Steelers Offense is Showing Why Pre-season Reps and Combined Practice is Needed

[Steeler Hitman]

I know that the season is early and I would be far more concerned if this was the team play in December rather than early September.  The Steelers are 2 - 0 and not 0 - 2.  There are a lot of things that the team is doing well and actually have improved upon over the past few years.  Two things that come to mind immediately are the Special Teams coverage and overall play is the best that I have seen in a long, long time. "Dirty Red" Tyler Matakavich looks like a pro bowl special teams player. The defense is playing much better than in previous years.  Yes they have played a rookie first game starter and a back-up QB .  I remember when we were losing those games.  The Steelers are generating a pass rush with and without blitzing.  The run defense is solid and consistent.  What is lacking is what most experts say is supposed to be the best facet of the Steelers game: the offense.

 

Big Ben and company did not have the luxury of practicing with another NFL team for a week like they have Detriot, Buffola and even Washington back in the day.  Big Ben, AB, and Bell had very little or in Bell's case, zero reps in preseason. As a result, the Steelers offense is still playing like they are in pre season mode versus one great defense and an improving young defense. A couple things that I have noticed early:

1. The timing is off with Ben and many of the receivers.  The difference between extending drives, flipping the field, or scoring TD's instead of FG's has been receivers dropping a pass, balls that would ordinarily hit the receiver in stride, have been slightly off  target, and it seems (don't know for a fact) like Ben is looking to pad stats with AB rather than hit the open WR, TE, or RB.

2. The OL and Bell are out of sync. Bell got more touches running the ball, but the OL was not playing like a top five OL. Part of that is not being in sync with Bell because he held out. There are some plays where he was a split second off from a cut, waited a hair too long, or stepped up a hair too soon. I suspect that this will adjust as they get more comfortable, but against arguably the best front seven in football, you are going to struggle some anyway, the lack of time together has only played to the defenses strength.

3. The offensive penalties!  Yes the refs have blown some calls, made some phantom calls, and have been inconsistent as well.  However, some of the pre snap penalties, wrong formations, covering the TE, etc are mental and on the offense. When you are out of sync, you cannot afford to constantly give up 5 and 10 yards and starting in first and second down negative yardage situations.

4. Are you more concerned with showing Bell he is a RB rather than taking full advantage of his pass catching skills? Bell has been nearly non existent in the passing attack. Few balls have come his way and those that have, the timing, set-up and execution of the plays have been below standards. Bell is a dual threat rushing and receiving and he has yet to find his groove with either thus far. While he rushed for nearly 90 yards against a very good Vikings defense, he did not hurt them the way that the leagues most versatile back should be able to in the passing game.

I understand that we have a veteran team and that you want to ensure that your players don't get hurt in practice, but they also have to have meaningful reps in games or scrimmages to get the timing and coordination down. Right now the vaunted offense that is supposed to be averaging more than 30 points a game is struggling to keep drives alive, impose their will offensively and put the fear of the great 70's Steelers teams in anyone.

There are a lot of kinks to be worked out on the field and they could also get some more help from OC Todd Haley with some play calling. You have Bell in the backfield, AB at WR, Bryant is a deep threat and mismatch at WR, Rogers is a solid #3 at WR, Outlaw is a decent short to mid range target, the OL can protect Big Ben, and Ben is Ben.  There is no reason why this offense does not excel. Use your talent to the best of its ability. IF AB is being shielded, go to Bryant more. Terrence Newman can't cover him one on one. While everyone is looking at AB, throw to other receivers, that will open up AB for the big play that he is capable. There are too many weapons for this offense not to shine.  The problem is that they are still in pre-season form.  They will need to snap out of it quickly as they are leaning heavily on the defense and special teams.

[warfelg]

It's going on around the NFL though. 

 

So so although I didn't read all of it:

1) The reduction of padded practices has hurt, and lots of ex-NFL players are talking about it. They talk about how guys don't look ready to be hit or they can't get through contact. 

