those dang dong Steelers beat are beloved Steelers

I give OC Fichner a Game Ball he had the offensive game plan to beat the Broncos if it wasn't for Conner and Gimble fumbles then the 3rd and goal interception Ben threw with nothing about that play being open. it's like damn Ben you had one more play.

The Grimble fumble in the endzone when he got knocked coo coo was the beginning of the end. How many times has that happened in the whole NFL this season? Twice?? Insane.

That turned into a Conner fumble, and then Ben inexplicably once again, throwing an interception on 1st and goal. But this time, no penalty flag bailout. Is Todd Haley back calling plays again or something??

The last few weeks our game plan has changed. Go back to a balanced offensive attack ASAP.

Drizztbob wrote:

The Grimble fumble in the endzone when he got knocked coo coo was the beginning of the end.  How many times has that happened in the whole NFL this season?  Twice??  Insane.

That turned into a Conner fumble, and then Ben inexplicably once again, throwing an interception on 1st and goal.  But this time, no penalty flag bailout.  Is Todd Haley back calling plays again or something??

The last few weeks our game plan has changed.  Go back to a balanced offensive attack ASAP.  

Ben with his broken finger has been under center a lot less and that imo has hurt the run and play action plays part of the offensive and the deception of the offense over all.

One of those games that are hard to take. Hopefully they learned something from it and we can move on.

I think they beat LA at home, prime-time, this week. Also win the Oakland and Cincy games. That likely is enough for the division considering Balt still has to play @ Falcons @ Chiefs and @ Chargers and we currently have a 1.5 game lead on them. It probably sounds delusional, and feel free to remind me if things go badly again, but I think this is the year the NE game goes our way....I think the players want that one as much as the fans now. Saints down there doesn't inspire me with much hope.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Saints down there doesn't inspire me with much hope.

I agree. They are on fire right now. I live an hour and a half from New Orleans and I had planned on going to the game, but I still haven't bought tickets. I was waiting to see how the Steelers were doing before I toss down money to go sit in hostile territory. I'm still not sure if I want to endure that beat down in person, right before Christmas.

I think we need to run the ball more. In the 3 games we lost we have not run well. How many passes did Ben throw last week before the first run?
When we start talking about games down the road like N.O. and N.E. we really don't have the right to get pissed when the team does the same like last year.
The team I'm concerned with is the Chargers and only them. We have as much talent as they do. Rivers is good but Ben is better. We need to fix the turnovers and control the clock. We do that by running the ball. I don't care how pass happy this league gets you still win by controlling the clock and winning the turnover battle. It's only when you are playing from behind that your opponent has the advantage because they know you can't afford to run it.
The Chargers are 13th against the run. 4.4 YPC so far. If Connor matches that we're in a lot of 3rd and short situations. It also sets up play action and RPOs.

It was a frustrating game where a lot of things went wrong. I blame Grimble the most.
This is what Mark Kaboly tweeted:

Xavier Grimble on his fumble through the end zone: "He didn't surprise me at all. I saw him coming. I could've cut back and scored but I wanted to run right through him. I was probably too aggressive. That's what happened. Unfortunately."

https://twitter.com/MarkKaboly/status/1066869574585470976

What a dumbass! Just score the TD you fucking idiot They should cut his ass for that!

Shit happens... it’s Steelers football if you aren’t used to a game like that then you haven’t been a Steeler fan long enough. I saw that game unfolding the minute they blocked that first FG attempt... said to myself, “here we go with this bullshit.” Hated the fact I was right watching them march around the field and coming away with no points multiple times but it’s not a surprise. Kicked the shit out of Denver on paper but still lost the game... lol

solardave wrote:

I think we need to run the ball more. In the 3 games we lost we have not run well. How many passes did Ben throw last week before the first run?
When we start talking about games down the road like N.O. and N.E. we really don't have the right to get pissed when the team does the same like last year.
The team I'm concerned with is the Chargers and only them. We have as much talent as they do. Rivers is good but Ben is better. We need to fix the turnovers and control the clock. We do that by running the ball. I don't care how pass happy this league gets you still win by controlling the clock and winning the turnover battle. It's only when you are playing from behind that your opponent has the advantage because they know you can't afford to run it.
The Chargers are 13th against the run. 4.4 YPC so far. If Connor matches that we're in a lot of 3rd and short situations. It also sets up play action and RPOs.

To this point Paul Zeise answered a question and commented on this at PPG today:

Why do the Steelers insist on becoming the early 1980s San Diego Chargers? Someone should remind Ben that Air Coryell and Dan Fours never won a Super Bowl!

