Canada's Offense

[feltdizz]

Nice move.

Dizz, we can only hope Harris come come close to your "elusiveness".

I will grant the fact that you did not explicitly say you KNOW the receiver ran the wrong route. Which is reasonable as I don't know how we could know for sure.

I will suggest that your bringing it up as counter to Maniacs statement implies that it is a legit excuse if that common view is correct.

If the possibility receivers running the wrong route is a legit consideration in evaluating NOD, it is equally a consideration in evaluating Ben...something you are dismissive of.

Well I was certainly dismissive of WR’s being blamed for all 4 INT’s. What game did you watch where the WR could’ve been responsible for all those INT’s?

its just something that is worth pointing out because its been debated over the years.

[feltdizz]

You guys do know despite the broad question, Joel's point is to criticize Tomlin right? Context people. He mentions Tomlin in his post.

He will have a field day replying to Cowher era your examples.

Ha.. totally forgot this is all agenda driven.

KC playoff game where we kicked 6 FG’s comes to mind.

Ben wasn’t terrible but he had the batted ball goal line INT.

I was screaming at the TV at the sports bar.. “please don’t pass, please dont call a pass.. I SAID DONT CALL A PASS PLAY!”

[Northern_Blitz]

Maybe you are too young to remember Roethlisberger's first SB? One of the worst QB performances in a SB in history. Hines Ward had more TD passes than Roethlisberger.

How about his first SB in Detroit? Is that game significant enough?

I think this is the best response to the actual question because of it's significance.

Although Lemming also brings a great example when Tomlin was HC. Because we all know that they won the SB because Cowher chinned them to victory or something and Tomlin doesn't have the same level of pixie dust to make them win (except for that time they won...must have still had some of the Cower dust left at that point).

[Northern_Blitz]

...
For once can someone name me a game where Ben was off, but the Steelers won a significant game? Anyone? IMO Ben saved Tomlin as he has 35 with quarter comebacks meaning the defense didn't shut them down and 46 game winning drives meaning he won the game by having the ball last when scoring points. WOW. That magic.
....

This is a fun game.

I wonder if anyone can find a playoff win where the team was -5 in turnovers.

I think we got a tie against the Browns when we were -5 a few years ago, but maybe we just had 5 turnovers and were -4? Not the playoffs though.

<this part is a joke...mostly> Also...maybe someone should tell Ben that we have to be down by less than 8 for him to have a game winning drive. So he doesn't need to spot the opposing team so many points in the first half of playoff games. Zero turnovers in the first half of playoff games would be best. One is probably something we can come back from. 2 or more is very, very bad.

[Northern_Blitz]

This is a fun game.

I wonder if anyone can find a playoff win where the team was -5 in turnovers.

This isn't about just the playoffs, but the title of this article is "NFL teams with turnover edge in games win and cover the spread nearly 80% of the time" and the subtitle is "Winning the turnover battle is absolutely critical in the NFL".

https://www.sportsline.com/nfl/news/nfl-teams-with-turnover-edge-in-games-win-and-cover-the-spread-nearly-80-percent-of-time/

From 2014 - 2019:

• Teams that won the turnover battle won 76.8% of the time
• and beat the spread 76% of the time (if you care about gambling).

As everyone knows, turnovers are the most important thing in football. My understanding is that the turnover differential is the most predictive single game stat (outside of point differential).

I think that (turnovers + explosive plays) is more predictive. And guess who's offensive was terrible at explosive plays last year? Pittsburgh! We ranked 30th overall with an 8% explosive play rate, 31st in explosive running plays (8%) and 25th in passing plays (7%).

https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/explosive-play-rankings--off-.html

Turns out having lots of turnovers and few explosive plays isn't a great thing for the offense.

[NorthCoast]

This isn't about just the playoffs, but the title of this article is "NFL teams with turnover edge in games win and cover the spread nearly 80% of the time" and the subtitle is "Winning the turnover battle is absolutely critical in the NFL".

https://www.sportsline.com/nfl/news/nfl-teams-with-turnover-edge-in-games-win-and-cover-the-spread-nearly-80-percent-of-time/

From 2014 - 2019:

• Teams that won the turnover battle won 76.8% of the time
• and beat the spread 76% of the time (if you care about gambling).

As everyone knows, turnovers are the most important thing in football. My understanding is that the turnover differential is the most predictive single game stat (outside of point differential).

I think that (turnovers + explosive plays) is more predictive. And guess who's offensive was terrible at explosive plays last year? Pittsburgh! We ranked 30th overall with an 8% explosive play rate, 31st in explosive running plays (8%) and 25th in passing plays (7%).

https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/explosive-play-rankings--off-.html

Turns out having lots of turnovers and few explosive plays isn't a great thing for the offense.

