Buddha,

So many people really don’t understand the game, another poster blamed Frank 100% for the 1st play and didn’t see Klumsy Kemo fall (ridiculous). Blockers I don’t trust – Spaeth, Kemo, and Summers. Way too may for us to have a consistent running game.

As I’ve said before FWP and Mendenhall have very poor vision for running backs. As Tomlin’s has stated the great running backs make their linemen great.

• FWP looks like he’s looking for a place to fall, he used run so hard. I remember the game Buffalo need to get in the playoffs and FWP singlehandlely beat them running hard off tackle.
• Mendy is all muscles and no heart. Dude looks like a tank and plays like tonka truck. I see nothing but soft.
• Redman knows how to run the rock, great vision, makes people miss, and makes the tough yards while taking littel punishment.

Finally, it’s on Ben and Arians to check out of the run when 8 or 9 men are in the box, that’s is straight foolishness to run against this. The Detroit Lions can stop us from running if they put 8 or more in the box. Throw the rock to the 2 SB MVP’s playing wideout for us.

in general I think that some of the problems will works themselves out in upcoming games. Playing the Titans in the first game was a major test that most people weren’t talking about. TN is probably one of the most difficult teams for the Steelers to match up against not matter what and we had them the first game. Remember last year?

As Tomlin has been saying, normally the most physical team wins. What other team besides the Ravens and possibly the Vikings are as physically imposing on defense as the Titans? I don’t think any.

I do think there has to be a better mix of plays overall. More screens, more running draws out of the spread, etc. As the O-line and other blockers start to learn their roles better, we can keep the defense off balance by running when they think pass and passing when they expect run. This seems to fit in perfectly with BB’s playing personality, so let’s try it.

Finally, I think the running backs themselves bear alot of the responsibility for the poor ground game. They are all running tentatively for different reasons.

FWP: Most people are forgetting that he has trained and played very little this summer. I don’t think he’s game fit yet and it shows in poor decision making and lack of burst. Pick a damn hole (or not) and run hard!!!

Mendy: Lack of experience and confidence is killing him. Seriously, I think alot of his problems are mental. He’s got the talent I just think he’s gun shy. Maybe the hit by Lewis last year that put him out has had a negative psychological effect, but at the very least he needs more reps to really get the jitters out.

Moore: He’s good at what he does.Not explosive but slippery. In his case I do think the O-line, FB, etc. let him down at the end of the 2nd half by not opening up holes. If he can be used more and better on screens I think that would open up the running game in the future.

Chicago will be another good test, but really I don’t think they have a stacked D-line like the Titans, so there will be more space opened up.

Bottomline, these guys NEED to be able to run to win games and give some space to BB and the plassing game. Whatever it takes it nneds to happen

Kemo doesn’t just trip over himself, Hartwig steps on his foot

 good eats, easy to reach, truly nice spread. Well done!thanks.

Am I correct in stating that the linemen we have are better suited for power blocking as opposed to zone blocking and our running backs, such as Parker is better suited to hit a predefined hole vs reading where the hole may be?

Then why are we running a zone blocking scheme?

I don’t get why so many people are so tought on Frank the Tank. Some are talking as he is responsible in a big way of our struggles running against the Titans and should be send to the PS

He is a rooky making his first NFL start and played 5 plays, yes 5 of the 26 running plays.

Of those 5 plays, he had one very good block on a blitzing LB in the back field, he did his job in two other plays, he made a below average block in one and completely whiff his guy on another.

That is not as bad as people are making it sound.

As Buddha points out, the problem is spread. Is play calling by BA, lack of audible from BB, OL whiffs, TE whiffs, RB lack of burst and vision.

And more importantly is play design and matchup design. Many of our running plays have no room for anyone to make a mistake, and that’s wishful thinking with our personnel right know. And many others ask our players to do something they just can’t do at the level that is required.

Anyway in my opinion Tank didn’t play as bad as you read in this board and others. And I think he will get much better.

Hey Buddah kinda of younger than most, but Ikinda of gave my uncle the readers digest version of the game on thursday he said thats what Muhamad Ali did against fighters. He would tier out his opponets before unleashing his arsenal. Do u see the steelers wearing down their opponets D and keeping it close and then un-leashing the no-huddle O

I envy people who can so completely (yet concisely) pick apart exactly what’s going on during the chaos of a play. I tend to get stuck on “that didn’t work very well. The Steelers could improve by running the ball better.”

