Who is behind the horizontal passing game?

[TimmayLake]

We used to blame Canada but things are the same (or even worse) with Arthur Smith as OC. We could previously blame weak QB play with Bibberty and Kenny Pickett but now we have a HOF QB with a laser cannon arm in Rodgers and he's still dinking it 0-3 yards down the field most of the time.

Who is actually giving the directive that we are not allowed to throw the ball down the field or into the middle of the field? Is it Mikey T or is it coming from higher up?

[bradshaw2ben]

It precedes Canada. Haley was brought in to install the quick game. Jethro continued it. Canada perfected it. Arthur Smith dressed it up in a gorilla suit to try and disguise it. All of it is just the living embodiment of Mike Tomlin's brain.

[.Kodiak]

And at least some of it has to do with poor pass protection. Ben had none, Rodgers doesn't trust it....ball comes out quick from old QBs who don't want to get hit.

But it's also a new phase of Tomlin's uber-conservative u-shaped (lower case) offense. Throwing downfield is an obvious risk of interception, but turns out deep drops can lead to sacks for big loss of yards! And fumbles!

My guess is Tomlin views all the short passes (A) as an extension of the run game, keep the clock moving and (B) to "spread" the defense horizontally to create room for the running game. The net effect in practice, of course, is that this only leads to 8-9 in the box and the 2 safeties coming downhill.

[Deebo]

And at least some of it has to do with poor pass protection. Ben had none, Rodgers doesn't trust it....ball comes out quick from old QBs who don't want to get hit.

But it's also a new phase of Tomlin's uber-conservative u-shaped (lower case) offense. Throwing downfield is an obvious risk of interception, but turns out deep drops can lead to sacks for big loss of yards! And fumbles!

My guess is Tomlin views all the short passes (A) as an extension of the run game, keep the clock moving and (B) to "spread" the defense horizontally to create room for the running game. The net effect in practice, of course, is that this only leads to 8-9 in the box and the 2 safeties coming downhill.

It's straight from the Woody Hayes playbook: 3 things can happen when you pass and 2 of them are bad

[DumlinBumlinStumlin]

Tomlin must be taken away

[CKSteeler]

I actually feel bad for Arthur Smith and even to some extent Matt Canada. Both are running neutered versions of "their" offenses with Mike Tomlin dictating to them what he wants called at various moments if not throughout the game. And that's not even touching on his fingerprints being all over the gameplan Monday through Friday.

Arthur Smith's offense is not known for it's drop backing passing being terribly impressive schematically. He relies on the ground game and the play-action as an extension of that. They barely run play-action which most definitely is not an Arthur Smith thing and despite what people think, actual studies on the subject have proven that you don't even need a particularly effective ground game for the play-action to succeed.

Matt Canada's offense was known for things that simply never showed up on film in Pittsburgh. Key components of his offense were never implemented so it's like why bother bringing that guy in at all? So he can run jet sweeps here and there?

[CKSteeler]

Arthur Smith is having his career Tomlin'ed in real time. He may end up out of the league, though he had a decent reputation so maybe he gets another shot.

13.3%. That's how much they run play-action with a coordinator known for his play-action. That's 6th lowest in the league. And it's mostly not good company to be keeping. The Eagles are down there, but their offense has been a mess all year. Otherwise it's bottom feeders.

If Smith can't run play-action, his drop back passing leaves a lot to be desired. It's his bread and butter and it's off the table here.

[bradshaw2ben]

PA should target the middle of the field, but Steelers don’t use it that way—they are actually a disaster on PA:

[.Kodiak]

PA should target the middle of the field, but Steelers don’t use it that way—they are actually a disaster on PA:

Well, yeah, it's because pass pro doesn't hold up long in passing situations....and because they won't target the middle of the field. You're not really fooling the DBs, and even then it's easier for them to get back into position along the sidelines not having to worry about the middle. We should be just ripping teams over the middle to our TEs off PA. With Rodgers and Arthur Smith, it sure seemed like that should be the plan. But Tomlin.

Ben early in his career was absolutely lethal on PA. Historically GREAT. But outside of Munchak, they never had the pass pro to execute it without a super mobile QB, or an oaf like Ben who just shrugged off rushers.

[StillerDownSouth]

Tomlin must be taken away

That's the common denominator. It's like the old saying, if it looks like a duck, smells like a duck and quacks like a duck....guess what it's a duck.

[CKSteeler]

PA should target the middle of the field, but Steelers don’t use it that way—they are actually a disaster on PA:

Well, yeah, it's because pass pro doesn't hold up long in passing situations....and because they won't target the middle of the field. You're not really fooling the DBs, and even then it's easier for them to get back into position along the sidelines not having to worry about the middle. We should be just ripping teams over the middle to our TEs off PA. With Rodgers and Arthur Smith, it sure seemed like that should be the plan. But Tomlin.

