My Opinion on our Issues

Special Teams: They have been average. Honestly I think most of that is expecting this phase of the game to win games for you. We settle for FGs too much. The punting isn't consistent enough to depend on...see Tampa. The return games are not having an impact, they are putting us in a negative impact.

Defense: We lack an attitude. Some of that is we are quickly getting younger and it left with the vets. That sometimes leaves you without an attitude you once had before. This is much like what Cowher and Ward have said. We are soft. We used to say, I am going to make you hurt and we don't do that any more. I think the NFL constantly making an example of us with Harrison getting fined every other week, left us somewhat soft. If you look at the guys we are counting on...how many of them are playing well right now? Heyward? Keisel? Jones and Shazier are out. Worilds has been average, at best. Timmons? Allen? Mitchell? Troy has been as bad as anyone else. We need the attitude back.

Offense: We lack any identity. Last week all we did is throw in the red zone. This week we ran it in the red zone. What do we want to be? Do we want to be wide open or run control? They both work, but we don't seem to want to do either. Denver is wide open...pass, pass, pass. Seattle is run, run, run. They both do the other, but their first priority is either run or pass. We don't have any clue which we want to be and don't seem to be committed to doing either. We have a top 10 RB, a top 10 WR, a top 10 TE, and a top 10 QB and yet we can't score.

 

I like Mark May on College Football. Teams win when they win at the line of scrimmage. The last time we had a quality O-line was 10 years ago. We've all seen our D-line go downhill overn and the last 5 years. That's the issue. We need Linemen on both sides of the ball.

We cant protect Ben and we can't stop the run.

It's simple.

 

I think this o-line is better than the one that won SB XLIII.

 

Wait. Faneca? XLIII would be...Starks, Kemo, Hartwig, Stapleton, Colon. But same basic results, but I give the nod to Gilbert. That 08 o-line couldn't get a first down in short yardage situations, at all. This one can.

 

I don't buy that this is a trenches issues. I just don't. We play with NO attitude whatsoever. We don't believe we are going to win and punch you in the mouth to prove it. We "think" we're going to win and then don't do anything to make it so.

 

When you look at that line, you wonder how we won that game at all...

The o-line is in the best shape it's been for a while. Pass protection is not great, but it's not always down to the linemen - sometimes down to Ben holding on too long (Ray D made an excellent post about this yesterday), RBs missing blocks, and sometimes the opposing defenders just doing something rather good.

On the d-line - what stung us in the Cleveland game was the two massive plays early on. Up until then, we were fairly dominant. After that, we fell apart. That's a problem that needs addressing. Like many, I still think Cam Thomas just needs to be let go, now. They also need to be rotating more to keep the legs fresh and the aggression up.

 

There is no such thing as a QB holding on to the ball too long unless the ref is trying to rip it out of his hand and he won't let go. The job of the OL is to block from the snap to the whistle.

 

To an extent. But that's an ideal situation. The o-line needs to give Ben more time, but he also needs to work with what he's got. Likewise, there was the haunting sense of BA-ball in the last game, where the passing plays seemed to be taking too long to develop, which wouldn't help out o-line or QB.

We know so far from this season that when Ben is getting rid of the ball quickly, the offense moves. When he's waiting for AB to get open, and not taking the check down, and then AB doesn't get open and he takes a sack... that's holding on to the ball too long. When the pocket is very obviously collapsing around him and he pump fakes rather than getting rid of it, then that's holding on to the ball too long.

I'm not on the 'it's all Ben's fault' bandwagon, though. Execution was wanting in most parts of the offense last week.

 

I really think Ben needs to see an open receiver to throw the ball. He does not know who will be open pre-snap by reading the defense. He seems to need to look things over then react vice knowing where he should be going from the onset of the play. This is what is frustrating - I see so many QBs in the league drop back and fire right away. Ben always has to look around. This not only puts the Oline in a hard spot, it also give the defense more time to recover from initial things that could have been a quick hitter. Ben also needs to get his accuracy up - that play to AB on the sideline should have been a TD if Ben throws a pass that does not pull AB out of bounds. He had totally burned the DB.

 

This is really how I feel as well. I look at the OL and DL as pretty far down the list when I look at issues on this team.

 

I start to develop a lazy eye when I try to wrap my mind around the offense and all of its problems, it's such a mess. Now on defense I don't think its a matter of being soft, it's the simple fact the defense and the scheme have been getting out smarted for years now. I don't care how mean you are or how hard you can hit, when you bite so hard on play action that you're giving up big plays on a regular basis you're not going to fare very well. Not giving up the big play is supposed to be the staple of Lebeau's defense but you wouldn't be able to tell watching this team for the last few years. Getting gashed by the zone blockng has been going on for a few years now and there still seems to be no answer for it.

 

Where did you get that notion? Against a strong pass rush an Oline can hold their blocks for 3-4 seconds tops, after that, a sack is on the QB...

 

It is.

 

How can people measure a team's attitude or if that team is soft? Does it boil down to win vs a loss? Talent? I view soft as someone that is afraid of contact. I haven't seen anyone shy away from contact.

I don't think the defensive problems have anything to do with attitude or with being soft. I think it has more to do with poor execution and because players made mistakes out on the field. Those are generally where the problems are at for any team.

Denver ran the ball about 40% and passed 60%. Seattle is about 50/50. The Steelers are at 43% run and 57% pass. The Steelers don't have issues moving the ball at times. They have problems scoring TD's in the red zone. They've always seem to have problems scoring TD's in the red zone with Ben as the QB. Ben isn't playing like a top 10 QB right now.

 

Thers a lot of truth to this^

 

So many drops from our receiver's and Ben seems to never want to run anymore. Thus he gives up turnovers and kills drives with sacks instead of positive yardage or he forces it and it's dropped. The good news is both can be fixed. I love that Ben is always trying to pass the ball; just run every once in awhile and make the defense think instead of act. Receiver's catch the ball or cut them period. We are fine with AB and Heath but someone else needs to step up this week, maybe Bryant??

 

Resolve is a major problem for this team in my opinion. It's almost like we are a bully that gets punched in the face and is never the same again. We gave up tons of big plays and multiple pass plays of over 30yds. That was AFTER holding them to negative 8 yards at one point. We just need to have some dang resolve.