Game 9 : Steelers vs. Ravens : 11.06.11 : Game Thread!

[bleedblkgold]

Wow, Harbag really classless d-bag

[BlackNGoldRules]

Wow, Harbag really classless d-bag

Glad I didn't leave it on to see what he said or did. Can't stand the Harbaughs. Both classless "d-bags"!

[Byrron]

The season isn't over. Its a tough loss but once Woodley and Sanders come back I think we can still make the playoffs and make a playoff run. The only 2 things this team needs to improve on is Redzone efficiency and getting stops on 3rd down especially on 3rd and long . And I think getting Woodley back will help with getting those stops. If this team gets beat by Cincy then it might be time to start worrying.

There are some positives to take away from this.

• O-line played well and even neutralized Suggs for the most part
• Brown played extremely well.
• James Harrison playing like he never left
• Ben did pretty good except for that pick.
• I think the offense made it to the redzone 4 times?

The negatives

• Defense can't get off the field on 3rd down. No excuse to let Joe Flacco drive 92 yards
• Redzone
• Play calling late in the game. Why are you playing man to man on that last drive? Better yet why were you dropping James into coverage when he was in beast mode the entire night
• Kicker. The fact that Tomlin was second guessing the kicker shows the faith he has in him

Call my crazy but I think that if the Steelers were to meet the Ravens in the playoffs they would win. I really do think that if Woodley was healthy the outcome would have been different today.

On a side note the refs were complete garbage tonight. I have never seen such lopsided officiating. This still doesn't excuse what happened on the last drive, but its getting to the point that if you don't have a big enough lead that the game can be decided by the refs. So many missed penalties and what surprises me is that the Ravens CB's were able keep up with both Brown and Wallace without holding or pass interference (I call BS).

[(419)BlackNGold]

Yup.... Flacco's best 2 games this year are against us.....

IMO, that's because the Steelers secondary relies on pressure on the QB. Ravens upgraded their pass protection with several offseason signings. No more field day pressuring Flacco. He picked our D apart on 3rd downs. Plus, I think or D-line was gassed on that last drive.

Tough loss!

[exNCite]

On a side note the refs were complete garbage tonight. I have never seen such lopsided officiating. This still doesn't excuse what happened on the last drive, but its getting to the point that if you don't have a big enough lead that the game can be decided by the refs.

I know I'm somewhat prejudiced, but if they beat us fair and square, I can live with it. What ****es me off though is when officiating determines the outcome.

1. No penalty on the helmut to helmut hit on Ward. Never played another down. There had better be a GD fine levied this week.
2. No penalty on the hit to Brown late in the game.
3. Unsportsman penalty on Clark for hitting a "defenseless receiver". WTF? He was holding a caught ball. It's Clark's job to separate the ball from the receiver. If he doesn't that goes as a completed pass. How is that a penalty when the hits on Ward and Brown aren't?
4. PI call on Taylor that put the ball at the 1 yd line. BS.
5. NO PI call on Wallace in the endzone. Clearly prevented him from finishing the route.

I'm sure there were others, but these had a DIRECT impact on the final score. I don't know if the officials are incompetent or the NFL has just so badly ****ed up the rules that even the officials are unsure how to call them. Yes the game played is in fast mode, but if this is the best we get, then the whole system needs revamped. Hell, maybe we need 22 officials on the field with one assigned to each player. Maybe the officials could handle that.

One thing is for sure though, ***** GODdell has got to go. I really can't stand that guy.

[Beezy]

I didn't think the officiating was good but don't become the Cryhawks. There was bad calls on the Ravens too. I am not going to dwell on it. You have to overcome because they don't make a habit of fixing the games afterwords.

[Byrron]

I think the way the officiating went last night is what made this loss worse. And even though the Ravens had bad calls, the bad calls and the missed calls the Steelers had just came at the wrong time. But like I said the mistakes that were made can be improved and when the Steelers are healthy they will beat the Ravens in the playoffs. Just have to sweep Cincy.

[Byrron]

Aside from improving 3rd down defense they need to stick Lewis on 82 for the Ravens. Gay just doesn't have the speed to keep up. And instead of playing press or man coverage they should have been playing zone. Force Flacco to go through his progression. Fix these and the Steelers are golden.

