How much did or should the weather affect play calling?

[BlitzburghRockCity]

BG32 and I were talking last night during the game alittle about this so I figured it might be a good thread to start and see what you all think too.

Obviously Ike was in town last night and anybody that saw the game could see the swirling wind inside the stadium and the crazy sideways rain that was falling off and on. Before the game they talked to Arians about the game play and he said that he asked Ben if he wanted to alter the game plan at all due to his shoulder and the weather, he said no way he wanted to stay as is. Now anybody, as a fan, who knows Ben knows he's going to be a gamer and tough it out no matter what. The wind was at our backs in quarters 1 and 3 and that's when we did the majority of our passing. In quarters 2 and 4 we ran more. It makes sense to me but still there definitely some questionable calls, like the screen passes to Hines that blew up, a couple runs by Willie when the defense was obviously stacked to stop it and an audible could have gone for a big gainer, etc.

Overall I don't think Arians called a bad game, save for a few screwups. He's not the best OC in the NFL by any means but I think so far this year through 2 games he's done ok.

Had the weather not been crazy I would have imagined we'd have attacked that secondary like there was no tomorrow and torched every one of them with Hines, Heath, Santonio, Nate, Moore, and hell pee wee herman if we had the chance. LOL.

Normally with a 10-6 score one could conclude that we played down to our competition but last night Im not so sure anybody in the league could have done more than we did in those condition but that's just my

[AZ_Steeler]

The weather affected play by about 25,000,000 SA Gold points... Had the weather not been so crappy they would have kicked the FG and went up by 7 to cover the spread Or they would have been well ahead to cover anyways.

[Koopa]

BG32 and I were talking last night during the game alittle about this so I figured it might be a good thread to start and see what you all think too.

Obviously Ike was in town last night and anybody that saw the game could see the swirling wind inside the stadium and the crazy sideways rain that was falling off and on. Before the game they talked to Arians about the game play and he said that he asked Ben if he wanted to alter the game plan at all due to his shoulder and the weather, he said no way he wanted to stay as is. Now anybody, as a fan, who knows Ben knows he's going to be a gamer and tough it out no matter what. The wind was at our backs in quarters 1 and 3 and that's when we did the majority of our passing. In quarters 2 and 4 we ran more. It makes sense to me but still there definitely some questionable calls, like the screen passes to Hines that blew up, a couple runs by Willie when the defense was obviously stacked to stop it and an audible could have gone for a big gainer, etc.

Overall I don't think Arians called a bad game, save for a few screwups. He's not the best OC in the NFL by any means but I think so far this year through 2 games he's done ok.

Had the weather not been crazy I would have imagined we'd have attacked that secondary like there was no tomorrow and torched every one of them with Hines, Heath, Santonio, Nate, Moore, and hell pee wee herman if we had the chance. LOL.

Normally with a 10-6 score one could conclude that we played down to our competition but last night Im not so sure anybody in the league could have done more than we did in those condition but that's just my

arians is a bum wind or not............ and don't ever mention nates name again when talking about attacking a secondary, the secondary loves when they throw to this bum cause they know they don't have to worry about making a tackle cause he'll drop it anyway

[BlitzburghRockCity]

i was really disappointed in Nate too, this is the 2nd week in a row when he had the chance to make a great play for us and just flat out dropped it. He's not showing any improvement this year so far.

It's too early to throw in the terrible towel on Arians quite yet, so far we:

2-0 on the season

Parker has 3 TD's and 2 100 yds games

Hines is on pace for a record year with TD's

Santonio is stretching the defense down the field for big plays

Ben is making good decisions and is on target with his throws.

Things to work on:

Getting Mendenhall more involved

Use Moore on 3rd downs more

Use Heath Miller more especially in the red zone so we don't get predictable

Use Spaeth especially on side routes and in the corner of the end zone

[Stlrs4Life]

I agree, the weathetr had every reason to why we called the game we did. All FGs I think were kicked in the same end zone also.

[Black@Gold Forever32]

I don't know if Ben is spreading the ball around that well yet...Only 3 caught passes last night...Ward and Holmes each had 5...Miller had 2.....Don't remember the totals from the Texans game but Ward had 6 of Big Ben's 14 completions...One problem Ben is only averaging 15 attempts a game which is just retarded...lol Pay 100 million for the guy to throw the ball 15 attempts a game...lol

Now I'm talking trash on Ben since I do want to see him throw more.....But this coaching staff better not waste this guys talent....He is to talented to just manage a football game....lol

If you're just going to throw the ball 15 times a game you might as well not even resigned him...Now I'm sure somebody will take this completely the wrong way...I'm glad Ben is resigned but you can bring any tool in here to throw the ball 15 times a game and not pay him 100 million...lol I thought Bill Cowher was gone?....lol

[Koopa]

I don't know if Ben is spreading the ball around that well yet...Only 3 caught passes last night...Ward and Holmes each had 5...Miller had 2.....Don't remember the totals from the Texans game but Ward had 6 of Big Ben's 14 completions...One problem Ben is only averaging 15 attempts a game which is just retarded...lol Pay 100 million for the guy to throw the ball 15 attempts a game...lol

Now I'm talking trash on Ben since I do want to see him throw more.....But this coaching staff better not waste this guys talent....He is to talented to just manage a football game....lol

If you're just going to throw the ball 15 times a game you might as well not even resigned him...Now I'm sure somebody will take this completely the wrong way...I'm glad Ben is resigned but you can bring any tool in here to throw the ball 15 times a game and not pay him 100 million...lol I thought Bill Cowher was gone?....lol

cowher lives on through arians, when tomlin came everyone on the offensive side should have gotten the boot....... i think ben's career will be wasted on the fact that they will never take off his diapers........ sure he threw 30+ tds last year, but they still act like he's a girl and only let him throw a few times a game, with the wr's we have he should have at least 30 attempts a game blow outs or not.............. and ****ing willie should never carry 25 times, sure he looks like a god against the browns and texans, but eventually he will break down, what the **** was the point of drafting mendenhall if all he's gonna do is kick returns?? dude should get at least 10 carries a game, **** what happened in preseason........... and nate needs to be shot in the damn knee, sweed should be out there, sweed may drop passes but will always come through in the clutch

this team has a lot of improving to do if they want to be considered legit contenders......... i wouldn't be surprised if we get beat down by the eagles next week........

