Real Test for Rudy and the offense

[pittbb80]

After having played awful defenses in Cinci and Seattle and the Ravens JV team the Steelers play a legit defense in a high stakes game

Will be interesting to see if the offense under Rudy is truly improved or if it was just a result of playing bad defenses and a disinterested Ravens team

Buffalo is middle of the pack rushing yards and top 10 in passing yards given up. My guess is they sell out to stop the run and put max pressure on Rudy As a result I think it’s going to be a long day for Rudy and we may see KP come in in relief

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

yeah but Mitch and Kenny played against some very bad defenses too, without the big play success..

there is a lot of bad or mediocre teams in the nfl. if you beat the bad/mediocre teams in the nfl, you gon 12.5.

steelers/pickett benefitted last year in the 2nd half of the season by playing a very weak schedule with many backup qbs week in and week out.

 

[Upg bobcat]

The Buffalo offense scares me more than the defense. If it's a one score game late in the 4th and Buffalo has the ball, I will be very nervous watching Allen versus the Steelers' banged up defense. I still have big concerns about the Steelers' O-line, but they've created some degree of momentum for themselves that they can hopefully keep riding.

Also, Buffalo scored a huge special teams TD last night. Steelers cannot give up a big play in the special teams game.

 

[pittbb80]

yeah but Mitch and Kenny played against some very bad defenses too, without the big play success..

there is a lot of bad or mediocre teams in the nfl. if you beat the bad/mediocre teams in the nfl, you gon 12.5.

steelers/pickett benefitted last year in the 2nd half of the season by playing a very weak schedule with many backup qbs week in and week out.

Don’t disagree with Much of what you said. But once again there are several variables you are overlooking. One is that Canada was the OC. Second is that they had chucks at RT making an already poor ol worse. Without Canada and chucks KPs performance improved significantly

As an aside qb play in general is not thag great. The great Tua, Hurts and the golden haired boy in Jacksonville have not been very good of late So much of a qbs success is tied to how the rest f the team performs Especially the OL.

Like I said we’ll see how much of a difference Rudy makes this weekend. If he lights it up. I’ll concede he’s been the difference. My guess is we’ll see KP in the second half

I’ll go one step further if Rudy plays well he should be the starter going into next year no questions asked. It will also be very damning on Mediocre Mike for not going with him from the get go and singing Mitch and drafting KP that high

 

[pittbb80]

The Buffalo offense scares me more than the defense. If it's a one score game late in the 4th and Buffalo has the ball, I will be very nervous watching Allen versus the Steelers' banged up defense. I still have big concerns about the Steelers' O-line, but they've created some degree of momentum for themselves that they can hopefully keep riding.

Also, Buffalo scored a huge special teams TD last night. Steelers cannot give up a big play in the special teams game.

It won’t be that close so you won’t have to worry about nervous about Allen in the fourth quarter

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Don’t disagree with Much of what you said. But once again there are several variables you are overlooking. One is that Canada was the OC. Second is that they had chucks at RT making an already poor ol worse. Without Canada and chucks KPs performance improved significantly

As an aside qb play in general is not thag great. The great Tua, Hurts and the golden haired boy in Jacksonville have not been very good of late So much of a qbs success is tied to how the rest f the team performs Especially the OL.

Like I said we’ll see how much of a difference Rudy makes this weekend. If he lights it up. I’ll concede he’s been the difference. My guess is we’ll see KP in the second half

i am a big rudolph fan but man oh man, a bad first half, kenny comes in 2nd half and saves the day.

Damn that would be a good story.. Mason would have to have a historically bad performance though for Tomlin to pull the plug on him.

 

[pittbb80]

i am a big rudolph fan but man oh man, a bad first half, kenny comes in 2nd half and saves the day.

Damn that would be a good story.. Mason would have to have a historically bad performance though for Tomlin to pull the plug on him.

Well we saw a glimpse of what might happen in Baltimore when they got to Rudy. That or he may not physically survive the pressure

 

[jayhawks65]

Well we saw a glimpse of what might happen in Baltimore when they got to Rudy. That or he may not physically survive the pressure

Yeah he went 18 for 20 in a monsoon. Should have been 19 for 20 with two touchdowns if Deonte had not slowed down on a perfectly thrown pass. Best QB play in years.

 

[DruidTM]

Yeah he went 18 for 20 in a monsoon. Should have been 19 for 20 with two touchdowns if Deonte had not slowed down on a perfectly thrown pass. Best QB play in years.

Best QB play in years?

Hand off, near pick , a bunch of 5 yarders, multiple fumbles and one huge YAC for a TD?

Best QB play in years??