2) We've played two tough defenses. I'm not going to take that away from them. 

3) play calling has been very suspect. 

 

Thats my list as to whats going on. Not as complicated as you want to make it out. 

[Steeler Hitman]

13 minutes ago, warfelg said:

It's going on around the NFL though. 

That's my list as to whats going on. Not as complicated as you want to make it out. 

I disagree on two points. I don't think that I am making this complicated at all. In fact, I think it is rather simple. Get a few more reps and you get some of the rust off. This isn't about the padded practices and what the NFL is doing as much as decisions and choices made by players and coaches.

 

As far as the rest of the NFL, There are not 31 other teams who have the offensive talent and expectations of the Steelers offense. You can't have it both ways. If you want to be elite and claim to be able to average 30 points a game, you have to play like it. The penalties and other problems are facts. How they get resolved is up to the players executing and the coaches doing their job as well. I appreciate your input, but I respectfully disagree.

[MOSteelers56]

I'm glad we're running into teams with good defenses and average/bad offenses. This gives our offense some challenges and forces them to gel. It also allows the defense to give us wins. I think by midseason we're going to be red hot. Once the offense gels this team is the best in football. Our defense will only get better as the season progresses and that is a scary fact for opposing teams. 

[warfelg]

59 minutes ago, Steeler Hitman said:

I disagree on two points. I don't think that I am making this complicated at all. In fact, I think it is rather simple. Get a few more reps and you get some of the rust off. This isn't about the padded practices and what the NFL is doing as much as decisions and choices made by players and coaches.

 

As far as the rest of the NFL, There are not 31 other teams who have the offensive talent and expectations of the Steelers offense. You can't have it both ways. If you want to be elite and claim to be able to average 30 points a game, you have to play like it. The penalties and other problems are facts. How they get resolved is up to the players executing and the coaches doing their job as well. I appreciate your input, but I respectfully disagree.

Penalties do come down to not enough practice. Especially ones like PI. There are other offense that expect to do what we do and are struggling. GB, NO, NE. ATL didn't struggle yet. Oakland has played some bad defenses so far. Those are all teams that have offenses just as elite as ours. TB was expected to make the jump and were ok week one and played Chicago last week. 

 

Ill take the work of ex-NFL players on the practice thing. I think they know a bit more about it than you and I. 

[Magnus-Viktor]

NO struggled against the Vikings worse than the Steelers did. Much worse.  They didn't do much against the Cheatriot Scum early on in that game either (didn't watch that one though....no way I would watch 2 teams I can't stand unless I'm going to be hoping for a Bernard Pollard repeat on Brady).  

ATL barely beat the Bears and what did GB do yesterday?  I haven't seen them play yet.  I did record it though.  

 

As for the premise of the article, I agree 100%.  You gotta get some reps in the preseason to get rolling.  I had a feeling that Bell's selfishness would bite the team in the butt early on.  Pretty sure stats have shown that holdouts like that lead to injuries more often too.  

[Steeler Hitman]

2 hours ago, warfelg said:

Penalties do come down to not enough practice. Especially ones like PI. There are other offense that expect to do what we do and are struggling. GB, NO, NE. ATL didn't struggle yet. Oakland has played some bad defenses so far. Those are all teams that have offenses just as elite as ours. TB was expected to make the jump and were ok week one and played Chicago last week. 

 

Ill take the work of ex-NFL players on the practice thing. I think they know a bit more about it than you and I. 

I like the discussion and debate and I will continue to dialogue with you.  I don't see the benefit in comparing what the Steelers are expected to do in regards to other teams success or failure. To steal an old quote, "What someone else eats doesn't fill my belly, take away the hunger or make me fat."  in short, what Coach McCarthy, Coach Peyton, Coach Bellicheck or Coach Quin do or do not do doesn't affect what Coach Tomlin does, does not do or what the goals and expectations of this team are.

