Monday Evening Quarterback - Week Fourteen

It's been 14 weeks, but we're right back to where we started, the Ben-Centric offense.

This is an elite quarterback who possesses legendary courage, wizard-like playmaking ability and an almost unheard of flair for the dramatic.

Whether it's Bruce Arians down the road or not, the blueprint is obvious - this is Ben's team, he needs the ball in his hands more often than not and everything else is just gravy.

The Steelers have spent far too much time wasting plays the last two weeks trying to establish a running game that just isn't there.  All it does is take away chances for Ben to make big plays, and with the current state of the defense it makes sense to give Ben as many chances as possible to put points on the board.

The plan is simple - this team operates most effectively and in a most balanced fashion by staying in three wide receiver sets, which allows them to threaten with the run and the pass equally.  The two tight end set should be scrapped for now except in very limited situations.

The NFL is a throwing league.  Seven of the eight division leaders right now use the run as a complimentary device.  Even the Minnesota Vikings with their massive offensive line and one of the best running backs in football are a pass-heavy team.

This is a matchup game, and in this NFL offensive lines are simply behind their defensive counterparts all over the league.  Defensive linemen have gotten bigger, stronger and faster while offensive lines have yet to catch up.  There are fewer and fewer freakish linemen with grizzly bear builds and dancing bear feet.  The days of Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden, Tony Boselli and Walter Jones have passed, though the cycle will likely come around down the road.  For now, asking offensive linemen to win matchups over and over again in front of a power running game simply isn't a recipe for success.

Don't get me wrong - I crave balance just like anyone else, it's the best way to operate an offense in any era.  But forcing balance on a team that just isn't built for it is nostalgically misguided.  Perhaps over the next few years quality offensive linemen can be added, giving this team a better chance at lining up and playing power football.  But that's not what this team is about at this moment.  I'm not a stats fan and I believe it to be mostly incidental, but the Steelers are 2-4 this year when they have a running back go over 20 carries.  This team thought it could run on the Chiefs, Raiders, Browns, etc. but ended up mostly with 3 and outs when it showed patience against those sub-par defenses.  Thankfully, the coaches didn't bother trying to establish a running game that just wasn't going to work against the Packers yesterday, and the result was a huge win.

The three wide receiver set does so much for this offense.  The Steelers can show multiple looks in the backfield, with the option to keep Mendenhall in or split him out wide, the option to keep Miller in to block or show a fullback look or split out wide, etc.

It allows Ben multiple dangerous targets to throw to, and it makes it far more difficult for opposing teams to run man under schemes that have given Hines Ward and Heath Miller so much trouble.  The Packers started out playing some man press yesterday, but there were quickly passed out of it to the point that they moved Charles Woodson into a safety/zone linebacker look to give him a chance to be involved in the play.  Big props to Mike Wallace for helping to break the Packers out of man by making a great adjustment on an underthrown deep ball on the first play of the game.

More than anything, the 3 wide receiver, all-Ben all the time offense gives this team's playmakers the chance to make up for their mistakes.  Wallace, Ward, Holmes and Miller all had key drops.  But they all had ample opportunities and did their part to make amends by coming up with huge plays.  The NFL is now more than ever a matchup/playmaking league, and the Steelers are blessed with a host of playmakers.  They need to be used, and the best way to do that right now is to air it out. 

Ben is certainly included in this group.  Ben will hold the ball.  Ben will take unwise sacks.  Ben will make bad throws.  If you give him enough chances, he'll make up for those bad plays.  He always has.  If you try to rein him in and take the ball out of his hands, all it does is magnify those mistakes, with no chance to make up for them.

What's more, Ben seems to be more inclined to take the check down if he knows that he's going to get plenty of chances to make more plays.  Limit him to 25 passes a game and I can guarantee that he's going to try to throw TD's on all 25 of those passes.  Show confidence in The Franchise by handing him the keys and he'll repay you with patience.

Rashard Mendenhall is also built for this type of offense.  When he was drafted, many saw visions of Bettis Pt. II given Mendenhall's size and weight.  Those who had seen him play knew differently, this is a shifty man whose power isn't anywhere near his greatest asset.  His goal line touchdown was a perfect example.  He did not plow through like a power back, he spun out of first contact like a much smaller man.  Mendenhall's receiving ability also makes him a perfect 3 WR running back.  He made some insane catches yesterday and is far too explosive to keep off the field on 3rd down.  He's an every-down back in a throwing offense - it's the perfect fit to showcase his multi-faceted talents.

