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Box scoreCallin' em OutWeek 7 grades Defense, D-: 81 plays, 639 yards, 34 first downs (25 passing, 7 rushing, 2 from penalty), 8/13 on third down, 1/1 on fourth down, 5/6 in the red zone, 2 turnovers, 42 points; Big Ben made our previously highly touted defense look like gutter trash Defensive front: One bright spot on defense is that we did a pretty good job against the run. We're usually able to corral big, bruising backs, so long as we don't make any big mistakes. The tackling could have been better, but generally, Bell and Blount weren't hurting us. The problem is we had no pass rush. None. Out of 49 dropbacks, we only hit the man twice. We hurried him a few more times, but PFF has him at 9/12 against pressure, with a passer rating of 155, so the meager pressure we did get actually made him better. The biggest hit we got on him was at the end of the game where he tried to roll out for a first down, and Newsome popped him. Far too little, far too late. And it didn't matter whether we were sending 3 rushers or 8, there was nothing we could do to get to him. One particularly poor play, we managed to get some pressure, but he got away and found Antonio Brown for a huge gain, seven seconds after the ball was snapped. Unreal. We never flushed him out or forced him to throw under duress. Just terrible. The best pressure we got was on his punt attempt, which was blocked (by Newsome, again). I can live with playing a QB who gets rid of the ball quickly to avoid pressure, like Peyton Manning did in Week 1, but this was totally different. D-, pitiful scheme, worse execution Pass defense: LOL, what pass defense? Can't cover guys for 4+ seconds in the NFL, and too often, the QB had that kind of time. And then, when he did throw quickly, we didn't have a defender in place to make a play (distinct visions of Heath Miller wide open in the middle of the field, with the nearest defender running away from him). The times we did have someone close, we weren't able to stop the receptions. Okay, we had a couple breakups -- Freeman and Gordy. But overall, this was a clinic. Everything they did worked, nothing we did worked. Davis might have played a little better on the outside, but he was part of a blown coverage before he left the game, so... The defense made some stops in the second half, and it was beginning to look like we might have a chance, and then the safety happened, and the rest is history. D, too many open receivers, 40 completions, 6 TDs, hurt by lack of pass rush Offense, C: 57 plays, 448 yards, 26 first downs (17 passing, 2 rushing, 7 from penalty), 5/10 on third down, 1/3 in the red zone, 3 turnovers, 34 points (minus 9 for the returned interception and a safety); got killed on time of possession, which is usually the other way around QB: Obligatory "too many mistakes, too many interceptions" comment. That's obvious. It's also obvious that he got his butt kicked practically all game, with a pressure basically every other play (21 out of 49 dropbacks). He also made his customary big plays, and hopefully has found another fancy target in Moncrief. For whatever reason, his timing with Nicks isn't there, and I'm losing all hope for that connection to be meaningful at any point. He also overthrew and underthrew some TEs and backs on plays that he should be able to make. And to take some of the blame away from the poor pass pro, he was just as bad on plays with no pressure. And after All that said, he was still very productive in the face of less than ideal circumstances. C, carried the offense, but also contributed to the big deficit Backs / receivers / tight ends, B: Running game: No run game. Seven called run plays, because of the deficit, and it also looked like Luck checked out of a few along the way. When we did run, Bradshaw was productive, and did an especially nice job on the TD (and by the way, he's an absolute TD monster this season). But there wasn't anything going on here. Barely even worthy of a grade. B Passing game: Moncrief and Hilton were monsters. Allen was underused, only 2 targets, not enough snaps. Bradshaw got his, and looked pretty good after the catch again. Nicks still can't get separation, and isn't on the same page as the QB. There was plenty of production, and not a lot of mistakes from the pass catchers, but the passing game was off rhythm because of the leaky protection. In the future, I think we'll be in good hands with Hilton and Moncrief. B OL / blocking: Again, nothing to talk about with the run game. Maybe we should have been more patient with the offensive attack, continuing to run the ball, but then again, we gave up 51 points, so that's a tough argument to make. And in the pass game, the outside blockers gave up pressures, and the interior line got pushed back, so the QB didn't often have anywhere to step up. I still wish Luck would leave the pocket more often, but there wasn't a lot of time for him to make those decisions. And after they let him get beat up, they never defended him from the late hits and low shots that the Steelers were giving him. I saw James Harrison helping Luck up from the ground more than his linemen did. A returned late hit for the battering they were giving the QB would have been nice to see, and it never happened. Just a soft performance by the line, after a stretch of really hard fought games, and that's discouraging. D-, man up fellas Special teams: Really good kicking and coverage, still no return game of our own, blahblahblah. I don't expect to have anythig to say here unless we pull off another onside kick or something. A- Coaching / playcalling / game management, C-: Offensive game plan was... undiscovered. We never got into it. The first drive stalled out, the second drive never got going, Luck threw the pick, and then we were in catch-up mode for the remaining 3 quarters of the game. I don't think the Steelers can stop our passing game, all things considered, and if we host them in the playoffs, it's a different outcome, I think. My only nitpick is that we might have been able to slow things down in the first half with some run plays, but again, the defense took that option off the table. B- On defense, I don't know where the zone came from. I think it should go back. Receivers came open too easily, and when we blitzed, we left too much field for only 5 or so guys to cover. The blitzes generally didn't get anywhere near the QB. Just seemed like the absolute wrong gameplan for this team, and by the time we adjusted, it was too late. D Game management was decent, but we wasted a couple timeouts. And overall, the entire staff failed to meet the challenge. We were thoroughly outcoached all game long. Matched with poor execution, the result speaks for itself. C Game ball: Can't give out a game ball after such a terrible performance. Next up, at the Giants, on Monday night. Need a big bounce back game. GO COLTS!!!
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Per Michael David Smith at PFT - "...any team can sign Wallace to an offer sheet, and if the cap-strapped Steelers don’t match the offer, Wallace will cost only one first-round draft pick. Acquiring a 25-year-old who’s arguably the best deep threat in the NFL for a first-round draft pick isn’t a bad deal at all, especially if there’s a playoff contender that believes a big-play receiver is just the thing they need to win the Super Bowl." ...just throwing it out there. With the possibility of losing Reggie and the Waiter (one or both) could Mike Wallace be a FA option?
