When all else fails, just give em the Flacco specialOriginally Posted by NCSteeler
When all else fails, just give em the Flacco special
The starting quarterback for the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers can not accurately throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field. Full stop. That is the harsh and perhaps unfair reality that needs to be said out loud and acknowledged. He has plenty of arm to get the ball there. But think back. When was the last time he hit a guy in stride down the sideline? When was the last time a WR didn't have to contort himself downfield as the throw went to the wrong shoulder or drifted out of bounds?
Makes total sense...unfortunately...
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Makes total sense...unfortunately...
Enthroned Into The Good Old Boys Club - 2024
I think he may have hit Claypool in stride down the field once or twice earlier in the season on long accurate throws, but yes, his accuracy past 15-20 yards leaves something to be desired this season.
I am torn on Ben R continuing to play past this season. It's obviously his and the Steelers front office decision to make, and not mine. I know at some point soon this team needs to get younger at the QB spot and find his successor, and with the Steelers cap situation next offseason, I wonder if it might be best for all if he retires and the Steelers get some cap relief from his base salary next season.
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Oh give me a break, torn on BR playing past this season? Remember last season when we were 8-8 with atrocious QB play? We are 11-1 and currently hold the #1 seed people. Please name me on FA QB this last off season gets us to 11-1? I’ll wait . . .
We are 1 win away from a playoff spot. So we lost a game, we just played 3 games in 12 days, maybe some of you never played football in real life, but players need that time off to rest their bodies. If it doesn’t happen they start getting worn out as games wear on. It was so obvious the second half of this game that they were completely gassed. Hell, Hilton just came back, Williamson was fresh, Tuitt was fresh and all played just fine. This team needs some rest unfortunately. Hopefully Pouncey and Conner will be refreshed for the stretch run and maybe we can find a way to rest some other key guys (Spillane will get a couple weeks off). I am hoping Coach will just let them rest this week with limited practice time so they can heal up.
I'm looking at BR playing past this season from the perspective of the salary cap next year and decisions Steelers will need to make on players coming due for new contracts. I am not saying it based on last night's game.
It would give them some flexibility next offseason if Ben did retire to retain some younger players. I think Ben is going to count $41 million against the cap if I am not mistaken. Some of that is pro-rated signing bonus so Steelers would not get that part of the money back in all likelihood. Most likely Ben plays out his contract next year, and then both sides evaluate the situation heading into the 2022 season. There are ways for the Steelers to sign guys where bigger cap hits occur in following years, but I also know next year is all messed up because of the reduced cap, and the Steelers will likely need to cut or restructure players just to get under the cap............and that does not even count signing guys who are free agents after this year. I realize how bad things were without Ben last year, and I certainly do not think Mason Rudolph or Duck are the future starting QB of this team.
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Exactly.
Way too many people never played the game and simply don't understand that harsh reality. It makes more sense to blame the quarterback that keeps throwing inaccurate passes that keep bouncing off of receiver's hands and chests.
He threw a beautiful ball to McFarland down the sideline, but he couldn't adjust to the ball like NFL players are supposed to be able to do.
This team needs some time off. They need some players to get healthy.
The team is 11-1 and people are losing their minds and fear the team is circling the drain. They just played 3 games in 12 days, and when they played last night were the first team in history to have less than 5 days rest that played a team with more than 10 days rest. In other words, they got screwed by the entire situation. It doesn't mean the team is imploding.
They need to come in off the ledge.
I suspect that they are going to run the ball better when Pouncey and Conner are back healthy.
I suspect that they are throwing a million short passes because the most important thing right now is to keep Ben healthy. If they lose Ben, the season is over....period.
I suspect that the team is going to open things up more, use some stuff they haven't put on film, and throw the ball down the field more often in more important games....like playoff games.
They've taken a couple hits in the form of injuries. They need to adjust and the players that are taking their places on the field will improve with more playing time until the starters return.
Let's give the team a chance to get back on their feet and see how they finish the season before we throw dirt on them.
11-1 and the sky is falling. Come on people.
The sky is not falling. But the cracks have been visible all season. It's not an overreaction to point out a season long trend.
Ben is off on deep passes. To a degree that for 2 weeks in a row the defensive gameplan didn't really factor it in. No way you squash your LBs and safeties together like the Ravens and WFT did if you are.
Once? Okay. The Ravens are a division foe. Crap happens. Twice? Now we have a trend. A blueprint if you will.
Pointing that out is hardly chicken little freaking out. The open question is does the team have a counter move? So far for 12 games, the offense has not had another "move". It was basically the 4-5 receiver short passing game or punting. While it isn't quite that extreme, it's not exactly a varied offense.
Again, I'm no great shakes at breaking this all down, but I see plenty of playmakers. So why the struggle? All I got is that it's a horrid run blocking line. And that the tick or two that Ben is off AND the inability of receivers to adjust means the passing game lacks a vertical element.
Hmmm... interesting. Thinking back to the Dallas game, the Cowboys kept daring us to pass deep on them. We never did.
That might also be what Montez Sweat was screaming about after the game. Hmmm...
I do occasionally miss seeing ben hold the ball for 10 secs and pump fake 3x then go deep
If they keep dropping 7 or 8 back in coverage i'd like to see him take extra time for plays to develop
Conner has a 4.4 yards per carry average this season. That’s not too bad and he’s been out for the last two games. Let’s see how the offense is with him and pouncey back. Nelson and hopefully Haden back on defense should help too.
Here is a scary stat:
The Steelers have attempted a total (TOTAL) of 11 passes down the middle of the field of fifteen yards or more.
(JuJu was targeted/caught 7 of those.)
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Offensively the Steelers have had issues since week1, even with the high scoring outcomes. Over the season the little things never got truly fixed because we kept winning. Every week some analysts were pointing out little things here and there. NOW, it has cost us a game.
You see the same thing with the Chiefs too. They are good enough to win most weeks even with the little things they do wrong. Against the right team or in the right situation this can equal a loss. I have no desire to argue and point/counter point what those little things are or are not but we all know they exist.
Neither team has to fix much really to go on a big playoff run. Same can be said for a few teams though. It's coming down to details and focus. The talent is there, the execution is off. If it gets fixed the Steelers stand a very good chance at number7. If not, they probably have an early exit from the playoffs. It's no different starting 11-1 or 6-6 after 12 games. This is when you have to put it all together and make that push. The 4th quarter of the season is here.
Interesting stat about Ben getting rid of the ball quickly/not getting sacked in 255 consecutive pass attempts.
That is third all-time. It is 1 behind Washington (1991) with 256 straight pass attempts... and 520 behind Miami (1988-89) who didn’t allow a sack for freakin’ 775 pass attempts!!!
That would seem to be a problem. Perhaps that is why there is no running room?Here is a scary stat:
The Steelers have attempted a total (TOTAL) of 11 passes down the middle of the field of fifteen yards or more.
(JuJu was targeted/caught 7 of those.)
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Exactly, but our deep passes need to go to Claypool and Washington with a sprinkling to Juju and Dionte. For some reason we aren’t doing that so much. If we start hitting 2-3 of those a game, running room opens up big time.
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