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Woodley Vs Link


Phil J

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I'm hoping that this will be Link's last game as a starter. I continually search for logic in the decisions of the coaching staff, and I'm hoping that they are holding Ijalana out until after this game so Woodley doesn't destroy his confidence or something, and not because he can't beat Link out of a starting job.

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I say let Ijalana.. (sp?) play. Couldn't hurt could it?

I assume he isn't playing for a reason.

You know what this forum is like, if he plays poorly there will be 8 instant "Ijalana is a bust threads" the next day. :)

On the other hand I am counting the DAYS until he is ready to hatch.

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I assume he isn't playing for a reason.

You know what this forum is like, if he plays poorly there will be 8 instant "Ijalana is a bust threads" the next day. :)

On the other hand I am counting the DAYS until he is ready to hatch.

Oh come on, surely people wouldn't call Ijalana a bust after just 1 game....oh wait, yeah they would.

Yes Harrison is also a concern but Link is easily the biggest weak link on the line. I say put another lineman on Link's right side in a TE formation to help contain the right side if it gets too out of hand...which it probably will.

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from the Steelers SBNation site (their Stampede Blue site) a lot of fans were saying Woodley did nothing against Oher from the Ravens in game 1....granted Oher is about ten times better than Link, but take it for what it's worth. They are also really concerned about Freeney and Mathis b/c Ben holds the ball too long and has knee soreness from the hit Raheem Brock put on him...

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I say let Ijalana.. (sp?) play. Couldn't hurt could it?

It could very well hurt. Again just because Link is not that good at pass blocking does not make Ijalana ready. When he is ready he'll play. He's a rookie that was described as bit raw coming out of college which means he needs time to develop. Once he does he'll play. It might not happen till late this year or even this year at all. Playing a young kid before he's ready can do a lot of damage to that kid's development.

Also part of the reason Link is in there is his run blocking which is good. A lot of our runs come off right tackle running behind Link. I know he had the missed block on the Carter stop for a five yard loss but most of his run blocks have been solid. This is the Colts trading some pass protection for run blocking which was the focus of improving the line, so they would be better at run blocking.

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It could very well hurt. Again just because Link is not that good at pass blocking does not make Ijalana ready. When he is ready he'll play. He's a rookie that was described as bit raw coming out of college which means he needs time to develop. Once he does he'll play. It might not happen till late this year or even this year at all. Playing a young kid before he's ready can do a lot of damage to that kid's development.

Also part of the reason Link is in there is his run blocking which is good. A lot of our runs come off right tackle running behind Link. I know he had the missed block on the Carter stop for a five yard loss but most of his run blocks have been solid. This is the Colts trading some pass protection for run blocking which was the focus of improving the line, so they would be better at run blocking.

Try this, start at the top, then read every post to till the bottom.

S.A.R.C.A.S.M.

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They are also really concerned about Freeney and Mathis b/c Ben holds the ball too long and has knee soreness from the hit Raheem Brock put on him...

After I saw that hit, I wondered if Polian put a call into Brock before the Seattle/Steelers game, offered him a free dinner at St. Elmo's next time he was in town if Brock would do him a "little favor." :)

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I'll just say this part of the issue with protection is that Kerry Collins is holding the ball too long waiting to go down the field. Frankly when he's looked his best was at the start of the Browns game when the ball came out fast on a alot of screens and short passes. Get the ball in the hands of our weapons and let them do the work rather than having the back up QB trying to do the work. I would run the hurry up offense (which Collins has said he likes more and the players are more used to running) and get the ball out fast like QBs do against us. Tell Collins 1, 2, 3 ball out and pick your shots to go down field after you bring the secondary in to stop the short passing game and the Colts running game. That would probably be the best offense we can run right now.

I would also make one other change. Put Gonzo out there. Frankly Garcon and Collie are lookng like 6th and 4th round draft picks without Manning. They can't get open and they are dropping passes and are struggling to get open. Well Gonzo is a former first round pick that in his first two years in the NFL proved to be a play maker. See if he can still make plays and if he can't you can always go back to Garcon and Collie.

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Try this, start at the top, then read every post to till the bottom.

S.A.R.C.A.S.M.

Sarcasm internet fail then, it's an internet sarcasm generally doesn't work there which is why when most people use it they put it at the end of their post, when I see a post I wanted to respond to I responded to it.

