Can Big Ben get his game back?

Hello Steeler fans,

I like the 7-2 record. I don't like how Ben has been off all year. He is not the same whether it is age, fear of injury, or something. He did play well on the 2nd half which gives me some hope.

What is wrong with him, because throwing in Jones or Dobbs won't help at this point. The goal is a SuperBowl and Ben has to be the one at QB playing well at playoff time to get this done. Can he get it back? I thought after his statistical season was lost after the Jags game that he would be able to relax and play better not having to worry about stats like Alex Smitth does which will kill the Chiefs every year with him at QB.

My quuestion is simple. Can Ben play better this year or good enough to get this team a championship. Please let me know your thoughts about Ben? What does he have to do?

Take care,

JMac

 

Although Ben is not playing his best, he is, unfortunately, the best chance for Pittsburgh to claim their 7th Lombardi. If he can mentally adjust to the role of a game manager instead of the game changer, the team should be fine. I'm tired of seeing stubborn play-calling, and not reading a defense to take advantage of given alignments. When Big Dumb saw Brissette hit a 60 yd TD, he probably started salivating. The INT that Beach presented was a garbage call and execution from A to Z. Then running a reverse in the shadow of your own goal post. Who for fux sake called that one? The Steelers have the talent to own a football field when the offense is on it. Who would've thought that would be the weak or deficient side of the team? The defense, overall, has been really good. Hated the 2 big plays they gave up and I saw some shitty tackling too, but let's be honest, giving up 148 total points (16.4 pts/contest) is not a burden by any stretch of the imagination. By the way, 148 is counting the 2 pick-6s Ben threw v Jville. Technically, its 15.1 pts/game. If the offense was straight, the Steelers could be kicking the shit out of their opponents <see the New England Patriots>.

 

I'd say the Steelers are fine so long as Ben plays no worse than he's played. When the defense is allowing an average of 15 points per game, even on the road, then chances are you'll win a lot of games

 

He's playing good enough for us to win the division, and perhaps secure a 1st round bye in the playoffs, but this team...........the offense in particular is NOT beating a good team like New England or even KC in the playoffs they way he's been playing. We'll get a good read in a few weeks vs New England at home, provided we have most/all of our horses on the field for that game. To beat New England, we will have to simply outscore them, we aren't gong to hold them to 20 points, even with our defense playing great. We are going to have to win a 34-27 type game, which means Ben will need a stat line that is SOMETHING like this:

25-35 for 300+ yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, 0 fumbles lost, 75+% on red zone opportunities..........and most importantly.............50+% on 3rd down, time of possession 35+ minutes. We have the offense to play "keep away" from Brady, and the personnel to move the ball rather easily against the Pats front-7, which lacks playmakers. We'll need our defensive front-7 to be solid, but the biggest factor in whether we win or lose that game will be our QB.

Here's the stat line from the last time we beat the Pats in 2011. Note Ben's stat line, the team stat lines, Brady's stat line, and time of possession. We are better in 2017 across the board at EVERY POSITION, offensively and defensively. The only place we ARE NOT better at right now is QB. Despite dominating that game statistically in every area, we still only won by one possession. Our D didn't play "lights out" that game, our offense simply possessed the ball nearly 70% of the game.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/game?gameId=311030023

 

No.

 

Sadly, 2011 was also the LAST TIME we got a glimpse of LaMarr Woodley being dominant in a Steelers uniform. He was a beast that game and took it over for several series. After that game/season, he was chronically injured and released two seasons later. We've been trying to draft/develop what we had for about 5 seasons with Woodley/Harrison (2007-2011) at OLB, as it is the key to our defense being elite. Hopefully we've gotten that in place with Watt/Dupree, and they will continue to improve/develop into a dominant duo for years to come. We KNOW we have what's needed in front of them in Heyward/Tuitt/Hargrave. Any of those three are capable of playing at Pro-Bowl level right now, and will be a great starting DL for many years to come (hopefully).

