QB, WR & Oline Coach

[Shoes]

Are the players too young, old or just not good enough? How about no QB coach, they lost Mann, Drake & Munch?

[tube517]

Also lost RB coach Saxon

[Fire Goodell]

Are the players too young, old or just not good enough? How about no QB coach, they lost Mann, Drake & Munch?

Combination of all 3. our wr1 is a 2nd year guy, #2 wr is a rookie, wr3-5 are practice squad guys. qb is an undrafted rookie. the rb1 can't stay healthy. OC still hasn't figured out that the wlidcat will never work against a good defense. they've done alright considering what they have but it's definitely limited

[Mojouw]

Sheesh. Everyone take a breath and relax. Count to 10. Step in off the ledge. Everything is fine, except they can't get competent QB play. That causes a cascade failure across the board that makes it look far far worse than it truly is. We see this all the time in the past 15 years with other teams. Swap out the QB and the rest of the roster goes from woeful to wonderful.

Look at each part in isolation:
1. WRs - Washington has certainly made me eat my words and demonstrated that he more than belongs on an NFL roster. In his ROOKIE season, DJ has demonstrated that he can get open out of the X position, something that none of the other WRs on the roster were prepared to do. He cleans up his ball security and a few other technical things and he will light the NFL up in year 2. Juju gets an incomplete. Cain looks to be a diamond in the rough -- remember before his knee injury last year, the Colts were going to start him. Overall, this group can not make more plays than it is because they are not being put in the position to succeed by poor QB play. Hodges missed at least 2 TDs last night.

2. RBs - Conner is clearly better than we all think. Look at the difference in the offense early last night. He is a legitimate starting NFL RB. Whyte is an intersting contrasting piece. Samuels is what he is - a pretty decent specialist back in an offense that moves the LBs and safeties off the LOS. Snell plays hard and can have a role, but he is not really a high-end NFL caliber athlete. You can win with this group, but I would be looking to add some competition here.

3. O-line - they aren't exactly getting dominated, nor are they dominating. Most of the sacks that I see are when they have to share protections with the RBs and TEs -- then the communication and flow breaks down. Kind of easy to understand as injuries have made the RBs and TEs a rotating cast of back-ups. On top of that, the QB is taking plays designed to "chance" the pass rush because the ball should be out in less than 3 seconds and holding it for 5. Couple that with the offensive line redirecting pass rushers into what should be vacant space only to find that the QB has wandered over there in pursuit of a shiny object and you have a toxic combination that makes them look worse than they are. For run blocking, they are the same run-blocking line they have been for 3+ years. This line hasn't just lined up and straight ahead mauled anybody since the early 2000's. That isn't their game. Again, better QB play and things would be fine.

4. Qb - here is the source and solution to all of the team's problems. Ball comes out quicker, with more zip, and better placement everything starts to get into a rhythm and flow. The search for a Ben successor remains ongoing. I think the team needs to take a LONG look at hiring a QB coach that is tasked solely with working with the non-Ben QBs on the roster. Hopefully they can carry Lynch, Hodges, and Rudolph through an off-season that has them combine high-end private coaching (something all the best QBs do early in their careers) and a rigorous team based program and have a brutal Hunger-Games style competition next camp and pre-season.

[AtlantaDan]

QBs are young and not very good, WRs are young but promising

OC and OL coach are internal promotions who nobody tried to hire away and in the case of the OL coach a drop off from the one of the best OL coaches in the business

[EzraTank]

I was going to wait until officially AFTER the season to bring these kinds of things up. At this point we aren't changing them until the off-season and God knows we will have plenty of time to discuss this.

[Fire Goodell]

I think the WR corps has got some real talent and potential, just very inexperienced right now.

