DRESSED IN A BLACK Pittsburgh Steelers shirt, the woman sniffed back tears as she made her way through the still-crowded memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, gently, unconsciously rolling a small stone in her right palm. I never intended to start this "week with the Steelers" diary with a visit to Squirrel Hill, but you realize quickly that, in this town, there's no way to separate the two: On this Monday morning, the two items above the fold in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are James Conner and the Squirrel Hill Massacre. There are more parallels: David and Cecil Rosenthal, two of the 11 victims in the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in United States history, were brothers of Michele Rosenthal, the team's former community relations manager; head coach Mike Tomlin lives a block from the synagogue, near Art Rooney II, as well; two buses of Steelers players, along with Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris, attended the victims' funerals last week. In Baltimore, eight days after the attack, Ben Roethlisberger sported cleats with the now ubiquitous "Stronger Than Hate" logo featuring the star of David as part of the Steelers logo.
That logo is everywhere at this memorial, held this week at Tree of Life -- still framed by yellow police tape and bursting with flowers, candles, rain-soaked signs and heart-breaking personal notes. It's painted onto the stones that mourners have left behind for the dead, following Jewish custom. There are thousands of stones here now, some precariously stacked four, five high, on top of the nameplates, and when you begin to contemplate the massive, collective tapestry of grief they form, it's instantly overwhelming. The rest of the world may have moved on already to the next mass shooting -- another 13 dead just 12 days later, in Thousand Oaks, California -- but the sorrow in Squirrel Hill lingers.
Even here, the Steelers mean something. Along with the stones, which feature the team logo, there is a man in a wheelchair paying his respects while wearing a throwback Troy Polamalu jersey. A woman stands at a steel barricade, bowed in prayer, holding up a giant poster asking people to put a Steel Curtain of love around the Tree of Life. "Obviously, everyone is still really feeling the pain, but the Steelers have been instrumental in uniting this community and supporting these poor families," says Dr. Stanley Marks, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident, Pitt grad and the chairman of the nearby UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. "Forget sports -- this team is an important fabric of the community."
After leaving Tree of Life, I walked up a small hill to the Commonplace Coffeehouse on Forbes Avenue, which had recently received a $650 donation -- free coffee for all on Saturday, Nov. 3 -- from citizens in Newtown, Connecticut, who experienced the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Just a few months ago, I was in Jacksonville, working on a story about a shooting at a Madden tournament. The killer walked right by a giant poster of the latest Madden NFL cover, featuring Steelers wideout Antonio Brown. Sports used to be our escape, but the Steelers represent the new normal now: Each of us connected, sometimes in multiple ways, to a mass shooting.
As I walked back to my car, a strange thumping noise stopped me in my tracks at the foot of the Jewish Community Center on the west side of Squirrel Hill, where the clock tower is in Hebrew, the flag is at half-mast and the steps remain covered in flowers. Eventually I traced the sound to a large bay window at the front of the building where toddlers in the center's day care had crowded onto the windowsill and were pounding on the glass until each passerby stopped what they were doing to smile and wave back at them.
Even the bus drivers were pulling up short of their stop to open their doors to wave to the kids. As they did, the info screens on the sides of the buses flashed the words: Pittsburgh Strong.
SQUIRREL HILL IS 3.6 miles from the Steelers' practice facility south of downtown on the banks of the Monongahela River. It's a unique, picturesque setting here where old and new Pittsburgh mix and young employees headed into the nearby American Eagle headquarters stroll past massive pieces salvaged from old steel mills that dot the riverbank like modern art sculptures. After the Steelers' late return from Baltimore on Sunday, the most action at the facility on Monday morning is on the river next-door, where a Murray American tugboat is churning the water, struggling to push a rusty chain of coal barges several hundred feet long.
The locker room is so deserted, in fact, that when backup tackle Zach Bannerenters, he yells at the assembled media, "Guys, we're not here, why are you here?" Backup QB Josh Dobbs comes in wearing Apple earbuds, plastic bracelets that say "Humble over Hype" and a backpack covered in Marvel characters. (Rookie quarterback Mason Rudolph's styling isn't much better -- his Christmas sweater is a collage of Seinfeld's George Costanza. They're clearly taking cues from Roethlisberger, who occasionally shuffles through the locker room in ratty old UGGs slippers. Although, for the record, I own a pair as well, and they are ridiculously comfy.) Dobbs, on the other hand, looks like, well, a rocket scientist -- which he is, having earned an aerospace engineering degree from Tennessee in 2017. He stays just long enough to calculate that his stellar backup appearance against the Ravens after Roethlisberger was shaken up -- one (critical!) pass for 22 yards -- earned him a career QB rating of 118.8.