Ben early in his career was absolutely lethal on PA. Historically GREAT. But outside of Munchak, they never had the pass pro to execute it without a super mobile QB, or an oaf like Ben who just shrugged off rushers.

Let's be real here. You could give this version of Tomlin the best OL in the league and he wouldn't run play action. He's too scared of the potential negative despite it being the best way to protect a QB and elevate mediocre skill position talent.

They didn't run play action when they had a top 5 OL in the killer B era (and people laughably blamed fat Ben for it). This is another Tomlin thing through and through.

I know you weren't absolving Tomlin, but I'm not going to point at the personnel. The OL has played acceptably well this year (you could argue not as good as the resources put into rebuilding it, but it's above the line for the most part). Most OL's in the league at this point are cobbled together with lower draft picks and FA's. OL play is bad league wide but most teams still run play-action.

[.Kodiak]

They didn't run play action when they had a top 5 OL in the killer B era (and people laughably blamed fat Ben for it). This is another Tomlin thing through and through.

To be fair, I think we can now safely assume Ben wasn't covering for coaches when he said he didn't like to turn his back to the defense (on PA), or get cheap-shotted on sneaks.

Amazing what they still did on offense those years despite a QB eschewing the two most offensive-friendly plays. You see the same thing with TJ not wanting to move around. Tomlin coddles his stars. I can't imagine another HC doing the same in either situation. It just leaves too much on the table. But when the goal is 9-8 instead of winning playoff games, this is what you get.

[pickarooney]

I think 11-0 has a lot to do with this: I imagine Tomlin puffing a cigar at that time and thinking himself a genius thinking one step ahead of the league, then determined to prove himself right year after it's total, epic, and never-ending collapse.

[anpsteel]

And at least some of it has to do with poor pass protection. Ben had none, Rodgers doesn't trust it....ball comes out quick from old QBs who don't want to get hit.

But it's also a new phase of Tomlin's uber-conservative u-shaped (lower case) offense. Throwing downfield is an obvious risk of interception, but turns out deep drops can lead to sacks for big loss of yards! And fumbles!

My guess is Tomlin views all the short passes (A) as an extension of the run game, keep the clock moving and (B) to "spread" the defense horizontally to create room for the running game. The net effect in practice, of course, is that this only leads to 8-9 in the box and the 2 safeties coming downhill.

I appreciate the distinction between lowercase and uppercase U shaped offenses


Minus the random Mason Rudolph inaccurate heave this offenses decidedly lowercase. lol

[LakecrestSteeler]

And at least some of it has to do with poor pass protection. Ben had none, Rodgers doesn't trust it....ball comes out quick from old QBs who don't want to get hit.

But it's also a new phase of Tomlin's uber-conservative u-shaped (lower case) offense. Throwing downfield is an obvious risk of interception, but turns out deep drops can lead to sacks for big loss of yards! And fumbles!

My guess is Tomlin views all the short passes (A) as an extension of the run game, keep the clock moving and (B) to "spread" the defense horizontally to create room for the running game. The net effect in practice, of course, is that this only leads to 8-9 in the box and the 2 safeties coming downhill.

It makes you wonder what the hell would have happened with Prime Ben, Bell and AB without Tomlin.

[955876]

And at least some of it has to do with poor pass protection. Ben had none, Rodgers doesn't trust it....ball comes out quick from old QBs who don't want to get hit.

But it's also a new phase of Tomlin's uber-conservative u-shaped (lower case) offense. Throwing downfield is an obvious risk of interception, but turns out deep drops can lead to sacks for big loss of yards! And fumbles!

My guess is Tomlin views all the short passes (A) as an extension of the run game, keep the clock moving and (B) to "spread" the defense horizontally to create room for the running game. The net effect in practice, of course, is that this only leads to 8-9 in the box and the 2 safeties coming downhill.

It makes you wonder what the hell would have happened with Prime Ben, Bell and AB without Tomlin.

Cowher could have gotten another ring.

[Gonzo]

This Topic title is obviously a rhetorical question.

It is not a mystery who is responsible
which is why it galled me to no end at his last press conference when he said that this U shape wasnt by design but due to lack of player "production"

[.Kodiak]

Cowher could have gotten another ring.

Cowher himself said on Ben's show that team he left was so good it was set up to win MULTIPLE championships. Tomlin got one. I think Cowher believes they should have won a couple more. And, yeah, with a good coach I'm inclined to agree.

[Gonzo]

Cowher could have gotten another ring.

Cowher himself said on Ben's show that team he left was so good it was set up to win MULTIPLE championships. Tomlin got one. I think Cowher believes they should have won a couple more. And, yeah, with a good coach I'm inclined to agree.

That team was incredible with great assistance coaches
Arians has as many SBs as MT
Tomlins chokehold on risk damned that team