The Game Ball Thread: Wk 7 @ Steelers

Ed Hillel

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Brady, Blount, Butler, Chung

I will say Edelman, as well, despite the blunder. He is just an unbelievable blocker and playmaker.
 

mwonow

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Chung definitely deserves a ball - after Blount gets one, of course!

Hat tip (not a ball) to Rowe, looked like he was solid

EDIT: Ed and Ale X are right, Brady and GRONK too
 

m0ckduck

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Game balls to:
Brady — didn't really throw a bad ball all night
Blount — set the tone early; turned it up again when the Pats needed to pull away
Tomlin — neglecting to go for it on 4-and-2 felt like a turning point

Thumbs down to almost everything else.

Ghost — disturbing
Bolden — dropped a 3rd down conversion, then blew the punt coverage on the next play
Edelman — lots of catches, but a key third-down drop and key fumble
Play-calling in Q2 and Q3 — so predictable I guess along at home
Ryan Allen — two shanks
O-line — several drive-stalling hold calls
Pass-rush — MIA
 

Morning Woodhead

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Blount was a stud today. Butler battled all game too.

I love that the Pats just ran through 3 straight games against the big,bad, tough AFC North and left with double digit wins every game.
 

leftfieldlegacy

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Blount and Gronk. They put the nails in the coffin today.

Honorable mention to the "bend but don't break" D with their taking away those short passes in the flat with hard hits and sure tackling.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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No pass rush by design. Mostly 3 on 5 all game.

Game ball to Chung, Butler and the rest of the secondary. That's a good offense held in check.
 

Ed Hillel

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Injury Gods, knock on wood. Best team in football if healthy and they're healthy
Not sure I'd pick them over Seattle, but they're sure primed for a run at the AFC. The pass rush is so abysmal, any balanced team (and there are like 4 in the entire league lol) scares me.
 

DJnVa

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Brady, Blount, Butler, Chung

I will say Edelman, as well, despite the blunder. He is just an unbelievable blocker and playmaker.
He also had a bad drop. Like you say, he does other things well, but it wasn't a good game for him today.
 

Toe Nash

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Game balls to:

Edelman — lots of catches, but a key third-down drop and key fumble
There was a holding on that third down so it wouldn't have counted anyway. I thought Edelman had a good day overall; all of the big runs were to his side.

It's hard to win in Pittsburgh; I'm not too down on them after today.
 

DJnVa

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Not sure I'd pick them over Seattle, but they're sure primed for a run at the AFC. The pass rush is so abysmal, any balanced team (and there are like 4 in the entire league lol) scares me.
Wait, wasn't it you pimping the Bills last week?
 

m0ckduck

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There was a holding on that third down so it wouldn't have counted anyway. I thought Edelman had a good day overall; all of the big runs were to his side.

It's hard to win in Pittsburgh; I'm not too down on them after today.
Point well-taken about his blocking. But the fact that his drop was negated by a hold (phantom call from what I could see) doesn't get him off the hook entirely. I thought it was telling that BB replaced him with Amendola on returns.
 

soxhop411

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Gronk just now
“@NEPD_Loyko: "One more TD and I've got 69 touchdowns if you know what I mean" - Rob Gronkowski”
 

Hoodie Sleeves

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But the fact that his drop was negated by a hold (phantom call from what I could see) doesn't get him off the hook entirely. I thought it was telling that BB replaced him with Amendola on returns.
If he had caught it - the Steelers wouldn't have declined the penalty, and they would have had another down to try. It definitely cost them.

I don't really have a problem with the fumble - more of an issue with the fact that he wasn't carrying the ball properly. That needs to be fixed.

Huge game by all the CBs. Butler most obviously, but they all were good.
 

rodderick

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Brady, Blount, Butler, Chung

I will say Edelman, as well, despite the blunder. He is just an unbelievable blocker and playmaker.
I don't think he's made many plays this season. The foot is probably an issue still, but it seems as if he's brought down by the first tackler every time, when in the past he would make guys miss and gain extra yardage.

