mesaSteeler
11-19-2010, 06:21 AM
http://blog.triblive.com/view-from-the-press-box/2010/11/18/arians-speaks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+triblive%2Fblog%2FViewFromThe PressBox+%28View+from+the+Press+Box+Blog%29
View From The Press Box
Arians speaks
November 18th, 2010
Judging by the response to the blog entry I posted earlier this week about Bruce Arians, it's probably best to post a transcript of his Thursday Q&A sessions with reporters.
Thanks to all who took part in and kept the disuccsion going about Arians and the job he has done as the Steelers' offensivfe coordinator. A lot of insight was provided by a lot of people, and it gave me a good sampling as to how Steelers fans feel about Arians.
That being said, here is Arians' talk with reporters following practice Thursday:
Q: Is it possible you might start opening up the offense more?
A: “I don’t think so. Each game’s a little different. We talk about it each week. Last week we had to (open it up) but we want to maintain balance as long as we can in the game. To me, (50/50) is the perfect ratio. You come into a game and you have the lead in the fourth quarter the runs are going to go up.”
Q: Has anything stood out about why the offense has struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone?
A: “Yeah, dropped balls. We haven’t run it very good inside the 10-yard line. We’ve had like first and goal at the seven or eight and we haven’t run the ball for 3 (yards), run the ball for 3 (yards) and gotten it down there where you have two things to do. We’ve thrown it into the end zone and it’s come right back to second and 7. We need to pick that up.”
Q: How do you react when players are making mistakes like they were last week?
A: “You identify the problems and you keep your poise on the sidelines because there’s a long way to go. The most disappointing thing to me is we’ve been very, very good for four years starting second halves, and we have not been very good this year. We’ve not been starting ballgames as good (either). It seems like we get going instead of coming out ready to go and we’ve talked about it a lot.”
Q: Was the last game a particularly disappointing one?
A: “Oh yeah. I never would have guessed we would play that poorly and made the mistakes we made.”
Q: What did you come up with after reviewing tape as to why you played so poorly?
A: “I think each guy has to answer that individually. We had opportunities to catch the ball and score touchdowns and keep it pretty daggone close and we didn’t make the plays and overall we never ran the ball as well as we thought we would. Of course, you’re down two scores in the second half and things change but we should have been able to keep that game closer.”
Q: Has the offense's approach changed with Ben?
A: “Not really. We’re still trying to establish runs for play actions, throw on running downs, mix it up, more so like when Charlie (Batch) was in at the beginning of September. ”
Q: Have injuries along the offensive line affected the play calling, especially since you've had your share of them during games?
A: “You can’t change what your game plan is, you just expect the next guy to step up and play and it gets taxing after awhile when it happens every damn week.”
Q: If you see that backups can’t step up, don’t you have to change the game plan?
A: “If they can’t do something you try not to do that but if they can’t do something then you’re in trouble. If they can’t run block hopefully they can pass block. If they can’t play we’re dead but it’s something that we preach hard, whoever steps in, we won’t change what we’re doing. Now sometimes you get bad matchups, you try to stay out of formations that create those matchups up front if you can.”
Q: Tony Hills played late in the Patriots game. Was Flozell OK?
A: “He had stung his ankle the series before pretty good and he stayed in. We probably should have taken him out then but then Flo came back. Tony he’s done fairly well with the opportunities he’s had.”
Q: What did you think of Ben calling Hines and both deciding that they needed to step up as leaders on offense?
A: “It doesn’t surprise me I think people blow that relationship more into what it really is and things are said in the hest of battle sometimes that nobody really means. I’ve never sensed that there wasn’t a really good relationship there.”
Q: What about them both taking it upon themselves to lead?
A: “That’s what they need to do. They’re the vets, they’re the guys, they’re the ‘A’ players, and I’ve always felt they have done that. I know this. I’ve been here seven years and that’s the best two practices Hines has had in five of them because he hasn’t practiced on Wednesday in a long time. He wanted to prove to everybody that he was healthy. He had two great practices and showed a lot of the younger guys how to do it."
