Fine, lets do it your way BA, but...

Things aren't going to change with BA around (and maybe not even with Tomlin in town) and unless we win the SB, I think BA will be back next year. So I guess it's time to accept the system we have and make the best of it. In that case, if we're going to go for an all or nothing type offence, then lets copy the Saints offence.

Have Redman and Dwyer be our primary rushers. Have Mendy in the game a lot too, but have him be our version of Darren Sproles. Use Mendy primarily as a receiver, and have him line up out wide as well on a regular basis. This will ensure that when Mendy is in the game, the defence will have to have their nickel defence in to cover the pass, and then we can choose to run the ball up the gut with Mendy to create a mismatch. Or we can have both Mendy and Redman in at the same time and the defence won't have a chance in hell of figuring out whether we are running or throwing. When Redman is in and the defence appears to be defending the rush, then we can go deep to Brown or Wallace. Or we can hit the underneath stuff to Heath or Sanders/Ward/Cotchery.

Also, have Heath line up out wide so that he takes a LB'er with him, then run the ball. This will create bigger gaps for our rushers.

It really is as easy as that. It requires no personnel changes at all. We already have the players to perfectly run that kind of system. This will also help the Oline as Ben will have more options to throw to (Mendy and Heath) as opposed to now where we don't throw to the RB or TE on a regular basis. This will also satisfy the all or nothing urge that BA has.

If we do this, we can have the type of offence that our coaches have been trying to build for 5 years now. It's just sad that so many fans can see what needs to be done to improve the offence, but it appears our coaches can't see it. It's also sad that everything I suggested above will not happen.

 

dang some of you guys are never happy
I would hate to see who you would want fired if we have a bad year

 

What is there to be happy about as it pertains to the offensive side of the football? When have we had a real offense since Ariens came to town? As for who I would want fired if we have a bad year, it's the same person as who I want fired now, Arians.

 

the 'fire BA' threads are tired and old. we won the division in '07, won the super bowl in '08, had a down year in '09, went to the super bowl in '10, and went 12-4 in '11. and our defense is NOT what it used to be. our rb's are putting up 1,000yrd seasons and we had two wr's with 1,000yrds this year. we're getting ready to stomp the broncos in a playoff game. maybe these threads are best suited for late february or march.

 

#1 scoring defense
#1 pass defense
Top ten rushing defense

Cut them all - they suck.

 

stat geeks unite!

where are we in sacks and takeaways? you're plain silly if you think this defense is as good as most steelers d's in recent years. woodley has been out, harrison has been slowed, troy has had an off-year, farrior is slow, timmons has had a down year, we don't have a second corner, ryan clark has played poorly . . . but throw some stats up. i heard yesterday that bernie kosar has the most passing yards in a single game in nfl history. guess that makes kosar one of the best qb's of all time. the stat said so.

 

The offense did have a bad year. Again.

 

The Saints have a system in place that Arians can't replicate because he's not smart enough.

In last night's game, how often did Drew Brees throw to a wide open WR? I'd say he had more open receivers in that one game than the Steelers have had all season. You know why? Because the Saints' offense is designed to confuse the defense and put it back on its heels. And I don't think for a second that the saints' receivers are better than the Steelers'. Nor do I think Brees is that much of a better QB. Indeed, the Saints' o-line is superb. But overall, it's about the philosphy of the offense--or, at least, having one.

 

This isn't a fire BA thread, this is what we should change to improve the offence. But this is from another thread...

The league has changed, RB's and WR's putting up 1000 yards isn't what it used to be. Now, every RB in the league can put up 1,000 yards if they get enough carries.

 

you realize we played eight games against those awful teams you just mentioned yet you were bragging about our #1 scoring defense? stats schmats!! ooooooh . . . we shut out tavaris jackson and kellen clemens?! we stopped colt mccoy twice?! we beat rookie qb's like andy dalton (twice), curtis painter (barely), tyler palko (barely), and blaine gabbert?! we shut down studs like matt hasselbeck and kevin kolb? we couldn't stop joe flacco or alex smith? brady and schaub were the ONLY quality qb's we faced and we split with 'em. so rattling off a bunch of team stats doesn't really help the defensive argument, right?

our offense played 1/4 of its games either without our qb or with our qb hopping around on one foot. our o-line was in shambles this season with colon and scott lost to injury, essex, legursky, and other missing time, pouncey hampered all year, a rookie starting, and having to bring an overweight guy back that we had cut and that nobody else had wanted. mendy missed time (we had redman and dwyer starting one game this year), brown and sanders missed time . . . give some credit!

and, since you love team defense stats, our 'horrible offense' played ELEVEN GAMES AGAINST THE 2nd-11th BEST DEFENSES IN THE LEAGUE!! (#2 houston, two games against #3 baltimore, #4 san francisco, #6 jacksonville, two games against #7 cincinnati, #9 seattle, two games against #10 cleveland, and #11 kansas city). and over half of those were on the road.

stats can be fun!

