Bill Cowher On How To Fix Steelers’ Offense

yes - I understand that. but there will be 5th yr option talk and no long term contract talk, that is all I am saying

 

Warren is running the ball very well. It's a nice 1-2 punch.
But I point to Canada as a problem (again).

Harris is a guy that gets better the more carries he gets. He needs 20 touches.
Canada has no feel for the game flow, if Harris is heating up, keep feeding him the ball.
Canada also has no design for using Harris' strengths.

Warren is a small guy but runs very well and compliments Harris to near perfection.
Both can catch, so I would never hesitate to call wheel routes for either.
Canada calls those bubble screens and sideline safety valve routes... defenses know that.
He does not use the middle of the field enough.

One thing I have been waiting for is a crossing pattern with Pickens and Austin... Austin has jets and if the safety is out of position, he's gone.
Pickens is open even when he is not.
I like to see the TE on a drag route underneath more as well... Big fan of Pat, but also like Heyward.

 

he will NEVER get 20 touches in this offense. we cannot and do not sustain drives. as many 3 and outs as anyone in the league

he does not fit AT ALL in what we are doing.

tired of 3 years now of excuses from everyone.

offense blows.

 

And fumbled twice bs the Texans

 

I cannot agree with that at all, for many reasons and no excuses.
That said, I had thought about a trade with the Colts but have no sense for what the Colts are thinking.
I can't sit down and illustrate all the wrong things in Canada's approach... it's not worth that effort.

 

We could have McCaffrey with this line and OC and he wouldn’t be doing any better…just saying!

 

I just picture you screaming at the computer screen as you type. So angry.

 

correct

Franco Harris, nor Jerome Bettis would have success in this offense

 

naaaa - just a bit tired this AM and have some opinions

 

Eat a Snickers my man. It's all gonna be o.k.

 

thanks - I know it will be, sorry, do not mean to be offensive.

I do want to get back to Steelers greatness, tired of the 'Tomlin Regime' in general, that's all.

this offense is so hard to watch.

 

Not sure I agree with that one. I think a RB and an OL have to complement each other. A very good RB can make an average OL look good and vice versa. We like to talk about Kenny missing throws, which is true, but there is also film out there of Najee missing holes and inexplicably running into the most congested part of the line, almost running up the backs of his linemen. He's pretty good when he gets a full head of steam, but he doesn't seem to be very instinctive as a runner. And for crying out loud, Najee, you're a big guy. Stop trying to hurdle DBs that weigh 40 pounds less than you and just put your head down and punish them!

 

Sedrick Van Pran.

 

The couple breakdowns I watched of our line was promising. Jones did very well. However, Cole and TEs consistently missed blocks.

Naj is an angry man when we have a semblance of blocking. Cole lost leverage several times which resulted in a guy in the rbs face.

 

I like You....I really do, but You say a lot of things without evidence....like if You just think its true it's true. With out getting into a bunch of stats, but only using the ones that would actually back up what You say.....yet even those say You are wrong. The longest run is by Najee, the most yard per carry is by Najee, and the less fumbles are by Najee.....so besides just what You think You are seeing supports that....outside of a bunch of other fans who don't know what they are looking at. On top of it all we need both, and yet people are trying to ay one against the other.

 

You're not offending me. I think we all feel the same about this offense right now. I do feel like they will improve as the year goes on but I just don't see the sense in screaming about Canada over and over again. We all want him gone but there's nothing we can do if the organization doesn't choose to do so. I'm sure you're well aware that sometimes the conversations around here turn to beating a dead horse over and over again.

 

In the commercial You get a before, and after with the snickers....so what would @mikeyg be after???

 

I think their idea for flipping the modern script and taking a RB higher than the linemen blocking for him really backfired. I suppose you could sub 'skill players' for RB when considering Freiermuth over Humphrey, and really, their draft tendencies in the years leading up to that. Being that 2021 was about Ben's final year they once again leaned toward skill player before foundation hoping picks like Green and Moore would be good enough for the o-line.

Sadly, they weren't. And not only did it impact 2021, but Harris and even Pickett are dealing with some of the fallout.

 

Definitely our O-Line needs to be upgraded, Center is a massive priority. Naj is the victim of predictable offensive sets a ****ty center and then his hesitant run style when the hole isn't immediately where he expects it. How many times have we seen several good running plays then Canada goes to the well a 3rd straight time and we lose yards by a tackle in the backfield? If we don't trust KP to line up and conduct a play action pass then he shouldn't be out there. I blame all the coaches for having sat Jones as long as he did because clearly he played well in his first start. We are too conservative on working our high draft picks into the units. If JP sits again I would fall off my chair. This isn't Lebeau's defense to learn or a super complicated offense to learn. I'm still scratching my head that we didn't pick up a center in the draft but took a TE. Nothing happens if your center sucks.

 

Running Najee out of the gun is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

He needs a head start instead of starting in the backfield. I really wish they'd completely do away with the gun for now and see how Kenny does with the option to roll out as well as with Najee getting a head start. If they went 100% with Kenny behind center, the defense wouldn't know for sure what was coming.

 

agreed - he misses holes, hesitates and rarely annihilates tacklers. l

i agree - I like him too, he is just a miss.

 

I was thinking "thanks for stating the obvious, Cowher." But Cowher had a lot better offenses than this current train wreck. We always had a decent rushing game with Cowher teams and the 1995 team had a solid offense.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1995/index.htm

Pgh was 5th in O, and was only 300 yards less than the #1 O, SF. Over 1,800 yds rushing near the top, and 3,900 yds passing, top 6.

The 2005 team avg. 24 PPG, a huge # by comparison to the 2023 15 PPG airline crash.

Cowher wasn't known for putting together Don Coryell type offensive #s but he surely was better than the horse sh-t this current regime is throwing up. Oh, but Cowher wasn't afraid of hiring competent assistant coaches either. Then there is THAT.

 

Scheme and execution are equally important. As of now, the Steelers offense is not doing well enough at either.

 

This year, Najee is averaging 3.9 ypc to Jaylen's 3.6 ypc. Both of those suck. But I think what I'm seeing with my own eyes is that Jaylen is much more explosive, more instinctive and hits the hole harder than Harris and without hesitation. Forget the ypc for this year! We've had to abandon our running game early and the line has underperformed. If you want to use stats, fine. I think last year is a good indication of what their capabilities are. Do you know what Jaylen's ypc was in 2022? Do you know what Najee's was? For the record, 4.9 and 3.8 respectively. How's that for evidence?! I'm not ready to give Warren superstar status at this point, but he deserves more opportunities. We need to get the running game going and if not, we're in for a long season. Najee seems to be running in the mud at times.