Upon further and calmer review

Now that I have reflected on things from a slight distance in time, I have decided to pay attention only to what can be seen on the field. No talk, no speculation, only performance and behavior on the field. I have no idea what goes on all week, on the practice field, in the locker room, in the coaches meetings, or what plays are called, or what schemes are planned. Just what I see, and here is what I conclude:

1. Poor red zone scoring. This has been an issue for years, and has slowly gotten worse.
2. Ben is inconsistent. He has great quarters, and some great games, but these are offset by really lousy quarters and games. His moments of exceptional play in my mind do not make up for the times that he seems to make poor decisions or poor throws.
3. Lack of turnovers on defense. Again a problem for the past several years. The defensive philosophy of preventing big plays (which of course has not worked) also seems to have prevented the aggressiveness needed to create turnovers.
4. Playing stupid. Excessive celebration penalties, running out of bounds when you want to keep the clock running, not realizing a fumble is a live ball and allowing the other team to pick it up and waltz into the endzone, getting sacked out of field goal range rather than throwing the ball away, etc.
5. Excessive penalties. Especially the pre-snap penalties and the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

And some good stuff, too:

1. Bell is the real deal. This kid is great and I love watching him run.
2. I think some of our new, young talent will blossom in the next few years, if they can stay healthy.
3. Antonio Brown is a star, but I wish he would tone down the celebrations a bit. Personal preference.

Unfortunately, none of the problems are new problems this year, but have been plaguing the team for a few years, and they seem to be getting worse, not better. I have heard repeatedly that the team lacks an identity, but I am afraid it has an identity, summarized by items 1 - 5 above.

My biggest concern is actually Ben. The consistency of his play has deteriorated, possibly due to new schemes and new personnel, but possibly due to age, physical issues, or something else. He just doesn't look good some of the time, and those times seem to be getting more frequent. Seems a long time since there were last-minute heroics on his part, and he rarely seems able to ice a game and put people away. Certainly not all his fault, but some of it is. I fear he will be locked up for the next several years in a new huge contract, and we will be suffering through his inconsistency for quite some time.

With an infusion of new talent over the last few years, and yet the same problems seem to be consistent, I now tend to think it is not the players (except for maybe the stupid part and Ben being inconsistent). We need new ideas to solve these issues. Not sure how soon we will get them.

 

I have to say that I agree completely with this assessment.

Perhaps not the last paragraph, mind: I don't like this whole division between 'coaches fault' and 'players fault'. The two are both actively engaged in what happens on the field. I tend to think that something in their preparation is not getting them in the right place; there does seem to be a bad culture growing amongst the players (along with Bell's silly first down celebration, I hate seeing receivers appeal for a flag after every incompetion - it's a pet hate, and I'm aware that's how the game is, but I just don't like it); the execution is awful. In all of those situations, there is no clear line between coaches and player's responsibility. They're all contributors, and can all make a difference.

I was thinking of that LBer who used to play for the 49ers in the 80s... name escapes me... but they signed him and he used to get into his uniform and full pads at home, because he was so pumped to play (and a tiny bit psychotic). When he turned up at the 49ers, he didn't stop doing that, because the coaches did differently. That's an extreme example, but my point is that players are not completely passive in training and game prep. Just as coaches are not completely passive when it comes to what happens on gameday; and owners are not completely passive once the season has started. That tends to get overlooked when we search for an 'ultimate' answer to what's going wrong.

 

Good point, but Ben has taken a beating throughout his career and isn't getting any younger. Once his contract expires he'll be 34, which is probably more like 38 or 39 for most other QB's considering the beating he has taken and the style he plays. He already can't do the things he once did and he's been horribly inconsistent for us, to the point where he's hurting us more than he's helping us so far this year. Give him a new contract for 4-5 years and we're going to have 4-5 years of mediocre seasons. We will have an aging, inconsistent QB with no money for other players. Most people on here are very conservative in nature (not to be confused with conservative in politics) and would rather play it safe by resigning him. I think that's a huge mistake and will come back to haunt us. Yes, there will be some lean times until we get another franchise QB, but hell, we're going through lean times now with Ben and he's only going to get older.

 

Point #1 &2 Kind of go hand in hand
Point #1--
My belief (as far Ben is concerned) is that when he was a rookie here, he used to escape the pocket and run which made him an elusive quarterback, one that was hard to rush in on.

Once a coach (who knows who) "settled him down " and made a "mature" pocket passer out of him, he lost that edginess that our opponent's couldn't prepare for. I also believe that took some of the fun away for Ben (purely speculation).

Whoever coached this into the mix, this long snap, count hasn't realized that it is killing momentum. When you have a slow lumbering line you don't want to give them time to settle into stances. Keep that synergy moving, but yet that count has become old and our opponents can prepare for that, also.

