Is Ben starting unnecessary drama and distractions

Ok, I thought about this the other day, and thought I'd bring it up for discussion.

Is Ben starting unnecessary drama and/or distractions?

Last year it was the whining about Arians being gone.
Last year it was the disconnect with Haley's schemes and playbook.
This year it's his comments on Bell (although supposedly taken out of context, let's face it, there was certainly a better way to say it).

Is Ben doing everything in his powers to ensure Haley is on the hotseat?

Is Ben being dramatic about the state of the Steelers offense?

Will all this stop if the Steelers right the ship and go on a winning spree?

No
No
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a hot streak. They'll beat some bad teams, but the 2013 Steelers are nothing more than a bad team as well.

Absolutely not. Ben is too much of a competitor to ever purposely sabotage any part of his team. I believe the things he said and did last season came from anger and frustration. It was a reaction to the situation. Now that he's had a year to get over Arians being let go, and a year to get to know Haley, his anger and frustration over that situation appears to be gone. He's had plenty of opportunities this season to take shots at Haley, and he hasn't ... unlike last season when he was constantly taking shots (sometimes veiled, sometimes not). In fact, he more or less defended Haley during the incident with A. Brown by pointing out that there was plenty of blame to go around for the offense's struggles.

When it comes to Ben's comments, he has a history of 2 things:

1. Being fiercely loyal to his teammates, almost to a fault. We saw it last season with Wallace (even after he left). We saw it with Arians. We've seen it over the years with the O-line.

2. Saying stupid things without thinking and later having to explain what he meant.

Put those two things together, and I think you have the answer for what happened with his comments regarding Bell. He was praising Miller, and in doing so, he sort of took a shot at Bell. I don't think it was intentional ... it just came out the way it did. We've all said things that didn't come out quite the way we meant them.

Put simply, I think Ben will say and do stupid things without thinking and out of anger, but I don't think he'd ever purposely do anything that would risk harming the team. Unlike last season, this year Ben has said and done all the right things off the field. Now it's time for him to do all the right things on the field.