Why don't we have a running game?

Does anyone here remember the 49ers and Patriot teams that won championships with little running game? Short passing game overcomes that issue...maybe history shows its a non-issue.

 

When the weather turns cold and you want to eat clock and your playing
against a quality opponent you will be begging for a running game that
will ice games. Cowher and Bus knew how to do this, we need a a running/pass ratio
that will accomplish this. Think TOP against KC.

 

The 49ers were pioneers of the west coast offense using shorts passes as part of the run game. They had Craig and Ricky Waters who were just as good at catching the ball as they were running it. The Pats had an obsessive coach who could make those week to week adjustments to his offensive and defensive philosophy that allowed them to dink and dunk with out a solid mauling run game. Neither example are called the Pittsburgh Steelers nor is the coach one of those innovator. They need to run the ball, last season more then anything showed where they will be if Ben goes down and there isn't a dominant rushing attack.

 

I don't see a road grader type on our Oline. The steelers run game works best when DD or Pouncey are pulling and in space.
Sure Snell fumbled a couple of times but does that mean he is done.
At least Snell hits it hard and straight , Id rather get 2 that way then be caught for a loss of 3 trying to bounce it outside.
I can't understand why they stayed with Conner last game for as long as they did, he might have had 2.3 yds per carry.
If its not broke don't fix it but if it is broke try something, plus it gives Snell a few snaps in real time just in case Conner gets dinged up.

 

Is why I think Dobbs should be the #2 and is why he should have a short yardage package already .. 1 thing we know about Dobbs is he can scramble he showed that and Coach T told him to tone it down .. If Ben went down the Steelers best chance would be to run the zone read ,waggle,bootlegs and the sprint type of stuff ... You don't tell a QB who can run to tone it down , instead you build the playbook around him and feature his ability ... Mason will be a sitting Duck and Teams will have 8 or 9 in the box all the time and play cover 0 ...

 

I think you were calling that in the game day thread as well. Thing is they only gave Conner and Snell 16 plays all day, 3 other runs to wr's. In the Dallas game there were 15 total RB calls, 2 to WR, and Ben ran 1x. It's not about giving it to Snell more, as much as they really are not committing much effort to the run. The plays they call have not been working, and have not for most of the year. We have had a couple of games with 100 yard rusher (maybe 3), but some games have just been a really decent run or 2 with little other effort.

Ben and MT both said they are not concerned about the running game, I think that really is the issue. Seems like they are going to live or die by the pass, with the occasional run when we need it approach. I'm wondering if this is as much design or recognition that they feel we really do not have the personnel to sustain the traditional kill the clock by the run we have done in the past.

 

The O-line already knows how to protect Ben......Ben already knows how to run the passing game.......our receivers are gifted studs.

Focus a little time and energy on run blocking, create a diverse run scheme, and tell the backs to hit the designed hole.

Doesn't seem like rocket science to me.

 

Need to be able to control clock at end of games.

Twice this year recently teams have had the ball for the final play with a chance to win.
Not if the Steeler Offense wasted out the clock the possession before.

 

Tomlin's press conference today seemed like he was worried and annoyed about being asked about it. He talked about the media asking about the 3rd down pass defense a few weeks ago and they got in the lab and straightened it out. It was confusing to say the least. I think they will be focused this weekend and will run the ball , Thanksgiving....the Ravens.... who knows.

 

I just read the presser as well, earlier today i saw a brief headline (before presser) short read that pops up on the phone that Ben and MT not worried about lack of run game...that's what I posted (sorry no link).

IDK if worried is the term, I do think he knows they have to be better than 60 to 70 yds a game come Dec and play offs. I do not think we need dominance in the run, but 110 -125 yards a game consistently sure would help make defenses a little more honest.

 

The running game has to at least pose some threat to keep the defense honest and tighter to the line. I know we don't have the backs or the dominant oline to just pound the rock for a 9 minute drive. Having 15 or 16 running plays a game is not going to cut it when the foul weather comes and if we get a really bad day passing will be difficult or worse. The Balt NE game was played in a torrential downpour for a good part of it. In those conditions a bad snap cost Balt 16 yds. and possibly the game Like Jammasterc has already said twice teams got the ball back with a chance to win because we couldn't eat a minute or two off the clock. Does anyone want to rely on our defense to stop Mahomes if we hand the ball back in the 58th minute up by two.

