*** 2013 Official Pittsburgh Steelers Off & ON Season Thread *** (1 Viewer)

[B-Deep]

Oh i guess it's not haley's fault.

What can/should Haley do if the oline sucks?

Change the scheme to one that actually suits his personnel.

Like what, punt on 1st down?

Aside from the nonsensical Cotchery end-around, not spiking the ball after the Paulson fumble and perhaps not giving Jones more carries in the 2nd half, I don't have much of a problem with Haley considering what he has to work with.

The offensive line is very young, missing a key player and learning under fire, you don't have Heath Miller and until Bell comes back your running backs are Redman who stinks, Dwyer who was cut in preseason and Jones who was going to be cut had we not traded to get him. Sanders has already had a few big drops and Cotchery's hands have turned to stone.

Even with all of that they were still in the game in the 4th quarter against a tough opponent on the road and had it not been for the fumble off the big gain and a terrible tripping call that wiped out a 30+ yard gain, they might have won.

I have heard rumblings that Heath will be back next week so maybe the offense perks up a bit.

the thing is when they went hurry up with Ben making the calls they seemed better

maybe that was a result of the tempo and not the play calling, but it makes you wonder.

I still think the o-line is an issue, but also they simply lack skill position talent. None of the WRs or RBs impress me much. I know Miller is quality, he'll help, but he is not a focal point of the offense type tight end. I know Bell is hurt, but he is a rookie, no one knows if he is a focal point player either.

 

[Franknbeans]

IMO the team looks unprepared too many times the last couple of years - that has to fall on Tomlin.

Agreed. I know he likes to talk a good game and what not but it's time to unleash the hounds.

 

[Idiot Boxer]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

 

[B-Deep]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

i kind of think #7 would be needed to correct some of 1-5

 

[Idiot Boxer]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

i kind of think #7 would be needed to correct some of 1-5

Yeah. Maybe I should have listed that one first.

 

[B-Deep]

just let ben call the plays

it is his ### out there on the line anyway

at least then if he is getting his lunch handed to him it is partially his fault!

 

[B-Deep]

Who do we think picked Haley?

was it tomlin, or was this an organizational pick since his dad was a steelers guy?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Sanders owner here, still hopeful he will have a good FF season if he can get in the end zone.

I agree that Ben should be flinging it, maybe 40-60 times in a single given game just to loosen things up - but that line is the real problem.

 

[mphtrilogy]

im stuck with l bell and a brown

might drop them both..

 

[saintfool]

how did williams look replacing foote?

 

[Copeman]

how did williams look replacing foote?

Not as bad as I thought he would look. Steady, not flashy.

 

[3C's]

throw downfield more? they've thrown downfield quite a bit. they just need to connect on them.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2013/09/steelers-offense-has-gone-from-dink-and-dunk-to-chunk-and-clunk/

 

[bweiser]

just saw on myfantasyleague that Tomlin said Markus Wheaton will be more involved in the offense. Considering he has zero targets in two games, that isn't much of a description.

 

[Drunken Cowboy]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

This personnel group is in no way a good fit with zone blocking.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

Heath Miller expected to fully practice this week, via Tomlin.

LeVeon Bell expected to ramp up activities this week, via Tomlin.

 

[Kenny Powers]

how did williams look replacing foote?

Not as bad as I thought he would look. Steady, not flashy.

Vince Williams? I thought Kion Wilson got most of the snaps.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

how did williams look replacing foote?

Not as bad as I thought he would look. Steady, not flashy.

Vince Williams? I thought Kion Wilson got most of the snaps.

Nope on defense Williams had twice the snaps. 42-21.

Wilson had 26 special teams snaps to 0 for Williams tho, so more overall field time.

 

[moondog]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

This personnel group is in no way a good fit with zone blocking.

They did not run a single zone blocking play in the CIN game and only one in the Tenn game.

 

[Idiot Boxer]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

This personnel group is in no way a good fit with zone blocking.

