Big Ben Comebacks

[Darkstorm05]

Originally Posted by GoFor7

Now how many of those came at the end of the half or when the Steelers were down and had to throw their way back into the game?

1st Half: 244 attempts for 1,718 yards this year.

2nd Half: 180 attempts for 1,406 yards.

[GoFor7]

Originally Posted by Darkstorm05

1st Half: 244 attempts for 1,718 yards this year.

2nd Half: 180 attempts for 1,406 yards.

How many at the end of the half though?

[Darkstorm05]

Originally Posted by GoFor7

How many at the end of the half though?

Getting harder to scrounge up specific stats, but...

220 attempts for 1559 yards this year when the score was either tied, or Steelers ahead.
178 attempts for 1352 yards when the Steelers were trailing in points. 63 attempts for 502 yards came during 2 minute drill drives.

[steelfury02]

Originally Posted by Darkstorm05

Getting harder to scrounge up specific stats, but...

220 attempts for 1559 yards this year when the score was either tied, or Steelers ahead.
178 attempts for 1352 yards when the Steelers were trailing in points. 63 attempts for 502 yards came during 2 minute drill drives.

8+ yards average on 2 minute drives
Ben is 11th at 7.35 yards/attempt total. RGIII is #1 w 8.27 yd/attempt, Cam Newton 2nd.

As a good faith gesture, I'll give Ben a pass due to injury. We aren't going to agree so that's all I have left about it. He has played like crap and it could have a lot to do with injury.

[therocksteeler]

Originally Posted by Steelers5895

Prior to the 2008 season and since then, i have seen Ben fail more than succeed with comeback attempts. He was amazing in 2008 with the climax in super bowl 43 but since then the comebacks have been far and few, to include a shot to win in super bowl 45.

This year, 3 chances to win a game (Den, Dallas, Cincy) and all three wound up with interceptions.

I am losing confidence in his ability to bring us back from behind or from a tie.

When your OC calls in a slant out route tin order to claim 1 down on a third down play deep in your own field of play and the middle is wide open then there is a problem. Ben was trying to make a play with the options he was given. The choice of play calling resulted in this possiblity of an interception taking place, which it did. This games eb and flow was lost due to poor decision making from the sidelines. 1 run, 2 run, 3 pass is not how we have taken victory from our apponents in the past. A mixture of plays designed to keep the D guessing was key in past wins. This year that mindset has been vacated unfortunatley.

[WVABE]

Does seem like everytime he went back in a critical situation, he either gets sacked or throw an int.

[Rick5895]

Originally Posted by GoFor7

And how many of those were bubble screens and checkdowns? Don't look too much into pass/run ratio as it does not tell the entire story. They hardly let him go down field unless it's the last two minutes of the half or the last two minutes of the game.

I agree it's a quarterback league. Someone should inform the Steelers of that.

Most teams run the bubble screen effectively, we seem to struggle with it. As for checkdowns, if Ben is checking it down it's because his receivers aren't getting open down field.
At any rate, I'm not so sure Ben is the problem, or Haley for that matter. This was one of those years when nothing went our way. It happens, too many injuries, some of these younger players believing the hype on how good they were. We had absolutely very little separation with our "speedy, talented WR's" too many times this season Wallace and other WR's dropped passes at critical times, way too many turnovers at critical times. Those mistakes cost us at least 3 wins. We hold on to the ball better this discussion doesn't even take place.
What this team lacks is a leader, hopefuly that evolves for us next season, if not I fear more of the same.

[Rick5895]

Oh BTW, kind of makes you appreciate how much influence and leadership Hines Ward had, doesn't it!!

[teegre]

Originally Posted by Cherinko

I have read this phrase 19 times today. You are like a politician with a talking point. Two weeks in a row Ben has concluded with game clinching interceptions (hitting two DB's in the hands). In every loss this season other than the one today, he has attempted at least 40 passes. He is not 'handcuffed' by anything other than his inability to read defenses and his unwillingness to throw the ball away. Ben is not the weak point of this team but he is not the infallible hero you make him out to be. He is the quarterback and it is a quarterback driven league. He bears responsibility. It is ok to criticize him.

You just made my day!!!

1. That is his catch-phrase of the week... which he will post 20-30 times per day, in various threads... which he hijacks & derails (via repeating the same thing over & over). It's gotten to the point, that none of us can get through a thread without having to "deal" with his obligatory, repetitive posts.

Last week it was "The team is playing scared."

The week before that, it was, "Art II is a spoiled lawyer."

The week before that, it was, "Throw deep on first & second down... and third down, too"

2. One can not say ANYTHING about Big Ben, or else he will unload some sort of derision upon thee (name calling & such).

BB throws an INT... it's Art II's fault.

BB misses an open Heath Miller... it's Haley's fault.

BB overthrows Wallace... it's Ike Taylor's fault.

If you disagree, then the "Yinzer" and "stupid-ass" and "you can't read" posts start coming out.

3. YOU are abolsutely right: we can & should criticize Big Ben when he is playing poorly. He is not above criticism. He makes a bad throw... we can say it was a bad throw.

That said, I still aver that the dude is not physically "right."

This team was 6-3 & rolling before he got injured. They went 1-2 in his absence, and he has lost three straight since his return... because, I think that his injury is hampering him more than he is letting on. The look looks like he is "forcing" his body to play through pain and/or discomfort ("forcing" because he does NOT look right).

People cash try to say "toughen up", but throwing is such an exact thing, that the slightest of hinderances (like a dislocated rib) can mess up one's mechanics just enough to create the errant throws that we've been seeing.

6-3 prior to the injury.
Looks like crap when he returns.

Using my deductive reasoning, I'd say that BB's injury has a LOT to do with the last six games (three while out, three via him forcing himself to play through pain).

[Darkstorm05]

There's a lot of factors at work here, IMO. First, I feel the deep ball began to come of the table when Wallace began dropping them, or watching them get intercepted. So those plays get scaled back, and Wallace starts to have his fits and quitting on plays, and now he's only drawing coverage if he goes deep, and a safety just hangs back to deal with him.

So Wallace is no longer a factor, about this time teams start stuffing the center of the field and the run game shuts down. We're unable to run outside with any effectiveness, so the short pass is all we've got, and they play tight on Brown and Sanders. We see a few fumbles there, and it really starts to unravel.

Getting frustrated, the WR corps gets sloppy, execution sucks, and now Ben is forcing throws just trying to move the ball. Losses follow, finger pointing, ranting to the media, etc.. Sure, they started limiting plays, but what choice did they have? If someone was within 5 yards of Wallace he either didn't make the catch, or let it get picked. The run game shut down after, so what choice was there at that point?

When the offense is making so many poor execution mistakes, no coach is going to give them more leash. It just isn't going to happen.