Credit Bruce Arians For Development of Quick Hitting Passing Attack
by Blitzburgh on Jan 16, 2009 8:01 PM EST
23 comments
Let's take a look at several of the well designed plays and good reads made by Ben Roethlisberger during the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens Week 14 match up in Maryland.
Play #1
This play is going to Heath Miller in the seam. Mr. Ray Ray is getting a little too aggressive with all his pre-snap maneuvering. The result will be him being just slightly out of position later in the play.
Willie Colon may have had a hard time holding back the Ravens pass rusher had Bruce Arians and Ben Roethlisberger not worked on getting rid of the ball so quickly. But there was definitely time for a quick 2-3 step drop. Notice how Ben starts the play at about the 38 yard line from the shot-gun? Notice how his back foot is planted on the 41 yard line on this throw? It's simply too hard for a defense to get to a QB that quickly. The result?
Ray Ray is a step late getting back over to Heath and he's free for a big gain into the Baltimore red zone. A well designed play by Bruce Arians and a great job by both the offensive line giving Ben the necessary two seconds he needed, and by Ben himself getting rid of the ball while he still had Heath open in front of Lewis.
Let's take a look at a few more after the jump...
Play #2
Notice the time on the clock - 7:41 right before the ball is snapped.
Just one second later, the ball's out of Ben's hands to Holmes.
And then just two seconds later Holmes is breaking up field with the ball. Now of course, Santonio was a little too fast coming out of his break on this play, fumbling away the ball deep inside the Steelers own territory.
Nevertheless, this was solid execution on all fronts and the type of play that embodied the transformation our offense has undergone since the Philadelphia debacle in Week 3.
Play #3
Look how quickly now Ben gets rid of the ball...
Three step drop..survey..unload. Big gain to Washington and the Steelers are in business.
These plays just give a little glimpse into how Ben Roethlibserger is more than capable of avoiding the trouble that comes along with holding the ball too long. Bruce Arians had to re-work much of his offensive philosophy to get his players comfortable with a quicker hitting passing attack, but in the Baltimore game in Week 14, we got a good taste of how it can be successful, even against good teams. With the offensive line playing at a higher level since the last time these two teams met, the Steelers prospects on offense may very well be much higher than people realize.
0 recs |
23 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
Arians
great job Blitz…someone actually giving Arians credit for something.
I have said this before, I actually don’t have a problem with BA. I won’t get into all the details as they have been talked about repeatedly. But I know most on this board can’t stand him, and even if we win the SB it will be despite BA…and, God forbid, if we lose any of the next two games, it will be mostly (if not all) BA’s fault.
Hey, were all entitled to our opinions, that’s fine. However, the only opinions that really matter are Coach Tomlin and to a lesser extent Ben’s. I get the sense they all have a great working relationship and therefore BA isn’t going any where.
Right now, I think it’s most important to send positive vibes to all the coaches and players…lets send some winning energy their way…
HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by SteelerMike on Jan 16, 2009 9:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!!!
POSITIVE VIBES STEELERS NATION!!!!
We can armchair QB all f’n summer long. FOR NOW, we support every last one of our guys!
Let’s GO.
by Blitzburgh on Jan 17, 2009 2:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I maintain they play better when they are being criticized.
by steelguy99 on Jan 17, 2009 10:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
dude
i hope you’re right. it sure would be nice to see us come out and have some success on offense. might just take the pressure off of everybody, so nobody has to press and everybody can just relax and play the kind of dominant steeler football we know they can play.
...die trying
http://www.agentorangerecords.blogspot.com
by agentorange on Jan 16, 2009 11:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
BA
I think that if BA had an O-line, he could be a good offensive coordinator.
Still, going from the sometimes-brilliant play calling of the Whiz, to the sometimes-unexplainable play calling of Bruce Arians is a big adjustment.
by PaulMorel on Jan 17, 2009 1:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
passing
I think we come out with the deep ball, no huddle, attacking B-more in this game. If we can get some points early we can put it away because we know they aren’t scoring 30.
Maybe we’ve all been hard on BA, give him a line and see what he can do. One more year as OC and he has no excuses.
by tannofsteel84 on Jan 17, 2009 1:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Sorry!
Don’t buy it. I would have been impressed if he had made these adjustments in the 2nd half of the Philly game and not 12 weeks later. His time in Cleveland thru most of his 2 seasons as OC in Pittsburgh can too easily be characterized by poor game, clock and personnel management.
Even with the improvements, he seems more the subject of an intervention rather than an enlightenment.
by Marvin, The Paranoid Android on Jan 17, 2009 2:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
takes time my friend
where Arians was at fault was for deploying wrong strategy to start the year given what he had along the line. But, go back to the Jacksonville game or many others closer to Week 3 than Week 14 and you’ll see that we were ironing out the kinks a long time ago. Ben’s poor health + banged up FWP + inconsistent Arians + not yet cohesive line = inconsistency. But that doesnt mean we havent been working towards this improvement for quite some time.
by Blitzburgh on Jan 17, 2009 2:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Nope....Sorry again!