They did not run a single zone blocking play in the CIN game and only one in the Tenn game.

Which one was the one in the TEN game? The one where Pouncey was lost for the year?

 

[mphtrilogy]

Is Bell worth waiting for? hes killing a hole on my bench right now...

 

[moondog]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

This personnel group is in no way a good fit with zone blocking.

They did not run a single zone blocking play in the CIN game and only one in the Tenn game.

Which one was the one in the TEN game? The one where Pouncey was lost for the year?

Yep

 

[Idiot Boxer]

1. Abandon zone blocking. Let the young space eaters eat space.

2. Throw downfield more

3. Keep the TE involved, notwithstanding Paulson's fumble. When Heath returns this should open things up.

4. Use the pass to establish the run, not vice versa

5. Get Wheaton involved

6. Contact a witch doctor or someone and get Bell healthy.

7. Fire Haley

8. Profit

This personnel group is in no way a good fit with zone blocking.

They did not run a single zone blocking play in the CIN game and only one in the Tenn game.

Which one was the one in the TEN game? The one where Pouncey was lost for the year?

Yep

So #7 holds.

 

[timschochet]

Anybody read that Antonio Brown got into an argument with Haley on the sideline?

http://nfl.si.com/2013/09/18/antonio-brown-todd-haley-clashed-pittsburgh-steelers-monday-night/?xid=nl_siextra

 

[3C's]

Anybody read that Antonio Brown got into an argument with Haley on the sideline?

http://nfl.si.com/2013/09/18/antonio-brown-todd-haley-clashed-pittsburgh-steelers-monday-night/?xid=nl_siextra

yes

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Who do we think picked Haley?

was it tomlin, or was this an organizational pick since his dad was a steelers guy?

If my Swiss cheese memory is accurate in this case, I'm pretty sure Tomlin politicked for Caldwell or Hue Jackson.

 

[3C's]

On the Gay vs Lewis discussion.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2013/09/thank-goodness-for-william-gay/

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1750887-saints-corner-keenan-lewis-so-far-no-good

"Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

Keenan Lewis: C

Keenan Lewis has failed to impress thus far as a Saint. He doesn't make any impact plays and usually gives up one. This game was no different. He wasn't awful—I just expect more."
Of course this means Gay will get burned tonight.

 

[timschochet]

Maybe the defense will get a pick 6 or 2 tonight against Jay Cutler. Here's hoping...

 

[3C's]

Maybe the defense will get a pick 6 or 2 tonight against Jay Cutler. Here's hoping...

Seems to be about the only way they'll be in the game until the offense gets going.

 

[SYMPHONY X]

Cutler gives the Steelers the best chance of winning tonight. Just need to get something, ANYTHING out of the offense, and Cutler will take care of the rest. Steelers eek one out, 19-17, with a defensive score and a couple of short fields to set up some field goals.

Go Steelers!

 

[irish eyes]

Oh i know it's taboo in here to have an opinion, but really. Anyone thinking tomlin/ haley shouldn't go. Tomlin will have another scripted press conference but fail too mention how unprepared team was AGAIN coming out on a national tv game.

 

[Steel Dillo]

Whatever Ben used to have... he seems to have misplaced it. He made a lot of bad throws tonight. BTW. Hold on to the damn ball.

Play calling was a little better tonight. Yes Jones's fumble hurt, but at least he has some burst & elusiveness.

I hate when i can tell what the play will be just by the personnel they have on the field. I hope Bell brings a little diversity to the game plan.

 

[fred_1_15301]

After the last 2 games, my fear was that this team would go winless. I no longer have that fear. I've got that going for me......

 

[timschochet]

Whatever Ben used to have... he seems to have misplaced it. He made a lot of bad throws tonight. BTW. Hold on to the damn ball.

Play calling was a little better tonight. Yes Jones's fumble hurt, but at least he has some burst & elusiveness.

I hate when i can tell what the play will be just by the personnel they have on the field. I hope Bell brings a little diversity to the game plan.