Perspective… he barely survived because of YAC and it was a hair away from putting in Pickett 2nd half

They played against backups for crissakes

 

[Pitt79]

Will be interesting to see if the offense under Rudy is truly improved or if it was just a result of playing bad defenses and a disinterested Ravens team

How many of you are rooting against him to make Kenny look better?

 

[Pitt79]

Best QB play in years?

Hand off, near pick , a bunch of 5 yarders, multiple fumbles and one huge YAC for a TD?

Best QB play in years??

Perspective… he barely survived because of YAC and it was a hair away from putting in Pickett 2nd half

They played against backups for crissakes

People just think that after getting frustrated watching 24 games of Kenny's struggles.

 

[jayhawks65]

Best QB play in years?

Hand off, near pick , a bunch of 5 yarders, multiple fumbles and one huge YAC for a TD?

Best QB play in years??

Perspective… he barely survived because of YAC and it was a hair away from putting in Pickett 2nd half

They played against backups for crissakes

Well show me the other 3 game stretch over the last two years with better numbers. Kenny and Mitch can't even throw 5 yard check down. They both get the receiver laid out or throw the ball in the dirt.

 

[wolf0717]

Passing in the January wind in Buffalo is challanging to say the least. Sometimes you can only pass for two quarters. The only way the Steelers have a shot is if Buffalo beats themselves. Josh Allen is a great QB, but he lives with a risk/ reward mentality.

After having played awful defenses in Cinci and Seattle and the Ravens JV team the Steelers play a legit defense in a high stakes game

Will be interesting to see if the offense under Rudy is truly improved or if it was just a result of playing bad defenses and a disinterested Ravens team

Buffalo is middle of the pack rushing yards and top 10 in passing yards given up. My guess is they sell out to stop the run and put max pressure on Rudy As a result I think it’s going to be a long day for Rudy and we may see KP come in in reli

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Passing in the January wind in Buffalo is challanging to say the least. Sometimes you can only pass for two quarters. The only way the Steelers have a shot is if Buffalo beats themselves. Josh Allen is a great QB, but he lives with a risk/ reward mentality.

I think last night was worst-case scenario, because I think Allen is going to be extra cautious with the ball this week. They're the better team, and all they have to do is not play dumb.

 

[lilspainishflea]

After having played awful defenses in Cinci and Seattle and the Ravens JV team the Steelers play a legit defense in a high stakes game

Will be interesting to see if the offense under Rudy is truly improved or if it was just a result of playing bad defenses and a disinterested Ravens team

Buffalo is middle of the pack rushing yards and top 10 in passing yards given up. My guess is they sell out to stop the run and put max pressure on Rudy As a result I think it’s going to be a long day for Rudy and we may see KP come in in relief

Buffalo is not a good matchup for us. They won 4 of their last 5 including at KC, the Cowboys, and at Miami, all playoff teams.

Allen is reckless with the ball but they have a good WR room and a TE that can move. Their running backs are just ok but Allen himself is a huge problem on 3rd down and near the red zone.

I don't know what the Steelers have to do to win this game. Probably get a ton of perfectly timed turnovers - like 3 and maybe 4 in the end zone - run the ball extremely well, and hit at least 2 knockout passes in play action. An underrated problem with us trying to win close is that Percy Harvin has been dreadful recently.

The Bills defense played really well against much better QBs like Mahomes, Dak, Tua, and Hurts. Couple of QBRs in the 20s and 30s in those games. It has the chance to get really ugly. I could see Kenny coming in as well if it's like 21-6 and we're struggling to move the ball.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

yeah but Mitch and Kenny played against some very bad defenses too, without the big play success..

there is a lot of bad or mediocre teams in the nfl. if you beat the bad/mediocre teams in the nfl, you gon 12.5.

steelers/pickett benefitted last year in the 2nd half of the season by playing a very weak schedule with many backup qbs week in and week out.

Here are games / teams where Pickett played at least a half. List shows their record and the result, while bold is a playoff team. All but one game was with Matt Canada as OC.

49ers (12-5) L
Browns (11-6) W
Raiders (8-9) W
Texans (10-7) L
Ravens (11-4) W
Rams (10-7) W
Jaguars (9-8) L (only played 1st half)
Titans (6-11) W
Packers (9-8) W
Browns (11-6) L
Bengals (9-8) W

Mitch and Rudolph didn't face anywhere near the competition that Kenny played against. It's conveniently overlooked. I won't be surprised at all if Mason turns into a pumpkin at Buffalo.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Here are games / teams where Pickett played at least a half. List shows their record and the result, while bold is a playoff team. All but one game was with Matt Canada as OC.

