Yet, he’s predicting those changes will be sweeping in the off-season, and primary among those to leave will be offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.

Link

It's a paid article, so I didn't want to post any more of it, but I'll at least give you the best sentence.  "He" in the quote is Jim Wexell's Steelers insider "The Answer Man" who probably knows what he's talking about. 

Okay, one more sentence, regarding Arians' potential replacement:

“You go out and you find someone Ben has never met. In my opinion, he needs an entirely new dynamic. And after you do that, you call Ben into your office and remind him that he’s not in charge of this organization; you remind him who signs those big checks; you remind him to buy in completely; and you make sure that it’s understood.”

Om... 

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Football Outsiders always have some fun and insightful comments about most of the games on a given weekend and publish them in a feature called "Audibles at the Line".  In this week's edition, there's a bit of objective commentary on the Thursday game.  Mike Tanier, who I think might actually be a Steelers fan (although he still does fine objective or even a little pessimistic commentary) wrote the following about the fact the no one ever seemed to get open:

Part of the "nobody getting open" was the play calls. The Steelers seemed to be running a bunch of little hook and stick routes, usually with Ward, Miller, and Wallace or somebody, with Holmes running deep. Against man coverage, the slower receivers got no separation on these routes, then had to turn and stop. Meanwhile, Big Ben was getting sacked while Holmes worked deep.
 
This happened a few times in the first and second quarter, and I kept wondering why they were calling these "zone-breaker" plays against a team running a lot of man. And why they were emptying the backfield against a team that likes to blitz from the outside. And why they always run from a single-back formation even though Mendenhall looks like an I-back based on his running style. And so on.

I've mentioned multiple times that the Steelers' offense seems to really struggle against teams that run man coverage, and while I don't have the football knowledge or time to dissect the film to figure out why that is or how to fix it, what Tanier says rings true to me. 

There are other problems with the team, injuries, mental lapses, etc, and I don't know what the better alternatives are, but I am sure that Bruce Arians is bad at his job.  I've been hesitant to cite specific things like, "we should run/pass more on all/1st/second" downs (although that 3rd and 1 empty set was pretty tough to watch).  I've always felt the problem was more subtle.  It's stuff like running "zone breaker" routes against man blitz schemes that make him a bad OC.  

Subtle or no, a head coach should be able to figure this stuff out and find better options.  Identifying and surrounding himself with capable personnel is his primary job. 

More photos » by Keith Srakocic - AP

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 Here are the 3 game statistics for passes intended for Santonio Holmes:

Here are the 3 games statistics for passes intended for all other receivers:

The stats largely speak for themselves, but since interceptions are such non-repeatable phenomena (i.e. the stats don't tell you about hail mary's, missed reads, etc), I'll look at each of them specifically.  Roethlisberger has thrown 4 interceptions on the year.  One was a hail mary at the end of the half in the Tennessee game ("intended" for Mike Wallace) that no one should take the blame for.  One was on the deep ball to Wallace; we can argue what would have happened if Ben hadn't been hit or that Wallace didn't adjust to the ball very well, but it's hard to say that interception is primarily on anyone other than the blocking, specifically Max Starks, who got beat inside when he had outside help.  The only interception that was clearly completely Ben's fault was the pass he overthrew to a covered Holmes in the Tennessee game.  The fourth interception was in the Cinci game when Holmes missed a hot read and ran his normal route instead of a slant.  So that's 1 interception on the QB, 1 on Holmes, 1 on the OL, and 1 dong interception. 

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After looking like a no-hit (or at least a no-power) SS prospect for a good portion of his career, Brian Friday has been impressive in 114 AB's this year.  On one hand, his K% has been steady (17.5 vs 17.7) and his BB% has only improved insignificantly (9.5 vs 8.0).  On the other hand, he's doing all that at a higher level, he has hit the same number of HR's in 114 AB at AA as he did in his previous 519 AB in A ball, and his XB% has jumped from 7.7% to 12.3%.  His BABIP is currently sitting at .367, which seems high to me, but it's not much higher than his previous career average of .341, and if his power has truly improved it could account for the higher BABIP. 

