fordfixer
10-20-2009, 02:42 AM
On the Steelers: Offense no longer plays second fiddle
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09293/1006804-66.stm
Long holding a back seat to its superb defense, the Steelers' offense has moved to the front, and it may be the start of something Pittsburgh has not seen in quite some time.
One thing it never has seen: No Steelers team has ever led the NFL in passing at the end of a season, at least not since the 1970 merger between the AFL and NFL. Their highest ranking came in 1979, their fourth Super Bowl season, when they finished second in passing, second in rushing and first overall, the only time their offense finished on top in yardage.
Today, the Steelers' passing game ranks second in the NFL only to the Indianapolis Colts. They rank fifth in total yards. They averaged 296.7 yards passing per game and 403.7 in total offense.
And we might not have seen anything yet because their running game is taking shape after faltering early.
"We definitely have the ability to do both and do both very well," said tight end Heath Miller. "I think our goal as an offense should be to reach our full potential because I feel like the bar should be pretty high if we're able to get there."
Get there? That offense already has climbed to new heights.
Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward lead the NFL in passing and receiving. Roethlisberger's 1,887 yards passing are 77 more than Houston's Matt Schaub, although Peyton Manning had the day off and averages more per game with 1,645.
Ward's 599 yards receiving are 27 more than Houston's Andre Johnson, and that's not little-ball Ward has been playing. At 33 years old, he has a healthy 14.6 yards per catch. Compare that to Arizona's big-play Larry Fitzgerald, who averages 10.3 yards on 35 receptions.
The only tight end with more catches than Miller's 34 is Dallas Clark of Indianapolis with 35.
Sunday, Bruce Arians gave Roethlisberger more chances to run the no-huddle, which is fast becoming a staple. Roethlisberger often calls his own plays in those situations.
"Well, it's fun," Roethlisberger said. "I think if you ask the receivers, they like it. Two guys had over 100 yards, Heath had a bunch of yards, the backs are getting the balls. Everybody's getting touches, so I think they like it as well."
Even the defense sees no problem with that style of offense. In the past, defenders enjoyed the luxury of resting on the sideline as their offense consumed time by running the ball. It kept them fresh.
But they still are winning the time of possession by a large margin. They had the ball for 36 minutes, 46 seconds Sunday compared to Cleveland's 23:14, and, for the season, they average 33:53 to their opponents' 26:07.
"It helps a lot," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "When we're watching those guys work and resting, we enjoy it. They're playing good ball right now. I think they have a lot of continuity, they trust each other, they know what they're doing and they have playmakers.
"Ben's playing as good as anyone right now. Keep the ball in his hands, we'll be OK."
And this is no West Coast dink-and-dunk affair. Roethlisberger's 9.1 yards per attempt leads the NFL.
The Steelers did not score the points to match the most yards they have produced in a game in 14 years Sunday (543) because they lost three fumbles, had one pass intercepted and had a touchdown pass overturned by a convoluted rule. Yet Arians liked what he saw otherwise.
"The points didn't match the performance,"' Arians acknowledged. "We put it all together, we can be pretty doggone good.
"As well as we blocked the blitz -- because we caught them in a lot of blitzes -- we knew we would get guys running free and the guys held them out of there, and Ben found the guys quickly and got the ball to them. I didn't think we'd get that many, but we matched it up pretty good at times."
Arians said Roethlisberger has taken control in many ways. They used the no-huddle a lot in the second quarter and, at halftime, they decided to go back to Arians calling the plays -- until Cleveland scored to cut the lead to three early in the second half.
"When they scored, I looked at him and said 'I don't know, maybe we want to stay up-tempo,' and he said, 'you call this one, and we'll see what happens.'
"I love the relationship because I have no qualms about saying let's go, because he can slow it down, he can speed it up, he knows what he wants. And he knows when to get himself back in the shotgun. He's playing extremely, extremely high right now."
