An epitaph for Arians
Remember when Arians call gave up the go ahead score to Larry Fitzgerald in the super bowl , or when Arians 3/4 scheme couldn't account for Garrard running on fourth and 2 in the 2007 playoffs, or in 2009 when Arians defense gave up fourth quarter leads to the Bears Bengals Chiefs Ravens and the Bruce Gradkowski led-Raiders...at home!, or when Arians couldn't stop the Packers except when they dropped passes in the super bowl, or when Arians failed to adjust and was smoked by Tim Freaking Tebow, or When Arians D completely folded almost every time Tom Brady was near ?... You guys are right we should get rid of that bum!!!!!!!
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Remember when Arians had an offense absolutely but-gusting-full of talent, and he finished middle of the pack?
And also remember when he schemed things in such a way that out 0-line was even worse than what it was?
Or that time he didn’t stand up to Ben and INSIST he throw the ball away? Oh, wait, or that time he didn’t listen to ownership and continued throwing the ball without a run in sight?
Yeah…I’ll miss that guy.
Mountainbiking the Continental Divide in 2012 to raise awareness of human trafficking. more info: http://tr4f.wordpress.com
LMAO
You should realise that Arians was the Offensive Coordinator. ALl the things you have listed were Defensive issues.
Well done, you successfully look like you have no idea what is going on.
Formerly known as Steeler_
BTSC's token Kiwi fan. That means I'm a New Zealander. Yes, that small country next to Australia....no we are not part of Australia
Nice job, jackass
Pittsburgh Steelers fan - nuff said.
Miami Hurricanes fan - nuff said.
Georgetown Hoyas fan - nuff said.
Cleveland Cavaliers fan - um yeah, about that...
remember..
when arians called for the BB run in the jacksonville playoff game, especially when the Jagoffs were gassed and could not cover Hines, holmes and heath in that game?
A man is innocent untill proven guilty...Even if it's Ben Roethlisberger!
'I rather have a German division in front of me than a French division behind me'..General George Patton
" I don't care if he has two horns and a tail, as long as he is anti-communist"..General Douglas MacArthur..
"The way to end our dependence on foreign oil is to keep our tires properly inflated"....B. Hussein Obama
"Government is not the solution to our problems, it is the cause of them" Ronald Wilson Reagan..40th President of the United States
Remember when...
Arians offense was #1 in many categories year in and year out?
by sparksjcm on Jan 26, 2012 7:10 AM EST via mobile reply actions
except points
"They timed it perfectly, they just went too soon." - Darrell Waltrip commenting on an illegal restart.
Realized that after i commented
But BA’s offenses did put up some good numbers in some categories.
"They timed it perfectly, they just went too soon." - Darrell Waltrip commenting on an illegal restart.
I truly wonder if some of these "fans" actually watch the games...
Remember when Arians gladly changed his red zone offense to accommodate a FB since we don’t have a tall WR?
Remember the great gameplan against Denver that netted us so many points in the first 3 quarters?
Remember how he broke out the New England short-throw game plan against SF when Ben was injured and he needed to not get hit as much?
Simply put, Bruce not being retained is more than justified. We have perhaps the best WR corps in the league, a top 5 QB, a good RB – how is it we’re barely in the top half of the league in offense and in the bottom half in scoring? Why did the short-throw (almost West Coast) offense that we ran to perfection against NE never show up again?
The offensive troubles of this team were masked due to the big plays by Mike Wallace early in the season. Once he was doubled up, our offense ground to a halt and despite the OL problems we have too much talent for that to happen. Arians just didn’t adjust his game plan and the offense was entirely too predictable. Run, bubble screen, deep throw on 3rd down…repeat.
Ahh, nice to see you
on the blog, Mr. Arians.
"Leave the gun. Bring the Canolis."
Sarcasm
Simply pointing out that judging a guy by highlighting his worst top ten list is shortsighted and typically reserved for people we never really loved. If we employ the same revisionist history to Dick Lebeau ,he’s a bum who ruined our chances for multiple super bowls when we had some of our most productive offensive seasons. What a wasted opportunity. Ah, but we love Lebeau. With even average talent on the line we could have had another dynasty during Arians tenure but we have to settle for being the best team in football for five years and we won’t forgive him for the lack of greatness. They went 1/1 in superbowls with injured lineman that wouldn’t make other teams when healthy and fell short when the injuries and lack of talent couldn’t be bailed out by Ben and the D. Did Lebeau suck I’m 2009 when the secondary was injured?
