Monday Evening Quarterback - September 14, 2009

Get Behind the Mule

Last Wednesday night, the bulk of Steeler Nation sat down and enjoyed America's Game, the final recap of the magical 2008 season.

One of the main themes, one that arose from the incredible December victory over the Ravens to clinch the AFC North, was Mike Tomlin's admonishment not to get "preoccupied with style points."  After all, this team found ways to win, and to paraphrase Tomlin, the important thing was to have one more point than the other team at the end of the game.

So, what happened after an important opening game win against the Tennessee Titans, not only the last team to beat the Steelers but one that also racked up plenty of style points along the way?

Steeler Nation came out in force, dissatisfied with a quality win because of...not enough style points.

Here's the bottom line - get used to it.

The Steelers will demolish bad teams, and there are plenty of those on the schedule.  The Steelers will not blow out quality teams with regularity.  Most teams don't, but the fan bases for most teams are satisfied with wins.  Perhaps our Nation has grown spoiled by sustained success.

That's fine; we're a rare breed as a fan base.  We have high expectations even in years where the talent is meager, and the talent on this team is anything but.  We all need to keep things in perspective, and many of us didn't after a game we should have been celebrating.

The Steelers put up the 8th most yards of any team that has played so far (there are two games remaining tonight) against one of the best defenses in the league.  Ben Roethlisberger threw for 363 yards, the highest total of any QB so far, and led yet another 4th quarter comeback. 

But where's the running game?

It was not present on Thursday night.  Time to panic, right?  Time to bury Willie Parker.  Time to give up on Rashard Mendenhall.  Time to blow up the offensive line.

Nope.

The running game was done in by the fact that the Titans went to a 46 defense and Ben never threw them out of it, holding on to the ball far too often in the face of an overwhelming, unblockable pass rush.

Ben admits all the time that he's not a normal quarterback.  That he prefers backyard to Bill Walsh.  We all know this, and we accept the fact that our quarterback looks "different" from other quarterbacks around the league.

But then we expect the rest of the offense to look "normal," and that's just not going to happen.

Ben does not excel at reading and releasing to hot reads in the face of the blitz.  He does not have the level of trust to toss a raindrop down the field against a stacked box.  He does not have the cautious patience to check down and take the 4 yard gain when the deep in might be there if he can just avoid 2 or 3 rushers. 

This is the Bad Ben, and without the Bad Ben there wouldn't be the Good Ben, the Ben who is special because he does it differently. 

We cannot blame the OL or the RB's for a lack of a running game when the quarterback's weaknesses do nothing to back off a defense that is blitzing the run on the way to the quarterback.  Sure, there were breakdowns.  But they weren't just about the offensive line blowing assignments or the running backs failing to find the right crease.  Unit-wide improvement is needed, and is to be expected.  The offense didn't get much time together as a total unit in preseason because of injuries to Ben, Parker and Hartwig.  Timing was an issue in the passing game and in the running game - timing always improves with reps.

The schedule is about to get easier.  Even a Chicago team that has a traditionally stout defense looks like it will be missing two of its starting linebackers next week, including all-world MLB Brian Urlacher.  There are lollipops all over the schedule, and I will be expecting the Steelers to lick them with added style points.

Tennessee might have been the best defense and the most complete team the Steelers will face all season.  And the Steelers beat them. 

Don't get preoccupied with style points against good teams - the Steelers' identity under Mike Tomlin is to simply get behind the mule in the morning and plow.
 

THE FURIOUS FIVE

1.  New England Patriots

Belichick teams are strong defensively because of all the leaders (Bruschi) they have on their team, versatile (Vrabel) players who are unselfish (Rodney Harrison) and know what is expected of them (Seymour), guys who are an extension of their coach on the field (Seau) who might not be prototypes but are playmakers (Samuel).  Wait, those guys are all gone?

2.  Dallas Cowboys

See, they didn't need Terrell Owens, they just needed the other team to blow some coverages.

3.  San Diego Chargers

I wonder if Shawne Merriman will fall into a jealous rage if his fellow linebackers make a sandwich out of Jamarcus Russell without him.

4.  New York Giants

Mario Manningham looked very good yesterday, but the Brandon Jacobs centered running game might be a thing of the past without Plaxico running the safeties off.  Ahmad Bradshaw was the more effective running back.  The Giants have 3 or 4 good receivers, but no great ones and the offense is going to have to change a little bit.

5.  Baltimore Ravens

They won their 5th preseason game, but let the other teams' 4th string make too many plays.  We'll see how they fare in their first regular season game next week.

WEEKLY AWARDS

OFFENSE

Santonio Holmes

Amid a chorus of concerns that he needed to add consistency, Holmes put up exactly the same numbers he put up in the Super Bowl, finishing with 9 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown.  I can hear him saying "is that consistent enough for you?!?"

DEFENSE

Casey Hampton

The big snack made Kevin Mawae's life miserable all night long, finishing with 5 tackles.  He's in the best shape he's been in years, and appears motivated and ready for a huge year.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Aaron Smith

Way to get that big paw up there buddy, that was a huge play that the team fed off of.

GOAT

Chuck Cecil

Bruce Arians made the adjustment to go to the no-huddle, and Tennessee's defensive coordinator stubbornly refused to bring any more than 4 pass rushers as Ben picked the defense apart.

