WWBAD?
Some of you are probably asking, “What the heck is “WWBAD” Is it a word? Is it an acronym? Or has Donald been sniffing tartar sauce again?
The answers are “no”, “yes”, and “maybe”.
“WWBAD” is not a word. It’s an acronym. You’re probably familiar with those bracelets that some Christians wear that say “WWJD”, well this is the Steelers’ version of that. For Christians, WWJD stands for “What would Jesus Do?”. Similarly, WWBAD is an acronym for the question that is on the minds of Steeler Nation; “What Will Bruce Arians Do?”
Bruce Arians is the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thus he is the guy who calls the plays that make the Steelers’ offense tick.
Arians is faced with the task of trying to integrate Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers’ franchise quarterback, into a team that has gone 3-1 in his absence, primarily due to suffocating defense and a pounding running game.
There probably isn’t an offensive coordinator in the NFL who wouldn’t LOVE to have that “problem”. But for Bruce Arians, things are a bit more complicated.
Steelers fans know that Bruce Arians seems to have an aversion to running the ball. Actually, it’s more than an aversion. It’s more like an allergy. I believe that he becomes physically ill any time he calls a running play. Or at least that’s the way it seems sometimes.
How else do you explain that game last season when Rashard Mendenhall was averaging 7 yards per carry in the first half, and Bruce Arians hardly gave him the ball during the entire second half?
Or how do you explain the countless times that the Steelers got into the red zone last year and couldn’t score. Despite their lack of success in the red zone, Arians kept trying the same formula; Pass, pass, pass, bring in Jeff Reed to kick a field goal.
For Arians, there is apparently no situation that doesn’t call for a passing play. If the Steelers have a first and goal at the 1 yard line, Arians will probably call for 3 passing plays.
If the situation were 3rd down and inches to go, most coordinators would call for a running play or a quarterback sneak. But to Bruce Arians, that is an ideal situation to call for a 20 yard pass into double coverage.
That’s why the simple question of how to integrate Big Ben back into the Steelers’ offense becomes much more complicated than it may seem.
My suggestion would be to continue doing what the Steelers have been doing. After all, Rashard Mendenhall is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. And that has been against defenses that were stacking the line because they knew that the Steelers were not a passing threat.
With Ben Roethlisberger back in the line-up, that is no longer the case. The Steelers ARE a passing threat. So defenses can’t keep 8 or 9 men in the box. That will open things up significantly for Mendenhall.
But just as Ben’s presence will open things up for Mendenhall, Mendy’s running will also open things up for Ben. When a defense has to respect the offense’s running game, they become more vulnerable to the pass.
Steeler QB Ben Roethlisberger
Fortunately for the Steelers, they have a potent running game, and they are now adding a quarterback who threw for over 4,000 yards last season back into the mix. Do you think that is going to give opposing defensive coordinators ulcers? Yeah, so do I.
The Steelers offense just has too many weapons. We’ve already talked about Mendenhall. But with Roethlisberger back, Hines Ward will become a threat once again. Ward has been the invisible man during the Steelers’ first 4 games. Ward had 95 catches last season for 1,167 yards. This season, he has 12 catches for 165 yards. Do you think he’s happy to have Big Ben back? I do too.
And when Ward is covered, Big Ben can always go to his dependable tight end, Heath Miller. I’ve long argued that Miller is one of the best tight ends in the NFL.
And let’s not forget Roethlisberger’s latest toy; speedster Mike Wallace. Wallace is a 40+ yard touchdown waiting to happen (assuming Ben doesn’t under-throw the ball like he usually does).
That’s a lot of weapons to try to defend. Particularly when you have a quarterback who can extend a play the way Ben Roethlisberger can.
If the Steelers vary the play calling and give the opposition a good mix of passing and running plays, they should be virtually unstoppable. But if they become one dimensional and rely almost exclusively on the passing game, then they will be much easier for defenses to stop.
This logic seems fairly self-evident to most of us. But history has shown that it sometimes escapes Bruce Arians. Which brings us back to our original question; WWBAD?
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I too am excited about the possibilities of Ben’s return. But I would also like to shed some light on what many are describing as a very good running game now.
