Whither the Steelers

A 6-10 season is disappointing enough, but Pittsburgh has also racked up three losing seasons in the last six years. Obviously the team is looking as big changes.

Everyone is pretty much in agreement that Maddox disappointed and the running game ran out of gas. But there is a deeper problem. The Steelers roster is filled with one dimensional players. As a result, the play calling is predictable and easy for teams to game plan.

Under Cowher, the fullbacks and tight ends block for the running back. All three positions are unimportant in the passing game and the fullback is not a ball carriers.

When teams prepare for the Steelers they don't have to worry about misdirection in the ground game: Bettis can't get outside and the fullback isn't a threat on a counter play. Cover two isn't much of a problem because neither the TE nor the running backs can take control of the middle of the field.

The lack of break away speed also hurts. A well-executed draw or screen pass goes for 15 yards, not 40. Teams find it easy to bend without breaking.

What's striking is that this over-specialization is not "traditional Steelers football." When you look at the Super Bowl teams they were much more balanced despite the fact that they had greater position players. Nor is the Cowher system consistent with what great teams of this era have done.

This year only 25% of the passes went to RB/TEs. Bradshaw complete 40-50% of his to Harris, Cunningham, et. al. even though he had two Hall of Famers at wide out. The current Steelers have no one on their roster who fills the role that Novacek and Johnston played in the passing game for the Cowboys of the 1990s. Nor do they seem interested in full backs who can catch the ball despite the success the West Coast offenses have had for twenty years.

(Early in his tenure at Pittsburgh, Cowher had a fullback- John L. Williams-- who led the team in receptions. We won twelve games and came within four points and one play--fourth and goal from the three-- of the Super Bowl).

The Steelers also are exemplars of the simplification of the running game. Where teams once looked to have two capable running backs on the field at once (Taylor and Hornung, Czonka and Kiick) the system now calls for a blocking back and a feature back. Again, a uni-dimensional plan of attack that simplifies things for the defense. I've never heard or read a good explanation for why current backs can't learn to both block and run.)