I don't think this has been discussed yet about the offense, but....

...it takes our offense an awfully long amount of time to drive the football down the field. Sure we can move it and put up the yards, but it takes ages. We might drive down to the opponents 7 yard line then get stuffed and be forced to kick a field goal, but it takes us 7+ minutes most of the time!

Any time you have 12+ play drives, that is 12 opportunities for mistakes (penalties, sacks, turnovers, drops, misreads). Then we get to halftime with like 6 points on the scoreboard because we can't score inside the redzone, and it goes down the hill from there. It is like we are wearing down our offense, whereas it never seems that the opposing defense gets worn down. Our defense wears down even with extended breaks from these massive 10 minute drives by the Steelers.

I will note that we have a lot of 3 and outs, so it is not like every drive is time consuming. But any of our drives where we move the ball, it takes forever to do it.

Why? We don't produce big plays anymore. A big play in Haley's offense is a 5 yard screen, picking up a first down on 3rd and 4.

In that first half of the first Browns game, it was like we were in a different world. The offense looked great! That tells me that we have the talent and ability to move the ball quickly and score points, we just simply choose not too anymore by using this dink and dunk.

I think that we need to game plan to come out fast and score points on drives lasting 3-5 minutes rather than 8+. More possessions = more chances for points and more chances for our defense to get turnovers.

 

When we base the passing game on the "dink and dunk" method and don't go for the long balls (right or wrong), it does eat up time off the clock. What bugs me is that I'd much rather see a solid, consistent running game to intentionally take time off, and even more importantly, getting in the end zone!

 

You don't really run into a problem with long drives provided the following:

1) Your defense is stopping most scoring from the opposing offense (and any scoring they are making can't be quick scores)
2) Your offense is scoring consistently on their drives
3) You're in the lead (this will happen by default if #1 and #2 hold)

This creates an environment in which your defense remains rested and the opposing offense has to play into your defense's hands with risky play calling to try to catch up. It also makes it difficult for the opposing offense to get into a rhythm.

I think most of the frustration directed at the Steelers goes away if the offense can start scoring.

 

Knowing the defence is the weakest part of this team, maybe that is the game plan to take all day to drive the ball down the field.

 

I think the offense is the weakest part of the team in respect to the talent and attention paid to that side of the ball.

 

The Steelers are 6th in time of possession, so they are keeping the D off the field better than 80% of the league. So keeping the ball ain't the problem. Kicking FGs, taking sacks on the opp 30 and punting, stalling in the red zone; those are the problems

 

Agreed and the rules are also heavily in their favor.thats why it is so frustrating. The talent is there ,something or someone is holding us back. I honestly think we don't do enough to confuse the defense or we don't put our personnel in the right situation to succeed. Our formations and our tendencies are so easy to predict the cards are stacked against us scoring. Someone mentioned getting back to basics and simplifying the O. I think that is a step in the right direction for now. We outthink ourselves. Line it up and run it right at them....with a FB. Then when the D can't stop that they will have to adjust thus opening up other options. That's the biggest problem With this team,we play too cute on both sides of the ball. We make things too complicated for our own guys to perform and not have to think too much.

 

There, fixed it for ya !!


scruffy

 

Controlling t.o.p. Is important but the stalling in the money maker zone is terrible. I agree about putting certain personnel in certain situations, unfortunately certain personnel are always deactivated come game time. I'm not a coach, so maybe I can't really give an opinion on this but my assumption is even if Benjamin would've landed here, our staff would've probably said he wasn't ready yet yadda yadda yadda. Get Bryant a damn hat and give it a shot. What are ya gonna lose? The game? Hell we've already got that going for us.

They need to get creative too move brown around put J brown and Bryant on the outside with A brown taking the slot. Mix it up some. Go" I" a little more with Johnson and bell or Blount and pound the ball... Come back with some p.a. everyone else is doing this crap why not us? We used too!

 

In all honesty, it's the little things. Move people around run some different things but keep it simple. Bring in some certain personnel. That's all covered in going back to the basics. Play to your strength situationally. If Defensive ends like Vrabel and now Watt or catching end zone passes then why the hell can't a rookie WR with tons of upside be given a shot? This team never thinks outside of the box in the simplest of forms!

a few years back we caught everybody off guard by simply throwing on first down... WOW! Simple as that.

 

One thing I liked about New England when they played the Bengals was that they varied when they would snap the ball when in the hurry up. We always seem to stall until the last second then snap it. Nothing like letting the defense get ready for you.

 

Agree.

Our TOP was a big problem a few seasons back, as I recall (cue someone posting a stat that disproves that...), and the defense suffered as a result.

Glenn is also right that you need to mix it up. Ben will always wait until the last second to snap it. Even in the no-huddle. Imagination and creativity from the offense also wears down a defense. Problem is, you need the confidence to execute those plays first.

My favourite example: on a 4th and short, the offense will usually line up in an effort to draw the D offsides. But I cannot remember a single time they have actually gone for it in those sitations to catch the D out (i.e. snapping it with 3-4 seconds left on the clock when the D thinks they're trying to draw the penalty instead). The result is, it's patently obvious when we've just lined up to draw the penalty, and nobody has every bitten.

 

My mind is foggy as well Ray but I do recall this was done and I was elated they actually snapped it instead of waiting for the D to jump ( which rarely happens)

 

Well, there you go. I stand corrected. It's likely I was staring down the bottom of a pint glass at that point in the game, and missed it...

 

EXACTLY! Even in the "hurry up", we are soo slow.

 

Also watching Foster tap Pouncey to initiate the snap is driving me crazy. May as well tell the opposing defense when the snap will occur.

 

I remember seeing this with Velasco and couldn't quite get it... presumed it was something to do with being a new guy or something. Is it because of crowd noise or something? Do many other teams do it?