Safety Ryan Clark Slapped with $15,000 Fine

5 Comments

1. 

   Peter

   November 3, 2011 at 7:28 pm

   i find it funny that you guys don’t like Arians or Tomlin yet all they have done for the Steelers is take them to a couple of Super Bowls winning one of them and almost winning a second. Jay, you should start a twitter page of @firebrucearians. You would have 250,000 followers by kickoff Sunday!!! I think if you go back and look at the comments of you guys over the years, specifically Mark and Jay, you guys are much more boisterous after a loss than a win. I guess that is natural, though. Armchair quater-backing and all. Letting out frustration is natural and i get it but i just don’t think we appreciate enough how good this team has been.

   Mark and Jay, i respect you as steeler fans i just disagree with your anger towards the team when we lose or don’t look good in a win.

   Steelers rule!!! Crowley sucks!!!!

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     George H

     November 3, 2011 at 10:47 pm

     The overall opinion of Arians on this site is more of a win in spite of Arians. None of us here are disputing the fact that we have enjoyed a lot of success over the past few seasons, but every team has their offensive woes from time to time, and when we see a problem reoccurring we look to find the source of it, which in this case is the offensive play calling

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2. 

   Thomas Crowley

   November 3, 2011 at 9:37 pm

   Crowley is the fucking man

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     George H

     November 3, 2011 at 10:39 pm

     HAHA

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3. 

   DrGeorge

   November 4, 2011 at 6:16 pm

   Peter, your comment is a thoughtful one and raises several issues. It deserves an equally thoughtful response, which will take more than a line or two.

   When you say, “I don’t think we appreciate how good this team has been,” you probably echo the sentiments of millions of fans in Seattle, St. Louis, Miami, and Cleveland who wish their teams were as ‘bad’ as the Steelers. Obviously, the Steelers are among the best teams in the NFL. Those of us who were faithful fans back in the years when the Steelers lost routinely know how dismal it is to be a diehard fan of a losing team. None of the commentators here lacks appreciation for the present team. We know how lucky we are.

   On the other hand, we are all rabid football fans. We care passionately. More important, many of us actually played the game and know something more about playing and coaching than what we read in the newspapers. That is what makes this site better than most. As students of the game, we look for problem areas and suggest solutions.

   On the whole, I think the level of commentary here is fair and often insightful. We try to see the team through the eyes of the coaches. And, as George H. pointed out, when we see a recurring problem, “we look for the source.” That isn’t a lack of appreciation. Just the opposite. It is a fervent hope the team will get even better.

   Naturally, we assume the coaches see the same flaws we see. And while we are all armchair quarterbacks of necessity, we are not Monday morning quarterbacks – by which I mean, we don’t second guess the coaches based on hindsight. We analyze the match up with the coming opponent before the game and discuss the areas where opposing strengths and weaknesses give us concern. When the same weaknesses recur week after week, as George H. observed, we try to find the cause and suggest solutions.

   For example, at the start of the season, we lamented the porous secondary and the lack of speed that let opponents roll up big yardage through the air almost at will. We were not disloyal in calling for a change. The need was obvious. And when LeBeau recently fixed the problem by going to smaller, faster men in the secondary and playing man to man against the Patriots, we gave credit where it was due. It was a courageous change for him to make in mid-season, and he did it.

   As for the offense, it is no secret that the Steelers’ O-line was only slightly above average at the start of the year. We discussed the O-line options at length here. Our concern with Arians’ play calling is that it often flew in the face of logic by forcing the O-line to do things it doesn’t do well (sustain pass blocks for 5 seconds or more while Ben scrambles and looks to throw deep) instead of building on the things the O-line does much better (run blocking and protecting Ben in the pocket for shorter periods of time). In recent games, Arians has begun to adapt his play calling to the realities of his talent, and the O-line suddenly looks much better and Ben’s stats have improved. We gave Arians his due for that improvement as well.

   Some of us still have serious doubts about two aspects of Arians’ coaching: (a) the power rushing game, the lack of which leaves us with limited options in the red zone – making our offense easy to defense, and (b) his playing calling in the red zone. The two are related. It seems to me fair and appropriate to comment on those weaknesses here. TV analysts have echoed our concerns. We aren’t saying Arians is a poor coach; his passing attack is quite inventive. But we are saying in these two areas there is room for him to improve. And when the team leaves points on the field because of his play calling or because of defects in the power rushing game, some of us get a tad testy. And vociferous. And occasionally boisterous. That is the nature of a blog site. But I think Mark and Jay and the rest of the regulars here do try to be fair in our comments.

   Once in a while, though, someone goes over the edge out of frustration. When that happens, he usually gets a gentle nudge from one of his colleagues back toward sanity. Just as your comment, Peter, has provided that nudge today. And for that, we thank you.

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