SB Nation User Blog: acrollet

Under .500 - Post-game commiseration thread

acrollet — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:39:05 -0000

11 days ago: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) is sacked for a loss by Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Corey Williams in the first quarter of an NFL football game Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

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Well, now we know what it feels like to be the have-nots of the league. Here's a thread for rants, raves and perhaps group therapy.

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6) at Cleveland Browns (1-11) - second half open thread

acrollet — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:40:37 -0000

Thirty minutes to go.

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6) at Cleveland Browns (1-11) - Pre-game and first half open thread

acrollet — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:30:13 -0000

More photos » by David Richard - AP

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Our fearless leader Blitzburgh is travelling tonight, so I'm covering in his absence. A few months ago, a prime time game in Cleveland could mean only one thing - guaranteed victory. Now, we're not so sure. Look for this game to depend on whether Rashard Mendenhall can get it going - it's cold and windy on the blighted shores of Lake Erie.

In the meantime, enjoy watching what could be the last meaningful game of the season - Let's Go Steelers!!!

Oakland Raiders (3-8) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) - BTSC Week 13 Open Thread (2cd Half)

acrollet — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:54:36 -0000

Unleashing hell, for real this time.

Jay Glazer of foxsports.com says that Ben won't play tomorrow

acrollet — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:37:41 -0000

Jay Glazer of foxsports.com says that Ben won't play tomorrow

Via Jim Wexell, news that Ben has been experiencing headaches this week and won't play. I haven't found any other confirmation, so take this with a grain of salt for now.

UPDATE: John Clayton confirms, Dixon will start, Palko will be signed and Shaun MacDonald released.

UPDATE 2: Palko signing confirmed on steelers.com.

UPDATE 3: Confirmed on steelers.com, Dixon will start, Ben will be the no. 3 QB.

More verbal gold from Mike Tomlin

acrollet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:25:58 -0000

During a week where most Steelers fans are looking for something positive, I really enjoyed several of Tomlin's statements from this week's press conference.

Q: You used Mewelde Moore and Rashard Mendenhall in the same backfield and gained 12 yards. Will you look to expand on that?

A: Potentially, yes.

Q: Is that the Pony backfield?

A: You know I don’t get into specifics of what we call things. I call it Two Tailbacks in the Game.

"Two Tailbacks in the Game", I love it.

Q: Should Jeff Reed have done more as a tackler on the last two returns for touchdowns?

A: Man, I am not going to go down to evaluating Jeff Reed as a tackler. When it comes down to that, we have failed as a coverage unit. I don’t lose any sleep on the quality of Jeff Reed’s tackles … or tackle attempts.

Looks like Tomlin's standing by Reed, though he does seem to get a little jab in talking about "tackle attempts".

Q: Has Brett Keisel played better since Aaron Smith went down?

A: No, he’s been playing well all year. He really has, even when Aaron was available. Brett is a solid, solid professional. He does a lot of dirty work. He’s really underappreciated. I think it’s the nature of the position he plays in our scheme, similar to Aaron Smith. There are a lot of people that ride the wave of destruction that he provides. I think on both of those sacks he was disruptive, but that’s nothing new for Brett Keisel.

"The wave of destruction that he provides" - cool wording, in my opinion.

Q: Were you surprised by what Bill Belichick did the other day?

A: No, I wasn’t surprised. I heard his comments after the game. He made a decision he felt was appropriate for his team and gave his team the best chance of winning, and for that I applaud him. There are only 32 of these jobs. We have decisions to make that are not always going to be popular. I always appreciate men that are bold enough to do it even when it’s potentially unpopular. Obviously Bill has the stomach to make those decisions.

Interesting commentary about Belichick's decision. (which I happen to agree with, by the way)

Fixing the Steelers' kickoff coverage problems - an unorthodox solution

acrollet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:59:26 -0000

Olé!

This will be a numbers-heavy post, so please bear with me, folks. So far this season, the Steelers have kicked off to the opposition 44 times. We all know that 3 of those have gone for touchdowns, one of which was arguably the deciding factor in yesterday's contest. What I didn't know until I compiled the numbers this evening is that over those 44 kickoffs, the average starting position for the other team is their 33.36 yard line - almost 15 more yards than a touchback. (counting a TD as a return to the PIT 0 yard line) Obviously, something has to be done to fix the problem - not just the touchdowns, but all the free yards opponents are getting.

