Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger met with the media today before practice per his usual and told reporters that he thinks the offense needs to run more no huddle. He went on to say that he likes to run no-huddle because he\’s calling the plays and working off what he sees and claims he lobbied to use it Sunday against the Jaguars but was shot down.
While these early comments are being relayed by Dale Lolley and Mark Kaboly on Twitter today, it will be interesting to hear the full context of the interview later on today. It will also be interesting to see the rebuttal by offensive coordinator Bruce Arians on Thursday during his regular session with the media.
While I respect the opinion and play of Roethlisberger, not being able to run the no-huddle on Sunday still does not erase the fact that his accuracy was off. He missed several open receivers on Sunday and failed to convert several key second half 3rd downs. I fully understand the want by him to have a bigger say in the offense and perhaps he gets just that this week. Regardless, he still needs to increase his accuracy and more importantly get on the same page with Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders.
The no-huddle is certainly taxing on defenses as they try to shuttle in packages and players, but let us not forget it is taxing on the offensive line as well. Outside of Maurkice Pouncey, this is not a very athletic bunch and they certainly looked pretty gassed in the 4th quarter this past Sunday without use of the no-huddle.
This story is far from playing out, but we will see this Sunday if Roethlisberger gets is way and more importantly if it helps the offense on the road against the Cardinals this week. As I mentioned above, the full Q & A of Roethlisberger and the Arians media session tomorrow will certainly give us plenty to talk about.
