 |
| Photo Courtesy of wtae.com |
By: Joe Smeltzer
''Compared to last week's thriller against Oakland, this game will be very subdued, and the Steelers should win quite comfortably as they head into their bye week''. - Joe Smeltzer
''Compared to last week's thriller against Oakland, this game will be very subdued, and the Steelers should win quite comfortably as they head into their bye week''. - Joe Smeltzer
That was an excerpt from my preview for this week's Steelers game. While I was right in that Pittsburgh would cruise to a comfortable win, I was a little off when I said that this game would be "subdued" compared to that thrilling victory over the Raiders 8 days ago. While this week's contest was not nearly as competitive, it was equally, if not more, strange.
Landry Jones was the man behind center to start the afternoon, but his day would last less than a possession as he was lost for the game with a foot injury during Pittsburgh's first offensive series. Mike Vick did not dress for the game, so this meant that for the first time since 2004 (how's it going Tommy Maddux?), Big Ben Roethlisberger would be coming into an NFL game off of the bench. Ben did what Ben does (on one good foot), and the big fella got himself into the NFL history books by throwing for 379 yards, the most ever by a QB who started the day as a back-up. #7 got by with a little help from his friends, as Antonio Brown (10 Rec, 139 Yards, 2 TD's, one awesome flip) and Martavis Bryant (6 Rec, 178 Yards, 1 TD) both had huge days receiving. The Steelers offense left little to complain about, aside from Bryant's careless fumble in the first half that prevented a possible scoring drive. The Steelers attack did their job, as scoring 30 points is always a solid day's work, even if the points came against a terrible defense.
The story is a little different on the other side of the ball. Judging by the final score of 30-9, it would be easy for one to assume that the Steelers defense played a solid football game. But I think the fact that Cleveland was only able to manage 9 points speaks more about their ineptitude than it does the Steelers greatness. The Steelers allowed Johnny Manziel to have his best passing day ever, as the former Texas Aggie threw for 372 yards. The Browns also beat the Steelers in time of possession and had 16 first downs passing the ball as opposed to Pittsburgh's 13. These numbers show that the Steelers were lucky to come away allowing only 9 points, and a performance like this could very well burn them against quality competition. When the opposing QB puts up numbers like that, it will more often than not lead to a greater scoring output from the opposition, and this is because, more often than not, Pittsburgh will not be playing against the Cleveland Browns.
A perfect example of the Browns ineptitude took place midway through the 3rd quarter. With Cleveland looking for a spark of any kind, Manziel drove the Browns 78 yards, all the way down to the Pittsburgh 1 yard line. A holding penalty on the next play negated a touchdown and moved the ball back to the 11. A false start penalty on the next play moved it back 5 yards to the 16. The next play was a sack, and just like that, the ball went from the 1-yard line all the way back to the 25. The drive ended in an interception, and any remaining hope of an upset that Cleveland had was dashed.
These penalties were just a few of the boneheaded mistakes made by Cleveland on Sunday. Cleveland also jumped offside on a field goal attempt, allowing Pittsburgh to come away with 7 points on that drive instead of 3. There was even a drive early in the 3rd quarter were the Steelers drove 80 yards, and 77 of them were in penalties (including pass interferences calls on back to back plays.) The drive ended in a field goal. Cleveland finished the day with 12 total penalties called on them and the Steelers gained 188 yards as a result of those penalties.
The Browns performance was disgusting, and that brings me the "poor little Johnny" portion of this post. People can say what they want about Johnny Manziel, but he did his job on Sunday, and it should be apparent by now that he is Cleveland's best option at the quarterback position. The Browns agree, and it was confirmed today that Johnny Football will be the man for the rest of the season.
For all that has been said about Johnny Manziel's work ethic and intense lifestyle away from the field, this is a 22-year old kid with a world of talent. It is sad to think that this talent is currently being wasted due to the organization that he is associated with. The Cleveland Browns are inept both on the field and in the front office, and this isn't exactly breaking news. I think that Manziel's ability is one that a franchise can build themselves around, provided he stays out of trouble (the kid is only 22 years old and just likes to party, cut him some slack).
The question is: will he be able to do this on the shores of Lake Erie any time soon? Unless a miracle happens and the Browns can attain the right front office that would hire the right head coach and get Manziel the pieces he needs (such as a version of Josh Gordon that has a brain), I don't ever see Manziel reaching his full potential. Manziel played great on Sunday, but his team was comfortably beaten due to stupid penalties, awful defense, dropped passes, etc. Cleveland is 2-8 and showing no signs of improving. Unless something drastic happens, if Manziel wants to be a winner soon, he will need to get the hell out of Cleveland any way he can to avoid feeling Archie Manning's pain of being the light in a very dark tunnel.
