Blinkscout Game 9 ... Steelers ... blech.

Well, you know I am having a harder time with this one than some of the others. Pittsburgh is not a friendly environment, but we had enough drives to be able to make something happen and we couldn't finish.

I'm not sure if we are worried about tipping our hand, or wearing Gurley out, but if we are holding back in any way, it's time to stop.


Nothing in the Great category. For the first time in a long time.


The Good

1) Gurley ripping and gashing ... he looked revved up ... this will be addressed again in the bad section.

2) Josh Reynolds playing solid ...

3) Gerald Everett with the ball in his hands is just fun.

4) Decent job by backup interior linemen in a pinch.

5) Safeties are fun.

6) Forced fumbles ... the defense got me tons of fantasy points.

7) Morgan Fox peeling back to take away Rudolph's lane.


The Bad

8) Um ... I get that there's a pitch count for TG ... but he was the only thing we had going well. If you're going to pull him you have GOT to have meaningful and different plays to run with Darrel and Malcolm or they are just going to eat us up and waste the downs.

9) How many drops?

10) How are Johnson and Washington having career days against us? Like, are we past the threshold of injuries where we lose the grasp on aspects of the defense?

11) We can ill afford to lose Brian Allen. The difference in pass pro before and after was noticeable. Not that they were getting beat inside ... it just seemed to change the overall toughness of the line.

12) Reeder is not the answer inside.

13) That was a lot of penalties.


Thing I would have done different

15) 4th and 10 on the 30 I kick a field goal .. kick off to them, stop them, and drive down to kick another field goal. We couldn't get in the end zone against them I don't believe. I would have payed for 6 points on two drives in 1:30 with 3 timeouts. I thought this at the time or I wouldn't mention it.


The Ugly

16) Seriously the punt fake?

17) Goff's body language. You don't have the luxury of doubt or frustration ... you're in charge.

18) Zero catches for Kupp.

19) Just one deep shot? I get that Cooks isn't here but I trust the other guys to win deep on route running alone (And Reynolds had a 3rd dimension, as does Everett).

20) Boring offense. Boring. I guess missing high caliber assistants is part of the downside for success.

21) Mason Rudolph with the superior stat line.

22) Havenstein vs. TJ Watt. Need Higbee or Everett chipping every passing down.

23) Whatever stuff I blocked out because it was embarrassing to think about.


College

24) Best part of the weekend. Bama LSU was a joy to watch. Minnesota I called the upset, have 2 crazy WRs that are basically not coverable and a high quality O line.

25) OT is definitely on my list, now. Im looking at Daniel Heck at the end of the second. He may last longer as he's under the radar, but I doubt that lasts through the senior bowl. He's not the only one of course, but he's the son of a coach and has all the mental tools ... might just need a little strength and conditioning but he may even be fine there.

26) ILB is sick. Here's my list ...
Quarterman
Moses (if he leaves after an ACL rather than redhsirting)
Malik Harrison
Kenneth Murray
Paddy Fisher
Errol Thompson
Jordyn Brooks

Pinkney
David Reese
Troy Dye
Evan Weaver
Joe Bachie
Krys Barnes

There are more ... Evan Weaver is likely to be grossly undervalued. Like a 2nd round talent that could make the 6th.

27) I'm also looking for Reynolds' replacement ... lots of tall and long players that will slide to later in the draft ... taking a long look at Omar Bayliss who leads the NCAA in most everything and Mims at Baylor. Smaller school kids might get overlooked.
Rashod Bateman is a sophomore at Minnesota but reminds me of Woods and Bruce, I think he's even a better route runner than Jeudy ... maybe.


That's a wrap. Questions and comments welcome.

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