 

I hardly said one word about defence, and I definitely didn't brag about our defence. In fact, if you read some of my previous threads, I think our defence is slightly overrated, due to the reasons you mentioned. With that said, our defence is still pretty damn good, I can't say the same for our offence. Our offence has been bad since BA came to town.

 

maybe somebody else had mentioned our defense was #1 in scoring defense, total defense, blahblahblah. sorry if i quoted you and then threw that argument at you. 'nashvillecat' is who i was throwing the stats at.

i think arians was horrible in '07. i think he has gotten better. and, honestly, with a sandlot qb winning games for us and a patchwork o-line that needs some stability, i don't know how much better it's gonna get no matter who is the OC.

 

Screen plays to the RB is one way to really slow down the pass rush. I could be wrong, but so far this season I'm pretty sure we have run a screen to the RB a total of 0 times. Not even one time if I remember correctly. What about quick throws to the TE underneath, that will protect the line and Ben, yet we rarely do that. Or what about having the TE line up out wide to create more running room for our TE's, that's something we rarely do.

I think it could be a lot better with an OC who understands the teams weaknesses and how to calls plays based on our strengths and weaknesses, not just our strengths.

 

Here's the measure of the Steelers' offiensive efficiency. It's not perfect, because it doesn't account for defensive and special teams Tds, but these things tend to even out over a season.

The following numbers are the Steelers' opponents PA vs their other 14 or 15 opponents, compared to the Steelers' points against that opponent:

Tennessee: 18.6/Steelers: 38 (+19.4) :-D
Arizona: 21.1/Steelers: 32 (+10.9) :-D
Cincinnati: 18.9 / Steelers: 29.5 (+ 10.6) :-D
Seattle: 19.4 / Steelers: 24 (+4.6) :roll:
New England: 21.1 / Steelers: 25 (+3.9) :?
St. Louis: 25.3 / Steelers: 27 (+2.7) :-(

Baltimore: 17.1 / Steelers: 13.5 (-3.6)
Jacksonville: 20.8 / Steelers: 17 (-3.8)
Indianapolis 27.1 / Steelers: 23 (-4.1) :o
Cleveland: 20.7 / Steelers: 13.5 (-7.2)
Houston: 17.9 / Steelers: 10 (-7.9)
KC: 21.7 / Steelers: 13 (-8.7)
San Fran: 15.1 / Steelers: 3 (-12.1) :bs:

Steelers offense outperformed others against 6 opponents; were outperformed by others against 7 opponents. This is mediocre AT BEST. Sorry, but with the weapons we have on offense, I expect better than this.

 

i hear 'ya. i loved the ron erhart/chan gailey days. i watch a dvd of the '94 afc divisional against cleveland recently and the playcalling was insane. back in the 90s, our 3rd-and-long play was a screen pass to foster that worked wonders. eric green and mark breuner catching balls underneath. but our o-line was oh-so different back then. pulling guards paving holes five-to-ten yards out in front of foster. it was insane to re-watch that stuff. now, we have few lanes to run through and heath miller is a phantom. he's been removed from this offense. part of the problem with that in recent years though has been a need for him to stay in and block to help out our patchwork o-line.

we have split miller wide in recent years and we have made quick throws to the te as well. specifically, to david johnson this season.

and heath keeps putting the ball on the turf at big times. he did it against cleveland in the red zone this year, at new orleans at a big moment last year, at kansas city in that atrocious '09 season . . .

 

Another way of looking at this. The Bengals have a rookie QB and their top WR is a rookie. Here's how their offense performed, compared the Steelers, vs common opponents:

Baltimore: Cincy 15 / Steelers 13. 5
Cleveland: Cincy 25 / Steelers 13.5
Houston: Cincy 19 / Steelers 10
Jacksonville: Cincy 30 / Steelers 17
Tennessee: Steelers 38 / Cincy 24
Indianapolis: Cincy 27 / Steelers 23
San Fran: Cincy 8 / Steelers 3
Arizona: Steelers 32 / Cincy 23
Seattle: Cincy 34 / Steelers 24
St. Louis: Steelers 27 / Cincy 20

Cincy TP: 240 pts vs these common opponents
Steelers TP: 228 pts

Again, the Steelers have a two-time Super Bowl winning QB in his fifth year with the same OC. And they are outplayed by a rookie who's never played with his OC before.

But let's all be happy with that 12-4 record.

 

Be careful with this stat. This does not take into account defensive or special teams points, which we had very few (though I am not sure about the Bengals). Someone stated that these tend to even out, but not for us this year.

This is what we should be concerned about! (Oh, were you being sarcastic?)
GO STEELERS!

 

The defense did their job without Harrison, Woodley, Smith, Keisel, and others for large chunks of the season. Everybody says the secondary is horrible but the did their job.

The offense continues to be horrible at protecting the ball in big games, scoring in the redzone, blocking for the run, and pass protection. But go ahead keep making excuses for them and picking at the unit that has consistently performed well. That way we can have the same conversations next year that we have been having for the last 4 years.

The offense is clearly the weaker unit of the two and needs the most improvement. They are average at best.