Beer We Go Steelers

The Steelers once again fell apart and the offense never got on track in San Francisco, sending Pittsburgh to an 0-3 start. It was another inconsistent effort by the Steelers on both sides of the ball as the defense surrendered the half time lead and the offense struggled to run the ball with any kind of consistency.

Mason Rudolph’s performance was passable in the second half after a rough first half. Rudolph was a paltry 8 for 15 for 40 yards in the first half and squandered opportunities for the Steelers to take a big lead. He finished with 174 yards two touchdowns and one interception.

He didn’t get a lot of help from the offensive line and the running game. James Conner never got on track and coughed up the ball in a big spot. The Steelers were driving to put the 49ers away and the fumbled caused new life. Conner finished with just 43 yards on 13 carries. The protection was okay but not great and running room is still hard to come by.

The defense again shows flashes of brilliance and then faded. The defensive line was gassed and gashed from being on the field too long and gave up 168 yards on the ground. The 49ers played an up-tempo offense and with the slow start by the offense the defense struggled keeping up, especially given the situation. The Steelers are soft in the middle and struggle in coverage especially with tight ends. Mark Barron continues to struggle and made several costly mistakes, and Bud Dupree still hasn’t found his stride. The 49ers converted 6 of 11 third downs.

T.J. Watt and Stephon Tuitt both have been standouts so far and Minkah Fitzpatrick had a nice first game.

Once again, the finger is going to be pointed at the coaches who continue to fail to adjust in a tough environment. The offense needs to figure out a way to run the football and the defense needs to figure out a way to stop it. Until that is done, this team will not start winning.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: We are going with Stephon Tuitt; he had another big day and was all over the 49er’s backfield. Also Considered: Mason Rudolph, he had an uneven performance but never shrunk from the moment and he had no help from the running game or the line. T. J. Watt who had a big interception.

Where I watched the game: In Saratoga, at a conference on my phone and at a bar called “The Stadium” which is my go-to for the Steelers games when I am away. I watched with my buddy Dan and the beer of choice was Miller Lite and the snack was ridiculously hot wings. The loss put me in a bad mood, and I was jerk most of the night afterwards.

My Stat of the week: 21-Points, which is what the Steelers defense has given up two weeks in a row during two heartbreaking losses.

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers season is slowly slipping away, a loss to the reeling Bengals will be the nail in the coffin. Sooner or later the Steelers will put it together, this should be the week.

This week’s Jersey: David DeCastro #66, Away White.

The Steelers announced today that Ben Roethlisberger will undergo season ending elbow surgery at some point this week after having an MRI on Sunday night.

The Steelers blew a first half lead and surrendered 21 second half points losing the 2019 home opener to the Seattle Seahawks. It was a mediocre performance which showed how good this team can be and it also exposed all its flaws.

The biggest story was the injury to Ben Roethlisberger who left late in the second quarter and never returned with an elbow injury. Ben finished 8 for 15 for 75 yards in the first half, the Steelers had trouble moving the ball against a Seattle defense that was thrashed by the Bengals one week earlier. Mason Rudolph, cam in and acquitted himself nicely. He threw for 112 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, another drop by Donte Moncrief. He had good poise and looked every bit ready for the NFL.

Despite solid play by Rudolph, the offense is a work in progress. James Conner never could get on track running the ball. The passing game is off and only mustered 180 total yards against the porous Seattle defense. Donte Moncrief’s nightmare season continues, his dropped caused a turnover and put Seattle in a position to take the lead. Vance McDonald led the team with seven receptions followed by JuJu Smith-Schuster’s five, but neither were big factors. There are still flashes, but the whole thing looks off.

The defense is mediocre again, like the offense, they show flashes of brilliance but continue to fall apart in big spots. The pass rush disappeared after the first half. The secondary was leaky and again had no answer for a middle of the field tight end. Russell Wilson passed for three touchdowns and 300 yards. His biggest play was a 15-yard scramble on third down that setup the game clinching fourth down conversion.

Once again, the fingers are being pointed at the coaching staff. The Steelers made several crucial mistakes and mental gaffes. A special team’s error by Mt. McCullers that setup a touchdown, the Moncrief dropped first down catch that setup another touchdown, a huge missed tackle by Anthony Chickillo that led to a 37-yard touchdown, these are all back breaking errors, that this team is not talented enough to overcome. The fact that the Bengals trashed the Seattle secondary and the Steelers couldn’t, doesn’t speak well to preparation.

Once again, the clock management was horrendous, and the Steelers whiffed at the end of the game on it. Game plan management on both offense and defense is awful and the adjustments are completely lacking.

This is a good week to discuss the referees again because they helped the Steelers, even with the pass interference challenge going against them. The refs were way to involved in the game again slowing down any kind of pace of play. They missed several calls and then made questionable ones, it was an inconsistent and awful performance.

The Steelers can quickly watch this season slip away and go the entire decade without a Lombardi trophy if they don’t get this fixed.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: I am going with Mason Rudolph, he had a great day given the situation. Also considered: Stephon Tuitt, who had a monster first half and JuJu Smith-Schuster who broke the record for the fastest to 2500 yards.

Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB and the D-Man. The Beer of choices was New York Yankees Pils made by Blue Point brewing. I figured the Yankees would be a good influence…it wasn’t, The Yankees lost too. Corona Light was KGB’s beer of choice and Stewart’s Diet Root Beer for D-Man! Once again, the food was great, we had Nashville Hot-Chicken Sliders, and Chili for dinner. The Janick was at the game, representing Beer We Go.

