Game day check-in, Dolfs vs. Steelers

[RaynorShyne]

Connor is having a nice night

[bbbooger]

That was all JuJu there!

[RaynorShyne]

Sweet catch by Juju

[mcmillenandwife]

World class grab by Juju right there. Just WOW. 

Conner having a great night, too.

[Rollers]

defense can't tackle an old QB?

[Rollers]

tomlin won a challenge?

[bbbooger]

That was freakin' painful!

[mcmillenandwife]

Huge stop by the defense. Huge. That took a LOOONG time to sort out, but at least the officials got it right. 

Hats off to Tomlin for a very smart, very important challenge. Potential game changer, right there.

[bbbooger]

JuJu took an acting class

Take that back, was interference

[mcmillenandwife]

Outstanding effort by Conner on that TD. Well done. Huge night for him.

Hat tip to Mason Rudolph for having a short memory, hat tip to Tomlin for taking control of this game. 

Now... FINISH. Don't let them back in it. 

[Rollers]

PLEASE defense step up here

[Rollers]

Outstanding effort by Conner on that TD. Well done. Huge night for him.

Hat tip to Mason Rudolph for having a short memory, hat tip to Tomlin for taking control of this game. 

Now... FINISH. Don't let them back in it. 

still kind of wish they wouldn't extend the ball down there though

[Rollers]

entire coaching staff should have run down to the endzone and doen a selfie after the challenge win

[bbbooger]

That just shouldn't happen

[bbbooger]

Thank you Hilton!

[bbbooger]

Finally got to him!

[bbbooger]

Is 96 Bugs?

[Rollers]

Is 96 Bugs?

yes

[Rollers]

we Rudolph played pretty good all in all. I don't see us beat Indy or the Rams though. But we'll see I guess

[bbbooger]

Indy? Maybe... Rams? Can't see it.
Nice comeback tonight though!

[Rollers]

Indy? Maybe... Rams? Can't see it.
Nice comeback tonight though!

hard to believe we could play that badly in the first half though

[bbbooger]

Indy? Maybe... Rams? Can't see it.
Nice comeback tonight though!

hard to believe we could play that badly in the first half though

Sammich bein' Sammich, he just can't help looking past bad teams...

[mcmillenandwife]

Nice win. Say what you want... that's 3 wins in the last 4 games (and we should've won all 4). 

Despite that awful first quarter-and-a-half, this team is trending in the right direction. I know this isn't a Super Bowl-caliber team. And they're unlikely to earn a playoff berth. But take away a couple of bonehead calls/plays vs. Baltimore and we'd be right in the thick of it. 

Playing respectable ball right now. I'll take it. 

[bbbooger]

Nice win. Say what you want... that's 3 wins in the last 4 games (and we should've won all 4). 

Despite that awful first quarter-and-a-half, this team is trending in the right direction. I know this isn't a Super Bowl-caliber team. And they're unlikely to earn a playoff berth. But take away a couple of bonehead calls/plays vs. Baltimore and we'd be right in the thick of it. 

Playing respectable ball right now. I'll take it. 

Back at ya 

Edit to add:  it doesn't hurt at all that this win puts 'em a game up on the hype-train stains... 

[Noll and Cowher teams no more]

Good win for the team.
I read through all the replys that you all posted during the game and saw quickly how you all forgot that the team just came off a bye week and the starting qb had not played over twice that time because he thought he was batman (anyone remember that classic commercial). I'd say all in all, only taking a quarter and a half to get back into game shape was not bad at all.

You all got what you wanted and for the most part it worked and that was throwing the ball downfield.

I think Rudolph is only going to get better from here on out...only three career games so far as a starter. He is starting to click with his receivers....I like what I see.

[mcmillenandwife]

I think Rudolph is only going to get better from here on out...only three career games so far as a starter. He is starting to click with his receivers....I like what I see.

He's proving to be pretty resilient. I like him. Short memory after those nasty early INTs, and he seems to have a certain "winning" edge to him. Concerned about a few negatives, though. He has feet of stone, below-average pocket presence/awareness, his accuracy in general is suspect and becomes even more so on those rare occasions when he moves around. I think some of these things are correctable with coaching, and some will improve with experience. But he doesn't look like a long-term starter to me. A solid backup with a winning attitude, yes, but not the heir-apparent to Ben IMO.

