So how about that football

[Spacehead]

Are you a Browns fan? If so, Christmas comes early this year, eh?

Yeah, since the "Kardiac Kids" days.
Cleveland, Pittsburgh & Buffalo are about the same distance from here so it makes for some fun in this area.

 

[brianmanahan]

Yeah, since the "Kardiac Kids" days.
Cleveland, Pittsburgh & Buffalo are about the same distance from here so it makes for some fun in this area.

you must be up there by erie

 

[Spacehead]

you must be up there by erie

South of Erie but close enough.
It's weird though.. driving, i can be in downtown Cleveland in about 1.5hrs, Pittsburgh in about 1.75-2hrs, Buffalo in just over 2hrs. Erie is considered a Buffalo market for NFL so we see a lot of their games & they also show a lot of Steeler games because we're in PA, so black & gold territory & not so much the Browns, unless i can pull in a Youngstown station.

 

[Captante]

No real change in AFC playoff standings. Everybody at the top won over the weekend, assuming Steelers wins tonight.

Fair to assume since it's the "Bungles" lol.

The Falcons are unquestionably the NFL's current "kings of choke" BUT Cinn is capable of giving them a run!

Having said that the Steelers offense has been flaccid at best lately and there really IS a reason they play the games. (hell the Jets won yesterday!)

 

[brianmanahan]

Erie is considered a Buffalo market for NFL

interesting, i always figured west PA was all steelers market and east PA was all eagles

north ohio tends to be browns fans all the way up to michigan border, except for the people who lived in michigan but came down to ohio for work

plus the alternative over there is the lions, so

 

[Captante]

While I can hardly believe it's possible, the Steelers offense may be even worse than I thought it was.

EDIT: Make that confirmed.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Bengals up 24-10 about half way through the 4th quarter.

 

[Captante]

Wow that was a surprise ... Bengals played well (for once) AND my goodness are the Steelers "meh".

Even the defense which I thought was still decent was awful due to being on the field too long and running out of gas.

Pittsburgh really doesn't even look like a playoff team and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see their record at 11-5 at the end of the season. Actually considering its the Colts and the Browns who are both rolling (vs playing like garbage) it will surprise me more if its not!

 

[Svnla]

3 losses in a roll for Pitt? Wow. Same wow for NYJ beat LAR yesterday. No worry about 0-16 anymore.

In other news, LSU is cleaning house. Defense Coordinator Bo P. is out and a few other defense coaches too. The Passing Game Coordinator Linehan is out. Hard to continue doing well year after year like Bama and Clemson indeed.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Wow that was a surprise ... Bengals played well (for once) AND my goodness are the Steelers "meh".

Even the defense which I thought was still decent was awful due to being on the field too long and running out of gas.

Pittsburgh really doesn't even look like a playoff team and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see their record at 11-5 at the end of the season. Actually considering its the Colts and the Browns who are both rolling (vs playing like garbage) it will surprise me more if its not!

Wow. I missed the game. I may have to watch it on gamepass and see what's changed. Pittsburgh's offense was scoring 28+ points a game and their defense was working. It's why they were winning. I wonder if this is cockiness, injury, or too much tape and not enough variety.

 

[KMFJD]

lol steelers

 

[BoomerD]

I'm still

over tonight's game.
I've been a Steelers fan since I learned about football...so, maybe late 50's. In that time, I've seen them lose some games that there was no way they could lose...but WTF?

 

[Captante]

Wow. I missed the game. I may have to watch it on gamepass and see what's changed. Pittsburgh's offense was scoring 28+ points a game and their defense was working. It's why they were winning. I wonder if this is cockiness, injury, or too much tape and not enough variety.

In the case of the offense it's simply not enough talent ESPECIALLY on the O-line!

And by lack of talent I mean we're talking real practice-squad materiel. They were flying backwards @ Ben on nearly every play towards the end of the game propelled by the lackluster Bengal D/pass-rush.

I actually felt a little sorry for Ben ... okay no I didn't!

 

[Scarpozzi]

In the case of the offense it's simply not enough talent ESPECIALLY on the O-line!

And by lack of talent I mean we're talking real practice-squad materiel. They were flying backwards @ Ben on nearly every play towards the end of the game propelled by the lackluster Bengal D/pass-rush.

I actually felt a little sorry for Ben ... okay no I didn't!

Ben used to have one of the slowest release times in the NFL. The reason his line's been "solid" this year is because he flipped the script on that and has been getting the ball out MUCH quicker. He's one of the fastest now.

