Todd Haley lost us this game.

[zulater]

3rd and 18. Own 22 yard line. Up 15-0. Burfic is breathing fire. What chance do you really think there is to convert 3rd and 18 from that field position against that defense? what need is there in that game situation? Hand the ball off. You punt from probably your own 25. The third quarter ends. They probably get possession at around their own 30 something. Down 15-0. Not a bad situation to be in if you're the Steelers. But no! Ahole gets greedy! You lose your qb, and you lost us this game. Asshole! Todd Haley moron!!! :doh: :yuck2:

[zulater]

Never mind! lol

[fansince'76]

No. You have valid points. I've had it with Haley.

[86WARD]

Shot your load too soon? ;)

[tube517]

Zu's reverse psychology works again lol

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[JayC]

what the fuck just happened

[fansince'76]

And what was with that chickenshit playcalling in the first half?

[zulater]

Shot your load too soon? ;)

My wife just looked over my shoulder and saw your comment, and said, "not the first time!" :chuckle:

[Craic]

Shot your load too soon? ;)


My wife just looked over my shoulder and saw your comment, and said, "not the first time!" :chuckle:

:chuckle:

Wives - they're wonderful, and wonderful for keeping our egos in check.

[Count Steeler]

There are 7 head coaching jobs open. Maybe more soon. How amazing would it be if he went to Cincy?

[NCSteeler]

Ben could have checked out of it, he lived to fight another day. Got to be smarter


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[lipps83]

I am done with Haley too I think. I just don't get what they are trying to do sometimes. Haley confuses himself.

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Ben could have checked out of it, he lived to fight another day. Got to be smarter


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That was my problem with that play. Ben had so many options and picked the 2nd worst one to finish with (worst being an interception). For that he got hurt and it almost cost the game.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Haley would have been my goat as well if we had lost the game.

Reggie Nelson out for most of the game. Sean Williams missing much of it as well, along with Leon Hall, Dre Kirkpatrick, and Gilberry...

And Haley's idea of exploiting that is....screen passes? wtf?!?

Granted, the bengals were playing 2 high safeties as usual for much of the game but when the 2ndary is getting that thin, you have to exploit that to SOME degree. Ben could have rolled up another 300 yard game easily if we used a couple post and flag routes.

[zulater]

Ben could have checked out of it, he lived to fight another day. Got to be smarter


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Gilbert got beat for the sack. But even if he doesn't the chances of converting that play are slim and none. We know Ben will always carry a play through to the end. It was a ridiculous and uneccessary call! Risk / reward screamed hand off, and get off the field and punt it to them! It's amazing how the national press completely misses the obvious here. :doh:

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Ben could have checked out of it, he lived to fight another day. Got to be smarter


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Gilbert got beat for the sack. But even if he doesn't the chances of converting that play are slim and none. We know Ben will always carry a play through to the end. It was a ridiculous and uneccessary call! Risk / reward screamed hand off, and get off the field and punt it to them! It's amazing how the national press completely misses the obvious here. :doh:

[Mojouw]

I'm with you. Was eulogizing the season. and the new Troy strikes. Long live Shazier.


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[86WARD]

The play calling all game was like Ben had an injured shoulder the whole game...it was run first, pass short the whole game.

[Shoes]

The play calling all game was like Ben had an injured shoulder the whole game...it was run first, pass short the whole game.


I'm getting a feeling that Ben has been playing hurt for sometime now.

[zulater]

I am done with Haley too I think. I just don't get what they are trying to do sometimes. Haley confuses himself.

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That was my problem with that play. Ben had so many options and picked the 2nd worst one to finish with (worst being an interception). For that he got hurt and it almost cost the game.

If the play call had been a hand off Ben would have handed off in that situation. There's not a lot of great plays you can call on 3rd and 18. And when game circumstances are what they were there why the hell would you even think of forcing the issue? :doh:

That play call didn't cost us this game as it turned out. But it most likely cost us any reasonable chance for thre next game.

[zoneblitzerII]

3rd and 18. Own 22 yard line. Up 15-0. Burfic is breathing fire. What chance do you really think there is to convert 3rd and 18 from that field position against that defense? what need is there in that game situation? Hand the ball off. You punt from probably your own 25. The third quarter ends. They probably get possession at around their own 30 something. Down 15-0. Not a bad situation to be in if you're the Steelers. But no! Ahole gets greedy! You lose your qb, and you lost us this game. Asshole! Todd Haley moron!!! :doh: :yuck2:

Agreed. This also caused the Ben injury.

