Exactly. So run Bell 23+ times, and utilize play action when passing. Mix in some no huddle. Presto. Not sure why Haley wouldn’t be using that as his go to plan.
Bah why do what works I wanna pass all the time (just thinking that must be what goes on in the meeting for game plan)
So everyone is happy now and I am too. Our defense really played one helluva game and our QB mostly managed the game. But I still saw some troubling things from Ben's play including the decision to throw to AB on 3rd and 2. I'm not an NFL QB but I do understand the concept of a 4 minute offense when you're up 12-10. And I know that 3 1st downs likely ends the game and the defense never has to step on the field. So in a 3rd and 2 scenario there is one thing on my mind... Get a 1st down which means the highest percentage throw and if no one is open you get out of the pocket until someone opens. And if I can run for 2 yards even better. Here is the play... Great pocket created by the o-line. This was supposed to be a pick play where Martavis picks off the KC defender but he gets up field too quickly. It allows the DB to stay right in ABs hip pocket and makes for a tough throw. Under the circumstances you just can't make this throw. You have to pull it down, go through your reads and if necessary by some more time by getting out of the pocket. The next GIF will show it more clearly but Ben never considers any other option than a throw to AB on this play. Had he pulled it down he probably recognizes that he can run for the first down very easily. Or he can hit Leveon for the easy pass right in front of him. Good result, terrible decision that WILL get us beat at another point in the season if it's not corrected. And I have little faith that he will correct this going forward. It should have happened years ago. Here's the o-line view... He throws it so quickly that you never get to see Bell come open in front of him. It's like a rookie back there. He's throwing that ball to AB come hell or high water and he doesn't even look anywhere else. Just watch his helmet. It never moves anywhere else. Under the circumstances I can't imagine a worse decision and the game plan Sunday asked very little of Ben. Protect the ball, make good decisions. Almost like the kind of game plan you would put together if you had a inexperienced QB. Imagine Josh Dobbs on that 3rd down play. He runs for that easily, probably beats the lone defender in front of him and picks up 15 yards.
Prior to the AB touchdown the Steelers hadn't scored in the 2nd half in spite of some exceptional running by Leveon and great work by the o-line. I went back and looked at the 3rd down plays from the 2nd half. This particular play is the 3rd and 6 from the Steelers 48. It comes after 5 straight runs by Bell for 44 yards. It's probably a bit of nit-picking here but two things stand out to me. 1) Someone screwed up on the protection call and the guy on the right comes completely free. 2) Ben was going to AB the whole time. Probably not the worst idea considering there was a free guy so this could look like I'm nit-picking a bit but I didn't want to exclude it. Another missed opportunity for points if they just get a couple more first downs.
Empty set blitz. I don't see an issue with the protection or quick decision, but I'm not a fan of empty sets
Next up is the 3rd and 8 with 2:05 on the clock. The Steelers give Ben a lot of protection (others would say they held their asses off) and again he settles for a guy that isn't open. He appears to want to throw to JuJu on a crossing route that gets blown up by Derrick Thomas with the 5 yard mark. I don't ever see him look outside which continues to make me question if Ben has the arm strength to throw the deep out where a late throw could by 6 points the other way. I think the throw here should have gone to Jesse James and see if he can fight for the first down. And again I wonder why Ben is so reluctant to get out of the pocket and buy more time. That was his greatest asset before. Is he physically unable? First I'll put the GIFs up and then I'll relay something I read on the other site I frequent in regards to Ben's preparation... Just something I read that struck a chord with me... Matt Steel: "That leads me to the biggest problem I have with Roethlisberger, which is his level of physical preparation. Players like Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, who are close to the same age as Roethlisberger, have not lost a step in terms of speed and mobility. Smith looks faster and stronger than ever for the Kansas City Chiefs. It shows up in the success of his offense. Several times this year, in just the couple games I’ve sporadically watched, I’ve seen Smith escape pressure to either run for a first down or make a completion on the run to pick up a first down. In today’s day in age of pilates, yoga, myofascial therapy, acupuncture, nutrition, and biomechanically appropriate strength and condition, short of arthritic knees, there is no excuse for Roethlisberger to be that immobile at age 35. When he finally scrambled to pick up a first down on third-and-5 against the Bears, my thought process at that time was that he looked closer to 45 years of age than 35. Regardless of the fact that he’s getting paid about $20 million a year to be the best professional athlete he can be, he still doesn’t do everything in his power during the offseason to be at his best in every facet of the game at his position. That should be a clear sign that the importance of winning for him only goes so far. Regardless of whether he’s not doing it because he doesn’t think it’s that important or because he’s physically incapable, he should have retired after last season either way. Roethlisberger in my opinion seems content with trying to win without a play-action game while being primarily stationary from the pocket. He’s always wanted to win playing that game anyway. Yet when he bought time in Super Bowl XL on third-and-29 to connect with Hines Ward at the 1-yard line, a similar looking opportunity in Chicago to escape to his left ended in him holding the ball to the point that it resulted in a sack-fumble-turnover. Mobility is such an important part of the position. Growing up watching pocket-passing champions from Joe Montana to Troy Aikman to John Elway, all of them had enough mobility to pick up a first down with their legs if necessary. Mobility just creates that much more hesitation in a defender due to possibility of other options being possibilities off the offensive look. No doubt the threat of Deshaun Watson’s mobility has gone a long way toward that team scoring 90 points over the last two weeks."
Last one for now and the one that really frustrated me, partly because I really thought Tomlin should have gone for it in this spot. They're at the KC 35 and a first down likely puts points on the board in a 12-3 game. Nevertheless he never should have been in that position because JuJu was wide-freaking open right in front of Ben in the middle of the field where he seems to want to throw all the time. And he's still open when Ben throws the low percentage pass to Bell on the outside (which he air-mailed). I remember watching this thining if we lost this is the play that would haunt me. That just has to get converted if you want to win football games.
Oh and please forgive the typos and run on sentences. It takes so long to do this stuff I usually forget to proofread and often repeat myself in the same paragraph.
Not that BS criticism isn't the name of the game on here, but you could write in pig latin and shouldn't get a word. Great work beach.
Wow, he misses Ju Ju. That's just terrible. I felt they should've ran the ball there. 3rd and 2 at the 35 is a great run down to me. Then you can go for it if it's 4th and inches if you don't get it. Bell isn't good for 2 yards in 2 tries?!
That play the Chiefs sent 6 against the Steelers 5 OL, Ben knew someone was coming free. He doesn't have time to look anywhere else, although it looks like there's a screen set up for Bell on the other side. Don't think McDonald is running a route there, looks like he is aiming at the defender and honestly looks like at least 3-6 yard gain, more if Bell makes the free defender miss. DeCastro is also letting his guy go to block upfield. I know Ben and AB have good chemistry but sometimes run the damn play the way it was called. The screen likely picks up the 1st, and AB is covered well. The defender could've been called for PI but the way this game was called that wasn't happening. Refs were letting alot go in the secondary for both teams IMO.
Not that one so much mc, but you’re on the right track. Typically you can pretty easily tell if the ball has been “aimed, or short armed” by the trajectory of the ball. On a good throw the front of the nose on the ball will seek gravity and the angle of the ball will “nose down” naturally, like it’s following the camber of the earth. On that pass the ball had good trajectory but was about a yard under where it should have been thrown because of pressure from his left. I know you’ve felt, when the pass goes out of the picture on tv that you have a feel good for the possibility the pass will complete w/o even seeing the receiver yet just because of it’s trajectory and muscle. When the ball reaches the receiver with both ends (tips) of the ball horizontal with the ground, you can feel pretty confident that the throwing motion was inhibited. IMO, the best case for this was his pass to Macdonald that just missed a tad long. He tried to “push” drop it in there because he had no room to launch it because of the angle and closeness of the defender in relation to the pass. In actuality, it may very well have been the best way to try to connect, but it’s very hard to “tone down” your motion in the heat of battle, and he was highly pressured on that play. That was one of only a few that looked like aiming. There were more than one where he was highly pressured and “lofted” a pass simply hoping for the best. He’s lucky to be on a team where his receivers a good enough to pull his charcoals from the fire on those. beach’s second gif (great stuff again young man… anks-thay air-thay uddy-bay) show something that can be found regularly with Ben. Watch his right foot upon release … he’s a right handed thrower leading with his right foot. That’s just terrible form that he reverts to nearly every time he’s pressured and sometimes when he’s not… is it a play killer, well sometimes no, but as you can see on that throw to AB, (if your best aim, on a clock face, is between the hands spindle and the 12:00 position (chest and helmet), when a RH thrower leads with his right foot the ball will, almost universally aim between 7:00 and 9:00 just because it’s trajectory is so muffled by the inhibitive release. It can’t get to the 12:00 position because his body gets in the way. This was a very lucky play for us, another stupendous example of why AB is the best receiver in the NFL, but, as beach says it’s not high percentage and I’ll go with a number around 1 of 10 of those will end up as well as this play did. Does anyone else notice Ben, lately is staring down his receivers? He throws more often than not to the guy he first acknowledges and looks at as his (what seems like his one and only target). I really do find this disturbing as not only does he lessen his chances for completions as defenses are right on top of that receiver, but it eliminates other players who are open and could move the chains. See an all 22m for the game and you’ll see all the open receivers he never even knows are open. How can you if you don’t survey the field. Other teams defenses use film too you know and will key on this big time. The good news is if he starts staring them down and changes his mind to another receiver it will mess with them completely. Let’s hope he does in the near future. I’m ecstatic we won a game that may very well be the difference of making the playoffs but am not really very heartened with our chances if our QB doesn’t wake up and play to his capabilities. He just seems to take the quickest, (laziest?) easiest way out instead of working for the open play. Hope I’m wrong but seeing is believing until he proves otherwise. Isn’t that JuJu something special? I am so glad we picked him up. Earlier in the season, I would never have believed he would be taking snaps from MB but he is, and deservedly so.
Ben really does look like a 45 year old moving around on the field. It's shocking to see how slow and lumbering he is this season. The mobility of Alex Smith kept the Chiefs in the game late Sunday. Similar in age but obviously Smith still has desire to compete. To me when you see Ben lumbering around out there it says he doesn't truly have a desire to compete.
Dude, JuJu even looks back like he's expecting his Super Bowl winning NFL QB to do what Sam Darnold would do. I'm sure these receivers are seething with frustration beneath the surface.
Yeah, frustrated enough to physically assault a water cooler in front of a stadium full of fans with cameras rolling.
I love Big Ben, but he has never been one to be the best that he can be. I need only reference his love of chicken wings (seriously, he has talked about his love of chicken wings) and screwing off on motorcycles in off seasons.