TOs are absolutely dominant in determining game outcomes. It is the main reason why I am down on Roethlisberger in playoff games from the second half of his career onwards. Although they did get rid of once source of TOs in Conner. Seems he had key fumbles at the worst times.

[feltdizz]

This is a fun game.

I wonder if anyone can find a playoff win where the team was -5 in turnovers.

I think we got a tie against the Browns when we were -5 a few years ago, but maybe we just had 5 turnovers and were -4? Not the playoffs though.

<this part is a joke...mostly> Also...maybe someone should tell Ben that we have to be down by less than 8 for him to have a game winning drive. So he doesn't need to spot the opposing team so many points in the first half of playoff games. Zero turnovers in the first half of playoff games would be best. One is probably something we can come back from. 2 or more is very, very bad.

Almost makes you wonder if Ben has a mental thing going into the playoffs now.

Would be nice to start a playoff game with a solid drive and a TD or FG..or even a decent drive that resulted in flipping the field with a punt.

[Northern_Blitz]

TOs are absolutely dominant in determining game outcomes. It is the main reason why I am down on Roethlisberger in playoff games from the second half of his career onwards. Although they did get rid of once source of TOs in Conner. Seems he had key fumbles at the worst times.

I agree on JC.

And (per Felt's comment below), I do wonder if Ben has lost accuracy and that teams with good D's (like those you see in the playoffs) know if they play us tight we'll eventually throw a pick.

This really hurts because we aren't very successful with the deep ball anymore. Ben in his prime would absolutely destroy teams for playing us like the Bills did last year. He'd buy time in the pocket and hit 70 yard bombs until the D was forced to play off with deep help.

Not being able to run really hurt too. Basically, we could only do 1 thing well last year. And while it took teams a bit of time to figure it out, once they did it seemed like they could take it away without much difficulty. Even terrible teams like the QB-less Bengals.

I hope it was a surgery thing and Ben can rally this year. And that a commitment to the running game means that we can have game plans that don't rely on Ben throwing so much. We NEED the OL to gel quickly and for all those bets on players along the line to come through.

[feltdizz]

I agree on JC.

And (per Felt's comment below), I do wonder if Ben has lost accuracy and that teams with good D's (like those you see in the playoffs) know if they play us tight we'll eventually throw a pick.

This really hurts because we aren't very successful with the deep ball anymore. Ben in his prime would absolutely destroy teams for playing us like the Bills did last year. He'd buy time in the pocket and hit 70 yard bombs until the D was forced to play off with deep help.

Not being able to run really hurt too. Basically, we could only do 1 thing well last year. And while it took teams a bit of time to figure it out, once they did it seemed like they could take it away without much difficulty. Even terrible teams like the QB-less Bengals.

I hope it was a surgery thing and Ben can rally this year. And that a commitment to the running game means that we can have game plans that don't rely on Ben throwing so much. We NEED the OL to gel quickly and for all those bets on players along the line to come through.

which is why we drafted Harris. Hopefully he takes pressure off of Ben and he rarely fumbles.

[hawaiiansteel]

At this point, the pressure to perform now falls on Matt Canada’s shoulders

The Pittsburgh Steelers are all-in on Matt Canada. Will the offensive coordinator deliver, or fall flat?

By Jeff.Hartman@BnGBlitz May 19, 2021

Replacing someone who didn’t do the best job can be viewed as an easy transition.

I remember when I began my coaching career, I coached Boys High School Varsity lacrosse in the state of Maryland, and I applied for my first job. Believe it or not, I applied for an assistant position, after just finishing my playing career in college.

As I walked into the principal’s office for the interview, I saw the Athletic Director and sat down. The first thing out of their mouths was shocking, “Our head coach just quit, would you be interested in being the head coach?”

Shocked by the news, I didn’t hesitate to take the job. Forget the fact I didn’t feel equipped to be a head coach at the varsity level, I took the position without thinking. The program I took over was bad. There is no way around it. I was teaching players how to throw and catch, not focused on specific offensive and defensive systems.

I coached at this school for one year. We won only one game, and then I was hired as a teacher in a different county, and was brought on to coach the high school’s varsity program.

My resume was far from stellar, but I went from a program who was just happy they had a coach who had played lacrosse before, to a program with experienced players who were ready to have their program go from good to great.

Expectations changed drastically overnight.

I’m not about to go into my 13 year tenure at this new school as the head coach, but I will say there was a lot of pressure to perform. No longer was being competitive enough to get by, but wins were necessary.

