11/30/17-GAME DAY Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals

By: Mike Pelaia

The 9-2 Steelers visit the 5-6 Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night in a game that has a whole lot of meaning for both squads. The Bengals, if they want to remain relevant in the AFC Wild Card race; must win this game. Should they fall to 5-7, they will be all but eliminated.

The black and gold need to keep pace with the New England Patriots for the number 1 seed in the AFC, ahead of their big show down on 12/17.

I expect a hard-fought contest between bitter rivals and ultimately I think the Steelers will come out on top. However, this game could be a trap game if the Steelers aren’t careful.

Here Are The Keys To Victory:

1. The Steelers need a heavy dose of Le’Veon Bell. The Bengals have a porous rush defense but a solid pass defense. The Steelers need to use their best asset against the Bengals weakest link.
2. The defense needs to pressure Andy Dalton. The Bengals offense is anemic, at best but they do have talent with AJ Green on the outside.  Dalton is average but capable of getting the ball to Green; once Green has it, anything goes. The Steelers need to pressure Dalton to keep the ball away from Green.
3. I wrote this the last time these teams played but it’s important again; the Steelers need to avoid the chippyness that comes along with this rivalry. It gets very heated and the penalty flags begin to fly. Pittsburgh can’t afford to get caught up in that mess, they need to focus on football and coming out with the ‘W’.
4. I believe the Bengals will do a decent job of containing Antonio Brown so I’m looking at Martavis Bryant to step up and get the job done this week. He showed flashes agains the Packers and there is a lot more where that came from.

Here Are A Few Things To Watch:

1. Mike Tomlin openly admitted that the New England Patriots are already on his mind. Will that impact the play of his team and have them looking past Cincinnati?
2. The entire secondary looked pretty bad against Green Bay. Andy Dalton is actually better than Brett Hundley, will the Steelers allow him to look like Boomer Esiason?
3. I want to watch Cam Heyward in the trenches. He’s on his way, as I predicted, to 10 sacks and I think he’s going to inch a bit closer this week. I think he may be the most important player on the defensive side of the ball for Pittsburgh.
4. It’s hard not to watch out for Vontaze Burfict with all the history he has against the Steelers. What stupid thing will he pull this time?

The black and gold should come out of Cincinnati with a 10-2 record. It won’t be an easy win but with this team, they rarely are. I think it will come down to another late game drive and the Steelers will win 23-17.

11/28/17-PODCAST STEEL NATION RADIO PACKERS WRAP UP AND BENGALS PREVIEW

By: Mike Pelaia

I review the win against the Green Bay Packers and preview the upcoming game in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. I have a lot of things to say so you’re going to want to listen!

11/27/17-The Pendulum Is Beginning To Swing Back

By: Mike Pelaia

As it always does, the pendulum swings back. That’s exactly what I’m seeing with the Steelers offensive and defensive units as they improved to 9-2 on Sunday night after defeating the Green Bay Packers.

The offense, who had been playing way below their standards; is finally beginning to get things going the past few weeks; having put up 40 and 31 points in back to back weeks, respectively.

Ben Roethlisberger, despite his two interceptions vs. Green Bay, is beginning to look on point. He’s sharp, he’s extending plays and he’s throwing the ball to the right receivers at the right time. Something he hadn’t done as often, earlier this season. But, the pendulum had to swing back for him, he’s too good for it not to.

Le’Veon Bell started coming back to normal a month or so ago and he continues to do so. He proved once again that he’s the best running back in all of football. If he’s not making plays in the run game, he’s catching the ball and allowing Roethlisbrerger to check the ball down. Bell was nothing short of spectacular against Green Bay and I fully expect that to continue throughout the remainder of the season.

Obviously, Antonio Brown is always at a high level but if you mix in Martavis Bryant, who appeared motivated and finally displayed some of his talents this past week, along with JuJu Smith-Schuster; you can see that this offense is finally on track after an extended slow start.

