Is Arians days in Pittsburgh over?

It seems that although Rooney didn't say who was contemplating retirement, he made it clear as daylight.

"Ben Roethlisberger needs to take fewer sacks"

This can be looked at as many things. It can be the offensive line, Ben's play extension or even the wide receivers inability to get open. Or, is it Arians playcalling?

"We need to take fewer sacks,'' need to be more consistent on offense,need to do better than No. 21 in scoring."

It is said that he expects Dan Rooney to step down as ambassador as Ireland and return to the Steelers organization this year. Dan have some plans of his own?

Now, hey, maybe i'm just blowing smoke here, but he mentioned defensive troubles ONE time in the interview, and he said:




"Need to come up with more sacks and turnovers on defense."

It seems like they have an awful lot to say about the offense, which makes since. It's not up to par.

Is Arians one of the coaches contemplating retirement?

bayz101 wrote:

It seems that although Rooney didn't say who was contemplating retirement, he made it clear as daylight.

"Ben Roethlisberger needs to take fewer sacks"

This can be looked at as many things. It can be the offensive line, Ben's play extension or even the wide receivers inability to get open. Or, is it Arians playcalling?

"We need to take fewer sacks,'' need to be more consistent on offense,need to do better than No. 21 in scoring."

It is said that he expects Dan Rooney to step down as ambassador as Ireland and return to the Steelers organization this year. Dan have some plans of his own?

Now, hey, maybe i'm just blowing smoke here, but he mentioned defensive troubles ONE time in the interview, and he said:




"Need to come up with more sacks and turnovers on defense."

It seems like they have an awful lot to say about the offense, which makes since. It's not up to par.

Is Arians one of the coaches contemplating retirement?

Rooney says Ben needs to tweak his game and you spin that into Arians is gone?

"Goodbye Stranger" came on here in the Coffee Bean I'm at as I read this.

supytalpeht wrote:

Rooney says Ben needs to tweak his game and you spin that into Arians is gone?

Not me, Ed Buchette. I was just mixing what Rooney said, with Ed's speculation. Of course, I've added speculation of my own, but Ben's sack number was tied to Arians play calling by Ed, not me. I happen to agree it is possible that Bruce's play calling could be why Ben's taking sacks, it's definitely not a long shot.

bayz101 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

Rooney says Ben needs to tweak his game and you spin that into Arians is gone?

Not me, Ed Buchette. I was just mixing what Rooney said, with Ed's speculation. Of course, I've added speculation of my own, but Ben's sack number was tied to Arians play calling by Ed, not me. I happen to agree it is possible that Bruce's play calling could be why Ben's taking sacks, it's definitely not a long shot.

Do you have a link?

supytalpeht wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

Rooney says Ben needs to tweak his game and you spin that into Arians is gone?

Not me, Ed Buchette. I was just mixing what Rooney said, with Ed's speculation. Of course, I've added speculation of my own, but Ben's sack number was tied to Arians play calling by Ed, not me. I happen to agree it is possible that Bruce's play calling could be why Ben's taking sacks, it's definitely not a long shot.

Do you have a link?

Shit. Let me see if I can find it, I believe it was either on PPG or his personal twitter account, but I spotted the link over at SF. It was posted before the Rooney interview, if i'm not mistaken.

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

supytalpeht wrote:

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

Yeah that SF post wasn't a link, it was a quote, so i'm calling bullshit until he messages me back. However, if it is indeed Ben's play that needs to be adjusted, we may need a new QB, and DEFINITELY a new Offensive line. Ben's already said he'll walk away from the game before he changes the way he plays. I agree he needs to refrain from making something out of nothing, and get rid of the ball.

But Rooney says he needs to take fewer sacks. Which is funny, because this has been one of his best years in terms of sacks. He's only taken 40 this year, in 15 starts. Last year he started 12 games and was sacked 32 times. That's an 8 sack gap from last year, and Ben's played three more games. Or you can look back to '09 when he was sacked 50 times in 15 starts. I just find it funny that Rooney's just now mentioning that Ben needs to take less sacks when this is probably one of his better years in terms of getting rid of the ball and taking less punishment.

And when I say "only" i'm saying it purely based on his history of getting sacked. Forty sacks is by no means good, but it's also not all his fault.

supytalpeht wrote:

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

Well I expect to take at least two more shits today

Tomlin anticipates that they'll be back too.

I anticipate i'll have a headache after Thirsty Thursday's tomorrow night

bayz101 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

Yeah that SF post wasn't a link, it was a quote, so i'm calling bullshit until he messages me back. However, if it is indeed Ben's play that needs to be adjusted, we may need a new QB, and DEFINITELY a new Offensive line. Ben's already said he'll walk away from the game before he changes the way he plays. I agree he needs to refrain from making something out of nothing, and get rid of the ball.

But Rooney says he needs to take fewer sacks. Which is funny, because this has been one of his best years in terms of sacks. He's only taken 40 this year, in 15 starts. Last year he started 12 games and was sacked 32 times. That's an 8 sack gap from last year, and Ben's played three more games. Or you can look back to '09 when he was sacked 50 times in 15 starts. I just find it funny that Rooney's just now mentioning that Ben needs to take less sacks when this is probably one of his better years in terms of getting rid of the ball and taking less punishment.

