2023 Pittsburgh Steelers. Banged up team loses to Buffalo. Looking ahead to 2024 now (3 Viewers)

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Facing the Bills in Buffalo is going to be a challenge. I went back in 2021 when we got spanked and it was not a pleasant experience.

Still I am glad to be in the playoffs and will hope for the best. It sucks that TJ will miss the game but I do think Herbig is decent. We will also get Kazee back from suspension and Minkah should be back , right?

We got spanked last year, but won game 1 of the season in 2021 as road dogs against them.

 

[Godsbrother]

Facing the Bills in Buffalo is going to be a challenge. I went back in 2021 when we got spanked and it was not a pleasant experience.

Still I am glad to be in the playoffs and will hope for the best. It sucks that TJ will miss the game but I do think Herbig is decent. We will also get Kazee back from suspension and Minkah should be back , right?

We got spanked last year, but won game 1 of the season in 2021 as road dogs against them.

It was such an awful game I blocked the date out of my memory.

 

[steelers1080]

Yup I’m officially done with the Pickett experiment. Go with Rudolph as the starter next year and see how the cards play out.

Definitely could. But I feel like Tannehill in Pittsburgh would go well.

This is the worst take I've seen in a while.

 

[steelers1080]

I think we have a much better shot against the Bills than the Chiefs right now. Allen is sporadic, so our best bet will be if Minkah comes back. I know Watt is a game wrecker, but I think that getting Minkah back might actually be more important for this game.

The middle of our D is going to get wrecked, and I'm not sure anyone on our team in the middle of the field is good enough to play QB spy and make sure Allen doesn't kill us with his legs.

Herbig has been great, but Golden got way more playing time when Watt went down, Austin has been slow to play rookies all year. Adams is still getting more time than Benton, and he was the one who hurt Watt, so we can blame Austin for that too.

Overall I'm hopeful, but realistic that this will be a really tough game and we're going to need an excellent offensive performance. I would assume the Bills put up at least 24 pts.

 

[steelers1080]

Optimistic Prediction:

• Bills 27 - Steelers 31
• Ravens 24 - Steelers 28
• Texans 21 - Steelers 24
• 49ers 17 - Steelers 20

Pessimistic Prediction:

• Bills 27 - Steelers 13
• Ravens win Super Bowl

 

[3C's]

Is this a drip from someone inside (agent for example)? "Let's give Adam this little nugget to run with.."

https://twitter.com/ThePoniExpress/status/1744042144426279072

Yes, they're not firing him but if another team wants him bad enough and he wants a change of scenery there could be a trade or a vacation in the future.

 

[crushedspirit]

If they can force the bad Allen to show up, it could be a close one. If good Allen comes to play, this will be over by halftime.

 

[3C's]

Some rush LB stats. A dropoff from Watt for sure (duh) but Golden has done well with his snaps, as has Herbig. Data from pro football reference, with snap count and sack to snap% added in.

Games

Fumbles

Tackles

Player

Snaps

G

GS

FF

Fmb

FR

Sacks

Sk/Snap%

Comb

Solo

Ast

TFL

QBHits

T.J. Watt

931​

17​

17​

4​

0​

3​

19​

2.04%​

68​

48​

20​

19​

36​

Alex Highsmith

910​

17​

17​

2​

0​

0​

7​

0.77%​

57​

34​

23​

8​

18​

Markus Golden

230​

16​

0​

0​

0​

1​

4​

1.74%​

20​

14​

6​

6​

10​

Nick Herbig

191​

17​

0​

2​

0​

1​

3​

1.57%​

27​

19​

8​

5​

3​

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Is this a drip from someone inside (agent for example)? "Let's give Adam this little nugget to run with.."

https://twitter.com/ThePoniExpress/status/1744042144426279072

Yes, they're not firing him but if another team wants him bad enough and he wants a change of scenery there could be a trade or a vacation in the future.

He isn't going anywhere unless he asks for a trade, but sounds extremely unlikely.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Some rush LB stats. A dropoff from Watt for sure (duh) but Golden has done well with his snaps, as has Herbig. Data from pro football reference, with snap count and sack to snap% added in.

Games

Fumbles

Tackles

Player

Snaps

G

GS

FF

Fmb

FR

Sacks

Sk/Snap%

Comb

Solo

Ast

TFL

QBHits

T.J. Watt

931​

17​

17​

4​

0​

3​

19​

2.04%​

68​

48​

20​

19​

36​

Alex Highsmith

910​

17​

17​

2​

0​

0​

7​

0.77%​

57​

34​

23​

8​

18​

Markus Golden

230​

16​

0​

0​

0​

1​

4​

1.74%​

20​

14​

6​

6​

10​

Nick Herbig

191​

17​

0​

2​

0​

1​

3​

1.57%​

27​

19​

8​

5​

3​

Golden is still a pretty good pass rusher, so this doesn't come as a total surprise to me. Herbig has looked really good as a rusher so far too, so also not a surprise from me there.

