What he said.
Why are we not a prolific offense?
- Thread starter CharlesDavenport
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1) WR 2- been well covered already and most important factor for sure
2) Holding calls on 2nd and short putting us behind the chains and stalling drives
3) Some poor situational play calling and apprehension to go no huddle when we need to pick up the pace
4) Too many times we get into the snap with 2-3 seconds left fueling the pass rushers to get a better jump
5) Redzone failures to get TDs
6) Need more play action when run game working
All that said the line checks that eat up a ton of clock are keeping Ben upright more often and considering we're missing Wheaton, DHB, Bryant and Coates MIA (post hand/finger injury) as well as Green catching up to speed we're not doing too bad on offense. If we clean up the holds that put us behind the chains too frequently we will get much better, but again a number of these holds are in the interest of keeping Ben from getting killed.
HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!
2) Holding calls on 2nd and short putting us behind the chains and stalling drives
3) Some poor situational play calling and apprehension to go no huddle when we need to pick up the pace
4) Too many times we get into the snap with 2-3 seconds left fueling the pass rushers to get a better jump
5) Redzone failures to get TDs
6) Need more play action when run game working
All that said the line checks that eat up a ton of clock are keeping Ben upright more often and considering we're missing Wheaton, DHB, Bryant and Coates MIA (post hand/finger injury) as well as Green catching up to speed we're not doing too bad on offense. If we clean up the holds that put us behind the chains too frequently we will get much better, but again a number of these holds are in the interest of keeping Ben from getting killed.
HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!
I agree about the short game statement. A lot of undernneath routes are there for Ben but he seems to ignore them often. I guess it helps to have the big plays though. The attention to AB helps Bell. And once the attention to Bell, Ben strikes big
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I thought you'd pick Lake. Look how fast he taught Davis to tackle and you said that was impossible.
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Pretty easy. Rather than a lineup with Bell, Williams, Green, Brown, Bryant, Wheaton, DHB, Coates and Rogers we get Bell, Toussaint, James, Brown, Rogers, Hamilton, Coates.
Toussaint, James, Hamilton are all third-string quality. Rogers is potentially an average (at best) slot receiver with two quality guys ahead of him. Coates has become pretty much worthless since the injured hand.
Toussaint, James, Hamilton are all third-string quality. Rogers is potentially an average (at best) slot receiver with two quality guys ahead of him. Coates has become pretty much worthless since the injured hand.
I was looking at Rogers stats this morning. I thought they were ok for his first year, plus he has had some clutch catches.
I mean a lot of situational things that have been commented on that contributed, but I would put money on if that number 2 spot wasn't suffering, this would be a non topic.
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So the types of production you'd expect from an average receiver.
perhaps overall... but he does show glimpses of something a little more.
Thing is you have a threat at 1 and 2, I bet that makes that average or slightly above average number 3 look instantaneously better...........
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I wouldn't say they overachieve at all. 2 1st rounders and a 2nd rounder playing to their potential is what I see.
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Lol....
It's a good thing that Munchak hired himself...
Williams being out hasn't helped much either....
oh and Ayers wasting away on the practice squad and then inactive last week....those are the two major issues
oh and Ayers wasting away on the practice squad and then inactive last week....those are the two major issues
yep he just walked in and started coaching.....
With Rogers, he is a good slot guy, and does become a security blanket for Ben. Imo he's #3 at best. I've been pretty high on Hamilton as #2 just cause he's so feisty and can make a hard catch. Hamiltons weakness is he doesnt really get seperation all too well. If Coates didn't have broken fingers, I think he'd fill the one trick pony role quite well. Coates has the speed and has often times showed to get seperation. But dropped balls are what hurts him
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Far too often, this offense comes down to hoping Bell or Brown juke out 3 guys to make a play or a long bomb. It drives me crazy when it seems like long stretches of games go by where it's all or nothing, short run/pass or long bomb. Then it's as if they remember they are allowed to throw over the middle between 10-20 yards and that's usually when they drive right down the field.
The offense is getting by on Bell and AB being so good individually. Bell getting more rush yards than the blocking provides and AB making catches that should be incomplete or INT.
The offense is getting by on Bell and AB being so good individually. Bell getting more rush yards than the blocking provides and AB making catches that should be incomplete or INT.
https://theundefeated.com/features/pittsburgh-comes-at-you-with-bell-roethlisberger-and-brown/
Pittsburgh comes at you with Bell, Roethlisberger and Brown
The Steelers’ defense is OK, but the offense is scary good

BY*DOMONIQUE FOXWORTH@FOXWORTH24
December 20, 2016
I am frustrated with the oversimplification of football analysis. As a cornerback, I am familiar with being blamed by media and fans for a deep pass caught on my side despite not being responsible for the deep zone. So this season, I will be watching the coaches’ video and analyzing the impact of*all 22players on the field and the coaches’ game plan.
Pittsburgh is one of the teams that most football fans and analysts believe is good enough to go all the way. But sometimes we are guilty of believing in the reputation of a franchise, not the current team. That could certainly be the case here, since the Steelers last won the Super Bowl in 2009. These 2016 Steelers are an entirely different team, which is not to say that this team isn’t good enough. The film is not swayed by reputation, so let’s see what it has to tell us.
