Todd Haley Would Ask Mike Tomlin How Many Points Steelers Needed, Base Game Plan Around His Answer

Maybe this is why the steelers were not a very good offense in the first quarter in the Todd Haley era.Under Whisenhunt(under Cowher)they had often a fast start in 2004 and 2005 and in the second half,it was CowherBall to protect the lead.But under Haley, the Steelers were at their best at the end of the second half and in the fourth quarter when they had more urgency to score points....

Todd Haley Would Ask Mike Tomlin How Many Points Steelers Needed, Base Game Plan Around His Answer - Steelers Depot

 

Seems reasonable. From the article, Haley would adjust the game according to how it was going to achieve the goal of winning. That sounds much better than doubling down on something that is not working with a 'try harder' attitude. Within our division, I don't think 20 points will be enough this year at any point. All three division rivals have high flying QBs who should be expected to put up some pretty good numbers, even against a solid Steelers D. We need 3 touchdowns a game minimum. Can't have drive after drive giving Boswell's leg a workout.

 

Meh, I preferred Canada

 

To short of a Golf season. I'll take Mexico.

 

I think 18 points a game was our average last season. For once we beat the Patriots, they were lower. Steelers were third worse last season. Only Pats and Giants average was lower.

Funny seeing Lions near the top. Hope they give their fans another great season until we kick their ass in SB.

 

This actually sounds like a great thing, does it not? If Tomlin thinks our defense should be able to hold the opposition down, Haley could plan something more conservative, take care of the ball, and take shots when necessary. If Tomlin thought the defense was a bit out matched, Haley could get more aggressive, throw caution to the wind, and try to put some points up on the board. Not every game needs to be game planned the same. Seems more than reasonable to me.

 

Having a coordinator who adjusts his game plan mid-game. I miss that.

 

The Steelers have been shooting for 30 points per game for last dozen years,
Don't think they ever average 30 for the whole season those past years and that is with a supposedly franchise QB for most of those years .

 

I thought Haley was the best OC we've had certainly in the last 12 years. I would say it was during his tenure that Ben was playing his best ball.

 

it's why the Steelers were never dominant under Tomlin / Haley.

Tomlin's answer EVERY WEEK should have been "AT LEAST 30!"

Haley kept Ben ALIVE, taught him HOW to check down, and extended his career.

But they were never the dominant scoring machine that they should have been with that talent.

Blame Haley, Blame Tomlin - blame whomever, but the history is written.

 

The focus of every drive should always be to score, especially in the first half to get a good lead...If that's the case after that, you can think about the time of possession in the second half to protect the lead...Haley had a great system, but its play calling hold back the steelers at time

 

The U.S. dollar goes a long way in Canada right now. $1.36 Canadian to $1.00 U.S.

Seems to be a natural choice to vacation during a hotter than normal Summer.

 

Ben would have to go back to Sandlot way too many times in the 4th Q to 'bail Haley out'

it was pathetic, really , far too much.

that, or rely on getting Boswell lined up on the proper hash-marks for a late FG. all because we were only scoring 20 or 23 points that week.....

Haley's RedZone schemes were just awful, flat out awful.

 

Todd just sucked all the time he never ever returns

 

Tequila Todd . . .

 

When Patrick MaHomes gets into the red zone, I know that there is a strong chance for 6. When Brady got into the red zone, it was almost a slam dunk for 6. I honestly do not remember the last time I felt anything approaching that level of confidence in the Steelers' red zone offense. Usually, I am really hoping for the TD, but expecting Boswell to get 3.

 

MT wants to play conservative 1964 NFL Football. He’s lucky he inherited a HOF QB in his prime to ride those coattails and get his lifetime contract.

 

Haley's play call on 4th down against Jacksonville in the playoffs was terrible, tried to run it wide against a fast defense.

 

Have the Steelers offense EVER averaged 30 points a game for a season?

 

I like Haley as an OC but he and Ben were oil and water. Tomlin should have just told him 1 more than the other team. Cowher’s approach was much better. Take a lead to the 4th quarter and run the wheels off the Bus.

 

You can do that to a rookie, and young Qb. Can You imagine doing that game after game to....older Ben, Brees, Brady, Manning, and or any top 10 Qb in their prime. They would be like Hell No.

 

How did Tomlin figure how well the D would do on a Friday before the game? Use a crystal football? Vegas odds? Gut feelings?

So lets say, Tomlin said we don't need to score much, but the D they were playing against had the best run D in the league, would steelers show up with a run heavy offense? Come to think of it... they used to do that a lot.

Wouldn't it be better to game plan around the other team's D's weaknesses and strengths instead of how well you hope your own D will do against their offense?

 

However, the defense would assume there is no way the offense will run wide. Kind of works both ways.

 

I've been a pretty big detractor of Tomlin's as of late, but you don't get to have success in the NFL without a solid knowledge of the game as a whole. He would take a knowledge of his own team and their strengths and weaknesses and match them up against the opposing offense's strengths and weaknesses... then make a pretty reasonable expectation on how they will have to stop the opponent and whether or not we have a good chance of shutting them down. It is a simple observation of we do or do not match up well (for a myriad of different reasons between games), and we need you to compensate your tendencies to give us the best chance at winning this particular game. It is all about min/max-ing our chances (which is the very essence of what a lot of analytics are used for today). The gameplan is just the script. It inevitably changes as game states change over the course of the game anyways.

I doubt Tomlin ever told Haley "We need 24 points to win". I would imagine it would be closer to "hey, this team runs a lot of strong concepts that involve their athletic TE and slot WR in formations that cause concerning matchups on our side... we are pretty thin up the middle due to injury and our personnel will likely struggle here. You might need to gameplan some opportunities to get some big plays and out pace them. We will do our best to gameplan around this and hold them to as few points as we can, but it is a tall ask and it makes us vulnerable in other areas". He absolutely would still gameplan around the other team's weaknesses... he just wanted a framework going into the game to see if he was needed to be more aggressive, safer, prioritize big hitting plays, or focus on possession and not turning it over. It is all just an idea of what to expect so Haley could fine tune his plan to the highest degree.

 

All of that sounds good in theory, but then you get to playoffs, and the first snap sails over your QB's head, or fumbles happen, and you average giving up 40ish points in the playoffs, and there goes all of the prep work and "intellectual" thinking, and it turns into "score as much as possible" but it's too late and you go decades without playoff success.