Broderick Jones is a stud
Dan Moore is below average, and Mason Cole is an embarrassment

need more rotation on our edges so Watt and Highsmith aren’t as tired
-Herbig and Golden would be starters for other teams in the NFL

Our interior should be Adams and Larry O for 40% of the snaps and Cam Heyward and Benton for 60% with Leal and Loudermilk rotating in for bigger sets when needed

Pickens is a bad scramble WR, dude just walks during plays at times
-good run blocking effort though. Such a unique dude.

I hate to keep making excuses for the guy but Kenny’s accuracy issues – due to the ribs?!? Cause these are really bad, the overthrow to both Diontae and Pickens should never have happened

TJ does not look comfortable rushing the middle and I can’t say I blame him. I don’t think it’s being done in the right situations and the defense around him isn’t set up correctly to isolate the center
-I still think they need to use TJ as a man defender on his chip guy a couple times and overload the other side of the line. Cause the offense will be down two men this way (chip and RT)
-Also, remember the double ghost technique we proposed a few weeks back? Need to see it. For those that don’t remember, it’s TJ and Herbig both doing it with TJ over guard and Herbig over tackle

Conner Heyward is okay…at just about everything. A really solid piece to have for your team but separation and overall receiving threat Muth offers above is evident on the tape. Similar level blockers though…below average to average. They don’t move guys but they do a decent job of getting there.

Runs to the left behind moore aren’t a great idea

Matt Canada’s playcalling…it was okay, def not the issue like it was earlier in the year. There’s still some issues like a double corner with barely a checkdown that really won’t work against anything and his conservative nature on second down (use to be 1st and 2nd) that still need to be ironed out but overall it’s much improved
-I really think his biggest issue now is that he doesn’t understand he has a special talent at WR that very few teams have ever had. A 1 v 1 downfield dominator.
–they’re trying to get the ball in his hands and have him rac it which is…okay…that’s not his strength, Diontae and Calvin Austin are those dudes.
-all they need to do is use him in motion and isolate him one on one downfield. I feel like this isn’t very hard to do yet I don’t see them doing it.

During the last drive…pass rush is fatigued af, I’m surprised they don’t use double 3 techs instead one guy still lining up over the center. I feel you might be able to get better pressure isolating that way. But…fatigue. Maybe they didn’t think to do it.
…Okay Cam Heyward and Larry O are in and we’re in double wide 3s (closer to 4/5s)

Overall a good running game from the Steelers, bad passing, they don’t want to attack the middle for some reason (hopefully we get more of it when Muth returns but I’m not going to hold my breath)

Although I will say there were plays drawn up to attack middle with a streak dig combo, the pass rush flushed Kenny before the in route even got close to where it needed to be

Defensively we played well, penalties extended drives too much so that needs to be cleaned up.

I don’t know if I’d have cut Desmond King…while Gunner Olszewski and Chandon Sullivan are still on my roster acting like sleeper agents trying to get me fired. I blame Belichick.

I would start Broderick Jones over Dan Moore (only someone who has been blackmailed would start Dan Moore at this point) (I’m not saying Mike Tomlin had sex with Dan Moore’s relative (mom, sister, etc.) but the rumors are circulating)

I would move Joey Porter Jr. to a starting outside CB spot (no joke here, I will slice someone if this doesn’t happen soon) (by slice I mean offer them a glass of orange slice) (poisoned) (in a video game)

I would then move Pat Pete or Levi Wallace to the nickel spot

I would then move Minkah Fitzpatrick back to where he’s best at, a deep 3rd Free Safety

I would tell my offensive coordinator not to show his hand on run plays by having heavy sets being what we run out of (Steelers are playing 70’s football and not the kind we like in Pittsburgh, the kind that says we’re gonna run it, stop it if you can, oh you can? well we’re gonna keep doing it anyways)

I would run more mesh and post patterns (can even be on the same play)

When Muth comes back I would try to get him more involved than he was

I would run my big 6’7 TE down the seam more and throw high points (like classic Madden cheese)

I would run out of spread sets to help Najee and Warren

I would up the amount of play action I use (especially shot plays to Pickens b/c he is OP)

I would stop with the zone run concepts that our o-line is bad at and run more traps/powers. Things that we saw done well in the Texans game. (only an idiot or an insane person does the same thing over and over and expects different results)

I would steal plays from the 49ers, Dolphins and others and use them in my scheme (no lawsuits please)

I would use Keeanu Benton more and rotate my edges a little more to keep TJ/Highsmith a bit fresher plus get reps for my young guy Herbig. (you ever had a TJ fresh off the tree? Tastes like heaven)

