Gospel 15...What a long strange trip its been

When I was sitting at my computer chair preparing to write this article a saying kept swimming around my head…Failure will always stand outside your door ringing the bell, opportunity will knock only once. The Steelers gave away the season. The coaches and players failed…I will not attempt to make excuses…The team as a whole sucks.

 

Can the Steelers season be turned around…Not likely. I believe the Steelers will make the playoffs if they win out. The Jaguars will lose to the Colts Thursday night. The Bears will beat the Ravens…The Steelers will not win out…They will let the opportunity pass again…That’s what crappy teams do…And I’m sorry to tell you this my friends…The Steelers are a crappy team.

 

I will NOT take this opportunity to discuss all the players and coaches who I believe should be fired…I will say this…If the Steelers don’t make the playoffs I would blow this team and coaching staff up…I would make drastic changes. ( I would not fire Tomlin)

 

 

-Aaron Rodgers leads all NFL quarterbacks in third-down passer rating at 127.9. Ben   Roethlisberger is ranked 24th at 64.5 .Rashard Mendenhall is 16th in the AFC in third-and-1 conversion percentage, at 50 percent (6 for 12).Ex-Woody High running back Lousaka Polite of the Dolphins is tied with Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard atop that list at 8 for 8.

-Jeff Reed is 36th in the 32-team NFL in touchbacks, with one. Thirteen kickers have double-digit touchbacks on the season

-Aaron Rodgers has been sacked an NFL-high 47 times, while Ben Roethlisberger has hit the turf 38 times this season.

-Packers safety Nick Collins has an interception in four consecutive games.

-Steelers WR Santonio Holmes has at least six catches in six consecutive games.

 

The Packers offense is fairly complex and pass heavy; The Packers rely on quarterback Aaron Rodgers to make quick decisions to a super talented receiver core. The Packers offensive line is the weakness of this team…I believe the Steelers best chance to win this game is drilling Rodgers early and often. The Packers run game will be a non factor; Ryan Grant can grind out 5-7 yard carries…He is not a threat to break a 25 yard + run…As I posted earlier the Packers offensive line is a weakness…I don’t believe the Packers can line up and move the Steelers front 7 off the ball in the run game. Aaron Rodgers has great mobility…He is the biggest threat running the ball against the Steelers, I don’t care if it costs the Steelers 15 yards…Rodgers must go down…And he must go down hard. Mike McCarthy is a good play caller…He will get cute at times…LeBeau must bring his “A” game…The Steelers success will depend on the players…Form tackling…Beating blocks….Non stop pursuit and effort will win this game.

 

For the first time in my life I’m ashamed to wear a Steelers hat or shirt…The reason I’m ashamed…The Steelers defense has played like a bunch of little girls. I never will complain about violent penalties between the whistles; 15 yards for hitting the receiver to the head…15 yards for striking a defenseless player…When defenders are playing the game with bad intentions things happen…I consider it part of the game. This Steelers defense wants to play patty cake instead of rock and rumble.

The Packers receivers are talented…Very talented and relentless after the catch. The Steelers defensive backs can not allow yards after the catch. I expect Ike Taylor to lineup at RCB for the entire game…Taylor will draw Greg Jennings most of the game…The Packers do move around wide receivers to dictate matchups…Jennings is very similar to Chad Johnson…Quality route runner…Quality athlete…Big time play making ability. Taylor has to show some life…Taylor has to show some confidence in his ability. A majority of Taylor’s issues in coverage are mental…He opens his hips…He gets caught peeking into the back field…He relies too much on talent and not enough on his technique. Jennings will make some plays in this game…Taylor has to eliminate yards after the catch…Taylor has to put his bucket in Jennings chest…Taylor has to punish the receivers. The Packers have a major mismatch with Donald Driver on Willie Gay/ Joe Burnett…At this point I have far more faith in Burnett in coverage than Gay…Gay is just a quagmire…Gay does nothing well…Burnett on the other hand is physical…Burnett flashes potential to make plays in coverage. Driver is a grizzled vet who understands how to beat coverage…Driver will beat coverage with his route running…The Steelers can not allow Driver to make plays without paying the price across the middle of the field. The Packers 3^rd and 4^th receivers James Jones and Jordy Nelson are both very talented but inexperienced…Both have big time play making ability. The Packers skill position players in the passing game are the best the Steelers have seen this year.

