Can anybody offer an explanation for the absolute refusal to pass over the middle of the field?

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Matt canada is a college coach. In college, the hash marks are much wider. That means the wide side in college is VERY wide, so lots of college offenses are designed to throw to that wide side because it's so much area for the defense to cover plus it creates run after catch possibilities.

In the NFL there's not as big a difference, plus NFL DBs can tackle in space. So in college, these out routes are caught in plenty of space and your WR only has to beat a college DB that can't tackle in space to make it a big gain. In the NFL, that quick out is caught right near the boundary, and an NFL DB makes the easy tackle for almost no RAC.

Also, this offense has little play action so the LBs are rarely influenced to create gaps in the middle.

 

[warriors42]

there are fire ants in the middle of the field if you are not from the south look them up it's a real thing. so all of you Canada haters need to realize he is just saving our receivers from fire ant bites. Canada is a saint and a first class OC that is just being held up by fire ants. so now everyone can back the **** off cause the truth is finally out.

 

[madinsomniac]

So one thing you learn about life is to balance your risk/reward ratio… calibrate things, if you will…

So in Football there is a Td% and a interception %…. A HOF Td% is like 5% and something like a 2.1% interception rate puts you in the top 15 all time career interception rate…

Pickett has a 2.6 Td % this year… but his interception % is 1.7%… and realistically three of his 4 picks came against the best two pass D he is going to face this season… he only threw one pick in tge final 8 games last year…

Here is a freaky thought… Pickett’s horrible 2 pick game vs the 49ers is currently the 4th best passer rating vs them this season …

But the thing is, that low interception rate is not a good thing … it shows a repressed qb… he has to take more shots downfield and over the middle… that absolutely will lead to a few more picks, but it usually pumps that td % up…


But Tomlin doesn’t play well with an early lead… so he doesn’t really want that…

See Picketts great passer rating in the 4th isn’t from him suddenly figuring out the D or some magic fourth quarter only talent.. he gets the green light to use the middle and throw riskier routes based on timing or that will be potentially contested…

Pickett was fairly conservative this 4 th quarter… because they had a 1 point lead going into it… and thats what he was supposed to do..

His passer rating goes up late in halves while behind.. its a telling stat..

So I guess it depends on whether you believe that either he is not willing to make the throws early, if tge plays are just that badly constructed, or he is just playing within the constraints of the offensive philosophy… which is idiotically conservative

 

[warriors42]

So one thing you learn about life is to balance your risk/reward ratio… calibrate things, if you will…

So in Football there is a Td% and a interception %…. A HOF Td% is like 5% and something like a 2.1% interception rate puts you in the top 15 all time career interception rate…

Pickett has a 2.6 Td % this year… but his interception % is 1.7%… and realistically three of his 4 picks came against the best two pass D he is going to face this season… he only threw one pick in tge final 8 games last year…

Here is a freaky thought… Pickett’s horrible 2 pick game vs the 49ers is currently the 4th best passer rating vs them this season …

But the thing is, that low interception rate is not a good thing … it shows a repressed qb… he has to take more shots downfield and over the middle… that absolutely will lead to a few more picks, but it usually pumps that td % up…


But Tomlin doesn’t play well with an early lead… so he doesn’t really want that…

See Picketts great passer rating in the 4th isn’t from him suddenly figuring out the D or some magic fourth quarter only talent.. he gets the green light to use the middle and throw riskier routes based on timing or that will be potentially contested…

Pickett was fairly conservative this 4 th quarter… because they had a 1 point lead going into it… and thats what he was supposed to do..

His passer rating goes up late in halves while behind.. its a telling stat..

So I guess it depends on whether you believe that either he is not willing to make the throws early, if tge plays are just that badly constructed, or he is just playing within the constraints of the offensive philosophy… which is idiotically conservative

exactly right.. just like I said fire ants. lol

 

[ExUSAF]

Bottom line - we can be 9-8 without taking those chances and that is our only goal this season - or any season.

 

[Steeltime]

there are fire ants in the middle of the field if you are not from the south look them up it's a real thing. so all of you Canada haters need to realize he is just saving our receivers from fire ant bites. Canada is a saint and a first class OC that is just being held up by fire ants. so now everyone can back the **** off cause the truth is finally out.

Best explanation I have seen thus far.

And W42, know what makes Southern fire ants REALLY pissed off? The cold in Western Pennsylvania. God bless Matt Canada. Canada the country should change its name to MattCanada.

 

[Aussie_Steeler]

My guess - they don't trust receivers to get open across the middle, then if the receivers get open they don't trust KP to throw the bill accurately, and then if the receivers do get open and KP does throw accurately they don't trust the receivers to catch the ball.

 

[wig]

there are fire ants in the middle of the field if you are not from the south look them up it's a real thing. so all of you Canada haters need to realize he is just saving our receivers from fire ant bites. Canada is a saint and a first class OC that is just being held up by fire ants. so now everyone can back the **** off cause the truth is finally out.

Kordell Stewart hated those middle-of-the-field fire ants! He used to rifle high-speed passed right into the dirt near receiver's feet.

 

[wig]

(Another case where a QB was coached to play/throw a specific way in order to cut down on potential turnovers.)

But it made balls hard to catch, and if a receiver did lean down to snag one, he was lined up to get KILLED by a roaming linebacker or safety.

 

[Steelmann]

Serious question. I just DO. NOT. GET. IT.

