The Need For Speed

[Ravenous1]

Watching this game it really looked like the Steelers were shell shocked. If I were to point to any one thing that I think really caught them off-guard, IMO it was the team speed that did.

Better speed @ WR and TE really opened up the underneath passing game, opened up the running game and frankly made the Steelers defend a lot more of the field than they have had to in the past. The O-Line while not exactly a speedy athletic bunch, are a bunch of maulers who wear you down and that leads to you being able to better utilize your offensive speed as that opposing defense wears down.

Better speed on the defensive line and a more aggressive approach that maximized that speed lead to more pessure, less time for receivers to get separation and made the secondary look even better (though I think its improved regardless). Anytime you decrease the amount of time any QB has to make plays the better your defense is gonna be. What really excites me is that this Steelers (Big Ben in particular) team is pretty adept at creating time and extending plays. That happened very little compared to the past today and its attributable to speed IMO.

This team has a ton of potential. The Ravens have always had a smash you in the mouth and beat you down mentality. Combine that mentality with the added element of being able to do it FAST and lookout your talking about a team that can do a lot. Thanks for letting me give my thoughts.....

:ww:ww:ww:

[dandrews]

Agreed. IMO the best move of the offseason was replacing Mason with Evans. The impact Evans had downfield was more apparent than a flashlight in the dark.

[Ravenous1]

Agreed. IMO the best move of the offseason was replacing Mason with Evans. The impact Evans had downfield was more apparent than a flashlight in the dark.

I also love the two headed monster of Dickson and Pitta. Clearly utilizing those guys the way NE utlizes their TE is a great thing to see.

My MVP of the game was McKinney. They needed him to come up big and he did. First play of the game he was in the second level opening up a big play and it set the tone for the OLine. I had my doubts but gotta give him props. Something tells me getting cut, being unemployed and winding up with a golden opportunity here has McKinney thinking with a different mindset. If thats true he could be a monster @ LT especially as he gets in shape.

[Carey]

The fact that they put Ike Taylor on Evans was huge, gave Boldin a favorable matchup

[The Excellector]

Now, we know why they went younger on both sides of the ball.

[Jsmoove]

On that TD to dickson he just out ran palumalu in coverage watch it he was trotting then he just turned on the after burners in the endzone to create some space for the td..younger bigger and faster.