Pittsburgh Steelers: Is conservative play disguised as slow start?
The Pittsburgh Steelers have not had the flashy offense many hoped for, but that doesn’t mean they’re off to a slow start.
For the first time in his career, Ben Roethlisberger seems to be taking the conservative approach to his passing attack. Instead of heaving the ball downfield to his start receivers, he’s looking for intermediate crossing routes and has spread the ball to whoever appears to be open.
“In the past I’ve done that, where I’ve tried to keep guys happy, and it creates a bad issue, whether it’s a turnover or a bad play because someone else is open and I’m trying to force it,” Roethlisberger told 93.7 The Fan Pittsburgh. “At the end of the day, if it’s going to hurt the team, I just kind of say, ‘Well, you’re going to have to just deal with it. Winning’s more important. [Receivers] can be mad at me all they want. But they better realize if we won the game, that’s all that matters.”
Maybe what many people are assuming is a slow start to the offense is nothing more than their quarterback focusing on less turnovers. With expectations of 30-plus points per week coming into the season, not having the touchdown machine offense could be giving off the wrong vibe.
Roethlisberger has completed 66.2% of his passes so far this season. With one interception through 71 throws, this offense has been one of the more reliable ones through two games.
Even if Pittsburgh isn’t blowing teams away like they could be, they’re still winning. Right now, that’s all anyone can ask for from any NFL team. And until the winning stops, there’s nothing to change, including this offense.
Big Ben said it best, “We’re not BCS-pointing it here,” the quarterback told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “We’re 2-0. We did what we had to do.”
It’s true, at this point in the season, there’s nothing more important than winning. Actually, at any point in the season there’s nothing more important than winning. Right now, Pittsburgh has done a perfect job of completing that task.
Even if there’s room for improvement on this team, they’re doing whatever necessary to stay unbeaten. If that means playing it safe and maybe losing receptions for guys like Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant, it’s a price worth paying to keep this team ahead of the pack.
“He’s just done a great job of taking care of the ball,” Tomlin told Fowler on Ben’s play. “Oftentimes, particularly in the early stages of the season, that’s just enough to get you out of the stadium.”
Next: The Steelers have a history of pushing people out
No complaints there. As long as Pittsburgh continues to win, there’s nothing they should change. Including their conservative play.