No matter who is calling the plays next year, the scheme is going to remain intact.  The Ben-Centric offense is this team's identity, and it's not going anywhere.  Add in a few quality offensive linemen over the next few years, and it will become even more explosive, and that's a scary thought for the rest of the league.

This offense is a work in progress that showed huge strides yesterday simply by sticking to what it does best.

FURIOUS FIVE

1.  Colts

Thanks Peyton, you helped give the Steelers a glimmer of hope in a barnburner against the Jaguars.

2.  Eagles

The Meat Cleaver is pretty much the featured back at this point, and it's working okay despite his limitations as a full-time RB.  The number of weapons the Eagles have is disgusting, but it's a weapons-based league.  A team can never have enough.  If I was a GM, I'd draft a WR every single year at some point in the draft.

3.  Vikings

I have no idea what to make of that game, Matt Moore throwing for almost 300 yards and the Carolina defense shutting down the Vikings.  When it gets right down to it, Steve Smith has the talent to take over any game.

4.  Saints

Beat?  Yes.  Exposed?  Not really.  The Cowboys won their matchups defensively and didn't make mistakes on offense.  That's a pretty good recipe for winning any game.

5.  Patriots

Dan Dierdorf - "that beard really looks great on Tom Brady."

AWARDS

OFFENSE

Ben Roethlisberger

Who else?  Franchise passing record, on the doorstep of a 4,000 yard season and that old late-game magic, maybe the most impressive 2 minute drill of his career given all the bad things that happened on that drive.

DEFENSE

This award has been cancelled.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Jeff Reed

I hate your kickoffs, but you're clutch at Heinz Field in cold weather, and that's worth something.

GOAT

Brandon Chillar

Stat line - 0 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 passes defensed, two very damaging penalties, neither of which were really necessary.

QUOTABLE

"He’s a great guy and a great quarterback."

- Mike Wallace

STATS, STAT

151/22

This team is 151 Ben Roethlisberger passing yards and 22 Rashard Mendenhall rushing yards away from having a 4,000 yard quarterback, a 1,000 yard running back and two 1,000 yard receivers.

MAKING THE ROUNDS

1.  I knew right away what Tomlin was thinking with the onsides kick, and I thought it was the right move whether it worked out or not.  The defense was simply not to be trusted at that point in time, and the odds were great that the Packers would drive the field, run out the clock and win the game with no time left on the clock.  Tomlin made a calculated gamble and it paid off.  My only regret is that it took Tomlin this long to learn that he could no longer trust this defense.  The evidence was right there after week three, but better late than never.

2.  If this team is suffering as many fissures as the football tabloid writers claim, they did a great job of hiding it all yesterday, from Ben and Hines laughing and hugging to Mike Tomlin patting Bruce Arians on the belly.  Personally, I find it more plausible to believe that Bat Boy was abducted by aliens that look like Elvis Presley than to believe that this team has any kind of locker room issue that can't be solved by simply winning football games.  I have zero respect for any of these new-fangled NFL rumor mongers.  They remind me of the spying janitor in "Billy Madison."  Miss Lippy's car...is green.

3.  Max Starks had a very tough game, he had trouble even landing his punch against Clay Matthews.  He'll bounce back, he's been a bright spot on the offensive line all season long.  Fixing the offensive line could be as simple as moving Starks back to right tackle, letting Foster or Urbik take over at RG and finding (here's the tough part) a pass blocking left tackle either through the draft (likely) or free agency (unlikely).

4.  Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are as consistent as this version of the Steelers.  Lawrence Timmons hits Aaron Rodgers in the shoulder and his helmet slides up to the facemask?  Blah blah, hit him in the mouth, should have been a penalty, dangerous play, etc.  Clay Matthews hit Ben helmet to facemask?  Not a peep. 

5.  I'm so very tired of seeing Dick Lebeau call off the dogs on third and long.  This team cannot cover, it has to force the quarterback to make quick decisions and even...get this...mistakes.  3rd and 16 and the Steelers rushed 5.  They can't continue to do the same things over and over again while expecting different results.

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

It's still Mike Tomlin.  Yesterday was a nice, refreshing respite from bad football.  But it was just one game.  Playoffs or not, the effort and intensity must continue.  No matter what, this team needs to hit the offseason believing in itself once again.