"You always open yourself up for criticism and evaluation when you are unsuccessful. We don’t worry about that element of it. We focus on winning, because when you win you don’t have those questions."Ok, we've had a couple of days now to rid ourselves of some of the sting from Sunday's embarrassment. Hopefully everyone has begun to put it behind them and focus their attention on Monday's game against Miami. But whether you have or not, I've got a hot button issue I'd like to discuss with you all this morning - Bruce Arians. Specifically, I've noticed a lot of buzz this season, mostly after the three losses (can't imagine why), suggesting that when things go wrong, it's all Bruce Arians' fault...So what I'm trying to figure out is - is this true?
CAVEAT: Let me make sure I say this upfront - I personally am not sold on Arians as this teams "Offensive Guru." Nonetheless, I'm hesitant to blame all of the offensive woes on him, for reasons I will discuss below...
In terms of offensive play calling, Arians is certainly the natural person to blame. And from a broader perspective, everyone wants to hold someone culpable when things go wrong, so who better than a guy who is not the untouchable Head Coach, nor Pittsburgh's defensive darling Dick LeBeau? But are we blaming him more because we NEED someone to blame? Or because he legitimately made all the wrong decisions?
Let's talk about one of the grossly understated positives that Arians offers - his rapport with Big Ben. After The Whis left it became abundantly clear to all of us that he and Big Ben had not exactly been famous friends. From what I gathered, Ben didn't appreciate being dictated to and thought he should have had more of a say in what plays did/did not get called. So in this vein, as soon as Arians took over back in May, he told Ben - "This is not my offense. From now on this is your offense."
Accordingly, under Arians, Ben now participates fully in the game planning, attending sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays and is encouraged to tweak the plans as he sees fit. A copy of the final draft is even faxed to Ben's house on Tuesday evenings. This all has helped amount to a great dynamic between the two, which in my opinion is essential to the team's success. Even more importantly though, it has vaulted Big Ben into a position as leader of the team. With The Bus and Peezy gone, the only voice left in the locker room is Ben's, which in turn makes him more responsible for how the team fares. And it's showing...
Also, Arians is a former QB (Virginia Tech), and was Peyton Manning's 1st NFL QB coach in Indy from '98-'00. So his knowledge of the position and how to approach coaching it is relatively credible. Of course, on the flipside - more recently he was responsible for holding the Cleveland Browns offensive reins from '01-'03 before joining the Steelers, a job which could certainly be picked out as evidence of his inadequacy. Especially considering he was FIRED after two seasons...But really, what Offensive Coordinator could have been successful with Tim Couch (and no one else)?
Overall, Arians' approach with Big Ben has clearly helped the young QB mature. Through 10 games, Ben has already eclipsed most of the numbers he put up in his 1st three seasons - tossing the rock for 2215 yards, 23 TDs, and holding the 2nd spot in the league in terms of QB rating (behind only Tom Brady). So I don't know that any of us have much room to complain about Arians' impact on Ben and the Offense in the grand scheme.
One could definitely point to Ben and the receivers (as some of the best and brightest in Steelers blogging have - See Related Reads) for some of the sacks suffered against the Jets Sunday, but to be completely honest, I think the miserable Offensive Line should be brought to bear the brunt of our overarching frustrations. They consistently let even the worst of Defenses get to Big Ben, and in fact have allowed him to be sacked 30 times and hurried innumerably more. I've mentioned the sack factor before, but let me reiterate again - after Sunday's 7 Jet sack extravaganza, only one QB in the league has been knocked down more - Jon Kitna in Detroit (who only has 13 TDs, but 11 INTs). In fact, half of that 30 total came solely from three games - Arizona (4), Denver (4), and the Jets (7). This has become such a detriment that Tomlin has even made it the #1 priority for improvement. Bottom line - It's tough to be effective either running or throwing the football when you have no blocking or protection. Maybe if our Offensive Line Coach spent more time coaching and less time watching/forwarding internet porn, we could show some progress in this area...just saying.
So what do you all think? Is Arians doing an ok job? Should we be worried about his viability long term? Is he helping improve the offense or impeding our success? Love to hear your thoughts...
PS - I know it's extremely hard to see, but that poster above reads:
"Remember, a good defense is essential to winning in football. The same is true when it comes to preventing unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases."Bruce Arians is so publicly conscious.
RELATED READS:
Sacks Leave Steelers Offense Sunk [Fanhouse]
Can the Steelers protect their quarterback? [Post-Gazette]
Can Faneca Help This Struggling Offensive Line? [Behind The Steel Curtain]
Offensive Line and Special Teams Amount to Fatal Flaws [DC Steeler Nation]
What We Learned, Jets [NFL From The Sidelines]
