Steelers vs Chargers Game Comments and Suffering

[K_C_]

Just my two cents.. it’s stupid to kneel down and not add guaranteed points at the end of games this early in the season. I’m all for good sportsmanship but net points are actually a tiebreaker for the playoffs standings. Could you imagine missing the playoffs because you were edged out by a couple of points on a tiebreaker?

I get your point but the Chargers were a beaten team and you can’t show them up trying for meaningless TD when the game is over. That’s bad JuJu with the football Gods rubbing a losing team’s face in it.

Score more points before garbage time I guess.

[tbsteel]

Just my two cents.. it’s stupid to kneel down and not add guaranteed points at the end of games this early in the season. I’m all for good sportsmanship but net points are actually a tiebreaker for the playoffs standings. Could you imagine missing the playoffs because you were edged out by a couple of points on a tiebreaker?

I believe it's like the 9th tiebreaker. Has a playoff spot tiebreaker ever gotten below strength of victory or strength of schedule?

I can't imagine teams being tied in those areas and getting down to where they're counting up best net points. If it's ever come down to net points as a playoff field tiebreaker I'll concede it's an option, but otherwise I'm down with being a good sport and kneeling it down. And those goal line situations seem more prone to injuries, guys getting tangled up, twisted, buried under a mass of bodies... to me, kneeling it out was the right call.

[Deebo]

Just my two cents.. it’s stupid to kneel down and not add guaranteed points at the end of games this early in the season. I’m all for good sportsmanship but net points are actually a tiebreaker for the playoffs standings. Could you imagine missing the playoffs because you were edged out by a couple of points on a tiebreaker?

You are aware this team is coached by Tomlin right?

Having his character questioned is almost as painful for him as losing a game

[bradshaw2ben]

-5 yards for the Bolts in the second half and the Steelers had 5 sacks also in the second half.

You can only play who you play, but the chargers by halftime had lost both OTs, the best pass rusher, their number 2. WR, and their stud QB. They looked ready to get on the team plane about halfway through Q3.

B2B, this isn't accurate.

Herbert exited the game at 6:51 ish of the 3rd quarter on 3rd and 18. Heineke takes one snap before the fourth quarter. Alt didn't leave the game until very late.

I mean, I'm all for dumping on this group, don't get me wrong lol, but the Steelers lost their starting RT two days before the game, lost their #3 CB early, lost their #2 WR very early on for most of the game, lost our starting EDGE I believe in the second or early third. And the guy we signed to be our starter at QB has been out all year.

It's not really the Steelers fault that a) we've got great depth at tackle and OLB, b) that our #2 WR sucks so it's no loss and c) that our backup QB is probably just as good as our "starter."

The Chargers wore down over the course of the game. They definitely waived the white flag by the end of it.

Oh the Chargers most definitely waved the red flag. The Steelers got the submission win.

I wasn't dumping on the Steelers for anything yesterday. I have no complaints about anything they did. I was just trying to understand how impressive the opponent part of the equation was.

[SteelPro]

Just my two cents.. it’s stupid to kneel down and not add guaranteed points at the end of games this early in the season. I’m all for good sportsmanship but net points are actually a tiebreaker for the playoffs standings. Could you imagine missing the playoffs because you were edged out by a couple of points on a tiebreaker?

I believe it's like the 9th tiebreaker. Has a playoff spot tiebreaker ever gotten below strength of victory or strength of schedule?

I can't imagine teams being tied in those areas and getting down to where they're counting up best net points. If it's ever come down to net points as a playoff field tiebreaker I'll concede it's an option, but otherwise I'm down with being a good sport and kneeling it down. And those goal line situations seem more prone to injuries, guys getting tangled up, twisted, buried under a mass of bodies... to me, kneeling it out was the right call.

There were several instances prior to 2002. Since strength of victory and strength of schedule were added which makes point differential much more unlikely.

[tbsteel]

I think the most impressive part of what they did yesterday was, outside of one drive really, basically shut down the Chargers running game. I had a suspicion that Dobbins was going to had a very good day against us, and was worried about the Greg Roman part of it. But nope, our big uglies and backers did their thing.