They have far too many weapons and far too much talent at the skill positions as well as the offensive line to not begin to see that trend back to normal.

The issue however, is the defenses pendulum is also swinging back. Unfortunately, it’s swinging in the wrong direction.  I won’t question the talent they have on that side of the ball; with guys like Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt or Ryan Shazier.  Those guys are high level guys who make impact plays.

However, I do question why James Harrison remains an inactive player on most weeks when it’s clear this defense is very capable of allowing big runs and big pass plays as well.

Brett Hundley looked like he was Aaron Rodgers when he played the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Make no mistake about it, the black and gold don’t have a top-level pass defense. Quite frankly, they don’t have a top-level defense overall. I don’t care what the stats tell you, I go by the eye test and my eye tells me that this secondary, in particular, is the teams weakest link.

“But they are a top five pass defense” you say? Yeah, because teams have been running on them. They haven’t needed to pass, so naturally the stats would say they Steelers don’t give up passing yards. Just look at the Jacksonville game to see what I’m talking about.

When Brett Hundley puts up the stats that he did, there is a problem. I like Artie Burns but his youth can hinder him at times. Mike Mitchell hits hard but I don’t think he’s necessarily trustworthy and as much as I like Sean Davis, he ranks second to last, according to Pro Football Focus rankings for Strong Safeties.

He’s not the only one who ranks really low at their respective positions, according to Pro Football Focus.  Bud Dupree ranks very ‘poor’ and TJ Watt is just ‘average’.  Don’t let the Watt name fool you, he hasn’t been solid enough and because of that, along with many other factors, the defenses pendulum is swinging back to reality.

The good news, as it may be, is with the offense coming back the other way, perhaps the two units can cross paths somewhere in the middle and ride this thing out down the stretch.

The pendulum always swings back, it’s just a matter of how far.

11/25/17-Green Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers

By: Mike Pelaia

The Steelers host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football in a game which once looked like a potential threat, at the beginning of the season, to a game that now appears to be an easy win for the black and gold (since Aaron Rodgers is out).

Pittsburgh is coming off a very impressive win after destroying the Tennessee Titans, dropping 40 points in what was clearly the offenses best outing of 2017. Ben Roethlisberger looked back in form and the team rolled to an 8-2 record. They now face a Packers team who’s in desperate need of a win in order to stay relevant in the NFC Wild Card Race.

Here Are The Keys To Victory:

1. The Steelers need to create turnovers. As they did vs. the Titans, the Steelers can make the game far easier on themselves if they create some turnovers and give the offense shorter fields.
2. The defense needs to pressure Brett Hundley. He’s an easily rattled, oft sacked QB and if the defense can get to him, it will make for a fun night in Pittsburgh.
3. The offense needs to avoid any big mistake or turnover. The Packers are not a good team. And the worst thing a heavy favorite can do is allow the underdog to stay in the game. Avoiding turnovers will eliminate that chance for the Packers.
4. Splash plays on offense need to happen but they need to be avoided on defense. We’ve seen a lack of the big play (except last week) on offense and we have seen the defense give up a few big ones at the same time. The splash play game needs to go in the right direction.

Here Are A Few Things To Watch:

1. Ben Roethlisberger-Did he finally arrive last week? Will he keep up that type of play?
2. Coty Sensabaugh-He looked good replacing Joe Haden the Titans. Will he continue to show his value?
3. I’m excited to see Le’Veon Bell. I have a feeling he’s going to have a huge game. He’s still a very important cog in the offensive game plan and one that can explode for huge plays at any moment. I think that moment will be Sunday Night…multiple times.
4. Chriss Hubbard is a must watch. He’s filling in as the starter again for the suspended Marcus Gilbert. The team is 5-0 when Gilbert starts and 3-2 when Hubbard starts. Let’s see how he does on Sunday Night.

The black and gold should win this game very easily. I’m thinking a 31-13 final as the Steelers will have no issue with the Aaron Rodgersless Packers.

