How to handle Ben moving forward

[turtle28 4,069]

3 hours ago, 3rivers said:

that's what we are all guessing in a way, what will we be told and then what happened behind the scenes. In reality, if he is injured right now, and that explains the way the scheme is . If so, then ideally he gets healthy and then somehow everything returns including the run game. That is delusional to me, but wait and see. I am more of a believer that fichner is just a bad OC and bens arm is not near what it was. 

The biggest issue though is the OL in the run game. Almost the worst run game in the NFL, 31st right now.  No way this team does anything in the playoffs with that, it just can't work. Snell got some yards vs the bungles, but that game was over with early and they might have been in more pass defences plus they weren't good vs the run anyways. The colts game will be more telling, I will have to see how this goes.  Colts have a good front 7, solid everywhere. 

One thing about the run game is Derek Watt getting the concussion, you have to wonder how much better the run game would’ve been on the first half if DWatt hadn’t had the concussion. 
 

The Steelers main problem is there is no commitment to the run, there’s no balance in their offense. I’d love to see them run it 35 times vs the Colts & Browns just to force feed it. 15 carries each for Conner/Snell and 5 for McFarland sprinkled in.

[warfelg 2,637]

2 hours ago, turtle28 said:

One thing about the run game is Derek Watt getting the concussion, you have to wonder how much better the run game would’ve been on the first half if DWatt hadn’t had the concussion. 
 

The Steelers main problem is there is no commitment to the run, there’s no balance in their offense. I’d love to see them run it 35 times vs the Colts & Browns just to force feed it. 15 carries each for Conner/Snell and 5 for McFarland sprinkled in.

Might want to look into how many I-formation runs we made with Watt this year. Spoiler its under 15. 

[Steelers22 91]

4 hours ago, warfelg said:

Might want to look into how many I-formation runs we made with Watt this year. Spoiler its under 15. 

Speaking to this point, the Derek Watt signing looked terrible at the time and has only looked worse as we've gone on. Why on earth would you don't plan on installing any I-form formations? It signals a disconnect between the front office and coaching staff in my opinion. Colbert deserves accolades for drafting. But his use of our limited resources for free agency is consistently terrible

Edited December 23, 2020 by Steelers22

[3rivers 782]

7 hours ago, turtle28 said:

The Steelers main problem is there is no commitment to the run, there’s no balance in their offense. I’d love to see them run it 35 times vs the Colts & Browns just to force feed it. 15 carries each for Conner/Snell and 5 for McFarland sprinkled in.

as a result the OL can't run block at all, the worst or close to it in the entire nfl. Snell and Connor are capable, the OL isn't or hasn't been anyways.

 

21 minutes ago, Steelers22 said:

Speaking to this point, the Derek Watt signing looked terrible at the time and has only looked worse as we've gone on

but don't teams have to have a FB  Really though, they have a FB but rarely have him play FB.  fichner/ben have removed the FB in the role they typically contribute to the offence. It's not Watts fault, but even if he was in the games at FB, I still see th eOL as being the main issue as their run blocking is terrible. Fire Fichner, get a QB that will go under C and allow a run game. Better yet, get a QB that will allow real coaches to draw up a game plan, then execute it .  Not happening this season though, we are stuck with this for 3 more games 

[Dcash4 857]

Not sure why we would lay Watt as a negative against Colbert to this point. I’m not entirely sure of his past, but looks like he has played in ever game in his career up until this year. Injuries detail things. Injuries especially detail usage for a low snap position with a 1 player depth chart. I don’t think anyone in the off-season could call him missing as much time as he has. And here we are again, in a time we could really use him, without him because of injury  

You also need to factor that Watt was more or less brought into replace the special teams value of a Rosie Nix and Tyler Matekevic. That’s his real role. 

I would love to see him healthy and used more like Kyle Juszccxzczccxzxcxzck, but we need a completely new operating system in offense. 

I form is dying. That shouldn’t be a gauge or much of anything, though yea I’d like to see SOME (like when Watt was healthy and on goaline against the Ravens you could find him on the wing exclusively) 

[Steelers22 91]

1 minute ago, Dcash4 said:

Not sure why we would lay Watt as a negative against Colbert to this point. I’m not entirely sure of his past, but looks like he has played in ever game in his career up until this year. Injuries detail things. Injuries especially detail usage for a low snap position with a 1 player depth chart. I don’t think anyone in the off-season could call him missing as much time as he has. And here we are again, in a time we could really use him, without him because of injury  

You also need to factor that Watt was more or less brought into replace the special teams value of a Rosie Nix and Tyler Matekevic. That’s his real role. 

I would love to see him healthy and used more like Kyle Juszccxzczccxzxcxzck, but we need a completely new operating system in offense. 

I form is dying. That shouldn’t be a gauge or much of anything, though yea I’d like to see SOME (like when Watt was healthy and on goaline against the Ravens you could find him on the wing exclusively) 

Well they paid Watt a substantial amount of money to play...special teams? If you're a spread offense, you don't need a fullback. It's not necessarily a knock against Colbert as much as its a knock against the unity between the FO and coaching staff. Watt clearly doesn't fit the spread system the steelers run; so, for a team that has limited resources, why use your money there? 

Injuries haven't helped the cause but even if he wasn't injured, he doesn't have a role on this offense

[Steelers22 91]

17 minutes ago, 3rivers said:

as a result the OL can't run block at all, the worst or close to it in the entire nfl. Snell and Connor are capable, the OL isn't or hasn't been anyways.