Now back to the Steelers. Sunday was a good day to be a Steeler fan overall aside from some issues on the defensive side of the ball. This week is a bye week, and the Steelers next game will be a week 12 tilt with the Seattle Seahawks at Quest Field. It is crunch time, so sit back and enjoy the rest of the NFL season.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow ''Smeltzer on Sports'' on Twitter.
Landry Jones was the man behind center to start the afternoon, but his day would last less than a possession as he was lost for the game with a foot injury during Pittsburgh's first offensive series. Mike Vick did not dress for the game, so this meant that for the first time since 2004 (how's it going Tommy Maddux?), Big Ben Roethlisberger would be coming into an NFL game off of the bench. Ben did what Ben does (on one good foot), and the big fella got himself into the NFL history books by throwing for 379 yards, the most ever by a QB who started the day as a back-up. #7 got by with a little help from his friends, as Antonio Brown (10 Rec, 139 Yards, 2 TD's, one awesome flip) and Martavis Bryant (6 Rec, 178 Yards, 1 TD) both had huge days receiving. The Steelers offense left little to complain about, aside from Bryant's careless fumble in the first half that prevented a possible scoring drive. The Steelers attack did their job, as scoring 30 points is always a solid day's work, even if the points came against a terrible defense.
The story is a little different on the other side of the ball. Judging by the final score of 30-9, it would be easy for one to assume that the Steelers defense played a solid football game. But I think the fact that Cleveland was only able to manage 9 points speaks more about their ineptitude than it does the Steelers greatness. The Steelers allowed Johnny Manziel to have his best passing day ever, as the former Texas Aggie threw for 372 yards. The Browns also beat the Steelers in time of possession and had 16 first downs passing the ball as opposed to Pittsburgh's 13. These numbers show that the Steelers were lucky to come away allowing only 9 points, and a performance like this could very well burn them against quality competition. When the opposing QB puts up numbers like that, it will more often than not lead to a greater scoring output from the opposition, and this is because, more often than not, Pittsburgh will not be playing against the Cleveland Browns.
A perfect example of the Browns ineptitude took place midway through the 3rd quarter. With Cleveland looking for a spark of any kind, Manziel drove the Browns 78 yards, all the way down to the Pittsburgh 1 yard line. A holding penalty on the next play negated a touchdown and moved the ball back to the 11. A false start penalty on the next play moved it back 5 yards to the 16. The next play was a sack, and just like that, the ball went from the 1-yard line all the way back to the 25. The drive ended in an interception, and any remaining hope of an upset that Cleveland had was dashed.
These penalties were just a few of the boneheaded mistakes made by Cleveland on Sunday. Cleveland also jumped offside on a field goal attempt, allowing Pittsburgh to come away with 7 points on that drive instead of 3. There was even a drive early in the 3rd quarter were the Steelers drove 80 yards, and 77 of them were in penalties (including pass interferences calls on back to back plays.) The drive ended in a field goal. Cleveland finished the day with 12 total penalties called on them and the Steelers gained 188 yards as a result of those penalties.
 |
| Arthur Moats grabs Johnny's facemask. Photo courtesy of pennlive.com |
The Browns performance was disgusting, and that brings me the "poor little Johnny" portion of this post. People can say what they want about Johnny Manziel, but he did his job on Sunday, and it should be apparent by now that he is Cleveland's best option at the quarterback position. The Browns agree, and it was confirmed today that Johnny Football will be the man for the rest of the season.
For all that has been said about Johnny Manziel's work ethic and intense lifestyle away from the field, this is a 22-year old kid with a world of talent. It is sad to think that this talent is currently being wasted due to the organization that he is associated with. The Cleveland Browns are inept both on the field and in the front office, and this isn't exactly breaking news. I think that Manziel's ability is one that a franchise can build themselves around, provided he stays out of trouble (the kid is only 22 years old and just likes to party, cut him some slack).
The question is: will he be able to do this on the shores of Lake Erie any time soon? Unless a miracle happens and the Browns can attain the right front office that would hire the right head coach and get Manziel the pieces he needs (such as a version of Josh Gordon that has a brain), I don't ever see Manziel reaching his full potential. Manziel played great on Sunday, but his team was comfortably beaten due to stupid penalties, awful defense, dropped passes, etc. Cleveland is 2-8 and showing no signs of improving. Unless something drastic happens, if Manziel wants to be a winner soon, he will need to get the hell out of Cleveland any way he can to avoid feeling Archie Manning's pain of being the light in a very dark tunnel.
Now back to the Steelers. Sunday was a good day to be a Steeler fan overall aside from some issues on the defensive side of the ball. This week is a bye week, and the Steelers next game will be a week 12 tilt with the Seattle Seahawks at Quest Field. It is crunch time, so sit back and enjoy the rest of the NFL season.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow ''Smeltzer on Sports'' on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment