Judge Smails
Footballguy
Flying to MN Monday, got tix for the game on Stubhub this morning. Heading straight over from the airport to pregame downtown if any FBGs are going. Hoping Cook goes off - I need it
Probably a decent floor QB2 with top 5 upside against poor Ds. He played well last year with little time to prep. Now he has a full offseason and great chemistry with his targets.A historically poor pass D they went against last night, which begs the question of what do we expect of Bradford going forward? Is he a week in week out #1QB? Start him only against weak defenses? He's probably on waivers in a lot of leagues and I'm wondering about his production going forward.
I wonder why this is often.Why so quiet in here?
Thats fair Hov
So are you going to wait until they have won the Super Bowl before they can get ya again?
I watched on the dvr a bit behind so when I do that I don't follow in-game threads.Why so quiet in here? Great win and super encouraging for the run and pass games.
Elflein was very very good. Controlled his position well on both passing and running downs and was excellent when asked to pull.What did folks think of the offensive line play?
I saw Easton get beat pretty badly a few times on run downs. Remmers struggles in pass protection. I barely noticed Reiff which for an offensive lineman is usually a good thing.
Anyone that paid attention during that streak could see it was thinner then a piece of paper.. The Defense carried them to wins, and once the OL went to crap and they were starting guys that they found sitting on the streets it was pretty apparent the 5-0 start was a fluke and not a true state of who that team was.5-0 start last year. You're not getting me again Vikings.
Agreed about last year, I just didn't expect them to drop the next 6 after the start.Anyone that paid attention during that streak could see it was thinner then a piece of paper.. The Defense carried them to wins, and once the OL went to crap and they were starting guys that they found sitting on the streets it was pretty apparent the 5-0 start was a fluke and not a true state of who that team was.
Really enjoyed the game last night.. Yes it was the Saints D.. But I was a little nervous wondering how a OL that hadn't ever played a game together would do... But they held up well and gave Bradford time to find his WR.
Cook looks like he could be what we needed at RB. Theilman continues to impress.. A walk on at college, a Walk on to the NFL and if he keeps this up will get a very nice Contract.
Diggs was putting on his best Randy Moss impersonation last night. His 2nd TD catch was ridiculous as well as one of his other catches along the sideline. If the OL stays health and continues to give Bradford time to survey the field.....
yea, but he keeps playing like he has and 2 years from now the will be larger.Agreed about last year, I just didn't expect them to drop the next 6 after the start.Anyone that paid attention during that streak could see it was thinner then a piece of paper.. The Defense carried them to wins, and once the OL went to crap and they were starting guys that they found sitting on the streets it was pretty apparent the 5-0 start was a fluke and not a true state of who that team was.
Really enjoyed the game last night.. Yes it was the Saints D.. But I was a little nervous wondering how a OL that hadn't ever played a game together would do... But they held up well and gave Bradford time to find his WR.
Cook looks like he could be what we needed at RB. Theilman continues to impress.. A walk on at college, a Walk on to the NFL and if he keeps this up will get a very nice Contract.
Diggs was putting on his best Randy Moss impersonation last night. His 2nd TD catch was ridiculous as well as one of his other catches along the sideline. If the OL stays health and continues to give Bradford time to survey the field.....
Oh, and Thielen already got his "very nice" contract. 4 years 19 mil.
This is going to be a difficult game for the Vikings. The Steelers offense will be a bigger test for the defense I think, especially without the help of the crowd which seemed really loud in the game against the Saints, making it difficult for Brees to hear himself think, much less communicate with the offense effectively.As a Steelers fan, I have to admit I'm hoping for a Minny letdown and a Pitt wakeup call. If week 2 goes similar to week 1, the Steelers are in trouble.
Agree that this will be a good test for both teams, but that the article linked was written with very purple-tinted glasses. Cleveland is certainly a team on the rise with a very good O line and also an up-and-coming, solid defense especially in the front 7. To think of them as doormats (again) and use them as a yardstick for the Pitt offensive ineptitude is a mistake.This is going to be a difficult game for the Vikings. The Steelers offense will be a bigger test for the defense I think, especially without the help of the crowd which seemed really loud in the game against the Saints, making it difficult for Brees to hear himself think, much less communicate with the offense effectively.
I think the Steelers still have some holes in their secondary, but overall a more challenging defense than the Saints I think.
Hoping the Steelers are still finding themselves in week two and maybe the Vikings can steal a win. Not really counting on it though.
I will say this, my worries about the defense from preseason have been pretty much erased. The Saints are a good offensive football team, and the defense pretty much shut them down until late in the game where they went with more of a prevent approach.