I’m not sure if the Titans use a zone blocking scheme or not but one obvious difference in their running attack and the Steelers’ was the ability of the Tennessee runners to cutback. I’m not sure whether this is a scheme thing or a vision thing but imo the steeler line got as much push as the Titans – our backs just seemed determined to run into the largest pile of bodies.

yea I know ba does not like trick plays ,but 9 man in the box,by running a few flea flickers will keep them more honest. ps if the d-backs are crashing the run it will work every time.

I noticed on at least 3 occassions last season that we had some decent runs when they pull Kemo right and have a FB lead in front of the HB, going right. Kemo is better when he has some steam behind him, but doesn’t get much push from standing still. Obviously, they can’t do this every play, but it’s one that I’ve noticed that seems effective.

I can’t understand why they aren’t using any play action. That way, when they line up on like a 2nd and 6, and show run,

Why don’t/didn’t they use the rookie TE instead of Summers. Summers looks like a big flop right now and needs to sit and learn, I thought he would be a head banger but looks very timid when blocking.

Excellent post, thanks Buddha. I keep seeing people talking about lineup changes, missed blocks, different personnel sets and so, but in hindsight this almost seems like a will to failure by Arians and co. Not saying I will blame him like most might, but this does reek of stubbornness on his part. We seem quite attached to the old vision of smashmouth Steelers football and ideologically opposed to utilizing trickery.

For example, we use a 2-TE or 3-TE set but rarely throw out of it. I agree on the concept of utilizing Foster but then that sacrifices some of the uncertainty in the play call (not that there is much anyway). I was amazed watching some of the games yesterday how surprised I was after much of the playcalling. It was often completely unexpected from pre-snap. In short, I think we are stuck between the mentality of our defense (impose our will on the other team) and the type of talent we have on offense (utilize the intellect to out-think and out-execute our opponents).

I dont know if anybody caught Stillers.com breakdown of Arians led drives vs. Ben’s No Huddle drives, but it was amazing.

We ran on so many 2nd and longs with arians calling it. He called run so much this game when we were getting stuffed. Honestly that was just moronic.

Ben never once played a run on 2nd and long, and he got a pile of first downs.

Its all about WHEN you call the play. You need to throw them off. I think we tip off the defense way too damn much.

- The Steelers have officially become a pass-first team and FWP can’t catch the ball. Mendy and M. Moore can. He really doesn’t offer that much in pass protection as well.

- FWP’s game pretty much consisted of his burst. During the preseason and the first game, it appeared his burst wasn’t there. In fact, he looked slow to me. There were a couple of times where I waited for him to switch and he didn’t (or maybe he did and nothing happened).

- It’s no secret FWP doesn’t run well against the good defenses. He’s just not the type of back that is going to make someone miss and get you that extra yard. M. Moore does that and I wasn’t all that impressed with Mendy, but I did see where he carried Bullock for a ride a couple of times after being hit at the line of scrimmage.

- FWP is in the last year of his contract and I don’t think the Steelers will give big money to a guy on the decline. Besides the normal free agents looking to get paid here (R. Clark, Big Snack, J. Reed) the team will have S. Holmes and L. Woodley both in the last year of their deals next year. All of the above mentioned (particularly Holmes and Woodley) are more of a priority than FWP.

- With Mendy, M. Moore, Summers, Redman and whomever the Steelers draft and find in the rookie free agent bin, the Steelers would still be okay with FWP. It’s better to let a player walk a year early than keeping them a year too long. Look at the situation Carolina is in with Jake Delhomme, $20M guaranteed to a player that is a pretty terrible QB right now.

- Lastly, all this isn’t FWP’s fault. The OL that he is playing behind isn’t very good right now, but he is just too one-dimensional right now for a Coach that preaches the more you can do. If FWP is getting you any yards on the ground, what is he doing for your team? He can’t catch the ball out of the backfield, he’s not the best in blitz pick up, he doesn’t offer you anything in special teams. Just being realistic that we’re probably seeing the last of him in a Steelers uniform. I hope that I’m wrong on this but I don’t think so.

and end up being a back you can count on for 2-3 yards when you need them. As has been pointed out before, FWP has always delivered and shut up the nay-sayers. I think he can do it again and hope he does. That being said, I am anxious to get Redman some carries at some point. He’s a violent runner for sure.