My Stat of the week: Five Catches for JuJu Smith-Schuster. He was already the fastest wideout to amass 1,000 career receiving yards and added another page to his history book. Smith-Schuster reeled in five catches for 84 yards in route to becoming the youngest player (22 years, 297 days) to reach 2,500 receiving yards

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers have a must win game in a tough rejuvenated 49ers team. They need to have a much better game plan.

This week’s jersey: JuJu Smith-Schuster, 19, Color Rush

The Steelers were trounced by Bill Bellichick and the Patriots in the worst opening day loss since 1989! The Steelers defense had no answers for the Patriot’s play action pass…and the offense couldn’t move the ball. It was a complete breakdown.

The offense was a non-factor and looked completely disjointed. It was clear that Ben Roethlisberger was not comfortable, and the receivers didn’t help him. He was jumpy with several of his throws off track. Donte Moncrief had two crucial drops, including a potential touchdown. JuJu Smith-Schuster played well but was a non-factor. Vance McDonald was non-existent until the game was nearly over. James Washington had one big catch but was not on the same page with Roethlisberger.  The post AB era has begun and so far, is not impressive.

The offensive line was mediocre and while Ben was never sacked there was no room to run. Conner finished with a weak 21 yards on 10 carries while Jaylen Samuels, after running for 142 yards against the Patriots last season, was held to only four yards on two carries.

The pass rush all but disappeared in the game and the linebackers had no answer for the play action pass. Devin Bush put together 11 tackles but didn’t have the impact that was expected. Vince Williams had trouble in coverage, the Patriots whipped up on T.J. Watt and took him out of the game. It was another disappointing game for Bud Dupree despite recording the only sack of the day.

The secondary was torched by Tom Brady…again. The intermediate passing was unstoppable and long passing strikes worked when Brady needed them. All the secondary upgrades didn’t make any difference it was a different cast of characters but the same story. Brady finished with three touchdowns and 341 yards passing. Even a Patriots gadget play was effective with Julian Edelman throwing for a 32-yard strike.

Once again, the Steelers went into Foxboro and once again were dismantled in every facet of the game. Mike Tomlin and crew don’t seem to have any answers for the Patriots adjustments. Everything successful the Steelers did in last year’s game was non-existent in this one. The play calling was atrocious and too conservative to beat a team like New England. The Steelers were clearly not prepared and that falls directly on the coaching staff.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: This is tricky…the answer is NO ONE, but we will give the Game Beer to Darryl Drake. He is missed, and we dedicated this year’s shirts to his honor.

Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB and Billy. The Beer of choices was IC Light and Corona Light and the food was great, maybe the best. KGB went all out for the games; “Dirty” Pierogis and Teriyaki Bomb Wings for an appetizer and Primanti Style Sandwiches for dinner. Still full as I write this blog. The Tailgate Kids went to “bed” although suspiciously knew a lot about the game when they woke up and Little Miss Tailgate is at college now, she watched in her lounge there. (SEE BELOW)

My Stat of the week: Is a mind boggling one, Tom Brady is now 6-0 v. the Steelers in New England and has yet to throw an interception. He absolutely owns the Steelers. (On a side note he played against Devin Bush last night, he also played against Bush’s father.)

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers will have to bounce back against a tough Seattle team coming off a tough win.

This week’s Jersey: Cameron Heyward, 97 AWAY, it was a gift for the playoffs last year and this was my first chance to wear it.

Little Miss Tailgate:

This year is going to be different for the blog. I am now away at college beginning my freshman year. However, I’m not letting college hold me back from watching the Steelers. We have a great group of friends that I will be watching with and a great area to watch from. I thought that yinz would be interested to hear about my first game since I left for college. 

I have met some amazing and dedicated sports fans like myself to watch the game with, which is the best thing I could ask for. It was cool to meet a friend who is also a hardcore Steeler fan like myself, but I have a wide range of team favorites all around my building. Friends that are Steelers fans, Seahawks fans, Cowboys fans, Giants fans, Jet fans, Browns fan and my suitemate herself is a hardcore Ravens fan (can’t wait for Steelers v Ravens week this year). Even though we all have our opinions on who’s the better team we all had a great football Sunday together. 

We watched the game on the NFL Sunday ticket in a lounge that’s in my residence building that has a large TV in it and a bunch of comfy chairs. We all watched together starting from one o’clock, we stopped for church at 5:30 and then went back to finish the games and set up for the disastrous Steeler game that happened last night. 

We all were yelling and screaming, because truthfully in all my life I have never seen the Steelers play so poorly. Both the offense and defense were broken and need major improvement.

I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me this year with everything being new in my life and I am very excited to embark on this new chapter in my life and enjoy this season from a new perspective. Root Beer We Go Steelers! 

Until next time, 

Little Miss Tailgate

LET”S DO THIS!!! BEER WE GO STEELERS!!

It has been awhile! We are excited for the 2019-20 Season! The Steelers are in a “transition” year but that seems to be a good thing as they move to be more focused on football and less focused on the drama. They look poised to make big waves. We pivoted on this year’s shirt and have dedicated them to Darryl Drake!

The Steelers have been good, now it is time to be great!