Upstairs, after watching film on Carolina for most of the night -- the four-day turnaround before Thursday Night Football is brutal -- Tomlin addresses a packed media room. After addressing Le'Veon Bell's extended holdout on Sunday -- "We want volunteers not hostages" -- he doesn't say a word about his missing All-Pro back today. Instead, he raves about Panthers linebackers Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis, going so far as to compare them to the Chicago Bears' iconic duo of Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. Hanging around Tomlin's neck are two chains: One holds a cross, the other a whistle. An Army-green hat hides his exhausted eyes. At one point, Tomlin misspeaks, and instead of complimenting the Panthers on being "fundamental," he calls them a "fundamentalist group." When asked about the ridiculous, and dangerous, idea of recovering and preparing to play such a brutal, demanding game in less than four days, Tomlin says with a shrug that speaks volumes, "This is what you sign up for."
Tomlin does manage to say one interesting, notable thing when speaking about the Steelers' myriad personnel rotations on defense. By one count, the Steelers used their base defense in just 13 percent of the plays against the Ravens. It's no longer strange to see the Steelers' defense use seven defensive backs while rotating players into the action more often than the Penguins. It's genius, really. To try to make up for the loss of defensive leader Ryan Shazier, who suffered a spinal injury in 2017, and the regression of former first-round pick, corner Artie Burns, Tomlin turned the Steel Curtain into the Steel Quilt in order to get the most out of his roster from top to bottom. (BTW: Although he's not talking to the media, Shazier continues to recover and is acting as a de-facto coach this season. We exchanged a quick greeting in a doorway near the team cafeteria where Shazier was carrying a large cardboard box and looked to be hurrying to a meeting.)
With guys hurt and so many misses on draft picks in the secondary, Tomlin had no choice but to stop running so much static, zone base coverage (the kind that Patrick Mahomes easily exploited for six TD passes in Week 2) and try a concept I never thought I'd see in Pittsburgh: Embrace the Chaos. And there's been plenty to embrace here: horrific injuries, blowout losses, unprecedented holdouts, ridiculous off-the-field issues -- and that's just in the past month. Defensively, though, embracing the chaos works for this team, and it means trying stuff like six defensive backs, sometimes seven, and asking 5-foot-9 slot corner Mike Hilton to blitz more often. What the Steelers really excel in, though, according to ESPN's Matt Bowen, is "Big" dime, where instead of using the traditional four corners and two safeties, Pittsburgh uses three corners and three safeties. That extra "joker" safety is stronger against the run and better at covering a tight end, which tips the all-important matchup advantage to the Steelers.
All the moving pieces of this complicated scheme, like the second sugar huddle the Steelers defensive backs use after the initial defensive huddle and the myriad hand signals they employ to communicate before the snap, is remarkable to watch. In the 100-year-old chess match between offense and defense, this is the next move.
As Tomlin put it: "Sub is base in today's NFL."
To pull it off, Tomlin has to rely on next-level communication on the field (that's taken time), guys making smarter and quicker pre-snap reads, and the accelerated development of young, explosive players like rookie safety Terrell Edmunds, who came in for a long soak on Monday to expedite his recovery after playing in all 61 snaps in Baltimore. He blamed the Steelers' slow start on "bad communication" but says "we're becoming the defense we wanted to be." That's in part because of Edmunds and his freakish athletic skills, which include a 41.5-inch vertical. Standing in a towel and Nike golf flip-flops, Edmunds glances up at the tile ceiling in the Steelers' locker room. It's at least 12 feet high, maybe more, but to mere mortals, honestly, it might as well be 50 feet. Edmunds can touch it, flat-footed.
Could he go higher?
"Maybe," he says, "if you put a dollar up there or something."
I guess the sky really is the limit for this defense.
IN THE OFFICE of Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, across from the top-of-the-line Nerf hoop (clear plastic backboard and spring-loaded rim) and positioned next to a black-and-white photo of the late Dan Rooney on the sidelines, there's a newly framed photo Fichtner just added to his collection of favorites. It's a shot from inside the Steelers' locker room moments before their preseason game against the Eagles, and it shows Roethlisberger holding court like a statesman next to an enraptured group of young Steelers backup quarterbacks, including Dobbs and Mason Rudolph. "As soon as I saw that, I framed it and gave one to each guy," Fichtner says. "You can feel the respect between the old guard and the young guns. I love the way it shows intensity and mentorship."
In May, Roethlisberger told 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh that he was "surprised" the team used the 76th pick overall on Rudolph, and he seemed to balk at the idea of mentoring the rookie. Later, Roethlisberger said he was only joking. But after his public battles with former offensive coordinator Todd Haley, after throwing teammates like Martavis Bryant and others under the bus so often, you half expected Roethlisberger to need shoulder surgery after supposedly (repeatedly) contemplating retirement, after seeming to blame "the young guys" for losing to the Patriots in the 2016 playoffs -- after so many divalike faux pas, my sense is that the picture in Fichtner's office is proof that on top of having perhaps his best statistical season ever, Roethlisberger is also making a concerted effort to relate to, and lead, the team's younger players, especially in Bell's absence. (Remember: JuJu Smith-Schuster was all of 12 in 2009 when Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes with the toe-touch touchdown to win Super Bowl XLIII.)
