Mindset of this Team must change - Go for the Freaking Win! Don't play not to Lose!

[Steeldude]

A for the 4th quarter, I will say it again. The playcalling wasn't the problem (although I DO prefer to run more late with a lead). It was the EXECUTION. We are not executing when we get leads. It's like the offense gets lazy and just assumes we're automatically going to win if we have more than a 3 point lead...

playcalling is part of it also. put the players in a position to execute. football 101

[pepsyman1]

We can always go back to a road grader OL, a super stud of a RB (sorry, neither Mendenhall or Redman qualify), with a journeyman (at best) QB and mostly mediocre wideouts that habitually lose AFCCGs at home. Personally, I like the current arrangement better.

Oh, no doubt. It's just odd to see the same mindset out of a team that no longer has the tools to take that kind of approach. Trust me, with what we've got as weapons, I'd much rather us do the Patriots do: Score points, move down the field, never stop trying to put points on the board and dare teams to stop them. When the Patriots started scoring right before halftime last night against the Jets and then kept it going in the 2nd half was impressive. Brady just turned up the tempo SO high on some of those drives the Jets didn't even have time to figure out their assignments. WE have the weapons and a QB that can do that. We need to. Every chance we get.

[XxKnightxX]

Originally Posted by BlastFurnace

Handoff up the middle. Handoff up the middle. So predictable.

you have to set up that 3rd and long

"Hey Diddle Diddle, Rogel up the middle"


Oh man Look at his number too haha how coincidential.

[pepsyman1]

The only thing I really have a complaint about is that we seem to find a solution for a problem, use it once or for one game and then it goes on the shelf. The overall game plan against the Patriots was fabulous. Ben was using a lot of short passes, thrown on 3 step drops and then mixed that with our other "signature" type plays. I saw almost none of that yesterday.

The defense played a lot of press man coverage, but unlike what we did with the Ravens, it was mixed with varying defensive fronts so that Brady didn't know where the pressure was coming from. Against the Ravens, we switched to man coverage but brought no pressure...just our standard 4 man rush. We didn't see a line full of 8 or 9 guys lined up at the ball (even if all they do is drop back in coverage) We only have one CB that can handle that and that's Ike. The point of doing it against Brady was to make him get rid of the ball fast, but not allow his receivers the opportunity to be open for the safe underneath stuff that they usually see against us. We did very little of that against the rookie QB yesterday either. (and had NO sacks)

[BlastFurnace]

Oh, no doubt. It's just odd to see the same mindset out of a team that no longer has the tools to take that kind of approach. Trust me, with what we've got as weapons, I'd much rather us do the Patriots do: Score points, move down the field, never stop trying to put points on the board and dare teams to stop them. When the Patriots started scoring right before halftime last night against the Jets and then kept it going in the 2nd half was impressive. Brady just turned up the tempo SO high on some of those drives the Jets didn't even have time to figure out their assignments. WE have the weapons and a QB that can do that. We need to. Every chance we get.

That is the most maddening part of it. This team has the tools on offense to put a team away. That way, we don't have to wait and see if a hail mary pass at the end of the Jacksonville game is incomplete or not to win the game.

[suitanim]

Steelers fans are like spoiled, petulant children. Coming into the game, the Bengals D was giving up, what? 16 points a game? We were 8 better than average. Nobody cares, they just want to bitch and moan, even in a win, and scapegoat the OC.

It's retarded...and I mean that in the strictest sense...

[BlastFurnace]

Steelers fans are like spoiled, petulant children. Coming into the game, the Bengals D was giving up, what? 16 points a game? We were 8 better than average. Nobody cares, they just want to bitch and moan, even in a win, and scapegoat the OC.

It's retarded...and I mean that in the strictest sense...

So, you have never criticized the team, scheme, or player for anything? If you have, then.....

Part of being on a message board is to banter back and forth.

[XxKnightxX]

So, you have never criticized the team, scheme, or player for anything? If you have, then.....

Part of being on a message board is to banter back and forth.

Agreed 100 %. As My Coach Tom Elsasser used to tell us, "The Day that I stop yelling at you, the day that I stop demanding the absolute best from you, the day that I stop asking for perfection and 110 percent execution, might as well be the day that I stop caring and coaching". We as fans expect perfection at all times from the Steelers . Is it gonna happen? Absolutely not, but we all understand thats part of the game. And some might still be not okay with that, but it shows that they have passion for the game.