I think Ben was fine tonight. And I absolutely don't think Tomlin should be fired.

Basically, there are 3 problems with this team:

1. The offensive line hasn't panned out as projected. The Steelers spent some high draft picks, and thus far they haven't worked out. It's the team's main weakness. (Lack of a running game is related to this.)

2. The defense is old and tired. There are young talented parts, but not enough and they don't know what to do yet.

3. Todd Haley's offensive schemes do not fit the personnel.

Problem #3 can be solved easily, either by Haley replacing his schemes, or by replacing Haley. But the first 2 problems cannot be solved easily- only over several years, I'm afraid. The defense is really the key problem because the best players on it are going to retire sooner rather than later.

So you guys can criticize Ben and Tomlin all you want (and Tomlin does deserve criticism for Haley) but there's very little they can do right now to fix things.

 

[Steeler]

Ben is the Steelers best player but he had a bad game last night. He threw a pick six, fumbled twice on sacks, fumbled one other time while scrambling that he was fortunate to fall on, and threw the ball low several times. The porous offensive line makes his job harder, but he has to play better.

 

[Godsbrother]

Turnovers.

 

[3C's]

Turnovers.

Yep. People can point the finger at anyone or anything they want but that's it. No turnovers and each game could have a different outcome. Add in the D not getting/producing any turnovers and you have a bad mix. You can not win when you consistently lose the turnover game.

 

[The Hank]

Turnovers.

The Bears scored 24 points off turnovers. The ultimate difference in the game. This was a game that could've been won, but we fumbled it away. Disappointing.

 

[36th Chamber]

 

[B-Deep]

Ben is the Steelers best player but he had a bad game last night. He threw a pick six, fumbled twice on sacks, fumbled one other time while scrambling that he was fortunate to fall on, and threw the ball low several times. The porous offensive line makes his job harder, but he has to play better.

There are a few things about Ben that have always bugged me...the way he waves the ball around is one of them. Before it was never a huge issue, but as the team is not generally as good now small things become bigger issues.

I'd be slightly encouraged that they came back, they are still fighting it seems

 

[B-Deep]

Who do we think picked Haley?

was it tomlin, or was this an organizational pick since his dad was a steelers guy?

If my Swiss cheese memory is accurate in this case, I'm pretty sure Tomlin politicked for Caldwell or Hue Jackson.

IF that is correct that is a problem. I personally think coaches should have a major say in their coordinators

 

[Idiot Boxer]

I actually thought there was some room for optimism last night. The running game showed signs of life, the offensive line showed SOME improvement, Antonio Brown played like a #1 WR and for about half the game, the defense was on fire. Heath was back and played well in limited minutes. If not for a 3rd and 12 run by Cutler, and two big catches by Marshall and Bennett, this could have been a very different outcome. Sure, the turnovers had to go, but if this young line keeps getting better, they could really become competitive this year and maybe a force next. (any thought to keeping the C and moving Pouncey to guard?)

 

[Copeman]

David Johnson always seems to make big plays. I'd like to see him and Heath line up together at times.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Who do we think picked Haley?

was it tomlin, or was this an organizational pick since his dad was a steelers guy?

Good question. If it was Tomlin who forced Arians out and decided on Haley, then the true blame lies at his feet. I hated the Haley hiring, but was ready to move on from Arians. It is crazy to expect the same or worse pieces to perform better than last year though. Pouncey getting hurt has its impact, but honestly, we give him too much credit from what is remembered in his rookie season. Since then he's been hurt or not as good.

Drafts have been bad, and I have said for the last year or two that the roster has been mismanaged and been allowed to age or be decimated without real replacements or improvements. After teh loss to GB, they should have done what the Ravens did this year instead of bringing back Farrior and later Foote etc. It seems every free agency signing is just a retread of a guy previously lost, only slower and worse than they were when they left. The cap situation doesn't help either. It may be time to fire Omar Khan, Colbert, and have Art Jr take a step back.