"Ben hasn't blinked," Fichtner says. "You want your full complement of weapons. Well, Bell is an All-Pro player that's not part of our group right now. But Ben has been a calming effect. He's said, 'Hey, he's not here, so let's move on, and when he does get here, great.' Ben has helped not just in game planning and football things, but also, with Bell gone, the idea of saying to everyone, 'Hey, we're gonna be okay, we're good. He's not here, James will step up, so get over it, let's do this.'"
The one thing Roethlisberger hasn't changed? His uber-competitiveness. He's a nut, even when it comes to stuff like ping pong or Nerf hoops. Each week, the Steelers quarterbacks draft college passers in their fantasy league, and they just now figured out that Roethlisberger has been calling Kirk Herbstreit for insider info. "He competes at everything, even in social settings," Fichtner says. "It's like 'Oh, am I supposed to be chugging this beer right now because you're chugging it?'"
JUST BEFORE THE 2017 draft, Steelers owner Art Rooney II was at a charity golf outing in Pittsburgh when Stanley Marks, a family friend and the chairman of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center who has treated several of the Rooneys, offered him some unsolicited draft advice. "Listen, I don't know anything about football talent or anything about drafting," Marks told Rooney, "but this kid James Conner is someone you want in your locker room, someone you need on your football team."
It was quite an endorsement coming from Marks. After all, in December 2015, he was the one who had to inform Conner, then a Pitt running back who had bulldozed his way to ACC Player of the Year, that he had Hodgkin lymphoma, stage 2b, and a tumor in his chest more than six inches wide that would require 12 chemo treatments over the next six months. The mass was so big, in fact, that it was pushing on Conner's heart and blocking the drainage from the veins in the upper part of his body. "Oh my god, yes, I was taken aback, the mass was just enormous," Marks says. "Frankly, had he waited a few more weeks, he could have had a major catastrophe in his brain or cardiac-wise."
Wednesday afternoon, I was about to go stake out the LA Fitness on the north side of Pittsburgh, where Le'Veon Bell had played pick-up hoops the night before, when I got a call from Marks that saved me from what could have been an all-time career lowlight. (Even lower than the time I got taped to a movie-set goal post by Mark Wahlberg.) There seemed to be a message in the timing: As talented as Bell is, maybe it's time to stop chasing his every move and analyzing his every tweet and focus, instead, on the Steelers' amazing offensive line -- and on Conner who, in two and a half years, has gone from chemo patient to an NFL MVP candidate.
"I have two sons, 32 and 35, and they're great. I'm blessed," Marks says. "But I tease them and tell them, 'When you guys grow up, I want you to be like James Conner.' Everyone in Pittsburgh has just fallen in love with the guy. He's become an icon in this town."
That's thanks, in part, to Marks, who not only treated Conner but who vowed to a concerned Tomlin before the draft that there was just a 10-15 percent chance of a relapse. (That number has since fallen into single digits.) Conner trained through his chemo treatments, was declared cancer-free in May 2016 and returned to play for Pitt for his senior season. Before it went public that the Steelers had selected him in the third round of the 2017 draft, Marks got a message from the Steelers' team doctor: He's next. "We all just went crazy," Marks says. Conner still goes to UPMC every three to four months for checkups and has become like a family member to Marks, who found himself crying tears of joy after Conner's first NFL touchdown in Week 1. "To think where he was and what he's been through, and to see all the success he's had, I couldn't help it," Marks says. "A few weeks ago, he told me his goal was to make the Pro Bowl, and I said, 'Great, I hope that happens.' Inside I was thinking, really? Now I think he just might do it."
Conner has been on an epic tear the past month, becoming the first player in NFL history with four games of 100 yards rushing, 50 yards receiving and a touchdown in the same season. No wonder when Marks bumped into Rooney recently, the Steelers owner grabbed him by the arm and said: "Boy, oh boy, you were certainly right about this one."
THURSDAY NIGHT, A full seven weeks before Christmas, Heinz Field is already swathed in giant holiday wreaths and dotted with menorahs and Christmas trees. With the 6-2 Panthers in town, it seemed rather presumptuous to be celebrating so soon -- for all of about 10 minutes, until Smith-Schuster, the most productive slot receiver in the league (and the only wideout to go trick-or-treating in his full uniform) scored on a 75-yard pass and, on the next series, pressure from T.J. Watt forced Cam Newton into gifting a pick-6 lob to Vince Williams. And just like that, with 13 points in 14 seconds, what was supposed to be some kind of epic Clash of Conference Heavyweights turned into, essentially, a second bye week for the Steelers. The same Steelers who started 1-2-1, with their fifth win in a row, have now established themselves as legit Super Bowl contenders.
Even the Steelers' twitter account was straight fire.
"Thank u, next," the team tweeted after the game, channeling Ariana Grande.