Will be a fun match up.
Here is a nice article about that.
Vikings at Steelers: The Matchup
Wait... You think it's a big hope for the Steelers O to be up to speed, but you're willing to give them a push with a top 5 defensive unit in the league if not a plus? Come on. The Steelers offense struggled against Cleveland, which has improved on defense but isn't anywhere near Minnesota's level. Ben Roethlisberger was 12-25 for 81 yards on passes not thrown to AB last week. AB isn't going to go for 11/182 with Xavier Rhodes shadowing him. So, your hope of beating the Minnesota D likely comes down to how well Bell gets going.Cookiemonster said:Steelers O vs the Minny D is a nice matchup to watch, but I think I give the Steelers D a plus vs the Vikings O and the Steelers O at least a wash vs. the Minny D if not also a plus, if they are up to speed together (big hope this early). Big plays and ball bounces will play a big part in this game and the match ups are close enough to think that this game could go either way, and being in Pittsburgh makes me think that the betting lines are too wide, but Pitt has the edge.
I laugh every time I hear that comparison made with any receiver. Analysts like to go on about a guy's "Moss like qualities" all the time and I just shake my head wondering if they even watched Randy play.Not Cookiemonster but another Steelers pal of mine thinks Martavis Bryant is like Randy Moss.
Still makes me laugh.
I think we've seen enough of the Steelers' O to think it's safe to say that last Sunday was a down / rusty week against an under appreciated D (and a lot closer to Minnesota's level than you give them credit for - if their offense can support that D is another question). I don't think Bell gets going in the running game this week either, but I think he catches more than a half dozen and that the pass catchers other than Brown have some extra stats. I was saying that these match ups are very close, but if the Vikes have a top 5 D going back to last year or further, then I think you have to consider Pitt's offense to be a top 5 unit based off the same history and the fact that their pieces are all together for the first time in years. Sure, it'll take some time to gel with how little preseason the starters played, but I think they expected the Browns to be their preseason week 3 dress rehearsal and almost got upset. Last week was like the champ getting into the ring with a sparring partner only to find out that the sparring partner was a young, talented up-and-comer that came to punch the champ in the mouth. Wake up call. On the other side of the ball, I don't think we can call Pitt's D as good as they looked against Cleveland any more than we should call Minnesota's offense as good as they showed against the Saints. The big matchup is obviously the Minny D against Pitt's O and I would like to add that defenses are typically clicking better earlier in the season than offenses. This week is a toss-up IMO, and give Pitt a slight edge due to home field. I'd be putting the line on this game at a much lower 3 points than Vegas has it at and wouldn't be a bit surprised to see the Vikings leave Pittsburgh with a win.Wait... You think it's a big hope for the Steelers O to be up to speed, but you're willing to give them a push with a top 5 defensive unit in the league if not a plus? Come on. The Steelers offense struggled against Cleveland, which has improved on defense but isn't anywhere near Minnesota's level. Ben Roethlisberger was 12-25 for 81 yards on passes not thrown to AB last week. AB isn't going to go for 11/182 with Xavier Rhodes shadowing him. So, your hope of beating the Minnesota D likely comes down to how well Bell gets going.
I also have to wonder if Pitt has shaken off the rust yet. No question that the Vikings looked like the better team last week, I'm just curious about how much of that was the Saints' D (or lack thereof) and how good the Browns' D really is.So Cookie, if you know last week was a rusty week, what makes you sure that they still won't be rusty? You talked about how great Shazier is when his speed, then Minny will do what most teams do, run right at him. I like Shazier a lot but he'll fade as the season goes on and probably miss some games because of the banging he gets into being inside. He should be a Weakside OLB but you guys have enough talent there now so I see why he got moved inside.
