My goodness, this is just shameful. I can’t believe I’m saying this but Randy Fichtner might be worse than Jason Garrett. I mean, there really isn’t much to be said here. The Steelers had a prime opportunity to get back to their run game last night against Buffalo. Big surprise they didn’t, and Randy Fichtner is to blame. Like fellow writer Anthony Fontanello called an emergency press conference yesterday to discuss Jason Garrett’s failure with the Giants, I am essentially doing the same thing. RUN THE DAMN BALL RANDY.
Of course, it’s not only the lack of a running attack that Fichtner needs to answer for, but an overall bland and unimaginative offense that continues to yield next to nothing. If it weren’t for the Pittsburgh defense setting up the offense with a short field, this could be a contender for the worst offense in football. The worst part is, the players are GOOD. The Steelers may not have a true number one wide receiver, but they are ALL high end number two receivers. My real issue with Randy Fichtner is that he doesn’t believe in anything outside of straight dropback passes.
The Steelers had a great chance to rediscover their run game against Buffalo. James Conner was SUPPOSED to be their X-Factor, especially with all the drop issues. But, Randy Fichtner had the great idea of “Let’s throw three times on the opening drive then punt.” Great job, you had the ENTIRE FIRST HALF TO RUN THE BALL. The game was close BEFORE Ben Roethlisberger threw a pick-six. The offense had less than 20 carries against a run defense that has been struggling all year. How the hell do you not gameplan to exploit a team’s greatest weakness on defense? That’s just beyond me. Isn’t it your job as an offensive coordinator to exploit a weakness in a defense? The running game didn’t even have a chance to get started, it clearly was never even given the time of day.
Fichtner’s inability to run the ball is just disappointing and embarrassing. He also seems to have some form of vendetta against running play-action when IT WORKS. Even with a terrible run game, play-action worked for the Steelers last night. On a play in the second quarter, the Steelers ran play-action and got linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to bite down and hit his own corner off a route covering Juju Smith-Schuster. Juju then had a catch and run for about 16 yards. How do you not use play-action more? It works even with your crappy run game.
Randy Fichtner needs to go. The offensive struggles are mainly his fault, if not entirely. If your wide receivers aren’t catching, run the damn ball. If you’re playing against a crappy run defense, run the damn ball. All this short passing won’t win in the playoffs. The Steelers need to get back to Steeler football. Get a lead and. Pound. The. Rock.
