NFL Week 17

I'm trying to think of an instance where a receiver got big money in free agency and didn't disappoint. I remember when Wallace and Greg Jennings got their big paychecks two years ago, hardly a surprise both have been disappointments on some level.

Emmanuel Sanders has been great this year, but he was gotten pretty cheap by NFL standards ($5 mil a year).

 

I wouldn't qualify him has a disappointment. He's been good for them. Worth the money? Eh ... Probably. Though I was one of the people who thought he was a one-trick pony the Steelers could stand to lose.

Curious to see what happens. I imagine nothing and this will blow over.

 

He's not terrible, but for the kind of money he's getting, I think the expectation is that he'd be better than he's been.

 

there are some teams with reputations for taking cheap shots and drty-esq hits, Detroit and Pittsburg come to mind. Shanahan's Denver's OLine used to have reputation for cheap shots.

The HC doesn't have to teach cheap shot techniques but when the HC tolerates it or doesn't coach the players to stop the practice then it is on the HC when it happens.

 

It's football. All teams have their share of dirty players.

 

I think you are underrating what Bell does in that offense. And his ability as a receiver is also a huge part of protecting Roethlisberger. How many times have they turned a potential sack into a big play because Roethlisberger dumped it off to Bell, who then made something out of nothing. I don't know the numbers, but it is a significant percentage of those 81 pass receptions. Bell may have done nothing as a runner in the win over the Ravens Nov. 2, but he caught five passes for 38 yards and a touchdown and he helped pick up the blitz. Archer can catch, but he can't do what Bell does after he gets the ball. Not even close. That was something the Steelers' offense had been largely missing for a long time. Mendenhall could catch, but wasn't great at it. Before that, you had Willie Parker and Jerome Bettis as feature backs and they were useless in the passing game.

Regarding blitz pickup, we've already seen that Archer is terrible. We really don't know what Harris can do as a receiver or blocker. I do think it was interesting that the Steelers went with more two-back sets, putting Will Johnson at fullback. I'm guessing we will see more of him if Bell is out because he is their best option in blitz pickup and as a receiver out of the backfield.

I don't like the Steelers' chances of even getting past the Ravens without Bell given what he means to the offense as a runner, blocker and passer. I certainly don't see them beating the Patriots without him. The defense is playing better of late, but I still think they are going to have to win at least one playoff game 42-35, or some similar score, to get to a Super Bowl. That isn't happening without Bell. It is just too easy for teams to attack Roethlisberger without his ability to pick up the blitz and the threat of him catching the ball and turning it into a big play.

 

Are they playing the games in an elevator

 

Man. You are goddamn hilarious! Two shows a night, I hope.

Oh, and John Wall will still never be a great player.

 

I think when Gibbs was the line coach in Denver, he definitely taught them to cheap shot players. I think the cut block rules got tougher as a result of what Nalen, Schlereth, Zimmerman and the other linemen from those Super Bowl teams were doing.

 

Patriots also signed Brian Kinchen to be their long snapper right before the Super Bowl when their snapper got hurt. He wrote a book about it. He had retired and was teaching school when he got a call during class asking him if he wanted to play in the Super Bowl.

 

Just an after-the-fact hypothetical:
With the reaction coming out about the Bucs "tanking" the second half yesterday - benching elite players, like Evans and David only up 20-7 - what would the reaction have been had the Patriots scored a TD in the final two minutes, then Belichick kicked an XP? I imagine everyone would have lost their damn minds.

 

According to Mort, Suh has been suspended for the Wild Card game.