So this just occurred to me this morning.

[wig]

Has anyone noticed that the long throws that Ben has been missing on this season have largely been TOO deep? In the past he always floated them just a bit too short. Receivers had to shorten their routes and then fight the DBs for the ball, but now Ben is airing them out and the receivers more often than not are not quite getting to the ball as it's just at the tips of their fingers.

Is it possible Ben has atually IMPROVED his deep ball and the receivers havn't quite figured out that he's going to throw it past them? Last night he "overthrew" DHB in the endzone. Of course DHB has plenty of speed to run that ball down and make the catch unless he pulls up on the route assuming Ben is going to loft something easy into the EZ. But if Ben is throwing deeper this year, well, DHB has got to run the **** out of his route to finish the catch. (And I'm not saying Ben is purposefully "over-throwing longer, just that he may be throwing the route as it was planned but the receivers after years have gotten used to somewhat "shorter" throws than what the "paper route" says and suddenly Ben is getting his deep ball on.

Last night Ben overthrew James in the middle. It was a bad pass from Ben, no doubt. But it was "overthrown" James flattened out and set up for the easy conversion there, but he was wide open for a deep play. Had he kept running up the seam it would have been a huge connection. (Again, Ben threw a bad pass, I'm not arguing that.) I'm merely pointing out that in the past, Ben has generally been short on this passes when he's been off, now he's tending to overthrow. Course that's not necessarily a good thing.

 

[Big Ben Rules]

Has anyone noticed that the long throws that Ben has been missing on this season have largely been TOO deep? In the past he always floated them just a bit too short. Receivers had to shorten their routes and then fight the DBs for the ball, but now Ben is airing them out and the receivers more often than not are not quite getting to the ball as it's just at the tips of their fingers.

Is it possible Ben has atually IMPROVED his deep ball and the receivers havn't quite figured out that he's going to throw it past them? Last night he "overthrew" DHB in the endzone. Of course DHB has plenty of speed to run that ball down and make the catch unless he pulls up on the route assuming Ben is going to loft something easy into the EZ. But if Ben is throwing deeper this year, well, DHB has got to run the **** out of his route to finish the catch. (And I'm not saying Ben is purposefully "over-throwing longer, just that he may be throwing the route as it was planned but the receivers after years have gotten used to somewhat "shorter" throws than what the "paper route" says and suddenly Ben is getting his deep ball on.

Last night Ben overthrew James in the middle. It was a bad pass from Ben, no doubt. But it was "overthrown" James flattened out and set up for the easy conversion there, but he was wide open for a deep play. Had he kept running up the seam it would have been a huge connection. (Again, Ben threw a bad pass, I'm not arguing that.) I'm merely pointing out that in the past, Ben has generally been short on this passes when he's been off, now he's tending to overthrow. Course that's not necessarily a good thing.

I agree with this 100%. plus Byrant isn't as fast as what he was before the suspension.

 

[TDX27]

I have noticed that some but he has under-thrown balls also. That first pass to JuJu was well under-thrown. JuJu had to stop to get it. If he would have hit him in stride, JuJu may have gone straight down the sideline for the TD.

 

[Coryea]

The media that cover the team said his arm looked strong as ever in training camp.
As good as Stafford was he missed open guys, underthrew several where the wr had to stop. It's not just Ben that's happens all over the league with every QB. We see every throw he makes, we only see the highlights of the others for the most part

Sent from my XT1585 using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[antdrewjosh]

Stan is talking about Ben right now. Going thru the big misses. Says Ben hasnt been good all year and needs to play better if we are going to make a serious run. Says the running game will not be enough by itself. Also say we need someone else (Bryant) to step up and be a third weapon

 

[Coryea]

Even with the misses he should've had nearly 400 yards and 3 TDs

Sent from my XT1585 using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[paperclip]

Something just seems off - mentally or physically.

He's staring down receivers, doesn't pump fake, lots of balls tipped at the line. His confidence in himself? or his receivers.

 

[Spike]

Stan is talking about Ben right now. Going thru the big misses. Says Ben hasnt been good all year and needs to play better if we are going to make a serious run. Says the running game will not be enough by itself. Also say we need someone else (Bryant) to step up and be a third weapon

**** Stan

Stan is full of ****

JuJu is our 3rd weapon, the idiot is as blind as Stan's followers

The DEFENSE will get *** raped by Brady if they can't stop the pass. 400+ yds to Staffords Lions?

