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Chucktownsteeler
01-03-2011, 01:00 AM
I am not sure we aren't seeing the offensive reins being passed from Bruce Arians to Randy Fitchner. The offense we have seen in the past 2 games or so resembles more of the "Memphis Spread" made famous by Randy Ficthner more than it does the "bunch abortion offense" of Bruce Arians. No "bubble screens", more quick slants, Mendy running outside. I give BA no credit. It is Fitchner I tell you.

Thoughts???


:2c

AkronSteel
01-03-2011, 01:33 AM
I don't really care who is calling the plays or designing them!!! The offense has looked better since the Jets game and I really like the way that Ben is using his weapons. This team is going to be dangerous in the playoffs with all the speed on the outside and Heath and Hines working the inside. If the Steelers can establish a consistent running game in the playoffs, then they will be hard to handle for anyone.

Looking forward to Jan 15th already!!!

We need Steelers Music!!!! LOL

Crash
01-03-2011, 01:39 AM
They still do bubble screens. But they've been doing them with Brown, and Wallace, instead of the charity screens they gave Hines earlier in the year.

Chachi
01-03-2011, 02:30 AM
The quick slants alone are a HUGE improvement.

flippy
01-03-2011, 08:59 AM
It's only taken 5 years for BA to figure out how to protect his QB with play calling.

Oviedo
01-03-2011, 09:01 AM
The quick slants alone are a HUGE improvement.

I agree. I've been saying for two years if you want to get the pressure off Ben throw quick passes. We now have three perfect receivers for that with Wallace, Sanders and Brown. All three are quick enough to get separation quickly and get yards after the catch once they have the ball.

You could not do this with Hines because he isn't quick enough and his strength is finding soft spots in the defense which takes time.

Steelhere10
01-03-2011, 10:51 AM
You know I swear that I thought the same thing. Something is up and it ain't BA.

Mister Pittsburgh
01-03-2011, 11:01 AM
I am not sure we aren't seeing the offensive reins being passed from Bruce Arians to Randy Fitchner. The offense we have seen in the past 2 games or so resembles more of the "Memphis Spread" made famous by Randy Ficthner more than it does the "bunch abortion offense" of Bruce Arians. No "bubble screens", more quick slants, Mendy running outside. I give BA no credit. It is Fitchner I tell you.

Thoughts???


:2c

I have been saying this entire year that Fichtner is Arians replacement & he is gonna be good.

papillon
01-03-2011, 11:07 AM
I wonder why both Arians and Lebeau went away from their MO in the last game of the season? Why not spring the new look Steelers on their first playoff opponent? The defense looked very different yesterday as well. Maybe, it was because the DL and LBs were winning their one-on-one matchups and it looked different or maybe it was because they had 10 days off and were fresh, I don't know, bit the defense looked very different yesterday.

I think I even saw corners in press coverage rather than with the cushion and making tackles.

There was just a lot of energy on both sides of the ball yesterday.

Pappy

Oviedo
01-03-2011, 12:45 PM
I am not sure we aren't seeing the offensive reins being passed from Bruce Arians to Randy Fitchner. The offense we have seen in the past 2 games or so resembles more of the "Memphis Spread" made famous by Randy Ficthner more than it does the "bunch abortion offense" of Bruce Arians. No "bubble screens", more quick slants, Mendy running outside. I give BA no credit. It is Fitchner I tell you.

Thoughts???


:2c

I have been saying this entire year that Fichtner is Arians replacement & he is gonna be good.

I agree. I really doubt they go outside for Arians replacement.

Hopefully Fichtner can correct issues with the "O" but I think most of those get solved with a better OL.

Oviedo
01-03-2011, 12:47 PM
I wonder why both Arians and Lebeau went away from their MO in the last game of the season? Why not spring the new look Steelers on their first playoff opponent? The defense looked very different yesterday as well. Maybe, it was because the DL and LBs were winning their one-on-one matchups and it looked different or maybe it was because they had 10 days off and were fresh, I don't know, bit the defense looked very different yesterday.

I think I even saw corners in press coverage rather than with the cushion and making tackles.

There was just a lot of energy on both sides of the ball yesterday.

Pappy

Actally, the defense has been doing more press coverage for several games. Still not enough but at least a step in the right direction.

I think some of the new looks on offense are a direct result of Sanders and Brown learning the playbook enough to contribute.

ikestops85
01-03-2011, 01:06 PM
I wonder why both Arians and Lebeau went away from their MO in the last game of the season? Why not spring the new look Steelers on their first playoff opponent? The defense looked very different yesterday as well. Maybe, it was because the DL and LBs were winning their one-on-one matchups and it looked different or maybe it was because they had 10 days off and were fresh, I don't know, bit the defense looked very different yesterday.

I think I even saw corners in press coverage rather than with the cushion and making tackles.

There was just a lot of energy on both sides of the ball yesterday.

Pappy

Actally, the defense has been doing more press coverage for several games. Still not enough but at least a step in the right direction.