My game balls:

Blount
Gronk
Brady
Butler
Chung
 

pedroia'sboys

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Butler was fantastic after the 50 yard catch where the safety was no where to be found after tha held brown to 6 for 56. He's been great. Offer the man a large extention a year before he hits FA

Disappointment
Lombardi pointing it out has made me notice Jamie Collins issues. He is so inconsistent it's maddening. Some games he looks like one of the best LB in football others like today I can't tell if he's playing. Hightower to me is way more valuable. A yeat ago if some one told me that I would call them nuts.
 

nothumb

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Butler was fantastic after the 50 yard catch where the safety was no where to be found after tha held brown to 6 for 56. He's been great. Offer the man a large extention a year before he hits FA

Disappointment
Lombardi pointing it out has made me notice Jamie Collins issues. He is so inconsistent it's maddening. Some games he looks like one of the best LB in football others like today I can't tell if he's playing. Hightower to me is way more valuable. A yeat ago if some one told me that I would call them nuts.
I thought Collins was MIA a lot, but I'm assuming health has a lot to do with it. When healthy I think he is still a beast. Of course, availability has to go into the conversation about who you extend.
 

Ed Hillel

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Wait, wasn't it you pimping the Bills last week?
I wasn't ready to say they were going to roll over. Maybe they will, but they don't stink. Pats always struggle in Miami, too, so I'm not counting them out just yet. Maybe after next week.
 

pedroia'sboys

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I thought Collins was MIA a lot, but I'm assuming health has a lot to do with it. When healthy I think he is still a beast. Of course, availability has to go into the conversation about who you extend.
Even when he's healthy he disappears. Hightower is the anchor of the defense. Give me extentions for Butler and Hightower and I'll be a happy man. If we have to lose Logan Ryan Collins so be it. But They should be able to afford Collins and Hightower with the price of LB being so low. Butler will cost them a pretty penny, try and sign him a year early maybe get a minor discount.

Edelman is scaring me 6 yards a reception today I fear his best days are behind him.
 

leftfieldlegacy

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How could I forget the game ball for BB.
In the course of 3 1/2 hours, he managed to thumb his nose at Roger by not using a sponsor's product and got face time on TV showing him scanning a handful of old school still photos. Somehow, he even got Nance to comment about it. The kicker was that he did this in front of a national audience in what will likely be the highest rated game of the weekend. Well played.
 

lexrageorge

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Blount, Butler, and the usual Brady game ball.

I would also add one for the OL, especially on run blocking; I thought Solder had a solid game (caveat that I missed quite a few plays both sides of halftime). And, despite the attention on Edelman's gaffes, he did throw some nice downfield blocks, an underrated part of his game.

I still hate it every time Bolden is asked to do something with the ball on offense. Ugh....

RE: Collins: I thought he was listed as limited in practice this week. Defense made tackles when they had to. And beating Pittsburgh in Three Rivers is never a cinch, no matter who's at QB. Nice win, especially after the Buffalo loss. We're on to the Rexies, and then the bye.
 

Hoodie Sleeves

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RE: Collins: I thought he was listed as limited in practice this week. Defense made tackles when they had to. And beating Pittsburgh in Three Rivers is never a cinch, no matter who's at QB. Nice win, especially after the Buffalo loss. We're on to the Rexies, and then the bye.
He was limited this week - and still had 8 tackles today.

I feel like the "Collins dissapears" stuff is the same as the "Mayo doesn't make big plays" - it's largely just that it's tough to judge players who spend most of their time off the screen.
 

lexrageorge

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Even when he's healthy he disappears. Hightower is the anchor of the defense. Give me extentions for Butler and Hightower and I'll be a happy man. If we have to lose Logan Ryan Collins so be it. But They should be able to afford Collins and Hightower with the price of LB being so low. Butler will cost them a pretty penny, try and sign him a year early maybe get a minor discount.

Edelman is scaring me 6 yards a reception today I fear his best days are behind him.
Ahh, no. Those short dumps were designed plays on a day when Brady threw only 26 times. And the Steelers did seem to defend well against his YAC; sometimes credit is due to the other side of the field as well.
 

pedroia'sboys

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He was limited this week - and still had 8 tackles today.

