It's lots of things, but it is the offense

All I know is we are going to unleash Hell next week OH and we're going to defend every blade of grass, OH and we're going to do that while Tommy boy and billie badazz play and coach football. I have a standing bet with a former friend. NE and PITT every time they play
Lucky for me he quit talking to me 2 months ago so I will not have to buy his lunch at the local hibachi grill Monday

 

Yes - Oakland held the ball for 17 plus minutes in the 1st half and gained over 180 yards on the ground and scored 21 points. Bill Cowher used to say you can't win a game in the 1st quarter but you can lose it - the defense largely lost this game in the 1st quarter giving up 14 points then to add salt to the wound they gave up a pounding 6 minute drive in the 2nd quarter where Oakland with that offensive line of misfits basically shoved the ball down the defense's throat. The offense didn't help at all and deserves some blame, but I give DL's defense a large share of credit of pretty much in the toilet by halftime.

 

This is probably my biggest issue with Haley, and it is probably not so much Haley himself as the fact that he was hired, knowing who Ben was going to be. One would think that when seeking an OC, you would hire someone who would be in sync with your 100 million dollar QB, who has a unique set of mad skills, and is stubborn. Making a change in OC with a QB you had to know was not going to be happy with the change seems questionable, and it has not turned out well, Sure you could blame it on O-line injuries and issues, but the whole offense seems out of sync and clueless at times, and that is probably a results of the QB and OC not being on the same page. Looking at the games, one can only imagine what practices are like.

 

the offense definitely struggles. everything just looks hard for them especially when they get into the redzone.

im not sure who gets the blame for this though. its easy to blame Haley for not being creative enough. our you can blame Ben for not making fast enough reads. maybe the oline for pretty much not being able to run or pass block. the lack of a proven running back. the lack of a true game changing wr, but i pretty much think its all that stuff put together that makes them struggle.

i cant see Haley being back next year, but i dont know if thats gonna change things too much. until they get some real talent that can play under the system they are best suited for we are gonna keep seeing this team struggle.

 

I actually think that's why they brought Haley here. I don't think they wanted that QB/OC relationship to be warm and fuzzy like it was with BA. I think they wanted Ben to do some maturing and this was their effort to try and help that along. Has it worked? Most would say no but i'm not so sure the Ben/Haley relationship issue is as big of an issue this season as it was last season. To me that dynamic isn't at the heart of our troubles.

 

I keep seeing that people say we do OT have any talent on the team and that is BS. Particularly they say this about the offense. We have a first round pick franchise QB, a first round TE, we had a first round RB, now have a solid second round RB, two first round OL (both regarded as the best at their positions in the draft), two second round OL, one who was considered first round talent. I do not believe all these guys are not talented, for sure they are, so the issues are not just personnel related...

Concerning the defense this past game, they gave up a big play, it happens. The second TD was after a three and out and blocked punt. The defense played great the second half and more than made up for the issues in the first half. They had a total of three turnovers and one was in the redone already. They got the ball back over and over and gave the offense a chance to do something. Also, I do not understand an 8minute fruitless drive when you are behind by three scores. Still at the end, there would have been a chance to kick it deep and get it back with about a minute and 20 seconds remaining had Ben not have blown a timeout after Heath made a good play to get OB and stop the clock. I almost think Ben took that timeout to spite Haley, seemed that way to me... A franchise QB should be able to take control of that situation and not blow that vital timeout. That basically sealed the loss, where as otherwise we could have had a very good chance for the tie.

 

I'm harder on Ben than probably anyone on this site, but this nonsense about him doing things to spite Haley is ridiculous. He's not intentionally missing throws to spite Haley nor is he wasting timeouts to spite him. That's just crazy talk

 

I know this defense has lost to and made average at best quarterbacks look like Joe Montana. Pryor probably won't be in the league in two years. Cassell shouldn't be. Tebow is already gone. Locker is average. But we seem to let them destroy us instead of destroying them.

Then we let below average offensive lines just destroy us as well. The Raiders had at least three new starters and a guy that was on the street or practice squad last week. Woodley didn't even have a tackle. The Chargers game last year we got blew off the ball.

The jets oline has one good player and one of our castoffs and we still barely beat them in the trenches. Now the titans has a legit line but we couldn't do nothing against them.

 

I appreciate your opinion!

I honestly think that the defensive performance was good. Now don't get me wrong, it was painful to watch the opening play and painful to watch us get gashed in the running game during the first half (Steeler defenses of days past have spoiled me, heh). But, in today's league, if you are holding opponents under 300 yards of offense, it generally means that teams are having difficulty sustaining long drives against you. Outside of Pryor's run, the Raiders managed only one long drive--so that is what amounts to two long drives (and for the year, the Steelers are giving up 302.9 yards per game--4th best in the league).

I think that if a team can't or doesn't win that kind of defensive performance, the bulk of the blame is certainly on the offense and/or special teams. For the Steelers this year, the offense certainly seems to be the biggest culprit--more specifically, the offensive line.