These are just a few of the things I would do coming out of the bye

It will forever confuse me why we telegraph we’re running so much by being in heavy sets when we do it. I get the first series not being in a spread set since you’re inside your 10 but the 2nd set of downs they should have tried to spread the field to give a better chance to find holes in the defense for big gains instead of this 2 yards and a cloud of dust crap
-Our first 5 runs were out of super tight, heavy sets, and it became evident what plays were runs most the rest of the game. They got to stop showing their hands here.
-Please use these heavy sets to set up one on ones for Pickens down the sideline, it’s literally embarrassing how much we run out of these
-At least this week it was 50/50 run or pass if Miles Boykin was in the game. As you recall from last week’s notes in the Vegas and Houston game it was 14/16 chance it was going to be a run with him in the game.

And we keep trying zone runs when our linemen aren’t that great at zone runs. We got power dudes that did really well with the traps last week. It’s embarrassing to not know your personnel. These zone runs at baltimore’s front is like trying to hammer a nail with your forehead.
-and I don’t hate the zone concept but you got to use the threat of a Kenny keeper once in a while. He just about always hands it off (I do remember some keepers previously but only a couple. And he was hurt last week so that adds another wrinkle to him not keeping it, but if that’s the case then you can use different run schemes and not run it into Balts strength?)

Pickens is incredible in what he does but he doesn’t sell the penalty enough, he gets held like crazy but because he’s so big and strong it doesn’t show so he doesn’t get the flags as much.
-it’s the same reason TE’s don’t get as many flags as smaller WRs

I still think we need a true nose
-I’m surprised we didn’t see Fehoko out there at all after we just activated him.
-Guys like Adams gives it his all (remember he’s a dawg) but just doesn’t have the anchor for the nose that we need for the stout run defense. Watching him get moved then Pierce for the Ravens muck things up on the opposite is as different as you can imagine. Like going from a rainbow after a fine mist to a mist of blood from an accidental knife juggling accident.

Mason Cole is just getting tossed by Pierce, even before I looked at this all-22 I was looking for draft eligible centers for next year. People seem to love that guy out of Georgia.
-Sadly he’s under contract next year for 6 mil, if we cut him we save 4 mil but I doubt we do
-Him getting blown up is why a lot of these zone runs aren’t working
-The more I watch Mason Cole try to block Pierce the more I want to punch my screen
-This battle might be the main reason our offense struggled so mightily
–Canada needs to recognize how bad Cole is and work a different offense against these monster DTs that beat this guy’s ass.
–For an example of a good system look at what Houston did with their much outmatched o-line
-Watching Warrens reps later in the game, Balt didn’t have pierce on the field and our best inside run came when 98 (Travis Jones) was nose/a-gap and Seumalo swallowed him up, Cole got to the LB and the run went crazy. Amazing what a good nose can do for a defense.
—next rep Jones destroyed Seumalo lol

Kenny throws almost everything to the outside part of the field. It’s insanity.
-like if the knock on the QB is a poor arm (which his arm seems to be fine) why aren’t you giving him shorter throws over the middle? Everything is a stop or streak. There’s no route concepts being thrown that I’d even be comfortable throw even in Madden

Watching Kenny throws then going to the next series of Lamar getting easy throws to the middle to get the ball out quick and beat the rush is something else. It’s like watching your crush with Tanner, your high school bully

With how bad Kazee is I’m surprised we don’t see Elijah Riley more. I know Kazee is a deep guy (even though Minkah should probably be back there more) but When Riley was on the field for a like 10 plays total a few weeks back in Cleveland he made some real nice plays.

Also Desmond King (former all-pro for the Chargers) played one defensive snap. It was the TD run in the first quarter, took a bad angle to the RB as the last line of defense. Didn’t see the field after that lol.
-still probably better than Kazee, don’t know if you can tell, I’m not a fan

I am also not a fan of Chandon Sullivan. I think our defense misses Cam Sutton who from all reports is killing it out there in Detroit. I wonder if Mike Tomlin who’s coached a ton of great nickels thinks he can do it with anyone. He’s got Ronde Barber, Mike Hilton, Sutton and others that have played great for him in that position.
-but man this guy is just burnt toast, Hope Desmond King or Elijah Riley step up and get more reps here soon
-He will lose us games, slot fades just destroy him. Once teams see this they will take advantage. Even Balt went back to it on the same drive and if not for Agholor’s drop Steelers fans would be way more aware of just how bad this dude is.

Once again, I am Keeanu Benton’s #1 fan.