Hard not to love a defensive coordinator whose defense is number one overall more often than not and often carried this team while the offense underachieved.
by Dr. Spaceman on Jan 26, 2012 9:52 AM EST up reply actions
Arians
Arians produced (1) – 1,000 yard rusher, (2) – 1,000 yard WR’s, (1) 4,000 yd passer. Great. His offense was great between the 20’s. The Steelers offense was 21st in scoring.
What’s my point? Simple. I don’t care how many records are broken or how padded the offensive stats are if the offense can’t score points.
If you can’t score, you don’t win.
The games against the Browns, Colts, and Kansas City were games that should not have been close, but the offense couldn’t put points on the board.
Is that Arians fault? Maybe. Clearly, management felt as if it was. There were several questionable calls throughout the season… (5 bubble screens in a single game, 4 straight runs up the gut from the 1 with no score against Cleveland, empty set on 3rd and 1).
These were the things that drove me crazy. His running plays were predictable, especially in short yardage. If Arians put a TE in motion to act as a FB, he would line the TE up a foot behind the o- line and that is where the HB would go. If the TE would line up further in the backfield (like next to HB), at least there would be a little mystery as to which direction the play was going.
"Air"ians obviously liked to “air it out” a couple times a game. No problem with that. However, aside from the bubble screen, he did not like a short passing attack. He preferred the “boom or bust” style where the offense gained yards in chunks rather than dinking and dunking.
This had 2 consequences…the long-developing routes led Ben to hold onto the ball, which caused Ben to get hit a lot. Secondly, there were games, especially towards the end of the season, where the defenses took away the long plays. This inhibited Arians offense, which was unable to produce points.
Arians did not do anything to remedy this. Knowing Ben was banged up, he could have made the passing attack a little quicker. He did it at times, but it was not consistent. He did seem to run the ball more with Ben hurt, but it worked because the teams we were playing stunk against the run.
Clearly, management wants less passing and more running, but was it the lack of scoring or getting their 100 million dollar investment beat up that was the final straw?
by twault on Jan 26, 2012 9:44 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
V
United we Stand, melded like Steel
To Roger Goodell, We'll never Yield.
by PaVaSteeler on Jan 26, 2012 11:50 AM EST up reply actions
It’s as if I smacked an idiot piñata and you guy came spilling out
by Micculus on Jan 26, 2012 10:59 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
Doubling down on “teh stupid” doesn’t make you right. If you smacked an idiot pinata, all you would accomplish is giving yourself a bruise on the forehead.
Laying the blame on a defense consistently ranked in the top 5 (and often #1) when our talented offense ranks in the bottom half of scoring is just idiotic. There’s no way around it.
For example, you cite the Super Bowl. Well, genius, most of GB’s points came off of offensive turnovers. So whose fault are those points really?
Well...
I’m not saying the defense and LeBeau doesn’t deserve criticism. I’m actually really mad about the Denver game, because I think LeBeau was too stubborn to make adjustments. That being said, the Steelers defensive scheme works 99% of the time, and it’s constantly morphing. Typically, it takes an efficient passer like Brady, Manning, Brees, or Rodgers to beat them. This year it was fricking Flacco, Alex Smith, and Tebow…
you can't make adjustments when there is nobody left on the D-line
Lebeau was hand cuffed in the Denver game because he only had 3 D-linemen left that were gassed at altitude. If he adjusted and didn’t cheat 8 or 9 in the box, then the #1 rushing offense would have shredded us.
Losing Hampton and Keisel early in that game forced him to gamble on the back end of the defense. It didn’t work, but you have to play those odds instead of just “hoping” that Denver wouldn’t run it for 300 yards. We got burned by the defense, but it wasn’t like Lebeau chose to run zero coverage. He had to do it or the game wouldn’t have been close.
