Change can either be a good thing or a bad thing, but in the case of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a switch to the no-huddle offense could not come soon enough.
Disappointing would be an understatement when describing the first half of last season. They started 0-4 and did not see a win until October 13 against the Jets. Decisions had to be made and what used to work clearly was not anymore.
For the final 8 games of the season, Ben Roethlisberger led his Steelers to a 6-2 record and recorded 10 more points per game than the first half of the season- all while using the no-huddle 22 percent of the time versus 6.5 percent for the first half.
This should not come as a surprise to Steeler fans. Ben Roethlisberger has always been a fan of the no-huddle and the stats show that he has improved with it:
Ben Roethlisberger No-huddle Stats:
Year Att Comp Yds TD INT Sack
2008 36 23 239 1 2 4
2009 37 28 328 2 0 2
2010 41 26 313 2 1 3
2011 38 21 291 0 2 3
2012 38 26 400 4 2 0
2013 158 101 1187 10 3 0
Source: NFLsavant.com
Another big fan of the no-huddle offense? David DeCastro: “It really slows down the D linemen and puts pressure on (defenses), and I think if we can find a way to keep using it to our advantage, I think it’s great.”
The Steelers coaching staff agrees and that’s why during a large amount of OTA’s, the offense spent time working on the no-huddle. This is key, considering the Steelers will have a lot of new faces on the wide receiving corps this year and getting in sync is a crucial part of this whole scheme working. One player not understanding a call can ruin the whole play.
If employed correctly a no-huddle offense runs a defense down quickly. The no-huddle limits a defenses ability to substitute, wearing down their players rapidly and eventually limiting their ability to get to a quarterback.
The issue is, a lot of quarterbacks cannot accurately run a no-huddle offense. If they do not understand the playbook well enough, signals can be messed up, and plays ruined. This is obviously not an issue in Ben’s case.
I am a big fan of the no-huddle and I think Ben does a good job with it. It is not possible to make it your main form of offense but having the opportunity to switch to it during a game is huge. If the Steelers can embrace it and the new players can get on the same page, it can make as big of a difference as it did last year.
2009 37 28 328 2 0 2
2010 41 26 313 2 1 3
2011 38 21 291 0 2 3
2012 38 26 400 4 2 0
2013 158 101 1187 10 3 0
Source: NFLsavant.com
Another big fan of the no-huddle offense? David DeCastro: “It really slows down the D linemen and puts pressure on (defenses), and I think if we can find a way to keep using it to our advantage, I think it’s great.”
The Steelers coaching staff agrees and that’s why during a large amount of OTA’s, the offense spent time working on the no-huddle. This is key, considering the Steelers will have a lot of new faces on the wide receiving corps this year and getting in sync is a crucial part of this whole scheme working. One player not understanding a call can ruin the whole play.
If employed correctly a no-huddle offense runs a defense down quickly. The no-huddle limits a defenses ability to substitute, wearing down their players rapidly and eventually limiting their ability to get to a quarterback.
The issue is, a lot of quarterbacks cannot accurately run a no-huddle offense. If they do not understand the playbook well enough, signals can be messed up, and plays ruined. This is obviously not an issue in Ben’s case.
I am a big fan of the no-huddle and I think Ben does a good job with it. It is not possible to make it your main form of offense but having the opportunity to switch to it during a game is huge. If the Steelers can embrace it and the new players can get on the same page, it can make as big of a difference as it did last year.
I am sure we will see some practice with the no-huddle during training camp so keep an eye out.
Please check out the following links for more info. I used them for the stats as well as the DeCastro quote:
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/07/16/david-decastro-really-likes-no-huddle-offense/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2014/06/09/pittsburgh-steelers-will-run-more-no-huddle-this-year/
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