I did an hour of radio on Sunday from the Pittsburgh Auto Show with Gerry Dulac. Then, after I finished, Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders came on to replace me for the final hour.
I know, I know, I was a poor warm-up act, kind of like bringing out your cousin's garage band to open for The Who.
But Sanders did have a couple of interesting things to say.
First was that Mike Tomlin told Sanders in his exit interview that he will handle kickoff and punt returns - at least that's the plan - because Antonio Brown is now the full-time No. 2, while Sanders is No. 3.
That's tough not to use your Pro Bowl return guy, and something tells me that Brown will be back there in crucial situations, but they have to save the wear and tear on a critical part of the offense.
The other interesting thing Sanders said - and kudos to Dulac for asking - was how often Ben Roethlisberger checked out of running plays.
Sanders estimated it at 20 percent of the time, saying Roethlisberger would go to the line of scrimmage with two plays called, one a run, the other a pass.
That's just one player's recall of things, but it would explain some of the offensive inbalance the Steelers have had.
27 comments:
Well how many time did Ben check to a run play out of a pass call? Why wasn't that asked?
Or does that not meet the agenda?
It's imbalanced you imbecile because on 58% of first downs they run the ball. Which means when that fails and it's 2nd and long it's a pass.
They also ran the ball on 65% of first downs in the red zone. I guess no one cares about THAT imbalance because it showcases the beloved running game.
Why have the "Anonymous" option? Do we really need input from cowards who are too afraid to sign their name?
I happen to approve of any agenda to get the truth out and to help the fans properly assign any blame they care to place.
The story clearly shows why BA had to go and probably why Ben is squealing like a stuck pig.
"The story clearly shows why BA had to go and probably why Ben is squealing like a stuck pig."
This.
Wait, so your mother really named you "emac2"? Yup! That's really putting your name out there! Smh.
I wouldn't consider that "checking out" of a play so much as choosing one of the options- one that Ben thought he could execute or take advantage of. This isn't too much unlike what Manning does at the line of scrimmage (he has three plays called, one run and two pass, then chooses one).
I would define it as "checking out" of a run play when a specific run is called, and Ben overrules and calls an audible for a completely different play at the line.
Now if Ben is given the option of Run A or Pass A; I'm not too surprised that he would go up there can call Pass A. He's the franchise QB: "put the ball in my hand, let me win the game" etc. etc. But if Arians has called Run B, and Ben goes up there and audibles out to Pass F.. and frequently, then we have a problem.
Dale did Sanders say how many of those vhanges were successful.
Whatever Ben was doing wasn't working...21st in scoring...that stat on our offense tells you all you need to know.
"The story clearly shows why BA had to go and probably why Ben is squealing like a stuck pig."
The guy was asked a question or two and you make it sound like he is running to every news outlet in Pittsburgh. The media is playing this up for a lot more than it is.
I agree the media eats this all up.But think some of the scoring issues had to with the Formations BA was calling
Yeah, I wouldn't consider a 'check with me' play an audible out of a run. It's an option, either/or, dependent on what the D shows. And almost all of those where he did pass were either the bubble screen to the flank or a backside smoke to Wallace facing off coverage. In other words, long hand-offs, as Bill Walsh would call them. And they took some heat in the Cleveland game for running 4 straight times and failing. But I do know that at least one of those was a pass that Ben audibled to a run.
My cousin had a pretty cool garage band in high school, actually.
