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Red Zone blues. Tell me why.

C

Coach

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Going by league ranking for RZ %...


2017: 30th so far our of 32 teams

2016: 16th

What exactly is the problem? I have two points to me made, but I'd like to see others comment first.
 
Last edited:
Because our star TE has hands of stone?
 
Spike said:
Because our star TE has hands of stone?
Click to expand...

The poster who said Coaching is correct, and why not use Nix, he blows his man up, clearing a path. DUH,

Heath Miller was not close to being replaced is a reason. Miller was a weapon in the Red Zone. But not all or our TE's have hands of stone, we do have one guy who can make some nice catches.

Let's see what others can come up with.
 
Looks like the vast majority of our pass plays rely on progressions that simply don't have time to develop once we're inside the 20.
 
Steelers took a weapon out of Ben's hands when they hired Clank.

Jesse James is guy that would never make the field on any other team.
 
1) Empty set on Goal Line plays. All I can say is WTF? Play calling is a complete mystery.

2) I disagree Spike. I think James has pretty good hands. He just doesn't have extraordinary talent at getting behind linebackers. But in a goal-line situation he ought to be a great asset. He and Bryant should be valuable dudes to have for jump balls if you want to go that route. More importantly, if you have Bell or Conner behind Ben, you have two guys who can spread things out, move toward the corners and spread things open a bit for a run up the gut should you want to do that. Again, see #1.

Early in the season they were having some great luck with that shovel pass, then they stopped doing it. The Steelers got 2 TDs off that quick inside shovel to the off-set RB or TE and since then Haley has opted for the dreaded empty set. (Which I hate with a passion on goal line situations btw).
 
Everything compresses when you get inside the 20... receivers flash open for a split second and it’s at that moment that the ball should be arriving. But timing throws have never been Roethlisberger’s strong suit so consequently they struggle
 
RollRed said:
Everything compresses when you get inside the 20... receivers flash open for a split second and it’s at that moment that the ball should be arriving. But timing throws have never been Roethlisberger’s strong suit so consequently they struggle
Click to expand...

This was not a problem pre-Haley.
 
Timing throws require a great deal of trust. Who does Ben trust right now? Brown. That's about it.

MB is too raw, frankly. Eli too. James is alright but no all-pro. Maybe Ben is starting to get into a rhythm with JuJu but do you just throw a ball into the endzone blindly trusting a rookie to "be there"?

Bell is a ridiculously talented player, but he's kinda "all about me". Is that a guy you trust implicitly? I'm just sayin'. If you're Ben and ****'s on the line you kinda want to feel like a guy is open and is going to make a play before you commit to throwing a ball in the EZ.
 
wig said:
Timing throws require a great deal of trust. Who does Ben trust right now? Brown. That's about it.

MB is too raw, frankly. Eli too. James is alright but no all-pro. Maybe Ben is starting to get into a rhythm with JuJu but do you just throw a ball into the endzone blindly trusting a rookie to "be there"?

Bell is a ridiculously talented player, but he's kinda "all about me". Is that a guy you trust implicitly? I'm just sayin'. If you're Ben and ****'s on the line you kinda want to feel like a guy is open and is going to make a play before you commit to throwing a ball in the EZ.
Click to expand...

Other then Bell's contract issue what gives you a "me" attitude about Bell?
 
Can't go empty set, even if you don't plan to run it.
Seems like we've had several plays down there this season where we basically have one option on a pass and if he's not open it's a throw away.
No rub routes, no purpose, have one guy run through clear space and then someone sits in that vacated area.
It seems like we never can get anyone open in the end zone, other games there seem to be plays designed to get guys open. Aaron Rodgers, alot of red zone throws aren't difficult throws, the play design clears space for someone. Hell Cincy got their TE wide open vs us, when have we had anyone open in the end zone like that.

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We've gone away from throwing to our TEs. Jesse James had 2 early season TDs. Where has he been lately? Is he banged up or are we just not throwing his way? We can make teams pay if we utilize all of our assets in the red zone.
 
Coach said:
This was not a problem pre-Haley.
Click to expand...

Perception and fact are not always the same.

My perception is that, watching the games and hearing the bitching here, that the play calling inside the 20 hasn't changed over the last few years.