The scene in the Steelers' locker room was as joyous -- "rockin" is how Smith-Schuster described it -- as I've ever seen one during the regular season. That also might have had something to do with the five days off Tomlin gifted the team after the game. Tomlin was tickled by the way the Steelers responded this week -- as he passed defensive tackle Cam Heyward, the coach gave him what I'd describe as an enthusiastic swat across his backside. Heck, even Rooney, who quietly made his way around the chaos, thanking players personally, seemed to have a perma-grin on his face. There's a sign just inside the locker room, written in the Steelers font, that says, "The standard is the standard," and it must be especially rewarding for Rooney to see his team respond in such a powerful way after a rough September, a demanding week and the horrific events in Squirrel Hill. Roethlisberger, who threw more touchdowns than incompletions and turned in a perfect passer rating, wore his "Stronger Than Hate" cleats again. Most of the defensive backfield wore T-shirts with the same logo while warming up before the game. (The only bummer: After scoring his 10th TD, Conner was taken out of the game to be evaluated for a concussion.)
"It was a crazy week, a really short week," says guard David DeCastro. "There were times we didn't know what day it was. Guys were mad, irritable. September was a wakeup call for this team, but we're firing on all cylinders now and building confidence. You can see it in our play, for sure."
Near where DeCastro was talking -- by the way, he said he was just channeling his inner hockey player when he went after Eric Reid for head-hunting Roethlisberger -- there's a wood and glass case in the middle of the Steelers' locker room that holds 18 different championship hats, going all the way back to a vintage black-and-red cap the team earned for the 1994 AFC Central Championship. If the rest of the season is anything like this week in Pittsburgh, they're going to need a bigger case.
With the locker room almost empty, Smith-Schuster floated past, heading toward the stadium exit wearing a bright-red tailored suit, red Gucci sneakers and a green tweed tie. He matched the holiday decorations at Heinz Field perfectly.
Only this Steelers team could transform such a sad, chaotic week into Christmas in November.
Ben Roethlisberger has Steelers playing like team possessed
PITTSBURGH -- The liveliest party of the year just took place in Heinz Field, where they danced so hard in the end zone that they ran out of touchdown celebrations, and that's when they weren't throwing Cam Newton to the turf.
The Pittsburgh Steelers weren't lying when they said they were just getting started.
“That team wanted to come in here and embarrass us,” Steelers guard Ramon Foster said. “We just answered the call.”
The 52-21 pounding of the Panthers on Thursday tied for the most points allowed in Carolina history and showed that the Steelers look ready to make their own history. Carolina last gave up 52 points on Christmas Eve in 2000 against the Oakland Raiders.
If Ben Roethlisberger can continue to deliver masterpieces like this against a good defense, the Steelers -- winners of five straight -- might have their best chance at a Super Bowl since the early Mike Tomlin years. The entire offense feels the good vibes when Roethlisberger “is heaving it like that,” Foster said.
Roethlisberger finished 22-of-25 passing for 328 yards, five touchdowns and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, the third such game of his career. He hit every throw, as if tossing into a big net. The Steelers worked the no-huddle offense, Roethlisberger's specialty, on a short week, and the usually stout Panthers looked uneasy throughout.
Roethlisberger didn’t need an exotic explanation for his exotic play.
“When you convert third downs and score in the red zone, good things happen,” said Roethlisberger, whose offense converted 8 of 11 third downs and 4 of 4 red zone trips. “It always starts up front. You can say what you want about the skill guys, but we’re nothing without them up front.”
Turns out this offense hadn't unlocked everything it had this season. The Steelers had connected on three deep balls all season but hit two Thursday, a 75-yard touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster and a 53-yard score for Antonio Brown, who made rookie corner Donte Jackson look silly in press coverage.
After the Panthers marched 75 yards for the opening score, the Steelers flipped the game in 13 seconds with the Smith-Schuster touchdown on their first play from scrimmage and Vince Williams' interception for a touchdown off an ill-advised Newton throw out of the end zone. The Smith-Schuster score was the franchise's longest-ever first play from scrimmage.
When Roethlisberger left the game with 14 minutes, 55 seconds in the fourth quarter, the Steelers had scored points on all seven of their drives that didn't end in a clock runout at halftime.
On defense, the Steelers (6-2-1) sacked Newton five times and knocked him down many others. A Christian McCaffrey running game that confused the Steelers on the first drive was quickly put in park. The Steelers respected Newton’s big-play ability outside of the pocket, and “we wanted to keep him in it,” linebacker Jon Bostic said.
This was such a thorough whupping that Eric Reid's helmet shot on Roethlisberger with 1:15 left in the third quarter -- which prompted Reid's ejection -- was an attempt to revive a fight that was dead two hours earlier.
Some were realistic about the onslaught. Tomlin said that “we are probably not that good” but that explosions like this happen sometimes. Center Maurkice Pouncey added, “This is not normal.”
