Haley’s on his way out, but offense isn’t the problem in Pittsburgh
There’s a lot of venom which has been thrown toward Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley over the years. Since taking over for previous offensive coordinator Bruce Arians in 2012, Haley hasn’t endeared himself to Steelers Nation… or Ben Roethlisberger, for that matter.
With every rumor squashed by the Steelers quarterback and seemingly competitive vibe between two men who have two different ideas about how to obtain the same exact goal, it likely isn’t enough to keep Todd in town for the 2018 season.
Haley’s contract has not been renewed or extended and it appears the OC is on his way out of the Steel City. Big Ben’s instant comments about returning this year, after mulling and teasing retirement following their exit from the playoffs last season, indicate the QB might have some inside knowledge about change within the organization and could’ve used the retirement angle as leverage to keep Steelers brass from hanging onto Haley.
However, for all of the flack that Haley gets, is he really the problem in Pittsburgh?
Throw a bad play call here or there out the window: that happens with every team and was the main reason fans were rioting to rid themselves of Arians prior to Haley. When you boil down the problems that Pittsburgh has, can we honestly point the finger and say that changing the offensive coordinator will make things better?
My argument is maybe.
As I’ve mentioned in other articles and on the SCU podcast, just because you’re on a path doesn’t mean it’s the right one. The current path, however, has netted the Steelers some of their greatest offensive displays in franchise history.
Take Roethlisberger, for example. Ben has thrown for over 400 yards in ten games in his career. All but two of those games have come with Haley as his OC. Big Ben is also the only quarterback in NFL history to have three 500-plus passing yard games, and all of those have also come under Haley’s tenure, as well as both of his six-touchdown performances.
Ben wasn’t lacking talent in the pre-Haley days either. He was surrounded by playmakers such as Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward, and Mike Wallace. Haley benefitted by having Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders paired with Antonio Brown for only a single season with the Steelers.
Haley also had to balance an offense with a bum running game, where Rashard Mendenhall went off the reservation and the team was stuck with such “great” runners like Ike Redman and Jonathan Dwyer.
Fast forward to six seasons of Todd Haley at the helm, and the Steelers offense went from 22nd and 21st in points and yards in 2012, to 16/20 in 2013, then jumped to 7/2, 4/3, 10/7, and 8/3 over the last four seasons. We’ve witnessed Roethlisberger have career marks over and over, along with the best receiver and running back in the league in Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. Martavis Bryant, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and others help round out a fantastic offense arsenal behind an equally talented offensive line which also took a few years to get up to speed (due to injuries to Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, and others).
When you flip the script, the Steelers defense was once the team’s money maker. They were 3rd in points allowed and 4th in yards when they won the Super Bowl in 2005, first in both categories when they won again in 2008, and 1st/2nd when they fell short to the Packers in the Super Bowl in 2010.
They replicated the success in 2011, the infamous Tim Tebow exit from the playoffs in a loss to the Denver Broncos. Then the wheels fell off. The team maintained a respectable 6/1 ranking in 2012, but as veteran players like Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, James Farrior, James Harrison (first run with the team) and Troy Polamalu aged and left the team, those players weren’t easily replaced. LaMarr Woodley was given the richest defensive contract in team history, then succumbed to a series of injuries and bad luck which never saw him return to being the same player again.
Countless other failures, such as the drafting Ziggy Hood and Jarvis Jones, further beatdown the defense. They would fall to 13/20 in points/yards in 2013, 18/18 in 2014, 11/21 in 2015, 10/12 in 2016, and finally bounce back to 7/5 this season.
The period between 2013-2016 was among the lowest total defense rankings in recent Steelers history. From a period between 2000 to 2012 they had ranked no lower than 9th in total yards given up, with a few spotty years of giving up more points, but still typically hovering within the top ten of the best units in the league.
I can understand Roethlisberger may have a personal beef with Haley, but I feel his anger may be aimed in the wrong direction. When the Steelers were winning it all, they were doing it with defense. If Ben wants to pull a Tom Brady or LeBron James powerplay and spur change within the organization, he may want to look at the other side of the ball. Under Haley, Big Ben has been named to four straight Pro Bowls. Three of his best passing seasons have all come under this OC and if he had been healthy a few other seasons, he may have had all of his greatest success with Haley drawing up the plays.
Which leads me to one last point: Haley was brought in to keep Ben upright. Prior to the Todd Haley era, Roethlisberger was sacked 314 times in 114 games: 44 sacks per 16 games on average.
Since 2012 and Haley’s arrival, Roethlisberger has been brought down 163 times in 86 games, an average of 30 per 16 games, which is down 14 sacks per season.
Much was made of Roethlisberger’s retirement talk, with many analysts who casually follow the Steelers stating that the QB has been hit a lot in his career. That simply hasn’t been true during the Todd Haley era. Ben has been better protected with schemes that saw him in shotgun formations and releasing the ball quickly. The team also tossed out having their star scramble so much as he was known for early in his career.
The last six seasons have prolonged Ben’s career as opposed to his first eight. While the overall team’s path may not be where they want it to be, Haley appears to be a scapegoat for defensive shortcomings. Fans should be careful what they wish for. They may not see exotic formations or poor playcalling in the same way, but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Could you imagine having all of this talent, Ben, Brown, Bell, Bryant, JuJu, etc. and not having the same success?
It’s easy to say you want a new OC if you expect the next guy to match and/or exceed the predecessor’s success. But what if they don’t? What if Ben starts getting sacked like a pinata again? (Causing him to miss games.)
That Super Bowl window could go from slowly closing to slamming shut.