Our offense is expected to be even more dynamic than those that you mentioned. Whatever the reason, they are not playing up to that level yet. Period!  My opinion of why the Steelers offense is not where it should be is because they are not getting enough quality reps in game situations prior to the season. The defense seems to be a little further along thus far, and not surprisingly, the defense played far more reps than our key offensive members during the preseason.

Everyone has opinions. Some say there should be more padded practices and others like Big Ben have said there should be less padded practices.  I don't think it matters whether you are a player or fan in this instance. You can have all of the background, credentials, experience,  or whatever other factors one may value from players or coaches. However, that doesn't change the results. The results are that two weeks into the season, our high powered offense is not clicking on all cylinders yet. Hopefully they get better as each week progresses and they can stay healthy as well.

[JLambert58]

Totally agree with your premise Hitman.  That's exactly what the problem is with the timing, exacerbated by Bell's absence.   Haley's playcalling notwithstanding. 

[CKSteeler]

For all the talk about the skill guys, the OL has gotten their asses handed to them for two straight weeks. Especially against Minnesota.

I was not a fan of Ben force feeding Brown in the second quarter this week. The first half last week was all Haley and his dozen different WR screens. Otherwise, I have no real issues with his play. There have always been a lot of miscues between him and his receivers. Blame who you will. I haven't seen much out of the ordinary there. And I don't see an issue with his accuracy, either, when he isn't under duress. He does look to be consciously avoiding hits. That's a bigger issue when the OL isn't playing the way you'd expect given the investment.

Minnesota is a pretty good defense. I don't think anyone has made the OL look that consistently bad for several years, off the top of my head. Even Denver. The pass protection held up well in those meetings.

[warfelg]

4 hours ago, Steeler Hitman said:

(1) I like the discussion and debate and I will continue to dialogue with you.  I don't see the benefit in comparing what the Steelers are expected to do in regards to other teams success or failure. To steal an old quote, "What someone else eats doesn't fill my belly, take away the hunger or make me fat."  in short, what Coach McCarthy, Coach Peyton, Coach Bellicheck or Coach Quin do or do not do doesn't affect what Coach Tomlin does, does not do or what the goals and expectations of this team are.

(2) Our offense is expected to be even more dynamic than those that you mentioned. Whatever the reason, they are not playing up to that level yet. Period!  My opinion of why the Steelers offense is not where it should be is because they are not getting enough quality reps in game situations prior to the season. The defense seems to be a little further along thus far, and not surprisingly, the defense played far more reps than our key offensive members during the preseason.

Everyone has opinions.(3) Some say there should be more padded practices and others like Big Ben have said there should be less padded practices.  I don't think it matters whether you are a player or fan in this instance. You can have all of the background, credentials, experience,  or whatever other factors one may value from players or coaches. However, that doesn't change the results.(4) The results are that two weeks into the season, our high powered offense is not clicking on all cylinders yet. Hopefully they get better as each week progresses and they can stay healthy as well.

Ok so my counter to a few points right now:

(1) Ok, I don't disagree with that statement, but yes, I do and we should measure about how we are going compared to those teams.  Mostly because we as fans tend to have some unrealistic expectations of success for the team.  If the average winning score in the NFL is 18, and we're scoring 16 I'm relatively happy.  Right now the average winning team in the NFL is scoring 20 points per game.  We're scoring an average of 24.  That's fine.

I'm not one of those that don't care what others are doing.  Using what others are doing as a measuring stick for how you are doing is a perfectly fine thing to do.

(2) We haven't proven we can be more dynamic than those offenses before now, so why should we be expecting it.  Could some of it be lack of game reps, sure.  But you keep saying it like it's the only thing that could be different, I disagree with.  There's other ways to do it.  One of my favorites is one Belichick does in camp.  A live 2:00 drill.  The offense gets the ball at the 30.  The offense is down 3 points, the defense playing like they are down 6. Both sides have only 1 TO.  So the offense is working to get within FG range, and the defense is trying to create a turnover.  It's an exciting drill to watch.  The Steelers goalline tradition is fine, but it's not a great measure.  I went to Redskins camp this year and even through they aren't that good they do a game called "5 yards to win".  If the offense can gain at least 5 yards on a handoff or completion behind the line, or 10 yards on a pass they get a point.  If the defense creates a turnover or a loss of 5 yards or more they get a point.  If the offense doesn't gain those yards or the defense doesn't create those conditions it's a draw.  Offense has to get to 10 points, defense to 5 points.

