Steelers vs. Colts: Pittsburgh Has Big Question Marks After Sloppy Win

Steelers vs. Colts: Pittsburgh Has Big Question Marks After Sloppy Win
By Eric Ball (Featured Columnist) on September 26, 2011 167


If they awarded style points for victories, the Pittsburgh Steelers would have scored a 1.5/10—but they don't, and their 23-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts is just as valuable as their 24-0 win over the Seahawks.

A record of 2-1 is 2-1, but I'd be very concerned if I was a Steelers fan.

Ben Roethlisberger was a turnover machine for the second time in three weeks as he threw an interception and lost two fumbles. Sure the offensive line was beaten to submission by Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, but Big Ben has to do a much better job of taking care of the ball.

Speaking of the O-Line, they need to bring in some new guys in a hurry. The injury bug has devoured a large portion of them, and simply getting bodies is more important than getting talent at this point. Pittsburgh better cross their fingers that this trouble trend changes quickly, or it's going to derail their whole season.



(Read More:) http://bleacherreport.com/articles/865515-steelers-vs-colts-pittsburgh-has-big-question-marks-after-sloppy-win

It isn't that there was a lot of sloppy play, just the fact that our O-line can't make a running lane and continue to whiff on blocks when Ben drops back to pass.

Fix the O-line, fix the sloppiness!

I don't know if the Steelers can fix this o-line right now and that's a HUGE problem. Ben is going to have to adapt and go to more quick release slants and RB screens to get some pressure off of himself. We saw some quick releases in the preseason that moved the offense. Where the hell did that go?

Yeah, in the past few years, it always seemed they were able to tweak the OL just enough to make it workable (and against decent defenses too). Some games were really ugly...but hardly ever against crap defenses (on the offense side of it that is). This year it's just bad, all around. And it's unfortunate, because with just that bit of extra time, Ben seems to be able to make some really incredible passes. Just seems like a complete waste though.

SteelCityMom wrote:

Yeah, in the past few years, it always seemed they were able to tweak the OL just enough to make it workable (and against decent defenses too). Some games were really ugly...but hardly ever against crap defenses (on the offense side of it that is). This year it's just bad, all around. And it's unfortunate, because with just that bit of extra time, Ben seems to be able to make some really incredible passes. Just seems like a complete waste though.

I agree. I just don't know how they fix this with the available cap money left. I hope Kugler has a magic wand jammed up his ass that he can whip out and turn a couple of these guys into serviceable blockers or Ben ( and then probably Batch) will be dead before week 10. At least Dixon can just take a snap and run for his life!

Oh wait, but we're going to see more no-huddle and silent counts!

I'd ALMOST be willing to bet a week's worth of infracting from mom if I actually saw the no-huddle with some consistency.

stlrtruck wrote:

Oh wait, but we're going to see more no-huddle and silent counts!

I'd ALMOST be willing to bet a week's worth of infracting from mom if I actually saw the no-huddle with some consistency.

Wait, Truck.... it's coming THIS week! I promise, so hold your breath.

I don't think the problem is the O-line. Well, it is ... but the O-line is ALWAYS a problem.

The real problem is the play calling. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's the same thing week after week.
Arians knows the O-line sucks. Our opponents' defensive coordinators know our O-line sucks. So who is doing a better job at coming up with a game plan to account for the bad O-Line?

With a horrible O-line that can't pass block, Arians is still calling way too many plays that take time to develop. We're running too many plays that require Ben to have protection long enough for his receivers to get downfield.

D coordinators know this, so they're putting eight in the box, pinning their ears back, and coming after Ben. They're just overwhelming an already weak offensive line. Not only are they getting to Ben, but they're shutting down our running game.

We need to take pressure off the line by running more short routes (hooks and slants). Come out dinking and dunking. The O-line wouldn't have to protect as long, and linebackers would have to drop back into coverage. This would open up some running lanes. Once we establish a running game, mixed with the dinking and dunking, throw in some play action and hit Wallace or Brown deep.

Oh, and for the love of God, take that bubble screen out of the playbook.

You have to keep a defense guessing. Right now, defenses know Arians' game plan, because it's the same every week. So they're able to pin their ears back and come after Ben.

Wallace108 wrote:

I don't think the problem is the O-line. Well, it is ... but the O-line is ALWAYS a problem.