Last year the Steelers finished 15th in rushing avg. (which is a true look at a running game). They averaged 4.2 yds/carry. This year thru 4 games we have moved up 2 spots to being tied for 13th with a 4.3 yds/carry. While it is true that they are rushing for an average of 20 more yards per game than last year I think all will concede that is only because they were running 2/3 of the time because we couldn’t effectively pass.
So, having said that, this is my humble point: When Ben returns, the passes per game go up even if Bruce doesn’t return to his pass happy self. So by default that extra 20yds/game running from last year to this year will disappear. What does this mean? It means not much has really happened in our running game unfortunately. Hope I’m wrong.
1TONY: the difference is that last year we got 4.2 yds/carry running against defenses that were completely expecting the pass and were usually standing around in baffled amazement that BA had actually called a running play on the rare occasions that this happened. Their shocked immobility allowed Mendy to gain solid yards despite the feebleness of his blockers. This year, we have 4.3 yds/carry against defenses that are completely expecting us to run and don’t really care if it actually turns out to be a passing play because it will probably be over or underthrown anyway. This year Mendy is running against 8 men in the box rather than 6, and doing just as well. With an improved passing game, Mendy will likely face fewer 8 man fronts, and it stands to reason that he’ll do even better against fewer men.
2Good article. A balanced offense means an off balance defense. It’s like a basketball offense that has a dominant big man and a great 3 point shooter. You get the ball down low, and kick it out to the perimeter for the open 3 when the defenses collapses.
A balanced offense also helps your defense, because they come on the field rested and hungry to face a cold and rhythmless offense. A tired defense facing a well-calibrated offense doesn’t have nearly the opportunity to create havoc.
I don’t think BA will ever really understand this, but hopefully he’ll be sufficiently cowed by the Rooney’s to do a good imitation of it.
3Matt,
I couldn’t have said it better. Every team that the Steelers have played this season KNEW the Steelers were going to run the ball. They weren’t scared of Dennis Dixon or Charlie Batch. In fact, they dared them to try to beat them through the air while they stacked the line to stop Rashard Mendenhall.
Not only were the opponents trying to stop the run, but they were some of the best run stoppers in the NFL. Baltimore, Tennessee, and Atlanta are all ranked among the top 11 defenses in the NFL against the run this season. The New York Jets are the only team that we’ll face for the rest of the season that is as tough against the run as the teams that I just mentioned.
If Bruce Arians can mix it up, both Mendy and Big Ben should prosper.
Frankly, I think that the addition of Maurkice Pouncey to the offensive line is already paying dividends. The O-line has been doing a great job opening holes for Mendenhall, despite facing stacked defensive lines.
4i know we all don’t want to see BA succeed here, but all this article does is give him a platform to stand on, he doesn’t care what we the fans think, and rightly so, we are not down on the battle field, we are at home, on the couch, watching, so this begs to question: WWTFD? what would the fans do?
5@Matt………I’ll accept most of that and that’s what I hope to be the truth. Because that is what I want to believe.
6David,
Isn’t second guessing coaches a part of the whole sports experience? Are you saying that you’ve never questioned a coach’s call, or thought that a certain play that was called was stupid?
I actually DO want to see Bruce Arians succeed here. In fact, I got ripped by readers last year when I wrote an article that said that the Steelers should NOT fire Bruce Arians (when everyone was calling for his head).
Personally, I think that Steelers fans can be too stuck in tradition sometimes. They long for the days when #36 was running the ball. Unfortunately, there will never be another Jerome Bettis, so fans need to move on. Having a “big back” isn’t necessarily the answer.
I enjoyed last year’s wide open offense. I’d love to see another season like that. However, I would like to see Bruce show a bit more commitment to the running game. The Rooney’s have said the exact same thing.
We have a franchise quarterback that the team signed to a $100 million contract. We need to fully utilize his talents. But we also have a very good running back named Rashard Mendenhall. We need to fully utilize his talents as well. Is that too much to ask?
7@Donald…….I totally agree. I love the passing element we have with Ben and going about 55-45 pass would be wonderful. I haven’t really looked but would guess we were about 60-40 pass or little greater last year.
Still not a BA fan however
8Tony,
9I know you’re not a BA fan. You don’t keep that secret.