Throw the slant to Pickens on play-action and the defense would not tackle Pickens since all 11 defenders would have fallen over in a faint.

Throw to the TE over the middle, not that ****** little roll-out 3-yard specialty.

Throw an in-cut to DJ and let him run.

So does anybody have a genuine explanation for the utter refusal to throw to receivers over the middle of the field?? Watch two garbage teams play SNF and you will see the great and mighty Aiden O'Connell complete passes over the middle of the field.

Sorry I couldn’t find an example of the Steelers. It makes me ill. All the games today were throwing in the middle. Running game working? Play action? Middle of the field? Check marks below.

 

[Steelmann]

Just in case anyone has forgotten what it looks like.

 

[diver]

To bad our routes don't venture into that area for the most part of the game.

Two constants I keep hearing and seeing with this offense is that all the Steelers do is throw to the sideline, and Pickett is missing open guys. If he only looks to the sideline, where the hell are all the open guys?

 

[Strydur]

Also might be why our defense can never stop passes over the middle. It seems like 3rd and long is a desirable position for our opponents to be in since they seem to complete those frequently. They never see them in practice?

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Honestly I seriously question if KP needs his vision checked
He may be vision impaired dealing with issues seeing the field

He certainly stares down receivers like he’s struggling to see well, could have *** peripheral vision

And/or in Tomlin turtle ball the middle of the field is lava and not to be messed with

 

[stillwright]

Honestly I seriously question if KP needs his vision checked
He may be vision impaired dealing with issues seeing the field

He certainly stares down receivers like he’s struggling to see well, could have *** peripheral vision

And/or in Tomlin turtle ball the middle of the field is lava and not to be messed with

All QBs stare down the targetbto a degree. It just seems teams know we are going short to the outside 90% of the time and are ready for it. And then Pickett throws it. As in the GB game they gave that to us with some soft coverage on the outside. Starting in the 3rd they tightened it up. Not going over the middle is drastically hurting this offense. The routes just down venture to the middle for some reason.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Matt canada is a college coach. In college, the hash marks are much wider. That means the wide side in college is VERY wide, so lots of college offenses are designed to throw to that wide side because it's so much area for the defense to cover plus it creates run after catch possibilities.

In the NFL there's not as big a difference, plus NFL DBs can tackle in space. So in college, these out routes are caught in plenty of space and your WR only has to beat a college DB that can't tackle in space to make it a big gain. In the NFL, that quick out is caught right near the boundary, and an NFL DB makes the easy tackle for almost no RAC.

Also, this offense has little play action so the LBs are rarely influenced to create gaps in the middle.

So you’re saying Matt Canada offense is a fit for Canadian Football League???
Hmmm

Wonder if any of those guys up there would be willing to trade some Canadian bacon for Matt?

 

[Fiji Mariner]

All QBs stare down the targetbto a degree. It just seems teams know we are going short to the outside 90% of the time and are ready for it. And then Pickett throws it. As in the GB game they gave that to us with some soft coverage on the outside. Starting in the 3rd they tightened it up. Not going over the middle is drastically hurting this offense. The routes just down venture to the middle for some reason.

To a degree yes
But his head/eyes lock and stay locked frequently

He looks like me before corrective lenses with how bad he stares em down

 

[Hypocycloids]

Yep. Bingo. Tomlin isn't trying to build a championship team. He is just trying to win football games. Big big difference.

Awesome post by the way MT Forged

He is trying to win enough football games.
Three more to go and he reaches his quota for the year.

 

[Steelz]

Some of you guys are just delusional. Try watching all-22 film before spewing your bullshit.

 

[Drink IRON City]

there are fire ants in the middle of the field if you are not from the south look them up it's a real thing. so all of you Canada haters need to realize he is just saving our receivers from fire ant bites. Canada is a saint and a first class OC that is just being held up by fire ants. so now everyone can back the **** off cause the truth is finally out.

When you add in that UV rays are much more intense in the middle of the field, O’Canada is a Saint in protecting our players from that as well——————— long term skin disease is real !!!


Salute the nation

 

[slashsteel]

Some of you guys are just delusional. Try watching all-22 film before spewing your bullshit.

Share with us what you saw. Each opinion adds to the equation.

 

[Hypocycloids]

Share with us what you saw. Each opinion adds to the equation.

What is all minus 22 film ?

Which of the 22 films doesn't he want us to watch?

 

[Ron Burgundy]

What is all minus 22 film ?

Which of the 22 films doesn't he want us to watch?

Overhead shot of the whole field on every play.
I also think it’s a matter of avoiding turnovers because they know KP isn’t all that accurate and the receivers aren’t that good at combat catches.
Pass gets missed on the sidelines it’s likely to go out of bounds, gets missed in the middle there’s a good chance it gets intercepted.

 

[slashsteel]

Overhead shot of the whole field on every play.
I also think it’s a matter of avoiding turnovers because they know KP isn’t all that accurate and the receivers aren’t that good at combat catches.
Pass gets missed on the sidelines it’s likely to go out of bounds, gets missed in the middle there’s a good chance it gets intercepted.

He has to be patient and not force balls. His accuracy isn't high enough to risk those type throws..

 

[Hypocycloids]

Someplace I read that KP was very accurate in college.

I would love for a reporter on a KP interview to ask point blank and politely as possible ..."you were very accurate in college, what do you suppose happened" ?