Ray Fittipaldo makes interesting points in the Post-Gazette's Steelers Blog entry, "Ben Roethlisberger is Running the 29th-Ranked Offense in the NFL."
Here are some takeaways:
"In the past 22 games without [Bruce] Arians calling the plays the Steelers have 10 wins and 13 losses. This season they are averaging 17.9 points per game, which ranks 29th out of 32 teams in the NFL. They have managed to score more than 20 points in a game twice this season, both losses. ...
But in many ways, this isn’t about numbers. It’s about a comfort level with the quarterback and his play-caller. ...
The point is a decision was made by the organization to change coordinators after going 55-25 during the regular season with Arians in charge.
Haley and Roethlisberger continue to say the right things when asked, but something appears to be amiss with this offense. The bottom line is Roethlisberger is not having the same success with Haley that he did with Arians.
To be sure, there are other reasons the Steelers are 2-5 and streaking toward a losing season, but the decision to change coaches following the 2011 continues to be easily second-guessed.
If there is an organization that understands the concept of coaching continuity it’s the Steelers, who have had three head coaches since 1969. It's 20-20 hindsight, but the question persists whether continuity within the assistant ranks was vastly underestimated 22 months ago."
