Preseason Game #2 Colts @ Steelers ...Sunday 8/19/12 @ 8PM

[JustPlainNasty]

Preseason Game #2
Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) vs. Indianapolis Colts (1-0)
Date: Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012 Kickoff: 8 p.m., ET
Site: Heinz Field (65,500) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
Playing Surface: Grass
TV Coverage: NBC
Announcers: Michaels (play-by-play) Cris Collinsworth (analyst) Michele Tafoya (sideline)

Headline: Andrew Luck Game #2 vs STEELERS DEFENSE
How will he fare? Playing the Rams and playing the Steelers are two very different things. You can expect the Steelers D to still be somewhat vanilla, but I’d expect LeBeau to test the rookie a few times.


Underlying story: Will the Steelers Oline/OT’s perform better?
Gilbert, Adams, Foster, Essex and Beachum all struggled last week on the outside vs the Eagles DE’s. Starks is out at least for another week according to Tomlin. The Colts have two historically good pass rushing DE’s in Freeney and Mathis. It will be a test again. Expect to see more short passing and runs until they get someone established. Hopefully another week to gel and work on communication will help as well so we don't see as much of this..
And everyone doesn't go all "3Rivers" on us...

Not Really a Story: Ike Taylor & Antonio Brown fighting in practice.
At the end of the 1st quarter vs the Eagles Antonio Brown made a nice play to break away from the defender for a 1st down. As the players walked off the field Ike Taylor was the first one to greet Antonio as he came to the sideline with an embrace, doesn't look like guys that have any kind of issue with each other, other than a temporary escalated misunderstanding.


Almost forgot about this story: Arians vs Haley(for the Love of Ben)
vs.

Steelers Position Previews

OT’s - Looks as if Essex will start at Left Tackle & Gilbert will start at Right Tackle this week. Mike Adams is day to day with his knee injury and Max Starks is still on the PUP list. According to Starks he feels he’s coming along well with his rehab. According to Tomlin, Starks will not play Sunday and will remain on the PUP for this week. Behind Essex & Gilbert is a scary proposition. Beachum was overmatched and outplayed at both tackle and guard. Kyle Jolly was awful in pass protection. It may be possible to see either Foster or Chris Scott get some time outside as well.

OG’s - DeCastro played a lot and well in the run game, he was adequate vs the pass and I’d expect to see that improve with time. He was pushed back on a few occasions. DeCastro was fine compared to the concerns of how Ramon Foster played. He was in Ben’s lap a few times, playing high and getting pushed on the bull rush, looked to be some communication issues with Adams as well on stunts. Legursky played ok but had some plays not up to par, currently has a strained quad and is “day to day”, aren’t we all. Beachum struggled. Malecki was awful. I was indifferent on Chris Scott’s play and would like to see more. Would really like to see the difference of having Willie Colon at LG vs the rest.

Center - Pouncey. Legursky had his struggles getting out in front of blocks etc last week, with his current quad injury we could see a lot of Malecki. Essex will be taxed by the need for him at OT, perhaps we will see more of Ryan Lee?

D-Line - Ziggy Hood was only in on three plays and looked good taking on doubles just about every play. Those three plays had just two down lineman in Hood & Steve McClendon who had a very good game. I'd like to see how he handles more double teams. Brett Kiesel did not play and was excused for a family matter by Tomlin. Al Woods impressed much more than the interception. He got great push at times and was disruptive and looks to be making a good case for the roster. Corbin Bryant also looked good as well. Ta'amu played sparingly but provided pressure on one play, seemed to be good at getting off blocks but thats not quite the objective. Let's see what we get with more playing time. Jake Stoller made a great play to read and break up a screen.

OLB - Cris Carter provided heat all day vs the Eagles and played well all around. Woodley went kind of unnoticed, although thats typical early and I think most of us weren’t even concerned to notice.Brandon Johnson showed very well in his debut last week, especially impressive in coverage, he made several splash plays overall.
Stevenson Sylvestor played recklessly all day, more so inside but some of the same outside, he’ll be one to keep an eye on for improvement as a performance like last week puts him more and more on the bubble. Mortty Ivy didn’t stand out at all last week really.
Adrian Robinson provided some late pressure but it was primarily very late, look for him to get more snaps and earlier play. Brandon Hicks was able to provide some pressure.

ILB - Foote & Timmons looked fine. Depth is the concern. Sylvestor struggled last week and played recklessly. Sean Spence saw a lot of playing time and look pretty good in coverage and very quick on blitzes and is not afraid of contact. Keep an eye on how he does with general strength concerns. Ryan Baker was not impressive in coverage and missed a few tackles, sounds like his LSU days.

CB- Cortez Allen looked good tackling and in coverage breaking up a few passes, it should be an interesting match up week for him vs Fleener and Allen. Curtis Brown struggled on a few occasions, back to back plays with a TD against. The first play was an amazing move by Ladarius Johnson that left Brown sprawling on the turf in Philly. On the second TD Brown failed to look back for the ball at all despite having decent coverage, the lack of work shows, its ok though as he's essentially a rookie with potential. Keenan Lewis had no bad moments but I feel was still outshined by Allen. Andre Freeman struggled in coverage and missed tackles including getting beat on the final TD and missing the tackle. Josh Victorian missed an opportunity to seal the game and help himself by not coming up with that interception in the 4th quarter, he also missed a few tackles. Like to see more of Terrance Frederick this week.