But yeah, I can't deny the football gods generally tend to favor Tomlin, at least during the regular season, and I would like to see our current defense play someone like Allen or Mahomes to really gauge where they're at.

[jmacinwbp]

You can only play who you play, but the chargers by halftime had lost both OTs, the best pass rusher, their number 2. WR, and their stud QB. They looked ready to get on the team plane about halfway through Q3.

B2B, this isn't accurate.

Herbert exited the game at 6:51 ish of the 3rd quarter on 3rd and 18. Heineke takes one snap before the fourth quarter. Alt didn't leave the game until very late.

I mean, I'm all for dumping on this group, don't get me wrong lol, but the Steelers lost their starting RT two days before the game, lost their #3 CB early, lost their #2 WR very early on for most of the game, lost our starting EDGE I believe in the second or early third. And the guy we signed to be our starter at QB has been out all year.

It's not really the Steelers fault that a) we've got great depth at tackle and OLB, b) that our #2 WR sucks so it's no loss and c) that our backup QB is probably just as good as our "starter."

The Chargers wore down over the course of the game. They definitely waived the white flag by the end of it.

Oh the Chargers most definitely waved the red flag. The Steelers got the submission win.

I wasn't dumping on the Steelers for anything yesterday. I have no complaints about anything they did. I was just trying to understand how impressive the opponent part of the equation was.

I see, applying that 4th-5th dimension chess like analysis, to try and see what the game could foreshadow against high quality opponents @full stength.


Smart thing to do, before allowing even the slightest thoughts of possibile PO wins to begin dancing in the head.
I like it . Guess that's why you get the bigBucks as board owner and manager

[anpsteel]

If Fields' balls ever drop this year we might have something.

He's really holding this team back.

So many bad decisions.

You can certainly be myopic

If you can’t identify his weaknesses, I don’t know what to tell you.


Of his first read is open, great.

After that, it’s good luck

He made a bunch of quality throws going through his progressions today.

Made one bad decision off his first read.

One.

Fields is playing very good football. You don't like him.

The good news is with every week, Fields is looking better.

You seem to think he's a finished product and he isn't.

I have no issue with Fields.

I just happen to think people are getting waaaay over excited about a player that has some fundamental flaws, 3 games in to the season.

He was processing waaay too slow, on multiple occasions, yesterday.

On two run option plays, in a row, he absolutely made the wrong decision.

In both cases, the defender was right where the RB was going.

One was an off guard hand off to Warren, and the DE was crashing and the ILB was filling. He should never have handed that ball to Warren.

The next was an outside pitch to Harris, and the DE was flowing with him. Same thing.

On most of these plays the QB is supposed to read the DE, and in both situations, he made the absolute wrong read.

Now, on his QB run for a TD, he read it perfectly. The OT was pulling and the DE was following the Tackle, so Fields faked the hand off, and ran right behind where the DE vacated for an easy TD.

It's more difficult to diagnose the passing plays, but you can generally see he struggles if the first read isn't there.

With that being said- most of my position yesterday, was being driven by my annoyance with Tomlin's turtle ball. He's worse than Cowher was, when he was in full Marty Mode. At least Cowher would scheme to the opponent, AND do what he could to get out in front early.

Tomlin has a major tendency to shut it down until after half. Making the team adjustments at half based upon what he sees, rather than making adjustments going into the game.

This of course drives me nuts

Anyway- I'm all for Fields. I hope he's the real deal- and his issues are related to having only one off-season and 3 games in the system. BUT I'm not sold.

anywho- it was good to see them utilize the middle of the field, and the second half play selection gave me hope.

On to Indy.

:cheers:

[Deebo]

You can certainly be myopic

If you can’t identify his weaknesses, I don’t know what to tell you.


Of his first read is open, great.

After that, it’s good luck

He made a bunch of quality throws going through his progressions today.

Made one bad decision off his first read.

One.

Fields is playing very good football. You don't like him.

The good news is with every week, Fields is looking better.

You seem to think he's a finished product and he isn't.

I have no issue with Fields.

I just happen to think people are getting waaaay over excited about a player that has some fundamental flaws, 3 games in to the season.

He was processing waaay too slow, on multiple occasions, yesterday.

