Hello, this is Mike Martz…..

We certainly agree on one thing – that is basically irrefutable: our OL, aside from Pouncey, has reeeeeally struggled for a long time.

All good guys who play hard – but the strong/aggressive ones lack technical skills (e.g., Kemo is nasty, and can move bodies – but gets off balance a lot and whiffs too much),

And the ones with a little more on the ball from a technical standpoint tend to be get overmatched physically (e.g., this one applies to Starks for example, as big as he is).

And some are challenged (by NFL OL standards) in nearly all key facets of OL play.

Like all those guys – but their ineffectiveness in a number of ways, compromises our play at QB/WR/RB right down the line. And they’re not helping our offensive skill players stay healthy either.

My belief is our OL is the primary root cause to the issues we see on Sundays. And it seems like we lose nearly every single game when Pouncey is out.

[Another factor that hurt us: the insaaaaane handling of Ben and Pouncey's injuries. That was astonishing ... and not in a good way.]

Anyway, OL screams as the top need in this year’s draft — we’ll see how it goes.

Most of my brothers (and sisters) in Steeler Nation abhor Arians, and consider him incompetent.

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You’re the ONLY one I know that considers Arians competent.

The team wins and does well in spite of Arians. It is not ONLY the Steelers Nation that considers him less than competent, ESPN and Sports illustrated have written articles about his lack of creativity and his predictability.

I have no where the near the expertise nor the knowledge of a professional coordinator in the NFL, but when I can sit and watch a game and predict with 90%+ accuracy of the next play, (not just simply stating it is going to be pass or run, but actually calling the play), then I know that the defensive coordinator on the opposing side is doing even a better job. If we won 1 SB and 2 appearances since Arians took the helm as OC, with such predictability, imagine how good we can be if we had an offensive coordinator that can be creative, unpredictable and fully use ALL of our talents.

My 3 huge beefs with him:
1. Wildcard Playoffs vs Denver 11 days ago: Steelers are tied with Broncos. Steelers are moving down the field easily, Broncos defense seems to have no anwers.
Big Ben very sharp second half. Ball on Broncos 40, plenty of time left, maybe over a minute and it is first down. You are at mile high, so kicking is a good thing. They already are at about a 57 yard attempt. You would think they keep moving ball to set up medium to short field goal and go home. Three things you don’t want: Turnover (obviously), Sack or Penalty. So you really don’t want Ben back their in pocket just looking around, because of sack tendencies. You want quick hitters. What does Steeler offense do? 1st play, Ben throws to end zone trying to hit the double covered Wallace. Bad.. Second play Ben is just sitting back looking and gets sacked. OT folks and Broncs pull it out. Thank you Bruce Arians. The Broncos could not stop your short to medium game, nor the run, but you keep the deep stuff that is totally unneeded.

Problem 2: Arians has the imagination of a soap dish in the Red Zone, esp close in. This is why the Steelers do poorly here. Here is the typical play call, which you may see on any dirt field in our great country. 4-5 wide, Ben fades back and looks for someone. That is the offense down there. No movement hardly, no play action to hold someone for a sec. Nothing. Must be tough for opposing coordinators to plan for.

Problem 3: Arians does not throw near the screen passes that he should or could. When Barry Foster played, they had routine screens called every game and he was incredible at it. It breaks up the play calling, generally safe, generally good yards. Arians treats them like bed lice.

He does some good things. He has a lousy offensive line to work with. But I have found him to be very inconsistent. The Steelers talent level at the skill positions is huge but often times it has been lessened due to the offensive strategy. When he calls a great game, it is wonderful. But too many times, game plans are not very good.

No, were bored from hearing excuses of a QB who throws wobblers drop 300 on you and execute a walk-off TD throw.

Enough, already. Its a great team, whose run has ended.

On to the next team. Dynasties are boring, anyway. The underdog and upset is what always sells to the people. Thats what America is about. Dynasty itself is a word stemming from Royalty and a Monarchy we fought a revolution to be free from. Everyone has a chance in America, and ANY team can win….On Any Given Sunday.

AMEN.

