Ben Says "Haley's Offense is....

[Jooser]

.....kinda dink and dunk."


Ben Roethlisberger: Todd Haley’s offense is “dink-and-dunk”
Posted by Michael David Smith on October 21, 2012, 7:52 AM EDT
http://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/haleyroethlisberger.jpg?w=250 AP
The questions about whether Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/1181/ben-roethlisberger) can get along with first-year offensive coordinator Todd Haley are continuing, and Roethlisberger has made some comments that suggest that he’s not altogether happy with the playcalling in Pittsburgh.


Asked if the Steelers can get more big plays offensively, Roethlisberger suggested that big plays are going to be hard to come by with the way Haley runs the show.

“Haley’s offense is not a big-play offense (http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/2793755-85/offense-roethlisberger-steelers-ben-quarterback-score-season-starkey-haley-afc#axzz29vuUFmNd),” Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’s kind of a dink-and-dunk offense.”
Roethlisberger noted that the Steelers got a big play in Tennessee when he threw an 82-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace (http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5329/mike-wallace), but that Haley didn’t call any more deep balls to Wallace after that.

“There’s a guy calling the plays. That’s on him,” Roethlisberger said.


If the quarterback and the guy calling the plays aren’t on the same page, that’s a problem for the Steelers.

[SidSmythe]

From what I see BEN's is having his best season so far....especially when it comes to 300 yard passing games!!

[Jooser]

Yeah, this Haley/Ben garbage is getting old.

[Shawn]

I agree Sid. Ben looks to be upright, healthy, and statistically having a terrific season. Sounds like someone needs his diaper changed.

[Oviedo]

Ben is not seeing the forest because of the trees. What Haley is done is make Ben play to his abilities and not try to be a QB he isn't. He isn't John Elway and can't throw that good.

[toddjammin]

In my opinion, I think Ben can throw just as good if not better than Elway. If we had a better offensive line, it would be noticed.

[Flasteel]

I agree Sid. Ben looks to be upright, healthy, and statistically having a terrific season. Sounds like someone needs his diaper changed.

x2:tt2:tt2

[Oviedo]

In my opinion, I think Ben can throw just as good if not better than Elway. If we had a better offensive line, it would be noticed.

BUT we don't have a better OL. Arians pretended that wasn't a problem and let Ben do what he wanted. Haley recognizes the problem and has adjusted which is the sign of a good coach

[flippy]

Ben's still being successful because of Ben. He's still being heroic on 3rd downs.

The difference is Haley seems to be calling plays to help the weak Oline and keep Ben alive for 3rd down. And if we can get some wins and sneak into the playoffs, Ben being healthy could be all we really need.

[PowerFist]

All these weapons and yet we throw a 3rd down screen pass to a backup running back in the red zone in Tennessee.

2nd down in the red zone in the same game? We throw a fade to a rookie fullback and leave Wallace AND Brown on the sidelines.

Not smart.

Can't blame the alleged weapons at WR when they aren't using them.

Keeping Ben clean to go 8-8 isn't good.

[DukieBoy]

Either way, the O needs to score more points, to accommodate for D's shortcomings. 2 and 4 gets to be a big hole. Needto be 3 and 3 at day's end, and may the offense score 38 points or more today.

[PowerFist]

Then they need to start USING the offense. Pope? He sits.

Paulson? He sits too.

Johnson? Bye.

Use the talent you claim you have? Or trade it to someone who will.

[Sugar]

Either way, the O needs to score more points, to accommodate for D's shortcomings. 2 and 4 gets to be a big hole. Needto be 3 and 3 at day's end, and may the offense score 38 points or more today.

We have a beat up OL and problems at RB while facing a fierce and attacking front. If we can put half that on Cincy's D I would be very happy.

[hawaiiansteel]

Then they need to start USING the offense. Pope? He sits.



Pope has sat the last two games...

[pittpete]

The difference is Haley seems to be calling plays to help the weak Oline and keep Ben alive for 3rd down.

