Whats this??? Ben reads defenses and uses his brain to beat the Lions????

Good read.
And I like the point it makes about the offense working as a TEAM...
Well and good to let Ben call his "own" plays, but the plays come from Haley`s book...
Would be nice to see an end to the arguments about how they "get along", and see more points from our offense.
I still see a problem in scoring from inside the 15 yard line, I`m usually happier when we score from outside the 20, because we at least get in the endzone then, but...
Gotta start somewhere...
Redzone scoring has been a problem for waaayyy too long...
start fixing that, and we win a LOT more games...
GO STEELERS!!!

 

Whatever it was I LIKE it! This is the best I have seen Big Ben play in quite some time. Even more so, it set others up to succeed. If they can continue it will open up more for Bell (whom I am a fan of). Exciting if they can keep it up!

 

You know what's funny about Steelers franchise qb's? They are looked at as dumb. I'm sure you elder statesmen remember a certain qb that "couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the c and the a." but could then go and put up his first 300 yard game and win his first of 2 consecutive Super Bowl MVP's. Ben has always been known as either a "game manager" or "improviser" but never intelligent. I've read that Bradshaw was highly motivated but also sorta hurt by the fact that people doubted his intellect for the game but also used it as a great motivating tool and maybe Ben does the same? I will say this though. Ben is already a guy that gives opposing teams an absolute migraine because of his physical ability. I LOVE listening to radio guys that are just casually discussing qb's mention how hard Ben is to get on the ground because I'm like "that's MY qb they're talking about". But can you imagine how the opposition would feel about him IF they thought he had Peyton's mind? They might just forfeit every game. LOL.

 

Sums up my feelings on everything pretty much.

Good read, BF.

 

Good article, thanks for posting Blast. Our offense is starting to take a turn in a positive direction the past few games vs NE, BUF, and DET. I hope this proves to be a trend and not an anomaly haha

The Redzone scoring should come as our OLine improves. We gotta be able to punch it in with power, and gameplan/play call our way in. If we can't do both, its hard to score on NFL defenses that close to the goal line.

Anyways, I hope we continue using the no huddle to our advantage. Go Burgh!

 

If Adams will keep leading the way on red zone blocks like he did for that one td that Bell had we should be fine. I think maybe a reason we couldn't run in the red zone this week was maybe because the footing was bad. I hope so anyway. Bush couldn't do jack either so there may be something to that.

 

You could be right, the footing probably had something to do with it. The run blocking as a whole could improve tho. In all honesty, I'd consider starting Adams instead of Gilbert at some point this year. His upside as a run blocker is much higher than Gilbert and its not like Gilbert sets the world on fire with his pass protection either. Adams has been mauling people when he has been in on the 3TE package. He just needs a little confidence in his pass blocking ability, and I think he could be effective at the RT position.

 

While footing came into it, I'd also simply give the Lions goal-line defense a lot of credit for stopping the runs. They over-committed to the run each time, and most times guessed right - except for the play-action pass, when they left Paulson wide open in the end-zone. I think another receiver was running free as well.

You're right, though - even against a fully committed defense we need to be able to punch it in. At the moment, I'm happy to leave Adams where he is, as he's been far more effective in that role than he was at T. Heck, I'd move him up to 2nd TE.

 

what the heck has held this up so long? it doesn't bode well that we had to go 8-8 and 4-6 so far for something to change all of a sudden. why the hold up? I'm not buying it's all rosey yet. ben has always had the option of changing the play at the line with an audible, so this is no big deal. it is they're job.

 

Ben is not as cerebral as Peyton Manning but who is. To make it at this level you have to be able to read defenses. This is nothing new to me.

 

Regardless of what this article says I can't see that happening.

 

It's all on Tomlin that it took so long, he has full control of the team. :thumbsup:

 

Touche, my friend, touche.

And to clarify, I have never said Ben wasn't smart enough to be a more cerebral quarterback. My contention has always Ben that he may be too lazy to ever develop into a cerebral quarterback and is just too dang enamored with his physical prowess. Now to me, this no huddle, with Ben calling plays that Haley has designed, could be just what the doctor ordered. Ben is involved and engaged and is making decisions in real time on the field based on what the defense shows him. What a novel concept. We had a guy in the 70s that did that pretty well and he was never considered the smartest guy in the world. But if you keep Ben involved in the process, I think we'll start to see a more cerebral Ben making better decisions and the offense will finally play up to its potential.

This is pretty exciting. Good article and the best part of the article to me was this little blurb:

However, Roethlisberger was choosing from a menu of Haley's plays. This also should not be minimized. It's Haley's offense. Both men deserve credit for what transpired Sunday. The touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery was a perfect example. Haley designed the play, built off the widely used quick screen to Antonio Brown. Roethlisberger called it.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/5095218-74/roethlisberger-steelers-ben#ixzz2lIBHVq5L
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If and this is a huge if but if the offense keeps clicking like it did on Sunday they might make us forget the first 4 weeks of the season. The scary part would be if we get a ticket to the dance we would be one if not the hottest team in the dance. I am guessing no one would want to face us. Right now it would be either the AFC North champ or probably the AFC South champ. I like our chances against Indy or Cincy. It is the next week that concerns me. NE or Denver...

But again a long way to go before that scenario. Take care of the Brownies this weekend!

 

Is a great read and is nice to see Ben knowing the right play to get into at the right time..However I still have my doubts he can read the upfront as good as the back end....I am also not convinced that he can't get bated into bad calls against good DB'S..

I hope I am wrong and Ben continues to get better with his pre snap game...I have never thought Ben was to dumb to do it ,I have always felt he lacked the desire to learn that part of it...

 

I think similar to this. For me it's not that Ben can't do it, it's that he's such a physical specimen that I've always thought he relies on pure athleticism more than he should, and that as he ages, he won't be able to do that as much.

The article paints a very rosey picture, and I hope to hell things remain this way. Hopefully he sits in the pocket and picks apart defences. If he's capable of putting up 30 points most weeks by playing the position the way it was meant to be played, then give the man an extension and lets try and get this thing turned around before his career is over. I'm cautiously optimistic though, bordering on pessimistic. We've seen this before. This is far from the first great game of Ben's career. This is far from the first time he's stood in the pocket and picked apart a defence. What I do not want to see is for him to come out this week and have 4 turnovers and make numerous other mistakes. He's too inconsistent and that's the part of his game that needs to change.

 

Contract talk does have a way of motivating a player!!!!!!

 

I wonder what (if anything) Haley saw back on 11-01??
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...teelers-offense-on-cusp-of-being-pretty-good/

Since then we scored ...
31 points against New England on 11-3
23 points against Buffalo on 11-10
37 points against Detroit on 11-17

 

cleveland defense will be a tough matchup

 

No problem, we have Mike "Al Haig" Tomlin in charge. LOL :thumbsup:

 

Ben played good/great games like he did vs the Lions in the past. The issue was that he never played at that level or close to that level on a consistent basis. As a result, the offense never played up to it's potential on a week to week basis. I have my doubts because we witnessed this from Ben in the past. I am hopeful that Ben can play at a high level on a more consistent basis. We'll see.

 

Ben has been a top 10 QB for 10 years. In fact, he is the 9th highest rated QB of all time. I think BF is on to something here that many have been calling for - more no huddle. I think organizations and coaches can get too stubborn about the way they want things to go. Ben has wanted more no huddle for a long time. Give it to him. It may be what he needs to get into the zone more often.