So this leads us to point #2--
Our offense has too many tells, and is easy to read. Opponents do their homework on us. If they blow off an assignment or make a mistake Ben does capitalize on it.

Point #3-- Defense. I'm not sure what is going on there. Is it that we as fans are used to seeing a dominant defense and have that standard? Now that they aren't dominant, they look average (and that's not good enough for us?). I'm one that isn't so inclined to throw LeBeau out as the problem. I do think maybe all these different schemes need to go. Settle them into a foundation and find out where each man's strengths and weakness's are-- and play to those strengths.

Point #4 &5 purely come down to discipline. There isn't any other way to say it or see it on the field. The players lack the discipline and focus to keep themselves in check.

I agree that none of these are new problems and will take time to clear up.
Nice Post Steel Acorn!

 

http://www.nfl.com/player/benroethlisberger/2506109/careerstats

 

That looks very consistent.. especially punting stats!

 

Ben has never been a runner. His career high is 204 yards rushing in 2007. Over his first 5 seasons he averaged 123.2 rushing yards per season ... last season he ran for 99 yards.

 

Ben may not be consistent from game to game, but he never has been. Everyone seems to have perceptions of Ben that simply don't stand up to scrutiny.

 

I didn't say he was a runner.. more that he escaped, once he did that he did run. Now it seems that he just folds. So why would an opponent sit back and wait for him?? They don't. They bring everything, because he isn't a threat to come past the line of scrimmage anymore.

How many times have we seen Ben try to force a throw now, instead of breaking for the L.O.S.?

And I do think his stats are consistent. There aren't great varying numbers from year in and year out. There are some marks there that look bad, and some that are good.. If you take the good with the bad, you average them out, and you get consistent. He's not consistently good and not consistently bad.

 

1) Ben was and probably never will be great at leading an offense to produce points on a consistent basis. There isn't a top 5 defense to back up his inconsistent play anymore so the issue is heightened. Do the Steelers want to invest 50+ million in a player that has difficulty leading an offense to produce points? A less expensive QB might be able to produce at the same level.

3)For me this is a pass rushing issue. The Steelers no longer have the pass rushers they once had and that has a trickle down effect. Troy also isn't the same player he once was.

4)Players from all teams make mistakes. One good thing is that it's correctable.

5)I agree, they need to do better with presnap penalties and I think they will.

 

Ben is on pace for 30 rushing attempts this season. His career average is 34.6 attempts per season.

He's always forced throws ... including throwing back clear across the field across his body.

 

I'll be the extreme minority here but the one constant with Ben is that he doesn't have constant protection. Every single set of downs which involves more than one pass play and he finds himself under pressure and his hole career has been that way, inconsistent up front leads to inconsistent play. I also watched dropped balls in the end zone on numerous occasions, like 5 to 7 end zone drops in a season, no other team does that as consistently as the Steelers. The big difference with Haley and BA is the intermediate routes, BA looked to have understood the weak links along the o-line and always set up routes that would allow Ben to have an escape route that he could run to and make a throw, one announcer said he never witnessed a QB so good on the run but he also never saw any QB have to run as much as Ben. How do you ask a guy that gets waffled 4 to 5 times every drive to play consistently, some of us act like he has the o-line of a Brady or Manning and remember, those guys usually fall when faced with a big rush, in our offense they would fall every other pass play. I apologize and I don't let Ben off the hook but we just don't have the right pieces for the kind of play everyone wants to take place. We have stars on offense in skill positions but our tackles on the line are equivalent to duct tape stopping a leak, it holds the water for a few minutes but eventually fails. We try to run short yardage pass plays but we consistently miss blocks that allow that type of deal to work and last but not least, the play calling when we get a lead is conservative to the point we can't kill the clock and when we have to play from behind we try to force the issue. That is where I hold Ben accountable as he should be, it looks as if we get to the point where we are behind by a score or two, the offense goes into panic mode and then he does the thing I really hate with Ben, he will force things or hold on to the ball for far too long in order to make something happen when a play breaks down, and that falls squarely on his shoulders but it isn't all his fault when we miss blocks or drop passes and if you watched for any amount of time, most of those take place in the red zone, it looks like we get inside the 20 and everyone, including the OC, goes brain dead. Truth be told, Ben will have to step up and the offense will have to score 30+ points per game if we are to have any kind of playoff chance as the defense is pretty much unfixable at this point.

 

Nice post.

I believe the O-Line becomes less effective in the red zone because the opposing D-Line becomes much more aggressive (as they should). Poor O-Line play has been part of the red zone scoring issue, for years.