QUOTABLE

"You always tell me, keep your head up. Plays like that happen. Go out and make it up in overtime. Make it up on the next possession."

- Santonio Holmes to Hines Ward

An example of how Hines has not only taught Santonio how to be a receiver, he's taught him how to be a leader.
 

 
STATS, STAT

The last time the Steelers had two 100 yard receivers in the same game was in 2004 against the New York Giants, when Hines Ward went for 134 yards on 9 catches and Antwaan Randle El went for 149 yards on 5 catches.

MAKING THE ROUNDS

1.  I've seen it on multiple Steelers web sites from multiple sources, and it makes Steelers Nation look un-informed.  The offense does not improve in the no-huddle because Ben calls the plays instead of Bruce Arians, it improves because it makes it more difficult to send extra pass rushers after Ben, which allows him to be his improvisational best.  Ben can avoid and outwit 4 pass rushers all day long.  He gets sacked when it's 5, 6 or 7 pass rushers in the base offense.  If this flawed theory held water, why doesn't Ben make use of his magical play calling ability in the base offense, where he has full freedom to audible to any play he wants?  Why doesn't he use his offensive coordinator acumen to choose plays in mid-week meetings that will work on game day, where he has great input?

2.  Here's another flawed theory, the idea that the Steelers should simply go no-huddle all the time.  Does anyone really think that opening up in no-huddle at a raucous Soldier Field next week is a good idea?  What good is an offensive strategy if it only works at home?  The Steelers will continue to use the no-huddle situationally, they will not abandon the regular offense and it makes absolutely no sense to do so.

3.  Every offensive lineman, every tight end and every blocking back had their share of mental errors against the Titans, but they all improved as the game went on and they all looked better once the Steelers went no huddle and basically eliminated the blitzes from the Titans defense.  This isn't a great line, not by any stretch.  But I've seen plenty of lines around the league that are worse, and it's been proven that the Steelers can win with this group.

4.  There's no way to replace Troy Polamalu, who is likely out for at least a few weeks.  But the Steelers' newish ability to pressure the passer with just 4 gives the defense a chance to change very little and still be a stifling group.  When the Steelers get pressure with 4, Troy is a bonus because of his varied abilities but not a requirement like he used to be when he would get to zones in a superhuman fashion that were vacated because someone else blitzed.

5.  Keyaron Fox had a solid game against the Titans, especially against the run.  But he wasn't very good in zone coverage, and the possible return of Lawrence Timmons will give the Steelers a boost in that area.  If Casey Hampton continues his great play at nose tackle, concerns about Timmons against the run will be mitigated.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

6.  For those that still believe that the no-huddle works because Arians isn't involved, take a look around the league yesterday at how much success struggling offenses had against blitzing defenses when they went no-huddle and took the blitzes out of the equation.  Arizona scored 10 of their 16 points out of the no-huddle, looking very bad in their base offense because of an inability to protect Warner.  Washington struggled against the Giants all day long and then suddenly marched down the field at the end of the game for a touchdown using the no-huddle.  Even the Brodie Croyle-led Chiefs offense found some life in the no-huddle.  On the opposite side, the Texans went no-huddle late in their game, but the Jets continued to blitz.  Nothing changed and the Texans continued to struggle.

7.  If you're watching other teams in the league, pay close attention to box count and how it affects offensive success.  Too often when watching the Steelers we're too emotionally invested to really try to figure out what's going on, and box count tells us so much.  Case in point, the Ravens game yesterday.  The Chiefs opened up crowding the box to stop the run.  Joe Flacco hit some easy passes against 3 man coverages, and which pulled the Chiefs' safeties back.  Suddenly, the Ravens running game had room to roam.  The announcers talked about the Ravens playing the hot running back, about their offensive line, etc. and completely missed the point, that there were suddenly 7 Ravens blockers against 6 or 7 Chiefs defenders because of what Flacco had done through the air.

8.  The Colts were supremely unprepared for the loss of Anthony Gonzalez to injury.  The Colts only taught 3rd wide receiver Austin Collie the slot position, figuring that they could fast-track the rookie into being a contributor in packages right away.  Well, when Gonzalez went down there wasn't an option available due to this coaching decision except to plug in Pierre Garcon, a one-route type who lacked experience himself.  Peyton Manning leaned on Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark and it worked, with Wayne having a huge day and the Colts winning, but it could be a problem moving forward.

9.  Green Bay's 34 defense is going to come together more quickly than anyone expected.  Their personnel just fits and they've got the necessary defensive line bodies to stop the run out of the formation, which is the biggest challenge.

10. Mark Sanchez is getting all the press after a first-game win, but that Jets defense was the true story in the game, just abusing the Texans' offensive line with an array of effective blitzes.  They only registered 2 sacks, but Matt Schaub had no time to set his feet for most of the day, and was dreadfully inaccurate as a result.

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Orlando Pace and Chris Williams

The only thing that prevented the Packers from notching 5-10 sacks was the ability of Jay Cutler to escape pressure, though when he did so he threw costly interceptions.  Neither of the Bears' tackles has a favorable matchup this week, and James Harrison and Lamarr Woodley figure to break into the sack party in a big way.