Plax says we are "staying true to our roots"

I saw this article on NFL.COM and I noticed no one else had mentioned it. It's a quick read but basically Plax says we're gonna run the football the most this year and that receivers are committed to blocking and not just trying to score touchdowns. My question is can this work in the modern NFL. I say yes because last year the Vikings pounded it like crazy and went to the playoffs. HOWEVER this will all hinge on whether our line can gel together and give the guys some holes. Here's the article if you wanna read it.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...burress-pittsburgh-steelers-to-run-more-in-13

 

Houston is another team that pounds it and plays good defense. and we can throw better. heck yea we can win that way. the scoreboard doesn't care how the points are scored, it just adds them up.

 

Football in the NFL is all about matchups no matter what scheme you are playing. The trend right now is to whip the ball all over the place, but for years teams didn't do that. The reality is even today that the best teams are typically those who can run the ball effectively AND pass the ball effectively. The difference between New Orleans and New England last year proves it.

NO: #1 Pass/#25 Rush/#2 Overall in Yards Per Game....Finish 7-9 Missing Playoff

NE: #4 Pass/#7 Rush/#1 Overall in Yards Per Game....Finish 12-4 and #2 Seed

The Vikings exploited weaknesses they saw on tape with their strengths. If we commit to it and find the things we do well and can expose them against the opponent we can be a run-centric team and win. Haley has shown in the past that he can do both....hopefully this year he finds a nice balance.

 

Indications out of camp so far are that all of our backs look really good (with the exception of Batch). Bell, Dwyer, Redman, and LSH.

 

Maybe this translates into blocking skills moving up the ladder a bit in the wide reciever competition for the available open slots (other than A.Brown, E.Sanders, & M.Wheaton).

Who do you think is the better blockers of those that remain?

 

Have we almost reached the point where setting the tempo of the game by establishing the running game early, controlling the clock by pounding the rock late and playing solid defense has come back in style and is now the new and innovative approach to game strategy?

Hey, if this polyester suit I'm wearing and the shag carpet in my living room are making a comeback why not good old fashioned 4 yards and a cloud of dust football???

 

You keep their offense sitting on the bench by running the ball and clock management it's very hard for them to launch an air assault. Of course having a good shutdown corner ( almost a thing of the past) and dbs that can catch the ball and you win..

Bman

 

This is what me and one of my childhood buddies always talk about is the fact that someday a team is gonna start pounding the football again and people are gonna act like it's a revolution but the rest of us are gonna be saying "where have you been because this has always worked". I was telling a fellow Steelers fan at work today about this article and I said that I don't care if Ben has 10 completions a game and we have 200 yards rushing as long as we win. I'm fine with handing it off all day long as long as we are winning games with that formula. The bottom line though is that our line HAS to be able to open up the holes.

 

I believe you stay true to who you are, however, at the end of the day it is the team that can keep the other one guessing (and be effective at it) is the winner!

 

Plex is probably the best. When he wants to block he's a beast. I don't know why some people knock on him. Before he left he was killing it on the plays he gave a damn on. I think he's really matured

 

Hasn't your most popular safety of all time stated many times that this defense is not designed to stay on the field for long periods of time, wouldn't clock management, ball control,being in better shape than your opponent, running the ball 55 percent of the time make this happen? Remember when Cowher would take the air out of the ball in the second half
and Bussy would steam roll people? Are you liking it yet?

 

Those were the days. Get a lead throwing the ball. Play solid D. Hand the ball off for 2-4 5 minute possessions in the 2nd half. Incredible stuff to watch.

 

I sure do, it took him 14 years to win(just over 500 in playoffs).

 

Primarily because he had QBs like Kordell, Tomczak and Maddox. A QB like Ben AND being able to run the ball down the throat of the defense is a formula for success. I remember many games where the Bus would take over in the 4th quarter and the defense couldn't stop us, even though they knew what was coming. That worked well and won a lot of games for the Steelers, but their lack of an elite (or even a very good) QB cost them when the post season rolled around.

 

That doesn't change the fact that we didn't win. Now the strength of this team(offensively) is Ben, Heath, Brown, and Sanders, taking the ball out of their hands is stupid. You want to play "Steeler football" I want to win Super Bowls. If we go back to 3 yards and a cloud of dust the Steelers will be watching the SB from their living rooms in 2014.

 

+1

I'd be satisfied to see a balanced run/pass attack, where we run a whole hell of a lot better when we do run, although it might not be a significant increase percentage-wise in the number of running plays.

 

I'm all for having a potent and effective running attack. As has been stated before, the best defense is a good offense. Being able to chew up the clock and wear down the opposition will only pay dividends later in the game. Another plus, from what I've read, offensive linemen love running plays and forcing their will on their opponent. Get the line rolling and it can only lead to good things. The least of which is keeping the $100 million qb upright.

 

I don't think anyone is proposing that we stop throwing the ball and do nothing but hand the ball off to a RB all day. I'm not even sure that anyone is proposing "3 Yards and a cloud of dust".

I think the reality is:

1. It can be shown that success if more easily had if you can do both. Compare NE and NO last year. Nobody moved the ball through the air better than NO. That being said....they couldn't run it worth anything. It showed in their record.

2. Any team is better if they have the ability to run the ball at those times when they need to. That overstates it, but in the 4th quarter with time running down, ANY team which can run the ball and get first downs, keeping that clock running, will be better than the team that has to throw the ball to get first downs.

3. I don't think anyone is suggesting that we go back to the Cowher football where we did the following: Run, Run, Pass, Punt. On the other side, I don't think anyone is suggesting going back to the BA days either where we Run, Run, Run, 1st down, and then don't run the ball for the next 15 plays either. There must be a balance, and this team will be better for it.

 

See below.

Oh, and playing Steeler football has resulted in a few Super Bowls and contrary to what you may believe about me, I really would like to win a few more...by playing more Steeler football.

Tarheel, I was going to reply to strummer, but I cannot say it any better than you just did.

 

You do realize that we passed more and ran less under Haley right? Oh wait, obviously you don't.

 

if we go back to most of the SB wins, we had an offense that could beat you either way you want to play it. that's steeler football. with ben we will never run more then we throw. we have to be able to beat you both ways though. one helps the other. have a good defense and we will win lots of games.

 

Staying true to the roots is fine, but if I ran the Ravens or Bengals, I'd pay money to take the ball out of the hands of Big Ben and put in the hands of Jonathan Dwyer.
The more the Steelers do that the better, I'd wish they'd do it every play.