Diontae Johnson is developing nicely. 7 targets, 5 catches, 84 yds, 1 TD. A nice compliment to Juju. I think Johnson is starting to open things up for Juju a little, too. 

James Washington, not so much. So far, he's about on par with Moncrief. 6 targets, 1 catch... and he would've been responsible for an INT on a pass that bounced right out of his hands if the play hadn't been overturned by review.

[Chucktownsteeler]

I think Rudolph is only going to get better from here on out...only three career games so far as a starter. He is starting to click with his receivers....I like what I see.

He's proving to be pretty resilient. I like him. Short memory after those nasty early INTs, and he seems to have a certain "winning" edge to him. Concerned about a few negatives, though. He has feet of stone, below-average pocket presence/awareness, his accuracy in general is suspect and becomes even more so on those rare occasions when he moves around. I think some of these things are correctable with coaching, and some will improve with experience. But he doesn't look like a long-term starter to me. A solid backup with a winning attitude, yes, but not the heir-apparent to Ben IMO.

Diontae Johnson is developing nicely. 7 targets, 5 catches, 84 yds, 1 TD. A nice compliment to Juju. I think Johnson is starting to open things up for Juju a little, too. 

James Washington, not so much. So far, he's about on par with Moncrief. 6 targets, 1 catch... and he would've been responsible for an INT on a pass that bounced right out of his hands if the play hadn't been overturned by review.

I like Rudolph a lot but have to admit I get a little nervous on those deep balls. Got to remember this is his 4th start. Just think of the QBs taken ahead of him and with the possible exception of Lamarr Jackson he's doing pretty well. Mayfield, Darnold, etc. 

I like Johnson and Ju-Ju but we have to remember this is also a very, very young WR corp. I think they need to move on from Moncrief and get the 3rd round pick next draft. The head scratcher is Washington. Although he has 2 monster blocks he just doesn't seem to be progressing as a WR. We do need to remember this group also lost their coach right before the season so I'm not sure how that has affected them.

In some areas this is a young, young team and I like some aspects of it. Hoepefully Jay-Sam is back next week, but we need to look for a RB in the next draft. 

Rudolph had a mediocre game, some of his decisions were very questionable but I like what I see. Once the game slows down for him I think he'll be fine.

[Rollers]

Just seems like he doesn't have the arm strength a top QB needs in this league. But then I'm not a coach.

[Chucktownsteeler]

Just seems like he doesn't have the arm strength a top QB needs in this league.  But then I'm not a coach.

Not many have the arm of Ben. You can be successful without it, see Joe Montana or Tom Brady. This is a young team in many areas and I suspect they'll get better as the season progresses.

Not sure how much the untimely death of coach Drake set this WR group back but you could almost see them gaining confidenv=ce last night. If its me I cut ties with Moncrief asap to protect our comp pick. Seems like the undrafted WR the 'fins had was doing quite well last night.

[dbsfgyd1]

I think Rudolph is only going to get better from here on out...only three career games so far as a starter. He is starting to click with his receivers....I like what I see.

He's proving to be pretty resilient. I like him. Short memory after those nasty early INTs, and he seems to have a certain "winning" edge to him. Concerned about a few negatives, though. He has feet of stone, below-average pocket presence/awareness, his accuracy in general is suspect and becomes even more so on those rare occasions when he moves around. I think some of these things are correctable with coaching, and some will improve with experience. But he doesn't look like a long-term starter to me. A solid backup with a winning attitude, yes, but not the heir-apparent to Ben IMO.

Diontae Johnson is developing nicely. 7 targets, 5 catches, 84 yds, 1 TD. A nice compliment to Juju. I think Johnson is starting to open things up for Juju a little, too. 

James Washington, not so much. So far, he's about on par with Moncrief. 6 targets, 1 catch... and he would've been responsible for an INT on a pass that bounced right out of his hands if the play hadn't been overturned by review.

Re: Rudolph,

Yes. He’s NFL QB alright, and I like a guy that plays with a little piss an vinegar, but dang he’s late getting ball out on time. Secondly, what are all the long passes thrown down the side lines, with most of those being a lob for a jump ball? Don’t we have a seam  route in our playbook any more? 

Maybe once he gets his timing down this will improve. IMO, he’s a work in progress, and I’m not ready at this point to anoint him Ben successor. Let’s see how he does against a couple of great defenses the next couple of weeks.