"Do we really need input from cowards who are too afraid to sign their name?"
cowards?? how about lazy? I don't want to signing up for blogger when I only use it for this, and im sure there are plenty others like that
if there were problems with spammers like in the past that'd be a different deal
You can just click the name url option and you don't need to sign up for anything (or have a url)
It's nice when someone who is calling out someone else uses the same name every time they post. Not so someone can track them down and shoot them as the earlier clown seems to think but because when you're a jerk you shouldn't hide from your opinion when you're wrong. Calling out the blogger who is brave enough to put his face and rep on the line and still hiding from even being noticed when you're wrong is cowardly.
well you got me there, didn't know about that option. And I agree
the captcha has also gotten difficult here haha
if you're gonna call someone out, at least provide your name. it's common courtesy.
now, there's not enough info to determine the actual affect of BR choosing one play over another per sander's comments. however, as some have pointed out, the formations used by arians just weren't that great. at times, it was obvious they were gonna pass, or vice versa. nothing is more frustrating to me as a fan when the steelers approach the line of scrimmage on third and short and an empty backfield.
as another poster also pointed out, it really doesn't matter what BR was choosing when your offense is 21st in scoring. whatever it was, it wasn't working.
But those bubble screens were plays that many fans have railed against
BR is a pass first guy. When given the option to run or pass, BR would rather go with a pass play. Not sure what's so hard to understand.
"But those bubble screens were plays that many fans have railed against"
Then what is it you're expecting him to do? It's a read option play. Depending on what personnel group the D has on the field and where they're aligned dictate what Roethlisberger does with the ball. You want pile on him for opting to pass instead of run, having no idea what the D was showing or even the specific play. And now you want to pile on him for tossing bubble screens. If those are his only options, and he's reading it right, it's not on him if the play fails or if he's passing too much.
Run, pass, the play is a pretty much a run regardless. I really doubt Roethlisberger is chucking screens and smoke routes just because he's betrothed to winging it sideways 10 yards.
It's not a matter of if he was passing too much in those options. It's a matter of if he was reading the D correctly and choosing correctly, within the design of the play. I really don't think Roethlisberger was going off script all too often, if at all. Only times he really does that is when the play breaks down and he starts scrambling. If he wasn't making the correct reads, then yeah, either take the option outta his hands or make him learn to read it better. But as someone else mentioned, whatever of the two or three options he had, none of them were all that effective. So he was either making incorrect reads, or the play design was crappy, predictable irregardless, or crappily executed by the O. Any or all could be true. Never seen a worse team in any level of football above HS at executing screens.
Yet another story with BR announcing he hasn't met with Haley. Soon his nickname will be Big Baby.
"He still hasn't called me." WAAAAHHHH
Anonymous Brian
Sorry, but that Kaboly article was pathetic. "Discouraged tone in his voice"? Really? How does that not get laughed off his editor's desk? Sounds like the witness from the OJ trial describing the akita's 'plaintive wail'. Maybe he's misinterpreting 'discouraged tone' with 'lifesucking tedium' from having to keep answering the same vapid question every other day.
But, somehow Charlie Batch managed to meet Haley. And Batch might not even be on the team next year!
Karoly's story also points out that coaches can't request meetings with players until OTA time starts. So, it's incumbent on the players to seek out the coaches if they want to meet and greet. This probably explains why the other players who have met Haley sought him out, not visa versa.
Bubble screen plays averaged 6 yards a pop! That sucks, we need the Bus to RUMBLE for 3.3 yard per carry, up the gut of course.
dale, i hate those bubble screens. maybe a couple per game if they catch the DB's sleeping, but that's it.
Saying how many yards the bubble screens get on average is irrelevant because they only seemed to call them on 3rd and 10+
I don't think opting out of a run play 20% of the time is excessive. Especially if he opts out of passing plays 20% of the time.
What Peyton Manning does is excessive. But, that works, so who are we to judge?
In the end all that really matters is results. The BA - Ben duo was not getting it done and they had plenty of opportunities to do it and certainly had the personnel.
I wouldn't care if Ben threw the ball 100 % of the time if the team had a top 5 offense, but they are in the bottom half of the league in offense and that is unacceptable. Mendy didn't exactly set the world on fire this year either, but you don't see a lot of fingers pointed his way.
really, i thought mendy got his fair share of criticism and many were calling for redman to start.
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