 

[antdrewjosh]

**** Stan

Stan is full of ****

JuJu is our 3rd weapon, the idiot is as blind as Stan's followers

The DEFENSE will get *** raped by Brady if they can't stop the pass. 400+ yds to Stafford? Lions and Stafford

Didnt write it out fully a third weapon in the passing game

 

[wig]

Watching Ben last night, I just can't help but feel that either he's just "off" or the receivers and he are not at all on the same page more often than not.

And it's too late in the season for that ****. Problem is, you've got JuJu and Bryant sort of bouncing back and forth for reps, Eli was kinda "the starter" for the first couple weeks, James is the guy, but no - it's Vance, but no... Vance is hurt and doesn't catch like we'd hoped... Brown is still Brown but is it me or is he like 85% of what we expect from Brown, know what I mean? There's just something not quite there.

And once again, although JuJu has been fine, he's not a viable ***-kicking #2. Sure he's made some plays and last night was spectacular. I was happy as a pig in ****. But over the season he certainly hasn't looked as good as even Rogers looked last year. I mean Rogers looked like he was going to be a stud and now... Well ****.

Bryant... well ****, I don't know what to say about that. I just want him to go out and make a few catches and get his confidence back. I think he's got more of a confidence problem and he and Ben have a "trust thing" that's hampering things more than anything else. Right now I suspect that when **** get's real Ben trusts Brown and that's about it. And that's not going to work in January and February. It's just not.

Bell hasn't done **** in the passing game this year. He's been solid running, no complaints there, but his receiving has been meh at best. The Steelers still DESPERATELY need a really good to great #2 and they aren't seeing it yet. That's the issue.

 

[Superman]

Ben needs his vision checked.
he's also throwing the ball high again.

 

[Spike]

His arm is too strong, need a month of blowing snow and sleet into December for him to get the playoff fever and round into form for the push.

It's still summer, they are still wearing shorts, relax

 

[Litos]

...
And once again, although JuJu has been fine, he's not a viable ***-kicking #2. Sure he's made some plays and last night was spectacular. I was happy as a pig in ****. But over the season he certainly hasn't looked as good as even Rogers looked last year. I mean Rogers looked like he was going to be a stud and now... Well ****.

You are very wrong in this:
Rogers was a very apt 3rd WR last season, but in no way he was better than what JuJu has done, I mean Eli last season had around 600 yards and 3 TDs through the whole season. Juju's #s by midseason?: 400+ yards and 4 TDs.

How in the hell hasn't he looked Way better than Rogers? if the rook keeps up the pace he'll get 800 yards and 8 TDs by the end of the regular season, if that's not a Very Solid # 2 then I don't know what it is

 

[Steelerfan]

Has anyone noticed that the long throws that Ben has been missing on this season have largely been TOO deep? In the past he always floated them just a bit too short. Receivers had to shorten their routes and then fight the DBs for the ball, but now Ben is airing them out and the receivers more often than not are not quite getting to the ball as it's just at the tips of their fingers.

Is it possible Ben has atually IMPROVED his deep ball and the receivers havn't quite figured out that he's going to throw it past them? Last night he "overthrew" DHB in the endzone. Of course DHB has plenty of speed to run that ball down and make the catch unless he pulls up on the route assuming Ben is going to loft something easy into the EZ. But if Ben is throwing deeper this year, well, DHB has got to run the **** out of his route to finish the catch. (And I'm not saying Ben is purposefully "over-throwing longer, just that he may be throwing the route as it was planned but the receivers after years have gotten used to somewhat "shorter" throws than what the "paper route" says and suddenly Ben is getting his deep ball on.

Last night Ben overthrew James in the middle. It was a bad pass from Ben, no doubt. But it was "overthrown" James flattened out and set up for the easy conversion there, but he was wide open for a deep play. Had he kept running up the seam it would have been a huge connection. (Again, Ben threw a bad pass, I'm not arguing that.) I'm merely pointing out that in the past, Ben has generally been short on this passes when he's been off, now he's tending to overthrow. Course that's not necessarily a good thing.

Way more than 144 characters there, wig. Just say "Ben sucks!" Speaking of which, have you tweeted lately?

 

[antdrewjosh]

You are very wrong in this:
Rogers was a very apt 3rd WR last season, but in no way he was better than what JuJu has done, I mean Eli last season had around 600 yards and 3 TDs through the whole season. Juju's #s by midseason?: 400+ yards and 4 TDs.