Check when the Steelers move the ball the best… I will give you a sec………. It’s when Ben calls the plays from the no huddle. Eliminate BA from teh equation and suddenly the offense starts moving!

BA is a good play creater and a GREAT positions coach. He is one of the worst playcallers in the game, however.

Go watch game tape and see how many times per game he calls a WR screen. I guarantee it average at 6 times per game.

Give a playcaller like Mike Martz the lineup the Steelers have and they would put the “Greatest Show on Turf” to shame. The Steelers have the best skilled position players on offense in the NFL. Where they really suck is at teh offensive line and playcalling, why else would they rank in teh middle of the pack??

The Raven Nation

Arians does not use a 2-back system; does not believe in using our FullBack; does not use quick slants up the middle. When he does something creative and it works, that play is retired from the playbook.

Big Ben does not realize that he calls a better game than Arians when it comes down to it. I do not understand Ben’s need to have Arians around. A perfect example of this poor play calling by Arians was in the playoff game against the ravens last year. 3rd and 19 in the 4th Quarter. Arians called for a 15 Yard in pattern, Ben changed the call in the huddle and told receivers, just streak and look for the ball. Antonio Brown catches the ball (via the side of his helmet) and goes for 23 yards for the 1st.

The offense might be producing some big numbers, but it is in spite of Arians. Give us a REAL OC, and those numbers will astronomical!!

The cap in 2011 was $120M.
The Steelers spent $118.8M.

The cap in 2009 was $123M.
The Steelers spent $119.3M.

The cap in 2007 was $109M.
The Steelers spent 106.2M.

The cap in 2006 was $102M.
The Steelers spent $94M.

The cap in 2005 was $85.5M.
The Steelers spent $84.8M.

The cap in 2003 was $75M.
The Steelers spent $63.5M.

The cap in 2000 was $62.1M.
The Steelers spent $58.4M.

They could have spent more in 7 of the last 12 years. I suspect the 90′s are even uglier but it’s tougher to find and I’m already bored.

However, what we CAN see is the results. The numbers speak for themselves. The Steelers were 21st in PPG, and as most Steelers fans know who watch them every week, they struggle in the Red Zone. That came back to cost them their season this year against Denver. Whether that’s Ben or Arians, who knows, but its a serious problem. They haven’t been in the top half in RZ production since 2008, and that’s a problem that ultimately SHOULD get Arians fired because the buck stops with him. They need a fresh outlook, when the metric continues to go down then the trend is obvious – get a fresh perspective.

The NFL needs the Steelers to back in the Super Bowl, otherwise they might be stuck with the ONLY NFL TEAM WITH MALE CHEERLEADERS:

“Brawn Behind The Beauty: Male Ravens Cheerleaders Of NFL’s Only Co-Ed Squad”

Aren’t they sweet????

You need to pay attention. The reason the Steelers do not spend big in Free Agency is because they draft their talent. They are over the allotted cap amount every year end because of that. We do not need other teams throw a way’s. We own more Super Bowl trophies than any one because of the Rooney’s. I hope they keep the tradition going forever.

These people are misguided in their opinions, but they’ll hear none of it.

This is wayyy too involved to develop here and at to oversimplify this greatly for brevity – look at the teams that have won Super Bowls in the last decade.

Packers won 1
Saints won 1
Patriots won 3
Steelers won 2
Colts won 1

Eight of those Super Bowls won — and nearly all of them had a very potent and prominent highly featured passing offense.

In short, times have changed, the rules have changed, the athletes have changed. It’s not 37 anymore. It’s not 1967 anymore. It’s not 1977 either. We’re in the 21st century – and rules were changed repeatedly to create the game we now have, and abort the game your grandfather watched.

Big fan of Arians – and it’s lame to hear so much of Steeler Nation erroneously place blame his way. Ben gets it. The rest of the Steeler players, coaching and management do too —- but Joe Lunchpail who’s 5’9″ and a flabby 205 pounds and never played a down of big time football bitterly resents Arians.

So in addition to losing that confident in an OC, there’s then worry that some of those stories will leak out, and, the new guy won’t coddle Ben the way he’s used to on the field with the playbook and play calls.