Arthur Smith stopped letting Russell Wilson change plays

I prefer jello pudding

 

If this issue happens over multiple QBs and OCs then the issue falls to the HC.

 

The run game wasn't exactly working .

 

All happening under Tomlin’s watch. Hes ultimately to blame. All these reports are just screaming that its time for coaching changes - wholesale.

 

The problem is….no good QB is going to want to play for an assclown who thinks his play calling is never wrong. Hell, And audibles plays in high school as a QB. Smith and Tomlin both need to go if this is the case. Russell Wilson knows 100% more about what he is seeing than those two and has a much better track record.

 

I'm not necessarily buying it, either. But it creates a fork in the road where it's either true, and there are questions about over-management; or it's not, and there are questions about proper game-planning.

 

No but it's the Steelers way by golly and that's what we're going to do!

 

Rooney is ultimately to blame.

That being said, it’s his business/team…he can run it however he feels. We are just customers, free to shop elsewhere

 

Tomlin's figerprints are all over this, he's basically the HC,DC and now OC, at this point. His only use he has for his co-ordinators is that of human shields and scapegoats, while he continues to sink further into hubris. This is late era Al Davis all voer again, meddling and controlling everything, trying outdated philosophies over and over again, and learning nothing. The only difference is Al Davis was an owner at that point and Tomlin is the HC.

Classic controlling and hubristic behaviour.

 

This is the key point. Regardless of whether the report is 100% accurate there was a very obvious shift in offensive philosophy from the first Cinci game to the second. It was baffling watching them run into stacked boxes again and again after Russ has carved them with the pass only a few week before. That change in philosophy can only have come from Smith / Tomlin.

I can understand them trying to play safer when Pickens missed that stretch of games and when they had so many injuries but they had everyone back for that Cinci game. Surely it was time to open up the offence a bit

 

Conspiracy Theory #1001.
What: "Don't change the plays."
Premise: Ok, so we are going to line up and run right into an 8-man front with a run blitz on.
Result: Quite possibly, the dumbest article ever written during offseason.
Problem: The offseason is really about to begin and it's a long time till Sept.

 

You mean Jimmy Hoffa really is buried in the Meadowlands?

 

This is a good comment. I agree that Russel Wilson is washed as a QB but clearly there was a philosophy shift at the end of the season.

They likely limited the passing game because Russel Wilson was washed, but we have seen similar QB management with Pickett, Mitch, Fields, and later years Big Ben.

It seems unlikely an OC in his first year with the team could make that call, more of a Mike Tomlin 'Steeler's Way' directive.

In any case, the whole offensive system philosophy of this team is trash and a match away from being a dumpster fire.

 

Apparently when we played beat the Bengals, Wilson changed many plays and they threw for the most yards and best offensive game of the year. My guess the coaches didn't like that and you see what happened the remaining games. Starting to wonder about Smith who was way too predicable and crazy with running on 1st and 2nd down into a stacked box.

 

In that second Bengals game Moore couldn't block Hendrickson, Wilson and Pickens were terrible too.

 

You are right. The QB play improved when Wilson came back. I don't think Justin Fields is an NFL starter at all.

Then again, we have been in such a desert of QB play for years, so it maybe is a perception issue. He just looked good compared to what we had previously, but he looked washed in that playoff game. I discount garbage time stats when defenses go into a soft prevent.

There isn't one problem really, because we have a terrible offensive philosophy, poor coaching, and general lack of talent on offense.

 

And yet Wilson 'loves Pittsburgh' and wants to return as QB next season, and has started contract discussions. Somethin' stinks with this story. Dulac is a hack without good sources.

 

Maybe they took Russ' keys away because of this?

If a QB looks like doody in practice do you really want him throwing the ball all over the field?

 

Which is a fair take. But when similar stories on this same issue happened as far back as 2021 and has been a common theme after each season since I have to think there's legitimacy to this. The Wilson loves it here stuff could be Wilson using the franchise as leverage to get more money elsewhere.

 

I don't deny the competition was more talented and coordinators were going to scheme against what does well. That - and of course Pickens being hurt - all played a part. But did teams really need to figure him out? It's not like he was that different from the QB he was in Denver.

I tend to think he's just extremely erratic. Like your point with Warner, he couldn't figure out what Wilson was thinking at times, but he went on to have a good game. Other games, not so much.

Still, it was strange to see the game plan tilt so heavily into the run the second time around against the Bengals. We know Tomlin is stubborn; Smith was criticized in Atlanta for being the same way. If they want to do something, they generally stick to the guns. So getting Pickens back against a team Wilson had his way with a few weeks prior and opting to pound the running game indicates to me that's what they wanted to do.

 

I like the narrative that the coaches don't want the players winning games for them. Always worthy of a chuckle.