By Mark Madden
September 20, 2013
Jerome Bettis said on ESPN that the Steelers can’t run the ball, so they should put the game in Ben Roethlisberger’s hands and run a two-minute offense.
That is the football equivalent of Walker Cronkite saying the war in Viet Nam is not winnable.
Antonio Brown verbally assailed offensive coordinator Todd Haley on the sideline Monday night because he wasn’t targeted often enough.
Brown is doubtless guilty of receiver envy. He’s a No. 2 trapped in a No. 1 role, and he is not prospering by the upgrade. There may be more room in first class, but there isn’t more room when you draw the opposition’s primary coverage.
Brown is also right. When was the last time an offense kept trying to develop its lesser weapons at the expense of its better weapons? The Steelers’ offense minimizes players like Brown and Roethlisberger while futilely attempting to maximize the likes of Isaac Redman.
The Steelers are committed to running the ball by edict of the president.
So, if it’s that important, how come they don’t know how to do it?
For a team that places such high priority in running the ball, the Steelers have mangled the attempt. They couldn’t possibly do worse.
Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson got more yards on his best carry than the Steelers have rushed for all season. Five quarterbacks have more rushing yards than the Steelers team.
The failure goes beyond mere statistics. Watch the tape. The Steelers aren’t close. The backs stink, but the holes aren’t there. The Steelers run the ball with zero confidence, zero technique, zero anything.
The fabled outside zone blocking scheme that was supposed to save the day is barely in evidence. Plays of that ilk have only been used twice. On one, Maurkice Pouncey’s season ended.
The Steelers have a fullback, Will Johnson. He never plays.
Willie Colon was a people-mover as a run blocker. The Steelers let him walk.
The Steelers’ offensive line was rebuilt around three young guys, all high draft picks: Mike Adams, David DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert. They all stink. They have room for improvement and time to do it. But right now, they stink.
The Steelers flap their gums about the importance of running the ball. But they couldn’t possibly be more ill-prepared to, you know, gain yards doing it.
This is Steelers arrogance at its most despicable. They sincerely believe their philosophy is all-conquering. But, in this case, they can’t implement it. They can’t teach it. They don’t have the right personnel for it. They simply can’t do it, yet insist on continuing to do it, and now their other options have withered and died.
There is no obvious Plan B. Bettis’ suggestion is viable. It’s definitely a better option once Heath Miller returns.
But the deep threat is gone, and the trickledown in the receiving corps has left everybody miscast. Last year’s top pass blocker is gone.
The most frightening part of the unmitigated disaster that is the Steelers’ offense is that it doesn’t seem fixable.
Actually, that’s the second-most frightening part. The most frightening part is that the Steelers still seem to believe in what they’re doing. Which means the failure will repeat itself over and over. Not just this year. Next year, too.
The problems started when the Steelers “retired” offensive coordinator Bruce Arians in very dishonest fashion. Haley was brought in as a stooge. Not to install his own ideas or to properly utilize the personnel at hand, but to implement an archaic methodology by hammering square pegs into round holes.
It’s not working.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
Photo: Getty Images
No comments:
Post a Comment