So, what can be done? A touchback is the safest way to handle a conventional kick-off, but the Steelers are extremely unlikely to switch kickers mid-season. There was an important keyword in the last sentence - conventional. I believe that the perfect storm exists for a radical shift in tactics. According to this post from the excellent Advanced NFL Stats blog, the recovery rate for unexpected onside kicks is around 60%. Given that the other team is already taking it back to around the 33-34 yard line, why not spot them 25 or so yards for a good chance at getting the ball right back? The Steelers' excellent defense is already built around keeping things in front of them, giving up the dink and dunk, and stiffening in the red zone - following this tactic would keep the defense off the field longer, and therefore keep them fresh to unleash whatever mayhem LeBeau has schemed up.

Of course, the major problem with this theory is that the recovery rate falls dramatically when an on-side kick is expected - to 20% or so. As soon as the Steelers became known for kicking onsides, the opposition would stick their "hands" team out for every kick-off, and so much for that strategy, right? However, this isn't a bad thing either - if the hands team is in, presumably the good blockers that are helping spring long returns are out, and it's safer to kick deep. The choice of how to kick can even be situational, depending on what personnel the other team is fielding. In addition, time spent by the other team practicing recovering onside kicks is time they haven't spent on the rest of their game-plan.

I'm not saying that this would be great for every team and situation - a team with a great kickoff coverage unit, a monster kicker (or kickoff specialist) and a weak defense would be ill-advised to follow this plan. However, I do think that kicking onsides anywhere from once to several times a game could have a salutary effect on our chances of winning. What do you think?

Mendenhall is already better than you think.

acrollet — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:02:20 -0000

Mendenhall is already better than you think.

Historical perspective from AOL's fanhouse.

This was the scene after the game last night - chanting, towel-waving... You really would have...

acrollet — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:15:25 -0000

Steelers @ Broncos aftermath from Adrian on Vimeo.

This was the scene after the game last night - chanting, towel-waving... You really would have thought you were at Heinz field.

Rashard Mendenhall is earning the moniker Rush-Hard

acrollet — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:42:16 -0000

As I was watching the game last night, I saw something that we haven't seen from the Pittsburgh running game in quite a while - namely, consistent positive yardage against a good rushing defense. This is huge, because it opens up the offense for Big Ben and his merry band of wideouts. All of a sudden, play action is effective, defenses are forced to stay in the box longer, and the oft-maligned Bruce Arians is able to stick with the run game. It's one thing to say that you're going to commit to the run, and another thing to keep at it when your run game is consistently putting you in second and 13. I was very impressed by seeing Mendenhall consistently hit the hole hard and pick up 3 or 4 yards, keeping the offense ahead of the chains. Eventually, of course, this paid big dividends as the defense wore down and had to respect the threat of the pass. More stats after the jump.

via www.post-gazette.com

Of #34's 20 carries outside the redzone, all but 4 went for 3 or more yards, and all but 2 went for positive yardage. There's also some nice playcalling in there - towards the end of the game, you had 3 runs towards the right for a combined -3 yards. This set up the defense nicely for a run behind left guard for 36 yards. That was the infamous "step out of bounds" run - couldn't understand it at the time, but as much as the coaches have been in his ear about ball security, that may have just been him deciding to make the safe play. (Especially after the "leap for the 5 yard line" debacle a couple of weeks ago...)

All of Mendenhall's runs in order:

Mendenhall up the middle to PIT 22 for 5 yards
Mendenhall left tackle to PIT 37 for 6 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to PIT 23 for 3 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to PIT 27 for 4 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to PIT 31 for 4 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to PIT 45 for 3 yards
Mendenhall right tackle to PIT 30 for 6 yards
Mendenhall left tackle to PIT 33 for 3 yards
Mendenhall right end pushed ob at DEN 38 for 24 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to PIT 6 for 3 yards
Mendenhall right tackle pushed ob at PIT 48 for 28 yards
Mendenhall right tackle to DEN 25 for 8 yards
Mendenhall right tackle to PIT 34 for 1 yard
Mendenhall up the middle to PIT 43 for 2 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to DEN 44 for 4 yards
Mendenhall right guard to DEN 19 for 6 yards
Mendenhall right end to DEN 25 for -6 yards
Mendenhall right tackle to PIT 23 for -3 yards
Mendenhall left guard pushed ob at DEN 46 for 36 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to DEN 3 for 18 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to DEN 4 for -1 yards
Mendenhall up the middle to DEN 3 for 1 yard

In summary, say hello to the future of Pittsburgh's running game. It's somewhat sad and poignant to see Willie Parker on the sidelines, but it's the right thing for the team.

Poll

Rashard Mendenhall currently has an even hundred carries for 573 yards. (That's an other-worldly 5.7 ypc for those of you keeping score at home) Will he finish the regular season:

under 1000 yards?

44 votes

over 1000 yards?

553 votes

above 1341 yards? (AP's rookie season total)

66 votes

663 votes | Poll has closed