I feel this is a similar situation to Matt Canada, who is taking over for Randy Fichtner as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator. The struggles of Fichtner are well documented, and don’t need to be discussed at length in this article, and one might think Canada will have an easy job taking over for the often inept Fichtner.

But when you think about it, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Canada will take over an offense which, despite putting up solid numbers early in the season, struggled down the stretch. A large reason for those struggles were predictability from the play calling perspective. But unlike my first coaching gig, Canada takes over an offense which is brimming with talent.

He inherits a future Hall of Fame quarterback, a stacked wide receiving corps, brand new weapons in Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth from the 2021 NFL Draft, and an offensive line which is looking for a bounce-back season.

Will getting Ben Roethlisberger to buy into Canada’s system be a challenge? Most likely, but that is part of the job Canada took when he signed on the dotted line with the Steelers. Before going any farther, it feels as if the connection between Roethlisberger and Canada might be a bit overblown. It isn’t as if Canada is new to the Steelers. His time last season as the quarterbacks coach will not only be valuable experience with Roethlisberger, but also gave Roethlisberger a glimpse into how Canada handles an offense. Don’t think for a second the Steelers didn’t at least consult with Roethlisberger before they pulled the trigger on hiring Canada. Likewise, it is likely the Steelers spoke with Canada regarding his ability to make it work with Roethlisberger before committing to him in 2021. Therefore, the connection between Canada and Roethlisberger might be something which was predetermined before the future of both quarterback and coordinator were set in stone.

Outside of the Roethlisberger connection, the Kevin Colbert and the Steelers’ front office has done a great job adding to the team’s depth chart. After free agency and the draft, Canada won’t have any crutches to lean on if the Steelers’ offense struggles this season. If the running game remains dismal, he won’t have the luxury of saying they don’t have a good ball carrier on the roster. The offensive line might be green at some positions, but overall it will be up to Canada, and new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, to make it work.

Canada has been around the block a few times, but this is his first trip in the professional ranks as a play caller. There are situations when a player/team is playing with “house money”. This isn’t one of them. The Steelers put all their chips in with Canada calling the plays, and it will be up to him to deliver the goods.

I don’t expect it to always be smooth sailing, but the pressure is on Canada in 2021. Will he perform? Or will he fall flat and follow is career trend of not staying in one location very long?

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2021/5/19/22429020/at-this-point-the-pressure-to-perform-now-falls-on-matt-canadas-shoulders-steelers-2021-nfl-draft

[NorthCoast]

At this point, the pressure to perform now falls on Matt Canada’s shoulders

The Pittsburgh Steelers are all-in on Matt Canada. Will the offensive coordinator deliver, or fall flat?

By Jeff.Hartman@BnGBlitz May 19, 2021

Replacing someone who didn’t do the best job can be viewed as an easy transition.

I remember when I began my coaching career, I coached Boys High School Varsity lacrosse in the state of Maryland, and I applied for my first job. Believe it or not, I applied for an assistant position, after just finishing my playing career in college.

As I walked into the principal’s office for the interview, I saw the Athletic Director and sat down. The first thing out of their mouths was shocking, “Our head coach just quit, would you be interested in being the head coach?”

Shocked by the news, I didn’t hesitate to take the job. Forget the fact I didn’t feel equipped to be a head coach at the varsity level, I took the position without thinking. The program I took over was bad. There is no way around it. I was teaching players how to throw and catch, not focused on specific offensive and defensive systems.

I coached at this school for one year. We won only one game, and then I was hired as a teacher in a different county, and was brought on to coach the high school’s varsity program.

My resume was far from stellar, but I went from a program who was just happy they had a coach who had played lacrosse before, to a program with experienced players who were ready to have their program go from good to great.

Expectations changed drastically overnight.

I’m not about to go into my 13 year tenure at this new school as the head coach, but I will say there was a lot of pressure to perform. No longer was being competitive enough to get by, but wins were necessary.

I feel this is a similar situation to Matt Canada, who is taking over for Randy Fichtner as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator. The struggles of Fichtner are well documented, and don’t need to be discussed at length in this article, and one might think Canada will have an easy job taking over for the often inept Fichtner.

But when you think about it, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Canada will take over an offense which, despite putting up solid numbers early in the season, struggled down the stretch. A large reason for those struggles were predictability from the play calling perspective. But unlike my first coaching gig, Canada takes over an offense which is brimming with talent.

He inherits a future Hall of Fame quarterback, a stacked wide receiving corps, brand new weapons in Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth from the 2021 NFL Draft, and an offensive line which is looking for a bounce-back season.

