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Steelers Offensive Design

tapeANaspirin2it

tapeANaspirin2it

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Do they have one? I don't think they do. It's more like a collection of unrelated plays. The runs don't seem to link to the pass plays. The routes don't seem to work together to create space. It's more like 3 or 4 separate routes that have nothing to do with each other.

Sure they run some NFL standard route combos that give the QB a read but that seems to be about as far as it goes.

Everything seems to be based on the individual players winning their matchups. That's great when you have Ben, AB, JuJu, Lev Bell, McDonald and an OL that blocks people.

But what about when you have JuJu and a bunch of WRs that struggle to get open, a RB that isn't much of a receiving threat and an OL that is now struggling? Seems like the coaches should help do some of the lifting


Watching the 49ers offense, you see a gameplan full of plays that all work together. They have so many plays that look the same at first but then have different routes and runs. The run sets up the pass. The pass sets up the run. The QB has easy reads.

Same with the Eagles tonight. They keep showing the replays and how the routes are setting up an open guy with picks, with play action, with route combos.

The steelers barely seem to do any of that. They better start quick.

This offseason, they didn't bring in a big name WR to replace AB. They didn't really change the TE position either. What they did was draft Benny Snell, a big power back. I assumed this meant they were switching to become more of a power run team. Use that OL and Conner and Snell to hammer the defense, then do play action to get some big plays over the top.

What do they do? Shotgun, shotgun, shotgun. Why draft Benny Snell then? He's useless in this current scheme. Conner is even near useless taking these shotgun handoffs where he has to wait to get the ball.

I've see this a lot at Penn State. I don't particularly love it there either but they had Saquon and Miles Sanders. A couple of elite athletes who can make people miss from that type of handoff.

That's not Conner and it sure isn't Snell. Is it the injury of Nix that changed things? That seems a pretty poor excuse if 1 injury to a replaceable guy makes you scrap your whole gameplan.

I'm really at a loss to even figure out what they are attempting to do. Nothing. It's random plays. They may as well have fans call plays with an app at this rate.

If this team doesn't line up and committ to running with against a weak Bengals defense then I don;t know what to say.
 
You're spot on with this. We see this team come out firing out of the shotgun with 5 wide one or two drives in a row and after that doesn't work, they come out the next series with the power ground game. I watched a film analyst break down one play by the Chiefs and the complexity of the routes by all of the receives and how it broke a guy open for a touchdown. In essence, he gushed over Andy Reid's play design. Outside of some of the run blocking schemes over the years, I can't remember a single time I've seen anyone praise any offensive play where they simply outschemed a defense. As you said, it's always been about winning individual matchups with elite talent.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
...when you have Ben, AB, JuJu, Lev Bell, McDonald and an OL that blocks people.........Seems like the coaches should help do some of the lifting
Click to expand...

There's no scheme. There is no thought in any of this. When you have a HoF franchise QB, a decent TE, an OL coached by a HoFer, a Unicorn WR and RB flanked by decent WRs, you can get by with a lazy 'plan' (read: 'Ben, go play backyard football') and no in-game management. You can live by idiot statements like 'Ima run him til his wheels come off'. And that's what he did. I think Bell looked at that and saw what was going to happen to him and said 'Pay me or I bolt'.

You're right, none of what these coaches have these kids do makes any sense - on either side of the ball. I will say this though - the offense seems to be on the same page, whatever that is. The front 7 on defense seem to be on a different page from the back 4, except when they all ignore the middle of the field - then they're in lock-step.

It's apparent that coaching cannot step up. If they can't prepare these kids to play a professional football game, how are they going to help them in a game? Tomlin just stands there with that idiot look on his face.

13 years, Art. 13 years. Why?
 
Rudolph only completed 2 passes against the 9ers that went farther than ONE yard downfield. which is the fewest in the NFL since Tebow completed one against the Chiefs in 2011. The stupidity of throwing short passes into the teeth of an 8 men in the box defense is stupidity at his highest degree.
 
SteelerFan448 said:
You're spot on with this. We see this team come out firing out of the shotgun with 5 wide one or two drives in a row and after that doesn't work, they come out the next series with the power ground game. I watched a film analyst break down one play by the Chiefs and the complexity of the routes by all of the receives and how it broke a guy open for a touchdown. In essence, he gushed over Andy Reid's play design. Outside of some of the run blocking schemes over the years, I can't remember a single time I've seen anyone praise any offensive play where they simply outschemed a defense. As you said, it's always been about winning individual matchups with elite talent.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. It seems every non-steeler game I watch, the analyst will break down a play or 2 and show how the design of the play broke a guy wide open. I can't remember the last time I saw a steeler play broken down to show a design element. Steeler replays always seem to be showing a great individual play. A great throw, a great run, a great catch. Never a look at how smart the play was.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
That's a good point. It seems every non-steeler game I watch, the analyst will break down a play or 2 and show how the design of the play broke a guy wide open. I can't remember the last time I saw a steeler play broken down to show a design element. Steeler replays always seem to be showing a great individual play. A great throw, a great run, a great catch. Never a look at how smart the play was.
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As I have been beating the dead horse to death we need a x and o head coach.

