AFC North mailbag

AFC North mailbag
October, 22, 2011
By Jamison Hensley


If you have a question about the AFC North, send it to my mailbag. It's Saturday morning, so let's open up some mail ...

Ian from Charlotte, N.C., writes: I've read than Big Ben has been campaigning [Steelers offensive coordinator] Bruce Arians about turning him loose to run more no-huddle. I feel like with the weapons they have in the receiving corps and with Issac Redman and Johnathan Dwyer showing promise, no huddle's a viable option. Plus with their offensive line struggling to win the line of scrimmage, upping the tempo and keeping the defense on it's heels could be just the remedy since acquiring more talented personnel isn't an option.

Do you see Bruce Arians letting this happen? And do you think it would be a good idea?

Jamison Hensley responds: My feeling is attempting the no-huddle can't hurt. Still, for these types of questions, let's defer to the quarterback who has two Super Bowl rings. If Ben Roethlisberger is constantly lobbying for it, the Steelers have to listen. Roethlisberger has a good relationship with Arians, so there's a good chance that it'll happen.

What the no-huddle boils down to is play-calling. When the Steelers go to the hurry-up, Roethlisberger is the one calling the shots. He even acknowledged this week that one of the reasons he wants to go no-huddle is to have more control. But that could be the reason why Arians is hesitant to do so.


(Read More:) http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/33976/afc-north-mailbag-92

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How many interceptions has he thrown this year?

The No-huddle is a figment of a Steelers' fan's imagination!

IT

DOES

NOT

EXIST

supytalpeht wrote:

How many interceptions has he thrown this year?

6.

How many quality game plans has Arians designed.... ever?

Buddha Bus wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

How many interceptions has he thrown this year?

6.

How many quality game plans has Arians designed.... ever?

I'll take the under.

Buddha Bus wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

How many interceptions has he thrown this year?

6.

How many quality game plans has Arians designed.... ever?

That I can remember?

Wally, that was a smart bet, taking the under.

My answer....4 (but that might be on the high side)

So now Ben's interceptions are a function of Arians' supposed poor play calling?

supytalpeht wrote:

So now Ben's interceptions are a function of Arians' supposed poor play calling?

I think sometimes it's Ben making poor decisions. And sometimes it's Bruce putting him in a position to fail.

Before the season started, a lot of us talked about all the weapons we have on offense, and how it would be unstoppable. Hell, the players even suggested this themselves. But it hasn't worked out that way. I know what the argument is going to be ... it's because of the O-line.

But let's look at the defense ...
Our secondary has sucked for quite some time. All we did was bitch and moan about Gay and McFadden and the fact we had no one else on the roster who didn't suck less than them. Most Steelers fans were pissed that they didn't do enough through the draft and free agency to address the poor secondary. Yet right now, we're No. 1 against the pass. It's the same players we've bitched about for a while, so why the sudden change from sucktitude to awesomeness? Why are "bums" like Gay and Lewis suddenly playing quite well? Could it have anything to do with the fact they got rid of their secondary coach and brought in Carnell Lake? I consider this a likely possibility considering he's the only variable that was changed.

Coaching is important. They have to put the players in a position to succeed. When players fail, sometimes it's because of poor execution. But sometimes it's because they have been put in a position to fail.

Wallace108 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

So now Ben's interceptions are a function of Arians' supposed poor play calling?

I think sometimes it's Ben making poor decisions. And sometimes it's Bruce putting him in a position to fail.

Before the season started, a lot of us talked about all the weapons we have on offense, and how it would be unstoppable. Hell, the players even suggested this themselves. But it hasn't worked out that way. I know what the argument is going to be ... it's because of the O-line.

But let's look at the defense ...
Our secondary has sucked for quite some time. All we did was bitch and moan about Gay and McFadden and the fact we had no one else on the roster who didn't suck less than them. Most Steelers fans were pissed that they didn't do enough through the draft and free agency to address the poor secondary. Yet right now, we're No. 1 against the pass. It's the same players we've bitched about for a while, so why the sudden change from sucktitude to awesomeness? Why are "bums" like Gay and Lewis suddenly playing quite well? Could it have anything to do with the fact they got rid of their secondary coach and brought in Carnell Lake? I consider this a likely possibility considering he's the only variable that was changed.

Coaching is important. They have to put the players in a position to succeed. When players fail, sometimes it's because of poor execution. But sometimes it's because they have been put in a position to fail.

I'm not sure what voting for your response does, but I assure you it wasn't intentional.

Some might say a more plausible explanation is that Gay,Mcfadden, and the secondary in general aren't as bad as some Steeler fans claim. Additionally, those pass ranking numbers are artificially high due to facing teams with poor passing attacks and teams that really didn't need to pass. In our last 3 losses we've turned the ball over 13 times, but people blame the defense.

supytalpeht wrote:

I'm not sure what voting for your response does, but I assure you it wasn't intentional.

You're not fooling me. You liked what I said, so you gave me a Rep point.

Wallace108 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

I'm not sure what voting for your response does, but I assure you it wasn't intentional.

You're not fooling me. You liked what I said, so you gave me a Rep point.

That reads a whole lot worse than it was intended. My apologies

supytalpeht wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

I'm not sure what voting for your response does, but I assure you it wasn't intentional.

You're not fooling me. You liked what I said, so you gave me a Rep point.

That reads a whole lot worse than it was intended. My apologies

Softie kiss-ass.