He knocked Burns for getting burnt on double moves in college and mentioned 3 games last year that he fell victim to the same thing and that he hated the pick when the Steelers made it (pre-formed bias that he's sticking to?). He did go on to say that in practice, Burns would hold down Antonio pretty well one day, then get abused the next and look lost... I'd argue that is better than half of the starting CBs in the NFL would do against Brown. One of them -- I think it was Ledyard but I don't remember and I don't know any of their three voices (one of which sounded so much like Bill Paxon that I couldn't get Twister images out of my head the whole time ) -- said he loved Sean Smith and wanted the Vikings to take him so he already disagrees with both of us on that. Said Sean was a good run defender. Said Mitchell was very good, just not a ball-hawk so doesn't get very much recognition and said Joe Haden was slow. That's about as in-depth as he went and then went on to say that as a group they're about as good as the Saints' secondary but have a better front 7 for support. I didn't hear anything that was all that informative. For what it's worth, it took a few minutes to find him linked to the Steelers, as I wasn't familiar with him and don't recall hearing his name mentioned by the more hardcore Steelers fans on these boards (Godsbrother, Evilrin72, The Hank, ArhnCityPander, etc.) so not somebody I give a lot of weight to their opinion. His specialty seems to be in college scouting but I only know that from searching his name and how he was linked to the Steelers. And to finish the podcast, all three of them picked the Vikings to win and the largest point spread any of the three of them gave was 4 points IIRC.Biabreakable said:@Cookiemonster here is a podcast that I enjoyed listening to yesterday with Jon Ledyard who writes about the Steelers. Maybe you are familiar with him?
Anyhow he goes into detail about some of the flaws of Artie Burns and Sean Smith that are pretty similar to my view of those players as well.
I think Jon does a pretty good job of being objective in his assessments of the players on the Steelers and also how this will match up against the Vikings.
Will be a good game I think as long as Case Keenum isn't playing.
Damn... There are worse backups out there, but wanted to see these teams compete as near 100% as possible. Definite downgrade.Bradford out.. Case Keenum
welp so much for thatThe Vikes looked great last night. If they keep bradford healthy then it should be a wild year in the division
Sorry you didn't like it.He knocked Burns for getting burnt on double moves in college and mentioned 3 games last year that he fell victim to the same thing and that he hated the pick when the Steelers made it (pre-formed bias that he's sticking to?). He did go on to say that in practice, Burns would hold down Antonio pretty well one day, then get abused the next and look lost... I'd argue that is better than half of the starting CBs in the NFL would do against Brown. One of them -- I think it was Ledyard but I don't remember and I don't know any of their three voices (one of which sounded so much like Bill Paxon that I couldn't get Twister images out of my head the whole time ) -- said he loved Sean Smith and wanted the Vikings to take him so he already disagrees with both of us on that. Said Sean was a good run defender. Said Mitchell was very good, just not a ball-hawk so doesn't get very much recognition and said Joe Haden was slow. That's about as in-depth as he went and then went on to say that as a group they're about as good as the Saints' secondary but have a better front 7 for support. I didn't hear anything that was all that informative. For what it's worth, it took a few minutes to find him linked to the Steelers, as I wasn't familiar with him and don't recall hearing his name mentioned by the more hardcore Steelers fans on these boards (Godsbrother, Evilrin72, The Hank, ArhnCityPander, etc.) so not somebody I give a lot of weight to their opinion. His specialty seems to be in college scouting but I only know that from searching his name and how he was linked to the Steelers. And to finish the podcast, all three of them picked the Vikings to win and the largest point spread any of the three of them gave was 4 points IIRC.
Meh. Most "experts" are picking the Steelers to win but not to cover the spread, so it seems everybody agrees this should be a well matched game.
Sounding bad for Bradford this week, but hoping he plays and plays well. This game should be a good barometer for both teams this early in the season. Not going to be aired here, so I'll have to see if I can find a decent Kodi stream.
No worries, bud. Best of luck to your team... but not too much! Hope they all come out healthy.Sorry you didn't like it.
Case Keenum so not nearly as optimistic about the Vikings pulling off a win. The running game didn't get going until the second half last week and after the Vikings had won with the pass in the first half. Expecting Keenum to start fast like that is less likely than Bradford.
Even with Bradford I figured the game was in the Steelers favor being at home. Much more so now.
Its not going so well.No worries, bud. Best of luck to your team... but not too much! Hope they all come out healthy.
At this rate, if the Vikings D can stop the Steeler's Offense, he might have 30 by half time.. and well Keenum is still Keenum.. 2/4 for 3 yardsI'll take the overCook will get 30 touches today.
Well, as expected without Bradford. That sucked for you guys. D played well, but just didn't have the offensive support.Sorry you didn't like it.
Case Keenum so not nearly as optimistic about the Vikings pulling off a win. The running game didn't get going until the second half last week and after the Vikings had won with the pass in the first half. Expecting Keenum to start fast like that is less likely than Bradford.
Even with Bradford I figured the game was in the Steelers favor being at home. Much more so now.
Forbath has missed an extra point in both games now. Kind of like Blair Walsh last year in that regard.Well, as expected without Bradford. That sucked for you guys. D played well, but just didn't have the offensive support.
As to the podcast, who was it that predicted Minny's missed first extra point? That was Romo level psychic ability!