A couple of interesting exchanges from Pittsburgh Steeler coach Mike Tomlin's Tuesday's press conference.
| Please assess the run blocking this week: |
| It was similar, but I wouldn’t necessarily characterize our inability to block as the biggest issue with our running game. I think we put ourselves in situations where weren’t able to establish rhythm in the running game; with penalties, botched exchanges, etc. We missed a couple big play opportunities in the game. Those are first down shots that you take. That is called being aggressive. That is called making people defend the field horizontally and vertically, but we missed on some. We had Nate Washington down the field early and we missed by inches. We had Nate down the field again on the sideline and again we missed by inches. That is the nature of the game, but when you miss those opportunities you understand what comes with it. It puts you at second down and ten. Second down and ten after an incomplete pass, people usually load up and stop the run. That is the nature of this game. It was more about the situations that we put ourselves in, as oppose to our ability to block them. It really was no different than it’s been. |
| Was there a reason for all of the false starts?: |
| It’s difficult to communicate and play on the road. Particularly when you’re behind the chains, because they get you in passing situations and they have wide edges and they’re going to get off. You have to be prepared to pass protect. There is a combination of a lot of things and usually when things are going bad, they snowball. That is what happens. You get penalized. You get behind the chains. You’re not able to establish rhythm with the running game. They get in wide stances and get to foaming at the mouth and ready to rush the quarterback. The crowd gets into it. Communication gets tough. It snowballs and that is why I enjoy playing at Heinz Field. |
Tomlin addressed the question of aggressiveness in the offense correctly pointing out two examples where they took shots down the field on first down. Both times to Nate Washington and both barely incomplete. In the first half, the Steelers tried to hit Washington deep with Washington unable to bring down a diving catch. They followed it up with a short pass to Parker for three yards and then hit Miller for 28 yards on a third and long (7) conversion. This drive concluded with a 43 yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes on the subsequent 3rd and 24.
With the Steelers on the Cardinals 43, the Arizona defense was expecting the Steelers to throw something underneath to move back into field goal range. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians brilliantly went counter-tendency and struck deep to the speedster Holmes. Holmes had noted earlier to the coaches that Arizona's secondary was peeking into the backfield. Knowing that a draw was a real possibility, they likely peeked a little too long.
The second deep attempt to Washington came in the 4th quarter. Washington was a step short on a ball down the right sideline. On second and 10, Colon jumped. Ben missed Wilson on the play when Wilson forgot to turn around, and then threw a turf ball over the middle to Miller. We punt, Davis releases early, we punt over and Breaston returns it for a touchdown.
The next drive Parker runs for 20 yards on first down. On first down from the shotgun, they try to hit Holmes short and miss. 2nd and 10, they try Parker to improve down and distance on third, but they fumble the exchange and we're facing 3rd and 18. Smith flinches drawing a false start penalty so it's 3rd and 23. The Steelers dump it off to Reid and let him get back to 4th and 10.
The Steelers went from picking up something on second down at midfield and possibly facing a third and short to two mistakes and facing 3rd and 23 from our own 28. Throughout the game, the Steelers were continuously plagued by mistakes. In the first half, they were able to produce big plays on third down - aided in some part by field position. In the second half, the pressure of the Arizona pass rush and the rust and inexperience of Nate Washing and Cedric Wilson caught up with them.
The inability to establish the rhythm Tomlin and Arians were seeking was horribly frustrating. Still, this was a game the Steelers never trailed for three quarters. They had a lead coming out of half time and if they could have established the run better, it would have made the passing game more efficient and they could have put the game away. Even tied throughout the rest of the third quarter, there was no need to get desperate.
Statistically this caution seems to borne out. Roethlisberger was 0-2 with one false start from the shotgun in the third quarter. In the 4th quarter, he was 1-3 for 13 yards with an additional false start from the shotgun. The Steelers ran 7 out of 22 plays from the shotgun (not including inside the 5 or the defensive holding call on the incomplete to Holmes which was run out of the shotgun). So out of the seven plays, we had one positive result on a dump for 13 yards and picked up 10 yards in false start penalties.
Meanwhile, Parker was 9 for 42 not counting the two botched handoffs. He picked up 3 of the 4 Steelers first downs in the second half before the offense went to two minute drills down by 14. The 4th first down was from the defensive holding call. The Steelers had not converted a first down through the air since the touchdown pass to Holmes to end the first quarter.