RING THAT BELL
The Steelers are a “do what we do” offense. They don’t do anything all that differently from week to week. But they are successful and feared by most coaching staffs in the league because they’ve built a very simple offense around three exceptional players: running back Le’Veon Bell, receiver Antonio Brown and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Conventional football thinking would have you believe that Roethlisberger is the most indispensable ingredient, but I am partial to Bell. His combination of patience, vision and acceleration as a ball carrier gives him the ability to gain four or five yards when most backs would be lucky to get back to the line of scrimmage. It might not sound like much, but those plays can have an enormous impact on a game. They can mean the difference between facing third-and-10 or a more manageable third-and-5, and keeping the drive going, which leads to points or at least better field position for the defense. Combine those skills with his speed and hands, and you have a player who is Hall of Fame good and the true centerpiece to this offense.
ALL 22
Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13
The bread and butter of the Steelers’ passing game is to attack linebackers, on early downs, with high-low route combinations. A high-low is exactly what it sounds like. A receiver or tight end runs a 12-to-15-yard in route behind the linebacker (high) and another player runs a 3- to 5-yard route in front of the same linebacker (low). Depending on the coverage, there may not always be a linebacker there to bracket, but against Cover 2 and Cover 3, which are popular first- and second-down coverages, at least two of the linebackers have hook zone responsibilities. When that is the case, Roethlisberger has an easy read. Early in most games, the backers play the coverage properly and get depth, forcing Roethlisberger to throw to the shorter route, which is often Bell. The play rarely ends there with a routine tackle: As you might imagine, Bell catching the ball with room is difficult to tackle. Bell regularly gains a few extra yards after the catch, and sometimes enough for a first down. After a few of those, the linebackers begin to get less depth in order to tackle Bell before he gets going. Roethlisberger sees this and passes to the “high” player for a 10- to 15-yard gain and a first down.
THE HIGH-LOW CREATES HAVOC FOR DEFENSES
Theoretically, Cover 1 or Cover 4 would be better options. Cover 1 is man-to-man, so there should be a defender close to Bell, denying the low route and a defender covering the high route. But, then you have to count on a linebacker to stay with the shifty Bell’s route. Oh, yeah, and your cornerback is in man coverage against Brown, with Roethlisberger, a quarterback who extends plays, with the ball in his hand. Cover 4 should take care of Brown, but makes the defense weaker against the run. And puts pressure on linebackers to cover both the curl and flat zones.
The Steelers line up in various formations, and use different players to run the highs and lows to keep the opponent guessing, but the key concept doesn’t change that much. It’s simple, but it creates havoc for defenses. There are only a couple of schematic things that I think would stop the Steelers’ high-low. And all of them would require removing a D-lineman from rushing the quarterback and putting an extra man in coverage. But that would require the defensive coordinator to guess right, because if he calls one of those coverages against a running play, the Steelers would punish the lighter front. The only real way to stop them is with a few exceptional players on the opposing defense. On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals defenders played well in the red zone, holding the Steelers to 20 percent efficiency. But the Steelers also stopped themselves, with three drive-killing penalties.
IS TIMMONS DEFENSIVE MVP?
As for the Steelers’ defense, Lawrence Timmons was incredible. He did it all. He made some unbelievable tackles in short-yardage situations, intercepted a poorly thrown pass from Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton, and shed a blocker to hit Dalton on a key late-game third down. Timmons was impressive from start to finish, but it took the rest of the defense until the second half to play well against an A.J. Green-less Bengals team.
The coaches didn’t make many strategic adjustments at halftime. The only difference I noticed was a Tampa 2-hole spy. Rather than blitz on third downs, as they did for much of the first half, on a few second-half third downs, the Steelers played Cover 2 with a linebacker going to the deep middle (Tampa), another linebacker reading the quarterback’s eyes from a low zone (hole), and a third linebacker waiting to tackle the quarterback, if he scrambles (spy). The Steelers only rushed three, when they ran this defense, in order to still cover all the zones. Ironically, I would have liked to have seen how the Steelers’ offense would have fared against this defense.
BOTTOM LINE
It’s not just reputation. The Steelers’ defense is OK, but the offense is scary good. I could see them dominating time of possession and converting in the red zone once in the playoffs. This season, they have as good a chance as any team, provided they get into the playoffs.
Domonique Foxworth is a writer at The Undefeated. He is a recovering pro athlete and superficial intellectual.
Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Steeler Nation mobile app
Pittsburgh comes at you with Bell, Roethlisberger and Brown
The Steelers’ defense is OK, but the offense is scary good

BY*DOMONIQUE FOXWORTH@FOXWORTH24
December 20, 2016
I am frustrated with the oversimplification of football analysis. As a cornerback, I am familiar with being blamed by media and fans for a deep pass caught on my side despite not being responsible for the deep zone. So this season, I will be watching the coaches’ video and analyzing the impact of*all 22players on the field and the coaches’ game plan.
