Reasons for the Steeler Super Bowl drought: part two. Taking a look at schemes and why we haven’t won in the last ten years.
In part two of our three-part series that explores the reasons for the Steelers Super Bowl drought, we will delve into our schemes on both sides of the ball in an attempt to explain the reason(s) why we have neither won a Super Bowl since the 2008 season nor have appeared in one since the 2010 season. As always, statistics and biographical information courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.
We always hear coaches say something to along the lines of “We need to put our players in positions to be successful” or “We are looking for players who fit what we do”. What does this really mean? To me, those statements are another way of saying this: Were the players we drafted a scheme fit or did we assume we could make them fit into our scheme? In part one of our series, we looked at our draft classes over the last decade with an eye toward determining whether or not those drafted players enabled us to be successful.
The last time the Steelers were victorious in the big game was after the 2008 season; a season in which we would finish ranked 20th in points for (points scored) and 1st in points against (points surrendered). Bruce Arians and DIck LeBeau were the Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, respectively; however, we have not won the Super Bowl since then. Were our offensive and defensive schemes to the reason for the Super Bowl drought? What schemes did we employ under Coaches Arians and LeBeau? Let’s take a look at that, shall we?