Om Field: Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

[-Om-]

Not Quite Ready for Prime Time
Nov. 5, 2008

On their way to a convincing win over the Redskins on Monday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers dominated defensively and did just enough offensively to close the deal. The 23-6 final was just, and left no doubt as to which was the better team midway through the 2008 season.

It also provided emphatic answers to some key midseason questions about the upstarts from the nation’s capital.

Half way through his debut season, rookie Head Coach Jim Zorn has already exceeded all reasonable expectations. Given how quickly he has settled into the role, and delivered a team few figured to be a factor in 2008 into position for a playoff run, it is fair and reasonable to begin to speculate about his becoming a successful, if not elite, NFL head coach.

But the Steelers made it clear he’s not there yet.

Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, with his 35 years of NFL coaching experience, Super Bowl credentials (SB XL) and architect of one of the perennially elite defenses in the league, drove that message home. LeBeau schooled Zorn on Monday night; out-scheming, out-playcalling and outmaneuvering him from start to finish.

I never once got the sense the Redskins offense was dictating the flow of play. Quite the opposite. When Clinton Portis ran—left, right or center—the Steelers were waiting for him, often en masse.

And when Jason Campbell dropped to pass, the Steelers rush was on him too quickly to allow him to set and throw on rhythm, or, on the rare occasions he did find time, it was clear he could find no options downfield.

The Steelers definitely have good players on defense—but this wasn’t about that. The Redskins offense has some pretty good players of its own. Without putting too fine a point this, what happened Monday night was as thorough a job of schematic and play-calling domination as you’re likely to see in today’s NFL.

LeBeau sent the rookie coach a clear message Monday night:

"Not yet."

That’s the bad news ...

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[redskinjim]

ya zorn got schooled so did fred smoot we need shawn springs he is hurt to much

[redskinjim]

bring in dante hall

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by redskinjim

bring in dante hall

You mean DeAngelo Hall?

[redsk1]

Yea, that was the one biggie for me the other night. The playcalling wasn't there. How about some misdirection type plays to throw them off a bit, slow them down. Pitts is a blitz happy team. We knew it was coming but i guess we thought we could block them w/ one back in. I know the Steelers have a good defense, but we've got a good offense. Bad playcalling and adjustments at half. I think/hope we learned some lessons there. It looked like we were scared.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by redsk1

Yea, that was the one biggie for me the other night. The playcalling wasn't there. How about some misdirection type plays to throw them off a bit, slow them down. Pitts is a blitz happy team. We knew it was coming but i guess we thought we could block them w/ one back in. I know the Steelers have a good defense, but we've got a good offense. Bad playcalling and adjustments at half. I think/hope we learned some lessons there. It looked like we were scared.

I agree. I'm not making excuses but I think this bye is what we really need. The truth is we're having more success in this offense at an early stage than expected, but there are still some growing pains to go through. For the players AND coaches. Hopefully the coaches will have time to sit back and look at things without the pressure of another game in a few days and get a better look at things. We can make adjustments and we'll have a healthier team after the bye. I'd like to see us a little more aggressive on offense. We should'nt be scared of anyone. I hope that's not the case. I think it's more of a case of still getting comfortable with what to do in this offense. The players are still pretty new to this and the rookies even more so. I have a feeling we'll see more of Fred Davis after the bye. I hear he can't be covered in practice. I still have faith.

[birdz4gibbs]

what happened on monday night will hopefully teach this team a valuable lession as they are still trying to work in some stuff on offense. pittsburgh was coming off a loss and they were ready to play and the skins were ready as well but didn,t stay with it for 4 quarters. this bye week has come at the right time for this team and i think they will be that much more prepared for the second half of the season because of the bye week as well......

6-3 aint half bad for a first year coach and i,ll take what comes the rest of the season and i hope it,s more wins than losses..