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we have to bring ijalana along slowly he came from a small program and is not used to the speed of the upper pass rushers like constanzo went again robert quinn and high ranked pass rushers ijalana dominated at a smaller division so he didnt have to work on the fundamentals as mush cause he was quicker and stronger than everyone else so he gonna take so time to get ready do want to break him like ugoh

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I think Link will be benched and Ijalana will come in and do a good job. This is the game they realize that Jeff Is awful.

Hopefully it's more a matter of when Ijalana will be ready, not when they realize Link sucks. If they haven't realized by now that Link sucks then they SHOULD be fired. :D

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Hopefully it's more a matter of when Ijalana will be ready, not when they realize Link sucks. If they haven't realized by now that Link sucks then they SHOULD be fired. :D

I'll say it again, Link really struggles in pass protection and that is what is going to lead to him being replaced but he is good at run blocking. Almost all of our big runs dating back to the pre-season have come off the right tackle spot with him playing right tackle. Other than the missed block that got Carter stuffed for a loss he has done a good job run blocking which is why I would bet he's in there. That was the goal to improve the run game this off-season and they have traded some pass protection to do that. Again we need to remember Link in theory is just a stop gap though till Ijalana is ready and hopefully when he is he'll be good at both run blocking and pass blocking and be our right tackle for the next 10 years or so.

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OMG

please pray for Kerry to finish the game somehow intact with all his extremities

I kind of would like to see Kerry have a seat anyway at this point. If we are going to be terrible, lets be terrible with Painter who isnt a total statue. So have at him Lamar......

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I'll say it again, Link really struggles in pass protection and that is what is going to lead to him being replaced but he is good at run blocking. Almost all of our big runs dating back to the pre-season have come off the right tackle spot with him playing right tackle. Other than the missed block that got Carter stuffed for a loss he has done a good job run blocking which is why I would bet he's in there. That was the goal to improve the run game this off-season and they have traded some pass protection to do that. Again we need to remember Link in theory is just a stop gap though till Ijalana is ready and hopefully when he is he'll be good at both run blocking and pass blocking and be our right tackle for the next 10 years or so.

The thing is, we're a pass first team, and we don't necessarily run the ball to the right all the time... so yeah.

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The thing is, we're a pass first team, and we don't necessarily run the ball to the right all the time... so yeah.

Yes we are but again EVERYONE was saying we have to get better at running the ball including the Colts. The Colts made a move on the line to do just that and frankly it does seem to be working right now. The running numbers are up. Also, without Manning the Colts need to adjust the offense to not be such a pass heavy offense again, even when Manning gets back the Colts have been trying for years to get better at running the ball. So the Colts went with Link because he is helping to improve that. Again he's a stop gap till Ijalana is ready and when he is hopefully he's good at both. Again, I am just answering the question to why the Colts stick with Link. They wanted to be better at running the ball and Link helps them do that. Without quesiton his pass protection isn't up to par which is why he's going to be replaced by Ijalana in all likely hood when he's ready.

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Ppl acting like woodley is a beast or something, id pay more attention to harrison than woodley... if Link blows in this game then i dont see how the colts would justify keeping him as a starter.

Harrison has been playing about, 60% all season thus far. He had off-season back surgery and isn't nearly in the football shape he's usually in. He said he's up to about 85% now so he'll get stronger as the season goes on but Woodley is the healthiest of the two going into Week 3. Kerry Collins beat Pittsburgh before but I think he won't have the time to get anything off. We'll probably be bringing the house the whole game, viciously. Our defense is being called old and they aren't too happy about it here in Pittsburgh.

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I'm hoping that this will be Link's last game as a starter. I continually search for logic in the decisions of the coaching staff, and I'm hoping that they are holding Ijalana out until after this game so Woodley doesn't destroy his confidence or something, and not because he can't beat Link out of a starting job.

Gee, I'm kinda hoping Link shows great improvement in his pass protection, and allows Ijalana to come in when/if he's ready.

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from the Steelers SBNation site (their Stampede Blue site) a lot of fans were saying Woodley did nothing against Oher from the Ravens in game 1....granted Oher is about ten times better than Link, but take it for what it's worth. They are also really concerned about Freeney and Mathis b/c Ben holds the ball too long and has knee soreness from the hit Raheem Brock put on him...

That's an insult to Oher.

;)

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Yes we are but again EVERYONE was saying we have to get better at running the ball including the Colts. The Colts made a move on the line to do just that and frankly it does seem to be working right now. The running numbers are up. Also, without Manning the Colts need to adjust the offense to not be such a pass heavy offense again, even when Manning gets back the Colts have been trying for years to get better at running the ball. So the Colts went with Link because he is helping to improve that. Again he's a stop gap till Ijalana is ready and when he is hopefully he's good at both. Again, I am just answering the question to why the Colts stick with Link. They wanted to be better at running the ball and Link helps them do that. Without quesiton his pass protection isn't up to par which is why he's going to be replaced by Ijalana in all likely hood when he's ready.

