45catfan

Guess who is leading the Steelers in tackles? Mr. medical red flag himself. Damn, I'm still pissed we passed him up, not once, but twice.

Was the sack credited to Ickey? I know this was a second hand write up and not all inclusive.

Yes, it's because we don't prioritize it. A big-bodied individual with a pulse that can somewhat block is pretty much all the qualifications required.

Considering he's already on the ground, not difficult at all.

My preseason prediction was 6-8 wins with 9 being the absolute ceiling. I didn't think the playoffs were even a option as I thought Tampa would run away with the division easily and 9 wins wouldn't be nearly good enough for a WC. I figured we would come in 2nd place in the division though.

I was a pretty good athlete in my day and yes, you can change your bodies trajectory while in the air. Funny gymnastics is literally based on contorting one's body while in the air. Look, he probably couldn't avoid the hit altogether, but he didn't even attempt avoid it. In that picture, he was obviously laying the wood, the opposite of trying to check up on a tackle.

Okay and we are this close now without any of that. I mean, we might not be deep, but as long as we get the starters.

I think we are one really damn good offseason and replacing Bryce from being in the playoffs.

While momentum was an obvious issue, he did NOT have to blow him up. You can't tell me that as athletic as these guys are, Ransom could not twisted his body to avoid a square hit? Really? Dude was CLEARLY going for a kill shot. Any other point prior in the game, sure, try to knock the snot out of a guy to jar the ball loose. Zero situational awareness.

Football is a team sport, but the QB is the engine of the offense. Granted they can't do it alone, but the offense generally doesn't go far without a good QB. One year of observation is just that. The second year of the same results is possibly coincidence. The third year of the same results is a pattern/trend. Should it take a 4th season to disprove the first three years?

So by my proposed rules, Shough would have been protected and Young not protected. Shough left his feet at the 45 yard line. Ransom is at the 42-1/2 yard line. Young never left his feet until contact was initiated.

Agree, so a rule needs to be adjusted to be specific in the act of a slide. If the QB does some unorthodox flop and not an actual slide, it should not be protected. Then they need to constitute the process of a slide and when is begins, also if the QB is late attempting it--therefore not afforded the protection. Let's say the slide begins the moment the QB leaves both feet as a runner. Also, one yard and closer to the tackler is too late to attempt a slide, at that point you are a ball carrier and forfeit your QB protection. Does this sound fair?

I agree they should put more tight parameters around it. I mean if you got 3 or 4 criteria of what constitutes a catch, they could do the same with QB slides. My point is the average QB sucks at sliding. In modern football where mobility is damn near as important as arm talent, sliding should be taught. I coached youth soccer of various ages and if a 6 or 7 year old can be taught in a few practices how to properly execute a slide, surely a NFL QB can be.

This a soccer picture, but a slide executed correctly. Bryce looking like he slipped on a patch of ice.

In our 3 recent losses he's helped put up 7, 9 and 17 points. It works both ways. Even in the Jets and Packers wins...his hat-hanging GWDs, only 13 and 16 points respectively. I will acknowledge he's has one really, really nice game and another couple solid ones this season. Wrapping up year three, it should be better than that though.

I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face because y'all are not reading between the lines on these 11 GWDs. Wow, that sounds amazing, 11 GWDs!!! Sometimes stats need some context beyond the surface. The deeper dive is Bryce cannot put games away early enough to keep from these last minute victories. This is completely unsustainable. It's either a blow out loss, respectable loss, close loss or a nail-biting last minute win. Bryce has exactly ONE, you know, a notch up form zero, comfortable wins. We all know it was that first Falcons game early this season. This man has 2-3 big boy throws a game and 2-3 NFL above average games a season at this rate. Tell me how this is sustainable? It isn't.

Sanders went out on a route and Rico stayed for a second before sneaking out to the flat. Zero help. Look at Coker crossing the middle. Bryce is reading the two guys at the top of the screen and I guess they weren't open. Obviously he didn't see Coker or Rico. Not sure if Sanders was open. Inside of two minutes it's first read and if not there, take the outlet.

Two tings can be true at once. The protection broke down and Bryce didn't get rid of the ball. Nobody stayed back in protection either, Bryce had to know that, therefore that ball needed to be out ASAP. He had too much faith in his OL or himself, possibly both.

Nobody is saying Ickey didn't get beat, but it was wasn't a jailbreak either. Bryce had some time to escape and he also had an outlet in the flat. Considering it was single protection, he should have known that ball had to be out quick. It was a poorly executed play from several aspects. You can't be inside of two minutes trying to secure the win and think you have all day to pass. The Saints were NOT going into prevent and that was a miscalculation from play caller down to the execution the botched play.

Yup, we are on the 'common opponents' tiebreaker and they have one more win than we do to this point with one more game each of common opponents besides our two games head-to-head. Even if we split the head-to-head and win both match ups between our contests, they get the nod. We either have to win out, or hope they drop 2 of 3.

Not a chance Tepper allows DM and DC to move on from Bryce even if they want to. That would be evidence that Tepper royally fugged up in all that led up to us drafting Young. Nobody likes being wrong, but David Tepper especially despises it.

Bryce should have done several things differently on that play, but didn't and thus blaming Ickey for the loss is pure ignorance...or click bait, likely both.

Yes, 20 combined penalties was a ton. It made the game almost unwatchable.

Bro, calm down. You don't know me and I am NOT a Bryce stan.

Lol, you got it twisted. Yes Bryce had options, but he didn't see Rico, held the ball too long and because he didn't step up when he had a chance before the pocket collapsed all led to the sack. The OP is blaming Ickey for the loss and what I'm saying is that the OL gave up 1 sack (this play)all game and by the time Chase Young got there the other side of the line had collapsed too.