I disagree
Play zone defenses and make Timmay throw the out patterns (that he sucks at). After all, Lebeau invented the zone blitzes, so unless the personnel couldn’t run his defense, we had plenty out there to confuse Timmay Give up some run but don’t break. By selling out against run, we were vulnerable to the big play, the only way I and many others thought that Denver had a chance to beat us. I’d rather be beat by a team that drives down the field and earns it than by a couple big plays and the 80-yarder in overtime.
by bananajr6000 on Jan 26, 2012 8:06 PM EST up reply actions
If they played zone defense with no D-linemen
then the #1 rushing offense would have made us all vomit.
I love our defense, but when you’re used to rotating 5 linemen at sea level and then you’re stuck playing 3 guys the entire game at a mile high there is NO chance that sitting back in a zone would have stopped the run. Our LB’s excel at stopping the run based on the ability for the D-line to occupy the blockers. Those guys were gassed out there. Without extra men in the box there would be no chance at stopping the run.
I’m just saying the most likely reason why our DC, who is arguably the best ever, suddenly abandoned his normal plan of keeping everything in front of him and forcing just what you described. If it makes you feel better to imagine he’s suddenly gotten stupid so it’s easier to blame him, then so be it. I’m pretty sure that Lebeau knows a tad more about his personnel and how to run his defense than anyone who posts on these boards. If a solution as obvious as you described wasn’t used, then I’m pretty damn sure it was because the option wasn’t available.
Front 7
I’m pretty confident the front 7 could have stopped the run. I realize the D-Line was gassed. Denver would have gained yards, but I don’t think they could have run consistently. I would have taken my chances of letting them get small gains running instead of 57-yard passing plays, but that’s in hindsight, because I never would have thought Tebow would have picked us apart. I just think I would have had more coverage in the 2nd half. I’m not calling for LeBeau to get fired, I just think it was a terrible game plan.
where you and Lebeau disagree
is that you’d take your chances that the #1 rushing offense would be stopped by the front 7 of a banged up team down to it’s last 3 defensive linemen at altitude on the road. Lebeau chose to take the chances that his #1 ranked pass defense could stop the last ranked passing offense without back end support.
It’s a gamble either way, but the odds were better that Tebow would suck than they were of them suddenly forgetting how to run the ball. He had a good day and we lost, but I highly doubt we’d have won by going the other direction. Bottom line, it really doesn’t matter which plan you use if there isn’t personnel available to implement it properly. I’ll give Tebow some credit for the day he had – there’s a good chance it might be the high point in his career, so I wouldn’t want to deny him that acknowledgment.
More like you opened your mouth...
And idiotic things like defending Arians and comparing him to LeBeau came pouring out.
Stop already.
Mountainbiking the Continental Divide in 2012 to raise awareness of human trafficking. more info: http://tr4f.wordpress.com
by Fifty-Eight on Jan 26, 2012 4:35 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
If Bruce Arians were to pass away next week....
….many of the posters on this blog would insist he be buried in bubble wrap.
Not that anyone wishes that would happen…
or that there’s anything wrong with that.
I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.
- Homer J. Simpson
by Homer J. on Jan 26, 2012 11:10 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Arians Epitaph
Remember Arians as offensive coordinator in Cleveland. Big numbers for QB (Holcomb), never could run out clock in Wild Card Playoff game because we ran blitzed his 1 back offense. Holcomb got the crap beat out of him because he got hit nearly everytime he went back to pass.
Always trying to thow bombs from inside our ten (last year’s Super Bowl ring a bell?). If we Steeler Fans knew it was coming what do you think D-Coordinators would be anticipating. We win Super Bowl against Cardinals with hurry up attack, Ben asks for it 2 years running and Arians doesn’t turn him loose.
For two years now Steeler offensive players say “we will be explosive” but yet we are 21st in scoring.
Blame that one on Lebeau
Fun ain't it
Im not blaming the defense or comparing Arians to Coach Dad I’m contrasting the ways in which we judge the two and showing that it could be spun the other way just as easily . Lebeau has more cache and gets more benefit of the doubt and therefore can hang around on 1 yr contacts at his pleasure. BA was likely released because he has been talking retirement for two years running and they weren’t willing to do a one year at a time deal with him. Its very probable thet they will hire from within and run Arians offense for years to come. They will finally get good o line play and you will use the success as evidence that BA sucked while we win the Super Bowl with his playbook. Let’s go Fichtner.