For a team that is already kind of bad against the run, losing Watt's presence there is likely going to be very, very problematic. Plus, even though he isn't asked to do it often, TJ can actually drop and do some things in coverage (Rams game, anyone?).

Losing his pass rush is the suck. No question. The run D, and the fact he won't be commanding the double, may be bigger concerns.

 

[3C's]

Some rush LB stats. A dropoff from Watt for sure (duh) but Golden has done well with his snaps, as has Herbig. Data from pro football reference, with snap count and sack to snap% added in.

Games

Fumbles

Tackles

Player

Snaps

G

GS

FF

Fmb

FR

Sacks

Sk/Snap%

Comb

Solo

Ast

TFL

QBHits

T.J. Watt

931​

17​

17​

4​

0​

3​

19​

2.04%​

68​

48​

20​

19​

36​

Alex Highsmith

910​

17​

17​

2​

0​

0​

7​

0.77%​

57​

34​

23​

8​

18​

Markus Golden

230​

16​

0​

0​

0​

1​

4​

1.74%​

20​

14​

6​

6​

10​

Nick Herbig

191​

17​

0​

2​

0​

1​

3​

1.57%​

27​

19​

8​

5​

3​

Golden is still a pretty good pass rusher, so this doesn't come as a total surprise to me. Herbig has looked really good as a rusher so far too, so also not a surprise from me there.

For a team that is already kind of bad against the run, losing Watt's presence there is likely going to be very, very problematic. Plus, even though he isn't asked to do it often, TJ can actually drop and do some things in coverage (Rams game, anyone?).

The run D, and the fact he won't be commanding the double, are my biggest concerns.

TJ gets doubled pretty infrequently actually. But that would likely drop to near zero when someone else is in his spot.

 

[ThaPenguin]

Some rush LB stats. A dropoff from Watt for sure (duh) but Golden has done well with his snaps, as has Herbig. Data from pro football reference, with snap count and sack to snap% added in.

Games

Fumbles

Tackles

Player

Snaps

G

GS

FF

Fmb

FR

Sacks

Sk/Snap%

Comb

Solo

Ast

TFL

QBHits

T.J. Watt

931​

17​

17​

4​

0​

3​

19​

2.04%​

68​

48​

20​

19​

36​

Alex Highsmith

910​

17​

17​

2​

0​

0​

7​

0.77%​

57​

34​

23​

8​

18​

Markus Golden

230​

16​

0​

0​

0​

1​

4​

1.74%​

20​

14​

6​

6​

10​

Nick Herbig

191​

17​

0​

2​

0​

1​

3​

1.57%​

27​

19​

8​

5​

3​

Golden is still a pretty good pass rusher, so this doesn't come as a total surprise to me. Herbig has looked really good as a rusher so far too, so also not a surprise from me there.

For a team that is already kind of bad against the run, losing Watt's presence there is likely going to be very, very problematic. Plus, even though he isn't asked to do it often, TJ can actually drop and do some things in coverage (Rams game, anyone?).

The run D, and the fact he won't be commanding the double, are my biggest concerns.

TJ gets doubled pretty infrequently actually. But that would likely drop to near zero when someone else is in his spot.

Correct, the OL who engages him just holds him, no need for a double team with that strategy.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Some rush LB stats. A dropoff from Watt for sure (duh) but Golden has done well with his snaps, as has Herbig. Data from pro football reference, with snap count and sack to snap% added in.

Games

Fumbles

Tackles

Player

Snaps

G

GS

FF

Fmb

FR

Sacks

Sk/Snap%

Comb

Solo

Ast

TFL

QBHits

T.J. Watt

931​

17​

17​

4​

0​

3​

19​

2.04%​

68​

48​

20​

19​

36​

Alex Highsmith

910​

17​

17​

2​

0​

0​

7​

0.77%​

57​

34​

23​

8​

18​

Markus Golden

230​

16​

0​

0​

0​

1​

4​

1.74%​

20​

14​

6​

6​

10​

Nick Herbig

191​

17​

0​

2​

0​

1​

3​

1.57%​

27​

19​

8​

5​

3​

Golden is still a pretty good pass rusher, so this doesn't come as a total surprise to me. Herbig has looked really good as a rusher so far too, so also not a surprise from me there.

