Gotta give props where it's due.

[Edman]

Bruce Arians called a solid offensive game today. Not once have I seen a lame bubble screen.

[Burghfan58]

And they actually ran a regular successful screen on the last TD.

[kmsteelerwr15]

I thought he called a great game today as well and the players executed better too.

[ALLD]

The game plan was good even though the players did not execute at times. When are we going to throw it to Wallace on successive downs in order to open up the rest of the O?

[tube517]

That first TD drive set the tone. Props to Arians.

[Wallace108]

Yep. Great job today by Arians. I loved the game plan and the calls.
And the same with LeBeau and the defense. All around great job today by the coaches.

[Polamalu Princess]

It is nice to be able to say "Good job Arians."

[steelpride12]

Yes I loved the play calling today and not much running up the middle on first down. Good job all together and Arians proved today he can mix it up and give us strong matchups!

[zulater]

I want to see two good games in a row before saying anything that I'll be looking to take back later.

[Texasteel]

I want to see two good games in a row before saying anything that I'll be looking to take back later.

You can't even give him an ataboy for one game?

[zulater]

You can't even give him an ataboy for one game?

I tried to, but it got stuck on the way out!

[pepsyman1]

I'll give Bruce an "attaboy" for this one. There are still things I see that really annoy me, usually when he tries to have us run out of those different bunch formations, but he made some good adjustments to what our previous problems were. We had some quicker developing pass plays this week and Ben pulled the trigger on them and hit the receivers in rhythm. At the end of the game on that last drive we even saw Redman run effectively out of an I formation a couple of times...gave me a warm fuzzy inside...lol

[Psycho Ward 86]

I dont know why people find it so necessary to praise or scorn Bruce Arians based on our offensive performance. You really, really, dont have to, and you really, really, shouldnt. Play calling is really near the bottom of the pyramid of importance in football. Just execute damnit. Arians is lucky he has so much talent to make himself look better than he really is. The Steelers are STILL one of THE most underachieving offenses in the NFL, and Arians is STILL not efficient. Our redzone offense and 3rd down conversion % on the season is still pitiful. This is only one game fellas, and the two starting D-linemen were out for half the game, and the Raider's best defensive player was out for the entire game.

I guess people don't mind dealing with reoccurring problems until they....reoccur perhaps? BA doesnt get shit for props from me until he proves that this is what a Bruce Arians-Offense can do on a regular basis.

[Texasteel]

I tried to, but it got stuck on the way out!

That one comment speaks volumes.

[fansince'76]

This is only one game fellas, and the two starting D-linemen were out for half the game....

And our OL, which is no great shakes to begin with, has been a M.A.S.H. unit all season. It's a wash.

[Butch]

When Ben plays Great the offense will roll. Ben scrambled twice for some major gains and one Touchdown. I blame the lack of a run game on the MASH unit oline and that in itself limits a lot of what B.A. can do. The main thing I did not see was 3 bubble screens to Hines when they were expecting it so I'll give him credit for that. Didn't like the timing of the trick play or the execution of it either so he loses points on that one.

[Steeldude]

what? arians used shorter and/or sharper passing routes and lebeau rushed more than the 3 players and the steelers won? say it isn't so

or this another case of the steelers facing a team with an average to below QB? that being said, i think if the steelers blitzed like this against the patriots it would have been a better game.

[zulater]

That one comment speaks volumes.

It was a joke. Just not a good one.

My serious opinion is that I want to see a coherent looking offense more than once in a month before I go overboard in my praise for BA.

[Dino 6 Rings]

As an official Bruce hater..........clap clap clap....attaboy Bruce attaboy

[JayC]

i give props to the secondary. they hit hard and looked motivated. but i'm not going to give too high praise of them. It's Jason Campbell. When they shut down flacco, marsha, rivers, manning, other top afc qbs then i'd give them major props. still, nice job after the performance a week ago.

ba was decent as well, we didn't feel as predictable as usual. but still, why does he insist on calling a reverse every single game?? it worked this time because flozell held his man but that was like the first time this year and probably won't work again.

