Ike says run the damn ball!

I'm positive the entire defense would feel better if the offense took a little more time off the clock like it did when Ike was new to the league.

 

Tell IKE that Walmart has a sell on sun tan lotion so maybe he can stop getting BURNED so much on Sundays in playoff games.

 

OH yes he did!!!!

 

You may not be aware of this, but the Steelers average Time Of Possession was actually higher under Bruce Arians than Ken Wisenhunt.

 

Troy has said this for years, Ike really needs to rededicate
himself after the very poor showing in Denver. Like all Db's
he needs a PASS RUSH to be effective. The Steelers don't seem to have one
and this will make things tough on a defense. You better be able to get after the QB somehow!

 

And just in case you doubt me, check it out yourself:

http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/av ... -net-of-ot

Arians average TOP....32:22
KWs average TOP.......32:02

 

I have to ask though, how much of having the #1 pass D was related to a lack of pass rush? In other words, less blitzing = more guys in coverage. More guys in coverage = less pass yards, but less blitzing = fewer sacks. The two are undoubtedly related, but no one seems to be mentioning it.

 

I agree. It was the "bend but don't break" philosophy in full swing this season.

I'm not sure it explains the lack of turnovers, mind.

(It reminds me that that's also the way the Giants beat the Pats in the last Superbowl they played, generating all the pressure from the front 4. Let's hope for a repeat...)

 

The Steelers offense was pretty darn good at keeping the ball. Their problem was scoring and not time of possession.

I'm postive the entire offense would feel better if the defense got a few more turnovers so the offense could have a shorter field to work with sometimes.

Bottom line, our offense couldn't score and our defense couldn't produce any turnovers whatsoever throughout the season.

Clock management wasn't an issue for the Steelers...

 

Good point and something not talked about much on here amidst all of the Arians bashing. Lack of turnovers = long field and long field = less points. The more times you have to march down the field 80 and 90 yards the more opportunity there is for error both in player execution and play calling. The defenses inability to take the ball away this past season certainly wasn't the main reason we were 21st in scoring but I think it played a bigger role than a lot of people think.

 

I don't buy it. There were plenty of times the defense forced a three and out where the punt put the offense on the field at or near midfield. A quality offense should be able to move the 50 yards to the endzone. I would also point out that even on those long fields, the 80-90 yard drives they moved the ball very effectively until a point and then for whatever reason they would go away form what was working and trying the headscratcher plays. Now ideally yes it would help RZ play if the defense could force turnovers inside the opponents twenty all game long but if your game plan is relying on that to 'help" win games then the game plan is flawed.

 

This is another one of those deceptive stats. We(people on the boards) went round and round about this one two years ago when the debate of run vs pass came up in regards to controlling the clock and managing the game. You look at the GB game two years ago and people were going yeah but we actually had a better TOP than GB which was true but TOP is the average and doesn't account for when those possessions take place and what the outcome of them is. If your opening drive is a soul crushing ten minute drive that only gets you 3 points or worse no points that sets you up with an advantage in TOP right away but it doesn't help you if the opposing team uses thier opening drive to score a touchdown in under 2 minutes. So I guess I am saying where is the bulk of that TOP coming from? If it is coming in the first half with very little scoring to support it than you aren't using it to control the clock or the flow of the game. Which is what I think Ike is referring to run the ball and control the clock late in games to limit the other teams chances, however in order to do that you have to run the ball successfully early in the game so that when you do need that run game in the late stages it is there.

 

The TO differential certainly doesn't help. We were the worst in the AFC in TO differential and tied for 29th in the NFL. Our D only had 11 INT's and we played some pretty crappy QB's. But even worse is that we only had 4 takeaways via fumble recovery. Our D is not creating the fumbles like every team in the NFL. I mean think about it - every team out there is trying to strip the ball during tackling, but I almost never see our guys stripping the ball.

Also, as far as the Steelers RZ efficiency - our's sucked this year. Our ability to move the ball inside the 20's and then not score TD's in the RZ has been discussed at length here and everywhere else and is a known problem with BA's playcalling and the #1 reason why he is gone. For the Offensive horsepower we have, there is no reason that the Bills, Raiders, Bears, Vikings, Panthers, Cardinals, Titans should have better RZ efficiency than the Steelers who want to consider themselves an elite offense. Not even close - (read: the BA is delusional thread).

 

the league and their rules have taken our defensive style away from us. that may be the one thing that has cost us turnovers more then anything. we hit to hard and make teams pay for catching the ball. we are not allowed to do that anymore. it hurts our players style and our DC's style. we are now having to create a whole different style of defense here and we are not used to doing that after playing the other way for so long.

 

There is more to the Whisenhunt/Arians TOP possession than meets the eye. Yes, the TOP was about the same with Arians slightly ahead, but Whiz had a way of being quick down the field the first couple of possessions. He liked to surprise teams, roll out a gameplan that he knew could get them a lead, and then basically take the air out of the ball. BA wanted to throw long on every possession, of his own admission, and that just isn't practical.

When it comes to Red Zone efficiency, I think Arians disdain for Hines Ward and wanting him off the team prior to this year is all you need to know. Hines is one of the best ever and will go to the HOF, but BA couldn't figure out a way to use him anywhere on the field, even when facing a zone defense. I bet we see a resurgent Hines Ward next year under the new OC and many will wonder why. I also think Heath Miller may make the Pro Bowl next year as I expect his TD and receiving stats to go up.

 

I've been thinking the same thing. Note how Troy is often diving for the opposing players' knees/shins, now.

 

Not all BA's fault. Ben didn't seem to read progressions well in the 2011 season. Doing so gets tougher as the field gets shorter. There isn't as much room/time for all that "extending the play."

 

Not all BA's fault. Ben didn't seem to read progressions well in the 2011 season. Doing so gets tougher as the field gets shorter. There isn't as much room/time for all that "extending the play."[/quote:126pojfs]
I agree that Ben shares some blame for this. AND, as a coach if you know that your personnel can't or won't execute on what you call, then it is your responsibility as the leader of the offense to adjust instead of continuing to attempt the same old tired crap that isn't working.

 

OUCH!!

 

Here we go again with another run the ball thread, I don't care if Ike said it, he should be the last person to say anything, he gave Tebow 300 yards out of the 316 he threw for.

 

Are you kidding me? And Antwaan Randel El has a better career passer rating than Ben Roethlisberger.

You can stare at that stat all day long, but if you think BA was better at keeping the ball than Whisenhunt, especially when it mattered, you are out of your mind. Ben and BA both could share a dozen stats with you to prove BA was the best thing to ever happen to this team. But they'd still be wrong, he still deserved to get fired, and was. You can talk to Joe Greene about it.

 

I realize getting points is the main issue, but clock management was definitely a problem for the Steelers. BA was inefficient at and didn't care about running the ball, and that killed us time and time again. Not only were we unable to close out games we should have walked through (Jacksonville, Cleveland, KC, all could have won, and Baltimore did), but we tried to use the passing game as a replacement for the running game. That does work sometimes, because we have great receivers and a QB that is as good as any when he is hot. But other times they can't connect, we get nowhere, we don't use the clock, and our quarterback gets pummeled. The attempt at balance was a token effort at best. The TOP is also helped by the fact that we often had long opening drives that were well-scripted, but after that the play calling deteriorated into garbage.

 

imagine what our TOP would be under Airians if Ben didnt wait until the very last second every play.....lol...This is obviously a misleading stat. Lets look at drives per game that produced points...I wonder which coordinator had more success with scoring drives....