Ben still bad?

Ben was Brady last night vs our old defense. Big cushy soft zones hoping the pass rush hits home

 

I'd say he had a solid game but still has room for improvement. That stretch early when Tennessee was moving the ball, and we followed it up with back to back 3 & outs was rough. Got tired in the 2nd half so I didn't see every snap..... 'cause I'm a senior and I go to bed early like all old people.

 

I really don't know who you've been watching, because it hasn't been Roethlisberger. Miscommunication has been a big problem, but he has been missing on more throws than he used to, especially the deep balls. More importantly, he wasn't improvising and making plays. He used to have those amazing numbers after being touched by a defender, but this year as soon as they got close, the play was over. The last two weeks, we've started seeing him improvise successfully again. That was the best sign from last night.

 

Nothing went wrong in the 4th, Ben still completing passes to Bell when in the grasp, bad snaps and handoffs turned into gains.

 

At one point last night, after the first drive, Ben was really struggling and was 10 for 22 and just seemed out of sorts. I was starting think that he really is nearing the end of his career. Then...lightning struck in the second half and the dude goes off, 20 for 23 and finished up with 4 touchdowns and 1 yard shy of 300! Great performance!! One thing I noticed which helped, in addition to the hurry up, was that he started taking 3 step drops and getting the ball out quickly to Bell, AB and JuJu. That seemed to loosen the D up and he had his way with them the rest of the game. I'd like to see more of those quick timing passes and less of this taking a 5 to 7 step drop and waiting FOREVER for a pattern to develop. That's what the Pats do with great success and with our weapons it can work here equally as effectively.

 

This is what the Cheats and other quick release QB's have been doing to the DL's D,, no huddle and quick shots up the middle. Ben was trying to force things again in the first half, by throwing into double coverage when he had guys wide open right in front of him.

When Ben had the big season #'s it was the quick plays doing the damage. This season he went back to the bonehead Ben where everything has to be deep, and back to holding onto the ball for too long.

 

It appears to me that Ben plays better when he dosent have to think much and relies more on instincts like quick plays with no huddles. When he gets into that slow type of game with many runs up the middle, the has to throw on third downs only, and waiting for the play calls from the sidelines he gets impatient and more prone to make mistakes. He is better at the quick pace type of game.

 

As far as Ben. This game was a perfect example. You could see he was throwing the ball fine. Bryant had a drop. It was horrible play calling, it wasn't Ben in the 1st half like it has been all season.

 

They put up a graphic that said (I paraphrase): after contact, Ben had ~12 TD’s, 0 INT’s & a 127 QBR in 2014-2015; 2016-present, he’s got 0 TD’s, 9 INT’s and a ~48 QBR.

 

I thought the angle was good for kickoffs. You could really see the coverage well. It was good for pass plays also in that you could see the patterns unfold.

Terrible for running plays because depth perception was hard. And anytime guys got outside the numbers you had no idea where they were.

The new angle will also be good for tracking Berry's 25-yard Shankapotomous punts that go shooting off the side of his foot.

I prefer the traditional view although I am not sure if it is because the view is superior or because I am old.

 

I just saw I had a”disagree” with this? I don’t even remember reading it? Hmm... Gremlins