Stoney's He-Man Steeler Haters NFL Playoff Thread ... No Yinzers allowed

That was certainly a terrible decision on the throw, but he had quite a few of those in the game. Roethlisberger was not sharp at all, though you have to give the Ravens some credit for that with the way they pressured him. It was a dramatic difference from the previous meeting.

 

The stats lie about Indy's defense. They built those numbers against some real bad football teams.
The only good teams - .500 or better - that didn't score 3 TDs or more were Houston and Baltimore. After giving up 42 in a loss to New England they stopped the offensive juggernaut known as the Jaguars in a 23-3 win. From there? Gave up 27 to Washington, 24 to Cleveland, 10 to Houston, 42 to Dallas and 10 against the powerhouse Titans.
Indy's defense is the worst among the playoff teams, maybe second worst behind Carolina (who I'm not giving too much credit to considering Ryan Lindley).

 

Well, there was the 27-0 victory over Cincinnati (135 total yards allowed).

 

You nailed it.

P-G this morning lays blame on Roethlisberger and the offense!
WTF?

How about the fact the Ravens punted once. ONCE!

Baltimore has one of the best run defenses in the league and one of the best Red Zone Defense in the league, but it was the offense's fault.
Is that because everybody expected the defnese (esp. the secondary) to play like shit?

Gotta credit Flacco ... He did a great job getting rid of the ball and limiting mistakes. He was under a lot of pressure and only sacked once.

 

John Harbaugh called Flacco "the best QB in football"

Flacco has done some great things, but I'd love someone to call Harbaugh on it and say, "OK, then would you trade him for Aaron Rodgers?"

 

The offense was blamed because it was the offense that carried the team all season. No surprise the defense didn't play well.

 

Sunshine is correct. The defense didn't really underachieve last night. This was just another among many lousy performances this season. When you are counting on scrubs like McCain and Blake, it is going to burn you. Also, Mike Mitchell is now saying he played the entire season with a torn groin muscle, but he was bad all season. Maybe it was worse last night, but it sure seems damn convenient that he wanted to talk about the injury last night. Will Allen should have been starting in that game, for Polamalu or Mitchell. They were better when he played, but for some reason the coaches refused to go with what had been working.

The disappointment is that the team went backward for one night. They had seemingly gotten past the stupid mistakes that led to the slow start to the season, but they all came back last night. Too many dumb penalties. Too many blown coverages. Too many blown assignments on offense. Too many failures in the red zone. Yes, the Ravens' defense was outstanding in the red zone this season. The offense should be good enough to overcome that, but they weren't sharp. Take the ball in the end zone early when Brown couldn't get both feet down. When they were going well, Roethlisberger makes a better throw and Brown keeps his feet down.

Would Bell have made a difference? Absolutely, but I'm not sure how much. He catches that ball that went off Tate's hands for an interception. He also forces the Ravens to respect the run and the short passing game more. He keeps them from using Dri Archer so much, though he did finally make a play last night. Of course, it was called back on a penalty. Baltimore was the better team last night and I don't know if Bell could have swung things enough, but I would have liked to see it. That's football. Guys get hurt.

Now the Steelers have to fix that defense. They can't ignore cornerback in the draft and free agency again and they have to address safety as well. Thomas looks like a bust, though I'm guessing he gets one more shot. Polamalu is done. Worilds is gone, too, which isn't a terrible thing. He was nothing but disappointing this season. Nobody bites on play action fakes like Worilds. The Ravens knew it and took great advantage of it last night.

Jarvis Jones and Ryan Shazier have to get healthy and become something for that defense to take any real steps forward. I don't know that Harrison will want to come back, though he certainly proved he can still play. Right now, that defense has one linebacker it can trust and one corner (William Gay). Maybe it is time to finally consider a switch to a 4-3. It might be a better way to maximize Tuitt and Heyward up front.

 

Damnit Marvin. 4th and 3 at the 40 and you're punting? THIS IS WHY YOU LOSE PLAYOFF GAMES.

 

LeGarrette Blount is still playing.

 

Shrugs. Honestly, I don't think he would have made any difference at all last night.

 

Bengals pass rush is pathetic. Worrying for Denver that the Broncos made it look competent two weeks ago.