Ben's (and team's) confidence

I am really questioning Ben's (and the offense's) confidence. If they are not confident, it is certainly with good reason - they have little evidence that they can play well consistently. They must go out there every week and wonder if they are going to play well or poorly. They must be terrified to play poor teams at this point. If things go their way, they seem to build steam and play well. A setback or two, and they tend to fall apart. In last week's game, as soon as Ben missed Wheaton on the first play, at least in retrospect, it started the trend of a long night. Good drives that couldn't be finished, forcing passes, bad routes; it all came tumbling down.

I try not to read too much into body language, but at least on the close ups on TV, Ben doesn't seem to have "it". When something goes wrong, either due to him, the line, or the receivers, he seems dejected, flat, and disappointed. Not, "OK, come on, we'll get 'em on the next play!", but more like, "oh, we missed yet another opportunity - shucks". He looks frustrated and sad, not energetic and motivated to bounce back. Not that Brady is a role model, but at the end of last week's game when his defense could not stop the Packers and they could run out the clock, he was furious. Threw his helmet, swore profusely, and was visibly chapped that he didn't get another chance. I could see Ben shrug his shoulders, look disappointed and go "Oh well".

How can this be repaired? Stringing together a couple of wins (preferably 4), with early success in the games, would help, but how does he do that? I would say coaching. Either the QB coach needs to turn his head around, and/or Haley (and the rest of the team) need to put him in situation where he can succeed early.

Of course I could be all wrong. Sometimes I think Ben's problem is he is TOO confident, and thinks he can save every play and throw a bullet successfully into triple coverage. Probably that is what has made him good, but he sometimes does not have what ever "it" is, and all seems to fall apart.

 

A few facts to remember when judging Ben and our offense:

The Steelers are 25th in the NFL in number of offensive possessions ... which means that we get fewer opportunities to score than all but 7 other teams.

The Steelers are 3rd in the NFL in number of offensive plays (behind the Eagles & Colts).

The Steelers are 2nd in the NFL in plays per offensive possession (behind the Saints).

The Steelers are 2nd in the NFL in average yards gained per offensive possession (behind the Saints).

The Steelers are 1st in the NFL in time of possession.

The Steelers are 1st in the NFL in average time consumed per offensive possession.


The Steelers are 7th in the NFL in percentage of scoring drives (TD or FG), and 9th in average points per offensive possession.


And while taking all that into account, you may want to consider that the Steelers are tied for 3rd worst in average starting field position, and are tied for 28th in rushing TDs with 3 other teams ... just 1 rushing TD ahead of the Raiders who are dead last in the NFL.

 

But aren't those numbers skewed because of2 "run away"games and not at all indicative of the teams overall performance. I have noticed their time of possession, and that seems spot on, move the ball down the field to the red zone and then not score. Perfect.

 

You can't subtract their good games without doing the same for every other team.

The problem is that Steeler fans look at our offense, and since it isn't as good as the Pats, Broncos, Packers, and Saints ... it sucks.

 

It does! Redzone scoring is the key. How many quarters did this team go before scoring a redzone TD? You have to convert these long drives into TDs in today's NFL! You can't hold onto the ball longer than the opponent and come away with FG's while they convert TDs!

 

That's where the problem is. We're 9th best in offensive points per possession ... but our defense is the 4th worst. Of the 12 worst defenses in points allowed per possession, we're the only team with more than 5 wins on the season.

The opposing team shouldn't be converting TDs. We're controlling the clock. We're keeping the ball away from the opposing offense, and limiting their possessions.

 

thanks for this. it wont change anyones mind, but should

 

Being 1st or 2nd in all those categories should put us near the top of scoring per game right?????

The reason we have less possessions per game is because we hold on to the ball, rack up plays and yards and then don't score.

Dominating these categories and scoring TDs would have this team with a maximum of 2 losses this year.

 

I think I have hijacked your thread. Sorry.

 

He got married.

 

No problem. I think those stats suffer from not considering the variation in game to game. Those are all averages or cumulative numbers. They are inflated by 3 or 4 truly dominating performances that offset the 3 or 4 truly dismal performances. There were two all-time record setting games on the positive side of things that dramatically inflate the overall numbers. After those two games we were heralded as an offensive juggernaut. But in earlier games we couldn't score for long stretches of time, and even in the Saints game the stats looked good due to garbage time yards and scoring (the final was high scoring with only a 3 point differential, but the offense was terrible). If the skill potentially reflected in those stats was there every game and every quarter, or at least most quarters, we would have 10 wins now - but that skill fluctuates from outstanding to abysmal, with abysmal being when we play abysmal teams.