11/21/17-PODCAST Steel Nation Radio – Titans Wrap Up and Packers Preview

By: Mike Pelaia

After a huge win against the Titans where Ben Roethlisberger tore it up and the offense finally exploded, I dissect the game as well as tell you all what it means for the upcoming Packers game. 

Give it a listen right here:

11/20/17-The Offense Runs Through Bell But The Team Goes As Far As Ben Takes Them

By: Mike Pelaia

Finally, the Steelers put up a massive amount of points in a game this season. It happened in their last game against the Tennessee Titans when they dropped 40 on the shell-shocked team from the south.

The black and gold may have only had three days in-between games but that didn’t show. They were firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball. But, perhaps the most important aspect of the blowout victory was the play of their captain, Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger has had a mediocre (by his standards only of course) season, to date, despite the team having a 7-2 record entering this past week. Just last week I had written that the team, while displaying a great record, didn’t feel great to me. Something was missing, and the biggest thing missing was the play of Roethlisberger, the man who has been so good for so long.

Well, he stepped up and showed the world what he’s still capable of, this past Thursday when he tossed four touchdowns to go along with his 299 yards. And oh by the way, he didn’t throw an interception. Perhaps even more wonderful to see was the elusiveness in the pocket that has been his trademark for so many seasons, yet seemed to be missing through the first nine games of this current campaign. Against the Titans, Roetlisberger was not easy to bring down, he scrambled (in only a way he can) to extend plays and he made some laser sharp throws.

I have stated on multiple occasions this season that the offense must start with Le’Veon Bell and I will not deviate from that. He is the key to the offense getting things going but as we have seen in recent seasons and finally again against Tennessee, the team goes as far as Ben Roethlisberger takes them.

When Big Ben is off of his game, lacks accuracy or is just having a bad day, the team may win, but they tend to struggle, or at least scrap their way to victory. Even when Bell is cutting through defenses like a hot knife through butter, the team doesn’t have as easy of a time as they often should, if Ben isn’t firing on all cylinders.

However, when Ben is on and throwing darts to Antonio Brown at a record pace; when he’s escaping the pocket and making his trademark plays and not making the big (or any) mistakes; this team is as good as anyone in the league.

Every team with Super Bowl aspirations needs to have a super star quarterback. Ben is just that. He’s proven that time and time again. He’s had what we’ll call a slower start to this season but he seemed to have finally arrived on Thursday night. If he’s going to play like he did against Tennessee, then many special things lie ahead for the black and gold.

The schedule, outside of New England, is relatively weak the rest of the way and these final six games may serve as the necessary time for Ben to get on a massive roll before the postseason.

Ben Roethlisberger, the captain, the vet, the two time Super Bowl Champ is the key to the long term success of this team and they will go as far as number seven takes them.

11/13/17-How Good Are The Steelers?

By: Mike Pelaia

After nine weeks, the Steelers have the best start in the Mike Tomlin era at 7-2. 7-2 is an impressive record but how good are the Steelers really?

They don’t have the feel of a 7-2 team to me nor do they seem like the best team Tomlin has ever coached, I leave that to the 2008 team. With 2010 being a close second.

This 2017 version is flawed, yet they boast an inexplicably good record. Their opponents, to date, have a combined record of 37-45, obviously unimpressive.  Yet the Steelers have big wins against the 7-2 Vikings and 6-3 Chiefs.

The Steelers two losses are to the surprisingly decent Jaguars (6-3) and the lowly Bears 3-6. They also squeaked out wins against the 0-9 Browns and 3-6 Colts. 

Are the Steelers good or not? The remaining schedule is weak; they play their division opponents one more time each, none of whom are currently at .500. They also get the Packers without Aaron Rodgers.

The only remaining challenges they have left are this Thursday against Tennessee and 12/17 against the Patriots (whom I think will embarrass the Steelers).