[Moose]

Combination of all 3. our wr1 is a 2nd year guy, #2 wr is a rookie, wr3-5 are practice squad guys. qb is an undrafted rookie. the rb1 can't stay healthy. OC still hasn't figured out that the wlidcat will never work against a good defense. they've done alright considering what they have but it's definitely limited

I agree with MOST...." the rb can't stay healthy", and " OC " comment. I was thinking 9-7 at season start and limited play off chance.

[86WARD]

You can’t get competent QB play when the QB doesn’t have a little bit of time to throw the ball. On numerous occasions a pass rush of 4 beat a pass protection unit of 6 with ease. On other occasions a pass rush of 5-6 beat a pass protection unit of 7-8. Not really conducive to passing.

The O-Line has been dominated most of the season. The reason Duck has been more successful than Rudolph is that he has a better pocket presence and can keep the play alive a bit longer than Rudolph.

WR needs more veteran presence but the unit as a whole has much improved since Week One.

[EzraTank]

Beckham will be available as will Andy Dalton (a bridge QB if Ben can't come back).

[Fire Goodell]

Beckham will be available as will Andy Dalton (a bridge QB if Ben can't come back).

lol Andy Dalton in a Steelers uniform, if that ever happens I definitely can say I've seen it all

[EzraTank]

lol Andy Dalton in a Steelers uniform, if that ever happens I definitely can say I've seen it all

I thought the same thing about Michael Vick ... like I said a bridge QB if Ben couldn't go. He would be better than Hodges.

[Shoes]

lol Andy Dalton in a Steelers uniform, if that ever happens I definitely can say I've seen it all

If be happy with joe flacco at this point.

[st33lersguy]

Sarrett is an awful coach, major downgrade. Also they need to hire a QBs coach, not lazily have Ben's best buddy keep his title as QB coach while also promoting him to OC, especially since his being Ben's buddy is his singular credential.

[AtlantaDan]

Sarrett is an awful coach, major downgrade. Also they need to hire a QBs coach, not lazily have Ben's best buddy keep his title as QB coach while also promoting him to OC, especially since his being Ben's buddy is his singular credential.

Agreed - I have been off Team Randy for some time but bringing back the wildcat last night, highlighted by Duck being called for illegal motion because he did not come to a full stop after taking the snap from under center and Conner taking the direct snap on the killer fumble play at the Bills 10 when Conner practiced the wildcat for the first time last week, would be a termination level offense if Ben did not have veto power over firing his valet

While Fichtner is drawing up that hot garbage who has time to coach up young QBs in his alleged second job of QB coach?

[Mojouw]

I keep reading how Fichtner was calling up terrible plays. Would those be the plays were a WR was running free into the endzone for the tying score? Would those be the plays where WRs and TEs were rambling open between the hashes? I mean those plays happened as well. The QB just refused to throw over the middle of the field past 3 yards.

What do people want Fichtner to do? He can't keep sending his RB into 8-9 man boxes and his QB only really wants to throw contested rainbows down the sideline. Other than that it is checkdowns and INTs.

I mean Fichtner is no great shakes, but he's got more than a minor handicap here. This is the same OC who everyone hailed as a savior last season as he directed the Steelers to the league lead in passing and one of the most efficient scoring offenses we have ever seen in Pittsburgh.

As to the offensive line, improve the QB play and the line will go back to being invisible. I promise you that. While Sarrett is no Munch, he still has a line anchored by two undrafted tackles playing at a really high level. And yes, despite what the doom and gloom will have you believe, that is still not a bad offensive line. The Bills front is really darn good. Cincy, Cleveland, San Diego -- that is what bad offensive lines look like.

[Shoes]

I keep reading how Fichtner was calling up terrible plays. Would those be the plays were a WR was running free into the endzone for the tying score? Would those be the plays where WRs and TEs were rambling open between the hashes? I mean those plays happened as well. The QB just refused to throw over the middle of the field past 3 yards.

What do people want Fichtner to do? He can't keep sending his RB into 8-9 man boxes and his QB only really wants to throw contested rainbows down the sideline. Other than that it is checkdowns and INTs.