Higher than anyone has seen in a long time here.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09293/10 ... z0USKXJ7EP (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09293/1006804-66.stm#ixzz0USKXJ7EP)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09293/1006804-66.stm
Long holding a back seat to its superb defense, the Steelers' offense has moved to the front, and it may be the start of something Pittsburgh has not seen in quite some time.
One thing it never has seen: No Steelers team has ever led the NFL in passing at the end of a season, at least not since the 1970 merger between the AFL and NFL. Their highest ranking came in 1979, their fourth Super Bowl season, when they finished second in passing, second in rushing and first overall, the only time their offense finished on top in yardage.
Today, the Steelers' passing game ranks second in the NFL only to the Indianapolis Colts. They rank fifth in total yards. They averaged 296.7 yards passing per game and 403.7 in total offense.
And we might not have seen anything yet because their running game is taking shape after faltering early.
"We definitely have the ability to do both and do both very well," said tight end Heath Miller. "I think our goal as an offense should be to reach our full potential because I feel like the bar should be pretty high if we're able to get there."
Get there? That offense already has climbed to new heights.
Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward lead the NFL in passing and receiving. Roethlisberger's 1,887 yards passing are 77 more than Houston's Matt Schaub, although Peyton Manning had the day off and averages more per game with 1,645.
Ward's 599 yards receiving are 27 more than Houston's Andre Johnson, and that's not little-ball Ward has been playing. At 33 years old, he has a healthy 14.6 yards per catch. Compare that to Arizona's big-play Larry Fitzgerald, who averages 10.3 yards on 35 receptions.
The only tight end with more catches than Miller's 34 is Dallas Clark of Indianapolis with 35.
Sunday, Bruce Arians gave Roethlisberger more chances to run the no-huddle, which is fast becoming a staple. Roethlisberger often calls his own plays in those situations.
"Well, it's fun," Roethlisberger said. "I think if you ask the receivers, they like it. Two guys had over 100 yards, Heath had a bunch of yards, the backs are getting the balls. Everybody's getting touches, so I think they like it as well."
Even the defense sees no problem with that style of offense. In the past, defenders enjoyed the luxury of resting on the sideline as their offense consumed time by running the ball. It kept them fresh.
But they still are winning the time of possession by a large margin. They had the ball for 36 minutes, 46 seconds Sunday compared to Cleveland's 23:14, and, for the season, they average 33:53 to their opponents' 26:07.
"It helps a lot," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "When we're watching those guys work and resting, we enjoy it. They're playing good ball right now. I think they have a lot of continuity, they trust each other, they know what they're doing and they have playmakers.
"Ben's playing as good as anyone right now. Keep the ball in his hands, we'll be OK."
And this is no West Coast dink-and-dunk affair. Roethlisberger's 9.1 yards per attempt leads the NFL.
The Steelers did not score the points to match the most yards they have produced in a game in 14 years Sunday (543) because they lost three fumbles, had one pass intercepted and had a touchdown pass overturned by a convoluted rule. Yet Arians liked what he saw otherwise.
"The points didn't match the performance,"' Arians acknowledged. "We put it all together, we can be pretty doggone good.
"As well as we blocked the blitz -- because we caught them in a lot of blitzes -- we knew we would get guys running free and the guys held them out of there, and Ben found the guys quickly and got the ball to them. I didn't think we'd get that many, but we matched it up pretty good at times."
Arians said Roethlisberger has taken control in many ways. They used the no-huddle a lot in the second quarter and, at halftime, they decided to go back to Arians calling the plays -- until Cleveland scored to cut the lead to three early in the second half.
"When they scored, I looked at him and said 'I don't know, maybe we want to stay up-tempo,' and he said, 'you call this one, and we'll see what happens.'
"I love the relationship because I have no qualms about saying let's go, because he can slow it down, he can speed it up, he knows what he wants. And he knows when to get himself back in the shotgun. He's playing extremely, extremely high right now."
Higher than anyone has seen in a long time here.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09293/10 ... z0USKXJ7EP (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09293/1006804-66.stm#ixzz0USKXJ7EP)