But you’ve got your formula wrong.
you have:-
Ben’s poor health + banged up FWP + inconsistent Arians + not yet cohesive line = inconsistency.
and it’s :-
(Ben’s poor health + banged up FWP + not yet cohesive line) inconsistent confused arians(I really wish I could insert a cubed notation here) = Erratic offense.
and it should be :-
(Ben’s poor health + banged up FWP + not yet cohesive line)/astute OC = diminished but dependable offense
Bad plays & injuries are a realty for every coordinator, some cope and some don’t.
by Marvin, The Paranoid Android on Jan 17, 2009 10:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
speaking of the Philly game
I hope we get a chance to redeem ourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by SteelerMike on Jan 17, 2009 2:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
hehe
Wouldn’t mind either, but then again, thats not a great matchup for us defense vs. our offense. Even if we are a ton better up front than then. Bring on the best! BUUIUUUT, if we were to draw AZ, I wouldn’t mind too much :)
by Blitzburgh on Jan 17, 2009 2:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
one game at a time blitz.....
We still have to beat this Raven’s team. Call me superstitious, but every time we got to the AFC title game with high hopes and a dominating team, we left in state of shock and disappointment.
by SteelerBuddha on Jan 17, 2009 12:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Baltimore's plan
I’ve been thinking that the ravens might try to do what the steelers did during their super bowl run.
They could either take many more passing attempts down field throughout the game, or they could go nuts at the start and try to get a lead and then sit on it with their D.
I have the feeling that both teams will try something “new” since they have played twice already, and both teams won’t want to be too predictable.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of the steelers run game IF it’s working…otherwise I expect the spread formation to be at work.
I also would expect there’s a chance the ravens could go to the spread early so flacco can see the field better….that way if they decide to open it up early for that early lead he’ll have more options all over.
If the ravens go that right I also think flacco will be under orders to drop back 2-3 yards and get the ball out fast. Heap over the middle and perhaps slant routes by the WRs.
That’s my guess.
Of course it could just be the standard smashmouth goodness too!!
L!
by Ragnar808 on Jan 17, 2009 8:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
The ravens really don’t have the personnel to go to the spread.
by steelguy99 on Jan 17, 2009 10:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
as they say
game plan= over rated
execution= under rated.
if the steelers do what they do, even if the ravens have seen it, know it, can smell it, stumble over it…they cant and wont stop it. execute execute execute.
by stetix01 on Jan 17, 2009 10:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
This is the one thing that the Ravens defense are vulnerable to. Every time we play you guys, big ben kills us with those quick little passes. And as you can see from your post, it always seems to happen Late in the games when we have the lead and Rexx decides to play a prevent D instead of using what was working the entire game. Hopefully We wont make the same mistake this time and continue using whats working and thats staying aggressive and geting after Ben and the running game.
FEAR THE NEVERMORE DEFENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Benji5203 on Jan 17, 2009 9:51 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
a little more o-line, and kemo
This post also serves to highlight why I don’t think we should just get rid of Kemo. It also highlights his inconsistency, but the guy is nasty and he can play. Couple that with what should be a relatively cheap guard, and he could actually be pretty good next year. There are a lot of doubters, and you can put me in that category, but I think if he could be had for relatively cheap (and he should be), that we should resign him.
Play 1 – 2nd frame) Kemo takes care of business and keeps his guy 2 yards shy of the LOS. Not sure how he got there (either he went to the 2nd level or walked him there), and from the guy’s size he looks like a LB, but Kemo can be a beast. Starks is about to get beat here and is in the process of giving his guy one last shove.
Play 2 – 2nd frame) I assume the blockers were told they didn’t need to block much, but even still Kemo looks to have blown his assignment. Starks mans up on the outside and ends up blocking two guys. Kemo loses his balance and has lost all leverage at the end, his guy is about to blow by him.
Play 3 – 2nd frame) Starks and Kemo are suffocating their guy on the outside. Also notice willie colon on an island taking care of business. Yeah, you heard that right.
by steelguy99 on Jan 17, 2009 10:41 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
run at suggs
The quick (and long for that matter) passing game could really come into play this game if Rolle is out, which it seems he will be. When we aren’t passing it though, I’d really like to see us run it right at Suggs, a la Harrison. Sure he can still rush the quarterback pressuring him, but what the hell is he going to do on run support with his shoulder? Better yet, as franz mentioned (and I’m liking this idea only because of the injury), give them a taste of their own medicine with an unbalanced line on suggs side, but only if they have practiced that this week.
The main vulnerability of the ravens besides the obvious lack of corner depth is a suspect LB that will have a hard time wrapping on tackling. If there’s a guy that is at 50% tackling ability, running to his side on the edge with a fast back seems obvious. Our WRs will keep a lane open down the sideline. Of course, if suggs (or his replacement) come out tackling – scratch that, but it should be something that arians tests right from the get-go.
by steelguy99 on Jan 17, 2009 11:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
play clock
i though i noticed the ball being snapped with more than 1-2 seconds on the play clock against the chargers. any info on this or was i just imagining it?
by thetackle on Jan 17, 2009 5:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