The real problem is the play calling. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's the same thing week after week.
Arians knows the O-line sucks. Our opponents' defensive coordinators know our O-line sucks. So who is doing a better job at coming up with a game plan to account for the bad O-Line?

With a horrible O-line that can't pass block, Arians is still calling way too many plays that take time to develop. We're running too many plays that require Ben to have protection long enough for his receivers to get downfield.

D coordinators know this, so they're putting eight in the box, pinning their ears back, and coming after Ben. They're just overwhelming an already weak offensive line. Not only are they getting to Ben, but they're shutting down our running game.

We need to take pressure off the line by running more short routes (hooks and slants). Come out dinking and dunking. The O-line wouldn't have to protect as long, and linebackers would have to drop back into coverage. This would open up some running lanes. Once we establish a running game, mixed with the dinking and dunking, throw in some play action and hit Wallace or Brown deep.

Oh, and for the love of God, take that bubble screen out of the playbook.

You have to keep a defense guessing. Right now, defenses know Arians' game plan, because it's the same every week. So they're able to pin their ears back and come after Ben.

Agreed. I also wanted to see more of the quick passes and slants we saw in preseason this year. They looked good doing it and, in typical Arians fashion, we have gone away from it in favor of slow developing, deep passes.

Buddha Bus wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

I don't think the problem is the O-line. Well, it is ... but the O-line is ALWAYS a problem.

The real problem is the play calling. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's the same thing week after week.
Arians knows the O-line sucks. Our opponents' defensive coordinators know our O-line sucks. So who is doing a better job at coming up with a game plan to account for the bad O-Line?

With a horrible O-line that can't pass block, Arians is still calling way too many plays that take time to develop. We're running too many plays that require Ben to have protection long enough for his receivers to get downfield.

D coordinators know this, so they're putting eight in the box, pinning their ears back, and coming after Ben. They're just overwhelming an already weak offensive line. Not only are they getting to Ben, but they're shutting down our running game.

We need to take pressure off the line by running more short routes (hooks and slants). Come out dinking and dunking. The O-line wouldn't have to protect as long, and linebackers would have to drop back into coverage. This would open up some running lanes. Once we establish a running game, mixed with the dinking and dunking, throw in some play action and hit Wallace or Brown deep.

Oh, and for the love of God, take that bubble screen out of the playbook.

You have to keep a defense guessing. Right now, defenses know Arians' game plan, because it's the same every week. So they're able to pin their ears back and come after Ben.

Agreed. I also wanted to see more of the quick passes and slants we saw in preseason this year. They looked good doing it and, in typical Arians fashion, we have gone away from it in favor of slow developing, deep passes.

It all goes back to what Arians said last year ... he's not going to change his game plan based on the players he has available.

The good news is that we won.

Wallace108 wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

I don't think the problem is the O-line. Well, it is ... but the O-line is ALWAYS a problem.

The real problem is the play calling. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's the same thing week after week.
Arians knows the O-line sucks. Our opponents' defensive coordinators know our O-line sucks. So who is doing a better job at coming up with a game plan to account for the bad O-Line?

With a horrible O-line that can't pass block, Arians is still calling way too many plays that take time to develop. We're running too many plays that require Ben to have protection long enough for his receivers to get downfield.

D coordinators know this, so they're putting eight in the box, pinning their ears back, and coming after Ben. They're just overwhelming an already weak offensive line. Not only are they getting to Ben, but they're shutting down our running game.

We need to take pressure off the line by running more short routes (hooks and slants). Come out dinking and dunking. The O-line wouldn't have to protect as long, and linebackers would have to drop back into coverage. This would open up some running lanes. Once we establish a running game, mixed with the dinking and dunking, throw in some play action and hit Wallace or Brown deep.

Oh, and for the love of God, take that bubble screen out of the playbook.

You have to keep a defense guessing. Right now, defenses know Arians' game plan, because it's the same every week. So they're able to pin their ears back and come after Ben.

Agreed. I also wanted to see more of the quick passes and slants we saw in preseason this year. They looked good doing it and, in typical Arians fashion, we have gone away from it in favor of slow developing, deep passes.

It all goes back to what Arians said last year ... he's not going to change his game plan based on the players he has available.

The good news is that we won.

The bad news is that we WON'T win those kind of games against good teams.