0:20
Roethlisberger: 'Players made plays' for Steelers offense
Here’s the new normal: The Steelers’ 177 points over the current five-game winning streak is the biggest output in franchise history over a five-game span, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
At times, the Steelers can turn unstoppable with a fast offense thriving with James Conner as the lead back -- which will only complicate matters upon Le'Veon Bell's potential return by the Tuesday deadline to play this season.
Either way, Pittsburgh is good. Rookie running back Jaylen Samuels scored. Tight ends Vance McDonald and Jesse James both scored. Even offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner was opening the playbook for fullback screens in the second quarter.
Brown and Conner, who each scored Thursday, are the first pair of teammates with 10-plus touchdowns each in their team's first nine games since Abner Haynes and Chris Burford with the 1962 Chiefs.
Roethlisberger, Brown & Co. have shown the ability to hit the throttle in previous seasons. Performances like this aren't unique for this group, especially in prime-time games.
That’s why the team wasn’t too hyped about hanging a half-hundred on a good team.
“It’s just a solid win,” Foster said. “Coach T does a good job of keeping us humble.”
But the efficiency at every level is hard to ignore right now.
They face Jacksonville, a past playoff hindrance, next Sunday, but based on this warm-up act, they look ready for anything.
Including questions about the return of Bell, with Roethlisberger saying after the game he’d prefer not to discuss players who aren’t in the locker room.
“We have stuff rolling as a unit right now, but Le’Veon is such a great player,” James said. “We’ve all seen what he’s done in previous years. We know what he’s capable of, but you’ve got to play one day at a time.”
Level the playing field: Five ways the NFL could rejuvenate defense
The video of this NFL season might as well be called: Quarterbacks Gone Wild.
The touchdowns have piled up as the concepts and innovations are celebrated along with the newest generation of golden-armed passers and fresh-faced playcallers.
"... If you're on defense, they don't let you do a damn thing to stop (offenses). It's not a fair fight anymore."Former All-Pro CB Champ Bailey
There are 31 quarterbacks -- THIRTY-ONE -- completing at least 60 percent of their passes. Sixteen of them have at least 15 touchdown passes after nine weeks and 16 wide receivers are on pace for 100 receptions. Statistics that were once milestones have become business as usual.
The NFL’s decision-makers and rules mavens have set offenses free to the delight of a points-adoring, fantasy-football-playing public. So much so that there might be an August night in 2028 or so in Canton, Ohio, where the Hall of Fame class is two quarterbacks and three wide receivers because, well, they’ve got all the numbers.
"[The NFL] made it that way; it’s what they want," said Champ Bailey, a 12-time Pro Bowl cornerback. “I look at it now and think if you’re on defense, they don’t let you do a damn thing to stop it. It's not a fair fight anymore."
Former Rams and Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who spent 15 years on the league’s competition committee, including a stint as the committee’s co-chairman, said: “I can’t really recall a significant discussion we had about a rule that would benefit, solely, the defense that wasn’t simply safety related ... whatever it’s been ... it’s all designed to keep the scoring up. Over time when all those things have been discussed people said, ‘Well, it will all balance out.’ I think we’ve seen, if you look at it objectively, it hasn’t balanced out -- at all."
How could the league make it more fair without putting quarterbacks in harm’s way or rolling back safety initiatives? ESPN spoke to dozens of current and former players, former head coaches, defensive coordinators and personnel executives to see what could be done to level the playing field for the defense.
From that, here are five proposals either for change or enforcement of rules (current rules are from the rules book circulated by NFL Operations):
1. Make illegal contact a five-yard penalty, not an automatic first down
The rule: “Beyond the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender cannot initiate contact with a receiver who is attempting to evade him. A defender may use his hands or arms only to defend or protect himself against impending contact caused by a receiver.”
The penalty for illegal contact is a five-yard walk-off against the defense and the offense is given an automatic first down, no matter the down-and-distance when the foul occurred.
“The punishment doesn’t fit the infraction. You stop somebody on a third-and-12 and a flag goes down for a touch foul 25 yards from the play and it’s an automatic first down. Let defenses play second-and-5, third-and-5," said ESPN NFL analyst Matt Bowen, a former safety who played in 77 games in his seven-year career with the Rams, Packers, Redskins and Bills.
The opportunity to stop an offense that doesn’t get a new set of downs would give defenses a chance in a possession on penalties on second and third downs instead of rewarding the offense for “a touch foul that had nothing to do with the play,” Bowen said.
2. Expand the chuck zone to 10 yards
The rule: “Within the area five yards beyond the line of scrimmage, a defensive player may chuck an eligible receiver in front of him. The defender is allowed to maintain continuous and unbroken contact within the five-yard zone, as long as the receiver has not moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.”
Denver Broncos defensive back Chris Harris Jr. said “that one would work right now, right this second, but that’s why (the league) will never do it because they know it would work. That's a fair fight, I'd love that.”
Fisher said it would also force offenses to reconsider some of what they’re doing now, but saw a problem in the enforcement.