[eniparadoxgma]

Yeah, this Haley/Ben garbage is getting old.

x1000 but it's just a sign of the times IMO. Instead of the media reporting actual findings and that strange thing that seems so alien nowadays...the "truth", we get intentional sensationalism for sales or views.

[feltdizz]

too many long drives that end with FG's

[Slapstick]

But, I love the long drives that end in the victory formation...

[hawaiiansteel]

But, I love the long drives that end in the victory formation...

my personal favorite...:Boobs

[fezziwig]

I see nothing wrong with the Haley offense but I would like to see him take more big pass play shots down field. Even three or four a game would be nice because we have the weapons. Unless Haley is aware that Wallace will probably drop them anyway so............

[AkronSteel]

The big plays will come. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Steelers have 2-100 yard receiver's next week considering the Redskins have the 32nd ranked pass defense in the league. I have a feeling Ben, Antonio, Heath, Mike, and Manny will have huge games next week.

[NorthCoast]

too many long drives that end with FG's


This.

My one beef with Haley's offense is using Rainey, a smurf, to run between the tackles. I know he scored a TD on one of these plays, but more often than not they resulted in zero or negative rush yds. Rainey and Batch are easily tackled with one arm. need to figure a way to get them out in space, maybe a RB screen?
Some play where there aren't so many bodies around.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Put in the Dwyer MiniBus!!

(Not the short bus ... I remember that, too bumpy. Uhh, I mean, ... I read that in wikipedia, or something!)

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers' Roethlisberger staying upright in Haley’s new offense

By Alan Robinson
Wednesday, October 24, 2012

http://triblive.com/csp/mediapool/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls?STREAMOID=dagsc xzVGq9SouiriMeLRs$daE2N3K4ZzOUsqbU5sYvQqj80Wnkkg_X ntIFzCw_7WCsjLu883Ygn4B49Lvm9bPe2QeMKQdVeZmXF$9l$4 uCZ8QDXhaHEp3rvzXRJFdy0KqPHLoMevcTLo3h8xh70Y6N_U_C ryOsw6FTOdKL_jpQ-&CONTENTTYPE=image/jpeg

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Todd Haley talk on the sideline in Sept. 2012 at Sports Authority Colisuem.

Up-right. adj. Having the main axis or main part perpendicular or vertical.

Perhaps the best quality of Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley’s system is that’s exactly how Ben Roethlisberger is playing most of the time. Upright.

Quarterbacks are judged in many ways. How they run a team, how they throw the deep pass, how they handle pressure on and off the field. But no quarterback can successfully manage a team if he’s on his backside, or exactly where Roethlisberger found himself more than any other NFL quarterback over the previous five seasons.

The decision to allow former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians to walk away and to hire Haley was made partly because of those 215 sacks from 2007-11. As Roethlisberger turned 30, the Steelers felt the need to keep their franchise player — their main axis — on the field but off the turf as much as possible.

One of Roethlisberger’s once-frequent targets suggests it was time for a change.

“Sometimes when you get so close, partiality sets in and you don’t know if Bruce Arians is doing what’s best for the Steelers or if he’s doing what’s best for Ben Roethlisberger,” said former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, now an NBC analyst. “I think that set in and they had to part ways because when you go out there and you can’t decide what’s best for the team and you’re doing what’s best for the players, that can be a problem.”

The Steelers didn’t hire Haley to be Roethlisberger’s best friend, but to bring out the best in him.

And while the two aren’t as close as Roethlisberger and Arians were, the numbers suggest the change has been good for the quarterback.

Roethlisberger has been sacked 13 times, or exactly half as many times as Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay. A year ago, Roethlisberger had been sacked five more times.

His 1,765 yards passing are the second most he’s had at this stage of any season, and he has 11 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. While under heavy pressure, the toughest conditions for throwing, Roethlisberger was 6 of 9 for 43 yards in Sunday’s win at Cincinnati.