How in the hell hasn't he looked Way better than Rogers? if the rook keeps up the pace he'll get 800 yards and 8 TDs by the end of the regular season, if that's not a Very Solid # 2 then I don't know what it is

Rogers used to piss me off last year. Catch fall down. Lather rinse repeat

 

[wig]

How in the hell hasn't he looked Way better than Rogers? if the rook keeps up the pace he'll get 800 yards and 8 TDs by the end of the regular season, if that's not a Very Solid # 2 then I don't know what it is

First off, Rogers didn't even see the field for a good chunk of the season. Then he had to trade time with Coates and Ayers. So ya. His numbers were low but he had a heck of a lot more people he was working against that were actual receiving threats. (You'll remember that Coates didn't become hot garbage until about mid-season.) Right now JuJu has one other guy that can actually play that he's trading snaps with. That would be Bryant who before last night was about 20 yards or so behind him.

So uh... ya. I'm happy about JuJu. I really am. Mostly because he's in the mold of Boldin / Ward. But I'm not sold on him being an every down serious threat yet. I'm just not. Which is NOT to say that I believe Bryant is putting himself in the position to be that guy either. But I'd like for him to do that.

 

[ExUSAF]

Ben seems off to me. A win is a win but we left a lot of plays on the field and while the defense turned to stone at the goal line receivers were running free all night. This won't work against playoff bound teams. If Detroit gets the last TD in the red zone I don't feel comfortable getting far enough to get a field goal to win.

 

[SteelerSask2]

The int. toward Brown was a terrible judgement. Two corners with safety help over top. The miss to DHB was ridiculous. He was 5 yards open. The over throw to James was bad, but that was quickly righted by the bomb to Juju. Otherwise, I would say pretty solid performance.

 

[Stryker]

Ben always used to underthrow. That was true. He is overthrowing for the first time in his career. Odd, and I don't know what's causing it, but that deep pass to AB where he had to come back and box out the defender was classic under throwing Ben. Just like the pass to Ward in SB XL at the end of the half.

I will say that JuJu is our best #3 receiver since AB was #3 with Wallace and Ward.

 

[Sotex steel]

He looks skiddish to me. Could it be that Ben is becoming more like Brady and Peyton in that if you get a little pressure on them they become mere mortals? We’ve grown so assustimed to and took pride in our warrior QB that got better the more pressure you put on him. I wonder if being married and having a family now is making him softer. Perhaps he’s a little more cautious about CTE with his concussion history. Maybe he fears not being able to function normally for his kids as they grow up.

 

[mightyguru]

Stan is talking about Ben right now. Going thru the big misses. Says Ben hasnt been good all year and needs to play better if we are going to make a serious run. Says the running game will not be enough by itself. Also say we need someone else (Bryant) to step up and be a third weapon

Stan is right on all counts...but, just think how good this team can be when/if it all comes together.

 

[mightyguru]

**** Stan

Stan is full of ****

JuJu is our 3rd weapon, the idiot is as blind as Stan's followers

The DEFENSE will get *** raped by Brady if they can't stop the pass. 400+ yds to Staffords Lions?

Lolz...you're full of ****. You just want to scream and carry on in between cut&paste jobs in P&R.

 

[TDX27]

Some out there have been saying his arm strength is fine but he is losing or has lost his legs. I don't know. I do know he is playing with about 10-20 lbs of extra bulk that, if he lost it, would help at this point in his career.

 

[zapp brannigan]

To me he almost seems like he's acting the way Chad Pennington acted when his arm strength started to sap. I don't think his arm strength is starting to go but maybe he thinks it is, so he's overcompensating by giving it a little more oomph when he throws deep. I also noticed him throwing short on a couple screens but I think he's always done that if he doesn't think the play has a chance. I might be misremembering but that's what I've always thought.

Also, I don't have a lot to go by because last night was the only football I've watched all year but he didn't seem the way I remember him. He had someone wide open in the end zone (don't remember who) and he overthrew him bad. Not just a little. I don't ever remember seeing that.

 

[SteelerFan448]

Some out there have been saying his arm strength is fine but he is losing or has lost his legs. I don't know. I do know he is playing with about 10-20 lbs of extra bulk that, if he lost it, would help at this point in his career.

I think this is his problem as well. Lately, he had been coming into camp in good shape and it was very noticeable. This year he looked overweight and it reflects in his lack of mobility in the pocket. He's got old legs that have suffered a lot of injuries and the extra pounds on top of it is just too much to escape the pass rush like he used to.