Carter's Classroom: Big players make big plays

Dec 26, 2016 • 2:25 pm

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Early on, Ben Roethlisberger earned his reputation of making plays as things broke down. Ben being Ben. Todd Haley has worked with Roethlisberger to develop more successful plays from pre-snap reads, but the Steelers still can thrive ad-libbing.

We go into the film room to show those highlights when the offense was clicking Sunday against the Ravens, both as it was drawn up and when it was Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell making it up as they went:

BREAKDOWNS?

Now, you might be wondering what we mean when we say a play breaks down. Essentially, a play is drawn up to give certain options to the quarterback or running back based on what they expect from the defense. For an offense to succeed in these situations, you need great players, great chemistry between your players or both.

That's what happened when Roethlisberger broke containment to extend the play and find Eli Rogers:

Above, Roethlisberger drops back in the pocket and sees the delayed blitz from the Ravens. Defenses put so much emphasis on blitzing the quarterback and accounting for the Steelers' many weapons that they forget to contain Roethlisberger in the pocket.

Recognizing that Elvis Dumervil was taken out of the play by Marcus Gilbert, Roethlisberger rolls to his right to buy more time for his receivers to get open, and he finds Rogers, who kept running through his route with his quarterback to present the opportunity.

Roethlisberger made a reputation from doing this with Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes in his early years, so finding ways to do it with younger players like Rogers can be a great asset.

But finding ways to make plays outside of what is designed isn't just something that Roethlisberger does for the offense, because Bell has proven he can be part of that, as well:

This play above was one that should have been dead from the start. Watch how Maurkice Pouncey gets dominated by the Ravens' nose tackle, Brandon Williams. Pouncey is two yards behind the line of scrimmage, and Williams has a shot on Bell to create a third-and-5. But Bell has other plans as he uses a stiff arm to bounce away from Williams and then runs all the way around Terrell Suggs for the score.

One criticism I hear from fans about Bell is that he "dances too much" behind the line of scrimmage and doesn't just hit holes at full speed. This is why Bell "dances," because he's not really dancing, he's reading what the defense is doing so he can make a calculated decision. His vision is the best in the league and, when combined with his physical skills, he becomes the most dangerous man with the ball in his hands.

AS IT'S DRAWN UP

The Steelers' first touchdown was a thing of schematic perfection. Roethlisberger recognized the coverage across the board and picked it apart with his ball to Xavier Grimble:

The Ravens are in a cover one defense, meaning that while rushing four, six defenders are in man coverage while a lone safety plays behind the defense to cover the middle of the field. Roethlisberger just has to find which man-to-man matchup would be the best to test, and he finds it with Grimble against linebacker Albert McClellan. Grimble beats McClellan with a quick jab step to the outside to freeze the linebacker and present a big target to the inside for Roethlisberger. That's a pre-snap read to find the weakness in the defense and exploit it.

But sometimes the designed play is less about your opponent's weakness and more about your own strength. That's exactly what the call was about on the game's winning play:

Watch Roethlisberger's head above, because he never looks away from Brown from start to finish. This was about pure will, knowing that the best wide receiver in the NFL was going to find a way to get the job done when you absolutely needed him.

Football is a game of inches, and it wasn't just the inches that the ball crossed to get to the goal line that counted here. Watch Rogers' route to the outside. While he doesn't set a pick or give Brown an easy path to the end zone, it does just enough to draw Jerraud Powers (26) to the outside so that he can't jump the inside pattern of Brown. From there it's all about Brown's will power to go through three defenders, including two of the Ravens' best in Eric Weddle and C.J. Mosley.

In the biggest game of the season, the Steelers' biggest players came up with the biggest moments. We'll get into the particulars and the specific analysis of the little things in this game later in the week, but these are the moments that should define this game and this regular season.