View topic - RON COOK IS A DILLWEED

[johnjon43 Profile]

In case you missed this assmonkeys latest post:

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made all the predictable points in his season-ending session with the local sporting media yesterday. He talked of a "somber meeting" with his players Monday after their 9-7 finish left them out of the playoffs. He took "responsibility for everything" for the team falling short of its goal of winning another "Lombardi." He promised to make "appropriate changes" before next season.

But Tomlin didn't deliver the news that many people in Steelers Nation most wanted to hear. He didn't fire offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.

At least not yet.

You almost could hear the screams of anger around town, across the country and throughout the world in all places where the Terrible Towel is considered sacred.

At least two people are happy for now, though: Ben Roethlisberger and I.

And one of our opinions really should matter.

The Arians dismissal still could happen, of course. ESPN Radio 1250 reported yesterday afternoon that Tomlin will fire him, perhaps before the end of the week. For his part, Tomlin announced that quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson is retiring but wouldn't discuss his plans for the rest of his staff, begging off the topic until after he meets with each coach later this week.

I'm hoping the radio report is wrong. I can't think of one good reason why the Rooneys and/or Tomlin would make that move with Arians. They are too smart to try to placate the frustrated masses by giving them his head. Arians doesn't deserve that. Letting him go would be a huge mistake. It wouldn't rectify what really ails the Steelers. It only would add to their troubles.

Listen ... . There are those screams again.

I'm sorry, I've never seen as much irrational animosity directed at one coordinator as there was toward Arians this season. In a lot of ways, his offense was magnificent. Roethlisberger had his best year as a quarterback. Wide receivers Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes, tight end Heath Miller and running back Rashard Mendenhall put up huge numbers. Certainly, Arians' offense isn't the primary reason the Steelers are out of the postseason. It ranks a distant third behind the overrated defense and the underachieving special teams on the list of causes for the mess that Tomlin is trying to sort through this week.

Today's NFL isn't your father's NFL. It's no longer strictly about power football -- "3 yards and a cloud of dust" if you will. It's about being able to beat increasingly complicated defensive schemes by throwing the football often and with great precision.

The NFL's top 10 passing teams this season were Houston, Indianapolis, New England, New Orleans, San Diego, Dallas, Green Bay, Minnesota, Philadelphia and the Steelers. How much do you want to bet that one team from that list wins the Super Bowl next month and a second team plays in it?

The top 10 rushing teams were the New York Jets, Tennessee, Carolina, Miami, Baltimore, New Orleans, Dallas, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Jacksonville. Only New Orleans and Dallas from that group would appear to be capable of winning the title.

Arians is no kid -- he's 57 -- but he has kept up with the times.

He gets it.

It's hard to say that same thing about many Steelers fans. They conveniently forget that Arians' offense was plenty good enough to help the team win the championship last season, especially during a magical fourth-quarter drive in Super Bowl XLIII. But they can't wait to blame him for the failures this season, unfair as that blame is. If I received a nickel every time somebody said he needs to be more committed to the running game, I'd be a wealthy man. It's ridiculous.

Do those people really believe it was Arians' fault that the Steelers blew five fourth-quarter leads in losses this season?

Roethlisberger is another guy who gets it. You can say he has a biased opinion about the passing game, and I won't argue. Any great quarterback -- and Big Ben clearly is among the two or three greatest in the game today -- likes throwing the ball more than handing it off. It's no wonder he loves his offense just as it is.

But Roethlisberger has been extraordinarily productive under Arians. This season, he threw for a team-record 4,328 yards with a 100.5 passer rating. He had 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. It's indisputable that he and his offense did their part and more to help the team try to get back to the playoffs and have a chance to defend its title.

But there's more to it than just numbers.

Roethlisberger has a wonderful working relationship with Arians. That should not be underestimated. The Steelers have $102 million invested in their quarterback. They should be doing everything they can -- within reason -- to keep him happy.