 

No Troy Polamula kills this defense….Ryan Clark and Tyrone Carter both play hard…Both are extremely limited athletically…Neither can cover a quality wide receiver or tight end in space. The Packers have two quality pass receiving tight ends in Jermichael Finley and Donald Lee. The most disappointing Steelers player in my opinion is Lawrence Timmons in coverage…Boy has he looked awful the past four weeks. Timmons must eliminate the Packers tight ends in coverage. James Farrior has been a disappointment since week 1…I hope Farrior has at least three good games left…Farrior will be attacked in coverage…Maybe he will make a play. I would not drop Woodley into coverage…He would come up field and hunt Aaron Rodgers…Harrison I would sporadically drop into coverage.

 

I expect the Steelers to play 10 yards off the ball to keep plays in front of them…I would play the corners 5 yards off the line of scrimmage and challenge receivers to beat coverage…What do you have to lose at this point?

 

Chad Clifton and Brett Kiesel should be a fun matchup in the run game. Clifton is not overly physical…He is a technician with decent footwork in the run game…Clifton’s back issues limit his mobility…Kiesel played a stinker of a game against the Browns…Joe Thomas was quick enough and strong enough to pin Kiesel inside…I don’t believe Clifton has that type of ability…I expect Kiesel to have a big time bounce back game this week…I would consider spying Rodgers with Kiesel at times…As funny as that sounds…Rodgers kills teams with his feet. James Harrison is going to be dominate Sunday…I expect a 3 sack performance…Clifton can’t block Deebo…Harrison has a ton of pride…His quotes this week were telling…I would not want to be Rodgers or Clifton this week…Deebo is pissed. Packers guards Daryn Colledge and Josh Sitton will be forced to help Scott Wells with Casey Hampton in the run game. Colledge and Sitton are both athletically limited at the 2^nd level…Both players manage to get a hat on the linebacker in the run game. Casey Hampton was a bit disappointing last week…Alex Mack played like a first round pick…Hampton must disrupt all plays between the tackles if he doesn’t a force a double team…Hampton must look to make plays…His inside backers are struggling to make plays…That means Hampton must beat blocks. Colledge and Sitton both handle interior rushers and blitzers in a phone booth…If either player is forced to move his feet or read a stunt they struggle…Kiesel Hood Hampton Kierschke or Eason must collapse the pocket…They must beat blocks and attack the quarterback. Dick LeBeau and John Mitchell should empty the blitz package and line stunt closet this week. Mark Tauscher is a big fat non talented “bum” who managed to start for ten seasons in the NFL…Tauscher’s knees are done…The kid is a warrior…I rarely give respect to opposing players…Tauscher had one helluva of a career. Kierschke is a fire plug who will eat space…I expect both men to pound each other in the run game…I expect stalemates and nasty words to be exchanged…Lamar Woodley could have a big game this week…I expect the Packers to be forced to keep a Te in to help with Harrison… The Packers may be forced to go max protect and run 3 man routes a ton in this game. Clifton and Tauscher can’t block Harrison and Woodley without a ton of help…When they account for Wood and Deebo…Timmons and Farrior should be coming….Maybe Carter and Ike…I hope the Steelers go down swinging if they go down.

 

This is the toughest thing to deal with as a Steelers fan. Some will say Arians is freaking terrible, others will say Arians is doing the best he can with the talent he has. I don’t care about stats…I don’t care about run pass ratios…I care about success and touchdowns. The Steelers need to be balanced…Balance is the ability to run or pass out of any formation…You can’t run out of empty formations so you don’t use them. The Steelers problems start at the top…Tomlin Arians Ben…There is a serious communication breakdown. The Steelers identity will be determined by what they do the best…No team can run consistently against 8 man fronts…So pounding the run against those defensive formations is pointless. The problem is simple…Teams are showing 8 man fronts and the Steelers can’t throw the ball. Hardnose made a great point in the recent podcast…The Steelers should scrap the 2 tight end sets…The Steelers should scrap the I formations…The Steelers should become a 3 Wr offense. The Steelers best chance to score touchdowns is spreading out the defense and attacking matchups. I would play Sweed in formations in place of Heath Miller…Sweed is a big athletic target…He is a matchup nightmare for most teams.

 

I expect boring stale offense…I expect the same things we have seen to date this season…That’s the main reason I fire Arians…If Tomlin doesn’t trust Arians enough to run his offense…He should be fired…If Tomlin is allowing Arians to run his offense he should be fired for the results.

