Ben is not the main problem!

[Steel Maniac]

And that is the problem right now. With the line playing like it is, we can't even evaluate Ben, Najee, the receivers abilities to get open and catch the ball. Until we get at least average (or even maybe slightly below average) line play, we don't know what we have with our skill players or our new OC.

Ben is failing even when he gets time. Failing in decisions, failing in be able to get the ball down the field.

[hawaiiansteel]

I think that's the damning thing. Guys were running routes not blocking for Harris. I think Roethlisberger panicked on the pre snap look.

Ben got fooled, no doubt about it.

gotta give the Bengals' DC credit.

[Northern_Blitz]

Ben is failing even when he gets time. Failing in decisions, failing in be able to get the ball down the field.

I think that part of this is because he probably feels like he's never going to get time, so he's anticipating having to get rid of it quickly.

That's probably not unreasonable given the current performance of the OL.

[NJ-STEELER]

I'll answer this; there was no one blocking for Harris. Every receiver was running a route. It would have been a tight throw but if he held the ball a half tick longer McCloud looks like he might split the DBs in the slot.

if those receivers block their man, it looks like he would have to out run/fake out/break tckle of #59 and then a race to the pile on with the safety behind 59

[NorthCoast]

I think most fans have seen this display of Roethlisberger's mobility; tie your shoelaces man!

[NorthCoast]

Guess I stopped counting at about six. Roethlisberger needs someone he can count on:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mwEh8v][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2mwEh8v]Capture[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/191750946@N04/]R W[/url], on Flickr

(note; Kaboly corrected himself on the year... 2019)

[Sword]

This is a good watch...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6H-DbXV-lk

[Northern_Blitz]

if those receivers block their man, it looks like he would have to out run/fake out/break tckle of #59 and then a race to the pile on with the safety behind 59

Why do you think none of the receivers on this play are blocking?

[Northern_Blitz]

Guess I stopped counting at about six. Roethlisberger needs someone he can count on:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mwEh8v][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2mwEh8v]Capture[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/191750946@N04/]R W[/url], on Flickr

(note; Kaboly corrected himself on the year... 2019)

At some point, I think we have to wonder why it seems like all the WRs have a problem with drops.

[feltdizz]

I think most fans have seen this display of Roethlisberger's mobility; tie your shoelaces man!

that was embarrassing

I know some won’t believe it but there are fans who are more critical of Ben than I am and I attended that game with one of them.

He just looked at me and shook his head after that play.

[Steel Maniac]

I think that part of this is because he probably feels like he's never going to get time, so he's anticipating having to get rid of it quickly.

That's probably not unreasonable given the current performance of the OL.

I can see your point on that.

[Northern_Blitz]

I can see your point on that.

I think that this is what players who are in media now mean when they say things like "you have to trust your guys".

My guess is that it's hard for Ben (and Najee) to trust that at least one guy on the OL is going to let someone get in pretty freely.

On Ramon Foster's show with DK, he talked about how he felt like you had to succeed around 97% of the time to be a good OL. That our guys might be succeeding 90% of the time. But often the play doesn't work if even 1 guy messes up. So the odds of the group success rate being good are low unless your all of the individual success rates are very (very) high.

It's like every play is a 5 guy parlay bet. We need every guy to come through or the play fails. And high school stats class (not my favorite...maybe because of the teacher) tells us that the probability of multiple bets all working out is much less than any of the individual bets.

[Starlifter]

when Ben made that decision he wasn’t under any pressure and had time to look into the end zone.

Friermuth had also broken past the LB and had a step. Ben never looked that way.

[Steel Maniac]

I think that this is what players who are in media now mean when they say things like "you have to trust your guys".

My guess is that it's hard for Ben (and Najee) to trust that at least one guy on the OL is going to let someone get in pretty freely.

On Ramon Foster's show with DK, he talked about how he felt like you had to succeed around 97% of the time to be a good OL. That our guys might be succeeding 90% of the time. But often the play doesn't work if even 1 guy messes up. So the odds of the group success rate being good are low unless your all of the individual success rates are very (very) high.

It's like every play is a 5 guy parlay bet. We need every guy to come through or the play fails. And high school stats class (not my favorite...maybe because of the teacher) tells us that the probability of multiple bets all working out is much less than any of the individual bets.

Well, now the O-line gotta deal with Von Miller.

[flippy]

I think that this is what players who are in media now mean when they say things like "you have to trust your guys".

My guess is that it's hard for Ben (and Najee) to trust that at least one guy on the OL is going to let someone get in pretty freely.

On Ramon Foster's show with DK, he talked about how he felt like you had to succeed around 97% of the time to be a good OL. That our guys might be succeeding 90% of the time. But often the play doesn't work if even 1 guy messes up. So the odds of the group success rate being good are low unless your all of the individual success rates are very (very) high.

It's like every play is a 5 guy parlay bet. We need every guy to come through or the play fails. And high school stats class (not my favorite...maybe because of the teacher) tells us that the probability of multiple bets all working out is much less than any of the individual bets.

the parlay is a great analogy cause it really highlights how hard this is.

and that’s why I’m a big believer in compounding interest. If each guy gets a little better, the overall bet improved considerably. Small improvements add up slowly but surely. And it’s why we have seen a lot of Mikey T teams improve as the seasons goes on.