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View Full Version : Starkey: 'Dink and dunk' Steelers loooong gone



polamalubeast
12-07-2015, 09:31 PM
Hard to believe, but the following exchange actually happened. You probably remember the headlines. I was standing at Ben Roethlisberger's locker talking about Todd Haley's inchworm offense five games into the 2012 season.

The Steelers were 2-3 at the time. I asked Roethlisberger if the offense had much room for “expansion.” Meaning more big plays.

“Haley's offense is not a big-play offense,” he said. “It's kind of a dink-and-dunk offense.”

Me: “Is there room for more quick strikes?”

Ben: “We did that last week (82-yard pass to Mike Wallace).”

Me: “Right, but you never went back to it.”

Ben: “There's a guy calling the plays. That's on him.”

Things have changed a bit, no? It would have been inconceivable, from that place, to see the Steelers morphing into the most entertaining, bombs-away offense in the NFL.

But that is precisely what they have become.

BlitzBurgh has become BenAir.

In an era when the average distance of an NFL pass has dropped 7 percent since 2011, to barely over 6 yards (according to the Wall Street Journal, which surprisingly tracks such things), the Steelers are taking what they please.

As Roethlisberger said after humiliating the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night, “We're not just trying to make first downs, we're trying to make plays.”

The big man has unleashed no fewer than 14 bombs (at least 30 yards in air) in the past two games. NBC ran a graphic Sunday night showing that 18 percent of Roethlisberger's passes this season had traveled at least 20 yards — the NFL's highest number since 2011.

The irony here is inescapable: Only after moving on from a coordinator Roethlisberger loved for his gunslinger tendencies did the quarterback finally find true freedom. He can wing it as far as he wants, seemingly whenever he wants, to a ridiculously gifted set of receivers.

Ben's short-game isn't bad, either. All of it opens up the running attack.

James Harrison has witnessed the evolution of the Steelers offense, from three yards and a cloud of dust to 50 yards and a stream of vapor.

Did he ever think he'd see it look like this?

“Just from being what it was in previous years, especially my early years as a run team, I can't say I actually saw that,” Harrison said. “But watching the development of Ben, you saw it leaning in that direction with the receivers we have.”

Best offense since he's been here?

“I believe it is, yeah,” Harrison said.

Think of what the numbers would look like if Roethlisberger had been healthy. The Steelers average 31 points when he plays the majority of a game. They're rolling up college-football numbers at the moment, with 2,116 yards and 143 points in the past four games.

Elias Sports Bureau tells me only the Dan Fouts-led San Diego Chargers had a more prolific four-game run, in terms of yards, with 2,144 in 1982.


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/joestarkey/9584308-74/steelers-offense-yards#ixzz3thFZxuHF
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