Steelers Finding Little Difference Between Haley and Arians

Let me start by saying this isn’t an “anti-Todd Haley” (OK maybe slightly) article and this isn’t a call for Arizona Head Coach Bruce Arians to return to Pittsburgh either.

I was not a Bruce Arians guy during his last couple of years in Pittsburgh and I wasn’t unhappy to see him go. I still to this day think the way he “retired” and left was one of the most poorly managed things I’ve ever seen done by the Rooney’s but still, I was ready for something new in the offense.

Arians was let go because Art Rooney II wanted to re-establish the run, get better in the red zone and keep Ben Roethlisberger upright and healthy. I’m not so sure these goals have been accomplished.

Despite the Steelers winning on Sunday in Jacksonville, I have to question the current offensive coordinator much in the same way I used to question Arians. The Jaguars came in with the one of the NFL’s worst defenses in almost every statistical category. The only thing they did well with was sacking the quarterback where they came in ranked second.

They sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times yesterday but more on the sacks later.

Jacksonville entered at 0-4 and had not surrendered less than 33 points in any of those four losses. This should have been easy pickings for Todd Haley and the Steelers’ offense which was the only offense in the league ranked in the top ten in passing, rushing and total offense.

Haley’s offense scored nine points Sunday. Dick LeBeau’s much-maligned defense scored seven.

I thought I had seen too many wide receiver screens under Arians but then Haley came along and has trumped him in that area. The Steelers’ offense yesterday did nothing, absolutely nothing in terms of attacking the Jaguars’ defense down-field. If it wasn’t left, it was right and if it wasn’t right it was left.

By the time Roethlisberger took an actual shot down-field the Jaguars were long expecting it.

I can’t refute the numbers that the offense has put up so far this season in terms of yards but if anyone thinks this is a well-oiled machine right not then I also have ocean front property in Nebraska for you too. Look no further than another culprit that resorted in Arians’ dismissal which is the red zone.

Despite scoring a red zone touchdown yesterday, the Steelers rank 26th in the league in scoring TDs when in the red zone. In Haley’s first two seasons they ranked 12th and 16th in the same department. Not terrible by any stretch but should be better.

During Arians’ five seasons as the OC, the team averaged 15th in the NFL which is four spots better than where the offense would average in two plus years of Todd Haley. The offense has essentially stayed stagnant.

One of the other knocks on Bruce Arians was that his down-field passing game was bad for Roethlisberger because of the abuse he was taking from opposing defenses. It was a fair assumption to be honest. Roethlisberger was sacked on average 43 times a season during Arians’ five years as offensive coordinator and I don’t think Arians did enough to get Roethlisberger out of the pocket.

Ironically, the same thing is now true of Haley who rarely ever gets Big Ben on the move which is his strongest asset as a quarterback.

Back to the sack issue…. Roethlisberger has now been sacked 15 times in five games this year. I’m no mathematician but I believe that averages out to three times a game. If this trend holds, Roethlisberger would be sacked 48 times in 2014.

Bringing back the run was also a big reason for Haley coming in and in 2014 it’s working. The Steelers rank fourth in the NFL in team rushing so this appears to be on the upswing and much of that is due to Le’Veon Bell. So just how bad was the running game under Bruce Arians? In his five seasons calling the plays, the Steelers average rank was 14th.

By comparison, Haley’s rushing attack would average 19th and that’s with the current ranking figured in.

Art Rooney II brought in Todd Haley to re-establish the run, improve the red zone numbers and to keep Roethlisberger healthy and upright. The only thing I can find that is substantially different is the running game. I can’t deny it’s improved and has gotten better.

Still, the difference between Arians and Haley isn’t all that different. The offense still struggles to keep Big Ben upright despite decent success late last year and it clearly has moments of absolute futility too. I was OK with Bruce Arians leaving but Todd Haley was not the guy I was hoping for to replace him.

As a fan, I’m stuck with what I have but I also know Bruce Arians wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought he was.

Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on Trib-Live Radio Steelers Pre-Game

photo courtesy bleacherreport.com