Ben has also said that a large portion of those sacks are on him. Maybe he's saying it now because Ben's bs is directly to blame for his high ankle sprain. Have you read the article in the UNder Pressure thread?

Also. Even if Arians does retire or leave, Kirby Wilson was supposed to be his replacement. He's obviously in no way, shape or form able to carry out those duties, hell, he's lucky to be alive at this point. Who exactly will take his spot, if he does indeed leave? I'm not sure if I want him gone or not, i'm just speculating on what Rooney said. And Rooney seemed to have made it very clear that offense was a problem, and it needed to be improved. Make out of it what you will, it's purely speculation. Great for discussion board's like so

supytalpeht wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

Yeah that SF post wasn't a link, it was a quote, so i'm calling bullshit until he messages me back. However, if it is indeed Ben's play that needs to be adjusted, we may need a new QB, and DEFINITELY a new Offensive line. Ben's already said he'll walk away from the game before he changes the way he plays. I agree he needs to refrain from making something out of nothing, and get rid of the ball.

But Rooney says he needs to take fewer sacks. Which is funny, because this has been one of his best years in terms of sacks. He's only taken 40 this year, in 15 starts. Last year he started 12 games and was sacked 32 times. That's an 8 sack gap from last year, and Ben's played three more games. Or you can look back to '09 when he was sacked 50 times in 15 starts. I just find it funny that Rooney's just now mentioning that Ben needs to take less sacks when this is probably one of his better years in terms of getting rid of the ball and taking less punishment.

Ben has also said that a large portion of those sacks are on him. Have you read the article in the UNder Pressure thread?

Well of course they are, i'm not saying there not. I think it goes without saying that this offense line is one of the worst in the NFL. Their needs to be a stat that shows how many times it's collapsed on him, lol.

I think Ben just needs to throw it away more often, and he'll be fine. He's been holding on to the ball way to long a lot during his career, and he'll obviously have to work on it. However, if this line isn't going to give him decent protection, plays won't happen. Rooney will probably get on him for throwing the ball away too often in about 5 years, lol.

bayz101 wrote:

Also. Even if Arians does retire or leave, Kirby Wilson was supposed to be his replacement. He's obviously in no way, shape or form able to carry out those duties, hell, he's lucky to be alive at this point. Who exactly will take his spot, if he does indeed leave? I'm not sure if I want him gone or not, i'm just speculating on what Rooney said. And Rooney seemed to have made it very clear that offense was a problem, and it needed to be improved. Make out of it what you will, it's purely speculation. Great for discussion board's like so

True, but words mean things. Rooney said there will be no wholesale changes,the offense needs to be more consistent,and Ben needs to tweak his game. Nowhere in there did he mention that play calling was an issue, he didn't even come close to alluding to it. In fact no wholesale changes says that even if there were a new OC the scheme would more than likely remain the same.

supytalpeht wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

Also. Even if Arians does retire or leave, Kirby Wilson was supposed to be his replacement. He's obviously in no way, shape or form able to carry out those duties, hell, he's lucky to be alive at this point. Who exactly will take his spot, if he does indeed leave? I'm not sure if I want him gone or not, i'm just speculating on what Rooney said. And Rooney seemed to have made it very clear that offense was a problem, and it needed to be improved. Make out of it what you will, it's purely speculation. Great for discussion board's like so

True, but words mean things. Rooney said there will be no wholesale changes,the offense needs to be more consistent,and Ben needs to tweak his game. Nowhere in there did he mention that play calling was an issue, he didn't even come close to alluding to it. In fact no wholesale changes says that even if there were a new OC the scheme would more than likely remain the same.

Art Rooney II likes the Steelers' blend of youth and experience, and the team president said he doesn't anticipate making sweeping changes after the team's 29-23 loss to Denver in the AFC playoffs.

"It's not a situation where we're looking to tear things apart and start over," Rooney said today in a wide-ranging interview. "I think there are a lot of pieces in place.



It seems as though that's all directed towards the men on the field, but not the staff. He expects, just as Tomlin "anticipates" all staff to return. But when speaking of the staff directly he's said that some coaches are contemplating retirement, and that his father is stepping down as ambassador to Ireland. Notice they never confirm that all staff members are returning, but that they "anticipate", or "expect". This is obviously because they just don't know. No need to lead fans in the wrong direction. But it's certainly discussion worthy.

As for Ben, Rooney says he need's to "tweak" a few things, but certainly nothing big. This means Ben will be working on getting rid of the ball sooner, and throwing it away on a rollout if too much time goes by. This is something every quarterback works on. It's an off-season of uncertainty, that's for sure. But i'm sure Bruce will either return, or leave for a Head Coaching job elsewhere. I don't think he's one of the coaches retiring myself, that's just the discussion i've created for you guys to gossip about

supytalpeht wrote:

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

Hey, last year he said we neede to run more and we did. Ben needs to change the way he plays. If BA can buckle down on Ben and get him to play smart I really don't care if he's back next year. Honestly I think the problem is him letting Ben get away with to much. If he changes that I say welcome back BA for another season with one rule.