 

but don't teams have to have a FB  Really though, they have a FB but rarely have him play FB.  fichner/ben have removed the FB in the role they typically contribute to the offence. It's not Watts fault, but even if he was in the games at FB, I still see th eOL as being the main issue as their run blocking is terrible. Fire Fichner, get a QB that will go under C and allow a run game. Better yet, get a QB that will allow real coaches to draw up a game plan, then execute it .  Not happening this season though, we are stuck with this for 3 more games 

Unfortunately, as long as Ben is on the team, Fichtner will be the OC. But I agree, the offensive line is the biggest problem in regards to the run game. Fichtner doesn't help the cause though. Their obsession with counter and power run plays in short yardage is baffling. You're just asking to get blown up

[Dcash4 857]

21 minutes ago, Steelers22 said:

Injuries haven't helped the cause but even if he wasn't injured, he doesn't have a role on this offense

But in year 1, it’s hard to say that because he has been injured. 

Im not arguing he couldn’t be used more. It’s just weird to do a CoLbErT sUcKs because Watt got injured....which no one could call before hand based in his history. 

21 minutes ago, Steelers22 said:

Well they paid Watt a substantial amount of money to play...special teams?

Yes. If you don’t get the importance of special teams, I can’t help your understanding here. 

He was brought in to 1) play special teams 2) be a full back. This team was never gonna trot out 22 personnel at any percentage to make an investment in just a full back worthwhile, so it has to be multi-faceted. Watt is good at special teams, and athletic enough to be multiple on offense. His availability has crushed the second opportunity this year, even against the limited amount it would have been  

(also, $3.2m isn’t really a substantial amount of money) 

[Steelers22 91]

4 minutes ago, Dcash4 said:

But in year 1, it’s hard to say that because he has been injured. 

Im not arguing he couldn’t be used more. It’s just weird to do a CoLbErT sUcKs because Watt got injured....which no one could call before hand based in his history. 

Yes. If you don’t get the importance of special teams, I can’t help your understanding here. 

He was brought in to 1) play special teams 2) be a full back. This team was never gonna trot out 22 personnel at any percentage to make an investment in just a full back worthwhile, so it has to be multi-faceted. Watt is good at special teams, and athletic enough to be multiple on offense. His availability has crushed the second opportunity this year, even against the limited amount it would have been  

(also, $3.2m isn’t really a substantial amount of money) 

Well that's the point then. If you aren't running an offense where fullbacks have a role, you're essentially paying 3.2 million for a special teams player. That's a horrible investment, I'm sorry. When evaluating the investment, the fact that he is injured is ultimately irrelevant; even if he was health, he was never going to have a substantial role in the offense.

[warfelg 2,637]

1 hour ago, Steelers22 said:

Speaking to this point, the Derek Watt signing looked terrible at the time and has only looked worse as we've gone on. Why on earth would you don't plan on installing any I-form formations? It signals a disconnect between the front office and coaching staff in my opinion. Colbert deserves accolades for drafting. But his use of our limited resources for free agency is consistently terrible

Actually he was signed more for Special Teams play than offensive, and in that aspect he’s been great. 

[Dcash4 857]

15 minutes ago, Steelers22 said:

Well that's the point then. If you aren't running an offense where fullbacks have a role, you're essentially paying 3.2 million for a special teams player. That's a horrible investment, I'm sorry. When evaluating the investment, the fact that he is injured is ultimately irrelevant; even if he was health, he was never going to have a substantial role in the offense.

I absolutely think investing in a mainstay STer after losing Chik, Nix, and Tyler in one season is smart, yes. I’m sorry, but I’ll pay that money in a heartbeat for a good special teams player. Tyler got $3.5 from the Bills and has no defensive role   . Watt got less and actually does have a role, however small In a modern day offense  

This is actually the exact type of team I would have a Watt style Fullback for. Their idea is to be multiple, Watt can be that. He was playing about 10% of the snaps early in the season. I’m really not sure how much more you plan to use a FB. How many fullbacks have a substantial role on any offense? 

[warfelg 2,637]

 

[3rivers 782]

1 hour ago, Steelers22 said:

Unfortunately, as long as Ben is on the team, Fichtner will be the OC. But I agree, the offensive line is the biggest problem in regards to the run game. Fichtner doesn't help the cause though. Their obsession with counter and power run plays in short yardage is baffling. You're just asking to get blown up

agree that ben/ficher are here to stay . get used to it or perhaps don't watch for a few years and wait for that to be gone

[3rivers 782]

17 minutes ago, warfelg said:

 

what counts is the gameplan and how they execute. I don't think their gameplay stands a chance vs legit teams, I mean look at what happened vs the bungles. Bungles should have had a few more TO's as well, so consider that. 

[RamblinMan99 190]

On 12/22/2020 at 8:08 AM, wwhickok said:

We need to move on from him. If we lose again next week he needs to be benched 

Not Ben's fault bro.  

Yeah, he didn't have his best game by any means.  It was mostly Johnson, JuJu, and Ebron forgetting how to catch the football up to this point.  

When we were on our win streak, everybody was saying that Ben was having an MVP season.  

Now, you want to get rid of him after one lousy game.  

Tom Brady threw those two interceptions his first game with Tampa, and everybody blows up the headlines.  

Same thing when Aaron Rodgers threw those two rare picks with no TDs when he played Tampa.  

But, Ben has a game like this and you're ready to trade for Stafford or quack Darnold. 

God, it's like the seasons with you people.