Week 11 : Steelers @ Browns

buzzdog · Nov 19, 2023

Smooth said:
Coaching staff played the first half as about I expected: Try to lean on the run game, give DTR some easy throws, get the ball out quick, and don't put DTR in spots to create turnovers.. Browns were getting into more 3rd and manageable situations leading to more productive drives..

In the second half, Browns kept the same approach but the Steelers were sitting on everything... The run game was clogged up, the quick passes weren't there and were killing themselves with early down negative plays.. Here's a list of 3rd downs in the 2nd half: 3&10, 3&8, 3&5, 3&10, 3&15, 3&14, 3&22, 3&7... Those are just not realistic conversion opportunities no matter who is back there..

Offensive staff will have to figure out how to adjust given how the Steelers played them in the 2nd half and now that the Broncos have a full game worth of game plan to watch...

I understand the approach: You have a rookie QB going against the Steelers without his best offensive playmaker, without the top two tackles, and coming off a similar spot where he got wrecked... If you want to give DTR a shot the rest of the season, this very well could have been a game you ruin him by asking him to do too much...

But you're going to have to figure out how to create some more space and explosive plays... Two touches for Strong is too few when this team needs some speed and chunk yardage..

The balance the whole game was trying to walk the line of what's asking DTR to keep defense honest and asking him to do too much.. You can open it up but too much too soon has already been proven ineffective, and some of DTR's throws were behind and/or high, leading to turnover opportunities...

It's an understandable game plan but coaching staff is really going to have to earn their playcheck on how they pivot from here..

Heckuva drive by DTR to finish the game.. Hopefully it's something to build off of, and that combined with this win gives him some confidence moving forward..

Exactly. I liked the first half approach by Kevski. I along with others also wanted to see the play calls loosen up more in the second half because the Steelers were jumping all the routes and horizontal running plays.

But anything short of prime Aaron Rodgers types of performance gets dumped on by the fans regardless of how the scheme is set up and regardless of how green the QB is. It's a steep learning curve and we have the defense and the record to see if DTR can climb that mountain, to get to a more acceptable level of performance. What he did today was just enough, which is the best I personally could have expected from the kid. He clearly is a project, there's no way in hell the team pulls the plug on the kid as long as he plays well enough to win each week.

Sign Flacco, let him learn the system and help the kid, and keep him on ice. Only break glass in case of fire with Flacco. And remember, the guy is a statue who will hurt you is different ways.

Prime 1978 · Nov 19, 2023

I do think that some of the drops were the product of hot passes in short distances. Those are tough to bring in.
I’m not putting all the blame on DTR but there’s something to that.

I’ve seen these high drop games with our qbs in games where they aren’t getting the ball down field.

buzzdog · Nov 19, 2023

Cement said:

Pretty spiral though.

shoes22 · Nov 19, 2023

The Wizard of Moz said:
That’s a game that you only win if you have the #1 defense going up against an inept offense

We did that. DTR also answered the call when we needed him most. But let’s lot lipstick the pig on this one. That offense was atrocious. It didn’t need to be better today. It’s pretty reasonable to expect to need it to be later

I completely agree with you. This game plan would not win more than 1 or 2 games the rest of the way. But that's why it was the gameplan for the Steelers specifically, knowing how they punish teams in the turnover battle. That is also entirely the reason Walker didn't start this game. It didn't look pretty but we executed that gameplan and we won.

I expect the offense to be opened up more against other opponents.

Kiddo · Nov 19, 2023

buzzdog said:
Exactly this.

Our fan base is insufferable.

To top it off they’re calling for Flacco. Washed up Joe Flacco, dude would do nothing for us.

Ohio · Nov 19, 2023

Cement said:

Can someone tell me why this wasn't grounding?

Smooth · Nov 19, 2023

Prime 1978 said:
I do think that some of the drops were the product of hot passes in short distances. Those are tough to bring in.
I’m not putting all the blame on DTR but there’s something to that.

I’ve seen these high drop games with our qbs in games where they aren’t getting the ball down field.

Some of the drops were due to timing issues which is to be somewhat expected with a guy who's been practicing with the 2nd and 3rd team most of the year..

The other part, to your point, was DTR throwing a hot ball.. Thought he could throw a bit softer on some of those short to intermediate throws..

Something to watch moving forward -- as much as DTR didn't help himself with some of the throws, some of the drops certainly didn't help him either..

Cement · Nov 19, 2023

Ohio said:
Can someone tell me why this wasn't grounding?

PIckett wasn't under duress.

buzzdog · Nov 19, 2023

Smooth said:
Some of the drops were due to timing issues which is to be somewhat expected with a guy who's been practicing with the 2nd and 3rd team most of the year..

The other part, to your point, was DTR throwing a hot ball.. Thought he could throw a bit softer on some of those short to intermediate throws..

Something to watch moving forward -- as much as DTR didn't help himself with some of the throws, some of the drops certainly didn't help him either..

Pro NFL receivers need to be able to catch balls no matter how hot they're thrown. That is a fact.

Real Deal · Nov 19, 2023

Listen to DTR speak. I want him starting next week.

Ohio · Nov 19, 2023

And yeah all the calls for Flacco can miss me - he's not moving any sort of needle for this team, or any team, ever again.

You ride it out with DTR or back channel a team into releasing a vet backup.

Flacco is nothing more than a clipboard holder at this point.

Real Deal · Nov 19, 2023

Ohio said:
And yeah all the calls for Flacco can miss me - he's not moving any sort of needle for this team, or any team, ever again.

You ride it out with DTR or back channel a team into releasing a vet backup.

Flacco is nothing more than a clipboard holder at this point.

I'd take him over PJ is all I'm saying

Real Deal · Nov 19, 2023

We talking about Kareem's leap frog run of the game? That shit had the team wanting to run through a wall after that -- including the defense

daddywags · Nov 19, 2023

It's hard to be impressive as a quarterback when 90% of the play calls are either sweep run to the left or pass 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage to the right. That's pretty much our second half until the last drive.

The Wizard of Moz · Nov 19, 2023

Real Deal said:
We talking about Kareem's leap frog run of the game? That shit had the team wanting to run through a wall after that -- including the defense

dude wants to win at all costs

Just what we needed at that point. Some say he was reading the game thread and said “bet”

Week 11 : Steelers @ Browns

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