Stuff like that is how you can create these situations the represent the game and how you come out sharp.

(3)  QB's and RB's are the ones against more padded practice.  Linemen want it, because they can't get good without contact.  WR's can learn to adjust routes.  Qb's can develop timing.  Ball carriers can learn to break through tackles.

(4) What's more important clicking day 1, or clicking weeks 15, 16, 17, Wild Card, Divisions, Conference, SB weeks?

[43M]

Good write up Hitman.   Agree with alot of it.

However, the only thing that really concerns me going forward is Haley's playcalling.   I feel like that often hurts us as much as anything.    I know its a common tactic for fans to blame an OC when things arent going well, but there is simply no denying how pathetic the playcalling is....and with Haley, its just far too often.     Not using him as a scapegoat....he just isnt that good and I wish he were gone.   I have nothing wrong with his offense in general....just how he runs it.

Ben, Bell, Bryant and the OLine will all find their footing.    I am not concerned with that.  

I do have an unpopular opinion that many Steeler fans dont like....Ben is too inconsistent to ever be elite.   Some make excuses for him too often.   He goes on cold streaks and is good for a few boneheaded and/or bad throws a game.    He is still one of the best, but too often, people want to blame everything around him instead of blaming him.   And dont get me wrong....sometimes it is other things around him, but Ben is paid for being one of the best, and sometimes, I feel like he holds us back as well.    When he gets into a rhythm he can be deadly, but he doesnt always get there.   Sometimes its not it fault, but sometimes it is.

Bottom line, I dont think our offense will ever be as CONSISTENTLY epic as we all hoped it would be with all of the killer Bs playing at once, but we still have one of the most well rounded offenses in the NFL that will make us very hard to beat, especially if our defense can hold their own.

[Chieferific]

I can't argue with much of the OP. That's pretty much how I see it. I didn't expect the Defense to be as ferocious as it has been. I was confident we'd see improvement but that's been a pleasant surprise. I had no concerns about the Offense. That's where the team excels. Right? While I do think there may be a little rust and some players out of sync, I put the majority of it on the play calling. The WR Screens over and over again drive me nuts. Though he can be prone to untimely turnovers, I have more confidence in Ben running the No Huddle than Haley calling a COMPLETE game. One thing does concern me, I wonder if teams are starting to "figure out" Bell. It seems to me me his "Wait and See" style can be neutralized by a Defensive scheme that sits back a little and then attacks once he picks his spot. That's how I'd defend him. I feel that the Pats did that last year in the AFCCG. I haven't looked at any tape to support this theory but I plan to.  

[JLambert58]

7 hours ago, FourThreeMafia said:

I do have an unpopular opinion that many Steeler fans dont like....Ben is too inconsistent to ever be elite.   Some make excuses for him too often.   He goes on cold streaks and is good for a few boneheaded and/or bad throws a game.    He is still one of the best, but too often, people want to blame everything around him instead of blaming him.   And dont get me wrong....sometimes it is other things around him, but Ben is paid for being one of the best, and sometimes, I feel like he holds us back as well.    When he gets into a rhythm he can be deadly, but he doesnt always get there.   Sometimes its not it fault, but sometimes it is.

You're not wrong.  I also struggle with wanting to criticize Ben, especially for missing receivers at times and quite often not hitting that deep throw.   But I always have to remind myself of how GOOD Ben really is.  Playing QB in the NFL is about as tough as it gets.  A guy like Case Keenum would look like an all-world god playing the highest level of flag football but is just OK in the NFL.  Is Ben an all-time great?  I don't think so.  Is he an all-time very good?  Yes imo.  He's been consistently very good for many years, borderline great, and yes mediocre a few plays every game too.

