Bad News For The FBA Folks

It's easy being a Monday morning QB

Arians is not unlike every other OC in the league. Read the other forums...everyone is bitching about their OC.

Johnson drops an easy pass and we lose the ravens game. Clark blows coverage on the last play and we lose the ravens game.

The Steelers are the roughest toughest hombres east of the pacific ocean on both sides of the ball. Nothing is wrong with their offense play calling...they just play like the Steelers have always played. You old timers know that. You youngins should go watch some of the games from the 70s and you'll see what i mean.

Nothins changed but the faces.

 

Won one and lost one - Wiz was still OC for XL.

 

People will find the solution to the red zone struggles when they look at how the QB performs in those situations.

 

Just ran across this post , now suddenly I feel like I wanna throw up ,coincidence,I think not.

 

To start the game BA scripts the 1st 15 plays We score on over 60 % of our opening possessions. All other possessions we score 34 % of the time. big drop off,why? Ben calls audibles and runs the no huddle. He's making or changing the calls. Its been noted several times how BA is on the sidelines getting on Ben about not running the ball and refusing to let Ben go No-huddle. Ben is always trying to make a play, that's why he's sacked so much. He's quick to give up on the run.

Not all the Blame on the offense should go to BA. Some yes but not all.

Cajun-

 

Thats because he only has 15 plays,14 of them pass plays. When we run out and our offense bogs down then Ben has to start calling them.I have never seen or have I heard about BA getting in Ben's face especially about running the ball,now thats funny.If the offensive production would improve simply by reeling Ben in than why doesn't BA do it,after all he is the OC,no. I'm not gonna sit here and say it's all BAs fault the players have failed to execute in key spots as well,but to me the main reasons why this O continues to be mediocre when it should be elite is because of BAs lack of proper situational playcalling and his lack of using proper formations to keep the defense off guard.

 

jets suck, we already destroyed the Cheats they're done with that crappy D, we were missing Woodley , Sanders and 1 first down to end the 2nd meeting with the rats, Houston lost their QB. The only team Pitts has to worry about is themselves. Don't turn the ball over to the rats, that how you beat them.

 

This is not a post in support of BA.I do not agree with his play calls at times. However we must remember when we do go into the hurry up 7 calls a good percentage of plays from the line. And how many times does 7 check out of original play called in conventional offense? No knock 7 here either.

Just want to put out a few facts here.Than yinz all can judge for yinzselfs.

Using the category the PP used "Scoring Offense" right now approx.2/3 through the 2011 season we are 19th in scoring offense.Lets hope we improve on that.However under BA in
07 #9
08#20
09#12
10#12
11 (hope to improve)#19
AVG..14.4

The 5 year pre BA
Under Mularkey
02#8
03#19
Under Whiz
04#11
05#9
06#12
AVG..11.8

Round down to 14 and up to 12....Not a whole heck of alot of difference in 10 years..Just saying.

 

Don't forget to compare the players pre-Arians and during his term. Big difference.

 

So your saying BA has better players the last 5 years than his prev.OCs?? Really splitting hairs here!!!

 

Sure the players at the disposal of each of those OCs makes a difference. But if you're going to go there, then you have to look at the players across the league, you have to compare our opponents, our schedules, the rules of the day i.e. tuck rule, etc., the prevailing offensive mind-set of the day, how we scored, etc. What are we even basing those stats on? Is it total yardage, points, etc. We used to be a power running team that dominated TOP and would win low scoring games.

IMO, the biggest beef with BA is his inability to use his players to their strengths. He is too busy trying to force players into roles they are not fit for. Also, he calls plays that even junior high school girls can predict. He does not make Adjustments and gets outcoached on a regular basis. Thanks to our D and superhuman individual efforts from guys like Ben, Hines, Heath, they have squeaked out games that should have been blow outs.

This team doesn't win because of BA, they win in spite of him.

 

I'm only comparing offence and I think the offence we have now (complete package) is far better than what we had then.

 

Can't help it, I really hate BA and think he is absolute garbage. He is holding this team back. Even when we won the superbowl, we won so many close games that should have been blowouts. I don't remember the last time we had an offence that could put games away. The great teams in the league put games away when they have the chance. Somehow, and I really have no idea how, we've managed to be one of the best teams in the league the last 5 years despite our pourous offence letting weaker teams stick around. Look at GB, NO, NE, Houston, they build a team and they don't look back. When they get an opponent down, they step on their throat to ensure the game is over. Sure, they'll blow the odd lead, everyone will, but they don't seem to let teams stick around like we do, and that's because we can't put teams away. 5 years of that, that's on BA.