For a team that is already kind of bad against the run, losing Watt's presence there is likely going to be very, very problematic. Plus, even though he isn't asked to do it often, TJ can actually drop and do some things in coverage (Rams game, anyone?).

The run D, and the fact he won't be commanding the double, are my biggest concerns.

TJ gets doubled pretty infrequently actually. But that would likely drop to near zero when someone else is in his spot.

Correct, the OL who engages him just holds him, no need for a double team with that strategy.

Seriously! They hold Highsmith almost every play too. I don't get how so many calls are missed.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Some rush LB stats. A dropoff from Watt for sure (duh) but Golden has done well with his snaps, as has Herbig. Data from pro football reference, with snap count and sack to snap% added in.

Games

Fumbles

Tackles

Player

Snaps

G

GS

FF

Fmb

FR

Sacks

Sk/Snap%

Comb

Solo

Ast

TFL

QBHits

T.J. Watt

931​

17​

17​

4​

0​

3​

19​

2.04%​

68​

48​

20​

19​

36​

Alex Highsmith

910​

17​

17​

2​

0​

0​

7​

0.77%​

57​

34​

23​

8​

18​

Markus Golden

230​

16​

0​

0​

0​

1​

4​

1.74%​

20​

14​

6​

6​

10​

Nick Herbig

191​

17​

0​

2​

0​

1​

3​

1.57%​

27​

19​

8​

5​

3​

Golden is still a pretty good pass rusher, so this doesn't come as a total surprise to me. Herbig has looked really good as a rusher so far too, so also not a surprise from me there.

For a team that is already kind of bad against the run, losing Watt's presence there is likely going to be very, very problematic. Plus, even though he isn't asked to do it often, TJ can actually drop and do some things in coverage (Rams game, anyone?).

The run D, and the fact he won't be commanding the double, are my biggest concerns.

TJ gets doubled pretty infrequently actually. But that would likely drop to near zero when someone else is in his spot.

Perhaps direct doubles. I haven't bothered (and won't) to check actual data, because I don't care enough to look.

I'd be floored if teams aren't keeping guys in on his side more often to chip him, at least. Ridiculous not to do that. He'd have 30 sacks if they didn't.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Seriously! They hold Highsmith almost every play too. I don't get how so many calls are missed.

The last couple games have been particularly egregious for Highsmith in this regard. Happened twice, blatantly, right in front of the ref against the Ravens alone. Color Guy: "Hmmm...I dunno. MAYBE he had a hold of the pads." (as dude has his hand actively tweaking Alex's nipple under the effing shoulder pads.)

 

[timschochet]

What a great season Joey Porter Jr had for a rookie. It’s pretty rare for a corner to be this good this early. He’s already establishing himself as one of those cover guys that the opposing team tries to avoid.

 

[karl.Racki]

What a great season Joey Porter Jr had for a rookie. It’s pretty rare for a corner to be this good this early. He’s already establishing himself as one of those cover guys that the opposing team tries to avoid.

He had a great year but he still real handsy and I believe he finished second in the league in Pents.

 

[karl.Racki]

FFS, JFC...

Tomlin really considering starting Pickett Sunday?

 

[fred_1_15301]

FFS, JFC...

Tomlin really considering starting Pickett Sunday?

If this happens I’m back on the Tomlin has to go side.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

He had a great year but he still real handsy and I believe he finished second in the league in Pents.

The bolded was always going to be a thing with Porter. If they watched all his college tape and thought they were changing that "with coaching", they were nuts.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

FFS, JFC...

Tomlin really considering starting Pickett Sunday?

If this happens I’m back on the Tomlin has to go side.

He isnt going anywhere regardless, but while I fully expect Rudolph to turn back into a pumpkin every game (and feel the notion he is "the answer" for 2024 is whistling past the graveyard) there is zeroooo logic to replacing him now. At least he'll throw it beyond 8 yards now and then.

Buuut....I mentioned weeks ago " You can't lose your job to injury" was something I could see Tomlin using as the passphrase to unlock his phone, so nothing will shock me.

 

[fred_1_15301]

FFS, JFC...

Tomlin really considering starting Pickett Sunday?

If this happens I’m back on the Tomlin has to go side.

He isnt going anywhere regardless, but while I fully expect Rudolph to turn back into a pumpkin every game (and feel the notion he is "the answer" for 2024 is whistling past the graveyard) there is zeroooo logic to replacing him now. At least he'll throw it beyond 8 yards now and then.

Buuut....I mentioned weeks ago " You can't lose your job to injury" was something I could see Tomlin using as the passphrase to unlock his phone, so nothing will shock me.

