Can win over Texans give Steelers confidence?
From the notebook of a sportswriter who, after watching the first quarter Monday night, was trying very hard to understand how the Steelers had won three games:
n Make that four games.
n If this improbable win over the Texans can give the Steelers confidence and help turn the season around, so be it. But it won鈥檛 be as easy as flipping that switch. They really do have some talent deficiencies.
n They need Jarvis Jones, Ryan Shazier and Ike Taylor back from injuries, and they need Stephon Tuitt, Martavis Bryant and Daniel McCullers to progress through the middle of their rookie seasons at warp speed.
n Monday night was a start.
n Bryant was targeted deep three times and he caught one. That kind of average gets you in the Hall of Fame.
n Just keep in mind that he is raw. Very raw. But I鈥檓 guessing he opens up the field for Antonio Brown by merely being on it.
n McCullers pushed some people around, just like he did in the preseason. And that was an excellent running offense the Texans threw at him.
With Tuitt still grinding out his rookie season, and McCullers giving the Steelers every reason to keep him involved, Cam Thomas finally becomes expendable.
n The bigger need might be offensive tackle. When Kelvin Beachum got hurt, and Mike Adams already in the game, the candidates were guard Ramon Foster and center Maurkice Pouncey.
Is Guy Whimper playing anywhere? Someone should be getting a call soon, because when healthy they only have three.
n I鈥檓 giddy about the win, yes, because the Internet becomes a nicer place to work after a win. But I鈥檓 not going overboard. I thought those were two mediocre teams playing last night.
And as mentioned, the play of the Steelers鈥� rookies does turn the arrow up.
n I鈥檓 assuming we鈥檒l see future teams copy the first-quarter Texans. They ran at will in the first half out of their 3-WR base. Thunderstruck, they inexplicably went with a 2-TE base in the second half. The Steelers responded with their base and didn鈥檛 go back to the nickel on early downs in the second half.
Here蘑菇视频 to hoping Dick LeBeau will stick with that second-half adjustment.
n Jason Worilds missed a third-down sack that would鈥檝e prevented the Texans from scoring a touchdown on their first drive, but Worilds went on to play his best game of the season. He IS Jason Gildon.
n Dri Archer isn鈥檛 getting it done as a return specialist. The Steelers returned three kickoffs for a grand total of 29 yards. Didn鈥檛 Quincy Morgan average that much back in the day?
Close. Morgan averaged 25.3 yards per kickoff return in 2005. The Steelers won a championship and Morgan never returned for them again.
n On the bright side, the Steelers鈥� coverage units continue to perform at a high level. The Texans averaged a little less than 15 yards per kickoff return.
n Lawrence Timmons was one of the heroes Monday night, but what is with the stomach issues? I believe that蘑菇视频 the third game in which he蘑菇视频 vomited either on the field or on the sideline. Is the new playcalling role giving him that much stress?
n Sean Spence, probably starting his final game in place of Shazier, was awful in the first quarter. But he, too, was one of the reasons for the turnaround, and it wasn鈥檛 just that fumble at the goal line he recovered to give the Steelers their first lead. Spence began diagnosing plays like he was back in college.
n Vince Williams had some moments in rotation for Spence. These guys may not set the world on fire as starters, but they鈥檙e becoming quality reserves.
n We saw again Monday night that the Steelers have holes. It蘑菇视频 not poor coaching. Although, I had a few issues with the playcalling Monday night.
First of all, for as fancy and remembered as Brown蘑菇视频 fake reverse touchdown pass was and will be, it was a bit risky and, well, stupid for that spot on the field. Having your receiver throw on first-and-goal from the 3 is just too cute, even though it worked.
n For the second consecutive week, Brett Keisel made the defensive play of the week. Against Cleveland it was the hustle play that I鈥檒l remember forever. Monday night it was a 5,000-to-1 shot 鈥� according to ESPN蘑菇视频 Sport Science 鈥� that gave the Steelers their 11-point lead. Sport Science also said that Keisel蘑菇视频 quick reaction in catching the deflection was akin to returning a surprise 140 m.p.h. serve in tennis.
n I hoped that the Steelers would keep the proverbial pedal to the metal in the second half, but Ben Roethlisberger jumped to the line (the Houston 41) on fourth-and-inches and began his series of hard counts to lure the Texans offside. And then the usual: timeout, punt.
Just go for it. It was the time, the place. Again, why so fancy?
That was my second playcalling grievance.
n Before I get to my third grievance, I must admit that I was living in my fears for a while there. I had this irrational vision that Tomlin was going to let Brad Wing throw a fake punt.
One prayer was answered and the punter did not throw.
n Nothing impressed me more than Brown蘑菇视频 30-yard reception early in the fourth quarter. He not only showed great body control by getting two feet down but he pressed the ball against his thigh as he was tackled out of bounds, all the while knowing that replay would detect any slight movement throughout that tumbling catch. This guy repeatedly amazes me.
Brown蘑菇视频 ensuing touchdown catch shouldn鈥檛 have been overturned. That divot looked awfully conclusive to me. But I enjoyed Jon Gruden蘑菇视频 exchange with Mike Tirico in the booth after the TD was reversed:
鈥淚 used to really like football, Mike.鈥�
鈥淚 thought you loved football.鈥�
鈥淎h, I do. Back to the action.鈥�
That stands for all of us who used to really like football, Mike.
n Another Mike, Mike Mitchell, played his second strong game in a row. And his strip of DeAndre Hopkins allowed us to watch Troy Polamalu run with the ball one more time.
n And now 鈥� drumroll, please 鈥� it蘑菇视频 time for Worst Playcall of the Game: Up eight with four minutes left, the Steelers were second-and-9 at the Houston 27. Houston was out of timeouts, but Roethlisberger threw for the end zone. It fell incomplete and the clock stopped.
Hey, I鈥檓 all for going for the jugular, but sometimes basic logic overrides all of that.
n If I was OK with calling a running play late against Tampa Bay, just to grind off 45 seconds, I can鈥檛 be OK with the Steelers throwing the ball at this point and place in the game.
n The Texans did make a late run at them. Tomlin, scratching and clawing to get out of his own personal slump, called timeout to nullify an easy onsides recovery by Polamalu.
It just typified the guy蘑菇视频 first half of the season. It wasn鈥檛 a bad move. Polamalu was trying but couldn鈥檛 get the attention of teammates after he realized where the upcoming onsides ball was going. But the onsides re-do bounced off two players as Tirico shouted 鈥淚t蘑菇视频 free!鈥� and Steelers fans had one last heart attack before bed time.
The Steelers recovered the kick. Let蘑菇视频 see if they can recover their season as well.