View topic - Ben's arm

[steelslep Profile]

Ben says his shoulder is fine...ok, when was the last time he overthrew a receiver or at least hit'em in stride? He is good for underthrowing Nate at least once a game...

[rwdavis2 Profile]

Agreed. IMHO, I think he's tended to underthrow on the long ball his entire career.
BD

[thesteelhammer Profile]

Good to see some newbees posting what are Interesting observations.

Underthowing is sometimes a strategy to allow the WR to come back for it.
I have no idea if this is the case for Ben and the Steelers.

I'm a Buckeye fan also, and this topic was of much debate when the senior QB who started the season for the Bucks was constantly underthowing.
He got benched for a Feshman Phenom, but came back and got some playing time verse UofM, and was throwing beatiful deep balls.
I think the difference there was the O-line protecting in The Game, verses the "look-out" blocking they were doing early in the season.
I'm not sure that is the case with the Steelers though.

We'll have to keep an eye on Ben underthowing and see if we can detect why it is happening.

[Steelhope Profile]

true

[jstallworth82 Profile]

The under throwing that Ben was doing was not by design. He would have Holmes, Nate or Hines wide f'ing open and throw the ball so high and so short that the Defensive Lineman could get down there to defend often waking the receiver up from a nap waiting for the ball. And that is not much of an exaggeration. This was the first game all year that he showed some kind of consistency hitting receivers in stride and even overthrowing one or two. Maybe his shoulder is getting better.... let us hope

[Nel Profile]

Ben's passes seem to wobble quite often, with a relatively poor spiral. That can cut distance.

Ben seems to throw better and longer when he is moving and can get his momentum behind the throw.

He probably could work on his foot mechanics and weight shifting to get more distance when he is passing from a stationary position in the pocket.

[jstallworth82 Profile]

I agree but he could also throw the deep ball with a lot less arc on it in most cases.

[StillRush Profile]

If anything, his shoulder injury would hamper his deep throws the most, obviously, and I think it shows. I do recall him hitting Nate on 2 long balls perfectly in stride so far this season, one taken away by penalty, as well as many others in the past. I just think that it's a matter of his shoulder healing up and the long balls will as well.

[gutofsteel Profile]

I guess the weather was kind of nasty. Certainly the rain can kill a little bit of distance.

But I think it has more to do with the shoulder. You also need chemistry on the deep ball. Look at '07 when Ben was healthy and had some time with these guys and he was putting it on the money repeatedly. Early in the year when he was healthier he had some nice deep balls as well.

Ben has and has always had a strong arm. That's a myth that was perpetuated by people who apparently lived in a cave back in '05 when his thumb prevented gripping the ball to throw it deep. Even foolishly said at one point he couldn't throw it over 40 yards.

People seem to think QB's throw it on the money every time. What they don't realize more often than not is that receivers make subtle adjustments to the ball. It's rare for any QB to consistently throw it so perfect 40+ downfield that the receiver doesn't have to make any adjustments. And Nate struggles mightily with those adjustments (how many times last year did we see him slow his route, only to have the ball go a few feet beyond his reach?) And, sorry I love Ward, but he runs some of the ugliest deep routes you'll ever see.

[steelslep Profile]

I sat ringside for SB XL back in 2005 and watched Ben literally LAUNCH balls from the end zone to the opposite 45 with no more then what looked like a "flick" of his wrist...I don't buy underthrowing so the receiver can come back to the ball as a scheme either...no way...he has trouble hitting that long ball unless he runs up about 3-4 yards to the LOS....I wouldn't be surprised to see him have his shoulder cleaned out this off-season...apparently Ben had a separation of the AC joint...there are 6 varying degrees of separation with 1 being a minimal separation...not sure what degree he had...1-3 don't require surgery, 4-6 do...he has not practiced a full week since the season opener as rest and ice are the most common treatment for this...also another reason why his numbers are way off this year...

[isfry Profile]

I think the shoulder is getting better, though. He hit a couple good long balls against NE (one that Nate dropped). Sore shoulder or no sore shoulder, if the OL can actually give him a pocket to step up into, he's gonna have more oomph on it.

[SNW Profile]

No one has ever caught an overthrown ball.
Underthrow balls all of the time.
Just an observation.

[gutofsteel Profile]

The other thing is Ben doesn't exactly have a great deep threat. Holmes and Nate get separation primarily through raw speed. They rarely dust someone like some of the great receivers do. As a result, any less than perfectly thrown ball is magnified.

If you go back and watch Palmer chucking the deep ball to CJ and Henry, those guys were getting so much separation that it was an easy throw. They adjust their stride and it looks like a perfectly thrown ball.