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Completely agree.. I’ve been banging that drum for years. Haley ran it too and now Fichtner is. I’ve always called it the “my guys are better than your guys” offense. It’s great when that statement is actually true. Not so much when it’s not


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Yep, again something many of us here have been bitching about for a few years now. Then again, the guy running this team just isn't that good or X and O smart, it's really boiling down to that, whether it's offensive or defensive scheme, time management, challenges, adjustments, etc.
 
Bill, you run to the old Chevy and break right. Jim, run down the field and do a curl. Bob: What about me? Bob, you go long. A lot more thought goes into pick up games.
 
I think the coaching in general in the NFL is terrible and has been for years. It seems you have teams like the steelers that rely on individual skill players without much scheme and on the other hand, you have teams that are almost all scheme and if that easy play they drew up doesn’t work, then they can’t win because their players aren’t used to having to win an individual matchup.

The steelers have become too dependent on great individual plays. That’s why after horrible losses, Tomlin basically says the players need to make more plays. Because on the chalkboard all this stuff works so long as James Washington beats Jalen Ramsey or the OL blocks 8 in the box with just their 5.

At the same time, you have teams where the coaches try to scheme up every little thing and the players then rely on the play design getting them a win and if the defense isn’t fooled, then the play doesn’t work.

I want a middle ground. I think that’s the real secret to the Pats success, aside from cheating of course. They do have smart schemes and smart players that make few mistakes, but on top of that, they also stress perfect execution and will bench a top guy if he’s messing up or not winning his matchups.

The pats never ask a player to do something he can’t do. That’s the key. They aren’t going to have a LB covering Sammy Watkins downfield unless it was a total screw up. But the steelers will, because on the chalkboard TJ Watt’s X is right there next to Watkins’s O so it’s perfect;y covered on the board. Watt just needs to do a better job.

That’s the problem right there. On both offense and defense, we see far too many times where players are asked to do something they can do.

When Bud Dupree is matched one on one with the OT, that’s on him to win and provide pressure. When Watt is covering Sammy Watkins, that’s not on him. That’s on the coach for putting him in an impossible position.

Joe Paterno once said that when his coaches drew up plays, he always made them write the player’s names instead of X or O. That’s because you start thinking that X or O can do whatever you draw up. But if the name is there, it makes you wonder if that player can actually do what’s being asked and if he can’t then you have to do something else.
 
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One thing the Pats did that surprised me, and this is based off what Tape just said:

Tape said:
I want a middle ground. I think that’s the real secret to the Pats success, aside from cheating of course. They do have smart schemes and smart players that make few mistakes, but on top of that, they also stress perfect execution and will bench a top guy if he’s messing up or not winning his matchups.
Click to expand...

that beloved goddamned bubble/bunch/trips to the WRs ... they had John Simon step back/over to the WRs at the snap. Sure enough, the pass was right there. Had he caught the likely INT, we'd have been down even more. Last time that happened FOR us was Deebo standing back into coverage in the Super Bowl. Take away the inside route and make it easier for the secondary on obvious pass plays (Tomlin/Butler Hint: when there's an empty backfield, they're throwing).

The fact that Simon dropped the ball is irrelevant. The fact that he recognized what we were doing (or do on a high percentage) and dropped to cover that spot is, as Tape said, smart.

I don't believe Bud's dumber than Cooch, and I doubt TJ is either, but we need smarter play. When the opposition lines up in OBVIOUS pass scenarios, rushing to the QB as fast as you can straight ahead over and over may not be the best response.
 
I’ll add this. I’m not going to pretend like I know every player’s responsibility on every play. Maybe the coaches have schemed up some good plays to get guys in good positions and the players are screwing up. That is possible.

When there’s a blown coverage, that’s on the players. When there’s blown coverages nearly every week for 4 years, that’s on the coaches. It means the coaches either aren’t teaching it right, or it means they keep trotting out dumb players who they know will make those mistakes.

That’s why I feel so comfortable calling out the coaches. Because this pattern of stupidity is long.

It’s also why I love the Minkah trade. He’s football smart. He’s instinctive. In other words, he’s already good and doesn’t need to be "developed" by the steelers coaches.
 
We lost four of the last six games last year and three in a row loses this year. Tomlin has no clue on a scheme that works on offense or defense. The history is there and yet his contract is extended . Tomlin as well as coaches have no answers no matter what defense we play or any imagination on offense. How does ownership watch these games and see a big change is needed, get off the pride of Rooney rule and do what is best for the team.
 
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