Loss to the Saints will make us better later on

[BlitzburghRockCity]

It sucks that we lost on Sunday night, but it was a big learning experience for a lot of players and coaches. In the end I think we will be a better team for it.

The Saints offense went after our secondary big time and it was a wake up call for them. The offensive line was completely confused because of all the noise and the unique formations used again them. The Wide Receivers and TE's were not breaking off their routes or turning around fast enough for Ben to hit them on hot reads during the blitzes, trying to run pulling guard plays on the 1 yd line is very tough, better to try a sneak or play action. All this stuff will make us better as we go on the road more this year and especially if we end up in the playoffs on the road in a dome or some other loud stadium.

Listening to Craig Wolfley's weekly game wrap up podcast again (http://www.craigwolfley.com/upload/podcast/Craig-Wolfley-Nov1-Saints-Post-Game-Wrapup-1.mp3), , which by the way you should listen too because it's really good every week and he gives you a lot of cool insight to the game that you can't normally get (plus he gives a shoutout to SteelerAddicts on there!)

Anyways, he talks about how at one point the Saints blitzed up to 8 guys at a time. You find me an offensive line that can block that amongst all the crazy crowd noise! Also they ran a unique formation several times where they stacked one side of the line with multiple defenders and then ran a cross off that formation which totally confused Essex and Adams to the point of both of them screaming at each other on the field and the side lines. The game was intense and both teams were hitting very hard.

The difference in the end was that Brees found his stride and starting hitting his targets left and right and the defense was gambling and unfortunately losing those gambles most of the time. Ben and the offense got hot in the 4th quarter finally but it all went away after Heath fumbled.

All in all, there is a lot to be learned from this game and as long as Tomlin and company can take those situations and help the guys learn from them, we'll be better prepared in the future.

[LarryNJ]

Thank you! There's always something positive to take out of any situation.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

I was as mad as anyone after this game. I felt like we had a great shot to win but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot or not taking advantage of scoring opportunities. Games like this are ones that you can look back on and really learn from. If I'm Tomlin I keep these guys in the film room 24/7 this week to really nail these issues home.

[nuclearchihuahuas]

I also thank you for a look at the upside of a bad situation. I will add this: it's better to lose a regular season game to the team you could meet in the super bowl. They did not see hardly any of our strengths. If there is to be a second meeting of these two teams, it will have to be in the SB. That means that NO will be highly touted and Pittsburgh will be huge underdogs...just the way we like it! I know, its only half-time in the season and there are many, many variables between now and then. I actually picked these two teams to be in the SB and I am standing by my early choice :crossfingers:

[Black@Gold Forever32]

I was mad but despite how crappy the offense was but when Miller fumbled the ball they were only down 13-10.....Miller doesn't fumble and I know the Steelers would have scored a TD....Ben started to get in sync running the no huddle.........The Steelers must win Monday in my opinion and they will still be in very good shape heading into the 2nd half of the season.....

[steelers4life66]

If we beat the Bungals and the Pats the next two weeks. It will help a great deal cuz of the fact that the Rats have lost to both of these teams. These AFC wins are going to mean a lot at the end of the season.

[Moondog]

If anything, due to this loss, I think the Steelers will be on point when they play the Bengals monday night.

[coach]

I hope that is true, but sometimes I feel the offense and defense does the same thing over and over in a particular game and they simply cross their fingers and hope for a different result.

Teams know in advance that they can't run against us and have spread us out and gone after our secondary for years. This isn't new. Brees is a good QB with a quick release. This wasn't a surprise. We tried to pretend to blitz and hope that keeping everyone back in coverage would work.

On offense, we never adjusted and found the hot routes. How long does it take to figure out that long routes aren't working and quick hitting routes are required?

I think the team can take something from this loss. I just hope that part of it is that game time adjustments need to be made quickly when the other team is out-scheming you.

This is a talented team and I think this week's game will go a long way to telling us how good they can be. There is nothing like a prime time division game after a disppointing loss to soothe what ails you. Let's hope they have learned some things and apply them this week.