You call one more bubble screen and we'll shove that ball up you ass sideways.

solardave wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

Hey, last year he said we neede to run more and we did. Ben needs to change the way he plays. If BA can buckle down on Ben and get him to play smart I really don't care if he's back next year. Honestly I think the problem is him letting Ben get away with to much. If he changes that I say welcome back BA for another season with one rule.

You call one more bubble screen and we'll shove that ball up you ass sideways.

Well if that's the case, it's one thing or another. Last year we ran Mendenhall 324 times and made the Super Bowl. This year he's ran 228 times. That's a 96 attempt gap, and he's only missed one game. Seems like Arians dropped what worked altogether and went with a passing offense, when really, a balanced offense has proved effective. Maybe the line just isn't fit for an offense at all

Guess we better pick up Mike Adams in the draft after all. We need some offensive line help.

solardave wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

- Expect coordinators back?

ROONEY: At this point, yeah.

So far we've had 3 columnists and the owner say that Ben needs to change the way he plays.

Hey, last year he said we neede to run more and we did. Ben needs to change the way he plays. If BA can buckle down on Ben and get him to play smart I really don't care if he's back next year. Honestly I think the problem is him letting Ben get away with to much. If he changes that I say welcome back BA for another season with one rule.

You call one more bubble screen and we'll shove that ball up you ass sideways.

No actually he didn't. What he said was "We need to figure out how to get better running the football". I'm still amazed at how many people have twisted that into we need to run the ball more.

supytalpeht wrote:

No actually he didn't. What he said was "We need to figure out how to get better running the football". I'm still amazed at how many people have twisted that into we need to run the ball more.

That's not just us twisting it. It came from Rooney himself (and emphasized in a PG headline from 2010) ...

Quote :

Rooney wants Steelers to run the ball more

Friday, January 15, 2010
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

... "I think Mike and I certainly agreed coming off the season that we need to run the ball more consistently to get to where we want to get to," Rooney told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday. "So that's part of the thinking in the offseason: We need to figure out how to get better running the football."

Rooney said his coach has conveyed that to offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. "Mike has talked to Bruce about that."

The Steelers ran only 42.2 percent of the time in 2009, although their 112.1 yards a game were nearly seven more than their Super Bowl season of 2008. However, Rooney's point is not so much those statistics, but the inconsistency throughout the season.

"We have to get back to being able to run the football when we need to run the football, and being able to run more consistently than we have in the past season," he said. ...

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10015/1028435-66.stm#ixzz1jr395eCP

OK, let's look at the second quote in bold first. Rooney said they have to "get back to ..."
If you want to "get back" to something, that means you've gotten away from it and want to go back to doing it. In this case, Rooney wanted the team to get back to running the ball more consistently.

Yes, Rooney also said they need to run the ball better, but that goes without say. When you're not running the ball well, regardless of how consistently you're running, of course you want to run it better. But in the first quote that is in bold, Rooney said "we need to run the ball more consistently to get to where we want to get to." That was twice he said they need to run the ball more consistently. Consistent and better aren't interchangeable. Rooney said he wants them to run the ball more consistently and better.

It was Arians who a few weeks later twisted it to mean just run the ball better, not more.

consistently =reliable

We need to be more reliable running the football . Consistent does not mean more.

supytalpeht wrote:

consistently =reliable

We need to be more reliable running the football. Consistent does not mean more.

Consistently is often used to mean more. If I say I need to work out more consistently, I mean I need to work out more, not better. Put another way, if I say someone does something consistently, it means they do it regularly (hence "reliable"). If they're asked to do it more consistently, that means they're asked to do it more regularly.

Bottom line is, no matter the amount, we've ran the ball less this year than we did last year, and last year was a step up from the year before, also being the same year Rooney said we needed to be more consistent. Not only that, we passed the ball less and ranked higher, and this year passed it more and ranked lower. Sound like Arians needs to make up his mind?

I'm not for him being fired or anything, as I think that'll hurt us more than help us. But I do think he needs to change his strategy a LOT.

Wallace108 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

consistently =reliable

We need to be more reliable running the football. Consistent does not mean more.

Consistently is often used to mean more. If I say I need to work out more consistently, I mean I need to work out more, not better. Put another way, if I say someone does something consistently, it means they do it regularly (hence "reliable"). If they're asked to do it more consistently, that means they're asked to do it more regularly.

I can go to the gym 12 days in a row and then take the rest of the month off. In doing so I need to be more consistent wiht my workouts. I can go every other day and still only work out 12 times in a month, but I'm doing so consistently. If they run the ball 5 times for a gain of 1 yard each attempt and then pick up 26 on the sixth they need to be more consistent. If you run the ball 6 times and pick up 31 yards broken up evenly you get 3 first downs THe other way is one 3 and out and one 1st down. Same total yardage, but the former is more consistent.