Steelers QB gets to run loose
LATROBE, Pa. — In the course of winning five Super Bowl titles, the Pittsburgh Steelers became synonymous with defense, conjuring images such as Mean Joe Greene, semi-toothless Jack Lambert and Troy Polamalu's bouncing locks.
"People in Pittsburgh like their defense," says third-year tight end Heath Miller.
But this year, under new head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, the major buzz in camp was the restoration of Ben Roethlisberger as one of the NFL's most efficient quarterbacks.
In his first two seasons, Roethlisberger, 25, posted a combined passer rating of 98.3, and in 2005 he ranked third among NFL passers and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XL.
Last year, however, was one to forget. He was hurt in a serious motorcycle accident in June. An emergency appendectomy forced him to miss Week 1. He threw 23 interceptions against 18 touchdowns, with a completion percentage under 60. His career-low passer rating of 75.4 was ranked 25th in the league. After losing six of its first eight games, Pittsburgh finished 8-8.
"It was frustrating," Roethlisberger says. "You don't want to let the fans down, but I felt like I let my teammates down. That hurt the most. There were games we could have won, had I played better."
Despite his struggles, the Steelers offense ranked seventh in the NFL, averaged 357.8 yards per game. They threw 523 times and rushed 469, but the attack, at times, still seemed stifling to Roethlisberger.
"We were so predictable: run on first, run on second, throw on third-and-long. And that killed us," Roethlisberger says. "Last year, if we took a shot downfield and it was incomplete — or, heaven forbid, intercepted — we weren't throwing it again for a long time. And since we knew we were only throwing 15-20 times, we were so careful with doing this and that.
"It will be nice to know that Bruce isn't going to handcuff us."
Arians plans to use more varied personnel groups than the Steelers did under Bill Cowher and coordinator Ken Whisenhunt. "Three tight ends, one back. One receiver," he says. "We've toyed with four wideouts."
It's required some adjustment. "We're starting to jell a little bit, understand things a little more," Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca says. "It gets real easy when you're running the same running plays for nine years. I could tell you where the running back is going to run before we even snapped the ball. That comfort level is gone."
But this is not a wholesale makeover; Arians served as Pittsburgh's wide receivers coach the last three seasons and was well-versed in Whisenhunt's attack.
"(Arians) is trying to add to what we've already done," Miller says, "whether it's different personnel groups, or doing the same things out of different formations."
Arians will give Roethlisberger the kind of autonomy quarterbacks crave. He can change plays, snap counts — pretty much anything he wants to do.
"We don't want him to be a robot," Arians says. "I'm not going to call all good plays. I want him to get me out of the bad ones."
As part of this relationship, last winter the two sat together and banged out the new playbook's terminology. "What he wants to call things," Arians says. "Because this is his offense; it ain't mine."
Says Roethlisberger, "It's not like we came up with crazy names like 'Farfignuten.' Just names that make sense to what's going on."
Now in his fourth year, Roethlisberger isn't a kid anymore. He believes he's ready to have his best season, and Arians agrees.
"Ben should light it up," he says. "He knows what he wants to do with the football. He has a reason for everything he's doing. That's all you can ask out of a quarterback."
Even if "Farfignuten" isn't in the playbook.