 

Anyone catch Case Keenum's (a backup QB) FIRST HALF STATS yesterday...........on the road BTW? With an OL NOT as good as ours, receivers NOT as good as ours, or a backfield NOT as good as ours. Playing strictly "game manager", proceeded to go 21-29 for 304 yds, 4 TDs, and 2 INTs. Now some will say those two INTs allowed Washington to get back in the game late...........yeah so what.......from being OUT OF IT and down 17 points. Would be nice if we were in that position now and then, right? I have a LOT less frustration/anger from a QB that throws a pick after playing well most of the game and when LEADING by 11-14 points than I am by one that chucks it up deep for grabs on the 3rd play of the game which is scoreless when you have just received the opening kckoff............and into a coverage designed specifically to prevent a big play deep (playing 10 yards off, with safety help over top). Unreal.


First Half Stats - Case Keenum (vs Washington)
12-16 for 216 yards, 3 TDs, 0 ints, and a 28-17 lead at half. Has Ben had ONE GAME this year in which the halftime stats were even APPROACHING these numbers?

 

Shit!!!!!!
Then I guess we will have to hope another team beats the Pats before the AFC Championship Game! We never had to play the Pats in the playoffs getting our last two Super Bowl wins!

JMac

 

Everyone except Ben, Deshone Kizer, Carson Palmer and Tom Savage have torched the Colts this year. If we're playing the "what if we had someone besides Ben" game Case definitely gets a nod. But so does the majority of NFL starters this year. Jameis Winston has basically been hot garbage all season and still looks better on paper than Ben with his 10 TDs and only 6 INTs.

Ben is currently ranked 25th in passer rating in the NFL when you take out all the 1 or 2 throw guys. 25th out of 32 teams. That's behind guys like:

Jay Cutler
Jameis Winston
Carson Palmer
Andy Dalton
Eli Manning
Tyrod Taylor
Jacoby Brisset

 

Funny thing is that none of those teams you listed beach except Buffalo have a winning record. If we had good stats from Ben we would be undefeated. We have a very good team right now and Ben is holding us back from being listed as one of the all time great teams ever.

 

Straight and to the point (period end of story)

Lol

 

Although I think Benny boy played well in the AFC championship game at Denver in 2006 and the Divisional game vs SD in 2009 some say overall he has not been a good post-season QB. Before this year, he’s statistically had much better regular seasons than post seasons, maybe this year is different, he’ll light it up in the post season. Yeah I know keep dreaming.

 

He's actually done quite well in post-season playoff games each year that they reached the big game, he just has not done well in the Super Bowl itself. He's never had that signature big game you can point to. They won DESPITE him in 2006 vs Seattle (though he did have a few big plays with his FEET that don't show up on his passing stat line, as well as the key block that sprung Randel El on the reverse pass to Ward), in 2008 he was pretty mediocre most of the game vs Cards except the final winning drive. In 2010, HE ALONE is the biggest reason we lost that game vs Green Bay, which I've chronicled many times here and listed the NUMEROUS horrible decisions he did for most of that game.

 

So Carolina puts up 38+ tonight thru 3 quarters..........a week after TRADING AWAY their #1 receiver. And yet Pitt can't hang 30 on an injury depleted team with the lowest rating scoring defense in the league. Sheesh.

 

When I watch Ben, I don't see a physical issue. Even if he isn't as strong as he once was, he is on par with the more physically talented QBs in the league. To me, he has actually regressed from the neck up. He makes some of the worst reads and decisions that I've seen from a player of his experience. The INTs that I've seen have been totally avoidable. The one last week as well as the one vs Detroit are just the first two I can think of.

He also misses so many open guys because he stares down receivers. Why would a guy who's been playing since 2004 do that. When does experience show itself. If this was the Ben we saw in 2014, the Steelers are 9-0.

Yet, because I'm a pie-eyed moron/eternal optimist, I still think he might get better. I can't learn either, I guess.

 

Because he isn't dedicated to improving his level of play, putting in the time and work needed with the cast around him. Simple as that. There's no reason for a person of his ability to be having an equal number of INTs and TDs thrown halfway thru a season........or anywhere close to that. At this point in his career, the personnel around him-the best he's ever had, and a complimentary defense on the other side of the ball giving him an ample number of opportunities, Ben should be throwing 4/5 TDs for every interception thrown (like Alex Smith, Brady, Goff, Wentz, Brees, Russell Wilson, etc). He should be one of the highest rated passers in football and mentioned as an MVP candidate. Instead we are an offense stuck in mediocrity in every meaningful category........passing, total yards, scoring, and two big ones that are among the WORST in the league.........3rd down conversion and red zone scoring %.