I mean Fichtner is no great shakes, but he's got more than a minor handicap here. This is the same OC who everyone hailed as a savior last season as he directed the Steelers to the league lead in passing and one of the most efficient scoring offenses we have ever seen in Pittsburgh.

As to the offensive line, improve the QB play and the line will go back to being invisible. I promise you that. While Sarrett is no Munch, he still has a line anchored by two undrafted tackles playing at a really high level. And yes, despite what the doom and gloom will have you believe, that is still not a bad offensive line. The Bills front is really darn good. Cincy, Cleveland, San Diego -- that is what bad offensive lines look like.

Fich aside they still need a good QB coach and I find it hard to believe that the loss of Mann and Drake hasn't caused a hiccup in the WR department.

[st33lersguy]

I mean Fichtner is no great shakes, but he's got more than a minor handicap here. This is the same OC who everyone hailed as a savior last season as he directed the Steelers to the league lead in passing and one of the most efficient scoring offenses we have ever seen in Pittsburgh.
.

I literally don't remember anyone hailing him as the savior. The Steelers led the league in passing yards because he let Ben throw the ball more often than any other QB in the NFL, congratulations

[Mojouw]

I literally don't remember anyone hailing him as the savior. The Steelers led the league in passing yards because he let Ben throw the ball more often than any other QB in the NFL, congratulations

Go back and read the early season posts. When he had the red zone scoring at like 75% everyone was lauding Fichtner for fixing what Haley had broken.

[Butch]

Sheesh. Everyone take a breath and relax. Count to 10. Step in off the ledge. Everything is fine, except they can't get competent QB play. That causes a cascade failure across the board that makes it look far far worse than it truly is. We see this all the time in the past 15 years with other teams. Swap out the QB and the rest of the roster goes from woeful to wonderful.

Look at each part in isolation:
1. WRs - Washington has certainly made me eat my words and demonstrated that he more than belongs on an NFL roster. In his ROOKIE season, DJ has demonstrated that he can get open out of the X position, something that none of the other WRs on the roster were prepared to do. He cleans up his ball security and a few other technical things and he will light the NFL up in year 2. Juju gets an incomplete. Cain looks to be a diamond in the rough -- remember before his knee injury last year, the Colts were going to start him. Overall, this group can not make more plays than it is because they are not being put in the position to succeed by poor QB play. Hodges missed at least 2 TDs last night.

2. RBs - Conner is clearly better than we all think. Look at the difference in the offense early last night. He is a legitimate starting NFL RB. Whyte is an intersting contrasting piece. Samuels is what he is - a pretty decent specialist back in an offense that moves the LBs and safeties off the LOS. Snell plays hard and can have a role, but he is not really a high-end NFL caliber athlete. You can win with this group, but I would be looking to add some competition here.

3. O-line - they aren't exactly getting dominated, nor are they dominating. Most of the sacks that I see are when they have to share protections with the RBs and TEs -- then the communication and flow breaks down. Kind of easy to understand as injuries have made the RBs and TEs a rotating cast of back-ups. On top of that, the QB is taking plays designed to "chance" the pass rush because the ball should be out in less than 3 seconds and holding it for 5. Couple that with the offensive line redirecting pass rushers into what should be vacant space only to find that the QB has wandered over there in pursuit of a shiny object and you have a toxic combination that makes them look worse than they are. For run blocking, they are the same run-blocking line they have been for 3+ years. This line hasn't just lined up and straight ahead mauled anybody since the early 2000's. That isn't their game. Again, better QB play and things would be fine.

4. Qb - here is the source and solution to all of the team's problems. Ball comes out quicker, with more zip, and better placement everything starts to get into a rhythm and flow. The search for a Ben successor remains ongoing. I think the team needs to take a LONG look at hiring a QB coach that is tasked solely with working with the non-Ben QBs on the roster. Hopefully they can carry Lynch, Hodges, and Rudolph through an off-season that has them combine high-end private coaching (something all the best QBs do early in their careers) and a rigorous team based program and have a brutal Hunger-Games style competition next camp and pre-season.