49ers (12-5) L
Browns (11-6) W
Raiders (8-9) W
Texans (10-7) L
Ravens (11-4) W
Rams (10-7) W
Jaguars (9-8) L (only played 1st half)
Titans (6-11) W
Packers (9-8) W
Browns (11-6) L
Bengals (9-8) W

Mitch and Rudolph didn't face anywhere near the competition that Kenny played against. It's conveniently overlooked. I won't be surprised at all if Mason turns into a pumpkin at Buffalo.

That's what the Steelers should call their entire QB room: The Pumpkin Patch.

 

[lilspainishflea]

Here are games / teams where Pickett played at least a half. List shows their record and the result, while bold is a playoff team. All but one game was with Matt Canada as OC.

49ers (12-5) L
Browns (11-6) W
Raiders (8-9) W
Texans (10-7) L
Ravens (11-4) W
Rams (10-7) W
Jaguars (9-8) L (only played 1st half)
Titans (6-11) W
Packers (9-8) W
Browns (11-6) L
Bengals (9-8) W

Mitch and Rudolph didn't face anywhere near the competition that Kenny played against. It's conveniently overlooked. I won't be surprised at all if Mason turns into a pumpkin at Buffalo.

Pretty amazing that Kenny kept us hanging the playoffs around if we're being honest. That is an absolutely insane schedule. Other than the Bengals, who Mitch also got, the 2nd worst defense was 21st and they went 9-8.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Pretty amazing that Kenny kept us hanging the playoffs around if we're being honest. That is an absolutely insane schedule. Other than the Bengals, who Mitch also got, the 2nd worst defense was 21st and they went 9-8.

yeah, it was kenny lol. with those high powered offenses that kept us winning.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Pretty amazing that Kenny kept us hanging the playoffs around if we're being honest. That is an absolutely insane schedule. Other than the Bengals, who Mitch also got, the 2nd worst defense was 21st and they went 9-8.

Oh for crying out loud. The defense stole a game from the Browns; the Ravens' receivers would have dropped a baby on its head that day; the Packers and Rams were nowhere near hitting their stride. Nothing Kenny did was amazing. The whole QB room sucks.

 

[lilspainishflea]

yeah, it was kenny lol. with those high powered offenses that kept us winning.

The Browns and Ravens are top 4 defenses. Kenny had a better QB Rating against the Browns than Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, Joe Burrow, and Justin Fields. He had a better QB Rating against the Ravens than CJ Stroud, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Tua, Trevor Lawrence, and Brock Purdy. I never said he was THE reason we won but he was A reason.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

The Browns and Ravens are top 4 defenses. Kenny had a better QB Rating against the Browns than Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, Joe Burrow, and Justin Fields. He had a better QB Rating against the Ravens than CJ Stroud, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Tua, Trevor Lawrence, and Brock Purdy. I never said he was THE reason we won but he was A reason.

well look at it this way, we are going into the playoffs with the best backup qb in the league.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

well look at it this way, we are going into the playoffs with the best backup qb in the league.

We can manipulate and cherry pick the stats all day (I wonder what Kennie's QBR was against the 49ers vs Lamar's), but yes... a team choosing to roll into the playoffs with Mason Rudolph over a healthy Kenny Pickett is about all one needs to know at this point. We need a quarterback.

 

[pittbb80]

Yeah he went 18 for 20 in a monsoon. Should have been 19 for 20 with two touchdowns if Deonte had not slowed down on a perfectly thrown pass. Best QB play in years.

Yeah those 5 yard throws were impressive

 

[pittdan77]

The best part about this thread is that someone exposed themselves for who they really are. Gotta be more careful about what you're posting under your real name.

 

[pittbb80]

Buffalo is not a good matchup for us. They won 4 of their last 5 including at KC, the Cowboys, and at Miami, all playoff teams.

Allen is reckless with the ball but they have a good WR room and a TE that can move. Their running backs are just ok but Allen himself is a huge problem on 3rd down and near the red zone.

I don't know what the Steelers have to do to win this game. Probably get a ton of perfectly timed turnovers - like 3 and maybe 4 in the end zone - run the ball extremely well, and hit at least 2 knockout passes in play action. An underrated problem with us trying to win close is that Percy Harvin has been dreadful recently.

The Bills defense played really well against much better QBs like Mahomes, Dak, Tua, and Hurts. Couple of QBRs in the 20s and 30s in those games. It has the chance to get really ugly. I could see Kenny coming in as well if it's like 21-6 and we're struggling to move the ball.