The defense, to me, isn’t as good as the ranking would suggest and when they face a guy like Tom Brady, I fully expect them to get shredded like cheddar cheese. I don’t trust the pass defense, with Joe Haden now out for a period of time, I trust them less. Mike Mitchell makes a ton of tackles but that’s usually because he, or someone else got burned and he has to. Who have the Steelers really faced in terms of top level quarterbacks thus far? Alex Smith is very good but he’s not daunting. Other than that, they’ve face nobody.

When they play a Brady or if they happened to get to the Super Bowl, Carson Wentz, they don’t stand a chance, as they’ve currently shown they can get burned by a guy like Jacoby Brisett. If he can do it, what will Brady or Wentz do?

Do you trust the rush defense? I don’t. They currently sit at 12^th in the league, allowing over 100 yards per game. Does that sound like one of the best teams in Steelers history? Even under Mike Tomlin? No, it sounds flawed to me.

But it doesn’t stop there. The offense is not running like a well oiled machine. Yes, Le’Veon Bell leads the league in rushing and Antonio Brown leads the league in receiving but where is Ben Roethlisberger? He currently sits at 24^th in the league with an 83.8 passer rating. Guys like Brissett, Andy Dalton, Jameis Winston and even Jay Cutler sit in front of him!

That’s a HUGE problem; one that needs to rectify this week against the Titans if this team wants to prove they belong. I have predicted all along that this team would win the Super Bowl and they do have a record that would indicate they are in the mix but any of us that have watched them play have to have doubts creeping into our heads at this point, don’t we?

They have yet to explode on offense. They have yet to display vintage Ben. They have yet to play a complete game on all sides of the ball nor have they really blown out an opponent that they should.

They have time to turn things around, odd to say about a 7-2 team, I know, but if they don’t fix their woes, anyone who has seen them play every week in 2017 can tell this team has one and done written all over them.

 

11/9/17-SCU-Is Big Ben Steelers Weakest Link Against The Colts?

By: Joe Kuzma of Steel City Underground

 

It’s an odd time for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. I’m sure he feels just fine, but it’s instead an odd time for those who are critical of the NFL and it’s teams and players. Big Ben has been the target of a fair amount of criticism, especially after an offseason where he made comments that hinted at an early retirement. At odds with the media who took those comments and ran with them, Ben has further stoked those flames by making comments as to whether or not “he still got it”.

“It” being the ability to be the proverbial gunslinger Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin always refers to.

Heading into Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, fans and critics alike are hinting if Roethlisberger doesn’t have an All-Pro performance, maybe it might be time to consider retirement.

As outlandish as that sounds, that statement makes sense on paper. The Colts have a horrendous defense which is 31st in the league when it comes to giving up passing yards. Add to the equation that they will be without star rookie safety Malik Hooker and two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Vontae Davis, and you can see why I selected Big Ben as this week’s weakest link.

The blood is in the water, and the sharks should be circling. Those sharks are named Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, receivers who are all capable of having big games, should their quarterback show up in a big way. Yet, that’s been an issue this season, as timing appears to be off with the Steelers signal caller. He has missed wide-open receivers, overthrown or underthrown others he’s found and has nearly as many interceptions as he does touchdowns.

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Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner talked about Roethlisberger on Monday, and whether or not he is in decline:

I still feel the accuracy. I still see the ball coming out. [At practice] there may be a moment or two when he may throw it like a 36-year old and maybe a 36-year old has a moment where the ball doesn’t come out perfect. But we are talking about perfect, not good enough, and special because generally that is what he is.

It’s been an uncharacteristic 2017 season for Roethlisberger, but the reason for optimism this Sunday exists not only because the Colts defense has played poorly this season, but because they’ve played poorly against the Steelers in the last few years:

.@_BigBen7 has completed 78 of 108 for 1,107 receiving yards with 13 TDs vs. 0 INTs in his last three games against Indy.

