Going ground and pound with PA

And why it is the perfect time....

#1. Teams are drafting to stop the pass and rush the passer...Meaning more smaller players on the field.....
#2. More Teams are turning to the pass game on O...Meaning they don't get quality practice stopping the run game.....
#3. The new CBA rules force Teams to be softer....Meaning they are not ready to hit on a consistant basis....
#4. The best way to slow other high powered O'S is to keep them on the bench...Slow methodical drives are best...
#5. Our D is a lot better if they play limited snaps....Meaning this helps DL with his calls and keeps the elders fresher longer...

These are just a few reasons and here are a few of the weapons we have to match.....We have the pounder Redman to pound the smaller D's plus Miller to beat them in the PA game...

We also have a Power run blocking OL to take advantage of smaller Defenders.....Plus we have mad Speed at the WR position so by going run 1st. we will force Teams to play them 1 on 1 more ....This will allow the WR to get open early and often ....Thus making the D have to get the fast guys on the ground as well......

The reason all this works together is opponents will have to pick how they want to get beat...If they go small then we can pound them ,if they go big then we out run them...Run and pass from the same set and we will have a outstanding Offense,and now is exactly the time to use such a attack...

 

As it stands we only have 3/5ths of an offensive line. It may be great in the future, but as it stands it's only potential. Yet once again the strength of this team isn't Redman, it's Wallace, Brawn,Sanders, Miller, and Ben.

 

You will see....Its all going to work because of power running..

 

We were a veritable offensive juggernaut in 2004, averaging 23 points a game(helped along by half a dozen defensive scores).

 

I agree, but the team needs to pass enough to be sharp at the passing game. There will be a team that will stop the run and to beat them you will have to pass. This will probably be in the playoffs. This was also the '04 team's downfall. Balance and favoring the team's strength are keys.

I am not saying the team needs to run a lot more, but it does need to run better and a little more.

 

You are wrong about the line. Even if Adams doesn't work out, we have 4 with Colon, Pouncey, DeCastro and Gilbert. So the ground and pound will work anyway.

All of PWP's points are valid.

 

I agree with this. In fact, Our offense is built for this and it's why we don't have a true FB.

How much faster will Wallace, Brown, and Sanders be when the defense is having to worry about Redman & Dwyer pounding the ball, or Batch & Rainey catching it in the backfield? How about when the veteran Mendenhall comes back fresh mid-season and starts carving up the defense with his quick feet, being blocked by our young and talented OL? Meanwhile, Miller has been open on basically every play.

Haley will design this offense to play on the team's strengths. The speed will be deadly. I expect good things.

 

If we can get our running game going, watch out we will be
tough to stop. If Ben buys into this offense, could be just what the Dr.
ordered, I hope Todd Haley can realize this and is not just looking for
another 4000 yd passer. If he makes Ben better, with mechanics, play fakes,
reading coverages this will be an exciting season. Just as Steel City NB pointed out,
look at what SF did with half the QB Ben is.

 

yep they sat home and watched the SB with the passing teams in it, like the rest of them.

 

Defenses usually attempt strike a balance between rush and pass defense. Regardless, it gets more difficult to rush the ball in the red zone. All the defenses in the league have big players up front.

More teams are turning more and more the passing game because the rules favor the passing game, big plays come easier out of the passing game, and it's easier to score passing then it is running.

I don't believe in the hypothesis that players will be softer because of the CBA.

It's difficult to maintain slow methodical drives on a consistent basis. I heard something to the effect on the radio that coaches know that big plays(20+ yards) on offense gives them the best chance to sustain scoring drives. A number of things can go wrong on offense by attempting to sustain long drives consistently without big plays. Penalties, turnovers, and mistakes by offensive players seem to be the biggest hindrance to sustaining long drives on a consistent basis. We've witnessed some of those mistakes from the Steeler's offense over the years.

Not sure how many snaps people expect the defense to play. The number of snaps didn't appear to affect thee defenses ability to be one of the best in the league. They were number one in PPG last season. Offenses will have success vs the defense regardless of the amount of snaps they play.

BA's offenses were generally more balanced then Haley's offenses. It's going to be interesting to watch how long it takes the ground and pound mob to attack Haley because the offense passes the ball.

 

Both Baltimore and SF should have been in the SB. They were the better team in their games and if it wasn't for some bad plays by a player on each of those teams, they would have made it. Run first teams can absolutely win it all in the new NFL.

 

We are not going back to 2004 and 2005 run/pass ratios, no matter how efficient the running game becomes under Haley's offense.

Roethlisberger is too good and those offenses were too conservative. Our quarterback deserves much more latitude to try on certain down and distances that Cowher and Whisenhunt never let him back when he was young.

