Home Steelers 2015 Season Gameplan, Execution Combine for Steelers’ Futility

Gameplan, Execution Combine for Steelers’ Futility

by Steeldad

The late college and NFL head coach John McKay was once asked about his team’s execution and he said, “I’m in favor of it.” The 2015 Pittsburgh Steelers are not exactly the mid-70’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers but after yesterday’s loss in Baltimore the similarities are painfully clear.

The never-ending debate about this team is whether or not the team’s success or lack thereof is due to the coaching or the players’ execution. Unless you know the inner workings of the team intimately then it can be very hard to tell.

What I saw in the Steelers’ loss to the Ravens Sunday was a combination of both and it really never had to be this way.

Let me start with the gameplan on defense. The Steelers were facing a quarterback with below average mobility and a big arm as well as little experience in the offense he was running. In my mind, wouldn’t it behoove you if you’re Keith Butler to come up with a plan that goes after those shortcomings?

All day long, Butler seemed satisfied to rush three and four defenders while playing his DB’s off the receivers. This should have been an immediate flashback to the first half of the Denver game. Because of this plan, Mallett needed to only make one read and throw. The pass rush had no chance and neither did the secondary.

Only on a handful of occasions did the defense come with five pass rushers and I’m left to wonder why. It should come as no surprise to you that Mallett threw for a career high in passing yards yesterday.

Offensively, it was hard to argue with the success the Steelers had running the ball on the opening drive but that doesn’t mean I can’t question why Todd Haley didn’t stick with what was working. This offense has been clicking because of Ben Roethlisberger and the passing game and they were facing a secondary that was banged up to say the least.

Only in the second half did the Steelers start to take advantage of what the Ravens were giving them in terms of a lot of underneath stuff to Heath Miller and the wide receivers. By then however it was too little too late. DeAngelo Williams rushed for just over 100 yards Sunday but 3/4 of those yards came in the first quarter as the team got behind and needed to throw more.

The execution part from Sunday is easier to explain. Ben Roethlisberger was off and that’s putting it mildly. Was he frustrated over the ‘run-first’ gameplan? Maybe but he has to overcome that. He also suffered from some poor routes and drops by Martavis Bryant who almost seems to be regressing of late in my opinion.

The defensive lack of execution appeared to center on communication and that’s not the first time we’ve seen that this year. Ryan Shazier and members of the secondary were not on the same page several times again and those issues led to another huge day of third down conversions for the opposing offense.

We can throw daggers at Mike Tomlin and Todd Haley and Keith Butler all day today and many would be warranted but the lack of execution can’t all be on them though either. The players must take accountability too but doesn’t this disconnect speak volumes for what is obviously a bigger problem?

Photo Courtesy espn.go.com

 

 

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