It’s a popular hashtag on Sunday afternoons when the Steelers offense seems stuck in the mud.
#FireHaley
That hashtag won’t be going anywhere soon for Steelers fans, as Todd Haley won’t be leaving the team for the near future. The coordinator “told people he was not interested in any head coaching jobs this year and so there was no publicly stated interest in him,” this according to the Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette.
While dumping on Haley may be a popular topic, the Steelers offense overcame quite a bit in 2015, and while the season didn’t end with a Super Bowl ring, if healthy, the team should again employ an explosive offense in 2016.
This last season having to use a number of backups at key positions throughout the season, the Steelers offense was still ranked fourth in the NFL with 26.4 points per game.
Impressive considering they had Ben Roethlisberger for 12 games, LeVeon Bell for six, Martavis Bryant for 11, and lost two huge pieces on the offensive line in center Maurkice Pouncey and tackle Kelvin Beachum.
The Steelers offense should resemble that of a well-oiled machine when they take the field in 2016, as Roethlsiberger played banged up for nearly the whole season, but was still able to throw 21 touchdowns.
Bell and DeAngelo Williams as the two running backs provide the best 1-2 punch at the position in the NFL.
Bell is going to play with a chip on his shoulder after being knocked out in the first Bengals game, and Williams will want to pick up where he left off after getting injured in the final game of the regular season against the Browns.
This team and specifically the offense is going to be right up there as the NFL’s best again in 2016, and Haley should get a lot of kudos for molding them into the unit they are today after joining the team in February of 2012.
So the next time you’re ready to roll out the #FireHaley hashtag on Sunday, just remember how good this unit has played in the three with him running the show.
As long as they are healthy, 2016 should be a fun ride when the offense takes the field for the black and gold.
3 Comments
Leave a Reply
Show Your Team Spirit
Get Your Steelers Tickets
Steelers Gab Newsletter
Sign up to receive our Steelers Gab newsletter, and keep up to date with all the latest Pittsburgh Steelers news.
Jim boscaino
January 28, 2016 at 2:51 pm
Happy Haley staying….I have no problem with him coming back
DaveB.
January 28, 2016 at 4:32 pm
Haley is good at what he does . With that being said , he needs to utilize his tight ends more in his offense . He has one of the better tight ends in the NFL playing for him , but he rarely is allowed to catch the ball . Go figure .
DrGeorge
January 28, 2016 at 6:12 pm
I agree, DaveB. Haley certainly has done nothing to merit replacing him. The offense does need to run the ball more consistently and pass the ball more efficiently instead of going for the “splash” plays. But the present focus on a big play offense may be more properly laid at the feet of Ben R. and Tomlin, who both have a riverboat gambler mentality and tend to eschew consistent, grind it out football.
Remember when Arians engineered the aerial circus here in Pittsburgh? In Arizona, his offense is far more balanced. I blamed Arians at the time, but given his offensive shift in Arizona, I suspect Ben R. and Tomlin more than Arians were responsible for that tendency back then. As I recall, the big play push began after Super Bowl 43 when Ben R. insisted on a larger role in play calling. The OC changed with Arians’ departure, but the “splash” play mentality endures, which suggests that Haley is simply following orders and doing the best he can with what he’s got.
I often complain about our poor TD ratio in the red zone and the questionable play calling in the red zone (sweeps, reverses, eschewing the run for a pass into triple coverage on goal to go from the one). Haley would seem to be culpable for those calls, but then again, he may be simply obeying Tomlin’s orders or acceding to his prima donna QB’s wishes under pressure from on high.