I think Ben is a good QB. I just don't believe he's great at carrying the team. I am starting to wonder if the Steelers are building toward an offensive strategy that does not fit him, anymore. He doesn't seem comfortable in the pocket. Also, he appears to rarely be ready to let the ball go after a 3-or-5 step drop... even when he moves up in the pocket after the drop (yes the O-Line is playing that well for nice spurts), he still holds the ball. I think Haley's offense is geared toward quick reads and releases. And, in this regard, both Ben and the WRs are failing (including Heath and AB, at times). Fortunately, there are signs of improvement. Wheaton requested to meet with the QB squad, after his WR squad meeting so he can get on the same page with Ben. These guys are putting in the effort. They just need to do what's necessary to translate that focus onto the field.

I disagree that the defense is unfixable. In regards to the Cleveland game, 14 of the Browns points came from the defense making lapses in judgement at one position. One instance was Troy being baited into a run on PA that left Cameron Jordan wide open. The second was Cortez slipping on Cameron Jordan and letting the TE get behind him. Then, Cortez bit on the pass instead of tackling the catch. I believe those issues are fixable. Also, the front 7 never gave up, in that game. And they continued to hit hard in both the front 7 and the secondary. There was penetration into the backfield... they just couldn't touch Hoyer. I'm not going to go into the offensive holding by the Browns... but I will say the Steelers defensive front 7 need to learn how to overcome the ignored holding calls. Because those are let slide by the refs a lot. Hopefully Harrison and Porter can work with them on that. Both of those guys know all about that holding and how to beat it. The D is struggling, but they are showing signs of progress. They need to turn that hustle into tangible results... no splash plays allowed.

 

How many franchise QB's get the franchise tag applied to them? It's kind of an insult and I don't think it will go over well at all. I'm not even convinced he'll play for us if we do that, and if he does, how well is he going to play when he's pouting the entire season? Either resign him for 2-3 years, which he won't go for, or let him leave.

 

Ben has been great for the Steelers and I'm a huge Ben fan. I just don't think he has it anymore. As someone stated he always had a strong defense to help him out. He wasn't the MVP of either SB (I think he should have got the last one) because he just cant carry the team consistently.

The team is better with Ben but the amount of money he ties up...is he worth it? Maybe the Steelers use that money to beef up the oline get a game manager QB and let Bell run with it.

I don't think Haley or Arians helped Ben at all. It seems that Ben needs a little longer to make decisions so why not roll him out a dozen times a game when Ben is at his best...on the move. Ben doesn't have the accuracy with the long ball or the short fast reads...he is best between 10-15 yards but we never see those patterns unless it is 3rd and 10 or 3rd and 15.

Right now do you feel that Ben could run that same drive that won the SB?...I don't...and our oline is a little better than that group of oline. Ben is just not Ben lately...the first game, first half against the Browns...that was our Ben 4-6 years ago, but that was just a glimpse and we haven't seen it again.

 

Please remind me what game it was that Ben hit his hand? And before that moment did his play show good things on the field? I agree with some of yinz that he isn't the same but as youth diminishes, maturity takes over... Ben has done well, not great, just well. I do agree that he doesn't have the protection that those other guys do.

 

I believe those are the facts of life.....

 

Blame Ben all you want, but our WR's are too small and weak to make money in the redzone and Heath is our only TE who can catch. Just who is Ben supposed to throw to? He can't even see the WR's over the linemen. Would be nice if we could put 3 on the field at the same time that were 6'3" or above and who could catch the ball. Hines wasn't a tall receiver but he could push DB's around. Our guys can't create space in the redzone to save their life.

 

Perhaps calling Ben inconsistent was too specific - the offense it too inconsistent. Could be due to offensive line play, weird play calling, receiver issues, or a number of other things, but it sure looks like Ben himself is inconsistent, too.

And I call the "soft" thing a lack of resilience. A couple of bad series or bad plays, and this team seems to fold.

 

True, but now he seems to have fewer highs and more lows. I recall Fast Willie Parker - 1 yd., 2 yds., -1, yd, 0 yds, 51 yds. used to be his typical stats. Overall looked good on the average, but maintaining a drive was tough in the long haul. That pattern for Ben or the offense to have a good quarter or two, or maybe even a game, but followed by a lackluster period of time, is a killer.

 

Ben is the LEAST of things wrong with this team. He still has it. Trade him or don't resign him and see what a truly bad football team looks like.

 

EXACTLY what I saw last Sunday.

Second and third drives were nice sustained long drives. First a FG...3-0. Frustrating but fine. Hold Cleveland then another long drive with a missed FG. Maddening but still Pittsburgh is in control. Sure its only 3-0, but they're owning Cleveland which has negative offensive yards at this point....Then 2 big plays and a TD and despite all of that, it's still early and only 7-3. At that point, remain calm take a breath and get back to work and what you've been doing the first 3 series. Instead this team seemed to get spooked and **** the bed.

It reminded me of Denver in the SB last year. Sure it was a bad start but it was early. But you've got the most powerful offense of all time. Remain calm and play your game, have trust in it. Instead they went into the tank. Mentally weak. Thats what Denver was, thats what Pittsburgh is. Thats also what the Bengals have been in the past.