I think some of the new looks on offense are a direct result of Sanders and Brown learning the playbook enough to contribute.

I don't know what's been going on but we have seen differences in both the offense and defense.

The defense has started to chance after the Pats game. They started to play press coverage at times and also started blitzing more. I think the corners have liked this type of defense because they can actually try and jump a route.

I've also notice a change in the play calling with the offense starting with the Jets game. Before when the opponent knew we were running our backs were getting tackled from behind by outside LBers crashing the middle. With the toss sweep those LBers can't sell out like that and have to hold their position. This allows us to get 3 or 4 yards up the middle whereas before the back was dragged down at the line of scrimmage.

The passing game has also looked much better with Ben being able to get passes out on rythm. That forces the defense to not constantly send the house and should keep Ben healthier.

I'm not sure who is calling the plays now but kudos to whomever. :Clap :Clap

Mister Pittsburgh
01-03-2011, 03:43 PM
Only thing I thought was idiotic with our offense Sunday was that on our second TD, they brought Legursky in at FB on first down and we just crammed it down their throats right into the EZ with no problem. But then there were two other drives in the redzone where on first and second down, they ran Mendenhall with no FB and we got stuffed on first and second down, only for them to bring Legursky in on 3rd down then punch it in.

Why not just do that on first down?

jj28west
01-03-2011, 08:09 PM
Good post.

This may be the only BA game where I was only 100% right on 1 single play which was the second TD with Legursky. God, I hope now they come back with that package and this time David Johnson falls down and slips out to the flat for a quick hit in the endzone. I would imagine opponent game film study together with the recent success the Steelers have running it on short yardage should result in a fairly easy score.

I honestly did not know what to expect on 1st, 2nd, & 3rd down!

Talk about the Wallace effect. Everything came open after that 1st play to clear the underneath stuff.

Add the crispness & timing of the well executed passing/running plays and the Steel Chain looks oiled and ready for work!

NorthCoast
01-03-2011, 08:25 PM
I tell you one thing many might not have noticed, Ben has been snapping the ball with 7 or 8 seconds still on the clock. Huge difference when the opponent defense can't sell out at 2 or 3 seconds.
There is definitely something distinctly different with both offense and defense and the coaching staff may be gearing the troops up for playoff run.

Djfan
01-04-2011, 02:44 AM
It's just nice to hear "BA" and "adjustments" in the same sentence, without a huge "NONE" in there somewhere!

Oviedo
01-04-2011, 09:09 AM
I tell you one thing many might not have noticed, Ben has been snapping the ball with 7 or 8 seconds still on the clock. Huge difference when the opponent defense can't sell out at 2 or 3 seconds.
There is definitely something distinctly different with both offense and defense and the coaching staff may be gearing the troops up for playoff run.

I noticed that too. Actually caught me by surprise a couple of times.

Mister Pittsburgh
01-04-2011, 01:37 PM
I just hope that if we can win our first playoff game, and have to head to New England, that Lebeau finally realizes that you can't give the Cheats WR's 10 yard cushions. Gotta do something different this time.

RuthlessBurgher
01-04-2011, 02:51 PM
I tell you one thing many might not have noticed, Ben has been snapping the ball with 7 or 8 seconds still on the clock. Huge difference when the opponent defense can't sell out at 2 or 3 seconds.
There is definitely something distinctly different with both offense and defense and the coaching staff may be gearing the troops up for playoff run.

I noticed that too. Actually caught me by surprise a couple of times.

If a QB consistently allows the play clock to roll right down to 1 second before snapping it, I'm surprised more players don't attempt the "Pol Vault And Maul You" as soon as the play clock is about to expire.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/075Cbgi3zzay5/340x.jpg

http://www.steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/flyingtroytitans.avi.gifhttp://www.steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/super-troy-leap-browns.avi.gif

Oviedo
01-04-2011, 03:00 PM
One thing about Fichtner everyone needs to realize is that he is a spread offense guy. That ensures that at least the "I want a FB" crowd will hate him and we can have 3 years of "Fichtner sucks" posts.

RuthlessBurgher
01-04-2011, 04:35 PM
One thing about Fichtner everyone needs to realize is that he is a spread offense guy. That ensures that at least the "I want a FB" crowd will hate him and we can have 3 years of "Fichtner sucks" posts.

No one wants a fullback in order to use the I-formation as our base offensive set.

That's dumb. It's not 1978.

We want a fullback for situational use, since we suck out loud in the red zone.

Just look at this last game.

Run the ball at the goal line without a fullback = suckage.

Insert Bronko Legursky at fullback for 2 plays at the goal line = both TD's.

feltdizz
01-04-2011, 04:55 PM
I tell you one thing many might not have noticed, Ben has been snapping the ball with 7 or 8 seconds still on the clock. Huge difference when the opponent defense can't sell out at 2 or 3 seconds.
There is definitely something distinctly different with both offense and defense and the coaching staff may be gearing the troops up for playoff run.

I noticed that too. Actually caught me by surprise a couple of times.

I didn't even notice that. That's huge for our OL.