10/9/17-Plenty Of Problems, What Are The Solutions?

By: Mike Pelaia

After a 3-2 start that includes terrible losses to the Bears and the Jaguars; it’s apparent the Pittsburgh Steelers have plenty of problems and few solutions. 

As the team prepares for their upcoming game in Kansas City on Sunday, Mike Tomlin better look around and figure out the solutions. Then again, he’s one of the problems, so I’m going to provide the solutions for him.

Problem: Coaching

The coaching has been awful. Tomlin’s clock management, use of challenges and most of all inability to motivate the team for games they should win has been horrific. Couple that with Todd Haley calling bad games, including throwing 55 times vs. a team who’s great against the pass and running Le’Veon Bell 15 times against that same team who was dead last against the run and Keith Butler not prepping his team for the obvious; such as preparing for teams with bad quarterbacks by stacking the box and forcing them to throw the ball (see the Chicago and Jacksonville Games).

Solution: Tomlin should hold his teams accountable for poor play and not allow them to assume they are going to win anything. He needs a clock coach and a challenge coach because he can’t handle those duties. Haley must scale back his desire to throw and study the opponent and Butler must realize he doesn’t have the Steel Curtain and set his defense based on the players he has, not the players he wishes he has.

Problem/Solution: Offense

Ben Roethlisberger has been an average Quarterback until the Jags game, in which he was horrific. His confidence appears shot, his throws are off and his timing with his receivers is not there. He needs to do a couple of things; look in the mirror and remember who he is and what he’s done, practice extra with his receivers and tight ends (yes they exist Ben) and remember that Antonio Brown is not his only option.

Brown needs to remember he’s not the only player on the team. If he gets his catches, he doesn’t care if the team loses. He needs to become a team leader, like Hines Ward used to be and begin to mentor Martavis Bryant and JuJu-Smith Schuster.

The offensive line needs to stay on their blocks, open holes for the running game and give Ben time to throw. They have done none of that very well this year.

Le’Veon Bell needs to find a better way to run, his patient attack may have finally been figured out. He may need to try to burst through the holes immediately.

Problem: Defense

Surprisingly, the defense has been the best of the bunch but they aren’t without their issues. They give up the run way too easily, the secondary is still not trustworthy and they aren’t making too many impact plays thus far.

Solution:

The linebacking rotation needs to change. For starters, James Harrison needs to dress, let alone play. He can make an impact out there vs. the run, vs. the pass and make the splash plays needed. Bud Dupree should be benched in favor of Harrison.

The defense needs to tame the rush as well, it’s costing them too many big plays right now. Drop back, stop the run, defend the pass and go for turnovers that way vs. sacks that are relatively elusive lately.

These are just the most glaring of many issues the team has and they better hope to improve upon at least some of these when they face the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday, if they don’t, they will be staring 3-3 right in the face.

10/5/17-Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers

By: Mike Pelaia

The Steelers improved to 3-1 with a monster win over the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon. They will try to extend their division leading record to 4-1 when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team who is outperforming expectations thus far.

Jacksonville comes into Heinz field with a 2-2 mark and a quarterback in Blake Bortles who appears to be making some gradual strides.  They have a young running back with Leonard Fournette and a couple of great rushing defensive ends as well.

The Steelers are certainly the favorite in this one but much like the Chicago Bears game, they can’t overlook their opponent.

Here are the keys to victory:

1. As I wrote earlier this week, the team must focus the offense around Le’Veon Bell. He doesn’t need to have 35 carries, but giving him 20-25 and another 5-7 catches would really help bring balance to the offense, much like in Baltimore, preventing Jacksonville from focusing strictly on Antonio Brown.
2. The offensive line must protect Ben Roethlisberger from defensive ends Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue. They have 9.5 sacks between them so far this year and are no joke. The offensive line must keep them away from Roethlisberger in order for the offense to remain successful.
3. The defense must be ready to stop Leonard Fournette. The rookie hasn’t broken out just yet but he’s due to do so and he more than has the talent. The front seven must be ready to stuff him at the line, forcing Blake Bortles into having to make the big plays. If the game is in Bortles hands, the Steelers should be in great shape.
4. The team must not allow Antonio Brown to be a distraction. It’s well documented about his outburst in Baltimore last week and how he was called out by Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin. The team claims to have moved on but if Brown doesn’t get his catches, will he flare up again?  If so, what kind of a distraction will that become, if any?