Special Teams - Expect to see more from Rainey & Maze. They both looked explosive. Damon Cromrartie-Smith was typically the first one down in coverage on kicks, Marshall McFadden , Spence and Robert Golden all showed well on coverage.

Kickers-Shaun Suisham was more than impressive, almost as if it was a new guy. Hrapmann kicked a clutch long FG that figured to be the game winner if not for an equally clutch long field goal by the Eagles kicker.
Drew Butler punted well but need to see more of the same and better, consistency is what to watch for.

Indianapolis Colts
Remember this guy??

He should see significant time in Sunday's game.

Areas of concern for the Colts
O-Line- Guards and tackle opposite Costanzo are questionable at best.
CB- This was one of the teams greatest weaknesses last year and they have done little to improve upon it.
LB - Leading tackler Pat Angerer went down with a broken foot and will be out 6 weeks, an already thin group becomes more questionable. Greg Lloyd Jr. to the rescue...?? Perhaps ex-Steeler Mario Harvey can catch on..?? Actually Larry Lumpkin may grab the spot.

Players to keep an eye on:
Andrew Luck - QB - of course (rookie)
Chandler Harnish - QB (rookie)
Donald Brown - RB
Vick Ballard - RB (rookie)
Anthony Costanzo - OT
Samson Satele - C
Coby Fleener - TE (rookie)
Dwayne Allen - TE (rookie)
Reggie Wayne - WR
Austin Collie - WR
Cory Redding - DE
Dwight Freeney - DE
Robert Mathis - DE
Antonio Chapman - DT (rookie)
Drake Nevis - DT
Jerry Hughes - DE??
TY Hilton - WR (rookie)

Steelers Connections
Ex-O-Coordinator - Bruce Arians
RB Mewelde Moore
LB Mario Harvey
LB Greg Lloyd Jr. - infamous Dad
C- AQ Shipley
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[3rivers]

JPN,

what do you think of my strategy:


keep qb from getting killed. Run the ball and use quick passes only. If you lose the game, who cares? If you lose a qb with stupid playcalling and a lousy LT, then OC across the field will get the last laugh. If we lose qb for the season due to protection/playcalling in a preseason game, that would be as bad as it gets.

I hope they don't think essux can block any good DE

Maybe a poll for this?

[JustPlainNasty]

[3rivers]

[JustPlainNasty]

[FourThreeMafia]

[stillersenat]

Good job on the GDT, JPN.
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[JustPlainNasty]

Wow the Colts are very thin at the ILB position, could Potsie be getting a call?
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[ShooterMcGavin]

Can't wait to read the overreactions when Luck completes 2 consecutive passes against us.
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[JustPlainNasty]

Sounds like Gilbert will start at left tackle and Ramon Foster will get the start at right tackle vs Indy.
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[The Cryptkeeper]

Colts fan here. Our board's pretty dead, so I'll throw in some of our expectations here lol.

We're really thin at ILB (Angerer for 6 weeks, Edds on IR, Lutrus out for the year). It looks like Jerrell Freeman's going to take over for Angerer while he's out. The staff likes him, but he's unproven. Fokou and Lloyd will get PT once the backups come in.

Pagano and Manusky will probably go vanilla on the coverages, but we will blitz up front. Jerry Hughes knows he's playing for his job and has been a man possessed. You guys may want to roll with the more conservative gameplan spelled out in one of the earlier posts if your tackle situation isn't squared away. We brought a lot of pressure to Bradford and chances are we'll see a replay of that strategy.

Offensively, we have our own blocking issues--particularly on the right side. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see you guys going after Luck.

Good luck this week guys.

[Dook]

I wouldn't put Ben in there at all until we get better performance from our OL or until the season starts. Still I know that Ben will be in there and I'll cringe every single snap.

[steelcurtain29]

I'm actually not mad at all about that fight. In fact, I'm glad to see it happened and they've resolved it.

Taylor came out and basically said "it happens". It's nothing more than when you fight with your brother. You don't always get along, but when you need each other, you're there for them without even hesitating.

Glad to see it happened and was resolved. Shows me there is fire underneath everyone's rear end and that they're not going to back down. I like it more so from Brown. He's got a huge role on this team and he's showing he's ready to embrace it and take on anyone that's going to get in his way.

Who is starting at weak side OLB? Carter?
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Come Follow My Oakland Multi-Sport Franchise!

[greene91fan]

Starks is off the PUP list per Tomlin. Hopefully that means he will be available Sunday...rather than Essux!
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Thanks Lysar529 for the sig!

"Arguing with some people is like wrestling with a pig in the mud. The more you do it, the more you realize the pig is enjoying it."

[JustPlainNasty]