[suitanim]

Nice try...you can't hide behind platitudes and "coachspeak". The gameplan was brilliant yesterday, and when the team was actually executing it, we were unstoppable.

Credit must be given to A) The Bengals defense for stepping up and adjusting a bit and B) fate and luck, which were NOT on our side yesterday, as evidenced by the Heath bobble and the sure pick in the EZ that resulted in a bungle TD.

One of the misnomers is that I never criticize Arians...I just did for last weeks game. In fact, I questioned not running at the end of yesterdays game. But there HAS to be balance. If a player drops a pass, how in the fuck is that the OC's fault? Yet we see an incredibly lopsided amount of ignorant hate and just that kind of myopic intolerance for Arians every week. It's disguised in various ways, but what it really comes down to is whining and excuse-making...

[tube517]

Steelers fans are like spoiled, petulant children. Coming into the game, the Bengals D was giving up, what? 16 points a game? We were 8 better than average. Nobody cares, they just want to bitch and moan, even in a win, and scapegoat the OC.

It's retarded...and I mean that in the strictest sense...

Well, Tomlin still needs to be fired.

[BlastFurnace]

Nice try...you can't hide behind platitudes and "coachspeak". The gameplan was brilliant yesterday, and when the team was actually executing it, we were unstoppable.

Credit must be given to A) The Bengals defense for stepping up and adjusting a bit and B) fate and luck, which were NOT on our side yesterday, as evidenced by the Heath bobble and the sure pick in the EZ that resulted in a bungle TD.

One of the misnomers is that I never criticize Arians...I just did for last weeks game. In fact, I questioned not running at the end of yesterdays game. But there HAS to be balance. If a player drops a pass, how in the fuck is that the OC's fault? Yet we see an incredibly lopsided amount of ignorant hate and just that kind of myopic intolerance for Arians every week. It's disguised in various ways, but what it really comes down to is whining and excuse-making...

So, you admit that you question and criticize at times too.

That's what I thought.

[SteelGhost]

That possession after it was 14-10 where we ran, ran, passed (3 and out) I believe we started (due to a penalty) on our own 12. I would prefer that we play conservative there, punt and let our defense get us the ball back. Which we did. Then we scored. I have no problem with it.

A for the 4th quarter, I will say it again. The playcalling wasn't the problem (although I DO prefer to run more late with a lead). It was the EXECUTION. We are not executing when we get leads. It's like the offense gets lazy and just assumes we're automatically going to win if we have more than a 3 point lead...

This sums it up very well for me

[GBMelBlount]

. It's like the offense gets lazy and just assumes we're automatically going to win if we have more than a 3 point lead...

Good take.

They don't seem to have the collective hunger / urgency / will to win that i have seen in the past imo.

I hope they are are just pacing themselves to peak at the right time....lol.

[suitanim]

So, you admit that you question and criticize at times too.

That's what I thought.

Yup...but I pick my battles. I don't whine incessantly like a spoiled baby and constantly blame every inept thing the players do on the OC. That's intellectually dishonest and lazy, and frankly the kind of thing I'd expect out of the likes of John Harbaugh. It just gets old, week after week, win after win, seeing the same basic nonsense retreaded...

[SteelerEmpire]

Once we take a lead we have 2 options: either we run out the clock, or run up the score. To run out the clock makes absolutely no sense as that can't be accomplished unless you keep getting 1st downs, which in turn brings you closer to field goal range and ultimately, touchdown range (1st and goal). So you CAN'T run out the clock without running up the score as their in a one-one correspondence. So the Steelers should change their fundamental strategy here to "the best defense is a good offense" and be progressive instead of conservative. Not only will it help run out the clock, IT WILL RUN UP THE SCORE putting the game further out of reach for the opponent, and it will help with each offensive players individual stats. This is one reason why Brady has a million passing yards and TD's because the offense keeps playing offense instead of the offense trying to play defense !

