Scunge wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:59 am
I think it is possible to rectify this offense and the whole team in general but they are going to have to think outside the box in one respect.
You have 11 games already in the bank. I have not done any playoff calculators but I would have to think that one more win will clinch a playoff spot.
That being said, I think this team will go 2-2 and lose 2 out of 3 games in the Buffalo, Indy and Browns games, ending up 13-3.
Here is the thing, yes, I hear those people that go man it sucks the Steelers didn't get a bye week. Yes, it sucks that we didn't get a mini bye after Thanksgiving. But, thanks to that 11 game win streak, you have put yourselves in an enviable position of almost using these next 4 games as a late season "preseason' type of tuneup heading into the playoffs.
Having a first round bye and home field advantage means nothing to me in a covid, pandemic season where there may not be any crowds. Would it be the worst thing in the world to have to go on the road and face Indy in a dome playoff game? Not really.
Anyway, my point is that these next 4 games should not be the status quo, sorry JuJu, but you guys do need to change some things. They should be adjusting their offense, they need to figure out things on defense too.
They are not really under any pressure to win out, but 4 games gives them a lot of time to iron stuff out, for a lot of younger players to get experience and repetitions. This season can truly be special if they seize this opportunity, but if they are just stubborn and place the blame on drops and injuries and do not address their weaknesses and complacency then it will be a quick one and done loss in the playoffs.
This team, lead by Tomlin and somewhat influenced by Ben's inflexibility, will continue to 'do what is does.' That's to say, it will play the risk/reward analytics game.
This season, their main goal is to keep Ben healthy (available); it always has been. But, once they reached enough wins -- where they felt they where basically in the dance -- they focused even more so on that main goal. You can see it in their last two games.
Recently, their risk/reward philosophy is on full display. Play good/great D/ST and have an offensive plan that keeps Ben available. They won't take many risks with Ben against unknow D's that have the players/ability to hurt him; example WFT. They took a little more risk with Ben, but not much, against a D that can hurt him but they're much more familiar with, in the depleted Ravens. Although, I think they give BALs D line pressure way to much credit, but they do blitz a lot, so there's that.
If you look back at the season, you can see this philosophy/plan in action. When did we have an offensive game plan that was willing to take bigger risks with Ben? Against teams like DEN minus V Miller, CLEV minus dickhead MG, TENN, DAL, and CIN we felt Ben was pretty safe so we aired it out more with deeper shots. One of the other factors they used was....'how important is a win (or loss) against THIS team?' Obviously, division games are most important, conference games and so on. But, they still plan very differently (less risk with Ben) against BAL as opposed to CIN -- warranted or not.
So, ask yourself....how important is this win/loss against the Bills? How much damage can their D front seven do to Ben? If they are more like Cincy (and weather permits) they will let Ben air it out and hold the ball longer and more often -- if not, they won't.
With Tomlin, one thing is for sure, they will ease into this game and see how the Bills D is going to play Ben. That's a big reason why we are terrible on our first O game series or two; Tomlin wants to see the other teams' defensive game plan, so he won't risk Ben until he feels he has that info. Part of our early scripted O game plan is keeping Ben safe while gathering info on their D -- which usually means easily defended, vanilla play calls.
Otherwise known as Tomlin living in his fears, taking what the D gives you, and most of all, playing the risk/reward game with Ben.
My analysis tells me it's all about risks and Ben!
Of course, my analysis is free, so it's probably not worth much.
