Steelers Running the Ball on 3rd Down

[Galax Steeler]

I say keep it mixed up and the opponents a guessing seemed to worked pretty good sunday.

[Elvis]

I agree galax
What ever is working, keep doing it til they stop ya. I love the fact that our coaches are mixing it up as well as they did. I just didnt understand why we stopped blitzing on defense alot in the 2nd half. Our offense running at the times they did helped make us unredictable and that is something different than what we are used to with Cowher at the controls. Now, dont get me wrong, I love what Bill did for our team and I thank him very much for the years that he gave us and all the good memories.

[Jman]

Originally Posted by NCSteeler

I hate that everyone thinks 3rd and one is a great time to spread them out with 4 wides and throw the ball. What is wrong with 3 yards and a cloud of dust when you need one or two yards?

I actually don't have a problem with passing that situation. Stack receivers on both sides, and run drag patterns to create a "pic" and dump it off. Usually, it works. But I'm all about running the football. I'm even more so about the Steelers running the football.

[tony hipchest]

kirwan breaks this down in greater detail in todays article and provides some excellent statistical data.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=090...o&confirm=true

(check out the chart)

On my NFL summer camp tour a number of offensive coordinators said to me that the running game in the league today works best when you have at least one of the following three things ... a personnel grouping that has a heavy pass-to-run ratio, a formation that looks like pass or a down and distance that has a heavy pass to run ratio.

One coach said, "we intend to run the ball more on third down than we ever have in the past."

I wondered if the third down run philosophy could be a trend in the game for 2007.

Well, I took a long hard look at the third-down running game on opening weekend and not that all the teams intend to run the ball more in this situation but there are some very interesting numbers that should be discussed in game-planning meetings around the league.

On Week 1 of the NFL season, the 32 teams ran the ball 89 times on third downs. That works out to be 2.8 times per team per game. It includes quarterback sneaks on a few third and less than 1-yard situations, and the times the quarterback scrambled and ran on third down. But more often than not there were run plays called on third downs. For example, the Texans ran the ball eight times on third down from third and one all the way to third and 35. They converted six of the eight tries. In fact, around the league in those 89 attempts teams moved the chains 59 times or 63 percent of the time. That intrigued me, so I broke down the down-and-distance situations to see where the running concept fell off and it became ill-advised to use a rushing play. That offensive coordinator who told me his team was putting it up less on third down may be on to something.
.....

Finally, it goes back to the idea of what the defense thinks they are defending. Right now most computer scouting reports say it's just about all pass on third downs but a month from now it seems like those reports are going to be more balanced. How can offensive coaches look at a 90 percent success rate on third and one runs and keep throwing? How can a QB look at a pass defense on third and three knowing the run success rate is 60 percent and not check to a run? The tapes don't lie and this potential trend is going to get hotter.

this is why ben is being given the green light to go to the line on 3rd and 4, read the defense, check out of a pass play and audible to a run. arians is proving to be a trend setter and not one who is gonna be playing catch up to the rest of the league. with his mission statement pretty much being to achieve balance and unpredictability.

running out of 4 wr sets.
passing out of max protect 3 te sets.

it is all becoming so clear.

[delhess]

and here's audio from todays show, i missed it yesterday tony, but he touched on it some in the opening today on mtc.

running on 3rd down.mp3 - 3.23MB

pk is a nfl junkie. he decided to research this after a conversation w/ a player. i love this breakdown. where else do you get that?

[DACEB]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

arians is proving to be a trend setter and not one who is gonna be playing catch up to the rest of the league. with his mission statement pretty much being to achieve balance and unpredictability.

running out of 4 wr sets.
passing out of max protect 3 te sets.

it is all becoming so clear.

It's amazing that someone (you know who you are, hint: you don't wear B&G) on this board could'nt grasp this philosophy.

Good read, thanks Tony

[delhess]

i was watching the opening drive of the bills game, and they came upon a 3rd and 7. i immediately thought of this thread, and said to myself, "i bet they run the ball", then ben dropped back and set and i thought "well, i guess i was wrong" what happened next is ben tucked the ball and ran for a first down. looked like a designed run to me!

thanks to pk and tony i was able to watch the game in a different light, guessing what was going to happen. i love seeing trends like this and guessing what the next play will be :)