Firing Arians won't do that.

Nor will making Roethlisberger work with a new coordinator and learn a new system when there really was nothing wrong with his offense as it was.

That's not just wrong.

It's unnecessary.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com. More articles by this


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10006/10 ... z0bpzIJUU0

[Coke Oven Profile]

I didn't think he was a dillweed, whatever that is. He made some valid and logical points. Although I would prefer to have a better and more run oriented oc than Arians, to the point that we have a balanced unpredictable offense, I don't see Brucey as the cause of the Steelers demise. It was the defense, the special teams, and the ownership.

[FineLine Profile]

I agree with Coke.I'm not a big fan of Arians style -sometimes he gets too pass happy--but the amount of venom directed at this guy is ridiculous.Why do bus drivers and postal workers think they can call plays better than an NFL coach?
The offense wasn't perfect but defense and special teams were the reasons for the demise of this team.And no,that doesn't mean Lebeau should be fired either.Bruce Gradkowski throws a lollipop.Ike Taylor is in perfect position to break it up or pick it.Oakland's guy gets it.So something like this is the coaches fault?
Get better players.

[oldschoolhunkie Profile]

Well, his best point is the one about Roth. If he likes Arians and is comfortable, that has to be taken in to account. On the other hand, more intriguing is the news floating around that Arians was badmouthing tomlin and that he is the one who leaked he was going to be fired to the radio station. Don't know what his play is, but if either or both of these things are true, they are firing offenses by themselves.

[steelwest Profile]

Most of you seem to be missing the point. Arians is a huge problem. While we have a capable passing offense, the coordinator clearly loses focus at key times and has failed miserably for two straight years in designing an offense that is capable of doing the necessary tasks to put a game away or to take control of a contest. You will remember that against the Cardinals in the SB last year, the Steelers were provided innumerable opportunities to clinch the game. But we have no true red zone offense. There is no running game to be feared. The opponenets know that we need to throw to go anywhere, and they move to take that away. We almost blew the game because we could not convert properly on the opportunities we had.

The same goes for the end of games. Did you see the Miami game? With ten minutes left and up by ten, the Steelers did not look to run, they tried to pass. The result: an immediate sack. Why? The opponent did not fear the run at all. The game management: pitiful. We held the ball for no more than about a minute and had to give it back for a quick touchdown for them. A microcosm of the whole season. Arians eventually ran the ball at the end with Parker and it worked. This philosophy was about two years in the making but he never learns. Remember the San Diego game this year when Mendy was running all over the Chargers at the end. That changed nothing is subsequent weeks.

The key is not whether we run 40 times and pass 20 or pass 40 times and run 20. The key is building a skilled product so we can do either when necessary and can use each facet at the appropriate time. Arians has failed miserably in this. When the Patriots won their titles, they were a pass first team but had Corey Dillon and could get third and one or could run it in from the six if need be. At the end of games, if they needed to run for a first down, they would.

We do almost none of that. The best drives appear to be at the end of the half or end of the game when Ben abandons the playbook and calls his own. Why have a sadsack coordinator when this is what works best? Why?

And the creativity is also lacking. Many other teams run well designed toss sweeps, traps, and even gadget plays. We cannot figure any of that out. When is the last time we ran a draw play that worked? If we can run as well as we did against the Ravens with Dixon at QB, we can run the ball. We just don't because we do not try and do not execute. Arians is the one with the paint brush. If you do not like the picture, you need to change artists.

[NJSteel27 Profile]

I didn't think he was a dillweed, whatever that is. He made some valid and logical points. Although I would prefer to have a better and more run oriented oc than Arians, to the point that we have a balanced unpredictable offense, I don't see Brucey as the cause of the Steelers demise. It was the defense, the special teams, and the ownership.

I think dillweed is a conglomeration of parts of two words......... Dildo and Dickweed

Take the "Dil" from Dil-do; add another "L" , then smash it all together with the word "weed" (from Dickweed)...........and you get Dillweed.