I’m starting to like Holcomb more. He still gets beat from time to time but overall I think he’s a very solid contributor at the MLB spot. Probably the best MLB we’ve had since Shaz (that’s not saying much)
-I do want to see the young Robinson a little more. He’s only gotten 4 snaps this season.

There was a Jet touch pass run near the goal line by the Ravens, last week against the Texans these plays destroyed us because Highsmith/Watt got hooked and they got the edge. This time Highsmith fought a double team and was able to make it into only a minimal gain vs. the huge ones the Texans did. I’ve got to wonder if the Ravens running it to the short side of the field hurt them here. Seems like you want more field with this kind of thing not less?

George Pickens is insane. That’s the whole note.
-as a blocker I watched one play where he knocked over the corner then had a crazy good block against the safety. He was pumped afterwards, and so was I lol

Sucks the all-22 doesn’t have play clock, quarter, down/distance cause I want to know how late into the 2nd quarter our first spread set run was.
-I’m also not seeing mesh routes CANADA

I just compared screenshots of a shotgun run vs. pass and it was amazing, almost all our o-linemen had like picture perfect exact same stances except RT Chucks Okorafor. His right foot was further back on the pass.

Just watched a badass rep from Broderek Jones, He put Clowney into the dirt, Kenny had tons of time and completed a nice 15 yard gain.

Just saw MESH on 3rd and 8! It was against zone so the mesh stopped and Kenny eventually found him for an easy 14 yard gain!

Ravens did a ton of holding down the field, along with PI, surprised no flags. Shouldn’t complain as refs are inconsistent every game. (Steelers also hold down field lol)
-Cheap shot on Calvin Austin was dirty Balt

Too many of these stick plays against cover 2. Need more 4 verts. If you took a shot every time the Steelers ran some sort of stick play you wouldn’t be reading this right now, you’d be dead from alcohol poisoning

I love Elandon Roberts against the run, dude is a straight dawg

I like how they’re moving the pocket for Kenny, I don’t like how the route combos are getting bagged, cause they’re the same ones. And they’re mostly going left against his arm vs. right, the way of his power
-Also Kenny needs to get his eyes back to the middle of the field more on these, he’s leaving a lot of nice yardage out there

They just ran a swing screen and it died because Darnell Washington couldn’t land his block in space. I thought he was going to be such a good blocker, he’s been a bit of a disappointment in the regular season. Still a rook, hopefully he’ll get better.
-they also put him on the same routes they put Muth on, they need to tailor them to his skills, routes without sharp breaks. High point streaks, maybe some drags, etc.

Steelers look lost against man coverage to frequently. Unlike a good O that calls plays with built in man and zone beaters, steelers look to call one or the other

I rewatched TJ Watt punch Zay Flowers like 10 times, it never got less funny. Welcome to the NFL rook

I don’t know what’s wrong with Minkah Fitzpatrick in under zones, dude looks like he locks eyes with the QB and doesn’t look for work, i.e. doesn’t look for the nearest WR when he’s in an under zone. Noticed it on a big play against the Texans, see it again on one of the 3rd and long conversions the Ravens had at the end of the 2nd quarter. Maybe he just expects the pass rush to win after a few seconds? Either way Minkah needs to start to look for work while he’s in zone and not be a traffic cone.
-He might be used to playing like that as a deep third and hasn’t converted the process in under zones?

I will say a big positive is our ability to run the ball for any sort of forward progress when it’s super easy to see based on formation and pre-snap movement that we’re running the ball.
-I’d like to see the stats on our success running the ball left vs. right. Broderick Jones played well
-TE Washington is a much better in-line blocker than in space but yeah that man is not NFL ready, bad missed block not only the early one in space but first play after the JPJ pick he got made a fool of

Ooh! We ran another mesh, this time Jones got beat inside for the only pass rush pressure of the game he let up, Kenny was able to roll out the pocket though and hit the shallow crosser for a gain. Success even with a blown block! Wow almost like this is what a good offense can do!
-I will say this mesh was RB release mesh vs. 2 WRs/TEs but it still sorta counts! (cause it fits my narrative)

I don’t know if they have the check but when Pickett sees man press he should tell his dudes to get in a stacked formation. I’m watching a 3rd and long with Balt showing pressure and man pressure and one high. Outside of the Amazing Pickens (leave him on his own, dudes a stud) but the other WRs might be better suited to stacked formations or short motion to get free releases

Markus Golden is really solid don’t get me wrong but I was hoping Herbig would get a few more reps at edge. TJ and Highsmith are really getting a ton of reps. And obviously the coaches know more than I do about fatigue levels but when you have the depth of quality the Steelers do I feel like they should use it a bit more.
-I wonder if they could implement some sort of all edge package as a 3rd and long thing, move TJ Watt/Highsmith over the interior as we’ve seen them do like twice this season

I tweeted this but it needs to be said, please cut Gunner. If the Steelers don’t do this I suggest a group of fans get together every game to Naruto run the sidelines to steal his helmet. They can’t catch us all!