That fluctuation is what drives us all nuts. And, I think, would undermine anyone's confidence.

 

It's definitely our lack of production in the redzone. Which also has been our Achilles heel for 10 years with 2 different head coaches and 3 different offensive coordinators. The one common denominator through all of this is Ben. He does some things very well, but when the field shortens and the windows decrease he struggles.

 

And what do those teams have have in common that the steelers dont, it's pretty simple they spread the ball around to their receivers, we dont utilize our checkdowns, Ben locks on to AB and thats about the extent of our passing game, when he threw those 6 TD games he spread it around but since then they have got away from spreading it around, every defense will target AB in coverage which leaves other receivers in single, so lets get back to using the other receivers for a change, they sure better do that this sunday or it's going to be curtains for sure....

 

That's not entirely accurate though. The offence has been a problem just as much as the defence. Sure, we're 8th in points scored, but those 2 huge games skews the stats. No, I'm not saying to throw out our 2 best games, but what I'm saying is that if we score 50 points 2 weeks and only score 15 the next 2 weeks, our total points scored looks good, but in reality it isn't. We can't carry points from our 2 best games to other games. We need to consistently score points.

Week 1 we lit it up in the 1st half and then couldn't score in the 2nd half against the Browns. Our first meeting against Baltimore we couldn't even crack 10. Against the Jets, Bucs and Jags we couldn't score enough points. We scored plenty against the Saints, but half was in garbage time. Even against the Texans, if they hadn't given us the game in that 3 minute stretch, we probably would have lost due to an inability to score.

It's painfully obvious just by watching this team that we have trouble putting points on the board. That's a huge problem because of the weapons we have on offence. It's hard to improve on having the best RB and WR combo in the league. Most teams would love to have Bell and Brown.

Now of course defence is a big problem too, but my point is that both are equally at fault. We have trouble scoring and we have just as much trouble stopping other teams from scoring

 

Last game I saw Ben throwing to Brown, Bell, Heath , Bryant and Wheaton. I believe if I am not mistaken Heath and Brown were the only receivers catching balls. Wheaton and Bryant were dropping balls . The biggest drop being the end zone throw to Bryant.

 

I think its a combination of both offense and defense and special teams.. The games where we win the three elements are all working and working very well. When the defense has a good game the offense struggles and vice versa. They need to play 60 minutes of football and be great on all phases of the game..

 

This. The three game home stretch, two record games and garbage time (in more than just the Saints game) inflates the numbers for the offense.

They mostly play like a mediocre group. And they have the greatest combination of talent of any unit on the Steelers overall team. Very disappointing.

 

Steelers defense is 12th in the league. Not great, but good. They are giving up an average of 24.8 points per game. So, it's like I've been saying: if this mediocre offense could just score 30 pts/game, then the win/loss column would look a lot better.

On the flip side, the Steelers offense is ranked 3rd by the NFL. Scoring an average of 26.7 points/game. They are 7-5 right now... maybe everything is as it should be given these averages.

Maybe something else is wrong... I'm not sure what that is, though.

The eye test tells me both the offense and the defense have problems... Most games, they aren't playing to compliment one another.

In the Saints game, the defense got off to a great start. Offense didn't even score. Special Teams had to put up 6 points after the defense made 3 stops of one the hottest offenses in the league. Then one score by the Saints (a TD) and they're in the lead. To touch on the OP's point: How deflated must a team feel to put in all that work... make two scores (only FGs), and then lose the lead to the other team making just one score (a TD)?

This team is putting in a lot of hard work. I believe that. I see that. But their detail is lacking, and it shows in the losses.

 

I'm not sure about this... Ben threw to Wheaton, Bryant, Heath (another lock-on receiver for Ben) and Bell. Ben was overthrowing the ball.

Ben has great skills. They are even elite skills. But he is inconsistent at employing those skills game after game. That is another reason the offense struggles. Yeah, yeah... I know: His hand is hurt.

And then there are the receiver drops. Bryant could have pulled one in for a much-needed TD agains the Saints. But he showed he's still a rookie. Hopefully, he will soon get to the point that those catches are automatic for him. I have no idea what's up with Wheaton.

 

This.

 

Just as misleading as that offensive ranking.