Here are a few things to watch:

1. I think keeping an eye on James Conner may be a good idea. He had a nice 23 yard run against the Ravens this past week and I think he’s a great compliment to Bell. I expect him to be given a few more carries this week.
2. I am interested to see how Brown acts on the field this week as well as if Roethlisberger feels compelled to throw him the ball.
3. Keep an eye on Alejandro Villanueva this week as well. He was very aggressive last week, even throwing a head butt at one point. He’s got some sort of chip on his shoulder right now and he’s playing with it.
4. I love watching Stephon Tuitt play and he was a big factor in the defensive upgrade in Baltimore. When he’s out there, the defense is much better. I want to see how he impacts the Jags running attack.

This is a game the Steelers are favored in and should win. The Jags are improved but are not fantastic and even though the Steelers tend to play down to their competition in recent years, I expect them to win rather easily. The black and gold will come out on top in this one 27-13.

10/3/17-PODCAST -Steel Nation Radio – Ravens Wrap Up and Jags Preview

By: Mike Pelaia

What a great win from the Steelers this past week vs. the Ravens. Now they turn their focus to continuing that success vs. the Jaguars this week. I discuss Le’Veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and my expectations for this coming week.

Listen right here and find out my thoughts on this past week, this coming week and more: 

10/2/17-The Offense Must Center Around Bell

By: Mike Pelaia

It may have taken a month but Le’Veon Bell officially arrived to the party, in a big way. Bell, who had been relatively average, to be polite, through the first three games of the 2017 season, amassed 186 total yards against the hated Baltimore Ravens on Sunday; 144 of which came on the ground via 35 carries.

Bell’s emergence couldn’t have come at a better time after the black and gold were coming off an embarrassing loss to the lowly Chicago Bears in which they couldn’t do much of anything right. Running the football, something they have historically done well since Bell’s arrival in 2013 had been a struggle in 2017, until Pittsburgh entered Baltimore.

Bell put on a display that Steeler fans have been accustomed to over the last four seasons and have been waiting for since the Steelers season kicked off last month. His patented patience seemed to return, his bursts of speed and his splash plays all came back with a vengeance. Bell appeared to be on a one man mission to get the Steelers offense back on track. In doing so, he allowed Ben Roethlisberger to throw more efficient passes as well as spread the ball around a bit more, enabling the offense to be far less predictable.

Since Bell led the way on the ground with 144 yards against the Ravens, it was Martavis Bryant’s 48 yards that led the team in the air. Bell wasn’t far behind with 42.

After watching that display against Baltimore, it became abundantly clear to me and I’m sure to Todd Haley and Mike Tomlin as well; the offense must center around Le’Veon Bell. He’s a game changer due to his splash play ability but he can control the clock far better than anyone else on the team. He doesn’t necessarily need to get 35 carries against Jacksonville this week in order for the team to win the game but the offense must start with him. In doing so, the big plays that Roethlisberger and his receivers have been craving all season long will begin to open up. The explosive abilities of Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant and even rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster can be capitalized upon because defenses will have to stay true to the run first. Everything is different when Bell is the priority.

There are so many ways to get the ball to Bell. Obviously he’ll receive handoffs the majority of the time but he’s the best receiving back in the NFL so supplementing some of the runs with short passes will work just as well if not better. Additionally, as much as I’ve soured on the Wild Cat formation over the years; I actually wouldn’t mind seeing Bell run it every now and again to throw another wrinkle at opposing defenses (including letting him throw it once or twice).

The Steelers have playmakers all over the offensive side of the ball with Brown, Bryant and Roethlisberger but the most impactful is Le’Veon Bell. It started in Baltimore and it must continue against Jacksonville and beyond; the offense must center around number 26 and explode from there. We saw the relative ineffectiveness of the offense the first three weeks when the ball was forced to the receivers on the outside and they worked the plays in on a supplemental basis to Bell and the running attack.

We also saw how it worked when the plays began with Bell from the inside and worked to the outside; the defense was confused and unable to stop the Steelers attack.

The offense is now; and must continue to be Le’Veon Bells.

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