 

I agree - he doesn't gauge the risk involved in various plays relative to the situation. When we absolutlely need that 1st down, & it's 3&2, we need the play with the highest % of suceess. When the running backs have been getting 4+ yards/carry, just add the horses & plow ahead for the 2 yards. If he'd done that in the 2nd Ravens game, we'd be on top of the division now.

 

That is too bad..I really wish we can get an oc who believes in a FB

 

It doesn't matter to me if you don't believe it just because you've never heard of it. I know what I've read and I have NO reason to lie or post false claims. Go pull up all the articles in the post and trib concerning BA & Ben and don't forget to go thru the archives of Dale Lolley, John Clayton and about 5 other writers with inside knowledge or even go to steelcityinsider and reveiw them. maybe somewhere you'll find it.

Truth is Ben would run the No-huddle every play if he could. A few games back Ben audibled to a pass play to Sanders, they missed it and a int was the result which sealed our fate. BA may have been a WR coach and we may be 19th in scoring but let's look at our offense in more detail.

Ninth (9th) Overall
Seventh (7th) in Passing with 35 att/gm (13th) and 8.2 yd avg (5th)---- 56% of all plays are pass att
Seventeenth (17th) in Rushing with 26 att/gm ( 17th) and a 4.2yd avg (16th ) ------ 43% of all plays are rush att.

With the weapons we have do we lower our pass attempts for more balance or are we pretty well balanced as indicated above. BA is right, we do need to run better and Ben needs to stop giving up on the run game when he goes no-huddle.

We seem to do better when we go no huddle, we do move the ball but we don't score as our red-zone TD % shows.

BA is not as bad as many think or claim. He isn't perfect but he does pretty good. A 9th ranked Offense isn't bad.

Cajun-

 

I would agree he is not as bad as many claim. He has a knack for play design and formations, however he has no concept of how to best employ them and use the talent they have to maximum efficiency. YFor example you can run a single back four receiver threat using both Saunders and Miller to replace the slot receivers. From that personnel grouping you can run enough plays and formations to keep a defense so off balance that they won't know what hit them. You can do a bunch set with miller and Saunders upfront and Wallace behind. Hit the quick toss to Wallace and let him run. Same set with Brown out wide and Mendy as a side car left, fake the throw to Wallace and then hit a swing pass to Mendy. Stretch the three to one side and Brown left with Mendy right next to Ben in the shotgun and if they give Brown a five to eight yard cushion, fake the give to Mendnehall, throw over his head to Brown on the quick slant. Bring Miller and Saunders on the line on to each side and run off take, place them both on the right side and run an end around wiht Brown or Wallace. fake a HB slash to the left and hit Miller on a slant to the sideline. All of this done from one personnel grouping and multiple formations but they simply don't game plane to use all the things they have created.

 

This so called majority you talk about really hate him because they can't stand change. They're still expecting to see OLD Steeler football. An i-formation, 50 carries a game, three yards and a cloud of dust. Unfortunately that's not the new NFL and if the Steelers continued to play like that we wouldn't even be competitive anymore. Is there a better OC out there than BA ? Sure there is and you could say the same for every position on the team, coaches and players alike. Ask Philly fans how the offensive genius of Andy Reed is working out right now. Games are won and lost be the collective competence or incompetence of the entire team not one man. Changing the OC won't eliminate fumbles, interceptions and it won't guarantee 100 yards rushing a game and let's not forget about defense and special teams that need to hold up their end of the bargain as well. Yes I get upset with some of the play calling but no more upset than when our QB throws multiple picks in a game or when our D can't stop a game winning drive.

 

I hate hearing that simply because it's not true. I don't hate BA because he has changed us from a running team to a passing team. I hate him because he doesn't utilize the strengths of our players. Mendy went to him and said he would run better if they used a true full back in the running game. BA ignored that and continues to insist we don't need a FB, despite the fact that when we really need to, we can't run the ball. That's the sign of a bad OC, he doesn't listen to his players about what they do best.

I'm so jealous of the Ravens having Vonta Leach, I wish we had him making holes for Mendy.

As for us not being competitive if we were still a running team, SF, Baltimore and Houston would disagree. They are running teams, but they still throw the ball, and they've been successful.

 

Bruce Arians has cost us more wins than our defense. Really our D has bailed him out more than our O has bailed them out. If I were Lebeau I would ask for a portion of BA's salary. I will shout in the streets when he is gone. Also, Willy Gay should pack up and go with him.