On two run option plays, in a row, he absolutely made the wrong decision.

In both cases, the defender was right where the RB was going.

One was an off guard hand off to Warren, and the DE was crashing and the ILB was filling. He should never have handed that ball to Warren.

The next was an outside pitch to Harris, and the DE was flowing with him. Same thing.

On most of these plays the QB is supposed to read the DE, and in both situations, he made the absolute wrong read.

Now, on his QB run for a TD, he read it perfectly. The OT was pulling and the DE was following the Tackle, so Fields faked the hand off, and ran right behind where the DE vacated for an easy TD.

It's more difficult to diagnose the passing plays, but you can generally see he struggles if the first read isn't there.

With that being said- most of my position yesterday, was being driven by my annoyance with Tomlin's turtle ball. He's worse than Cowher was, when he was in full Marty Mode. At least Cowher would scheme to the opponent, AND do what he could to get out in front early.

Tomlin has a major tendency to shut it down until after half. Making the team adjustments at half based upon what he sees, rather than making adjustments going into the game.

This of course drives me nuts

Anyway- I'm all for Fields. I hope he's the real deal- and his issues are related to having only one off-season and 3 games in the system. BUT I'm not sold.

anywho- it was good to see them utilize the middle of the field, and the second half play selection gave me hope.

On to Indy.

:cheers:

For what it's worth, these guys disagree with you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8KjyHrPJLA

[anpsteel]

He made a bunch of quality throws going through his progressions today.

Made one bad decision off his first read.

One.

Fields is playing very good football. You don't like him.

The good news is with every week, Fields is looking better.

You seem to think he's a finished product and he isn't.

I have no issue with Fields.

I just happen to think people are getting waaaay over excited about a player that has some fundamental flaws, 3 games in to the season.

He was processing waaay too slow, on multiple occasions, yesterday.

On two run option plays, in a row, he absolutely made the wrong decision.

In both cases, the defender was right where the RB was going.

One was an off guard hand off to Warren, and the DE was crashing and the ILB was filling. He should never have handed that ball to Warren.

The next was an outside pitch to Harris, and the DE was flowing with him. Same thing.

On most of these plays the QB is supposed to read the DE, and in both situations, he made the absolute wrong read.

Now, on his QB run for a TD, he read it perfectly. The OT was pulling and the DE was following the Tackle, so Fields faked the hand off, and ran right behind where the DE vacated for an easy TD.

It's more difficult to diagnose the passing plays, but you can generally see he struggles if the first read isn't there.

With that being said- most of my position yesterday, was being driven by my annoyance with Tomlin's turtle ball. He's worse than Cowher was, when he was in full Marty Mode. At least Cowher would scheme to the opponent, AND do what he could to get out in front early.

Tomlin has a major tendency to shut it down until after half. Making the team adjustments at half based upon what he sees, rather than making adjustments going into the game.

This of course drives me nuts

Anyway- I'm all for Fields. I hope he's the real deal- and his issues are related to having only one off-season and 3 games in the system. BUT I'm not sold.

anywho- it was good to see them utilize the middle of the field, and the second half play selection gave me hope.

On to Indy.

:cheers:

For what it's worth, these guys disagree with you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8KjyHrPJLA

I don't have time to watch that right now, and of course, a lot of people disagree with me. lol

it is what it is.

Is he processing slow, because no one is getting open, or are people open and he's not seeing them??

Probably both.

It's not like he's Manning or Brady standing back there seeing the whole field and anticipating the receiver breaking.

He's waiting for the receiver to get open vs throwing him open.

Now, he made two really nice anticipation throws, to the middle of the field, maybe three, so he's not a lost cause... but he has to learn to stop holding the ball for 5 seconds.

That is not a new thing with him. At all.

[bradshaw2ben]

My fantasy is: I’d like to see what this defense looks like vs an elite QB who gets good protection. But the problem with that fantasy is that—how many teams are truly capable of that? Not many. KC. Buffalo. SF.

Thus the issue. This will happen in the playoffs and the OFFENSE must score at least 24-28 points. That part is not happening yet.

while technically true, the team could have easily had 27 yesterday if they really cared about stats like this, but decided to take three kneel downs.