Will getting Ben Roethlisberger to buy into Canada’s system be a challenge? Most likely, but that is part of the job Canada took when he signed on the dotted line with the Steelers. Before going any farther, it feels as if the connection between Roethlisberger and Canada might be a bit overblown. It isn’t as if Canada is new to the Steelers. His time last season as the quarterbacks coach will not only be valuable experience with Roethlisberger, but also gave Roethlisberger a glimpse into how Canada handles an offense. Don’t think for a second the Steelers didn’t at least consult with Roethlisberger before they pulled the trigger on hiring Canada. Likewise, it is likely the Steelers spoke with Canada regarding his ability to make it work with Roethlisberger before committing to him in 2021. Therefore, the connection between Canada and Roethlisberger might be something which was predetermined before the future of both quarterback and coordinator were set in stone.

Outside of the Roethlisberger connection, the Kevin Colbert and the Steelers’ front office has done a great job adding to the team’s depth chart. After free agency and the draft, Canada won’t have any crutches to lean on if the Steelers’ offense struggles this season. If the running game remains dismal, he won’t have the luxury of saying they don’t have a good ball carrier on the roster. The offensive line might be green at some positions, but overall it will be up to Canada, and new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, to make it work.

Canada has been around the block a few times, but this is his first trip in the professional ranks as a play caller. There are situations when a player/team is playing with “house money”. This isn’t one of them. The Steelers put all their chips in with Canada calling the plays, and it will be up to him to deliver the goods.

I don’t expect it to always be smooth sailing, but the pressure is on Canada in 2021. Will he perform? Or will he fall flat and follow is career trend of not staying in one location very long?

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...2021-nfl-draft

Author is wrong here. Pressure to perform is on the players. That be execution without mistakes and TOs.

[NorthCoast]

I agree on JC.

And (per Felt's comment below), I do wonder if Ben has lost accuracy and that teams with good D's (like those you see in the playoffs) know if they play us tight we'll eventually throw a pick.

This really hurts because we aren't very successful with the deep ball anymore. Ben in his prime would absolutely destroy teams for playing us like the Bills did last year. He'd buy time in the pocket and hit 70 yard bombs until the D was forced to play off with deep help.

Not being able to run really hurt too. Basically, we could only do 1 thing well last year. And while it took teams a bit of time to figure it out, once they did it seemed like they could take it away without much difficulty. Even terrible teams like the QB-less Bengals.

I hope it was a surgery thing and Ben can rally this year. And that a commitment to the running game means that we can have game plans that don't rely on Ben throwing so much. We NEED the OL to gel quickly and for all those bets on players along the line to come through.

Funny you mention the Bengals games. Roethlisberger had his worst games against them last season in terms of bad passes thrown.

[Captain Lemming]

which is why we drafted Harris. Hopefully he takes pressure off of Ben and he rarely fumbles.

I noticed in an interview talking about one handed catches, he mentioned it is easy for him because he has really big hands. That gift helps mightily in reducing fumbles too.

[Captain Lemming]

IMO Ben saved Tomlin as he has 35 with quarter comebacks meaning the defense didn't shut them down and 46 game winning drives meaning he won the game by having the ball last when scoring points. WOW. That magic.

You do know one of those “comebacks” was a 3-0 win right?

Defense didn’t shut them down? Really?
Bens career season high for comebacks is 5. Rookie season under Cowher and 2008 under Tomlin. Common factor?
Number one defenses, both seasons.

Fun fact. In those 5 comebacks in 2008, the average allowed was 14.6.
Joel, they weren’t behind because of poor defense, they were behind because offense was so bad they were behind for lack of scoring throughout the game.

BTW, during that playoff, Ben threw a total of three touchdowns. Same as the defense and special teams who also scored 3 TDs.
Ben threw less than 50 percent against the Ravens and Troy scored a TD.

And the SB? That was a magical comeback true. But don’t forget defense spotted him 7…in reality a 10 or 14 point swing if JH doesn’t take it to the house.

Offense had scored 13 before that last drive. All we remember is that drive. But it was the only drive in the entire playoff run that Ben looked like an elite QB. One drive.

Take away Harrison’s defensive score and we lose 23-20.

[NJ-STEELER]

Maybe you are too young to remember Roethlisberger's first SB? One of the worst QB performances in a SB in history. Hines Ward had more TD passes than Roethlisberger.

so a rushing TD doesn't count? after 2 tries from A HOF RB from the same spot failed?
how were his passing on the 3 playoff games prior to that. all on the road.
the first QB to win 3 playoff games on the road leading to the SB

does he need to put #8 on his jersey and have a speech impediment to get some praise from this board for a rushing TD?

PS tell hines to pull in a pass that in his hands (by the pylon)and he wouldn't have to throw for a TD to help us win