jgcrawfish 232 Posted October 31, 2011 For a couple of years now I believed that Mike Tomlin had walked into the perfect situation in Pittsburgh by inheriting a stocked team from Cowher after he retired. I hadn't seen a lot from Tomlin that told me that he was a great coach. It was clear he was a great player coach, but I wasn't sure about how good a strategist he was. One game yesterday against the Pats has changed all that. In the last few weeks the Steelers offense has morphed into more ball control/quick passing schemes and it's show in the results. But it was also a necessity for a team that had (until yesterday) started a different offensive line combination every game this season and couldn't run the ball because of it. But Tomlin/LeBeau did something yesterday that I've really never seen them do for extended periods. They went from that Steelers zone/zone blitz scheme to a man/press coverage and just mauled the Pats WR's at the line. They beat the snot out of the Pats offense with a team that is missing it's most versatile defense lineman and (by the end of the game) 4 of their top 5 linebackers. Not bad for a team that's "too old" on that side of the ball. Hopefully they can handle the Ravens this week and get a stranglehold on the top seed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shovelheadt 66 Posted October 31, 2011 Hopefully they can handle the Ravens this week and get a stranglehold on the top seed. And if they lose, they're in 3rd. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgcrawfish 232 Posted October 31, 2011 And if they lose, they're in 3rd. Yeah, you guys get the good fortune of saving your four (4) yearly beatings until the last 6 weeks of the season. Good luck with that. You may be "tied" now but you'll pretty much be at least 2 games back of both by week 17. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shovelheadt 66 Posted October 31, 2011 Yeah, you guys get the good fortune of saving your four (4) yearly beatings until the last 6 weeks of the season. Good luck with that. You may be "tied" now but you'll pretty much be at least 2 games back of both by week 17. We'll see Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
murf74 461 Posted October 31, 2011 The new blueprint for beating the pats...press cover the mediocre wrs no more ten yard cushions.....and there were a lot if young dbs out there for pitt and they were able to shut them down. Letting brady read and pick apart zones doesnt work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgcrawfish 232 Posted October 31, 2011 The new blueprint for beating the pats...press cover the mediocre wrs no more ten yard cushions.....and there were a lot if young dbs out there for pitt and they were able to shut them down. Letting brady read and pick apart zones doesnt work Loved them saying Ike wouldn't shadow Welker then having him blanket him anyway for a large portion of the game. If Ben doesn't throw that INT that give the Pats the ball inside the Steelers 15 and they stop settling for FG's, this could have easily been a blowout. 2 to 1 time of possession, great shorting passing game and a strong showing from Mendenhall/running game in limited touches. Was one of the best games I've seen Tomlin & staff gameplan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IronCity Steel 0 Posted October 31, 2011 Loved them saying Ike wouldn't shadow Welker then having him blanket him anyway for a large portion of the game. If Ben doesn't throw that INT that give the Pats the ball inside the Steelers 15 and they stop settling for FG's, this could have easily been a blowout. 2 to 1 time of possession, great shorting passing game and a strong showing from Mendenhall/running game in limited touches. Was one of the best games I've seen Tomlin & staff gameplan. Ike Taylor did a great job on Welker. Ike was one of the most under rated CBs, and now people are starting to realize how good he is. The pressure up front on Brady also helped. The fact that the Steelers were missing Harrison and Farrior shows the depth of their LBs. Ravens are up next. They'll want to make up for that terrible game in week 1. Hope they can get Woodley and Farrior back for this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgcrawfish 232 Posted October 31, 2011 Ike Taylor did a great job on Welker. Ike was one of the most under rated CBs, and now people are starting to realize how good he is. The pressure up front on Brady also helped. The fact that the Steelers were missing Harrison and Farrior shows the depth of their LBs. Ravens are up next. They'll want to make up for that terrible game in week 1. Hope they can get Woodley and Farrior back for this one. Agree completely. Ike doesn't get the