Easy enough, right?

But, in all honesty and keeping truer sense to the post, Bruce Arians has taken a lot of heat (and I have certainly dished out my big helping). However, in all seriousness, I have been extremely critical of Dick LeBeau, Mike Tomlin and the O-line and special teams coaches.

It seems to me that we had a sort of PERFECT STORM of events occurring this year, not including the injuries to key starters. That is, there were significant breakdowns in ALL AREAS of this team this season:

The defense:
Couldn't keep teams from scoring at the end of games.
The defensive backfield looked confused and scared, which was evident in their giving up big plays for yardage, first-downs or touchdowns.

The special teams:
Were atrocious (at best) by giving up a record number of returns for touchdowns, as well as excessive yardage on kickoff and punt returns.

The O-line:
Is this the way to protect your 100+million dollar QB?
Similarly, is this the way to keep pressure off him by opening up holes for the running game?
Sure, Ben holds onto the ball way too long and we did have a 1,000yd rusher, but in crucial places when either the game was dependent on moving the chains to work on the clock or going for the jugular (as in the Miami game on our first possession in the 2nd half), the offensive line failed miserably.

Mike Tomlin:

As the head coach, it all comes down to YOU. YOU are ultimately the final say in what happens in the game plan, the preparation, execution, etc. how many more times are we supposed to hear Tomlin say it was his fault during a press conference?

[stillgrill Profile]

I go back & forth on the fire Arians, keep Arians debate. Although I scratch my head on how Ben can go empty-set not once, but twice, on 3rd & 1, I realize that BEN can audible out of that set. And he SHOULD take it upon himself to bag the plays Arians gives him. Roth has 6 yrs under his belt & NEEDS to change the plays more. He also needs to avoid sacks - especially those that take the team out of field goal range. That happened on a NUMBER of occasions this yr. I don't like Arians but I believe the 2-3 yr setback it would cause in the offense taking a step back should be avoided. You can only blame the offense so much. Think about it, if the team gives up 1 or 2 less KO returns for TD's, the pt of firing Arians could be moot. This team needs depth on D & a new spec tms coach more than anything.

[_bampf_ Profile]

I agree with the dillweed assessment. Cook is obviously just enamored by a few glitzy passing numbers and has no concept of what an offensive playbook should be. Arians' two tight end running playbook is awful. He constantly has TE (especially poor blocking ones like Spaeth) trying to make impossible scoop blocks on 4-3 DEs. A high school coach knows that is a near impossible block to make and yet he thinks that it will work just because we re in a 'jumbo package.' The elimation of a FB from the offense means the running game is susceptible to blitzes. Arians never accounts for any of this. Clearly the schematic problems are grave in the running game.

He refuses to use the play action pass (the Fins game was the first time in memory that he called more than 1 or 2 a game). He refuses to make adjustments to blitz packages... taking 7 and 8 sacks a game and never using half rolls or sprint outs to help alleviate the problem... it s baffling.

His situational playcalling has been horrid all year... unnecessary risks deep in your own end, pass whacky when trying to hold a late lead... wrong personel at the wrong times. The man has the mind of a child.

Don t let the inflated numbers fool you. Throwing more passes than any Steelers team ever will result in some impressive stats... especially when you have talented personel. That does not mean that Arians has devised a single well crafted gameplan.

Can his ass!

[ideasfarm Profile]

I'm a bit fed up with hearing just how many yards everyone has under this great scheme. Is there a published stat for yards-per-point ? If there is, I think the Stillers must travel the most yards for the fewest points.

Red zone turnovers and settling for 3 has cost us (in my estimate of course) enough games to make the difference between missing the playoffs and third seed, possibly even a first round bye. This is on the offense, and for the yards we have travelled we don't have the points to show for it.

