Todd Haley deserves some credit

[MisterFuji]

This was always my main complaint with Arians. He refused to adjust his offense to compensate for a lack of pass protection. No screens, no draws, misdirection, rolling pockets, or 3-step drops. It was always 5 and 7-step drops and getting Ben killed.

Here's the HAS he suffered, also from a moving pocket.

Arians is gone. No need to lie about him.

[MisterFuji]

Gerry Dulac @gerrydulac -

Steelers lead NFL w 142 4th qtr points; Roethlisberger leads league w 1,310 yards, 10 TDs in 4th. Bottom line: Never count em out.

[URL]https://twitter.com/gerrydulac[/URL]

Four of the 10 TD passes were in garbage time in lopsided losses: Browns, Jets, Saints twice.

You guys have to start learning and understanding context rather than just reading stats from lazy Noll Era relics.

[feltdizz]

This was always my main complaint with Arians. He refused to adjust his offense to compensate for a lack of pass protection. No screens, no draws, misdirection, rolling pockets, or 3-step drops. It was always 5 and 7-step drops and getting Ben killed.

I think it was more so a combination of Ben being stubborn AND successful playing sandlot... and a bad OL.

Never understood how people complained about Arians while watching us make it to 2 SB's.

[steelsnis]

You wonder if any of the Arians DNA still remains in Indy because Luck has been getting his brains beaten in all year as well.

[feltdizz]

You wonder if any of the Arians DNA still remains in Indy because Luck has been getting his brains beaten in all year as well.

getting his brains beat while winning ANOTHER divisional title.

I think Luck gets hit a ton because he is a big guy and is willing to take a shot to go down field.

Luck also has a reputation of trash talking players who hit him with compliments.

“You know if you hear a quarterback get mad, you are in his head,” Carroll said. “With Luck, you thought you hurt the guy, you hear ‘good job’ and you just say ‘aw, man.’”
[URL="http://www.wsj.com/articles/andrew-luck-the-nfls-most-perplexing-trash-talker-1418663249"]
http://www.wsj.com/articles/andrew-luck-the-nfls-most-perplexing-trash-talker-1418663249[/URL]

Luck, Ben and even Flacco.. take shots looking for big plays. Arian's also worked with Peyton Manning and you NEVER saw that guy take a ton of hits. It's the player, not the coach.

[bostonsteeler]

Damn! Hines is good!!

[hawaiiansteel]

Ed Bouchette retweeted
Pete Prisco @PriscoCBS Dec 16 -

The Steelers look fantastic on offense. I have to give credit to Haley.

Yes, I mean it.

[URL]https://twitter.com/EdBouchette[/URL]

[hawaiiansteel]

Alex Kozora @Alex_Kozora -

The Pittsburgh Steelers need 28 points to break the franchise record for most in a season. Current record is 416 set in 1979. #Steelers

[URL]https://twitter.com/Alex_Kozora[/URL]

[Slapstick]

Hmm...what happened to finish that 1979 season?

[SS Laser]

Hmm...what happened to finish that 1979 season?

But that team had a good defense.

[hawaiiansteel]

Now in sync, Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley a deadly Steelers combo

PITTSBURGH — One aggressive call underscored how Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger forged a trust in the wake of occasional storms between the pair of strong-willed competitors in previous seasons.

Facing third-and-1 from the Atlanta Falcons 39-yard-line last Sunday, Roethlisberger trotted to the sideline during the two-minute warning with his team leading 27-20.

Haley proceeded to put the game into Roethlisberger's hands after proposing two passes. Big Ben selected a play-action shotgun option, rolled to his right and hit tight end Heath Miller with a dart down the middle of the field for 25 yards.

Roethlisberger's next play? Taking a knee.

Haley has morphed from a lightning rod into Roethlisberger's collaborator while serving as the chief architect of the league's most prolific offense at nearly 425 yards per game.

"It makes you feel good when they have that trust in you on that third-and-1, and the whole world thinks you're going to run it because we have one of the best backs in the league," Roethlisberger told USA TODAY Sports.

"Todd and I just understand each other from working together — whether in meetings, talking through texts at night or at dinner — (asking), 'Hey, what do you think about this?' ... We've just been able to continue and grow our relationship both on and off the field.

"And that's really transitioned into us playing better football."

How ironic for a duo once seemingly destined for divorce that the Steelers (9-5) now figure to go as far as their aggressive offensive posture can take them. Pittsburgh can clinch a playoff berth Sunday by beating the Kansas City Chiefs, the franchise that fired Haley with three games left in the 2011 season, his third year as the team's coach.

But now, he's only consumed only with reaching postseason.

"Three years is a lifetime in this league," Haley said. "Huge game."

Already a two-time Super Bowl champion, Roethlisberger is currently completing a career-best 67.2 % of his passes. Despite his 522-yard, six-touchdown performance to beat the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 26, his best work may have come in the Atlanta game, when he connected on 27 of 35 throws for 360 yards.

Roethlisberger is thriving because of the organizational commitment to developing a running component to ease pressure on the 11th-year veteran. With the emergence of do-it-all tailback Le'Veon Bell, the meshing of a young and talented offensive line, and the maturation of receivers Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant to complement Antonio Brown, Bell and Miller, Roethlisberger is probably playing at the loftiest level of his career.

Longtime Steelers receiving great and Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward is savoring his former team's resurgence along with his ex-quarterback's rise.

"I'm excited to have the Steelers be relevant again," Ward, now an NBC NFL analyst, told USA TODAY Sports. "If they beat the Chiefs, I don't think Cincinnati can come in the following Sunday and beat them. "It's a matter of what team gets hot going into the playoffs. And Pittsburgh is one of those teams, though I still think the AFC road to the Super Bowl goes through New England or Denver."

The Steelers, who rank sixth overall in points, can score with just about anyone.

"Having missed the playoffs the last two years, that's not acceptable in the city of Pittsburgh," Ward said. "Ben and Todd have evolved. They've found their groove. They're playing really confident football."

It helps having all the proper ingredients

[URL]http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...aley/20609321/[/URL]