press because, well, his hands aren't the best so he doesn't get a lot of INT's that bring the glory. I was thinking about it during the Cowboys/Eagles game last night when Bennett let the ball hit him in the facemask, pops it up with his hand and Asomugha (who was way out of position on the play) gets it gift-wrapped for him. Then he comes up with the arms out wide and gets gushed over by fans and the announcers. What I saw was a DB that got a break when a loudmouthed TE that hasn't done anything in his career beat the guy that was covering him but couldn't catch a simple ball and popped it up to a DB who was 2 steps out of position and got even luckier. It's hard to believe that 4 of the Steelers top 5 LB's didn't play/finish that game. Harrision, Farrior and top backup Worilds were all out, then freaking Woodley left with the hammy. I hope they get a couple back as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteWonder 2,246 Posted October 31, 2011 ill bet Mike Tomlin and his "staff" impressed you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgcrawfish 232 Posted October 31, 2011 ill bet Mike Tomlin and his "staff" impressed you. Hey, but at least the Jets didn't lose the weekend, right? http://youtu.be/dU9rX9En34U Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Bastard 154 Posted October 31, 2011 I never understand why teams don't maul Wes Welker at the line of scrimmage. Worked out pretty good yesterday for the steelers. Welker finished with 6-39-0. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Borat33 17 Posted October 31, 2011 After watching Brady shred our defense apart using the same scheme over and over I was ecstatic to see Lebeau finally go this route. I was also impressed with Arians, who most Steeler fans cannot stand. He called an extremely aggressive game which seemed to catch the Pats off guard. Huge win, now lets get revenge on Baltimore for that week 1 debacle! :overhead: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pavlov 0 Posted October 31, 2011 As a Pats fan living in Pittsburgh (it's going to be a long week), I've been a fan of Tomlin for awhile now. He seems to have the ability to press all the right buttons with his players and knows when to let the coordinators do their thing. The Pats lacks a large, physical receiver that can't be dominated at the line of scrimmage outside of their TE's. With the pressure the Steelers created, the TEs had to block or run block/release routes a lot last night. Kudos to LeBeau, I can't remember a game in which he's played that much man coverage. Now, about the Pats secondary... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgcrawfish 232 Posted October 31, 2011 After watching Brady shred our defense apart using the same scheme over and over I was ecstatic to see Lebeau finally go this route. I was also impressed with Arians, who most Steeler fans cannot stand. He called an extremely aggressive game which seemed to catch the Pats off guard. Huge win, now lets get revenge on Baltimore for that week 1 debacle! :overhead: I was thinking the same thing. I typically can't stand the games the way Arians usually calls them, utterly predictable. The only thing predictable yesterday was that WR quick screen outside, and he even there in a couple of wrinkles on it. He has changed the offense in the last weeks and gone to the strength, which are those lightning fast WR's. Heath Miller ate the Pats for lunch in the 1st quarter, people forget how versatile he his. In an offense where he isn't asked to block so much he'd be a perennial probowler. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chadt74 0 Posted October 31, 2011 Also the fact that Pitts threw more to H. Miller in the first half than the first 7 games (so it seemed) and he was wide open so the Steelers must have seen something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pavlov 0 Posted October 31, 2011 Also the fact that Pitts threw more to H. Miller in the first half than the first 7 games (so it seemed) and he was wide open so the Steelers must have seen something. Versus a team with no pass rush, you don't need to keep Heath in to block. I wouldn't expect a repeat next week vs. the Ravens. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tenaciousb 0 Posted October 31, 2011 Ike has been the starting and top Corner on 3 Super Bowl teams , winning 2. He doesn't get nearly the credit deserved. The Pats WR's were exposed yesterday as ordinary, can't separate or stretch the field. It's amazing Ocho Cinco still has a job. They were trying to work in the rookie WR (can't remember his name) but he could be a deep, deep sleeper in the second half of the season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites