Makes a lot of sense to me. I just don’t see what’s going to happen to fix it this season. Coach change next season and some good drafting can set us up well for the next couple runs hopefully.

Let me also say this,…I don’t like Bruce Arians but its funny how his play calling suddenly seemed to get better once Ben left after the half on MNF against the Redskins.

Even though Ben is taking a lot of heat,..I still don’t think he’s getting enough blame. When you get a $100 mil contract,…in essence you have the responsibility to change whats wrong and take initiative. If the play calling has been making Ben less successful, then its HIS responsibility to change it. As a franchise QB he has that power. Gone are the days when Cowher and Whisenhunt told him when to eat, when to sleep, when to walk.

If this guy can’t take that initiative its on him. If its not the play calling but just Ben being completely out of it as I suspect,..then the coaches need to do their jobs and sit him.

Either way,…Ben deserves every bit of criticism and more. I know a lot of people have a soft spot for him because of the superbowl run. But facts are facts.

How about Whisenhunt and Haggans tonight? Classy guys. Good to see them having success.

Not to mention Kurt Warner. Warner and Brett Favre make the sport a pleasure to watch. The two biggest kids in the game. I’d like to see one of them win the MVP Trophy.

I posted this part elsewhere, but maybe it deserves to be here instead:

I don’t fault Arians too much in this game. But I do wonder about one thing. The Colts d lineman (Foster) that tackled Mewelde Moore both times from the one late in the game said that the Steelers ran that same exact play 6 times in a row from in close. Obviously this goes back to the first half when the Steelers got 2 td from in close. But watching Tunch on Savran’s show, he talked about how the Colts d tackles had been pinching in on the previous (successful) Steeler attempts but now on 2nd down from the 1, they pinched out. Kemo didn’t finish his block and the play was stuffed. They then ran the same play again and the same thing happened (Kemo didn’t finish his block and Foster made the play). I guess the majority of the blame should go on Kemo for being tooled twice in a row. But it would have been nice if Arians had called a different power running play. I’m not saying that he should have called a pass or an end around. Just a different power running play. We should have more than 1 power running play in the playbook, right? Maybe that’s why we score on our first drives so often and then go into a lull. Because the defense adjusts to us and then we don’t counter with anything different.

Now maybe it’s not easy to tell that the Colts pinched the d tackles out on that 5th attempt in real time. But in the NFL, it’s hard to keep going to the well over and over again. You have to change it up a little bit.

Maybe this is all just conjured up hocus pocus rationalization, or maybe I have a point? I don’t know, but I’m throwing it out there.

..through the Colon…

Don’t get me going on that again.

I am older than most on this blog, it seems, so let me try to add a historical angle to the thoughts of maryrose.

Years ago, when John Elway was just starting out, he was getting nailed the same way that Ben has been this year. He developed the habit of bailing out on plays as soon as the rush came near him. To use the maryrose phrase about Ben, “He was battered and shell shocked”. In fact, if you watch the films, his eyes would widen and he would throw the ball almost anywhere to avoid getting hit again.

I think Ben has hit developed a mental hangup because he is getting nailed so often. I believe he is as brave or strong or risk-taking as anyone could want him to be, and yet has developed a real fear of being hit again. It would be difficult for him not to given the situation.

I do think he can get by the problem if he can see someone run the team, using Arien’s schemes, and get to believe in the shorter faster game that needs to be played with our current roster. He certainly has the physical skills but I believe that he is now gun shy.

All year I have been wishing for Charlie Batch. Ben has more skills and is obviously the number 1 quarterback for the long haul but Charlie could get the job done now. Short dump passes, quick release, misdirection. All good tools that Batch knows how to use, and would use effectively, rather than get hit like a tackling dummy.

But, of course, Charlie is not around. How about Byron or Dennis? A rookie quarterback would probably get eaten up but an older pro like Byron might be able to pull it off. It is certainly worth a try.

I don’t believe that Byron is the man for the long term, Ben is. And I don’t think Byron is even the man for this season. But until Ben sees that this short game offense will work, and he won’t get killed using it, we have a big problem.

Your theory about why there is a constant jailbreak is off-base.

1. When a D-line does not have to worry about an O-line getting off the ball and big backs coming at them they can play differently. They simply can get up field and “play the run on the way to the QB”. Pass rushing and getting off blocks to play the run are two different fundamentals. The Steelers currently employee a finess running style with small backs and almost exclusively zone blocking and no true blocking back.

2. You don’t need to draft O-lineman in the first round (unless a true stud left tackle is there). Look at the Patriots. There line is comprised of mid-round draft choices and FA’s. They are lean and mean and coached up. The Steelers are sloppy and not well coached!

Everyone knows Ben holds the ball too long. He is not capable of reading coverage quickly. But he is big tough football player. As a coach you have to know your players strenghths and weeknesses.

Arians is a pass-happy finess coach. He was the same way in Cleveland. He will not change. Tomlin knew this when he hired him. Heck everyone knew it.

The blame for the loss rests squarely on #7’s shoulders. He threw 3 picks under little to no pressure. The goal line stop was Kemo’s fault entirely. It was the right call, regardless of how many times we ran the darn play. Kemo makes a block, MM walks in for 6. If Ben doesn’t throw 2 of the picks, the Colts don’t sniff the red zone. Heck, if Troy catches the damn ball…etc, etc. Woulda coulda shoulda. The PLAYERS had chances to MAKE PLAYS and they didn’t. That’s why they lost.

Tomlin will do something. He has preached expectation of performance all year and the offense is not performing. Ultimately, he is responsible for the team and all aspects of its performance. Next in line (For the offense) is Arians. He is responsible for all aspects of the offense’s performance. Under him is Z for the offensive line’s performance. Under him, is the actual offensive line. For every single one of those positions, every person in the chain above them, all the way to the top, can be held accountable for a positions failure. In the end, Tomlin is ultimately responsible. Period. He may be trying everything known to mad science to solve this problem. If he is doing the right things, then, someone down the chain must be examined. Arians has taken a lot of heat and I agree with that – He is responsible for the whole offense. If Z is not performing, it is Ariens’ responsibility to fix it. Etc, etc… So, the issue is the offensive line. The whole offensive line. Is it more likely that no one on the line has talent, or that there is talent there, and it is not being tapped properly? Shine the light on Z, and because they are above on the chain of command, Ariens and Tomlin. I can talk all day about the O-line or Z or Arians, but if Tomlin doesn’t figure how to fix it, by demanding Arians address Z’s deficiencies, or firing Z, then Tomlin will have to go as well as Arians and Z. I don’t believe that will be the case. I think, at the very least, Z, the one most directly responsible for a grossly underperforming line, must go, and will. The question is: will that be enough? A lot of time and energy has been devoted to the Bruce Arians fan club on this site (Me included), and if he should go. I think that is a good indicator. The time spent defending him and attacking him is far too much any way you look at it. If he needs defending, there is already a problem. Quick question: Does Dick LeBeau need defending? Or, even discussion? Only praise. I think Ariens has to go too.
The Steelers went out and found a good up-and-coming young head coach. They should do the same for the O.C. Right now we have an old war horse O.C. who coached under The Bear. He has never even been considered for a head coaching job. Why? Because he is not burning up the O.C. position. Before being promoted to the O.C. position for the Steelers, he was the wide receivers coach, a step down from his position with the Brownies. Why a step down? Was he not thought well enough as an O.C. in the league to find another job as an O.C.? I say he was given his chance to prove the NFL wrong about him and has come up short.
That concludes my Ariens rant for the day.

I’m still pissed at him for that first interception…did anyone else see how wide open MM was coming out of the back field??? No one around for 30 yards!!!

But no…he tries to force into Homes!!! no reason to do that at all…we were ahead by 10, not down by 10!!!!

Yes, a lot of the factors mentioned above contributed to the loss…but to me, Ben’s decision to throw that ball is inexusable…he should know better…

check it down Ben…check it down!!!!

Is it just me, or has the communication b/w 10 and 7 been WAY off this year. I can’t count the number of times that Ben has thrown at Santonio where he inexplicably cut off a route or broke the wrong way. Holmes has been a huge disappointment to me (especially since we have the same last name).

An OC promoted from WR coach loves to throw the ball, big shock there. If he goes my choice would be the RB coach (Ray Horton I beleive) then maybe our ground game will be effective.

• Ben and his agent $102 mln contract – no money left for great offensive line. Money will always be spent on D and offensive skill players (Hines, Holmes, Mendenhall, Parker)
• Idiotic decision to sign Kendall Simmons and Max Starks to that type of money
• Larry Zuerlien, I have no idea if he’s adding any value
• Injuries, plenty of championship caliber teams have been derailed by this.
     - It’s going to be a long game on Sunday w/o pressure on Rivers
• Lack of brusing running back to get you tough yardage
• Lack of adjustments during the game to counteract defenses
• Ben isn’t that bright, his decision making on passes is horrible to say the least. He’s had one great season. We expect more and should receive more.