I care more about pass protection than run protection, and I think many people here agree. Ijalana is a better pass protector, and probably just as or almost as good Link at run blocking. Ijalana is better, you can't deny that.

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I care more about pass protection than run protection, and I think many people here agree. Ijalana is a better pass protector, and probably just as or almost as good Link at run blocking. Ijalana is better, you can't deny that.

Link is a good run-blocker, I'll give him that. But in the NFL, you can't be good at just one thing and then SUCK at another and get away with it (unless you're Devin Hester).

I don't think there's a trade-off here where I can "care more" about pass protection or run protection. Our O-line MUST be good at both, or the offense stalls, or worse, gets injured.

I want Ijalana to be better than Link, and I think he will be. But to say "you can't deny" that he is better is still premature. We haven't seen enough of Big Ben to know what he'll be like on Sundays yet. Certainly, I have hope that Ijalana will come in and form a good Tackle tandem with Castonzo, and I'm anxious to see it happen.

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I care more about pass protection than run protection, and I think many people here agree. Ijalana is a better pass protector, and probably just as or almost as good Link at run blocking. Ijalana is better, you can't deny that.

First of all we aren't the coaches so it doesn't matter if we agree on it or not they are the ones that decide who plays. Also you are basing this off of what pre-season games? Remember Ijalana was playing against other teams second and third stringers all pre-season long. He did okay, he got beat several times and had some good blocks. That probably means if you threw him in with the first stringers he would be in over his head at the moment. Trust me I would love for Ijalana to be ready but cleary he's not better in the coaches minds or he would be out there and remember they see theses every day in pratice so there is a reason they are starting Link and I doubt they are keeping someone on the bench who would give them a better chance to win just for the heck of it. My guess is Link is the best right tackle we have at the moment with Diem playing guard. I am by no means a Link lover I am just pointing out he does do something well in run blocking. With that said clearly his pass blocking skill are not up to par and hopefully when he's ready Ijalana will be good at both. Till we see what Ijalana does with the starters and proves he is better than Link you can't say I can't deny that Ijalana is better. We haven't seen him to know if he is or not. The only thing we have to go on in that regard is the coaching staff and they are favoring Link right now. Sorry, I don't like the idea Link is probably going to get a QB killed but that doesn't make Ijalana better. For all we know he could be another bust, hopefully he's not but we just don't know yet.

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Ppl acting like woodley is a beast or something, id pay more attention to harrison than woodley... if Link blows in this game then i dont see how the colts would justify keeping him as a starter.

Woodley is a beast and that is what makes their 3-4 deadly. You show more attention to Harrison and Woodley will kill you. If you switch it then Harrison will kill you.

I feel really bad for Collins because Woodley will be harassing him all day long with Link out there.

It will be a nice test for our young LT going up against Harrison. Mario is just getting use to standing up. Lets see what the guy can do against a OLB that has been doing it for years.

I think Collins is going to get hurt in this game.

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I do not know that Oher handled Woodley. Woodley got the only Steeler sack of the game. The Ravens doubled him with the guard and tackle when he would go inside, they used the RB and TE to chip on him, and he still gave Oher all he wanted. The problem was, Harrison, Keisel, Hampton, and Smith did not show up. The Ravens also employed a cut blocking scheme on the defensive line, diving at their knees like the Donkeys used to do. They gameplanned all season for that one. It was their Super Bowl.

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Unless Ijalana has played a down in the NFL, we cannot conjecture that he is better than Linkenbach, just being objective. Like I have said before, just like the SNF Chargers game last year, maybe they will wait till Linkenbach is thrown into Collins as a national TV embarrassment before making the change.

It will be a matter of time before Ijalana is played, my preference is the MNF Bucs game. But yes, we cannot sacrifice pass blocking just for better run blocking, an O-lineman should be solid on both fronts, IMO. We did have some decent runs on the left side of the line too though most have come on the right side. That is also because Ryan Diem is there, who, IMO, is our best run blocker. Diem is the one going against the DTs while Linkenbach is the one going against the LBs/DEs (at least Link is supposed to if he understands his assignments right :)).

Having said that, I am really glad the left side of our line is continuous.

Collins should just play backyard ball, 1 mississipi, 2 mississipi, 3 mississipi and off the ball goes :) and the results may be better, who knows???

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