This

[EzraTank]

Sheesh. Everyone take a breath and relax. Count to 10. Step in off the ledge. Everything is fine, except they can't get competent QB play. That causes a cascade failure across the board that makes it look far far worse than it truly is. We see this all the time in the past 15 years with other teams. Swap out the QB and the rest of the roster goes from woeful to wonderful.

Look at each part in isolation:
1. WRs - Washington has certainly made me eat my words and demonstrated that he more than belongs on an NFL roster. In his ROOKIE season, DJ has demonstrated that he can get open out of the X position, something that none of the other WRs on the roster were prepared to do. He cleans up his ball security and a few other technical things and he will light the NFL up in year 2. Juju gets an incomplete. Cain looks to be a diamond in the rough -- remember before his knee injury last year, the Colts were going to start him. Overall, this group can not make more plays than it is because they are not being put in the position to succeed by poor QB play. Hodges missed at least 2 TDs last night.

2. RBs - Conner is clearly better than we all think. Look at the difference in the offense early last night. He is a legitimate starting NFL RB. Whyte is an intersting contrasting piece. Samuels is what he is - a pretty decent specialist back in an offense that moves the LBs and safeties off the LOS. Snell plays hard and can have a role, but he is not really a high-end NFL caliber athlete. You can win with this group, but I would be looking to add some competition here.

3. O-line - they aren't exactly getting dominated, nor are they dominating. Most of the sacks that I see are when they have to share protections with the RBs and TEs -- then the communication and flow breaks down. Kind of easy to understand as injuries have made the RBs and TEs a rotating cast of back-ups. On top of that, the QB is taking plays designed to "chance" the pass rush because the ball should be out in less than 3 seconds and holding it for 5. Couple that with the offensive line redirecting pass rushers into what should be vacant space only to find that the QB has wandered over there in pursuit of a shiny object and you have a toxic combination that makes them look worse than they are. For run blocking, they are the same run-blocking line they have been for 3+ years. This line hasn't just lined up and straight ahead mauled anybody since the early 2000's. That isn't their game. Again, better QB play and things would be fine.

4. Qb - here is the source and solution to all of the team's problems. Ball comes out quicker, with more zip, and better placement everything starts to get into a rhythm and flow. The search for a Ben successor remains ongoing. I think the team needs to take a LONG look at hiring a QB coach that is tasked solely with working with the non-Ben QBs on the roster. Hopefully they can carry Lynch, Hodges, and Rudolph through an off-season that has them combine high-end private coaching (something all the best QBs do early in their careers) and a rigorous team based program and have a brutal Hunger-Games style competition next camp and pre-season.

Agree with all except #4. Duck and Mason are not the future of this team. Duck is a good #3 guy and Rudolph just doesn't have "it". Lynch had plenty of chances in Denver and from what I've heard people that saw him in Denver say is he had no interest in getting better and was lazy. At this point hopefully Ben will know long before camp whether or not he can throw and still be accurate with zip. If not then you need to sign/trade for a legit veteran backup like Keenan/Dalton/Fitzpatrick to bridge you to a new kid that you draft after next year when we have a #1 pick again.

[86WARD]

O-Line is t halving anythjng when they out number the defensive rush by 2-3 and still let pressure in untouched at times. When 2 guys are coming in barely touched and theres 6 in pass protection, what’s a QB supposed to do? When that happens, shorter drops, faster passes, easier decisions need to be offered and made. Obviously the O-Line couldn’t handle it whether it be communication or athleticism. It was piss-poor.

Play calling was not ideal. 2nd and long you run a screen for a loss...with a bunch of players that can’t get out of their own way all night? Fichtner had a couple nice play calls but quite a few were suspect as well.