It can only be “spun” the other way if you’re an idiot. Bruce Arians is lucky if we have a top half offense. Dick LeBeau has a bad year if we’re not in the top 3 in defense. Coach Dad earns his right to stay. Arians didn’t. End of story. So quit doubling down on the stupid, because you’re already far enough in the hole.
"I’m contrasting the ways in which we judge the two"
don’t kid yourself. If our defense was ranked 20th or below in scoring, then there would be plenty of people harping on Lebeau.
It’s not about liking or disliking the guy personally. It’s about being a coordinator on a team where “the standard” is playing championship level football. The defense is top 5 EVERY year in scoring which is championship level. The offense scored less than some teams in rebuilding mode – that’s pathetic.
Some of you guys should just go get Niners jerseys so you can watch em run and play defense and never get to or win a super bowl because they only have 2/3 of an nfl offense. But at least you’ll only have 15 or 16 plays to second guess. Is bill cowher coaching them? If only they had Dwight Stone they could have surprised the giants with a reverse and maybe advanced.
The fact is that the points in SB came from 2 INT and a fumble
then they start to score a FG if a recall good and that fumble was because the plays were predictable, the capital sin of Arians
by Ben Balesverger on Jan 26, 2012 6:09 PM EST reply actions
no, the fumble was because Dumbass David sat and thought to himself “a-duhhhh..wutim posta do here” and thought that laying a block on the blitzing linebacker directly in front of him would be a terrible idea, and that it was better to try to run in to the back of Legursky and screw his block up instead. Then, after whiffing on that, and the ball is behind him, he decides to turn the opposite direction of where anything could possibly be happening.
But you know…that’s Arians fault right there.
Can I get some hot sauce for my doughnut?
Thank you Frank
I honestly think you’re the only one Ive seen in the last year blaming the fumble on stupid crappy ass David Johnson instead of Mendenhall. He didn’t even have time to tuck the ball because Johnson missed his block so badly.
"Leave the gun. Bring the Canolis."
Unfortunately I remember the play clearly (though I admit to checking youtube for confirmation). I think it’s hilarious what fans of either team says about that play (G.B fans "Clay just made an awesome play because he knew what was coming blah blah) or our fans (Arians is so predictable, or Mendenhall is a fumbler)
Can I get some hot sauce for my doughnut?
Valid point but
Sadly in many of those games if the offense could have killed 5 minutes (or sometimes less) in the fourth quarter the defense wouldn’t have had a chance to blow it
Our defense is not blameless but in today’s nfl. You have to score more points. And burn clock ( by run or pass ) in the 4 th Q
Putting Teams Away
All of those comments about the defense are correct, but you have to look at the game from all 3 phases. And when we look at the office, the hallmark of Bruce Arians’ teams has been their inability to score touchdowns and put away lesser opponents. In all of those games mentioned up top, the offense failed to close the deal in eminently winnable games. Field goals kept inferior opponents in games and allowed them to remain two-dimensional against the Steelers defense. Even in the Denver game, the offense had 3 possessions early to put that game away — and they couldn’t get it done.
Bruce is gone. He had too much time served.
Arians..
As an OC you should have probably about 15 plays that you can go to with different formations when needed that will produce. It seemed like he was never there as far as preparation went and being ready for the moment. I can tell you he has called some good games but they were far a few between. another thing that 22 Double play we always used running over RG with TE and pulling LG, everybody knew that play. It would have been a more effective play if they ran it to the left at times, but it was always right or over 85% of the time. You can’t beat the Ravens with that type of play calling. Does it look to anyone else that Mendy has problems running left, it became even more clear to me seeing Redman run in the playoffs and going left with ease.
We ran it right so often
because the only viable blocking option for our LG Kemoeatu was to pull. He couldn’t do anything else.
"Leave the gun. Bring the Canolis."
Demonstrating that BA wasn't directly to blame for every Steeler loss is irrelevant.
His job was to make our offense better, not drag it down. Anyone can design an offense that relies mainly on deep passing; there’s certainly no art to that. Arians being gone, of course, doesn’t mean that everything suddenly will be hunky-dory. But at least now we have the chance to improve. With Arians in charge, all we ever did was to repeat the same mistakes.

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