 

[Godsbrother]

I actually thought there was some room for optimism last night. The running game showed signs of life, the offensive line showed SOME improvement, Antonio Brown played like a #1 WR and for about half the game, the defense was on fire. Heath was back and played well in limited minutes. If not for a 3rd and 12 run by Cutler, and two big catches by Marshall and Bennett, this could have been a very different outcome. Sure, the turnovers had to go, but if this young line keeps getting better, they could really become competitive this year and maybe a force next. (any thought to keeping the C and moving Pouncey to guard?)

I don't know about the Steelers coaching staff but I have been thinking that.

 

[Godsbrother]

Who do we think picked Haley?

was it tomlin, or was this an organizational pick since his dad was a steelers guy?

Good question. If it was Tomlin who forced Arians out and decided on Haley, then the true blame lies at his feet. I hated the Haley hiring, but was ready to move on from Arians. It is crazy to expect the same or worse pieces to perform better than last year though. Pouncey getting hurt has its impact, but honestly, we give him too much credit from what is remembered in his rookie season. Since then he's been hurt or not as good.

I am pretty sure this directive came from Art Rooney II and came from the desire to go back to a power running game. You see how well that has worked out...

 

[B-Deep]

the more owners are directly involved in the football operations the worse it is for the team

it is not a 100% rule, but pretty close

:cough:jerry jones:cough:

 

[3C's]

I actually thought there was some room for optimism last night. The running game showed signs of life, the offensive line showed SOME improvement, Antonio Brown played like a #1 WR and for about half the game, the defense was on fire. Heath was back and played well in limited minutes. If not for a 3rd and 12 run by Cutler, and two big catches by Marshall and Bennett, this could have been a very different outcome. Sure, the turnovers had to go, but if this young line keeps getting better, they could really become competitive this year and maybe a force next. (any thought to keeping the C and moving Pouncey to guard?)

I don't know about the Steelers coaching staff but I have been thinking that.

Me too but in reverse. Keep Pouncey at center and move Ferrrnando out to LG. Maybe Foster to RT. Hopefully draft Matthews for a stud LT (if they keep losing).

 

[32 Counter Pass]

Who do we think picked Haley?

was it tomlin, or was this an organizational pick since his dad was a steelers guy?

Good question. If it was Tomlin who forced Arians out and decided on Haley, then the true blame lies at his feet. I hated the Haley hiring, but was ready to move on from Arians. It is crazy to expect the same or worse pieces to perform better than last year though. Pouncey getting hurt has its impact, but honestly, we give him too much credit from what is remembered in his rookie season. Since then he's been hurt or not as good.

I am pretty sure this directive came from Art Rooney II and came from the desire to go back to a power running game. You see how well that has worked out...

this was my understanding as well based on what Kirwin said on Sirius. BTW Cowher and him are tight, so Kirwin may have got this info from BC.

 

[Godsbrother]

Who do we think picked Haley?

was it tomlin, or was this an organizational pick since his dad was a steelers guy?

Good question. If it was Tomlin who forced Arians out and decided on Haley, then the true blame lies at his feet. I hated the Haley hiring, but was ready to move on from Arians. It is crazy to expect the same or worse pieces to perform better than last year though. Pouncey getting hurt has its impact, but honestly, we give him too much credit from what is remembered in his rookie season. Since then he's been hurt or not as good.

I am pretty sure this directive came from Art Rooney II and came from the desire to go back to a power running game. You see how well that has worked out...

this was my understanding as well based on what Kirwin said on Sirius. BTW Cowher and him are tight, so Kirwin may have got this info from BC.

Tomlin told his entire coaching staff, including Arians, that they would be back in 2012. A few days later the Steelers front office announced that Bruce Arians was "retiring". This is when Art Rooney II said he wanted to get back into the power running game.

A couple weeks later Arians came out of his "retirement" to become OC for the Indy Colts and a little later the Steelers hired Haley and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

[Copeman]

Longest current playoff drought for a pro sports team in Pittsburgh: Steelers.