Just watched a play action out of shotgun with a professional streak corner dot to Pickens. Wow now this is Pod-Racing! (a professional offense)
-crazy how good the blocking was when the defense was unsure of the play call
–sadly it’s still shotgun so the defense should have figured it was a pass

I just watched the “go be a family man” rep like 10 times. JPJ played that literally perfect.
Steelers do have a separation problem with their WRs not named Pickens. Hope when Tae gets back that remedies it a little. Also got to hope Calvin Austin is okay and keeps improving.

On Highsmith’s forced fumble at the end of the game, TJ Watt got tripled teamed with the TE, RB and Right Tackle, left Highsmith on an island and he made them pay
-I mean this pass rush is absolutely crazy, Baltimore could only send 3 guys out on routes when they needed to make all those deep throws. 7 Guys to cover 3 is good math.

Texans did a great job taking advantage of our defense’s weaknesses, slow LBs that aren’t great readers and outside CBs that aren’t great against the run

They also did a great job taking advantage of our aggressiveness with the screen game

I think my favorite part of Canada’s offense is that during the last two games if WR Miles Boykin was on the field there was 14/16 chance (according to pff) of it being a run

Ran the same play back to back weeks, against LV at 6:12 of the first quarter it was a TD to Calvin Austin for 72 yards. Against Texans at 5:06 in the first with similar sets it was picked by the Texans.
-almost like Canada thought they didn’t do film study (other teams have televisions now?!?)
-to be fair there was slight differences like the post came from the other side of the field and some pre-snap motion initiated by Kenny in the raiders game to show man coverage

Our defensive alignment was questionable at times. Example: with bunch and RB left, we had more defenders on the right side of the ball. They quick tossed it and gained 10 yards

Demarvin Leal is streaky, sometimes good, sometimes terrible. Seen multiple terrible plays already (I’m in the first quarter lol) I don’t know what to think of the dude. Ya’ll know I was pounding the table for other picks there last year, mainly Chenel that went to KC.
-Wow, Leal really didn’t show up to play, just saw another terrible rep

Someone has to tell Seumalo to stop “helping” on left tackle blocks. Multiple times in the last two weeks I’ve seen him push a defender to “help” and it knocks the defender off the block to create pressure lol

Benton is playing nose a lot, not what he’s best at yet I still love how he plays it. I think I said after the 49ers game he might be our second best interior d-linemen behind Larry O right now but I think he might be number 1 right now.

Steelers threw a few screens and almost all of them were sniffed out by the d-line. This is the exact opposite of what happened to the Steelers on D, they got killed by screens. The difference seems to be coaching, our o-line is bad at selling it and our d-line is bad at recognizing it. (Larry O did stuff one late in the game)

This offensive pass game is just high low stop routes, one after the other over and over again. I haven’t seen mesh yet (even though we gained 30 yards both times last week, (one was called back due to pre-snap lazy Pickens movement))

Steelers stopped throwing streaks down the sidelines, their best offense last year and in preseason. So now DBs just sit on the stops/out routes

Kenny pre-reads and just throws even if it’s covered, got lazy looks

Still no clue why we don’t chip DEs more

the fact that d-line games screws with our o-line this much means coaching is bad.

Kenny is an athletic QB, remember when Canada said he needed an athletic QB to make his scheme work? Where’s the options, where’s the designed runs, etc.? Or maybe Kenny gets injured so much they threw that out? idk but he’s using the mobile QB exactly 0%

As you’ve read here in the past, the downfall of Najee has been greatly exaggerated. He had a great day.

Broderick Jones had an up and down game but did plenty to give me hope for his future. He got better as the game went along.

Steelers got a great ground game going once we started to run more o-line traps and less of the inside zone splits. (and after Dan Moore got hurt)
-seems like the o-line is a bunch of maulers and less finesse guys now with Jones in for Moore and Herbig getting the start over injured Daniels.

Loudermilk is too skinny, gets moved hilariously. Needs to switch to whole milk.

I don’t understand why Minkah isn’t more in the centerfield role. I feel like he’s best there, they got him manned up a lot and that’s not his game changing strength