They most definitely could have had 27 yesterday... but we're talking about vs a playoff team or even perhaps vs a a really strong playoff opponent like KC or SF. I'm cautiously optimistic about the improvements observed in the 2nd half offense yesterday, which is why I'm trying to contextualize it in terms of "how much of that was the Steelers' offense showing its true abilities" and "how much of that was the Chargers being ready to go home halfway through the 3rd quarter?".

[K_C_]

Thus the issue. This will happen in the playoffs and the OFFENSE must score at least 24-28 points. That part is not happening yet.

while technically true, the team could have easily had 27 yesterday if they really cared about stats like this, but decided to take three kneel downs.

They most definitely could have had 27 yesterday... but we're talking about vs a playoff team or even perhaps vs a a really strong playoff opponent like KC or SF. I'm cautiously optimistic about the improvements observed in the 2nd half offense yesterday, which is why I'm trying to contextualize it in terms of "how much of that was the Steelers' offense showing its true abilities" and "how much of that was the Chargers being ready to go home halfway through the 3rd quarter?".

Responding to both you @bradshaw2ben and @anpsteel , I think we have to take into consideration just how fucking awful those Bears teams were and what Fields went through in that horrible organization.

…..and yet, Bears fans loved Fields and in a vote, wanted him re-signed instead of drafting Caleb Williams. I look at Fields as damn near a rookie. He probably can’t believe he actually has an offense with a purpose (we may dislike what Arthur Smith is doing but it’s working and I assure you that Fields is probably beating off at the thought of finally having help.

The biggest point I wanted to make is that we have not seen the entire Justin Fields tool kit yet. No sir. We saw a glimpse of it on the best NFL throw I’ve seen this year by any QB, which was called back but Fields is getting comfortable and he’s most importantly a work in progress.

Also, let’s be happy he isn’t Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence (supposedly a generational prospect and the next Peyton Manning), Will Levis (not a shot at you B2B, wait for the next guy), Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson (Bill Cosby Jr.), Zach Wilson, Tua Tagovailoa, Mitch Trubisky and probably too many other gigantic failures I’m forgetting.

We could do a helluva lot worse than Fields, that’s for damn sure.

[anpsteel]

while technically true, the team could have easily had 27 yesterday if they really cared about stats like this, but decided to take three kneel downs.

They most definitely could have had 27 yesterday... but we're talking about vs a playoff team or even perhaps vs a a really strong playoff opponent like KC or SF. I'm cautiously optimistic about the improvements observed in the 2nd half offense yesterday, which is why I'm trying to contextualize it in terms of "how much of that was the Steelers' offense showing its true abilities" and "how much of that was the Chargers being ready to go home halfway through the 3rd quarter?".

Responding to both you @bradshaw2ben and @anpsteel , I think we have to take into consideration just how fucking awful those Bears teams were and what Fields went through in that horrible organization.

…..and yet, Bears fans loved Fields and in a vote, wanted him re-signed instead of drafting Caleb Williams. I look at Fields as damn near a rookie. He probably can’t believe he actually has an offense with a purpose (we may dislike what Arthur Smith is doing but it’s working and I assure you that Fields is probably beating off at the thought of finally having help.

The biggest point I wanted to make is that we have not seen the entire Justin Fields tool kit yet. No sir. We saw a glimpse of it on the best NFL throw I’ve seen this year by any QB, which was called back but Fields is getting comfortable and he’s most importantly a work in progress.

Also, let’s be happy he isn’t Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence (supposedly a generational prospect and the next Peyton Manning), Will Levis (not a shot at you B2B, wait for the next guy), Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson (Bill Cosby Jr.), Zach Wilson, Tua Tagovailoa, Mitch Trubisky and probably too many other gigantic failures I’m forgetting.

We could do a helluva lot worse than Fields, that’s for damn sure.

That throw, last week, on close to a full run, 50 yards to Pickens on a dime, that was called back, is one of the best throws I've ever seen.

That's a throw only a few QBs can make. Mahomes. Rodgers in his prime. Cunningham... thats about it. (there are probably others, I suppose Elway and Young, but it's not a big list.)