The commentators were talking about it and it took like 10 searches.

Next Gen Stats: Ben Roethlisberger releases passes faster than ever

Big Ben is making quicker decisions in 2020 and it’s paying off.

steelerswire.usatoday.com

What made Ben so good in his earlier seasons was his ability to run and gun out of the pocket and extend the play. He would delay passes until receivers could get open and pass rushers had trouble dragging him down before he could throw the ball out of bounds if he got in a jam. It worked, but as he's aged...he's slower on the run and doesn't want to get injured again. He's been making those fast Brady-style passes to get the ball out quick before the defense has an opportunity to react to the ball. They only have time to react to the receivers. I'll queue up the game in a bit and see where they went wrong. I may check out last week's game too.

 

[Scarpozzi]

In the case of the offense it's simply not enough talent ESPECIALLY on the O-line!

And by lack of talent I mean we're talking real practice-squad materiel. They were flying backwards @ Ben on nearly every play towards the end of the game propelled by the lackluster Bengal D/pass-rush.

I actually felt a little sorry for Ben ... okay no I didn't!

I'm watching the condensed version on Gamepass. I'm halfway through the second quarter and the score is 0-17 CIN. 2 fumbles (1 forced), 1 INT..... Ben only did a few short quick throws. He was pushing the ball downfield too much and was off his mark. Some sloppy play at the line, but most of those issues appear to be Ben having an off night with his receivers (a few feet off his throws) paired with some solid pass defense by the Bengals.

Watching the rest of it, Ben nailed a touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter, but his other throws still are off just enough to miss. I've seen 3-4 near picks because of accuracy/timing issues with him and his receivers. Most of his throws to the his wide receivers on the outside are either misses or pass defensed (which suggests problems with timing or route separation). I don't know if any of his receivers are out, but the Steelers had a shot to tie the game up with 2 minutes left and kept forcing the ball downfield instead of throwing middle seam routes. Maybe they have no receiving TE's?

Edit: I went back to look at the injury report and nothing stood out, but did see a report that Conner wasn't playing. I remember Ben hitting Conner on check downs and didn't see that much with Snell. Maybe that's one of those X-factor things that they were missing.

I'm not a Steelers fan, but it looks like they definitely have some weaknesses that weren't as apparent after their long winning streak this season. Unfortunately for the other teams, the weaknesses appear to be more on throw timing and play calling. I feel as though had Ben made more short throws early on, they would have had a higher pass success rate and he would have had more opportunities.

I could have saved time and just watched this even more condensed version:

https://www.nfl.com/videos/bengals-best-defensive-plays-in-win-over-steelers-week-15

 

[Torn Mind]

 

[Torn Mind]

Vikes D getting wrecked in the run game.

 

[Torn Mind]

Saints should pull Brees or just stop throwing.
Dan Bailey has suddenly checked out and probably should retire.

 

[ondma]

Saints should pull Brees or just stop throwing.
Dan Bailey has suddenly checked out and probably should retire.

Probably the worst effort I have ever seen from a Viking's defense. Couldn't stop either the run or the pass.

 

[Torn Mind]

Probably the worst effort I have ever seen from a Viking's defense. Couldn't stop either the run or the pass.

Pretty amazing it took over 5 decades for a Vikes D to post such a similarly bad performance.

Perhaps they just quit on Zimmer.

 

[Torn Mind]

The broadcast let it out that Kirk Cousins was a "tightly wound" dude.

He probably hyperventilates during the night games, which is why he sucks during them.

My "Football Team" suffered after he left, but it's quite clear he's not fit to take any team to the big dance.

 

[Svnla]

Goodness Vikings. Where was the defense? The last time a RB has 6 rushing TDs in a game was almost 100 years ago.

 

[ondma]

The broadcast let it out that Kirk Cousins was a "tightly wound" dude.

He probably hyperventilates during the night games, which is why he sucks during them.

My "Football Team" suffered after he left, but it's quite clear he's not fit to take any team to the big dance.

Yea, he has just enough talent to keep one hoping that some day he will take the next step and lead a team to the super bowl, but it always seem just a step away.

 

[zinfamous]

Goodness Vikings. Where was the defense? The last time a RB has 6 rushing TDs in a game was almost 100 years ago.

and remember that it is also when the only way to advance the ball forward was by rushing--every "back" was a rusher, and every play was pretty much an option.

 

[KMFJD]

the nfl wouldn't move it to sunday for 'reasons' , tommy boy needs all the help he can get apparently