Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 Strategy Adjustments Mike Tomlin Should Consider

As the Pittsburgh Steelers stand at 1-1 on the 2011 season, there are still a lot of changes and adjustments to be made to get the team back to elite contender status. Right now, the Steelers are one of many teams that seem to be struggling to really get on track this season.

Here are five strategic adjustments that Mike Tomlin should be making to get the Steelers to the top.

Spread It out on Offense!

Ben Roethlisberger is one of a very small number of quarterbacks who can truly say that they have a complete receiving corps. The Steelers have possibly the best crop of receivers in the NFL with six guys who could start for most teams in the NFL.

The problem is that Bruce Arians hasn’t exercised his options with those receivers very often. He’s a big fan of three receiver sets and bunch formations. That’s great, but he has a set of receivers who can really change games.

The Steelers would be smart to move to an offensive strategy in which they employ a lot more four- and five-receiver sets. That would create a ton of matchup problems for defenses that wouldn’t be able to double cover any of the team’s speedy pass catchers.

The one hitch? The offensive line has to give Ben Roethlisberger time to throw. Taking the tight ends and running backs off the field could be troublesome. If the line gels, however, this should happen.

Get into the Zone

The Baltimore Ravens ran a unique and difficult-to-beat zone blocking scheme in their Week 1 game against the Steelers. The Steelers, also with an offensive line that has been reshuffled and is lacking some talent, should go to a similar scheme to help improve the pass protection for Ben Roethlisberger.

Zone blocking would allow the linemen a better chance. They’ll still have to contend with Jonathan Scott getting manhandled by more physical defenders and the growing pains of rookie Marcus Gilbert (who seems to be flattening his learning curve), but they’d have a system that is much harder for defenses to break through.

This wouldn’t necessarily have to be a wholesale philosophical change for line coach Sean Kugler, but it could be something that they tinker with on obvious passing downs and on any plays where Ben Roethlisberger needs time to make a longer set of reads.

Bring on the Tandem

I’ve hit on this idea a few times in past articles, and the Steelers seem to have picked up on this idea as well. Rashard Mendenhall is a great back, but he might be best suited for a system in which he gets just over half the carries instead of almost 80 percent of them.

Isaac Redman might have come out of a small school (Bowie State), but he has played big in his chances and seems like a guy who could be the No. 2 guy in a rotation with Mendenhall. He’s taken his game to another level this year and looks ready to really contribute on offense.

I’d like to see Redman and Mendenhall splitting carries like they did during Week 2. It lets the Steelers keep two guys fresh for the whole season and it also allows them to lean toward whoever has the hot hand on a given day. 

Mendenhall looked worn down at the end of last year. I’d like to see the team avoid that this year.

Set Up the Rotation

This is another idea I talked about during the offseason, and it seems like it might be a good idea this year now that I’ve seen a couple games’ worth of tape.

Aaron Smith is clearly a step or two slower than he used to be. He’s still strong and still takes up blockers, but the end is coming. Brett Keisel has faced injuries each of the last two years (meaning this year and last) and could benefit from a few downs off.

Cameron Heyward and Ziggy Hood have been strong in the preseason and in small samples during the regular season. I’d like to see both get more work, especially Hood in relief of Smith. I think a younger, more athletic line could help the linebackers on blitzes. Age is not going to help them.

The Steelers played better in the second half of Sunday’s game against Seattle, and part of it was that some of the younger guys got a few more snaps. I think that’s something that needs to be tried over a whole game.

Send in the Corners

The Steelers have let Troy Polamalu get back to some of his freelancing ways, which makes a huge difference in the attitude of the defense. They play meaner when he’s allowed to be himself and not follow basic rules for his position.

One of the things that the Steelers used to do more of is have their cornerbacks blitz often. It’s part of Dick LeBeau’s original scheme for zone blitzing. The Steelers have, however, gotten away from that, as some of their corners have proven less and less able to handle coverage.

Ike Taylor is having a lights out season so far. Receivers he’s covering do not get many catches. On the other side, things have been dicey. William Gay started for the injured Bryant McFadden last week and unbelievably acquitted himself well. Keenan Lewis is seeing more time and doing well.

Either of those two guys could be good for a blitz scheme because they’re fast. Gay isn’t as sure a hitter and tackler, but he can get into the pocket and at least disrupt things. Lewis hits harder but isn’t quite as quick. Either way, the Steelers would be wise to bring back the blitzes for the corners.