Did last night show us anything we really didn't already know?

[KillaCamNewton]

Let's be honest with ourselves, 3 things have been obvious about this team for a very long time. When all 3 get exposed at the same time you get the collective dumping that we got last night.

1. Our defensive scheme is incredibly vulnerable without a pass rush. I honestly don't think we lack talent on defense. We have 3 HOF caliber players (2 are old but that's besides the point) and a good mix of smart veterans and young talent. The problem is we sit back in a soft zone with way too much cushion and hope we can get pressure with 4 guys. When we don't do that we get gashed on D, when we don't do that AND play a Hall of Fame quarterback and arguably the best receiver tandem in the league we get a 50 piece put on us. Don't let the score fool you, they would have put up 70 if Tomlin didnt call off the dogs in the 4th quarter. We made Eli Manning look great without a pass rush, the Steelers are a whole different animal

2. Our offensive line has overachieved and last night came back to Earth. To put it mildly, this O-LINE is patchwork. Our starting left tackle was on the couch to begin the season and our right tackle is playing out of position. They have performed admirably up till last night, but last night is more of what I'm sure most of us expected before the season. Give credit to Norv for running quicker developing plays and credit Cam for being elusive and getting the ball out alot quicker this year. 3-4 defenses with quick edge rushers have always given us problems, and last night reminded us this OLine is not nearly as good as theyve played.

3. This team always looks unprepared in primetime. Like another poster commented early this week, we have lost 8 of our last 9 primetime games. Combine that with an away game on a short week against one of the hottest teams in the league and yeah, you get last night. I'm not sure what it is, but this is a problem I'm not sure Rivera will ever overcome it. We've made the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years, the whole stage is too big for us argument is played out. 

 

in short, I think we have obvious issues, but I still don't think we're AS BAD as last night was. To me, this was more the perfect storm of our 3 biggest issues all coming together at once. We're 6-3 and still have AT LEAST 4 very winnable games left. Time to rally

[jfo89]

4 minutes ago, KillaCamNewton said:

Let's be honest with ourselves, 3 things have been obvious about this team for a very long time. When all 3 get exposed at the same time you get the collective dumping that we got last night.

1. Our defensive scheme is incredibly vulnerable without a pass rush. I honestly don't think we lack talent on defense. We have 3 HOF caliber players (2 are old but that's besides the point) and a good mix of smart veterans and young talent. The problem is we sit back in a soft zone with way too much cushion and hope we can get pressure with 4 guys. When we don't do that we get gashed on D, when we don't do that AND play a Hall of Fame quarterback and arguably the best receiver tandem in the league we get a 50 piece put on us. Don't let the score fool you, they would have put up 70 if Tomlin didnt call off the dogs in the 4th quarter. We made Eli Manning look great without a pass rush, the Steelers are a whole different animal

2. Our offensive line has overachieved and last night came back to Earth. To put it mildly, this O-LINE is patchwork. Our starting left tackle was on the couch to begin the season and our right tackle is playing out of position. They have performed admirably up till last night, but last night is more of what I'm sure most of us expected before the season. Give credit to Norv for running quicker developing plays and credit Cam for being elusive and getting the ball out alot quicker this year. 3-4 defenses with quick edge rushers have always given us problems, and last night reminded us this OLine is not nearly as good as theyve played.

3. This team always looks unprepared in primetime. Like another poster commented early this week, we have lost 8 of our last 9 primetime games. Combine that with an away game on a short week against one of the hottest teams in the league and yeah, you get last night. I'm not sure what it is, but this is a problem I'm not sure Rivera will ever overcome it. We've made the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years, the whole stage is too big for us argument is played out. 

 

in short, I think we have obvious issues, but I still don't think we're AS BAD as last night was. To me, this was more the perfect storm of our 3 biggest issues all coming together at once. We're 6-3 and still have AT LEAST 4 very winnable games left. Time to rally

O-line also didn't have much time to prep for what Pittsburgh would throw at them as far as blitzes. There were free rushers at multiple points in the game. I don't think they're as bad as they looked last night either.