular season hits and he'll perform.

[bradshaw2ben]

Golden looks pretty stoudt.
Hope they go 60/40 with Watt first week
And 65/35 with Highsmith.

Keep these guys fresh and injury free.

Always have to cross your fingers getting out of week 1 with a bad one

They have a ton of depth on the DL and pretty good depth at EDGE but they haven't managed the will to give backups many snaps at those two spots. I know @Mick has mentioned in the past that they couldn't because of injuries but I do have this dream that they can wave in guys like Philly.

[K_C_]

Golden looks pretty stoudt.
Hope they go 60/40 with Watt first week
And 65/35 with Highsmith.

Keep these guys fresh and injury free.

Always have to cross your fingers getting out of week 1 with a bad one

They have a ton of depth on the DL and pretty good depth at EDGE but they haven't managed the will to give backups many snaps at those two spots. I know @Mick has mentioned in the past that they couldn't because of injuries but I do have this dream that they can wave in guys like Philly.

I think the lack of snaps for backups on the DL and at OLB was simply because, in the past, the drop off in talent was IMMENSE. I mean, Anthony Chickillo and dudes of his ilk were fucking awful. I don't think Herbig and Golden are going to be awful. At all. The DL remains to be seen, but I expect much better play there, no matter who is on the field.

[Pabst]

Golden looks pretty stoudt.
Hope they go 60/40 with Watt first week
And 65/35 with Highsmith.

Keep these guys fresh and injury free.

Always have to cross your fingers getting out of week 1 with a bad one

They have a ton of depth on the DL and pretty good depth at EDGE but they haven't managed the will to give backups many snaps at those two spots. I know @Mick has mentioned in the past that they couldn't because of injuries but I do have this dream that they can wave in guys like Philly.

I think the lack of snaps for backups on the DL and at OLB was simply because, in the past, the drop off in talent was IMMENSE. I mean, Anthony Chickillo and dudes of his ilk were fucking awful. I don't think Herbig and Golden are going to be awful. At all. The DL remains to be seen, but I expect much better play there, no matter who is on the field.

To your point - Remember that Melvin Ingram played around 50% of snaps when he was in Pittsburgh. He quit in a huff because he didn't play vs Seattle (a game where Watt and Highsmith were playing out of their minds).

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... elog/2021/

[K_C_]

They have a ton of depth on the DL and pretty good depth at EDGE but they haven't managed the will to give backups many snaps at those two spots. I know @Mick has mentioned in the past that they couldn't because of injuries but I do have this dream that they can wave in guys like Philly.

I think the lack of snaps for backups on the DL and at OLB was simply because, in the past, the drop off in talent was IMMENSE. I mean, Anthony Chickillo and dudes of his ilk were fucking awful. I don't think Herbig and Golden are going to be awful. At all. The DL remains to be seen, but I expect much better play there, no matter who is on the field.

To your point - Remember that Melvin Ingram played around 50% of snaps when he was in Pittsburgh. He quit in a huff because he didn't play vs Seattle (a game where Watt and Highsmith were playing out of their minds).

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... elog/2021/

I forgot about Ingram and that's a great point, but outside of him, I can't think of one quality backup OLB the Steelers have had in a long time and now, they very possibly have 2. Herbig is going to go through some struggles but dude has a lot of Wattt in him along with a blazing fast first step and I think most importantly, Herbig has the will of a goddamn mountain lion. When you watch Herbig, you can see he is absolutely obsessed with getting to the QB. I expect 5-7 sacks from him as a rookie but 8 or 9 wouldn't shock me. Golden is the kind of leader who, unlike Ingram, knows where he is in his career. He's around to help the young guys learn and to make the most of his chances

I love our OLB group.

[MJG75]

Love it, brother! Hell yes, I ride! Let's GO!