 

The Packers play a ton of different fronts and coverage’s…The Packers are proof you can put in a complicated defense in a short period of time. The Packers have a ton of injuries across the defense…They continue to plug along playing winning, fast, smart, football. Injuries may have finally caught up with the Packers. Defensive end Johnny Jolly and nose tackle Ryan Pickett have fairly serious hamstring injuries…Both players are expected to play…Both will be limited. Nick Barnett has a knee injury…He will start…His mobility and explosiveness will be hindered. The Packers defense has some holes…The Steelers have the weapons to expose those holes on defense.

 

Charles Woodson will draw Hines Ward in coverage…A battle of great older players…Woodson is having a Pro Bowl season…He still has the ability to lock down a Wr…Hines Ward is a warrior…Ward has to find a way to beat coverage…He has to make plays for this offense…If he can’t run he can’t play. Santonio Holmes has a favorable matchup this week with Tramon Williams. Williams has quality ball skills and deep speed… Williams can be exposed by a quality route runner with speed…The Steelers should look to attack Williams early and often…Holmes is a major threat with the ball in his hands…Holmes wants to be paid like a superstar…He has to play like one. Mike Wallace will draw Brandon Underwood in coverage…Underwood has decent long speed…He can’t run with Wallace. I understand the weather is suppose to be shitty on Sunday…The Steelers have to push the ball down the field…They have to attack teams vertically in the passing game.

 

The Packer linebackers are very good in coverage… Brandon Chillar is a quality nickel linebacker…He has the ability to remove Heath Miller from the passing game. Chillar can not run with Parker or Mendenhall in coverage…If the Packers want to man up Chillar with the Steelers running backs…The Steelers must attack that matchup. DJ Johnson, Spaeth, Mendenhall, and Miller can not allow balls to go through their hands…Make a freaking play for your quarterback.

 

The bull’s-eye will be on Heath Miller Matt Spaeth and DJ Johnson in the run game. They must win some matchups.

 

The Steelers should not pull a guard for the rest of the season…Watching Foster and Essex pull is painful.

 

Max Starks is starting to piss me off…Starks is talented…He needs to play with some passion…He needs to bury people…Starks played a decent game against the Browns…If Starks played a great game the Steelers could have won. Starks is the strength of the Steelers line…That’s not a good thing. Starks doesn’t have a killer or nasty attitude. Starks is the likeable big man…He gets in the away instead of killing people. Starks will draw Cullen Jenkins in the run game…Jenkins is a very under rated player who I believe will bring the best out in Starks…Starks will not dominate the matchup…I expect Starks to win some matchups with more gusto than expected. Starks draws Clay Mathews Jr. in pass pro…Mathews Jr. doesn’t have the strength to threaten Starks back to the inside…Starks will catch Mathews Jr initial rush move and absorb him into his big belly. Ramon Foster and Trai Essex will be forced to help Steelers center Justin Hartwig with Ryan Pickett/BJ Raji in the run game. Foster has a nasty element to his game….In his first start he was tentative…I expect Foster to play better in this game. Foster showed the desire to finish every block…That’s something the Steelers have been missing. The Packers are going to attack Foster with different looks and blitzers…Foster did a great job in pass pro in his previous start…Foster has to trust his eyes…Read the alignment block his man. Hartwig and Essex have both sucked in pass pro the past three weeks…Both players have given up sacks to interior rushers off the snap of the ball…Interior linemen can’t blow blocks in pass pro…You can’t win football games if your quarterback is hit on the 3^rd step of his 3 step drop. Willie Colon you would be lucky to get  tendered a contract if I owned this team…Fat lazy and disgraceful is how I would describe your play the past 4 weeks. Colon will draw Johnny Jolly if he can go…If Jolly can’t go Mike Montgomery and BJ Raji will be forced to play big downs in this game. The Packers lack defensive line depth…They have 2 major injuries…The Steelers offensive line has zero excuses this week. Whoever the Packers lineup across from Colon will give him issues…Because Colon is fat lazy and disgraceful. Super rookie pass rusher and the next Lawrence Taylor Brad Jones will line up across from Colon…Jones has 1 rush move…Speed rush to the edge…His counter move…Spin move to the outside. If Colon manages to get his fat lazy ass out of his stance he should have zero problems stopping Jones one trick pass rush game.

 

The Steelers suck.