Stubbornness and game planning

I wonder if some of the Steelers' woes are due to stubbornness on the part of the coordinators. "Thou shalt run the ball" and "Thou shalt prevent the big play" seem to be mantras that they can't give up, even when they aren't called for and aren't working. We have a QB that can, at least when he is "on", light up defenses, but we stick to the running game (and I call those behind-the-line screens as the running game) to start almost every game. And we have been torched by big plays for years, yet we stick with the same scheme. Our two-game scoring frenzy was aided tremendously by the opponent self-destructing, allowing the coordinators to open up the playbook.

The times when we have dominated, at least in my recent memory, have been when we deviated from what we had been doing (the Pats game several years ago). And I recall at the end of the Cowher era, especially in the Superbowl playoff run, it was pass first and get a lead, then grind it out with the running game.

I think our coordinators may gear up for the good teams and come up with better game plans, but stick to vanilla for weaker teams, and the vanilla takes the fire out of the players and is not a recipe for success. Jets are a perfect example. "Oh, we'll just run it up the gut - that is who we are - and we'll be fine". "We don't have to spy Vick - we'll just play our usual D and we'll be fine". "We're just that good". This is really the only explanation I have for the game plan on Sunday, and our consistent inability to beat weaker teams.

That philosophy may start with Tomlin - never really sure what goes on all week to prepare. Sometimes I wonder if they practice at all.