[Jizz Mop]

That throw was sick

He jizzed all over the Broncos on that play

[Boukman]

They most definitely could have had 27 yesterday... but we're talking about vs a playoff team or even perhaps vs a a really strong playoff opponent like KC or SF. I'm cautiously optimistic about the improvements observed in the 2nd half offense yesterday, which is why I'm trying to contextualize it in terms of "how much of that was the Steelers' offense showing its true abilities" and "how much of that was the Chargers being ready to go home halfway through the 3rd quarter?".

Responding to both you @bradshaw2ben and @anpsteel , I think we have to take into consideration just how fucking awful those Bears teams were and what Fields went through in that horrible organization.

…..and yet, Bears fans loved Fields and in a vote, wanted him re-signed instead of drafting Caleb Williams. I look at Fields as damn near a rookie. He probably can’t believe he actually has an offense with a purpose (we may dislike what Arthur Smith is doing but it’s working and I assure you that Fields is probably beating off at the thought of finally having help.

The biggest point I wanted to make is that we have not seen the entire Justin Fields tool kit yet. No sir. We saw a glimpse of it on the best NFL throw I’ve seen this year by any QB, which was called back but Fields is getting comfortable and he’s most importantly a work in progress.

Also, let’s be happy he isn’t Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence (supposedly a generational prospect and the next Peyton Manning), Will Levis (not a shot at you B2B, wait for the next guy), Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson (Bill Cosby Jr.), Zach Wilson, Tua Tagovailoa, Mitch Trubisky and probably too many other gigantic failures I’m forgetting.

We could do a helluva lot worse than Fields, that’s for damn sure.

That throw, last week, on close to a full run, 50 yards to Pickens on a dime, that was called back, is one of the best throws I've ever seen.

That's a throw only a few QBs can make. Mahomes. Rodgers in his prime. Cunningham... thats about it. (there are probably others, I suppose Elway and Young, but it's not a big list.)

I don't think Young (Steve or Vince) could throw that ball so deep on a rope and off one foot like that). I'd add Josh Allen, Steve McNair maybe to that select list.

[stillthere]

https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1838353249985855719

Derwin James got suspended a game for the earhole shot on Muuuth.

[W&M_Steeler]

Responding to both you @bradshaw2ben and @anpsteel , I think we have to take into consideration just how fucking awful those Bears teams were and what Fields went through in that horrible organization.

…..and yet, Bears fans loved Fields and in a vote, wanted him re-signed instead of drafting Caleb Williams. I look at Fields as damn near a rookie. He probably can’t believe he actually has an offense with a purpose (we may dislike what Arthur Smith is doing but it’s working and I assure you that Fields is probably beating off at the thought of finally having help.

The biggest point I wanted to make is that we have not seen the entire Justin Fields tool kit yet. No sir. We saw a glimpse of it on the best NFL throw I’ve seen this year by any QB, which was called back but Fields is getting comfortable and he’s most importantly a work in progress.

Also, let’s be happy he isn’t Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence (supposedly a generational prospect and the next Peyton Manning), Will Levis (not a shot at you B2B, wait for the next guy), Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson (Bill Cosby Jr.), Zach Wilson, Tua Tagovailoa, Mitch Trubisky and probably too many other gigantic failures I’m forgetting.

We could do a helluva lot worse than Fields, that’s for damn sure.

That throw, last week, on close to a full run, 50 yards to Pickens on a dime, that was called back, is one of the best throws I've ever seen.

That's a throw only a few QBs can make. Mahomes. Rodgers in his prime. Cunningham... thats about it. (there are probably others, I suppose Elway and Young, but it's not a big list.)

I don't think Young (Steve or Vince) could throw that ball so deep on a rope and off one foot like that). I'd add Josh Allen, Steve McNair maybe to that select list.

I'd add young / prime Ben to that list. I'm feeling a little more positive about Fields than I did. If he can develop into someone capable of using the middle of the field with regularity, we might have something with him. Having a QB do something that can be compared to young/Prime Ben is a welcome change from the past few years.

Fields' season stats would look better if two monster completions to Pickens hadn't been called back (once against Falcons, once against Chargers) and if Muth would have caught the perfectly placed pass he dropped in the Chargers game (I'm still not sure why the Steelers gave Muth such a large extension- he hasn't shown all that much to warrant it).

