There was a sticky thread about that now it is gone.
Hope this is not it, good read I think. And backs up my idea on the wait till 1 sec to snap the ball.
What does Bruce Arians know that you don’t know?
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What does Bruce Arians know that you don’t know?
By Dutch, on January 25th, 2012
Arians bashers are often criticized by a general statement that goes something like this. “You as a fan don’t know what he knows.”
And there is some truth to this.
The problem is that the statement never gets into specifics because the accuser is just playing an assuming role and rarely knows much more about the subject themselves.
Just listen to the Terry Foxx radio network in Pittsburgh and you undoubtedly catch onto this. But I digress.
So what does Arians know about the offense that others simply don’t quite understand?
Here it is.
In 2003, the Steelers ran a more up tempo offense with Maddox at QB. The downside to running an up-tempo offense is that unless you’re really committed to running the football, (and that era of football is over) you will leave yourself open to quick three and outs. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the problem with this is that your defense can find itself having been on the field way to long by the end of game/season. This is why you will often see teams get off to successful starts to begin a season, only to fall fade as the year goes on. There were times the Miami Dolphins in the Marino era struggled with this. His fast temp and quick strike offense just exhausted his defense by the end of the season.
The Steelers defense; Troy Polamalu has often said that their defense is not designed to be on the field for long periods of time due to its attacking scheme.
Arians understands this more than anyone does.
Fans get annoyed when they see Roethlisberger let the play clock run down to 1-2 seconds each time. But that is all by design to help the Steelers defense. But even Roethlisberger would like to speed up the tempo. That is why you hear the yearly request Ben makes to Arians about running more no huddle. Ben is basically saying he would like to speed up the tempo because he will perform better. All quarterbacks would like to play fast. A fast tempo allows a QB to keep in rhythm.
The way the fans thinking often goes is that Arians is a selfish bastard that just doesn’t want to give up his play calling duties.
But that is ridiculous!
Arians knows that his slow tempo offense is the best match for the Steelers defense even if that slow tempo will sometimes keep their average points per game down and not give his QB the best chance at getting into a nice rhythm. It has nothing to do with his coveted play calling duties. This is why the Steelers offense often looks disoriented or “ugly but effective”.
Arians also knows that Roethlisberger is talented enough to play the game at that tempo, while most quarterbacks would simply be way too inefficient.
It’s kind of like playing golf for 3.5 hours by going hole to hole and shot for shot without having to wait. There is a good chance that you will play better than having to sit for 15 minutes on every hole and end up in a 6 hour round.
It is hard to remain efficient in that environment.
But the heavily talented Roethlisberger can play that game. In fact, this is one of his incredible hidden playing traits that often go unmentioned. Roethlisberger is much better than what the fans and media are led to believe.
In the end, Arians offense is designed to match the high energy attacking style of the unique defense the Steelers like to play.
Football is the one sport where the offense and the defense really are designed to cooperate with each other.
Arians knows this very well.
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Originally Posted by Mister Pittsburgh
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