I know he's drawn pretty good reviews with his glove, and his RF/G and Fld% metrics compare favorably to Bixler, so if he's developing some real power, he could suddenly be a pretty good prospect.  What does everyone else think?  Could he be our starting SS in 2011?  Is the power here to stay?  Did he juice up over the offseason or just develop power like a lot of 22-23 year olds?  Is he just getting lucky?  I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable about these things as many around BD, so I'd love some other opinions. 

More photos » by Michael Norris - AP

8 months ago: Missouri defensive tackle Evander Hood reacts as he talks on a cellphone with the Pittsburgh Steelers after they selected him 32nd overall in the first round of the NFL Draft during draft watch party at the Ambassador Hotel in Amarillo, Texas, Saturday, April 25, 2009. (AP Photo/The Amarillo Globe News, Michael Norris)

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The Steelers pulled off a very solid day one.  I have been full of Ziggy-love since I started looking into the DL prospects, and we got him while staying put. There's a lot to like about him: he's got good size for a 3-4 DE (it'd be nice to have another inch or two, but he still has long arms), he was productive in college, he stood out among top competition at the Senior Bowl, he had absolutely fantastic tests at the combine (which tells me he has a ton of upside), he could grow into both a good pass rusher and a good run stuffer, and he should be able to drop into coverage on occasion, too.  Nothing has stood out more to me, though, than how coachable and how good of a teammate everyone says he is.  I think he's an absolutely perfect fit as a Steeler and as a one gap 5 technique 3-4 zone blitz DE.  He was a very solid value at one of our biggest needs. 

Now onto the trade.

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I appreciate all of those of y'all who have submitted mocks in the fanposts section. All informative and entertaining as we count the final days down to the draft. For a few select folks who have been posting rigorously here about the draft for multiple years, their final mocks are deserving of a front page gander by all. Let's take a look at what BMF thinks during the final week of educated speculation. - Blitz-

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I never got to finish my draft value charts because of a few changes around here (a new house and some travel for work), but here's my mock draft.  I'm shooting for "optimistic, yet plausible", since that's how good drafts usually work - if you're not getting good values at your spot, you're not drafting right.  Anyway, tell me what you think. 

1. Vontae Davis CB, Illinois - I like Butler the most of all the late first round DB's, but him falling here might be a little too optimistic.  Davis has some question marks, but he's a better athlete and has the speed to eventually take Ike Taylor's role.  They brought him in instead of Butler, so they must not be too turned off by the attitude questions. 

Also, this is a complete hunch, but I have a weird feeling that we could be targeting Evander Hood for a trade-up in the first.  He's too much of a perfect fit as a Steelers DE for us NOT to have brought him in for a visit.  I doubt it will actually happen, but I will be accepting pats on the back if it does. 

Other possibilities: Hood, Butler, Britton, Wood

(Rounds 2-7 after the break)

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Previous posts by Bad Maafala:

1. Intro/Draft Needs
2. Defensive Line.

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Introduction: Improving The Offensive Line in 2009

As I said in my intro post, I don't think we should stick with our newly instated Zone Blocking Scheme for the running game (from now on referred to as ZBS, per steelguy99). However, if the Steelers have any plans to change it, they're keeping them top secret, so I'm doing this chart with ZBS type linemen in mind.

In the ZBS, a premium is put on pass blocking, athleticism, lateral agility, and intelligence. Elite strength isn't quite as important, neither is pulling ability. However, considering that we're going to face NT's like Rogers, Ngata, Williams, and Wilfork on a regular basis, we're going to want to consider a Center's ability to handle those guys in both the running game and pass protection. Lower body strength is key, as is playing with proper leverage and firing off the ball quickly. At Tackle, it'd be nice to get a top tier athlete who could make us more comfortable when speed rushers come after Ben's blind side.

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