The most frustrating losses are the ones that didn’t have to be. The plays were there to be made, but Pittsburgh didn’t make enough of them yesterday. Let’s take a look at some of the good and some of the bad from the trip to Green Bay.
This was the end of the Packers’ first drive. Before the snap Pittsburgh had 6 men at the line. The RT was ready to drop anchor for LB TJ Watt, but at the snap Watt comes out of his 3-point stance and he and CB Cam Sutton drop into coverage. The line struggles to adjust (DE’s Cam Heyward and Chris Wormley each take on two blockers) and MLB Devin Bush comes in clean for the sack, and when I say clean I mean sparkling. It certainly wasn’t how Green Bay chalked it up, but it was more than just a miscommunication. Great work by Keith Butler using scheme and deception to cause confusion up front.
I don’t want to say TJ’s bark is worse than his bite because he can 100% back up any claim he makes. He scares opposing offenses to the extent that they are forced to account for him with double- and triple-teams, and he has earned that level of respect through the years. But when you force opponents to scheme for him, you create an enormous amount of leverage by dropping him out of there.
By the way, take another look at the RT in slo-mo. Notice anything peculiar?
Even when he’s coming after you he can still get up and make plays in the air. Look how quick he gets into the passing lane here. It looks like Rogers dropped down his arm angle to get that ball out and sailed it wide.
This play was eerily similar to the Terrell Edmunds INT from last week. Last week it was Devin Bush forcing the crossing route upfield which created a high throw that Minkah was able to tip to Terrell Edmunds. This week it’s CB Arthur Maulet (who gets away with a bit of a hold) but was right there with Randall Cobb, forcing a tough ball that was closer to being turned around the other way than being caught by anyone in green.
By the way, Maulet had 3 tackles yesterday, all were solo stops, and 2 were for a loss. He’s got room to grow, but his willingness to engage in the physical aspects of the game make Mike Hilton’s loss taste a bit less sour.
On the play immediately before the infamous negated blocked FG, Joe Schobert was working in coverage on Packers RB Aaron Jones in the end zone. Joe was in great, tight coverage but Rogers was able to throw his guy open and dropped a dime into the bucket on Jones’ back shoulder. Jones made an outstanding (for a running back) adjustment and for a moment appeared to make the catch, but Schobert had an arm in there too and popped the ball out. Jones never established control of the ball; credit Joe Schobert with a Pass Defended. He’s tied for the team lead in that category (3, Heyward) as well as tackles (29).
Rookie C Kendrick Green probably wasn’t psyched to see #97 DT Kenny Clark lined up in his grill so often. For the most part the team handled him well, although he did recover the strip sack on Ben.
On this play Clark isn’t lined up over Green but appears to be a 2-technique even with LG Kevin Dotson. Green is so fast here getting off the ball and into Clark’s body he actually takes Clark laterally off Dotson’s block, and the double-team forced him five yards backward. For an under-sized center going up against an over-sized defensive tackle, he certainly handled himself well.
This next one is from the “not so good” pile for Green. The Packers bring 6 guys to the line, with the ILB’s in the A-gaps. There are three rushers on each side of Green, he has help from RB Kalen Ballage on the QB’s right flank, and the game-wrecker Kenny Clark is to his left. All of this points to Green has to be shading left here; instead his initial read is the ILB to his right, who bluffs a blitz before dropping into coverage. As a result Green is left without a dance partner. Fortunately Ballage steps up to bail him (and Roethlisberger) out. Ben was throwing hot to DJ all the way but you don’t need that arm banging into yellow helmets on the follow through.
CamBlackburnWrites 