The Plot Thickens

It turns out that maybe Bruce Arians was as surprised as the rest of us to learn of his retirement. The plot thickens, and it all sounds very Machiavellian.

It will be interesting to see whether Arians coaches in the NFL again ... like, this year?  What if he truly isn't ready to retire? ... like, this year? What if another team (Cleveland comes to mind) offers him a job?  We shall see.

Like many fans, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls have mixed feelings about how Arians orchestrated the Steelers offense.  Remember the pre-season, when the offense was dynamite? Granted, we all acknowledged it was just preseason, but we all looked forward to the regular season and said, "This team should be fun to watch."

We could've used more plays like this one.

At times, it was. Other times, it was incredibly frustrating. While Arians should be credited for developing talent and many, many excellent play-calls, something was missing -- points. The offense stalled at times maybe it shouldn't have. The playoff game in Denver is an example. Field goals on the first two drives. Field goals instead of touchdowns.  You know the rest of the story. For all Arians and the offense accomplished, they didn't score enough points.

For an excellent in-depth analysis of the Steelers offense under Arians -- and how his teams over the years ranked comparatively in points scored, yards-per-rush and sacks surrendered -- visit Steelers Depot, where blogger Jeremy Hritz details how offenses under direction of Arians were "consistently average."  Check it out here.

We can't help but wonder how the departure of Arians will affect personnel decisions on offense -- Hines Ward, offensive line, backup quarterback, etc. And how will Big Ben handle working with a new offensive coordinator?  For all we know, Big Ben is the offensive coordinator.