Big play vs. Slow 'n' steady

I think there has been a big switch in the Steelers' philosophy I am having trouble adjusting to. The defensive philosophy used to be a fairly exciting, high pressure approach to create the big play - sacks, turnovers, interceptions. Now it seems to be more contain and don't give up the big play, rather than make the big play. On offense, it used to be run, grind, and drive down the field, eating up clock and wearing out the opponent's D, and now it is more quick strike, big play down the field, high risk play. I suppose it makes sense to have one aspect of the team play steady and the other a little more risky (both risky would be TOO risky; both conservative would not score enough). Personally, I enjoy a riskier, exciting defense and a steady offense, so this new philosophy is hard to watch.

 

Not me I love the high flying offense......That's what you need in todays NFL to win

 

Me too. I'm almost disappointed now if I don't see at least 2 Ben to Wallace bombs in a game. Nothing more exciting than to watch that hook up for a long TD. That's saying a lot since I date back to the Steel Curtain days but in that respect a whole lot hasn't changed because Bradshaw didn't hesitate to air it out either. He wasn't nicknamed the blonde bomber for handing the ball off to Franco on every down. Frankly I don't see why some of these folks get so caught up in the style of play as long as we're winning and this team has proven they can win by throwing the football just as past teams won with a stronger running game. As for the defense the "don't give up the big play" philosophy has been the game plan ever since DL's been running the defense so it's not new by any means. The only difference has been the players we've had to execute the philosophy / game plan over the years. In DL's scheme if you don't get pressure on the QB you're going to get torched underneath and you're not going to get those big turnovers that we were used to seeing. Hopefully that will improve once Woodley makes it back on the field with Harrison and that can't happen too soon right now.

 

Never thought I would say this, but I,too, like the passing offense. In the past, I would cringe when we dropped back to throw (not so much with Ben but you know what I mean...) but now I am very confindent when we do

 

We did miss Woodley. Only one big pass rusher and not two

 

Recently I cringe when Ben goes back to throw or the opposing quarterback goes back to throw. Too much opportunity for bad things to happen either way.

 

I think the offensive personality is primarily a reflection of the offensive personnel that we have had in recent years. I just don't think we have had the offensive line to play a run dominated offense--I actually think it's been since we last lost to NE in the AFC championship game that we had a dominant running game. Consequently, we have to pass more if we are going to move the ball and score points.

Now, I agree with you in that I would prefer a run dominant offense--IF we could dominate that way. Since I don't think we have the personnel for that currently, I don't mind the approach we have taken offensively. I think Ben is a very good quaterback (though I think he needs to become better at settling for what defenses give him) and he certainly has some good weapons to work with in Wallace, Brown, Sanders, Miller, Ward. So, I don't mind the pass happy approach too much.

One thing I don't like about our offense, though, is its consistency. Certain teams seem to be able to bring our offense to a grind from a coverage standpoint. I think this may have to do with Ben, honestly. It seems he performs far better against zone defenses than man-to-man schemes (as has been noted before). If we can get more consistent, I'll be happy, because I honestly think our defense has shown over the last two weeks that its good enough to play with anyone in the league.