Be more like the Ravens?

**feltdizz** · 01-17-2010, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Pittsburgh

only thing i like about their offense is ray rice & some of their linemen. i would trade mendenhall 4 rice in a heartbeat.

Rice is nice... but isn't this his second year? People talk about Mendenhall like he is 28. The kid is all of 23 and has one season under his belt and he had 1000 yards on the ground and has good hands.

I think he will have 1400 to 1600 next year barring injury. I think we run a ton of screens too with this new OL coach. I'm excited about Mend. Rice didn't impress me last night. He can burn but he wasn't breaking a lot of tackles last night. Outside of the screen he fumbled on...

**SteelerNation1** · 01-17-2010, 11:55 AM

If the run game is working it rules. If not, it is called being conservative. I'll take BR7 any day of the week. Get the ball in his hands (except when its 10 below zero in Clev going up against 7 guys I've never heard of).

**feltdizz** · 01-17-2010, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by SteelerNation1

If the run game is working it rules. If not, it is called being conservative. I'll take BR7 any day of the week. Get the ball in his hands (except when its 10 below zero in Clev going up against 7 guys I've never heard of).

Throw the Browns game out.. it was the tale end of a 4 game skid on a Thursday. We stunk... But it wasn't like we were hitting on all cylindars and had a WTF moment. We blew it...

Everyone is an OC though... I bet they are screaming "run the ball"... then when Ben throws a TD they are clapping... or are they still screaming we should have run it?

I think it was the Cincy game... but there was a game we lost where I said we should have run a few more times... a guy on here, I'll call him CC, he told me I didn't know situational football and Ben knew best, plus it's a passing league. It's easy to scream run or pass after a game.

It's a no win situation for an OC...

**msp26505** · 01-17-2010, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by MaxAMillion

I saw the post last week spouting envy about how the Ravens played. You saw today why you can't win a title with that 90's style offense. You have to pass successfully to win. You have to score points and be prepared to pass well when teams take away the run. The Ravens basically throw everything short all game in order to protect Flacco. Meanwhile Peyton has 40 pass attempts through three quarters.

I pray that Tomlin and Arians don't start looking to run it more just because the critics don't like pass first football. The Steelers would have been division champs this year if the defense did not lead the league in blown fourth quarter leads. Not to mention the putrid special teams. The main improvement needed with the offense is being more efficient in the red zone. Meanwhile the defense and special teams need improvement from top to bottom.

I will take Arians calling plays over the Ravens conservative play calling.

The Ravens were protecting Flacco like the Steelers protected Ben early in his career. Baltimore knew they could run the ball, but probably didn't have enough trust in Flacco yet to put the game on his shoulders.

I have tried to drive home the point that with Ben now being more experienced, the addition of a punishing running game could make this offense nearly unstoppable, because it could either strike quickly or milk clock as the situation warranted.

Right now, they are able to put up nice stats, but in reality are very one-dimensional. I doubt many believe that if the Steelers HAD to run for one reason or another that they would be able to do so effectively over the long term. Most of their rushing yards come as a result of defenses' expectation of the pass, which is fine, but I'd also like to have the ability to just line up and run even when teams expect it.

I am happy that ARII suggested that the running game would be addressed.

Aside from simply scoring points, the offense also dictates the tempo of the game, and the 2009 offense could not do that.

**grotonsteel** · 01-17-2010, 12:29 PM

Man i wish Steelers had Colts D. Colts D was flying over. I don't recollect Steelers playing a game like that last season.

They are without their best safety Bob Sanders and still that Defense creates turnovers and shows up for games.

**feltdizz** · 01-17-2010, 12:42 PM

msp... I remember when we used to say "if we could just throw it"
I think we got away from our smashmouth when Ben was seen as the future. I think we run
more but will never look like the Ravens. I don't want to be that run heavy either. I like the Saints balance... They run more then you would think but it's not with big heavies...

I did see a lot of empty backfield with the Saints and also with Dallas. I know we aren't in a dome but I wonder if it's used more then we think. It's a quick design play but we know Ben likes to hold the ball...

**msp26505** · 01-17-2010, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by feltdizz

msp... I remember when we used to say "if we could just throw it"
I think we got away from our smashmouth when Ben was seen as the future. I think we run
more but will never look like the Ravens. I don't want to be that run heavy either. I like the Saints balance... They run more then you would think but it's not with big heavies...

I did see a lot of empty backfield with the Saints and also with Dallas. I know we aren't in a dome but I wonder if it's used more then we think. It's a quick design play but we know Ben likes to hold the ball...

Agreed. I don't want to go back to Cowherball as a primary offensive philosophy, but I want to be able to pound teams when necessary...especially in the second halves of games once we have the lead.

**Mister Pittsburgh** · 01-17-2010, 01:13 PM

double post

**Mister Pittsburgh** · 01-17-2010, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by feltdizz

Originally Posted by Mister Pittsburgh

only thing i like about their offense is ray rice & some of their linemen. i would trade mendenhall 4 rice in a heartbeat.

Rice is nice... but isn't this his second year? People talk about Mendenhall like he is 28. The kid is all of 23 and has one season under his belt and he had 1000 yards on the ground and has good hands.

I think he will have 1400 to 1600 next year barring injury. I think we run a ton of screens too with this new OL coach. I'm excited about Mend. Rice didn't impress me last night. He can burn but he wasn't breaking a lot of tackles last night. Outside of the screen he fumbled on...

Ray Rice
254 rushing attempts - 1,339 yards - 5.3 avg - 7TD
78 receptions - 702 yards - 9.0 avg - 1TD
2nd round pick - 55th overall

Rashard Mendenhall
242 rushing attempts - 1,108 yards - 4.6 avg - 7TD
25 receptions - 261 yards - 10.4 avg - 1TD
1st round pick - 23rd overall

Rice would be a better fit for the Steelers offense that they are trying to run and is more explosive with the ball in his hands then Mendenhall is. Just my opinion. He had 2 more catches than Heath, 53 more catches than Mendenhall, and 39 more than Wallace. Add to it that he is just about the only weapon Baltimore has besides Derick Mason and I would guess it is a whole hell of a lot easier for D's to concentrate on shutting him down vs. Mendenhall yet he put up a lot better numbers than Mendenhall.

Not saying Rashard won't eventually be a total asset to our offense, but at this point Rice is far superior.

**SteelTorch** · 01-17-2010, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by BradshawsHairdresser

Originally Posted by MaxAMillion

I saw the post last week spouting envy about how the Ravens played. You saw today why you can't win a title with that 90's style offense. You have to pass successfully to win. You have to score points and be prepared to pass well when teams take away the run. The Ravens basically throw everything short all game in order to protect Flacco. Meanwhile Peyton has 40 pass attempts through three quarters.

I pray that Tomlin and Arians don't start looking to run it more just because the critics don't like pass first football. The Steelers would have been division champs this year if the defense did not lead the league in blown fourth quarter leads. Not to mention the putrid special teams. The main improvement needed with the offense is being more efficient in the red zone. Meanwhile the defense and special teams need improvement from top to bottom.

I will take Arians calling plays over the Ravens conservative play calling.

I'm not defending the Ravens' offense, but it seems like it would only help the Steelers if we were consistently able to run the ball when we need to.

And, BTW, much as you may hate the Ravens' offense (and I'm a Raven-hater from way back), at least they actually made the playoffs, and even won a game in the playoffs this season. All while BA and our Steelers team are sitting at home watching on TV.

You can't really use that as an example. They made the playoffs off of technicalities alone. Don't forget they went 9-7, just like us, and they split the divisional series with us. Even then, they only beat us with Dennis Dixon filling in.