@tour2ma said:

Of course it wouldn't hurt if your RB (Snell?) could control himself and realize the LB on top of him was just doing his job.

Agreed. 

McFarland.

@vagitron said:

Vander Esch needs to be smarter there, period. 

Of course it wouldn't hurt if your RB (Snell?) could control himself and realize the LB on top of him was just doing his job.

@jiggins7919 said:

I meant dominant all year, not that game obviously. Then again, when it mattered, the Steelers defense won the game. Their pass rush is no joke. 

Cam Heyward went into his final form to end that game. Watch the tape. He pushes Connor Williams with ONE arm on a bull rush into another Cowboys lineman and then sacks Gilbert. 

@tour2ma said:

And yet...

Tyson alalau is hurt and the steelers going off tape and metrics didnt realize the Cowboys d-line has been geling. Now add in Keith butler running zone when the steelers are far stronger in man and it was a recipe for giving up yards on the ground. It's also no coincidence that after Ben started drawing up plays "in the dirt" which is what he has been doing the team drives down the field. It is what it is, they normally would have lost that game and they didn't. Resilient. 

@gumby73 said:

from what i'm hearing.. Ben has injuries to both knees on the same play..  Won't practice till Friday & still should get start with Bengals.. After Ben's injury.. The Steelers coaching staff protected Ben by only calling 1 running play in the 3Q.. And 1 running play in 4Q... Only until 1:37 seconds left in the 4th. J.Conner carried 3 times to run down some clock... "Living on the Edge" 

He's fine and we won because of Ben. One surgeon that follows and writes about the steelers said she thinks he may have bone bruises. Dude came down on both his legs hard and awkwardly. 

@tour2ma said:

Cool we agree...

Now let's talk about the Vander Esch "retaliation" that never landed and Smith's ticky-tac, illegal contact.

Off the rip I thought he punched him in the helmet. He didn't which I was happy to see as I've always like Vander Esch. However that being said the guy that retaliates almost always gets the flag. It's no different than the "hit" on Ben. As I said before Ben had his nose broken once and no flag. Sooooo if the NFL officiating is anything it's inconsistent. Vander Esch needs to be smarter there, period. 

Jets actually lead Pats by a TD with about 6 minutes left.

I think they are playing Joe Flacco at QB. 

@tour2ma said:

And yet...

from what i'm hearing.. Ben has injuries to both knees on the same play..  Won't practice till Friday & still should get start with Bengals.. After Ben's injury.. The Steelers coaching staff protected Ben by only calling 1 running play in the 3Q.. And 1 running play in 4Q... Only until 1:37 seconds left in the 4th. J.Conner carried 3 times to run down some clock... "Living on the Edge" 

Last 3 steeler drafts and compare with depth chart -- All 2020 made the team, in 2019 one 6th one 7th rounders aren't on the team, in 2018 the 3rd [qb], 6th, and 7th aren't on the team.

Similar stuff with ravens -- and note that they're finding multiple NFL-quality starters in rounds 5,6.  So it IS possible to find players there.. you just have to be actually good at evaluation and development of people and not just parroting conventional wisdom from Mel Faker.

One thing that's often missed in discussions regarding why our drafting "isn't good" -- very few first-rounders [let alone further down] come into the league fully developed with zero coaching needed to improve traits/flexibility etc.  Our coaching staff has simply not been good at this for quite a long time.. so even if we drafted a "good" player, if you wonder why he didn't become even more better, that's 100% on the terrible coaching rather than purely on the player ! 

This affects Browns lower-round draft results -- no coaching up 5th rounders to a productive swing OL, a productive spot LB starter, etc.

@tour2ma said:

And yet...

I meant dominant all year, not that game obviously. Then again, when it mattered, the Steelers defense won the game. Their pass rush is no joke. 

@jiggins7919 said:

I don't even see how that's possible. Steelers looked so completely dominant on both sides of the LoS....it was crazy.

And yet...

@jiggins7919 said:

I don't even see how that's possible. Steelers looked so completely dominant on both sides of the LoS....it was crazy. Of course, their defensive pressure essentially won the game for them, which is going to be the primary difference between our teams. They can rely on their defense to win them some games. If our defense HAS to make a stop...well...we tried. Lol. 

Well, I think it is fair to say that the Steelers invested heavily into LB corps.   At least 3  First round picks there.  The Browns? Quite the opposite. Takitaki taken in round 3 is their highest pick playing. (Wilson round 5).

Only  first round picks on Browns defense are   Garrett and Ward.

So, you say, we must have gone with offense with all our first rounders?   Well, no.  The only first round picks starting of offense are  Mayfield and Wills.   Njoku, round one backup.  (Beckham traded for  2 first rounders...including Peppers) 

In addition to the OBJ trade,  this is the legacy of having so many busts chosen in round one.  

@gorka said:

Steelers manhandled up front two weeks in a row...couldn't run the ball, couldn't stop the run.

I don't even see how that's possible. Steelers looked so completely dominant on both sides of the LoS....it was crazy. Of course, their defensive pressure essentially won the game for them, which is going to be the primary difference between our teams. They can rely on their defense to win them some games. If our defense HAS to make a stop...well...we tried. Lol. 

@vagitron said:

Yep, terrible game. However good teams find a way to win. We are 8-0. What's your record again? 

Steelers manhandled up front two weeks in a row...couldn't run the ball, couldn't stop the run.

Talk about a beat-down...

@vagitron said:

Yep, it was pretty weak but that's a flag everytime. The NFL needs full time refs and certain things should be determined via their discretion. 

Cool we agree...

Now let's talk about the Vander Esch "retaliation" that never landed and Smith's ticky-tac, illegal contact.

@vagitron said:

Yep, it was pretty weak but that's a flag everytime. The NFL needs full time refs and certain things should be determined via their discretion. 

The hand hit the head, didn't cause any impact. It's just how it is now, you touch QB's face mask, flag. 

@clevelandwantsplayoffs said:

Dolphins and Raiders are both good. And then there is the Colts. It will be an interesting wildcard race.

Boy, Pitt was getting the piss beat out of them. Ben took a hellacious shot. Raiders ain't no joke. They aren't rock solid but they can beat anyone. 

@canton-mike said:

I went fishin' with a buddy on 2 ponds he recently got permission to fish. I got the only fish...5 undersized bluegill. I shoulda stayed home drinking beer & watching football! Oh well, at least I didn't miss a Browns' game & I DID get outside on a beautiful day.

Mike

Bluegill? LOL. I remember those. The pond down my street was full of them. 

@unsympathetic said:

I love Scotch.  Scotchy scotch scotch.  Here it goes down, down into my belly.

Don't act like you're not impressed!

Broiling a few pounds of steak tips for the week's lunches.. nothing like getting a buzz on while flipping steak.

I'm impressed.

@tour2ma said:

The roughing call was "by the book".

***sigh**

Such is the state of our game.

Yep, it was pretty weak but that's a flag everytime. The NFL needs full time refs and certain things should be determined via their discretion. 

***sigh**

Such is the state of our game.