“He is playing at a very high level,” Haley said recently. “Some of the little and newer things that he hadn’t done in a while, the quick throws and things like that, he’s been excellent at. He’s also been really good at keeping plays alive when we’ve needed it. The key with him is to just keep getting better.”

While Roethlisberger referred Friday to Haley’s approach as “dink and dunk,” the statistics shown the Steelers aren’t exactly employing a West Coast offense.

According to Pro Football Focus, Roethlisberger has thrown 26 passes of 20 yards-plus, exactly as many as Rodgers has and one more than Peyton Manning of Denver. Matt Schaub of Texas and Tony Romo of Dallas have tried just 21 such passes.

Against the Bengals, Roethlisberger had completions of 23, 20, 21, 20, 16, 31 and 30 yards, and he would have had more such yardage if so many passes hadn’t been dropped.

Until Jonathan Dwyer ran for 122 yards in Cincinnati, Roethlisberger had operated all season with barely a semblance of a running game to support him.

“We’ve had some successes and obviously there’s some things we need to improve upon that I think we’re in the midst of improving upon,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday.

Perhaps the biggest success has been keeping Roethlisberger upright, or exactly where the Steelers need him to be.

http://triblive.com/sports/2819400-85/roethlisberger-steelers-haley-exactly-yards-passes-quarterback-arians-doing-main#ixzz2AMvN5B7V

[Jooser]

I thought Ben bucked the dink and dunk Sunday night against the Bumgals by trying to force a throw to Heath in double coverage. The dink and dunk play was there wide open in the flat that could have easily produced a first down inside the 20 yard line.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

You can take a boy out of the long pass, but you can't take the long pass out of the boy.

[Jooser]

You can take a boy out of the long pass, but you can't take the long pass out of the boy.

Word. :D

[feltdizz]

The big plays will come. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Steelers have 2-100 yard receiver's next week considering the Redskins have the 32nd ranked pass defense in the league. I have a feeling Ben, Antonio, Heath, Mike, and Manny will have huge games next week.

what if Haley goes full Arians and runs the ball 50 times? :D

[hawaiiansteel]

maybe Haley's offense is dink and dunk, but Ben has only been sacked 5 times in the last 5 games and only 13 times so far this season.

protecting our franchise QB was probably the biggest reason why Haley was hired and Arians was let go and I would say so far it looks like the right decision was made.

[Oviedo]

maybe Haley's offense is dink and dunk, but Ben has only been sacked 5 times in the last 5 games and only 13 times so far this season.

protecting our franchise QB was probably the biggest reason why Haley was hired and Arians was let go and I would say so far it looks like the right decision was made.

I always said Ben was a better "dink and dunk" QB than he was a long ball thrower. We just needed a Coord with a strong enough will to force him to do it. This will keep Ben healthy for the playoffs (if we make them). Everyone in flourishing in this offense, except for maybe Wallace's contract negotiations and that makes me like it even more.

[feltdizz]

I always said Ben was a better "dink and dunk" QB than he was a long ball thrower. We just needed a Coord with a strong enough will to force him to do it. This will keep Ben healthy for the playoffs (if we make them). Everyone in flourishing in this offense, except for maybe Wallace's contract negotiations and that makes me like it even more.


I wonder if Crash is hating this style of football from Ben...

I remember him saying fans would call Ben a punk and a sissy if he didn't drag 3 guys on his back before throwing into the flat or using the hot.

[hawaiiansteel]

I always said Ben was a better "dink and dunk" QB than he was a long ball thrower. We just needed a Coord with a strong enough will to force him to do it. This will keep Ben healthy for the playoffs (if we make them).

Haley is the best thing that ever happened for our OL, instead of having to pass block for 5-7 seconds they only need to hold their blocks for 3-5 seconds now.

[Oviedo]

Haley is the best thing that ever happened for our OL, instead of having to pass block for 5-7 seconds they only need to hold their blocks for 3-5 seconds now.

Completely agre. Arians never had the brains or balls to recognize that and do something about it.

Like I said, everyone is flourishing in Haley's offense. To me that is the clearest sign of a great coordinator.