 

Well I don't think the issue is we are not even trying to run deep routes. We are. Using TE's more than usual as well. WR's have struggled to get open and Ben has seriously struggled with his deep ball accuracy. Those two facts have us ranked near the bottom of the entire NFL in deep pass completion %...which means defenses don't respect our ability to beat them deep...so they will bring a safety up until we can start beating them deep. Last 2 games they have been daring Ben to go deep and he's been unable to take advantage. This is new thing with Ben...he's always been good with the big plays and we've always had at least 1 WR that excelled at it. IMO until we start making defenses pay we will struggle offensively.

 

Connor is not the type of back to run slow developing run plays with. He is a straight line runner. And where the heck is Snell?

Unrelated, one thing that concerns me is Ben constantly forcing it outside. He was especially forcing it to Claypool deep against Bengals.

We aren’t working the middle of the field with a TE. Our offense doesn’t really start to get going until JuJu starts catching passes over the middle.

Steelers need to improve or a good team will stifle them in the playoffs.

 

Exactly! We have always been good at short crossing routes and with the group or receivers we have now, any one of those passes could go for 6.

 

Again I do agree we are trying to run deep routes we are trying to use the TE more , this leads back to my point I don't think the play designs and route trees are expanded enough to force the hand of DC'S..I agree Ben does struggle with the Deep ball, but he put more air under those throws last game it seemed, so as I was eluding to maybe the Deep spot is not as Deep and maybe it's not on the sidelines ..IMO that spot is down the middle if we can force man coverage.

If we can force man against the single high then after the Ebron attack you can route tree that up and get Claypool attacking the middle with Ebron taking the Safety to the sideline and you can get DJ or Ray Ray attacking the middle 1 on 1 with the 2 WR combo side forcing the Safety from the middle...

To me it's simple what route combo's get the Safety to the sideline ? What Offensive player can beat their man 1 on 1 ? How do I use that route tree to help my guys win that 1 on 1 ? How do I make the QB'S deep attempts easier and increase the percentage of completion ? Again I think the key is to start with Ebron and the middle with the correct route trees..

Ben calling Routes in the middle of a game is not as effective as designing the right route combos before the game...It really is a game of Chess and we need to have a attack and a attack for every possible counter to that attack ..This is how we used to game plan each week.. Find a strength and make that a weakness is always a great place to start, if you win that battle the war is yours , if not then what's the next planned attack and so on ..

 

You know I can't help think he will succumb to injuries. He is a hard worker and he wants it but it is as though his body is failing him. He has lost a step. Honestly with his history with cancer you have to wonder if he is doing a huge disservice to his body and at the end of the day I care more about his longevity and overall health then our collective championships.

 

A close friend of mine is a two-time cancer survivor and a Steelers fan. I asked him if he thought that might have taken a toll on Conner's body, which might explain the injuries and perhaps have him wear down earlier in his career. My friend explained that once the treatments are over, the body does recover, and because the treatment was so long ago, it most likely that doesn't have much to do with Conner's lack of durability.

I really don't think Conner is the primary issue right now. The offensive line just isn't giving him anywhere to go and the coaches are definitely making a mistake by trying those power sweeps to the outside. The play just develops too slowly. They should be using more running plays that attack the defense quickly. The entire idea should be to use the fact that the passing game is working so well by catching the defense flat-footed with quick-hitting runs.

Of course, the relative lack of deep passes is also an issue. I get why the Steelers are throwing short so often. They are damn good at it, but they do need to do more to establish the deep and intermediate passing game. Until that happens, you are going to see teams close to the line of scrimmage. I think that is also why we are seeing so many passes batted down.

 

I just realized that when Haley left, and the Steelers needed a new Offensive Coordinator, they chose the adjective "offensive" as opposed to noun "offensive".

In this case Futchner is extremely adept at coordinating "offensive" (adj.) game plans.

 

I'll take that as a no.

 

Welcome Back @numbah58 good to see you.

 

We don't have the personnel to drive block. This isn't an issue with our running backs. Our OL isn't able to win man on man battles and gain ground/space for the backs. That's why we run the jet sweeps and all the cutesy misdirection. We can't win the battles in the trenches. I've said this since the early part of last season and it hasn't improved. When your OL wins and is able to move the defense off its spot, you can run the ball. Currently, we're giving ground across the line and JC has no choice but to try and bounce. We just don't have the hogs up front.

 

Some zone block schematically, some out of necessity. If we could keep the line of scrimmage and seal the edge, those outside runs would work. But when JC has to give up yardage to get around our linemen who have gotten pushed back 3 yards into the backfield, there's nothing schematically that can be done. My contention is that the coaches know how much of a liability our OL is right now in the run game and have decided that smoke and mirrors are the only way we will carry the ball out of the backfield.

If JC was the problem, he wouldn't be Tomlin's bellcow. The problem is that our OL sucks and Fichtner isn't a good magician.