Pittsburgh is one of the teams that most football fans and analysts believe is good enough to go all the way. But sometimes we are guilty of believing in the reputation of a franchise, not the current team. That could certainly be the case here, since the Steelers last won the Super Bowl in 2009. These 2016 Steelers are an entirely different team, which is not to say that this team isn’t good enough. The film is not swayed by reputation, so let’s see what it has to tell us.
RING THAT BELL
The Steelers are a “do what we do” offense. They don’t do anything all that differently from week to week. But they are successful and feared by most coaching staffs in the league because they’ve built a very simple offense around three exceptional players: running back Le’Veon Bell, receiver Antonio Brown and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Conventional football thinking would have you believe that Roethlisberger is the most indispensable ingredient, but I am partial to Bell. His combination of patience, vision and acceleration as a ball carrier gives him the ability to gain four or five yards when most backs would be lucky to get back to the line of scrimmage. It might not sound like much, but those plays can have an enormous impact on a game. They can mean the difference between facing third-and-10 or a more manageable third-and-5, and keeping the drive going, which leads to points or at least better field position for the defense. Combine those skills with his speed and hands, and you have a player who is Hall of Fame good and the true centerpiece to this offense.
ALL 22
Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13
The bread and butter of the Steelers’ passing game is to attack linebackers, on early downs, with high-low route combinations. A high-low is exactly what it sounds like. A receiver or tight end runs a 12-to-15-yard in route behind the linebacker (high) and another player runs a 3- to 5-yard route in front of the same linebacker (low). Depending on the coverage, there may not always be a linebacker there to bracket, but against Cover 2 and Cover 3, which are popular first- and second-down coverages, at least two of the linebackers have hook zone responsibilities. When that is the case, Roethlisberger has an easy read. Early in most games, the backers play the coverage properly and get depth, forcing Roethlisberger to throw to the shorter route, which is often Bell. The play rarely ends there with a routine tackle: As you might imagine, Bell catching the ball with room is difficult to tackle. Bell regularly gains a few extra yards after the catch, and sometimes enough for a first down. After a few of those, the linebackers begin to get less depth in order to tackle Bell before he gets going. Roethlisberger sees this and passes to the “high” player for a 10- to 15-yard gain and a first down.
THE HIGH-LOW CREATES HAVOC FOR DEFENSES
Theoretically, Cover 1 or Cover 4 would be better options. Cover 1 is man-to-man, so there should be a defender close to Bell, denying the low route and a defender covering the high route. But, then you have to count on a linebacker to stay with the shifty Bell’s route. Oh, yeah, and your cornerback is in man coverage against Brown, with Roethlisberger, a quarterback who extends plays, with the ball in his hand. Cover 4 should take care of Brown, but makes the defense weaker against the run. And puts pressure on linebackers to cover both the curl and flat zones.
The Steelers line up in various formations, and use different players to run the highs and lows to keep the opponent guessing, but the key concept doesn’t change that much. It’s simple, but it creates havoc for defenses. There are only a couple of schematic things that I think would stop the Steelers’ high-low. And all of them would require removing a D-lineman from rushing the quarterback and putting an extra man in coverage. But that would require the defensive coordinator to guess right, because if he calls one of those coverages against a running play, the Steelers would punish the lighter front. The only real way to stop them is with a few exceptional players on the opposing defense. On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals defenders played well in the red zone, holding the Steelers to 20 percent efficiency. But the Steelers also stopped themselves, with three drive-killing penalties.
IS TIMMONS DEFENSIVE MVP?
As for the Steelers’ defense, Lawrence Timmons was incredible. He did it all. He made some unbelievable tackles in short-yardage situations, intercepted a poorly thrown pass from Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton, and shed a blocker to hit Dalton on a key late-game third down. Timmons was impressive from start to finish, but it took the rest of the defense until the second half to play well against an A.J. Green-less Bengals team.
The coaches didn’t make many strategic adjustments at halftime. The only difference I noticed was a Tampa 2-hole spy. Rather than blitz on third downs, as they did for much of the first half, on a few second-half third downs, the Steelers played Cover 2 with a linebacker going to the deep middle (Tampa), another linebacker reading the quarterback’s eyes from a low zone (hole), and a third linebacker waiting to tackle the quarterback, if he scrambles (spy). The Steelers only rushed three, when they ran this defense, in order to still cover all the zones. Ironically, I would have liked to have seen how the Steelers’ offense would have fared against this defense.
BOTTOM LINE
It’s not just reputation. The Steelers’ defense is OK, but the offense is scary good. I could see them dominating time of possession and converting in the red zone once in the playoffs. This season, they have as good a chance as any team, provided they get into the playoffs.
Domonique Foxworth is a writer at The Undefeated. He is a recovering pro athlete and superficial intellectual.
Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Steeler Nation mobile app
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I think our offense is fine until it is time to punch it in. We seem to have a great red zone defense and a poor red zone offense. The thing that chaps my *** a little is when we had Green and James healthy I did not see a lot of balls going their way in the redzone. A few but not a lot. In side the 20 I would have my two 6-7 TE's post up box out the safety and Ben throw it high. I don't recall seeing that once.