— Missi Matthews (@missi_matthews) November 8, 2017

Ben has put up some incredible numbers against the Colts in his last three games against them. In 2014 he dropped 522 yards and six touchdowns on Indy, en route to a near-perfect 150.6 quarterback rating. In 2015, he threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns for a 126.4 rating and last season, he found Antonio Brown in the end zone three times while attempting only twenty passes for 221 yards and a 146 rating.

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Along with an extra week of rest to gear up for this game, the onus is now on Ben to lead this team to their seventh Lombardi trophy. On Wednesday, Roethlisberger discussed getting the offense to their anticipated goal of being a scoring juggernaut:

Well, I hope so. It’s always been Todd [Haley’s] goal. His first goal that he set since the beginning of the seasons is to get 30 points. That’s our goal offensively.

We haven’t been able to do that yet. So, we’d like to do what we can and put as any points as we can on the board because that takes pressure off of our defense. We love the way they are playing and we love to watch it but it’s time to do our part now.

That part starts with the leader and captain of the offense, Ben Roethlisberger. Otherwise, without a strong game, the Steelers could find themselves in a similar territory of the overtime loss in Chicago. With momentum and a strong case to be the top seed in the AFC, Big Ben is this week’s weakest link. The team goes as he goes, and they need to go into Indianapolis, and leave, victorious.

Is Big Ben the Steelers weakest link against the Colts? appeared first on Steel City Underground.

11/9/17-Game Day Preview: Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts

By: Mike Pelaia

The Steelers sit at 6-2 after the first half of the season and come out of the bye week ready to play their way into the playoffs and beyond. That journey begins with a visit to the Indianapolis Colts, who sit at 3-6.  The Steelers are heavy favorites in this one and should be, but you never know what could happen.

After the time off, will the team come out flat or will they be ready to continue moving in the right direction?

Here Are The Keys To A Steelers Victory:

1. The black and gold have played down to their competition over the years while under Mike Tomlin. They need to avoid that trap this week and blow the Colts out. They can’t allow a team, who is far inferior, to hang around this time.
2. Ben Roethlisberger needs to sling the ball all over the field. The Colts have the 31^st ranked defense against the pass. Ben needs to chuck the ball to Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and of course JuJu Smith-Schuster.
3. The defense must blitz Jacoby Brissett. Brissett is an average quarterback at best and has been sacked 32 times already this season. The black and gold should send TJ Watt, Bud Dupree and the rest of the cavalry at Brissett early and often.
4. The Steelers pass defense will need to stop TY Hilton and Jack Doyle. Hilton is the big play threat the Colts have while Doyle is the team’s leading receiver and safety net for Brissett. Take one or both of these guys out of the game and it’s an easy victory for the black and gold.

Here Are A Few Things To Watch:

1. I want to see how Ben Roethlisberger comes back after the week off. He’s been sub par this year, by his standards at least and I’m looking for a huge game from him to start the second half.
2. Earlier this week; I predicted the team would score 30 points in three of the next eight games. I fully believe this will be one of those games. Watch how the offense rolls.
3. I’d like to watch JuJu Smith Schuster vs. Martavis Bryant. I think Smith Schuster is the new #2 receiver, let’s see how he’s used vs. Bryant this week.
4. I predicted Vince Williams to have a huge second half and I think it starts this week with a double digit tackle performance.

The Steelers should have no issues this week as they come out of the bye and begin the second half of the season. The Colts are bad, the Steelers are solid and as long as they don’t play down tot heir competition, they will roll in this game. I’m looking for the final score to be 34-10 in favor of the Steelers.

11/7/17-PODCAST STEEL NATION RADIO FIRST HALF WRAP UP AND COLTS PREVIEW

By: Mike Pelaia

The first half of the season is wrapped up and the black and gold are 6-2 as they head towards the second half. The second half of the season starts with a game against the lowly Colts. I talk about the game and what I think will happen the rest of the way. 

Give it a listen right here:

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