Zeise: I agree, the Steelers do pass a lot these days but nobody should be surprised. Ben Roethlisberger won the power struggle with Todd Haley and we knew that meant he would get a larger say in the offense. And there isn’t a quarterback on the planet who wouldn’t call his own number as many times as possible if given the freedom. The thing is, somebody needs to reel it in a little bit. I get a kick out of Roethlisberger’s spin that the “game plan worked” and points to the fact that they had more than 500 yards of offense. That’s completely opposite of what he usually says as his general talking point of “I don’t care about stats, stats don’t matter, the only thing that matters is wins and losses.” Well the Steelers lost, so maybe the game plan needed some adjustments. The bottom line is this - they have thrown the ball more than 100 times the last two weeks, and it has produced seven turnovers and only 37 total points. That’s an average of 18.5 points per game, and that is well below what this offense is capable of. They seem to be at their best when they run the ball a little more than they have the last two weeks. I am not saying they need to go back to 1970s football or even find a 50/50 balance. They just can’t believe they will win many playoff games if they have to throw the ball 50-plus times every week.

His other Q&A are here:https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/paul-zeise/2018/11/28/Are-the-Steelers-trying-to-become-the-80s-Chargers/stories/201811280146

I'd personally love to go back to 70's football. I love a good running game!

Your point is well taken, I think the Steelers are always better off when they can run the ball. Some games it seems like they abandon it really early. Its a mistake. If you can run, then you can run and pass - and dominate the clock, and wear out the opponent's defense, and keep the opponent's offense off the field.

Also, we convert more 3rd downs, generally turn the ball over less, and are better in the red zone.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

solardave wrote:

I think we need to run the ball more. In the 3 games we lost we have not run well. How many passes did Ben throw last week before the first run?
When we start talking about games down the road like N.O. and N.E. we really don't have the right to get pissed when the team does the same like last year.
The team I'm concerned with is the Chargers and only them. We have as much talent as they do. Rivers is good but Ben is better. We need to fix the turnovers and control the clock. We do that by running the ball. I don't care how pass happy this league gets you still win by controlling the clock and winning the turnover battle. It's only when you are playing from behind that your opponent has the advantage because they know you can't afford to run it.
The Chargers are 13th against the run. 4.4 YPC so far. If Connor matches that we're in a lot of 3rd and short situations. It also sets up play action and RPOs.

To this point Paul Zeise answered a question and commented on this at PPG today:

Why do the Steelers insist on becoming the early 1980s San Diego Chargers? Someone should remind Ben that Air Coryell and Dan Fours never won a Super Bowl!

Zeise: I agree, the Steelers do pass a lot these days but nobody should be surprised. Ben Roethlisberger won the power struggle with Todd Haley and we knew that meant he would get a larger say in the offense. And there isn’t a quarterback on the planet who wouldn’t call his own number as many times as possible if given the freedom. The thing is, somebody needs to reel it in a little bit. I get a kick out of Roethlisberger’s spin that the “game plan worked” and points to the fact that they had more than 500 yards of offense. That’s completely opposite of what he usually says as his general talking point of “I don’t care about stats, stats don’t matter, the only thing that matters is wins and losses.” Well the Steelers lost, so maybe the game plan needed some adjustments. The bottom line is this - they have thrown the ball more than 100 times the last two weeks, and it has produced seven turnovers and only 37 total points. That’s an average of 18.5 points per game, and that is well below what this offense is capable of. They seem to be at their best when they run the ball a little more than they have the last two weeks. I am not saying they need to go back to 1970s football or even find a 50/50 balance. They just can’t believe they will win many playoff games if they have to throw the ball 50-plus times every week.

His other Q&A are here:https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/paul-zeise/2018/11/28/Are-the-Steelers-trying-to-become-the-80s-Chargers/stories/201811280146

So you're saying I'm not as dumb as I appear. I just think we have an O line that blocked well for Bell and adapted to Connor and we're wasting talent by throwing the ball most of the time. I sure hope we come out against LA running the ball early.

i can't for the life of me understand why a team goes into shotgun formation on short yardage situations. if you are planning to run the ball it takes to long for the rb to get the ball moving forward. plus play action is not nearly as effective in shotgun. qb roll outs work much better from under center. so unless your up against the clock , stay the fuck out of shotgun in short yardage situations !!!

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i can't for the life of me understand why a team goes into shotgun formation on short yardage situations.   if you are planning to run the ball it takes to long for the rb to get the ball moving forward. plus play action is not nearly as effective in shotgun. qb roll outs work much better from under center. so unless your up against the clock , stay the fuck out of shotgun in short yardage situations !!!

They do it since Ben has broken his finger. I think it's still bothering him a bit.

Stella Nation wrote:

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i can't for the life of me understand why a team goes into shotgun formation on short yardage situations.   if you are planning to run the ball it takes to long for the rb to get the ball moving forward. plus play action is not nearly as effective in shotgun. qb roll outs work much better from under center. so unless your up against the clock , stay the fuck out of shotgun in short yardage situations !!!