[Craic]

I think BA and Ben both went back to the playbook a little humbled. Ben said, "Hey, I'll start running the plays sent in and get the ball out quicker instead of looking for the big play every play." BA said, "Thanks, and I will actually start calling some passes on first down and some runs on second downs."

I give em both props for a well called game. Ben seemed to resort to "playground football" at just the right times, and played within the system the other times. BA seemed to have the right plays.

[NCSteeler]

And our OL, which is no great shakes to begin with, has been a M.A.S.H. unit all season. It's a wash.

Haven't you heard FS, it's only the great Peyton that is patching his team together with bubblegum.

[Galax Steeler]

I'll give him some props for a good game.

[Raleigh Steel]

nobody is a bigger basher of BA (say that 5 times real fast) than i am. but i enjoyed the way the offense looked today. i asked these questions during the game:

was that a slant pass i just saw?
was that a screen pass?
was that a quick pass?
did they just use a lead blocker on that successful run?
did they remember that we are allowed to throw to heath miller?

but the bigger questions are, why don't we see that every game, and will we see it again?

but for today...good job brucie.

oh, and for the lebeau complaining as well....that was steelers defense we saw today. lots of pressure, and the corners played tight coverage. did anybody notice how scared darren mcfadden was? if it wasn't for the countless BS penalties, this game would have been even more lopsided.

well done by everybody...the entire organization gets a standing O. keep this going boys!

[zulater]

By all accounts, or at least statistically the Raiders have a better defense than the Patriots. Even without Nnamdi Asomugha across the board the Raiders have better personell than the Patriots have defensively. Yet somehow we put together an effective game plan against the Raiders but completely shit the bed against the 29th ranked defense of the Patriots?! And the Patriots knew going into that game that they owned our offense, that's why they deffered the kick-off in the first half, putting our offense on the field!

Sorry, I actually am enjoying yesterday's win, but I still can't get all warm and gooey about the offense just yet when I know they squandered so much just a week earliar.

[Texasteel]

Nothing says that the defense won't fall flat on their face again as well, but I will give them a pat on the back as well as the offense for a very good game, and hope to see more of the same next week.

It's time for a little Buffalo Hunt.

[HometownGal]

Nothing says that the defense won't fall flat on their face again as well, but I will give them a pat on the back as well as the offense for a very good game, and hope to see more of the same next week.

BINGO. I'm still a bit suspect about the defense, but I will give them huge kudos for what I feel was their best game of the season thus far. The O gave them a big lead and they fiercely protected it.

[zulater]

Nothing says that the defense won't fall flat on their face again as well, but I will give them a pat on the back as well as the offense for a very good game, and hope to see more of the same next week.

It's time for a little Buffalo Hunt.

The defense "fell flat" once all year, that's how they came to be the number one scoring defense in the NFL for the season.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

This thread is a chuckle.

Last week Tom Brady is on fire and the Steelers Offense has to throw the ball around to keep up and abandon the run- then most here are on Arians for not calling a good game. The Steelers fail to get to the opposing QB at all.

This week, its Jason Campbell and Bruce Gradkowski getting harrassed, sacked and going 3 and out-suddenly the masses on this board think its all because of the OC.

Yes, double reverses, throwbacks from Randle El, short crossing patterns that turn into long TD runs, happen against bad teams. Yet that kind of stuff doesnt work against the Patriots and Ravens. That is a win against a team they should win......I'll be more impressed when we can beat the teams we are not supposed to win against.

[fansince'76]

Yes, double reverses, throwbacks from Randle El, short crossing patterns that turn into long TD runs, happen against bad teams. Yet that kind of stuff doesnt work against the Patriots and Ravens. That is a win against a team they should win......I'll be more impressed when we can beat the teams we are not supposed to win against.

Although I didn't share the sentiment, more than a couple people had us losing to the Raiders and declared our season to essentially be over and a repeat of '09 after the Pats game. However, I agree to a point - the Raiders are a team we should have beaten soundly and we did. No reason to get too up about it. To paraphrase John Wooden, keep your head at the peaks, and the valleys will be a lot more tolerable.