[steelreserve]

Bullshit. The correct call in that situation was a fleaflicker and you all know it.

[ETL]

I thought Ben called about 50% of the plays himself. Does his plays always work and Haley's plays always fail?

[fansince'76]

Yeah, that must be it. :rolleyes:

[Steelman]

I thought Ben called about 50% of the plays himself. Does his plays always work and Haley's plays always fail?

Pretty much nailed it. :lol:

[Steeldude]

You never give the Steelers any credit. The game lasts an hour.

Tomlin's decision to go for two almost cost the Steelers.

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Agreed. This also caused the Ben injury.

So did the sloppy, half-assed blocking by Gilbert.

[zoneblitzerII]

The thing I don't get is why bother establishing the run if you're not going to mix things up? They rarely threw on first down out of run personnel nor threatened with play-action. I didn't mind the short passing game and check downs etc. But the whole point to running an O, besides scoring points, is to keep the D honest and off-balance. They struggled mightily with that. Too often I see the Steelers put themselves in a position to get Ben hurt. It's run, run, pass. And on that 3rd down the D pins their ears back to maul Ben. To protect Ben more they need more throws on first down, then set up run/pass on 2nd down.

[zulater]

I thought Ben called about 50% of the plays himself. Does his plays always work and Haley's plays always fail?

If you don;t believe the play call on 3rd and 18 came from the sideline then you really haven't paid attention to this team at all this year. The call was all Todd's.

[Count Steeler]

Little bit of credit to the Cincy front 7. They are not exactly chicken shit.

[teegre]

Tomlin's decision to go for two almost cost the Steelers.

Going up by 17 makes it a three possession game. Going for two was the smart move.


If the Steelers had only gone for 1, so would have the Bengals, and then, the score would have been 16-17... the exact same 1-point deficit. So, even taking the "three possessions" out of it, going for 2 makes it TD+TD+FG which is what the Bengals got.

[TD's & Beer]

Awesome thread!

Fire Tomlin AND Haley, they've ridden his coattails long enough, Ben keeps winning in spite of them.

[86WARD]

Going up by 17 makes it a three possession game. Going for two was the smart move.


If the Steelers had only gone for 1, so would have the Bengals, and then, the score would have been 16-17... the exact same 1-point deficit. So, even taking the "three possessions" out of it, going for 2 makes it TD+TD+FG which is what the Bengals got.

At that stage, if the Steelers are up by three possessions, it's a different game and that would have been a pretty tall order for McCarron to step up to...not sure he would have been able to do it there. I didn't have a problem with Tomlin going for it in this instance.

[Mojouw]

At that stage, if the Steelers are up by three possessions, it's a different game and that would have been a pretty tall order for McCarron to step up to...not sure he would have been able to do it there. I didn't have a problem with Tomlin going for it in this instance.

Exactly. Say what you want about Tomlin, but there is one aspect he has improved on. He aggressively attempts to put teams away. He goes for 2, 4th down calls, deep balls, etc. Tomlin's calls do NOT always pay off, but he does try to bury teams as soon as he can in a g.ame. Rather that than "play it safe" and let teams hang around

[SteelerFanInStl]

I thought Ben called about 50% of the plays himself. Does his plays always work and Haley's plays always fail?

They're both known to do stupid things at times.

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The thing I don't get is why bother establishing the run if you're not going to mix things up? They rarely threw on first down out of run personnel nor threatened with play-action. I didn't mind the short passing game and check downs etc. But the whole point to running an O, besides scoring points, is to keep the D honest and off-balance. They struggled mightily with that. Too often I see the Steelers put themselves in a position to get Ben hurt. It's run, run, pass. And on that 3rd down the D pins their ears back to maul Ben. To protect Ben more they need more throws on first down, then set up run/pass on 2nd down.

Yes, this is a continual problem with the play calling. It's way too damn predictable. I kept saying in the game day thread that we were killing ourselves with the 2nd down play calls. The first down run would get good yardage and then we'd turn around and run up the middle every time out of shotgun and get nailed in the backfield for a loss.

[Mojouw]

I think the weather had a ton to do with the weird play calling on both sides last night. Overall, I'm wiling to give both teams a pass due to conditions on some head scratching calls.