Good point about the TE. The Steelers have been exposed by good TEs. This dude may have a field day

 

[mlvnsmly]

Steelers will be one and done as usual. It doesn't matter who the QB is or the opponent.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Steelers will be one and done as usual. It doesn't matter who the QB is or the opponent.

well we opened up as 7.5 underdogs so vegas agrees.

 

[pittdan77]

well we opened up as 7.5 underdogs so vegas agrees.

Was 9.5 last I looked.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Was 9.5 last I looked.

really? yikes,

hey, "Do you believe in miracles?'

 

[pittdan77]

really? yikes,

hey, "Do you believe in miracles?'

The standard is the standard but the standard just quite ain't what it used to be.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

The standard is the standard but the standard just quite ain't what it used to be.

lol, that is funny and 10000% dead on accurate..


yinzer nation celebrating another above .500% season with a first rd embarrassing playoff loss as a sign of success. This aint your father's steelers organization, that's for sure.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

really? yikes,

hey, "Do you believe in miracles?'

Mason Rudolph, who couldn't beat my desk in a race, just won three NFL games in a row. The miracle has already happened. Now comes the squash match.

 

[lilspainishflea]

lol, that is funny and 10000% dead on accurate..


yinzer nation celebrating another above .500% season with a first rd embarrassing playoff loss as a sign of success. This aint your father's steelers organization, that's for sure.

My non-Steeler friends are absolutely obsessed with Tomlin's "never had a losing season" record. I think it's empty calories given the lack of playoff success and dreadful coaching/personnel decisions over the last few years. I called him black Jeff Fisher and that seemed to win the argument but overall, people outside of Pittsburgh really seem to think going 9-8 a ton of times should be on the Mt. Rushmore of coaching accomplishments.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

My non-Steeler friends are absolutely obsessed with Tomlin's "never had a losing season" record. I think it's empty calories given the lack of playoff success and dreadful coaching/personnel decisions over the last few years. I called him black Jeff Fisher and that seemed to win the argument but overall, people outside of Pittsburgh really seem to think going 9-8 a ton of times should be on the Mt. Rushmore of coaching accomplishments.

tomlin has a much better image from outsiders than people (And media)_ who closely follow the team..

i like the Jeff Fisher comparison. i compare him to Marvin Lewis too, that's not an insult or a compliment really. He just ran his course in Cincy and well so has Tomlin..

if he does hire someone good outside of the organization as OC, i will probably get a slight feeling of encouragement but that will fade quickly im sure..

 

[lilspainishflea]

tomlin has a much better image from outsiders than people (And media)_ who closely follow the team..

i like the Jeff Fisher comparison. i compare him to Marvin Lewis too, that's not an insult or a compliment really. He just ran his course in Cincy and well so has Tomlin..

if he does hire someone good outside of the organization as OC, i will probably get a slight feeling of encouragement but that will fade quickly im sure..

Yeah I don't mean to imply that Tomlin is a bad coach. Certainly not. I just don't know if he's legendary. I do think that a lot of the problems of the last 5 years are of his own making.

 

[pittdan77]

I called him black Jeff Fisher and that seemed to win the argument but overall, people outside of Pittsburgh really seem to think going 9-8 a ton of times should be on the Mt. Rushmore of coaching accomplishments.

Never having a losing season is a good thing. Not being able to turn that into more deep playoff runs is a huge blemish on that accomplishment. Both things are true.

 

[lilspainishflea]

Never having a losing season is a good thing. Not being able to turn that into more deep playoff runs is a huge blemish on that accomplishment. Both things are true.

In this particular example, my friend said "Bill Belichick couldn't do that" and my retort was that I'd gladly trade Belichik's 7 more Super Bowls (counting DC for the Giants, or 5 if not) for Tomlin's ability to finish above .500.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Yeah I don't mean to imply that Tomlin is a bad coach. Certainly not. I just don't know if he's legendary. I do think that a lot of the problems of the last 5 years are of his own making.

i use such a simple analogy but it makes soo much sense for nfl coaches. a "coach" goes stale after about 9-10 years, the shelf life is a decade and then it's "blah."

you need a change, it happens sooo many times. and the same probably goes for him too, a new change of scenery would probably benefit him too.

the days of noll and Tom Landry being your HC for 20 years is ancient.

 

[pittdan77]

In this particular example, my friend said "Bill Belichick couldn't do that" and my retort was that I'd gladly trade Belichik's 7 more Super Bowls (counting DC for the Giants, or 5 if not) for Tomlin's ability to finish above .500.

That's not the argument your friend thinks it is. I would definitely trade a few losing seasons for being consistently mediocre enough that half of your seasons end up just above 0.500 and you only win a handful of playoff games over a dozen year stretch.