So, 2015 was 60+%, last year was almost 60% and this year is sub 45% (so far). If the play calling hasn't changed and, for the most part the personnel hasn't, what would be the difference? 1) defensive adjustments? 2) lack of execution? There may be some of #1, but you would have expected that to affect last year's too, right? Seems like the main culprit would be #2. Obviously, of course, it could be that Tomlin and Haley have told the guys to take it easy on other teams, I guess.
[TABLE="width: 132"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Year[/TD]
[TD] RZ% [/TD]
[TD]Rank[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2016[/TD]
[TD] 59.18 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]16[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2015[/TD]
[TD] 60.71 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2014[/TD]
[TD] 52.73 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]18[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2013[/TD]
[TD] 52.83 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]16[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2012[/TD]
[TD] 55.10 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2011[/TD]
[TD] 50.94 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]18[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2010[/TD]
[TD] 48.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]23[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2009[/TD]
[TD] 48.21 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]21[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2008[/TD]
[TD] 55.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2007[/TD]
[TD] 58.18 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2006[/TD]
[TD] 50.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2005[/TD]
[TD] 60.71 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2004[/TD]
[TD] 45.90 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]27[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2003[/TD]
[TD] 45.45 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]23[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2002[/TD]
[TD] 45.90 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]26[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2001[/TD]
[TD] 38.46 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]29[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2000[/TD]
[TD] 46.94 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"]21[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody><colgroup><col><col><col></colgroup>[/TABLE]
 
One constant variable in our Red Zone challenges over the years has been number 7...

Ben's strengths is not quick decision making with pin-point accuracy...He is also suspect at identifying the opportunityagainst what a defense is showing him, and then either changing the play or throwing the ball where the defense's weakness is..

Combine those two things...and without a Jerome Bettis type running back...and you have bottom half of the league red zone efficiency offense..
 
steel dino said:
One constant variable in our Red Zone challenges over the years has been number 7...

Ben's strengths is not quick decision making with pin-point accuracy...He is also suspect at identifying the opportunityagainst what a defense is showing him, and then either changing the play or throwing the ball where the defense's weakness is..

Combine those two things...and without a Jerome Bettis type running back...and you have bottom half of the league red zone efficiency offense..
Click to expand...

Oh, no you din't
 
Haley has no idea how to call plays in the red zone. It's that simple when we have the same problem year in and year out.
 
I say put your best run blockers on the field with Nix and Bell in the backfield and run it every single down. (besides obvious passing situations due to lack of time on the clock or lack of timeouts)
I don't care if Ben doesn't like it, and haley can't try to get cute.. Its time for the team to put their ego's aside and realize that Bell running the ball in the redzone (in the proper run formations) is they're best bet. That goes for 3rd and 4th and short as well. Bell isn't going to be perfect but it can't be worse than the current redzone percentage, he is the best back in the league.
run, run, run. It works for Fournette and the Jags.
 
Bell's one weakness is he's not a good short yardage back because he hesitates every time, that's why Watson has gotten several short yardage carries over Bell. I still think our OLine is more finesse than power, lining up our bigs vs their bigs, we seem to struggle there

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I myself think this is a false narrative. Would love to see some stats on this. He is patient he does hesitate but he gets the yardage.
 
TDX27 said:
Haley has no idea how to call plays in the red zone. It's that simple when we have the same problem year in and year out.
Click to expand...

Then why was it ~60% for two straight years? How is 60% a "problem"?
 
bigben said:
I say put your best run blockers on the field with Nix and Bell in the backfield and run it every single down. (besides obvious passing situations due to lack of time on the clock or lack of timeouts)
I don't care if Ben doesn't like it, and haley can't try to get cute.. Its time for the team to put their ego's aside and realize that Bell running the ball in the redzone (in the proper run formations) is they're best bet. That goes for 3rd and 4th and short as well. Bell isn't going to be perfect but it can't be worse than the current redzone percentage, he is the best back in the league.
run, run, run. It works for Fournette and the Jags.
Click to expand...

Third and short: Bell in the back field, with Nix on one side and your best blocking TE on the other. You can run with Nix and the TE plowing over anyone in the way, those two are good enough to get over to block for a run outside or you can play action pass. First down!
 
A previous post explained last year Bell scored on the same exact play but on 4th down.

Also, didn’t Ben have a rub route at the goal line by Eli which allowed an AB TD?

Seems plays are called, success rate is based on execution.


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