[stillthere]

(I'm still not sure why the Steelers gave Muth such a large extension- he hasn't shown all that much to warrant it).

I am going to speculate that he possesses the ability that Smith's offense desires in the TE position.

[W&M_Steeler]

(I'm still not sure why the Steelers gave Muth such a large extension- he hasn't shown all that much to warrant it).

I am going to speculate that he possesses the ability that Smith's offense desires in the TE position.

I hope he starts showing it more often. Big Muth games are few and far between.

[stillthere]

(I'm still not sure why the Steelers gave Muth such a large extension- he hasn't shown all that much to warrant it).

I am going to speculate that he possesses the ability that Smith's offense desires in the TE position.

I hope he starts showing it more often. Big Muth games are few and far between.

They also have a salary cap floor that they have to spend so they do.

[anpsteel]

That throw, last week, on close to a full run, 50 yards to Pickens on a dime, that was called back, is one of the best throws I've ever seen.

That's a throw only a few QBs can make. Mahomes. Rodgers in his prime. Cunningham... thats about it. (there are probably others, I suppose Elway and Young, but it's not a big list.)

I don't think Young (Steve or Vince) could throw that ball so deep on a rope and off one foot like that). I'd add Josh Allen, Steve McNair maybe to that select list.

I'd add young / prime Ben to that list. I'm feeling a little more positive about Fields than I did. If he can develop into someone capable of using the middle of the field with regularity, we might have something with him. Having a QB do something that can be compared to young/Prime Ben is a welcome change from the past few years.

Fields' season stats would look better if two monster completions to Pickens hadn't been called back (once against Falcons, once against Chargers) and if Muth would have caught the perfectly placed pass he dropped in the Chargers game (I'm still not sure why the Steelers gave Muth such a large extension- he hasn't shown all that much to warrant it).

I don’t think Ben could make that throw. At least not that way.

When Ben was scrambling, he almost always planted/reset his feet before he threw the ball.

Fields threw that fully on the move


This isn’t a criticism of Ben, as very very few people could make that throw

[PennyBacker]

There were points in Ben's career where he could make any throw. He was an exceptional contortionist when throwing the ball if he had to be.

[steelmann58]

How quickly they forget about Ben

[tbsteel]

How quickly they forget about Ben

Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got somethin to say
But nothin comes out when they move their lips
Just a bunch of a gibberish
And motherfuckers act like they forgot about The Gray

[ironzabo]

Well fucking played brother

[franco32]

Not only could Ben make that throw. He did make that very throw to Plax against the Browns. I believe that was his first or second year. Some of you may be younger or have forgotten, but Ben had a cannon and threw on the run as good as anyone has done it.

[stillthere]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB2HmwG8ey8

Sights & Sounds: Week 3 vs Chargers | Pittsburgh Steelers

[stillthere]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB2HmwG8ey8

Sights & Sounds: Week 3 vs Chargers | Pittsburgh Steelers

The guy talking to Fields after the TD run

Tom Arth
Quarterbacks Coach

College: John Carroll University

Experience: 2 years

Tom Arth comes to Pittsburgh from the L.A. Chargers where he served as passing game specialist (2022-23). In his two seasons with the Chargers, Arth was part of a staff that coached the offense to rank fifth in passing offense (251.2 ypg.) and No. 11 in total offense (344.3 ypg.) over his tenure. He helped QB Justin Herbert continue to set records, as no player has more completions (1,613) or passing yards (18,134) over the first four seasons of a career. Herbert's 114 passing TDs and 125 total TDs rank second in League history – only Dan Marino (142) and Josh Allen (135) registered more, respectively, over their first four seasons in the NFL.

Arth also brings nine years of collegiate head coaching acumen and three seasons of NFL playing experience to the offensive staff. He spent three years (2019-21) as the head coach at the University of Akron following two seasons (2017-18) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The first four years of Arth's nine-year run as a collegiate head coach were spent at the helm of his alma mater, John Carroll University (2013-16).

Calmly telling Fields he playing great playing on time and staying on schedule thats all we need to do - about 4 mins into the video.