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Re: Steelers forgot about Mendenhall late
"The coaches have to put us in a better position," said Hines Ward, as tenured a Steelers player as you can find and a man who had just wasted a 10-catch, 128-yard performance. "All of us have to look in the mirror, but we're all in this together; the coaches have to evaluate themselves as much was we do."
wow... even Ward makes a comment about the play calling. I think his comment was primarily directed at that 3rd down run. Most of the day the offense was putting up yards. And for the first 2-3 quarters, the defense was playing every well.
I said it in another post, but it's worth repeating here:
I was happy to see Moore in there as a 3rd down back when Willie was the starter because Willie is a terrible receiving back and Mendenhall was unproven. But given the success Mendenhall has had catching the ball out of the backfield... I'm hoping to see Mendenhall in there on third and 3 or less more often (even 3rd and 4).
And of course hindsight is 20-20 but I would have loved to seen them keep Mendenhall in their on that 3rd and 2. And do one of two things:
- Have Mendenhall fight it up the middle for two because he rarely seems to get tackled for a lose up the middle and tends to often make a yard or two out of nothing.
- But since we are deliberately leaving Mendenhall in their in 3rd and short when Moore is typically our 3rd down back we are telegraphing a run. And we were very inconsistent and they had success stopping the run at times. I would have seen play action and had Batch roll out on a naked bootleg. I think the fact that Mendenhall just gouged them for 8 yards two plays earlier and we were leaving him in on 3rd and short would have sold it. And for good measure, I would have had Ward motion in next to the line to help sell it. I would have had Miller drag across the field for a check down 3-4 yards deep and then Mendenhall might be able to fight free and trail Miller for kind of a delayed check down. Have Holmes run deep to take the top off to the side of the roll out and have Ward run an out route 10-15 yards deep. If everyone was covered, Batch may have even been able to sprint for the two yards.
The sweep was a bit of a gamble. I don't hate it because it probably wasn't the first thing the defense was looking for. But I wasn't crazy about it either. The call I disliked more than the play, was to put Moore in there. I would have "danced with what brung ya"... Mendenhall. For reasons stated above, I think he gives you the best opportunity.
"The coaches have to put us in a better position," said Hines Ward, as tenured a Steelers player as you can find and a man who had just wasted a 10-catch, 128-yard performance. "All of us have to look in the mirror, but we're all in this together; the coaches have to evaluate themselves as much was we do."
wow... even Ward makes a comment about the play calling. I think his comment was primarily directed at that 3rd down run. Most of the day the offense was putting up yards. And for the first 2-3 quarters, the defense was playing every well.
I said it in another post, but it's worth repeating here:
I was happy to see Moore in there as a 3rd down back when Willie was the starter because Willie is a terrible receiving back and Mendenhall was unproven. But given the success Mendenhall has had catching the ball out of the backfield... I'm hoping to see Mendenhall in there on third and 3 or less more often (even 3rd and 4).
And of course hindsight is 20-20 but I would have loved to seen them keep Mendenhall in their on that 3rd and 2. And do one of two things:
- Have Mendenhall fight it up the middle for two because he rarely seems to get tackled for a lose up the middle and tends to often make a yard or two out of nothing.
- But since we are deliberately leaving Mendenhall in their in 3rd and short when Moore is typically our 3rd down back we are telegraphing a run. And we were very inconsistent and they had success stopping the run at times. I would have seen play action and had Batch roll out on a naked bootleg. I think the fact that Mendenhall just gouged them for 8 yards two plays earlier and we were leaving him in on 3rd and short would have sold it. And for good measure, I would have had Ward motion in next to the line to help sell it. I would have had Miller drag across the field for a check down 3-4 yards deep and then Mendenhall might be able to fight free and trail Miller for kind of a delayed check down. Have Holmes run deep to take the top off to the side of the roll out and have Ward run an out route 10-15 yards deep. If everyone was covered, Batch may have even been able to sprint for the two yards.
The sweep was a bit of a gamble. I don't hate it because it probably wasn't the first thing the defense was looking for. But I wasn't crazy about it either. The call I disliked more than the play, was to put Moore in there. I would have "danced with what brung ya"... Mendenhall. For reasons stated above, I think he gives you the best opportunity.
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