Todd Haley sat down with Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola to discuss a variety of topics. But none were more interesting than the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator discussing his initial scripted plays and what they do for your offense.
“We generally have a handful of plays that are our favorite plays, that have looked the best,” he told Labriola. “Ones we’ve worked one, guys are comfortable with. Really why you do that, as much as anything, is so the guys the night before the game, we go through it with everybody, there’s no surprises. We just feel over time that’s been comforting to the players. Especially you look at last week, you’re on the road, a lot of outside factors involved.”
Haley said the team generally has roughly 10 scripted plays each week. But game flow can easily knock a team off script.
“Obviously, you get to third down, we rank those the night before the game with the quarterback and coaches. Depending upon what situation you get in, those can change. You might make a 50 yard play on one of the first plays, now you’re in the red zone and you got to go to your red zone plays.”
While some teams use their scripted plays to show different formations in order to see how the defense reacts, Haley believes in putting your best foot forward and going with the plays that have the best chance to succeed. The Steelers’ offense was never able to get their original starting 11 on the field at the same time but will get a major boost with the likely return of Ben Roethlisberger Sunday in a pivotal matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