Offense gets the 50% share of the blame for this sorry state of affairs, with ST and Defense sharing the rest equally

[Rushmore Profile]

quick hits:

where was 'not your father's steelers offense' in the 2nd Cincy game? The 2nd Cleveland Game? the 1st half of the OAK game? Regarding OAK: say all you want about a collapsing 4th-qtr defense: Why had PS only scored 10 points into the 4th quarter?

-Rushmore

[Steelhope Profile]

Most of you seem to be missing the point. Arians is a huge problem. While we have a capable passing offense, the coordinator clearly loses focus at key times and has failed miserably for two straight years in designing an offense that is capable of doing the necessary tasks to put a game away or to take control of a contest. You will remember that against the Cardinals in the SB last year, the Steelers were provided innumerable opportunities to clinch the game. But we have no true red zone offense. There is no running game to be feared. The opponenets know that we need to throw to go anywhere, and they move to take that away. We almost blew the game because we could not convert properly on the opportunities we had.

The same goes for the end of games. Did you see the Miami game? With ten minutes left and up by ten, the Steelers did not look to run, they tried to pass. The result: an immediate sack. Why? The opponent did not fear the run at all. The game management: pitiful. We held the ball for no more than about a minute and had to give it back for a quick touchdown for them. A microcosm of the whole season. Arians eventually ran the ball at the end with Parker and it worked. This philosophy was about two years in the making but he never learns. Remember the San Diego game this year when Mendy was running all over the Chargers at the end. That changed nothing is subsequent weeks.

The key is not whether we run 40 times and pass 20 or pass 40 times and run 20. The key is building a skilled product so we can do either when necessary and can use each facet at the appropriate time. Arians has failed miserably in this. When the Patriots won their titles, they were a pass first team but had Corey Dillon and could get third and one or could run it in from the six if need be. At the end of games, if they needed to run for a first down, they would.

We do almost none of that. The best drives appear to be at the end of the half or end of the game when Ben abandons the playbook and calls his own. Why have a sadsack coordinator when this is what works best? Why?

And the creativity is also lacking. Many other teams run well designed toss sweeps, traps, and even gadget plays. We cannot figure any of that out. When is the last time we ran a draw play that worked? If we can run as well as we did against the Ravens with Dixon at QB, we can run the ball. We just don't because we do not try and do not execute. Arians is the one with the paint brush. If you do not like the picture, you need to change artists.

[The Beer Ghost Profile]

First of all, Ron Cook is one of the worst sportswriters ever to grace the pages of a Pittsburgh newspapaer, and along with Biob Smizik, has his head stuck so far up his own ass that he is licking his colon clean.


His article was ridiculous, plain and simple. The cure to what ails the Steelers O, is not the Re-emergence of the run game as this ass carrot thinks it to be. It is to get someone in there who has a concept of Game Planning, a concept of Halftime adjustments, a concept of what to do in the goddamn Red Zone, and who has a clue about situational playcaling. Look, we won the Super Bowl last year in spite of this guy, and were it not for the Defense playing at a rather high level for most of the year, we were a damn 9-7 team again last year as well that would not have made the playoffs, if not an 8-8 team. I don't give a fried fuck about 4,000+ yards passing, 2 1,000+ yard receivers, and a 1,000 yard rusher. None of that shit means a thing unless you want to make the goddamn Pro Bowl. The goal here is to make it to the Super Bowl. Not to pad your damn stats. The fact is, no one gives a shit unless you make it to the playoffs. Did we have a shit defense this year? Very much so. Did our special teams suck? Absolutely. Does Arians make completely fucking ridiculous play calls at the most critical of junctures? U bet your sweet mother-lovin ass he does, and he does it with CONSISTENCY.