I also have to remind myself what it was like to have an average or below NFL QB on the team for 24 years.  I remember every one of them.  Eventhough they had success during that time, QB was never a given, as it has been during the Roethlisberger years.   So I will give Ben a pass when he is less than perfect, knowing just how well he has played on the whole.  

[Steeler Hitman]

11 hours ago, warfelg said:

Ok so my counter to a few points right now:

(1) Ok, I don't disagree with that statement, but yes, I do and we should measure about how we are going compared to those teams.  Mostly because we as fans tend to have some unrealistic expectations of success for the team.  If the average winning score in the NFL is 18, and we're scoring 16 I'm relatively happy.  Right now the average winning team in the NFL is scoring 20 points per game.  We're scoring an average of 24.  That's fine.

I'm not one of those that don't care what others are doing.  Using what others are doing as a measuring stick for how you are doing is a perfectly fine thing to do.

(2) We haven't proven we can be more dynamic than those offenses before now, so why should we be expecting it.  Could some of it be lack of game reps, sure.  But you keep saying it like it's the only thing that could be different, I disagree with.  There's other ways to do it.  One of my favorites is one Belichick does in camp.  A live 2:00 drill.  The offense gets the ball at the 30.  The offense is down 3 points, the defense playing like they are down 6. Both sides have only 1 TO.  So the offense is working to get within FG range, and the defense is trying to create a turnover.  It's an exciting drill to watch.  The Steelers goalline tradition is fine, but it's not a great measure.  I went to Redskins camp this year and even through they aren't that good they do a game called "5 yards to win".  If the offense can gain at least 5 yards on a handoff or completion behind the line, or 10 yards on a pass they get a point.  If the defense creates a turnover or a loss of 5 yards or more they get a point.  If the offense doesn't gain those yards or the defense doesn't create those conditions it's a draw.  Offense has to get to 10 points, defense to 5 points.

Stuff like that is how you can create these situations the represent the game and how you come out sharp.

(3)  QB's and RB's are the ones against more padded practice.  Linemen want it, because they can't get good without contact.  WR's can learn to adjust routes.  Qb's can develop timing.  Ball carriers can learn to break through tackles.

(4) What's more important clicking day 1, or clicking weeks 15, 16, 17, Wild Card, Divisions, Conference, SB weeks?

 

1. We will chalk this up as a difference in philosophy. No need beating a dead horse much more. My main point was that the Steelers have been talking about what this offense can do and would be with a healthy set of Killer B's and the OL improving. Not saying that it won't get there, just saying it is sputtering. Positive is that they are 2 - 0 and not 0 - 2 or 1-1.

2. I think you are missing my point here. I am saying that the lack of reps does play a factor in developing timing and cohesion. I realize that there a re a limited amount of two a days in full pads. You can do other things to help. The fact that Bell's performance is not what it typically is, despite Bell saying himself he is in tremendous shape, speaks for itself. The Steelers do similar two minute drills as well and live situations down by 3 or 4 with two minutes and under at various spots on the field. That helps to make my point of needing practice reps to simulate game performance and timing.

3. Agreed. Some of it also has to do with the make-up of your team (vets and younger players).

4. I have said the same as well. My point is that great teams play consistently week 1 through week 20. This team has been up and down with their play. As much as we cannot stand the Patriots, there have been several teams that were dominant week in and week out. In my humble opinion that is because of coaching, preparation, practice and cohesion. Whether I was a fan or a coach or player, I would want the same. Play to your potential EVERY week. I can accept that you may lose some games along the way. Play to your fullest. This offense has underachieved, while the defense has overachieved during the same time frame.

I thank you for the discussion. I appreciate the difference of opinion.

[jebrick]

Remember that the CBA limits what teams can do in practice.  There has been a noticeable drop-off for all teams since the new rules limiting practicing in pads has gone into effect.