FanHouse Bruce Arians

There's been a lot of talk about how offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has changed the Steelers' approach. The battering ram of Jerome Bettis up the middle has been replaced by more three wide receiver sets and a reliance on the passing game.

But it's not as different as you think, which is what Chris Brown has pointed out over at the New York Times' Fifth Down Blog. Brown breaks down the Steelers' offense and finds that the Steelers are still relying on the same running plays that they used when Ken Whisenhunt was coaching the team, the only difference is the formations that they are running them out of. Where Whisenhunt would use a fullback, Arians is much more likely to use a tight end or H-back. Partly that's because of philosophy, but it also partly because the Steelers' haven't had a fullback who can block it effectively since Dan Kreider left.

Last month, Bloomberg News (of all places), reported that the Steelers might be one of the teams interested in the services of Michael Vick, Wildcat specialist. At the time, it seemed far-fetched and I don't think much has changed since.

Of course, it hasn't kept people from asking, especially since former Colts head coach Tony Dungy recently told NBC that Vick should be signed within the week. So when Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the possibility Tuesday, here's what he said. From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

The NFL may be worrying about Twitter and most NFL teams treat the simplest news that is bound to get out as if it's a state secret, but with open practices and quality reporters, it's pretty easy to get a good idea of what's going on at training camp.

Between Jim Wexell's tweeting and posts at Steel City Insider, vrabinec's incredibly detailed posts over at draftsteel.com and the rest of the in-person rundowns over at SteelerFury.com and Behind The Steel Curtain, there's a heck of a lot of good information out there.

Here's a summary of some notes culled from the first-person reports.

The best news Steelers fans could get during the Super Bowl pre-game hype is not a great report on Hines Ward's knee or news that Larry Fitzgerald somehow has gotten lost on his way to the stadium. When Dick LeBeau told his defense that he will be coming back next year as the Steelers' defensive coordinator, Christmas came early in Pittsburgh.

If you're a Steelers fan, you're probably wishing that the Steelers would run the ball more. If you're a Steelers fan who is happy with Pittsburgh's run-pass mix, I want to meet you, because you're part of a rare breed.

It's part of the Steelers identity: Pittsburgh wins by running the ball and playing tough defense, and any other approach is left to less physical and less worthy teams. We want Jerome Bettis bowling over Brian Urlacher in the snow for the game-winning touchdown, with an occasional trick play thrown in there just to keep defenses honest.

But there have (obviously) been no Bettis bowling games, and very few long Willie Parker runs this year. The Steelers have even gotten rid of the trick plays. So it's not surprise that offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is considered the axis of evil in Pittsburgh. This year's Steelers have thrown the ball more than they've run, they've struggled to run the ball at all. Oh and Ben Roethlisberger has gotten sacked way too often.

Jim Zorn and Mike Tomlin have very different approaches to coaching up their teams. Zorn, in his first year with the Redskins, had his best player facetiously refer to him as a "genius" on a local radio show earlier this week and he dealt with it by, well, not really dealing with it.

Tomlin, almost two years into his stint in Pittsburgh, is a little more proactive about keeping his players in line. Running back Willie Parker, who has battled injuries and ineffectiveness for most of the season, popped off to the media about the team needing to get back to "Steelers football." Translation: Bruce Arians' two-tight end offense ain't conducive to running the ball, which is what he does best.

When asked about Parker's comments at his press conference, Tomlin wasn't happy. Exactly the opposite, in fact.

There are a lot of reasons the Steelers lost to the Colts. We've talked a lot about Ben Roethlisberger's turnover trouble, but just as importantly, the Steelers were stuffed on a pair of goal line running plays by one of the worst run defenses in the league. To try to figure out what happened, I went back and rewatched how the Colts stuffed the Steelers' running game.

Second And Goal: With the ball at the one, the Steelers line up with three tight ends (Trai Essex is in for Max Starks at left tackle while Starks slides over to tight end on the right side, Matt Spaeth is the tight end on the left side. Just before the snap, Tim McHugh goes in motion and stops at the left guard/left tackle gap at the snap. By the design of the play, right guard Darnell Stapleton is supposed to block linebacker Clint Sessions, while left tackle Max Starks is asked to block middle linebacker Gary Brackett. Strong safety Bob Sanders is left unblocked by the line, with the thought that fullback Carey Davis or McHugh would pick him up if he managed to fill the hole. In reality, Sanders had the responsibility for containment on any outside run, so he ended up running himself out of the play by sliding down the line to get on the outside shoulder of Spaeth and McHugh.

Good Lord, it's worse than anybody imagined: Ben Roethlisberger, who's currently about as popular as Tommy Maddox on his way out the door, has gone from Pro Bowler to ... Gus Frerotte?

Sigh.

Pacifist Viking stumbled across the eery similarities:

Ben Roethlisberger, 2008: 9 starts, 1,686 yards, 10 TDs, 11 INTs, 7.0 yards per attempt, 76.1 rating, 6-3 record

Gus Frerotte, 2008: 7 starts, 1,619 yards, 10 TDs, 11 INTs, 7.2 yards per attempt, 74.0 rating, 5-2 record

But it gets worse for Steelers fans: according to the eggheads at Football Outsiders, Frerotte ranks 20th in their total QB value statistic while Big Ben ranks 33rd, behind such luminaries as Matt Hasselbeck (injured), Jon Kitna (injured), Shaun Hill (he's started one game) and Derek Anderson (benched). It's also probably worth mentioning that there are still just 32 teams in the league.

Obviously, Roethlisberger is not the same player he was a year ago, and this time he can't blame it on helmet-less joy riding (although, to his credit, he never gave himself a concussion). That said, he doesn't seem completely recovered from an early-season shoulder injury, and the 6,000 sacks he's taken since.

And if you need another excuse, just blame offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. Everybody's doin' it!

Dick LeBeau will be back for yet another season as the Steelers defensive coordinator in 2008, which makes most Steelers fans smile. Bruce Arians will be back as the Steelers offensive coordinator in 2008, which probably makes some Steelers fans puke.

But is Arians getting a bad rap? No Steelers offensive coordinator ever gets a free ride, as Mike Mularkey, Ron Erhardt, Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Sherman (shudder) have found out. The complaints about Arians are that he made some puzzling calls during the playoff game (especially the third and six quarterback sweep late in the game), that he called too many deep passes with an offensive line that couldn't block well enough to make those plays work, and that he couldn't get the running game going at times.

Bill Cowher might no longer be the Steelers coach, but we did see a little of his approach seep into the Steelers playbook Saturday night.

The knock on Cowher was that he was too cautious, too prone to pull the gameplan in at the first sign of a lead he could sit on. The result was some come-from-behind losses in AFC Championship games and comparisons to Marty Schotenheimer, at least until Cowher won Super Bowl XL.

Cowher might be gone, but his old wide receivers coach is still calling the plays in Pittsburgh, and with the game on the line, the Steelers got too conservative.