“It’s enforced right now at a soft seven (yards) or so,” Fisher said. “If you move it to 10, maybe it gets enforced at 12 (yards) or so, I think you’d get more pass interference because the ball is going to be in the air a lot when the DB is engaged at the top of the route at 10 (yards).”
3. Enforce downfield blocking rules
The rule: “On a scrimmage play during which a legal forward pass is thrown, an ineligible offensive player, including a T-formation quarterback, is not permitted to move more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage before the pass has been thrown.”
Just seek an opinion on this one these days and defensive coaches around the league say -- loudly -- offenses are repeatedly scoring touchdowns on plays, especially run-pass option plays, that should be flagged as penalties because linemen are “four, five, six yards down the field,” Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe said.
The rule is on the books “and they just need to call it,” Wolfe said. “The linebacker has no chance, he’s playing run because the linemen are run blocking down the field before the throw.”
"That's one that will definitely have to be addressed," Fisher said. "I have no doubt on that."
4. Enforce offensive pass interference on pick plays
The rule: “It is pass interference by either team when an act by a player more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage significantly hinders an eligible player’s opportunity to catch the ball ... Defensive pass interference rules apply from the time the ball is thrown until the ball is touched.”
When the New England Patriots slowed the Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf offense in Super Bowl XXXVI with a decidedly hands-on approach to defense, pass interference and illegal contact each became a “point of emphasis” for the officials and they have clamped down since.
However, while offensive and defensive pass interference are listed together in the NFL rule book, they are not called with the same frequency.
“That one is totally off,” Bailey said. “(Offenses) are picking every play in a bunch formation, and in the red zone, and offense and defense are committing the same amount, but for every three or four on defense called, you might get one on offense. Just call it. Especially in the middle of the field where the umpire used to be.”
: CBS 5. Add an eighth official to crew
The rule: "The game shall be played under the supervision of seven officials: the Referee, Umpire, Down Judge, Line Judge, Field Judge, Side Judge, and Back Judge."
Fisher said it’s time to go to an eight-man crew like the major conferences in college football have been doing since 2014. The NFL moved the umpire from the defensive side of the ball to behind the quarterback in 2010 as part of safety concerns for those officials.
“But that middle of the field area where the umpire was is where a lot of these fouls are getting missed,” Fisher said. “The eighth official can then handle all that stuff in the middle of the field where the umpire used to be. College puts guys there, they’re used to playing it, we need to put that back, that guy on the defensive side. We have the feeder system, guys are already officiating that area of the field in college.
“Also flip the referee and the umpire, put the referee looking into the face of (a right-handed quarterback),” Fisher said. “ ... Then the referee has a better view of hits on the quarterback because he’s not looking through the back of the quarterback and the umpire has a better view too. Because right now, once the pocket starts to collapse the referee’s eyes come off the left tackle and go to the quarterback for hits on the quarterback. And time after time we’ve seen on the film that right end on the edge pulled down at the top of the rush because the referee is on the quarterback. Call it, just call it, bring back the edge-rushing component.”
In the end even the most hopeful know, deep down, the league wants scoring. But there are those who believe it will cheapen offensive statistics and corrupt historical greatness if defenses don't get a little help.
“Look, when I was with the Bears (1986-1995), we had a goal board -- hold a team to less than 17 points, 200 yards passing, 40 percent completions," said Dave McGinnis, who spent 30 years in the NFL. “Hell, that’s a quarter now, now your board would be 35 points, 500 yards and 65 percent passing. Defensive guys are just hanging on right now and they don’t have tenure, you know. People are going to get fired year after year because their hands are tied.”
Bailey said: “You can’t touch the quarterback, you can’t touch the receiver ... there isn’t much left ... You have to play top down, make tackles in front of you, catch, tackle, catch, tackle, don’t let anything over your head and close it down in the red zone. That’s all you have.”
Defenses blitzing less this year to curb big plays
COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is blitzing a little more than he did in years past, trying to limit explosive plays in the backfield before they pick up steam.
Bradley said sometimes as a defensive playcaller he'd like to bring pressure into a jet sweep, but it's a calculated risk, and he has noticed opponents are blitzing less.
"Some of the things offensively that you're seeing, and with some of the ways teams are trying to attack defenses, that forces you to be more sound in some of the things you do," Bradley said. "I'm not sure if that's taking away some of the pressure. Some teams we watch -- I would think as a whole though, as we're watching plays, we're seeing less blitzes against opponents we have played thus far."
Through eight games this season, the Chargers have blitzed five or more defenders 20 percent of the time, compared to 18 percent last year, which was third-least in the league. With Joey Bosa unavailable due to a bruised left foot, the Chargers have looked to blitz more to create pressure.
However, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, the leaguewide blitz rate this year is 24.1 percent of dropbacks -- the lowest since ESPN started tracking blitzes in 2006. The previous low was 27 percent in 2016.
Despite the drop in blitzes, quarterbacks are still being pressured on 28.4 percent of dropbacks, which is the highest since 2009.