Filed under: Steelers Comments (15)
View From The Press Box
Arians speaks
November 18th, 2010
Judging by the response to the blog entry I posted earlier this week about Bruce Arians, it's probably best to post a transcript of his Thursday Q&A sessions with reporters.
Thanks to all who took part in and kept the disuccsion going about Arians and the job he has done as the Steelers' offensivfe coordinator. A lot of insight was provided by a lot of people, and it gave me a good sampling as to how Steelers fans feel about Arians.
That being said, here is Arians' talk with reporters following practice Thursday:
Q: Is it possible you might start opening up the offense more?
A: “I don’t think so. Each game’s a little different. We talk about it each week. Last week we had to (open it up) but we want to maintain balance as long as we can in the game. To me, (50/50) is the perfect ratio. You come into a game and you have the lead in the fourth quarter the runs are going to go up.”
Q: Has anything stood out about why the offense has struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone?
A: “Yeah, dropped balls. We haven’t run it very good inside the 10-yard line. We’ve had like first and goal at the seven or eight and we haven’t run the ball for 3 (yards), run the ball for 3 (yards) and gotten it down there where you have two things to do. We’ve thrown it into the end zone and it’s come right back to second and 7. We need to pick that up.”
Q: How do you react when players are making mistakes like they were last week?
A: “You identify the problems and you keep your poise on the sidelines because there’s a long way to go. The most disappointing thing to me is we’ve been very, very good for four years starting second halves, and we have not been very good this year. We’ve not been starting ballgames as good (either). It seems like we get going instead of coming out ready to go and we’ve talked about it a lot.”
Q: Was the last game a particularly disappointing one?
A: “Oh yeah. I never would have guessed we would play that poorly and made the mistakes we made.”
Q: What did you come up with after reviewing tape as to why you played so poorly?
A: “I think each guy has to answer that individually. We had opportunities to catch the ball and score touchdowns and keep it pretty daggone close and we didn’t make the plays and overall we never ran the ball as well as we thought we would. Of course, you’re down two scores in the second half and things change but we should have been able to keep that game closer.”
Q: Has the offense's approach changed with Ben?
A: “Not really. We’re still trying to establish runs for play actions, throw on running downs, mix it up, more so like when Charlie (Batch) was in at the beginning of September. ”
Q: Have injuries along the offensive line affected the play calling, especially since you've had your share of them during games?
A: “You can’t change what your game plan is, you just expect the next guy to step up and play and it gets taxing after awhile when it happens every damn week.”
Q: If you see that backups can’t step up, don’t you have to change the game plan?
A: “If they can’t do something you try not to do that but if they can’t do something then you’re in trouble. If they can’t run block hopefully they can pass block. If they can’t play we’re dead but it’s something that we preach hard, whoever steps in, we won’t change what we’re doing. Now sometimes you get bad matchups, you try to stay out of formations that create those matchups up front if you can.”
Q: Tony Hills played late in the Patriots game. Was Flozell OK?
A: “He had stung his ankle the series before pretty good and he stayed in. We probably should have taken him out then but then Flo came back. Tony he’s done fairly well with the opportunities he’s had.”
Q: What did you think of Ben calling Hines and both deciding that they needed to step up as leaders on offense?
A: “It doesn’t surprise me I think people blow that relationship more into what it really is and things are said in the hest of battle sometimes that nobody really means. I’ve never sensed that there wasn’t a really good relationship there.”
Q: What about them both taking it upon themselves to lead?
A: “That’s what they need to do. They’re the vets, they’re the guys, they’re the ‘A’ players, and I’ve always felt they have done that. I know this. I’ve been here seven years and that’s the best two practices Hines has had in five of them because he hasn’t practiced on Wednesday in a long time. He wanted to prove to everybody that he was healthy. He had two great practices and showed a lot of the younger guys how to do it."
Filed under: Steelers Comments (15)