Sorry for the double post

[Kipper]

Aside from improving 3rd down defense they need to stick Lewis on 82 for the Ravens. Gay just doesn't have the speed to keep up. And instead of playing press or man coverage they should have been playing zone. Force Flacco to go through his progression. Fix these and the Steelers are golden.

Sorry for the double post

I complained about that later on in the game about why they didn't have Lewis covering 82. Lewis is and has been the better coverage guy this season for the Steelers between the 2 and they really put alot of pressure on Gay to cover a fast deep guy. Gay is alright covering some underneath stuff but not 1 on 1 deep. then again, Clark was supposed to help out deep and didnt

[Kipper]

I think the way the officiating went last night is what made this loss worse. And even though the Ravens had bad calls, the bad calls and the missed calls the Steelers had just came at the wrong time. But like I said the mistakes that were made can be improved and when the Steelers are healthy they will beat the Ravens in the playoffs. Just have to sweep Cincy.

I'd love to complain about the refs but the truth be told, a 92 yard touchdown drive on your own turf with a little over 2 minutes remaining... that just shouldn't happen. Not against Joe Flacco and that Baltimore Ravens passing game. There's no good reason why we should've allowed that TD and the refs didn't really play too much into that drive IMO.

Cincinnati games are definately all that more important now

[Kipper]

The season isn't over. Its a tough loss but once Woodley and Sanders come back I think we can still make the playoffs and make a playoff run. The only 2 things this team needs to improve on is Redzone efficiency and getting stops on 3rd down especially on 3rd and long . And I think getting Woodley back will help with getting those stops. If this team gets beat by Cincy then it might be time to start worrying.

There are some positives to take away from this.

• O-line played well and even neutralized Suggs for the most part
• Brown played extremely well.
• James Harrison playing like he never left
• Ben did pretty good except for that pick.
• I think the offense made it to the redzone 4 times?

The negatives

• Defense can't get off the field on 3rd down. No excuse to let Joe Flacco drive 92 yards
• Redzone
• Play calling late in the game. Why are you playing man to man on that last drive? Better yet why were you dropping James into coverage when he was in beast mode the entire night
• Kicker. The fact that Tomlin was second guessing the kicker shows the faith he has in him

Call my crazy but I think that if the Steelers were to meet the Ravens in the playoffs they would win. I really do think that if Woodley was healthy the outcome would have been different today.

On a side note the refs were complete garbage tonight. I have never seen such lopsided officiating. This still doesn't excuse what happened on the last drive, but its getting to the point that if you don't have a big enough lead that the game can be decided by the refs. So many missed penalties and what surprises me is that the Ravens CB's were able keep up with both Brown and Wallace without holding or pass interference (I call BS).

Offense really clicked in the no huddle. Ben got his wish since he ran it a lot in the 2nd half and it was working. Heck, the INT drive was a no huddle drive that we should've gotten points on.

I like all of your points. 3rd down defense and red zone efficency were our achillies heels in this game. I don't know if Woodley makes a difference. I think having more recievers to run different packages could've helped. After Ward went down we were left with 3 healthy recievers in the game. You take away some play call options there

IMO, that's because the Steelers secondary relies on pressure on the QB. Ravens upgraded their pass protection with several offseason signings. No more field day pressuring Flacco. He picked our D apart on 3rd downs. Plus, I think or D-line was gassed on that last drive.

Tough loss!

During the game I yelled, might've even typed it in the GDT to "STOP BLITZING". We blitzed on every 3rd down and they were ready for it. What we should've done was more of a defense like we ran against New England. Keying in on coverage first. I just didn't like all of the blitzing and alot of it failed too

[Palmetto Steel]

Cincinnati games are definately all that more important now

Las Vegas

The Steelers open as a three point favorite over the Bengals.

Total of 42.

[BlackNGoldRules]

Las Vegas

The Steelers open as a three point favorite over the Bengals.

Total of 42.

Three point favorite on the road against a 6-2 team. I guess Vegas is still not convinced about Cincy and figures we'll bounce back next week.