[suitanim]

Once we take a lead we have 2 options: either we run out the clock, or run up the score. To run out the clock makes absolutely no sense as that can't be accomplished unless you keep getting 1st downs, which in turn brings you closer to field goal range and ultimately, touchdown range (1st and goal). So you CAN'T run out the clock without running up the score as their in a one-one correspondence. So the Steelers should change their fundamental strategy here to "the best defense is a good offense" and be progressive instead of conservative. Not only will it help run out the clock, IT WILL RUN UP THE SCORE putting the game further out of reach for the opponent, and it will help with each offensive players individual stats. This is one reason why Brady has a million passing yards and TD's because the offense keeps playing offense instead of the offense trying to play defense !

Fundamentally, I agree. However, I would PREFER that we shore up our run game and eat clock and win. It is ultimately lower risk/higher reward to play that way. But we are a passing team now, so we sometimes (last two weeks, in fact) try to keep the ball in our possession by passing. It worked against Cinci, failed against Baltimore.

My PROBLEM is with whiny fans who want it both ways. Preach had a very sarcastic (yet, sadly, also very valid and accurate) post at the beginning of the season that summed up the Arians haters nicely. (I'm paraphrasing):
(Steelers run) "Dangit, Arians, pass it!"
(Steelers pass) "Dangit, Arians, I said run it!"
(Steelers run) "Damnit, Arians, pass the ball!"

And so on and so forth...when Arians calls a pass play, and the WR is wide open but Ben gets sacked because Kemo tripped over his own shoelace, that is NOT the OC's fault. When Arians calls a run play, and the running back is met two yards deep in the backfield because 3 blockers whiffed on their assignments, that is NOT Arians fault. When Heath Miller bobbles a pass that turns into a freak INT, don't blame the OC. When Miller starts blocking downfield because he thinks Ben is running, and a perfect TD pass is called back for illegal contact downfield, you cannot blame Arians.

It's not rocket science. Execution execution execution. And it is just common sense that most running plays have less components and complexities (ergo, less chances for very bad things to go wrong) than most passing plays do...that's why it's usually preferable to run. But if you're a passing team, and you aren't as effective as running as you'd like, forcing the issue isn't necessarily the answer either.

There just seems to be this lazy catch-all panacea for a lot of people to reflexively blame Arians for all our offensive woes, win or lose...

[HometownGal]

Fundamentally, I agree. However, I would PREFER that we shore up our run game and eat clock and win. It is ultimately lower risk/higher reward to play that way. But we are a passing team now, so we sometimes (last two weeks, in fact) try to keep the ball in our possession by passing. It worked against Cinci, failed against Baltimore.

My PROBLEM is with whiny fans who want it both ways. Preach had a very sarcastic (yet, sadly, also very valid and accurate) post at the beginning of the season that summed up the Arians haters nicely. (I'm paraphrasing):
(Steelers run) "Dangit, Arians, pass it!"
(Steelers pass) "Dangit, Arians, I said run it!"
(Steelers run) "Damnit, Arians, pass the ball!"

And so on and so forth...when Arians calls a pass play, and the WR is wide open but Ben gets sacked because Kemo tripped over his own shoelace, that is NOT the OC's fault. When Arians calls a run play, and the running back is met two yards deep in the backfield because 3 blockers whiffed on their assignments, that is NOT Arians fault. When Heath Miller bobbles a pass that turns into a freak INT, don't blame the OC. When Miller starts blocking downfield because he thinks Ben is running, and a perfect TD pass is called back for illegal contact downfield, you cannot blame Arians.

It's not rocket science. Execution execution execution. And it is just common sense that most running plays have less components and complexities (ergo, less chances for very bad things to go wrong) than most passing plays do...that's why it's usually preferable to run. But if you're a passing team, and you aren't as effective as running as you'd like, forcing the issue isn't necessarily the answer either.

There just seems to be this lazy catch-all panacea for a lot of people to reflexively blame Arians for all our offensive woes, win or lose...

Good post Slestak and I agree 100%. I also remember very well how BA was the weekly scapegoat when our vaunted D blew leads in the 4th quarters. It got to the point of beyond ridiculous.

[fansince'76]

I also remember very well how BA was the weekly scapegoat when our vaunted D blew leads in the 4th quarters. It got to the point of beyond ridiculous.

I'm sure he still is in some quarters...