[Black@Gold Forever32]

cowher lives on through arians, when tomlin came everyone on the offensive side should have gotten the boot....... i think ben's career will be wasted on the fact that they will never take off his diapers........ sure he threw 30+ tds last year, but they still act like he's a girl and only let him throw a few times a game, with the wr's we have he should have at least 30 attempts a game blow outs or not.............. and ****ing willie should never carry 25 times, sure he looks like a god against the browns and texans, but eventually he will break down, what the **** was the point of drafting mendenhall if all he's gonna do is kick returns?? dude should get at least 10 carries a game, **** what happened in preseason........... and nate needs to be shot in the damn knee, sweed should be out there, sweed may drop passes but will always come through in the clutch

this team has a lot of improving to do if they want to be considered legit contenders......... i wouldn't be surprised if we get beat down by the eagles next week........

I can't hate on Nate since I do like him...He isn't great but he is solid....I agree Sweed needs to play some..Only way he improves is by playing....

I agree 100 percent about more pass attempts.......I'm not saying the Steelers should throw bombs out there in a 50 MPH wind....But some quick short safe throws will work...Especially to Miller or Spaeth...Arians claims to be a TE guy but we hardly seen any use of the TE's...But part of that is Ben constantly looking for Ward...You have to keep Hines happy or he will get butt hurt...I love the guy but ever since he was Super Bowl MVP he has turned into a diva like most WR's in the NFL...lol

Mendenhall returns kicks and he isn't really good at that...lol Would like to see more from our first round pick also....I guess the coaches are scared with the fumbles....lol Again only way a young player improves is by reps....

So much talent on offense for this team to only muster 10 points against a very poor Browns defense.....People will say we got the win and that is the only thing that matters but the Browns make one play on offense late in that game last night and they could have won the game....That is reality....I guess I just need to put the Steelers colored glasses on like most fans...lol

[Dean Denton]

I don't know if Ben is spreading the ball around that well yet...Only 3 caught passes last night...Ward and Holmes each had 5...Miller had 2.....Don't remember the totals from the Texans game but Ward had 6 of Big Ben's 14 completions...One problem Ben is only averaging 15 attempts a game which is just retarded...lol Pay 100 million for the guy to throw the ball 15 attempts a game...lol

Now I'm talking trash on Ben since I do want to see him throw more.....But this coaching staff better not waste this guys talent....He is to talented to just manage a football game....lol

If you're just going to throw the ball 15 times a game you might as well not even resigned him...Now I'm sure somebody will take this completely the wrong way...I'm glad Ben is resigned but you can bring any tool in here to throw the ball 15 times a game and not pay him 100 million...lol I thought Bill Cowher was gone?....lol

The less you throw the ball the better. If you can control the clock and the game by running, then thats what you should do. Ben is good enought that he can do that. There are alot of QB's in the league that cant do that. For example both the Mannings could not win by only throwing the ball 15-20 times. They are rhythm QB's, and only throwing 15-20 times would mess them up. Ben can do it, so they will continue to play that way. If Ben is throwing 30-35 times a game, then we are behind, and thats not Steeler football. We get a lead, and hold it. We get people biting on the run, and Ben goes down the field. The system works, and it won us a superbowl. When we have the ball 40 to 45 minutes we win. We do that by running the ball down other teams throats, not passing for 400 yards.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

It's only week 2 here guys, let's not start the downfall of Ben's career just yet. Look at his stats over his 5 years in the league, he's gotten better and better every year. Last year he set all those records, this year they went out and got him more weapons on offense. I expect Ben to atleast have 35 TD's this year at the minimum and throw for between 3000-4000 yds. I expect Willie will probably have about 1400 yds rushing give or take and hopefully Mendenhall can get alteast 700 or 800 yards.

I do think we need to chill on Willie and let Mendenhall get some carries so we don't get him worn out again. Willie needs 20 touches a game to get into the flow, that's not asking too much of your starting RB. Give Mendenhall 10-15 touches as well. Maybe some games you give Mendenhall the nod to start and rest willie, that's what he's there for right? I think the carries for each will even out alittle more as the year goes on but geez it's only week 2..LOL. I want to see Sweed in the lineup too and atleast get some experience. Baker isn't doing shiat so far this year so why not switch them up and alternate activating them.

Ben will get his share of big games and they'll attack down the field but let's not forget our roots here...tomlin has stated from the get go that we will establish the run and live by it come hell or high water. Thats not going to change so if you're looking for Ben to ever put up Peyton Manning like numbers every year you might as well just forget it. It's not going to happen. Ben will make probowls, crush every Steeler passing record a half dozen times before he's done and he'll lead this team to greatness again. If we win every week because of him and not inspite of him, I don't care what his stats are personally.

Any given week you can say this or that might have happened and things would have been different but the fact is we played last night in bad conditions, we left some points on the field but also moved the ball, ate some clock and did what we had to do to win. There's no way Ben throws for 300 yds or anything like that in those conditions. We adapated and still found ways to move the ball. We werent perfect by any means, believe me I know that as much as anyone. we still have a lot of things to work on but it's early and we're 2-0 with a big test next sunday that should tell us a lot more.