Look, I don't hate the guy, it is nothing personal. He is just not the right man for the job here. I sure as shit am not advocating the RUn The Ball, Run The Ball, Run The Ball philosophy. Only putting someone in there who can EFFECTIVELY manage the weapons that we do have in our offensive scheme, which Arians does not get the most out of by a long shot. He may be Ben's goddamn lackey and all, and I can understand some folks being a little hesitant to piss off the Golden Calf, but the fact of the matter is this: Ben is a professional, and any professional needs to know that you leave your goddamn little boy emotions out of situations like this, and make decisions for the best of the organization from a BUSINESS perspective, which Tomlin, and the Rooney's are clearly not doing by leaving this Chumley to make his completely thoughtless and airheaded decisions out on the field for the Black and Gold for what will surely now be another goddamn wasted year, UNLESS the offense somehow finds a way to win in spite of this fucking dumbhead all over again.

[mckeesrockstheburg Profile]

We all know the defensive issues, unfortunately the OC was either in the men's room when the D was on the field or he was going for hot dogs.

His JOB should have been clearly stated, "Bruce, you WILL keep those guys off the field. You got me, Bro? You WILL move the chains, you will call conversion plays on 3rd & 3 , 3rd & 5. You WILL stop this happy horse apple crap of 60 yd bombs when 5 yds is needed for a 3rd& 4, you fellin' me, Bro? That rock belongs to us. LeBeau's guys can't stop a broken clock. No need to embarass them or yourself, understand? Miller, Ward, Wallace, Holmes, Parker, now Mendy and MeMo. We got you a 6'14" TE for cryin' out loud who can't block and can't find his ass with both hands but he can catch the damn ball, might try a mismatch sometime, you dig? You got more weapons than the 82nd Airborne, capice? Use 'em and use 'em right, you writin' this down? Bettis makes the HOF with a lead blocker so smarten up. We run and we move people out when we do,...are you gettin' this? YOUR CONTRACT WILL BE ADJUSTED FOR 3RD DOWN CONVERT %. Make 60% and we'll double your salary. Make 60% and you WILL get a SB check, think you can handle all that?"

Yeah, and I'm the King of England.

[Coke Oven Profile]

"Most of you seem to be missing the point. Arians is a huge problem. While we have a capable passing offense, the coordinator clearly loses focus at key times and has failed miserably for two straight years in designing an offense that is capable of doing the necessary tasks to put a game away or to take control of a contest. You will remember that against the Cardinals in the SB last year, the Steelers were provided innumerable opportunities to clinch the game. But we have no true red zone offense. There is no running game to be feared. The opponenets know that we need to throw to go anywhere, and they move to take that away. We almost blew the game because we could not convert properly on the opportunities we had."

I really and truly believe that Arians is responding to instructions given to him by the Rooney's themselves. Maybe LeBeau is too. Those instructions being to keep the games close. The reasons for that are obvious. Keep the games close to keep the tv viewers watching. So that the commercials get looked at more often when the Steelers are playing. Follow the money, man. There's method to their madness.

[SteelThatDon'tRust Profile]

"Most of you seem to be missing the point. Arians is a huge problem. While we have a capable passing offense, the coordinator clearly loses focus at key times and has failed miserably for two straight years in designing an offense that is capable of doing the necessary tasks to put a game away or to take control of a contest. You will remember that against the Cardinals in the SB last year, the Steelers were provided innumerable opportunities to clinch the game. But we have no true red zone offense. There is no running game to be feared. The opponenets know that we need to throw to go anywhere, and they move to take that away. We almost blew the game because we could not convert properly on the opportunities we had."

I really and truly believe that Arians is responding to instructions given to him by the Rooney's themselves. Maybe LeBeau is too. Those instructions being to keep the games close. The reasons for that are obvious. Keep the games close to keep the tv viewers watching. So that the commercials get looked at more often when the Steelers are playing. Follow the money, man. There's method to their madness.

So you're saying Art and Dan, but really it would be Art, are Jerry Jones-n it? Sticking their noses in coaching decisions? I don't buy it or see any evidence for that. Why would Art think 5 losses in a row due to keeping it too close would be good for the team or ratings? I'm having a hard time picturing that conversation with Tomlin and LeBeau and having either of them be like, sure Boss, that sounds great. Super Bowls get big ass ratings too. So would an undefeated season. Though I do agree that the NFL is a business and following the money is always a good idea. I'm just not sure the money leads where you suggest. Also, let's pay Cribbs his money and snag him. The Browns are morons.