If that's the case though, why did Rudolph start in week 18 when Pickett was declared healthy? There is zero logic in moving to Pickett in the playoff matchup.

 

[Godsbrother]

Agreed. Starting KP over Rudolph in this game would be insane

 

[belljr]

If Tomlin goes back to Pickett we Riot

What? Is this even an option? No I don't think there is any possible way this happens.

I like to prepare my rage ahead of time

 

[fred_1_15301]

Agreed. Starting KP over Rudolph in this game would be insane

There is no way he’s doing this. It has to just be some vague quote of his that caused someone to overreact.

 

[Village Idiot]

Agreed. Starting KP over Rudolph in this game would be insane

There is no way he’s doing this. It has to just be some vague quote of his that caused someone to overreact.

Or this is for deception purposes to make Buffalo have to prepare for 2 QB's.
Tomlin is a moron if he goes back to Pickett.

 

[themeistersinger]

Agreed. Starting KP over Rudolph in this game would be insane

There is no way he’s doing this. It has to just be some vague quote of his that caused someone to overreact.

Or this is for deception purposes to make Buffalo have to prepare for 2 QB's.
Tomlin is a moron if he goes back to Pickett.

Who has the strongest arm? if it is really windy on Sunday that might be a consideration.

 

[JoeSteeler]

What a great season Joey Porter Jr had for a rookie. It’s pretty rare for a corner to be this good this early. He’s already establishing himself as one of those cover guys that the opposing team tries to avoid.

He had a great year but he still real handsy and I believe he finished second in the league in Pents.

I am only basing this on observation but it seems to me like his penalties decreased as the season went on.

 

[fred_1_15301]

What a great season Joey Porter Jr had for a rookie. It’s pretty rare for a corner to be this good this early. He’s already establishing himself as one of those cover guys that the opposing team tries to avoid.

He had a great year but he still real handsy and I believe he finished second in the league in Pents.

I wasn’t sold earlier in the year because I thought he was too aggressive. But I realize now that you take that part of his game away and he’s not nearly as good. Nice that we have apparently finally hit on a good corner.

 

[3C's]

FFS, JFC...

Tomlin really considering starting Pickett Sunday?

He stated Mason is starting.

https://twitter.com/AndrewSiciliano/status/1744767329345642906

 

[karl.Racki]

To be honest, isn't KP one of the best QB for not turning the ball over. I think he has the longest streak of pass attempts without a INT unless someone passed him since his injury.

Buf D is pretty good at takeaways? So if Kp made better decisions, I could actually see starting him, but he doesn't make good decisions and Rudolph is better right now.

 

[3C's]

To be honest, isn't KP one of the best QB for not turning the ball over.

When you're only throwing screens and short speed outs it's "easy" to have ball security.

 

[Brew Swillis]

Since Watt was drafted in 2017....

Steelers WP% when Watt plays is 69%. When he sits..... 9%.

You read that right.

 

[fred_1_15301]

To be honest, isn't KP one of the best QB for not turning the ball over.

When you're only throwing screens and short speed outs it's "easy" to have ball security.

Yeah I was going to respond with something like "Isn't KP the best QB at 3 and outs"?

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

To be honest, isn't KP one of the best QB for not turning the ball over. I think he has the longest streak of pass attempts without a INT unless someone passed him since his injury.

Buf D is pretty good at takeaways? So if Kp made better decisions, I could actually see starting him, but he doesn't make good decisions and Rudolph is better right now.

He doesn't make better decisions. He takes no risks and too many sacks.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Since Watt was drafted in 2017....

Steelers WP% when Watt plays is 69%. When he sits..... 9%.

You read that right.

So you're saying there's a chance.

 

[belljr]

Since Watt was drafted in 2017....

Steelers WP% when Watt plays is 69%. When he sits..... 9%.

You read that right.

SFW

Edit: DAMN YOU LEEEEEEEEROY

 

[Steeler]

To be honest, isn't KP one of the best QB for not turning the ball over. I think he has the longest streak of pass attempts without a INT unless someone passed him since his injury.

That's like touting a coach's credentials who hasn't ever had a losing season but also only won a playoff game in 4 of his 17 years of coaching

 

[3C's]

Since Watt was drafted in 2017....

Steelers WP% when Watt plays is 69%. When he sits..... 9%.

You read that right.

We're talking Taco Charlton/Anthony Chickillo vs Markus Golden/Nick Herbig though.