I feel like the "Collins dissapears" stuff is the same as the "Mayo doesn't make big plays" - it's largely just that it's tough to judge players who spend most of their time off the screen.
I'm largely basing my opinion on Lombardi who just left the Pats. But to the naked eye Hightower is more valuable to the D than Collins.

As far as edelman hes averaging 2 yards less a reception than last year. Foot injuries are brutal. I hope im wrong.
 

mauf

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As a Steelers fan, I'd give game balls to Brady, Blount and Butler -- those were the guys who killed us.

This is the Steelers' 3rd loss by multiple scores. Granted, the injury to Roethlisberger was a factor in two of those three losses, but it's also possible that Pittsburgh simply isn't as good as the conventional wisdom supposes -- which explains why the Pats were able to beat them by two TDs on the road despite not bringing their "A" game.
 

DJnVa

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As far as edelman hes averaging 2 yards less a reception than last year. Foot injuries are brutal. I hope im wrong.
He also played with backups for 4 games, so he likely ran routes a little shorter than he normally would, to make safer throws for them.
 

riboflav

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I'm largely basing my opinion on Lombardi who just left the Pats. But to the naked eye Hightower is more valuable to the D than Collins.

As far as edelman hes averaging 2 yards less a reception than last year. Foot injuries are brutal. I hope im wrong.

Yes, this is what gives me pause. I've noticed that Collins seems to have taken a step backward this year but when someone like Mike Lombardi expresses how Collins is a very inconsistent player, that is very unnerving.
 

pedroia'sboys

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Yes, this is what gives me pause. I've noticed that Collins seems to have taken a step backward this year but when someone like Mike Lombardi expresses how Collins is a very inconsistent player, that is very unnerving.
It's so fustrating put on the Texans tape, dominant all over the place looks like a all pro.
 

pedroia'sboys

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And you are aware that he is battling an injury, right? He didn't play last week, missed one practice and was limited in another this week.
I am aware. I'm not basing it off the past couple weeks or even this season. Theyre games you watch and say holy shit guys a monster, then the next week you won't hear his name. Lombardi told him something like the defense will go as far as you take it. Again I've thought about Hightower Collins for a while now. Lombardi talked about Collins huge gap in consistency from week to week. It just confirmed what I was seeing. Collins and Hightower have only played 50 percent of their games together. In my opinion the defense is much worse when Hightower is out compared to Collins.

I dont get the post above mine this is one of the few times we get some insight on what the team thinks of a player. Someone who had direct access to BB, who reported directly to him. If you want to dismiss his comments that's fine. I personally find them fascinating we rarely get first hand information from a former employee, nevermind one with a extremely close bond with BB
 
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Super Nomario

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I am aware. I'm not basing it off the past couple weeks or even this season. Theyre games you watch and say holy shit guys a monster, then the next week you won't hear his name. Lombardi told him something like the defense will go as far as you take it. Again I've thought about Hightower Collins for a while now. Lombardi talked about Collins huge gap in consistency from week to week. It just confirmed what I was seeing. Collins and Hightower have only played 50 percent of their games together. In my opinion the defense is much worse when Hightower is out compared to Collins.

I dont get the post above mine this is one of the few times we get some insight on what the team thinks of a player. Someone who had direct access to BB, who reported directly to him. If you want to dismiss his comments that's fine. I personally find them fascinating we rarely get first hand information from a former employee, nevermind one with a extremely close bond with BB
I think Collins can be a little up and down, but I also think part of that is they ask him to do so many different things and his usage isn't consistent week-to-week. He has the opportunity to make more splash plays if they blitz him or if he gets to lurk in a robber zone, but that's not always in the game plan. And I think he makes Hightower better because Hightower isn't asked to do as many things that he's not good at (like man-to-man coverage on quick tight ends). Probably the inverse is true to some degree; they complement each other pretty well. I'm interested in how they approach the decision to re-sign these guys. There's also the sad reality that they're both basically at the age Mayo was when he fell off a cliff.