Apparently The Colts Knew What Plays The Steelers Were Going To Run In The 1st Half So Big Ben Took Over Play Calling In The Second Half
The biggest question over the previous three weeks for the skidding Steelers was "what in the HELL is going on with this offense?"
Well, according to NFL Network's Mike Silver and Warren Sharp, it could be what a lot of Steelers twitter has been thinking for a lot of the season: offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner's play calling has been dreadful.
That was clear in the first half against the Steelers especially when your counterpart is Frank Reich. Reich and the Colts are tremendous at scripting plays to start a game. They were surgical while the Steelers were...stumbling to say the least. Big Ben finished the first half on Sunday 11-20 with 98 yards.
What changed? Apparently he said "to hell with continuing with that gameplan" and started using his own. His second half he was 23-29 with over 250 yards passing and three touchdowns. We've seen similar instances this season before at Baltimore and at Dallas where the Steelers offense was not even competent in the first half then all of a sudden comes to life with no huddle and Big Ben using the patented "cover the mouth and call the plays" method.
So my question then becomes....why the hell wasn't that happening against Buffalo and Cincy? Sure, in Buffalo he made a terrible throw for a pick-six then most of the third quarter the defense was on the field all the while the receivers were suffering their worst case of the yips so there wasn't a whole lot you could do. But what about in Cincy last Monday night?
Very odd to say the least, but it's tough to deny this report from the drastic difference we saw on Sunday vs. the Colts. If it is the case then the time has come to put Coach Randy aside and let it rip like they did in the second half at Heinz Field.