Inexcusable.

 

I think some of it is play calling, but most of the problem is Ben. Halo mentioned that -9 end around, that was idiodic. The Colts may struggle on defense, but they are disciplined. Also that crap on the 2 pt play, you take a timeout and still manage to get a delay of game? I can't put those on Ben, but much of the rest of the problems are from Ben. The bomb to Bryant was too predictable, but I feel like Bryant didn't do much to try to get the ball, or at least knock it down. Yeah it definitely could've been a better pass, pretty much if he threw it further or threw a back shoulder its a catch instead of an INT. Which is why I have less of a problem with that INT than most. And as one of the most staunchest Ben supporters, even I can say his head play above the neck has been horrendous. The physical mis-fires are worrisome, but most of those are missed by inches, and sometimes just bad luck. But the staring down receivers, forcing unnecessary throws come hell or high water is what everyone (myself included) are most critical of. I think he could turn it around, if he put in the time instead of worrying about his golf game. That has got to frustrate his teammates, especially from a team captain that publicly calls out teammates when their play is below the line. I could excuse his leaving practice quickly if it was to go be with his family. Hell, I'm guilty of that and I'm sure most, if not all, here are as well from time to time. But, bottom line is when work needs to be done, do the work! If you need to take extra time with the receivers or coaches, I'm sure most will stay and put in the extra time to get better. Or grab the QB coach and watch some film or work on fundamentals...When something is wrong, fix it! Problem is, I agree with the posters that said Ben is checked out so he won't try and fix the problems on his own. Its going to take either Tomlin or maybe Art Rooney to call their QB out. Not through the media, but in the middle of a team meeting yeah. When Ben is saying he's having his best season from the neck up this season, he is clearly either concussed or delusional...

 

Here's the All-22 version of the interception on the 2nd play of the game. I'm not going to comment and just let everyone else form their own opinion...

 

At the snap, MB's defender is nearly 10 yards off scrimmage. Ben takes a look down the middle upon the snap while MB makes up 6 of the 10 yards. On Ben's fourth step in drop (pretty good protection) he's already eyeing MB and the defended is eyeing Ben. The ball travels 55 yards in the air (defender actually slows down to intercept) but needed to go 60 for a completion. Because he never takes his eyes off MB from last step in drop to release and the ball has to travel such a large distance the defender has plenty of time to adjust . As a side note, Ben pissed me off during an interview when he said he thought MB would climb for the ball at the least and or break it up... not where Ben put it... no way can MB come back enough for this kind of expected heroics.

More importantly, while MB is doing everything he can to overcome a 10 yard deficit to the defender, JuJu, by the time he hit the 40 yard line in between hashes, is open and for a huge gain ... wide open,not moving toward a defender, he's running away from one, with still a 4 yard head start ... but Ben, per his usual 2017 QB'ing won't survey and won't look off his target and forces his throw to a covered receiver, hoping for the best ... Not sure who the receiver is on the 30 yard line ... all alone for easy first down but there isn't even a defender in his area for 8-10 yards ... Ben never looked to his left, didn't survey half the field and once made up his mind where he was throwing ... that's all he wrote ... again ...

Understand, if this throw is on, it's 6 and I'm not crying like a baby ... but it wasn't, he didn't and he had another 2 wide open receivers, he never even saw ...

Ben had a better game and there were passes dropped but he's missing half the field of play regularly and it will bite us ...

 

All very good takes. My initial thought when seeing the All-22 version was how many times does AB actually get one-on-one coverage? And how can Ben stare directly at him and not see him get a clean release?

I'm not a huge proponent of going deep on the 2nd play of the game but 2nd and 5 is certainly an acceptable time to do it. Why not throw to the best receiver in football who is inexplicably being pressed at the line of scrimmage?