They do it since Ben has broken his finger. I think it's still bothering him a bit.

That is probably the reason right now but what about before he broke his finger. This formation is something I've wondered about since Haley. I can almost understand with Bell in because of the type of runner he was. WAS!!! But when we have the ball first & goal and we throw 3 times or hand off from the shot gun. WTH is that?

solardave wrote:

Stella Nation wrote:

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i can't for the life of me understand why a team goes into shotgun formation on short yardage situations.   if you are planning to run the ball it takes to long for the rb to get the ball moving forward. plus play action is not nearly as effective in shotgun. qb roll outs work much better from under center. so unless your up against the clock , stay the fuck out of shotgun in short yardage situations !!!

They do it since Ben has broken his finger. I think it's still bothering him a bit.

That is probably the reason right now but what about before he broke his finger. This formation is something I've wondered about since Haley. I can almost understand with Bell in because of the type of runner he was. WAS!!! But when we have the ball first & goal and we throw 3 times or hand off from the shot gun. WTH is that?

Under Haley is a different story of course. But they did it less under Fichtner, until Ben broke his finger. So I believe it still has to do something with that.

Stella Nation wrote:

solardave wrote:

Stella Nation wrote:

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i can't for the life of me understand why a team goes into shotgun formation on short yardage situations.   if you are planning to run the ball it takes to long for the rb to get the ball moving forward. plus play action is not nearly as effective in shotgun. qb roll outs work much better from under center. so unless your up against the clock , stay the fuck out of shotgun in short yardage situations !!!

They do it since Ben has broken his finger. I think it's still bothering him a bit.

That is probably the reason right now but what about before he broke his finger. This formation is something I've wondered about since Haley. I can almost understand with Bell in because of the type of runner he was. WAS!!! But when we have the ball first & goal and we throw 3 times or hand off from the shot gun. WTH is that?

Under Haley is a different story of course. But they did it less under Fichtner, until Ben broke his finger. So I believe it still has to do something with that.

Hopefully we don't shit the bed again this year and we can debate this well into the playoffs and the SB.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

solardave wrote:

I think we need to run the ball more. In the 3 games we lost we have not run well. How many passes did Ben throw last week before the first run?
When we start talking about games down the road like N.O. and N.E. we really don't have the right to get pissed when the team does the same like last year.
The team I'm concerned with is the Chargers and only them. We have as much talent as they do. Rivers is good but Ben is better. We need to fix the turnovers and control the clock. We do that by running the ball. I don't care how pass happy this league gets you still win by controlling the clock and winning the turnover battle. It's only when you are playing from behind that your opponent has the advantage because they know you can't afford to run it.
The Chargers are 13th against the run. 4.4 YPC so far. If Connor matches that we're in a lot of 3rd and short situations. It also sets up play action and RPOs.

To this point Paul Zeise answered a question and commented on this at PPG today:

Why do the Steelers insist on becoming the early 1980s San Diego Chargers? Someone should remind Ben that Air Coryell and Dan Fours never won a Super Bowl!

Zeise: I agree, the Steelers do pass a lot these days but nobody should be surprised. Ben Roethlisberger won the power struggle with Todd Haley and we knew that meant he would get a larger say in the offense. And there isn’t a quarterback on the planet who wouldn’t call his own number as many times as possible if given the freedom. The thing is, somebody needs to reel it in a little bit. I get a kick out of Roethlisberger’s spin that the “game plan worked” and points to the fact that they had more than 500 yards of offense. That’s completely opposite of what he usually says as his general talking point of “I don’t care about stats, stats don’t matter, the only thing that matters is wins and losses.” Well the Steelers lost, so maybe the game plan needed some adjustments. The bottom line is this - they have thrown the ball more than 100 times the last two weeks, and it has produced seven turnovers and only 37 total points. That’s an average of 18.5 points per game, and that is well below what this offense is capable of. They seem to be at their best when they run the ball a little more than they have the last two weeks. I am not saying they need to go back to 1970s football or even find a 50/50 balance. They just can’t believe they will win many playoff games if they have to throw the ball 50-plus times every week.

His other Q&A are here:https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/paul-zeise/2018/11/28/Are-the-Steelers-trying-to-become-the-80s-Chargers/stories/201811280146

lmo Ben loses out in the off season if the Steelers don't make it to the promise land this year, here's why 1] the salary cap savings are big and the dead money very low. 2] a year of practice and game tape on Fichtner's offense. 3] two young QBs sitting behind Ben who want to be a starters. 4] imo Ben's arm is starting to go his deep balls don't hit receivers in stride like he use to.