I re watch all of the running plays from last Thursday.

The good news is no one involve in the running game was awful; there wasn’t a mismatch like Stapleton in the Super bowl or Kemeatu last time we played the Titans.

Everybody played ok for most of the game, and did their jobs. But every body made 3 or 4 bad plays. I mean it was amazing how Colon could destroyed his guy for most of the game and then watch him get drag in a play by his guy all the way from the right of the OL to the left.

The bad news is we don’t have a single player in the running game that is elite or even great. No one would do anything special, I couldn’t see anyone destroying his man and them moving in space to the second level to get another hat, I didn’t see anyone driving his man four yards back, and I didn’t see a single running back breaking a tackle or making a great cut. (Compare this to the Passing game where we have so much talent that even when the play breaks, the elite players make it succeed)

If you are going to run against a good defense with 8 to 9 men in the box and you don’t have anyone special to do it behind, there is no room for a single mistake from anyone involve in the play. Everybody has to their job to be successful. And that only happen twice last Thursday. On all the other plays al least one or two made a mistake destroying the played.

So what do you do next? Can we expect that with more practice and continuity they could increase the number of plays that everybody does their job? Or you understand your reality and become a passing teams, that runs from the spread and in limited situations?

I would hope that another game like this one would be enough for Tomlin to step in and dump the zone blocking system. It is confusing the OL and the backs are running timid because they don’t know where to go. Even Memo(and I like Memo a lot) who is getting all kinds of praise in most of the posts I have read, had a whopping 8 yds. on 5 carries. He certainly is our best pass catching back but 1.6 yds/carry is 1.6 I don’t care how much prettier he looked doing it than the other backs, they all averaged about the same. I have to believe that the line isn’t moving people because they are a little confused on who to block as well, that is a pretty big line that should be getting a pretty decent push in most circumstances. Change to a blocking scheme that everyone understands and you instantly have at least some improvement. Throw in some play action when there is 8 in the box and you start to spread out defenses a little bit, do it often enough and successfully and you really start to spread them out. And for God’s sake hand the damn ball off quicker, we have to have the slowest handoffs in the league. Now come out passing in the spread no huddle offense, and then run out of the spread. Lastly if you are going to run out of the 2-3 TE why not just put an extra line man in. NE ran several times tonight with 6 lineman. And most important get BA to read BHTSC,LOL Seriously I don’t think T was very happy after the game so hopefully most of this is being discussed already, I can’t imagine having him angry with you is a very pleasant experience.

Screw running Steelers need to pass more

will get a shot eventually, I think. Tomlin said he’s auditioning for a short-yardage back & FWP and M. Moore didn’t look great in their first opportunities.

I do think Tank would probably be more comfortable in that role than being a lead blocking FB right now because that is what Tank has done all his college career. I believe if the Steelers are patient, they will be rewarded with Tank.
However, I think if the ground game continues to sputter like it did this past week, Tomlin will make some moves.

Remember, he’s the one who said “I will tolerate you until I can replace you.”

2 WR split out, 6 lineman, Ben, Ziggy as a lead block, and either Tank or Mendy at RB. The two wides keeps play action as a possiblity and with over a ton of blocking if we can’t pick up 1-2 yds. it is time for air Ben. Mostly joking when I started this but I actually think Ziggy would do pretty well, only in short yardage though.

 i am so glad im not the only one who fears whats going on. the runing game keeps the defense fresh and playing great, if we dont fix it fast , when we play good offensive teams by the third qtr, are team is not going to look and play good defensive football.
i just hopethe steeler braintrust rectify their ways, our team is about finding gems in the rough we found one play him, dont let a fifth rounder keep us from getting better
after all didnt we just cut a third rounder and mr. sweeds is not burnig the field neither
so when you find a diamond shinen-up..

Look more closely, Kimo didn’t just fall, Justin Hartwig stepped on his foot. This is pretty common, just ask Kurt Warner, good on the rest of the analysis.