The quarterbacks who have been blitzed the most often this season include dual-threat signal-callers such as C.J. Beathard (35.9 percent), Blake Bortles(30.2) and Josh Allen (29.8) -- players who are less likely to beat defenses with their arm talent.
Quarterbacks who make their living from inside the pocket such as Tom Brady(15 percent), Aaron Rodgers (18.5) and Eli Manning (19.5) do not get blitzed as much.
With quarterbacks focused on getting to their playmakers earlier, the result has been more yards and more points on offense. Five quarterbacks are on pace to throw for more than 5,000 passing yards this season.
And scoring is at 24 points per game, up from 21.7 points per game in 2017 and on pace to eclipse the highest average number in the Super Bowl era (23.4 PPG in 2013).
We asked a handful of coaches around the league why teams are blitzing less, and they point to the uptick in pre-snap movement like jet sweeps, the ascension in popularity of run-pass options and and the fact that quarterbacks are getting the ball out much quicker than in previous years.
"The ball's coming out so fast now," Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said. "There's built-in passes on running plays now, so what are you blitzing for? I mean the ball's coming out in 0.2 seconds, so what are you blitzing for? You're not seeing the quarterback take seven-step drops and two hitches anymore. That ball is coming out at warp speed.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said offensive and defensive coordinators are playing a cat-and-mouse game of who will bring pressure on defense and how can you exploit the extra players coming after the quarterback on offense.
"I know offenses are doing more and more stuff," Shanahan said. "The more blitzes that you do with the change in motion and all of that stuff and all the jets sweeps that people have, it's very hard to stay sound and in your gaps and defend every single play.
"Blitzing is an extremely calculated risk. If you never do it, then it's extremely easy for the offense. But if you always do it, that's very easy for the offense, too. So the key is keeping people off balance and trying to not give up big plays."
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll's defense is blitzing 18 percent of the time this season, fifth-lowest in the NFL. Like Bradley, Carroll said it's important to keep explosive plays in front of you, and that's done easier the less his defense blitzes.
“If a team called a run and there’s a pass involved and you’re trying to pressure -- whether it’s the run or the passing game -- you might not be right at all,” Carroll said. “So I think it’s just caused a little bit more uncertainty for the callers.
“And the throwing game is just so good. Teams are so adept at spreading the ball around, and the ball’s out so quickly, it doesn’t make sense to bring a ton of pressure right now.”
When will Ravens let Lamar Jackson really play quarterback?
OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Since the day the Baltimore Ravens drafted Lamar Jackson, team officials have made it clear what position the Heisman Trophy winner plays:
- "He's not a running back," coach John Harbaugh said. "He's a quarterback."
- "Lamar is a quarterback," quarterbacks coach James Urban said. "He is a quarterback."
- "[He’s] a talented, talented guy -- but he's a quarterback," offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. "Done."
So, nine games into the season, why haven't the Ravens allowed Jackson to really play quarterback?
When it has come to meaningful playing time, Jackson has basically run the Wildcat. In his handful of plays per game, he is taking the snap and executing the read-option, which has been the Ravens' most effective way in running the ball but has done very little in helping him make strides as a potential franchise quarterback.
Setting aside his mop-up time against the Bills and Panthers, Jackson has played 39 snaps at quarterback and has thrown a total of five passes. Only one of those passes has come from inside the pocket.
"They haven't featured him enough, in my opinion, in their passing game," said Matt Bowen of ESPN's NFL Matchup Show. "That's the biggest thing in terms of his development. Everyone knows he's a phenomenal athlete and can be used in quarterback-designed runs. There is no way to measure how many steps he's taken forward yet because he hasn't had enough experience throwing from the pocket this season."
The Ravens could be leaning toward expanding Jackson's role in the final seven games of the regular season. Baltimore isn't getting much of out its running backs (they're collectively averaging 3.5 yards per carry), and the passing game has sputtered since defenses have taken away John Brown.
After scoring a total of 60 points during a three-game losing streak, the Ravens are in dire need of a spark on offense. Perhaps that's why Harbaugh said he wanted to see more of Jackson.
"When I say I want him on the field more, it's because he's such a good player," Harbaugh said, "and you want to put your good players on the field."
Some of Jackson's most extensive work at quarterback came two weeks ago in Carolina, where he came into the fourth quarter with Baltimore trailing 36-14. Jackson completed 4-of-5 passes for 46 yards against albeit soft coverage by the Panthers, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Hurst.
Asked if the Ravens are getting more confident in letting Jackson throw the ball more often, Urban said, "The National Football League is like if you put food on the plate and you eat it, then you get more food. So, he's had success on a couple, so we'll continue to find ways to get him to contribute. Whether that's running the ball, passing the ball or catching the ball -- we'll do whatever we have to do to try to win."
Harbaugh and Mornhinweg have both said practice time is devoted to that week's game plan, which means Jackson's reps are devoted to his speciality plays and scout team. The time that helps Jackson's growth comes afterward.