[steelwest Profile]

The analysis above about the dreaded empty backfield sets (we should never run another), the unworkable blocking schemes, and the failure to have roll-out passes and move the pocket is terrific. Again, we seem to avoid the smart ways of dealing with pressure on the QB and repeatedly do the things we know have a low percentage chance of working. Whenever they went empty backfield this year, virtually every Steeler fan had to jump up and say "here comes a sack." And using this formation on short yardage makes no sense. Getting the ball out fast is not Ben's forte, and by going empty backfield you broadcast we are passing and invite the blitz we cannot block.

You may remember years ago when Nebraska played Spurrier's Florida team for the national championship. The Gators went empty backfield with Danny Wuerffel (who won the Hesiman and was one of the most accurate college QBs) and Nebraska sent the house every time Florida did this and bludgoened the poor QB. Spurrier refused to change the sets and Florida got pummeled. Wuerrfel was thrown around tlike a rag doll.

This is the same thing Arians is doing with his empty backfield sets with the same result. I am not sure keeping the same overall approach while employing a new line coach or QB coach can fix this nonsense.

[Coke Oven Profile]

"Though I do agree that the NFL is a business and following the money is always a good idea. I'm just not sure the money leads where you suggest. Also, let's pay Cribbs his money and snag him. The Browns are morons."

Well, you know how tv ratings work. And you know how much ratings effect advertisers, those guys who spend those huge bucks to have their products promoted via the tv ads. And you know about the huge salaries that are paid to the players and coaches these days. And you know that money doesn't come from the folks who buy tickets to go to the stadiums. And you know that whenever the Steelers have gotten a huge lead that they let the other team catch up. And you know about the 10+ yard cushions on 3rd down plays. And you know about the nonsensical play calling in the red zone. And you know about all of the close games the Steelers had this year. The facts are all there, now just connect the dots.

[SoCal Stiller Profile]

"Though I do agree that the NFL is a business and following the money is always a good idea. I'm just not sure the money leads where you suggest. Also, let's pay Cribbs his money and snag him. The Browns are morons."

Well, you know how tv ratings work. And you know how much ratings effect advertisers, those guys who spend those huge bucks to have their products promoted via the tv ads. And you know about the huge salaries that are paid to the players and coaches these days. And you know that money doesn't come from the folks who buy tickets to go to the stadiums. And you know that whenever the Steelers have gotten a huge lead that they let the other team catch up. And you know about the 10+ yard cushions on 3rd down plays. And you know about the nonsensical play calling in the red zone. And you know about all of the close games the Steelers had this year. The facts are all there, now just connect the dots.

Are you freakin serious? You're that same guy who thinks landing on the moon was shot at Stage 9 in Universal studios. Let's at least be real - holy shit!
How about the fact our secondary blows and maybe even give the other team a little credit even?? Some of you people are blowing my mind!

[Coke Oven Profile]

You're too stupid to even have a mind, just non functioning gray matter. You must be a liberal democrat. You'll swallow whatever the tv talking heads tell you.

[SoCal Stiller Profile]

You're too stupid to even have a mind, just non functioning gray matter. You must be a liberal democrat. You'll swallow whatever the tv talking heads tell you.

Wrong! I'm as conservative as they come. WTF does that have to do with the conspiracy shit you're spewing anyway? If that's how you feel, maybe you shouldn't watch football at all! You need to crawl out of that coke oven because it's fucking with your brain! It seems every single time someone disagrees with your bullshit, you pull out the "you must be a liberal democrat" card. Your conspiracy theories are much more liberal sounding than conservative anyway.
BTW - I watch very little TV and I have no idea what the hell you meant by that???