The Steelers just couldn't stop shooting themselves in the foot. The fumbles, the false starts, the bad routes all conspired to make it impossible for us to sustain drives and that put too much pressure on our defense that had lost three starters (Hampton, Polamalu and Townsend) and two critical rotational players (Hoke and McFadden).
Even still, the defense held on until the mid 4th quarter when a bad spot and/or measurement allowed the Cardinals to sustain a scoring drive for the nail in the coffin touchdown. Where I feel Tomlin came up short was failing to challenge this spot. With the measurement timeout there should have been enough time for the coaches to review the replay and discuss a challenge if they lost the measurement. As a result of not challenging, the Cardinals were able to maintain possession for another two and a half minutes and add a touchdown.
It was a daft decision by Whisenhunt that was bailed out only by incompetent officiating. He should have kicked a field goal and gone up 10. The emotion of the game got the better of him.
With the Steelers on the Cardinals 43, the Arizona defense was expecting the Steelers to throw something underneath to move back into field goal range. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians brilliantly went counter-tendency and struck deep to the speedster Holmes. Holmes had noted earlier to the coaches that Arizona's secondary was peeking into the backfield. Knowing that a draw was a real possibility, they likely peeked a little too long.
The second deep attempt to Washington came in the 4th quarter. Washington was a step short on a ball down the right sideline. On second and 10, Colon jumped. Ben missed Wilson on the play when Wilson forgot to turn around, and then threw a turf ball over the middle to Miller. We punt, Davis releases early, we punt over and Breaston returns it for a touchdown.
The next drive Parker runs for 20 yards on first down. On first down from the shotgun, they try to hit Holmes short and miss. 2nd and 10, they try Parker to improve down and distance on third, but they fumble the exchange and we're facing 3rd and 18. Smith flinches drawing a false start penalty so it's 3rd and 23. The Steelers dump it off to Reid and let him get back to 4th and 10.
The Steelers went from picking up something on second down at midfield and possibly facing a third and short to two mistakes and facing 3rd and 23 from our own 28. Throughout the game, the Steelers were continuously plagued by mistakes. In the first half, they were able to produce big plays on third down - aided in some part by field position. In the second half, the pressure of the Arizona pass rush and the rust and inexperience of Nate Washing and Cedric Wilson caught up with them.
The inability to establish the rhythm Tomlin and Arians were seeking was horribly frustrating. Still, this was a game the Steelers never trailed for three quarters. They had a lead coming out of half time and if they could have established the run better, it would have made the passing game more efficient and they could have put the game away. Even tied throughout the rest of the third quarter, there was no need to get desperate.
Statistically this caution seems to borne out. Roethlisberger was 0-2 with one false start from the shotgun in the third quarter. In the 4th quarter, he was 1-3 for 13 yards with an additional false start from the shotgun. The Steelers ran 7 out of 22 plays from the shotgun (not including inside the 5 or the defensive holding call on the incomplete to Holmes which was run out of the shotgun). So out of the seven plays, we had one positive result on a dump for 13 yards and picked up 10 yards in false start penalties.
Meanwhile, Parker was 9 for 42 not counting the two botched handoffs. He picked up 3 of the 4 Steelers first downs in the second half before the offense went to two minute drills down by 14. The 4th first down was from the defensive holding call. The Steelers had not converted a first down through the air since the touchdown pass to Holmes to end the first quarter.
The Steelers just couldn't stop shooting themselves in the foot. The fumbles, the false starts, the bad routes all conspired to make it impossible for us to sustain drives and that put too much pressure on our defense that had lost three starters (Hampton, Polamalu and Townsend) and two critical rotational players (Hoke and McFadden).
Even still, the defense held on until the mid 4th quarter when a bad spot and/or measurement allowed the Cardinals to sustain a scoring drive for the nail in the coffin touchdown. Where I feel Tomlin came up short was failing to challenge this spot. With the measurement timeout there should have been enough time for the coaches to review the replay and discuss a challenge if they lost the measurement. As a result of not challenging, the Cardinals were able to maintain possession for another two and a half minutes and add a touchdown.
It was a daft decision by Whisenhunt that was bailed out only by incompetent officiating. He should have kicked a field goal and gone up 10. The emotion of the game got the better of him.
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