Jackson spends about 30 minutes with Urban and Robert Griffin III, going over fundamentals. The drills focus on dropbacks, footwork and throwing motion. As Urban put it, Jackson is "honing the skills of being an NFL passer."
Asked where Jackson has improved the most since the start of the season, Urban said, "Consistency and repeating the motion, repeating the footwork, repeating the finish, all those things, and that's where it's grown. [He's] much more consistent. That's what we're trying to get to: Can you repeat the motion? He's working hard at it."
His limited pass attempts causes speculation that the Ravens don't believe he's polished enough. In the preseason, Jackson looked raw at times, completing only half of his passes.
Based on what Harbaugh said, it looks as if Jackson is going to get more than his usual six snaps per game. Harbaugh acknowledged that the team has considered giving entire series to Jackson during games.
That type of experience would go a long way in removing the enigma label from Jackson.
"If I'm a coach, I don't know yet," Bowen said in terms of what Jackson has shown as a passer. "For me to know, I have to get him on the field in meaningful game situations and I have to see him run a couple of series where he has to manage the offense through the up and down of the series."
Jackson is the only quarterback drafted in the first round this year not to get a start. Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen have combined for 25 starts, but they've won a total of eight games.
Unlike the Browns, Jets, Bills and Cardinals, the Ravens aren't ready to go in full rebuild mode just yet. If Baltimore beats Cincinnati after the bye, the Ravens could find themselves in the thick of the AFC wild-card race again.
Until the Ravens are eliminated from postseason contention, it'll be interesting to see just how much they'll use Jackson going forward.
"We're evaluating everything, in terms of that," Urban said. "[If the Ravens give Jackson an entire series at quarterback], I do know that it would not be done to benefit Lamar Jackson. It would be done to benefit the Baltimore Ravens and our offense trying to score points and get the ball in the end zone. If that decision is made, that's why that decision would be made. That's how we start with everything."
Despite losing, Browns have Baker Mayfield and that's 'everything'
BEREA, Ohio -- Joel Bitonio brought some perspective to the final seven games of the Cleveland Browns' season.
On Wednesday, the Browns guard was asked if, despite the losing, there was a good feeling because Baker Mayfield provided a sense of long-lost clarity to the most important position on the team.
“It’s not everything,” Bitonio said, “but it’s everything.”
Which pretty much sums it up.
“You’ve got to have a quarterback to win in the NFL,” Bitonio said.
The Browns have proven that. They have struggled through 30 different starters since 1999 along with 17 seasons of losing records. Since the 2015 season, the Browns have gone 6-50-1.
Selecting Mayfield first overall in the draft was supposed to solve the quarterback issue. So far, things have not been Patrick Mahomes-great, but they have been encouraging.
Mayfield’s Total QBR of 40.2 ranks 28th in the league, but it is the best among rookie starters, as is his passer rating of 81.5. Mayfield’s 10 touchdowns are one fewer than Sam Darnold has, but Mayfield’s seven interceptions are half of Darnold’s -- in the same attempts.
There is plenty of room for improvement -- the passer rating is 29th in the league -- but barring a collapse of epic proportions, Mayfield will go into 2019 secure as the starter.
“We have his back,” interim coach Gregg Williams said. “Now, let’s go. You are a smart enough quarterback, instinctive enough quarterback. We understand that mistakes are going to be made. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. Just cut it loose and play, and make faster and faster decisions.”
From this point, any game Mayfield plays, any snap he takes, any pass he throws should benefit him as he points toward the future. The Browns will try to win while this happens -- “We do not do this to earn a scholarship,” Williams said -- but this season primarily has become about the quarterback’s growth and potential.
“It hasn’t been perfect, you know, but to have him out there with you, there’s always that hope that, ‘Hey, we have a chance to win this game,’” Bitonio said.
Mayfield has never lost four in a row, so the losing is difficult, but that is a hurdle all Browns players have had to learn to clear the past few years. Bitonio sees a quarterback who goes on to the next play whether the previous one was good or bad, a necessity at the position. And Mayfield will keep doing his best to not let it get him down.
“If I was down about it,” he said, “I wouldn't be the man for the job.”
“He’s doing all the things right,” Bitonio said. “Just to see the work he’s put in, the talent that he has and the pieces we can put around him to keep improving with ... there’s no limits on what we can be in the future.
“Now our goal as an offense is to protect this guy and keep improving and letting him play and letting him do his thing. That’s what we’re going to try to do the rest of the year.”
Aaron Donald will let play provide response to D.J. Fluker
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Aaron Donald is a man of few words. He prefers to just play football.
As such, it hardly came as a surprise this week that Donald had little to say when asked about facing the Seattle Seahawks, particularly right guard D.J. Fluker, who insinuated after the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Seahawks in Week 5 that the Rams' star-studded defensive line wasn't worth all the hype.
"We just going to go out there and play our game," Donald said with a hint of a grin after practice. "Let our play speak for us."
For as much restraint as Donald showed when he spoke with reporters at his locker, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year shortly took to Instagram to post a message.