 

[sm8680]

Pickett is averaging this season .5 passing touchdowns a game and .33 interceptions a game. At U of Pittsburgh, you'd see KP run the ball a lot. There's that famous slide. This year on 42 carries he's run for 54 yards at an average of 1.3 yards a carry. Last year he averaged 4.3 yards a carry for 237 yards on 42 attempts. So, he's regressed in the run game as well. Granted he's no Jalen, no Justin, no Josh, etc

 

[Max55]

Pickett is averaging this season .5 passing touchdowns a game and .33 interceptions a game. At U of Pittsburgh, you'd see KP run the ball a lot. There's that famous slide. This year on 42 carries he's run for 54 yards at an average of 1.3 yards a carry. Last year he averaged 4.3 yards a carry for 237 yards on 42 attempts. So, he's regressed in the run game as well. Granted he's no Jalen, no Justin, no Josh, etc

Not ground breaking news by me but KP has career back up written all over him.

Kind of reminds me of Colt McCoy for some reason.

 

[3C's]

Kind of reminds of Colt McCoy

Poor man's Andy Dalton

 

[Godsbrother]

It's still early but the weather forecast in Buffalo on Sunday sounds brutal: Gusty winds. Snow showers developing in the afternoon. High 25 F, Winds 20-30 mph, Chance of snow 40%. For those that have never been to that stadium, the field is 50ft below ground level and has crazy wind patterns due to the orientation of the open end of the field.

Sounds like a game where the ground game is going to be big.

 

[Steeler]

KP stats: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PickKe00.htm
Rudolph stats: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RudoMa00.htm

As stated above, KP has 6 TDs in 12 games (0.5 per game) while Rudolph has 3 TDs in 3 games (1.0 per game). Now, I'm not saying Mason is the future of the Steelers, but this is certainly doesn't look very good for Kenny,

 

[fred_1_15301]

It's still early but the weather forecast in Buffalo on Sunday sounds brutal: Gusty winds. Snow showers developing in the afternoon. High 25 F, Winds 20-30 mph, Chance of snow 40%. For those that have never been to that stadium, the field is 50ft below ground level and has crazy wind patterns due to the orientation of the open end of the field.

Sounds like a game where the ground game is going to be big.

My concern is that Rudolph is going to have some fumbilitis given those conditions. I really don’t think weather matters. Perfect or horrible conditions and that team is just flat out better. Doesn’t mean we have no shot though.

 

[Godsbrother]

It's still early but the weather forecast in Buffalo on Sunday sounds brutal: Gusty winds. Snow showers developing in the afternoon. High 25 F, Winds 20-30 mph, Chance of snow 40%. For those that have never been to that stadium, the field is 50ft below ground level and has crazy wind patterns due to the orientation of the open end of the field.

Sounds like a game where the ground game is going to be big.

My concern is that Rudolph is going to have some fumbilitis given those conditions. I really don’t think weather matters. Perfect or horrible conditions and that team is just flat out better. Doesn’t mean we have no shot though.

I don’t know that Rudolph is any worse a fumbling risk than Josh Allen in bad weather. The problem is he isn’t anywhere as good a passer or runner. That’s not a knock on Rudolph, Allen is one of the best QBs in the league.

 

[steelers1080]

Are the Bills really that great this year? They've come on hot in the later weeks of the season, but they only beat Miami because of a punt return TD even though Miami is decimated by injuries, they barely beat the Pats, they barely beat the Easton Stick Chargers, they trounced the Cowboys but idk what to think about them, they barely beat the Chiefs while the Chiefs were struggling, and they lost to the Eagles who are in freefall.

I think people are remembering the Bills from 1-2 years ago when they went toe to toe with Mahomes at his peak. If Easton Stick can almost beat the Bills, we can beat the Bills.

Here we go!

 

[3C's]

What a ride for Mason though. Left for dead, no great offers as a free agent and gets a vet min 1 year, 3rd string with no chance to play. And now he's starting a playoff game. I don't know that he'll "break the bank" but surely he's going to get more than a 1 year vet min contract soon.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

What a ride for Mason though. Left for dead, no great offers as a free agent and gets a vet min 1 year, 3rd string with no chance to play. And now he's starting a playoff game. I don't know that he'll "break the bank" but surely he's going to get more than a 1 year vet min contract soon.

Given circumstances, it certainly worked out about as well as it could have for him for sure. He made himself some money.

 

[Max55]

What a ride for Mason though. Left for dead, no great offers as a free agent and gets a vet min 1 year, 3rd string with no chance to play. And now he's starting a playoff game. I don't know that he'll "break the bank" but surely he's going to get more than a 1 year vet min contract soon.

Something tells me Mason hasn’t blown his career NFL earnings and has saved a lot of it.

No idea what he’ll get but 3 years and something like $21M with some guarantees could be life changing.

Good for him.