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There's been a lot of talk about how offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has changed the Steelers' approach. The battering ram of Jerome Bettis up the middle has been replaced by more three wide receiver sets and a reliance on the passing game.But it's not as different as you think, which is what Chris Brown has pointed out over at the New York Times' Fifth Down Blog. Brown breaks down the Steelers' offense and finds that the Steelers are still relying on the same running plays that they used when Ken Whisenhunt was coaching the team, the only difference is the formations that they are running them out of. Where Whisenhunt would use a fullback, Arians is much more likely to use a tight end or H-back. Partly that's because of philosophy, but it also partly because the Steelers' haven't had a fullback who can block it effectively since Dan Kreider left.
We've mentioned the similarities here at Fanhouse as well. Pittsburgh's best running play is still a variation of the counter trey--it was used to great effect against the Browns last year and was a bread-and-butter part of the playbook all year. That's the same play that Alan Faneca had been pulling to lead for years before Arians arrived in Pittsburgh. And it's the same play that Joe Gibbs rode to Super Bowl success in the 1980s. Now it's just Chris Kemoeatu leading Willie Parker through the hole instead.
But Brown does a really good job of explaining the Steelers' concepts, complete with a breakdown of Santonio Holmes' game-winning catch in the Super Bowl. And if this kind of stuff interests, you, his own site (SmartFootball.com) is a treasure trove of play diagrams, coaching philosophy discussion and breakdowns of different offenses and defenses. If you're someone, like me, who wishes that the NFL Matchup show would simply replace the three-hour pregame hypefests, then Smart Football is a must read.
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