A different Receiver perspective

Looking through the stats after the game, something caught my eye. Ben was 23 of 34, but take a look at the receivers:

Brown: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 116 yards.
Wheaton: 7 targets, 6 receptions, 97 yards.
Bell: 7 targets, 6 receptions, 88 yards.
Brown: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards.
Miller: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 26 yards.
Blake: 1 target, 1 reception, 25 yards.

Seriously? Three other players each had 1 target with no receptions, but let's let go of that for a moment. The top five targeted players had a reception percentage of 82 percent, or more than 8 of every 10 passes. And those were not three yard dumps either.

Ben has always done very nice work spreading the ball around. He's an elite QB even if a lot of people don't want to believe that - and here if the tackle spots solidify without any interior line injuries, with Ben, Haley, and Munchak all on the same page... I think we could be seeing a lot of the same all year (especially if our defense is so bad we have to play shootout ball).

Wasn't Blake's reception off the fake punt throw by Golden?

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Originally Posted by Steelerette

Ben has always done very nice work spreading the ball around. He's an elite QB even if a lot of people don't want to believe that -

and here if the tackle spots solidify without any interior line injuries, with Ben, Haley, and Munchak all on the same page... I think we could be seeing a lot of the same all year (especially if our defense is so bad we have to play shootout ball).

Wasn't Blake's reception off the fake punt throw by Golden?

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Totally agree.

We averaged 27 points the last half of last year (albeit modest opponents).

...and scored 27 points in the first half with arguably Ben's best first half performance ever.

So if our offensive line solidifies I do think 30 points per game IS possible.

Lord knows we may very well will need that to win games this season!

And look who is a receiving threat out of the backfield. Cheech is giving them a dimension they have never really had in a long time

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steelerette

Ben has always done very nice work spreading the ball around. He's an elite QB even if a lot of people don't want to believe that - and here if the tackle spots solidify without any interior line injuries, with Ben, Haley, and Munchak all on the same page... I think we could be seeing a lot of the same all year (especially if our defense is so bad we have to play shootout ball).

Wasn't Blake's reception off the fake punt throw by Golden?

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yes

Throwing to the RBs has been loudly suggested the prior two seasons, at least to take pressure off the OL and keep thwir D off balance. We coulde be seeing the beginning of a new hybrid leadue offense.

Anything to take extra pressure off Ben. Especially if games turn into shootouts. He can and we have won plenty of games on his shoulders by doing amazing things in the clutch but he's also never been a 40+ pass per game guy, at least not that well. Maybe that can change if a lot of those extra passes are not trying to force it downfield but actually safety valves, go routes, dumpoffs. To be honest we shouldn't have gone complete turtle ball in the second half but with a lead like that we should have been playing move-the-chains-ball. Even if the "cloud of dust" era is over, you find a way to do it so the defense can rest.