To the Haley critics

This is not a thread to announce I'm right and you are wrong. Nor am I saying I was right and the Haley critics were wrong. This truly is a thread to see if opinions on Haley have changed at all.

I don't have exact numbers, nor do I feel like looking them up as they're not overly important to my argument, but Ben is leading the league in many categories on 3rd down plays. He's also on pace for a career low in interceptions, by a huge margin. His best ever was 5 in 12 games, he's on pace for 4 in 16 games. He's also on pace to set a career high for yards, match a career high for TD's and he's on pace to have his 2nd most accurate season ever.

Basically, not only are Ben's overall numbers better than ever, but he looks far better than ever. He's not forcing the ball into double coverage 40 yards down field, he's using his TE's and RB's in the passing game (which is incredibly important in so many ways, one of which is slowing down the pass rush), and he's taking what the defence gives him rather than deciding ahead of time how he's going to play the game. I think he looks far better than ever, and I truly believe he hasn't peaked yet. I think he'll only get better, especially as our running game and Oline improve.

I attribute all of the above to Todd Haley. I think he's turning Ben into what he should have been 4 years ago. Ben is finally receiving great coaching, IMO. I also think our running game is going to be better than it has been in 5 years, but that's just a prediction at this point.

So for those of you who were doubtful and/or critical of Haley before the season started, what are your thoughts now?

Hey Tomlin_Era, don't look now but I just sent a few compliments Ben's way.

 

I was one of the first on this MB to call for Haley's hiring and I haven't been disappointed so far. Ben is much improved under Haley's tutelage and we're FINALLY USING HEATH MILLER THE CORRECT WAY!!! Of course, I want to see what happens with rest if the season before I declare the Haley hiring a complete success but so far so good.

 

I didn't have an opinion when he was hired, but your assessment is certainly accurate. Ben has never had good coaching. BA wasted a lot of good years of talent. Ben is now getting better.

 

We are

22nd in team passing
29th in team rushing
23rd in scoring
23rd in team receiving

Hell of a job Haley
You should have a lifetime contract

 

The rushing is easily excused by not having an NFL calibre starting RB for the first 4 weeks. The weak passing numbers can easily be explained by Ben missing wide open players, players dropping easy passes that would have resulted in TD's, and in one case, a player tripping over his own feet when he could have walked backwards in for a TD. When there's only 4 weeks of data to draw conclusions from, a few dropped passes and a couple missed throws will significantly affect the numbers. At the end of the season, I believe Ben will have his best numbers ever and we will be top 12 in total offence, which combined with our weak Oline and a new OC and system, that's respectable. I expect a top 10 offence from this team next year, or then I would start questioning things.

So I'm guessing you were and still are a Haley critic?

 

Here ya', but your numbers are skewed by the fact that the Steelers have played on 4 games and 26 other have played 5.
On a per game basis they are:

10th in team passing/game
26th in team rushing/game
16th in team scoring /game

Under the much-maligned BA in 2011, they were:

10th in team passing/game
14th in team rushing/game
21st in team scoring /game

Not sure if one is really materially better than the other. But a criticism of BA was that under him the Steelers moved the ball well but didn't get points. And this seems to support that criticism. Though I should point out the difference between 16th in scoring and 21st in scoring in just 2pts a game. Essentially, the difference is that they scored on more TD so far this year.

 

He has Ben tied or leading the top 5 catagories for QBs......I will take it!!

 

imo the only important stat for an offense. i don't give **** about how many yards you put up ... if you don't convert those yardage into points, you're going to lose games.
(coincidentally it's pretty much the same for a defense ... who cares if you give up 600 yards a game ... if you don't let them score because you have readzone INTs )

 

i saw more different plays in 4 weeks than in five years with arians

 

My only complaint is how poor we've been on 1st and 2nd down. If it wasn't for Ben pulling a rabbit out of his hat repeatedly on 3rd down things would look significantly different.

 

My complaint is we gave up 4th quarter leads to Denver and Oakland. Had the D held, Haley would be considered a genius. Not that the O couldn't have helped the cause by getting first downs and continuing to put up points in both games. Teams losses, the Haley effect cannot truly be judged yet. But I am optimistic that the O will end the year better than before.

 

seem our old OC that we ran out of town did pretty will at the head coach last week... hes 1-0

HINES

 

The offense has done some good things and not so good things under BA and Haley. It's not simply that one is/was better then the other. Whether it's a bad play call, lack of productivity, or something else, it's only a matter of time before certain fans drop the hammer on Haley.

 

i'm not impressed at all so far.

 

Guess what? We're 2-3. All those stats don't mean squat.

 

Steelers seem to play ball control, which is good, but I think it wouldn't hurt to force the issue to get deep down the field early in games to get their opponent down early. They need to help their defense out cause this d is not up to snuff.

 

If I had of missed Haleys appointment I would have been abusing BA all game against the Titans.
How many bubble screens were there, didn't notice much difference.

 

Jury is still out IMO. 360 yards passing and a measley 23 points in a losing effort against a piss poor team is the kinda of game that would have many of the posters on this MB calling for BA's head. I don't know the numbers but just from watching the games so far this year it seems our 1st and 2nd down effeciency is completely awful and the great success on 3rd downs is more a product of Ben being Ben versus anything Haley's cooking up.

 

2-3 doesn't mean that the offense is losing all of the games. They can always use some improvement, but have you seen the Steelers defense this year? Teams have been driving down the field at will on them.

 

Yes and they look a lot like the defense we saw for much of last year also. Very little pressure on the QB and blown turnover opportunities. It's been a recurring theme for way too long now.

 

I remember the good o days when the steelers used to win games when they scored more than 20 points.( used to be lights out) Now they have to score 20+ just to keep up. I think Haley is doing a great job.

 

Special teams laid a major egg, last night. Take away that TD the Titans got from the blocked punt and possession at the 3-inch line, and it's a different ball game.

Last night, Red Zone Offense looked like a repeat of last season. The only red zone TD was Batch and the O-Line pretty much just threw themselves into the Titan's defense to create a small seam.

The defense only legitimately allowed 3 FGs through 3 quarters. They fell apart in the 4th and allowed a TD and the winning FG.

All 4 phases are not clicking together for 60 minutes... That's really the issue. That, and major fails at the WORST times (Brown's late fumble against the Raiders).

It's a discipline problem.