Was QB Big Ben pushed on the brink? - NFL feature
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ decision of parting ways with offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has had a major impact on the performance of the team this season. If the Steelers do not agree their current season's run has anything to do with Bruce's controversial
retirement, at least it has affected performance of their offence leader Ben Roethlisberger.
It all started by an announcement by the Steelers in the offseason that Bruce had decided to retire from the league as an official. In fact, his contract was about to expire later in the year and the team bluntly refused to renew it.
Apparently, the decision, which was a controversial one at its outset, came from vice president Art Rooney II, who obviously denied it straightaway. A finger was also pointed towards coach Mike Tomlin. The controversy was proven when Arians came out of his
so-called retirement within a week to join the Indianapolis Colts in a similar role.
It all went well with the Steelers without any reason or objection, although it was not so with their quarterback Ben. He was not pleased with the way the team had handled Bruce’s case. He, in fact, was open and critical about it.
Tomlin on one hand downplayed Ben’s remarks about the decision leading to any controversy, and on the other, brought in new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, another bone of contention for Roethlisberger.
Ben, also known as Big Ben, was not pleased with Todd’s coaching style and most importantly his introduction of the new offensive scheme. The quarterback openly criticised the new coach’s training technique and likened it with a school teaching where one
has to learn all from the scratch.
Both Tomlin and Haley attempted to calm down the situation, even ignore it. The reality however was that the QB was seen heading to be on bad terms with the official, until start of the season at least. Even the players like wide receiver Mike Wallace were
not happy about Haley’s new offensive strategy.
Although Ben attempted well to adapt to the new offence, he never felt as comfortable as he used to be in the past seasons. He nevertheless joined Tomlin and Haley to keep the situation under control. This affected the Steelers' performance to an extent.
Their start of the season was sluggish. They lost two games straight when Ben suffered a rib and shoulder injury, respectively, and then lost another two with him in the side.
It was the story of their entire season, and apparently it was attributed, to an extent at least, to Ben not being comfortable into his role. He sometimes went open, for example, about the bad judgement about play-calling in their game against the Dallas
Cowboys, which they lost.
Although Tomlin and Haley attempted well to stop the situation from developing into a controversy, through denials and positive remarks, it was clear that Ben was being pushed on the brink.
One fact was that he had never been comfortable in the new offensive scheme, which was exactly opposite to what Bruce Arians had implemented for previous two years. It is a rare season that the situation has gone bad to such an extent, and it is expected
that the Steelers must ponder upon it seriously and in context of all the suggestions and objections.
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