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During the week, i fooled myself into thinking this team was starting to play good football, that they were close to putting it all together and when they did, look out.
Now i see the problem is that they have put it all together, it's just that this is all they are capable of.
Let's just list off the problems starting with the biggest
1. They are SOFT. Soft as tissue, particularly on the OL. Sure, zone blocking is for ******* but even while zone blocking, you are allowed to move people off the ball. Just look at how easily they Browns did it.
2. They are dumb. Starting with Ben. This should be the part of Ben's career where he is making veteran plays, anticipating throws, audibling to the perfect play, etc. Nope. Ben still plays like about a 5th year player which is where he plateaued due to Arians Stewart Smalley like encouragement od even the dumbest plays.
That's OK Ben, you had 2 guys open for the first but you scrambled around until a guy came open 60 yards downfield and had the wing it down there sidearm while moving to your left so you threw iout of bounds. Sure it was in impossible play, but you weren't wrong to do it because you're good enough, you're strong enough and dog gone it, Bruce likes you.
The rest of the team is dumb too.
3. They lack competitive fire. This is probably a function of having so many dumb and soft players but is there anybody on the team that cares about winning? This team is being embarrassed by the Browns and from the players reactions, you can't tell if they are losing or up by 10.
Say what you want about Ray Lewis but he'd never allow his teammates to roll over like that.
4. The OL is garbage. The scary part is that 3 of 5 of them are locked up with contracts. Beachum has done an admirable job at LT but he's not a LT. He's a stop gap.
5. The design of the offense is terrible. Do they even have any plays over the middle? The passing now consists of , quick throw to Antonio, deep bomb down the sideline, quick pass to Heath if he's uncovered.
Do the run plays mesh with the pass? Not really. You can tell almost immediately if the steelers are running or passing.
When you watch a good offense you can usually tell their gameplan. They are trying to exploit a TE on the LBs, or the slot WR on the Nickel CB, or they want to test the safeties on double moves, etc.
What is Haley's offense trying to do? Well, today they wanted to run more because that's what they should have done last week, so they'll do it this week. It almost seemed like Haley was calling plays out of spite early with such a heavy run balance.
6. Redzone offense is a joke. This is a product of the OL not being able to open holes, and Haley not having any clear plan of what he's trying to do. He has no idea what personnel group is most effective and the fact that the entire defense is now packed in just 2 yards off the ball as opposed to spread out over 15 or so yards while between the 20s, seems to have no bearing on what plays he calls.
7. Martavis Bryant needs to play. It doesn't matter if he doesn't play special teams. At this point, if he just runs 5 deep patterns per game, he's doing more than Archer or Will Johnson or Spaeth or Justin Brown. No, he doesn't know the plays but how many P.I. calls did he draw preseason?
8. They should Fire Haley tonight. Years ago, Cowher recognized they made a mistake hiring Ray Sherman and he stripped him of playcalling duties.
9. They should cut a significant player. These jokers feel safe? Cut Cam Thomas, Mike Mitchell, or Worilds. Thomas is the logical choice because he's useless, but cutting the soon to be free agent Worilds could send a huge message. As would cutting Mitchell, although it may be too soon to give up on Mitchell.
Now i see the problem is that they have put it all together, it's just that this is all they are capable of.
Let's just list off the problems starting with the biggest
1. They are SOFT. Soft as tissue, particularly on the OL. Sure, zone blocking is for ******* but even while zone blocking, you are allowed to move people off the ball. Just look at how easily they Browns did it.
2. They are dumb. Starting with Ben. This should be the part of Ben's career where he is making veteran plays, anticipating throws, audibling to the perfect play, etc. Nope. Ben still plays like about a 5th year player which is where he plateaued due to Arians Stewart Smalley like encouragement od even the dumbest plays.
That's OK Ben, you had 2 guys open for the first but you scrambled around until a guy came open 60 yards downfield and had the wing it down there sidearm while moving to your left so you threw iout of bounds. Sure it was in impossible play, but you weren't wrong to do it because you're good enough, you're strong enough and dog gone it, Bruce likes you.
The rest of the team is dumb too.
3. They lack competitive fire. This is probably a function of having so many dumb and soft players but is there anybody on the team that cares about winning? This team is being embarrassed by the Browns and from the players reactions, you can't tell if they are losing or up by 10.
Say what you want about Ray Lewis but he'd never allow his teammates to roll over like that.
4. The OL is garbage. The scary part is that 3 of 5 of them are locked up with contracts. Beachum has done an admirable job at LT but he's not a LT. He's a stop gap.
5. The design of the offense is terrible. Do they even have any plays over the middle? The passing now consists of , quick throw to Antonio, deep bomb down the sideline, quick pass to Heath if he's uncovered.
Do the run plays mesh with the pass? Not really. You can tell almost immediately if the steelers are running or passing.
When you watch a good offense you can usually tell their gameplan. They are trying to exploit a TE on the LBs, or the slot WR on the Nickel CB, or they want to test the safeties on double moves, etc.
What is Haley's offense trying to do? Well, today they wanted to run more because that's what they should have done last week, so they'll do it this week. It almost seemed like Haley was calling plays out of spite early with such a heavy run balance.
6. Redzone offense is a joke. This is a product of the OL not being able to open holes, and Haley not having any clear plan of what he's trying to do. He has no idea what personnel group is most effective and the fact that the entire defense is now packed in just 2 yards off the ball as opposed to spread out over 15 or so yards while between the 20s, seems to have no bearing on what plays he calls.
7. Martavis Bryant needs to play. It doesn't matter if he doesn't play special teams. At this point, if he just runs 5 deep patterns per game, he's doing more than Archer or Will Johnson or Spaeth or Justin Brown. No, he doesn't know the plays but how many P.I. calls did he draw preseason?
8. They should Fire Haley tonight. Years ago, Cowher recognized they made a mistake hiring Ray Sherman and he stripped him of playcalling duties.
9. They should cut a significant player. These jokers feel safe? Cut Cam Thomas, Mike Mitchell, or Worilds. Thomas is the logical choice because he's useless, but cutting the soon to be free agent Worilds could send a huge message. As would cutting Mitchell, although it may be too soon to give up on Mitchell.
