Whenever a team has success running the no-huddle offense, you can bet it’s only a matter of time before fans start wondering why they don’t do it all the time.
Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has heard the questions, and he has a simple answer: It wouldn’t work all the time, because the Steelers are better off using multiple personnel packages.
Gerry Dulac of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has written a piece examining why the Steelers only go no-huddle in certain situations, and it all comes down to Arians’ belief that multiple personnel packages are necessary.
“It limits you way too much,” Arians said. “It limits what you can do offensively. You take away a lot of your play-action game and things you can do with a game plan. You basically don’t have a game plan. If you go no-huddle [all the time], shoot, I can take every night off.
“It’s a tool you use to change the tempo of the game, but you’re limited in your personnel. It’s not something we want to do wholesale every game.”
Still, the Steelers are expected to go no-huddle in certain situations on Monday night in Denver, in large part because the Ravens ran it so effectively last week against the Broncos: Baltimore went no-huddle 31 times in a 30-7 win over the Broncos.
So yes, the Steelers will go no-huddle at times. Just don’t expect Arians to do it all the time.