Starkey: Revisiting Rooney's vision for Ben

[stillers4me]

Remember when the Bruce Arians era ended, ever so awkwardly, and Steelers president Art Rooney II made headlines by saying the running game needed an upgrade and Ben Roethlisberger needed to "tweak" his playing style?

Remember the flak Rooney caught, even as the masses cheered Arians' departure?

By the time his words were pressed through the fan and media grinders (I am as guilty as anyone), they looked like this: "Rooney: Steelers Must Return to 1973."

So much emphasis was placed on Rooney's role in the Arians ouster, his alleged running-game obsession and his Ben-meddling that many of us missed the money quote.

We missed the actual plan.....................


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/joestarkey/7084244-74/ben-roethlisberger-rooney#ixzz3IaCf1OSr

[Devilsdancefloor]

well he loks like a genius the past few games im still not sold lol, but time will tell

[siss]

He looks pretty smart…but a couple of weeks ago fans were ready to lynch him!

[steelreserve]

I don't think anyone with half a brain should have missed the point about the running game: "We need to have an effective running game. All this dancing around and gaining -1 yard and then getting a holding penalty so you're in 3rd-and-17 is bullshit." Really, anyone but an idiot could see that.

Of course, people's reaction was "OMG HE SAID WERE ONLY GOING TO RUN THE BALL & PPL ARE JUST OBSESSED W/ IT EVR SINCE JEROME BETTIS ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS RUN THE BALL & HAVE THE NEXT BETTIS"

Well, no. Having an EFFECTIVE running game is part of being able to move the ball. You have to keep your opponents honest. The only way that message got turned into what it did was because of the fans'/media's self-styled caricature of "grrrrr tradition of STEELERS FOOTBALL." Anyone notice what a difference it makes to have a RB who consistently gains positive yardage, and falls forward instead of the limp-dicked-half-spin-move-turn-sideways-and-fall-down technique? It makes a big difference. THAT was the point.

[MrPgh]

The flaw in Starkey's article is that he's only looking at the last three games. When you look at the overall body of work, much of the criticism is valid.