The improvements we should hope for have nothing to do with "ground and pound", but rather improved efficiency in both run and pass.

I would hope we can run both directions now and with a 50% "success rate" or better. The run plays should be more diverse and look more natural to the team (like we actually practiced them) and the timing should be better. We should do better in the red zone (and be able to protect the ball better, which was terrible last season).

But what I don't want to see is Ben's passing efficiency drop like crazy. I have harped on this before, but if the passing game becomes too rigid and "timed", Ben's best statistic (yards per attempt) will likely fall and that's NOT good.

The key stats to watch this year (as always):

"Success Rate" in the running game.
"Yards per Attempt" in the passing game.
"Red Zone Efficiency"

The only other thing to really worry about is turnovers and you hope the offense doesn't get some turnover bug somewhere along the line (either fumbles or interceptions). But if turnovers stay constant, then the above is all that matters. You watch those stats and they will tell you everything.

 

balt. threw the ball more then ever last year. just because they used to be a run heavy team before doen't mean they will continue. they let flacco throw alot more last year with good success. they are alot heavier on the pass recently.

SF got there on defense. there defense set the offense up all year with turnovers and field position. it wasen't just their abiity to run the ball that got them there. they ran it in years past very well and it got them nowhere. their qb started making more throws and the defense was real good.

 

Absolutely agree with this. Efficiency and execution are key. And your point about Ben is spot on.

I also agree with the cautionary notes being sounded out about the o-line. Yes, I think we have an amazing potential in that line, and it should be set for some seasons to come. And this will makes us one hell of a team, given the weapons we have that we didn't have last time our line was this (potentially) good. But rookies make mistakes. New plays need to be ironed out.

I'm all for PWP's optimism, but even at this stage in the off-season, it does help to have little bit of caution. The guys on the other side of the ball get paid as well, you know.

 

They were 10th in the league rushing with 25 more attempts than the Steelers, but .1 ypc less.

 

Haley is strting a full-back this year for the 1st time in 5 years, he intends to pound the ball to set up the pass for a change and ben will be a quick release QB this year instead of watching him getting sacked every 5th play, our run game is going to be 1 of our strengths this year since Haley is committing to it, I expect to see a 50-50 offense this year, as it should be...

 

Again people, this is NOT about how many times we run the ball or pass the ball. This was something BA kept talking about and its why Ben to this day thinks the complaints are about percentages. It is why he says, we are going to run more we as fans should be happy. He doesn't understand at this point.

BA wanted to throw the ball, plain and simple. It didn't matter who we were against or what defense they were playing. It didn't matter what personnel they had or what it meant to our defense to go 3 and out for an entire half. He was going to throw with a purpose. His purpose was to throw the ball deep and get the big quick score. He leaned on Ben to stretch plays in order to get the ball down the field in large chunks. He ran the ball with only one purpose....because he was told to by management...he did it to keep his job. He believed the token runs would keep Defenses honest, but it didn't. Do we realize that we ran the ball basically zero times last year on 3rd and 4th down and 3 yards or longer. We had some on 3rd and 12 and 15 or so, but nothing in the 3rd and 3 range. No draws, no delay handoffs out of the shotgun, nuttin'.

Haley is going to run with a purpose this year as well, it will be to gain yards. I truly believe that if we find a team which cannot stop the run, guess what, we are going to run it down their throats. Yeah, he will take some shots still, like said above, Ben has earned that trust, but Haley is going to do what is best for the offense, not the stats. We are changing philosophy.

Old Philosophy - This is what we are doing defense. These are our strengths, this is what we are doing no matter what.

New Philosophy - Use our strengths to exploit the holes of the defense and to take those things given to us by the defense.

 

http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7jiT ... 24946.html
they did throw more last year.
they also use rice in the passing game. nearly half of his season total yards were through the air.
http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7jiT ... 24946.html

they want more running too. or at least more balance.

 

i'm just using this as a measuring stick for what people are saying here about our run situation and a team percieved to be a running team. they are saying the same thing in balt. by their stats they threw more this year then ever before, and even the players want more balance. they brought it back in balance against certain teams, because the throw first play was getting them in trouble in some games. camron was smart enough to bring the balance back when they needed to stay ahead of us. when they had a safe lead they would run that ball well, we didn't.

there was also another article about their O-line. it talked about them being one of the top ten best O-lines. with that type of blocking you can play it anyway you want. it helps balance. we haven't had that option over the BA years. i think we will now.

it seems like no matter how far you go in the PO's , it's not far enough unless you win it all and if not everyone has an answer how to fix it. LOL