Steelers Keep Defending Fichtner, Which Is Fine if Big Ben Calls Plays
PITTSBURGH -- There's a glaring problem with the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense, and no one in the locker room is ready to admit it.
No matter how many examples the Steelers show on Sundays that offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner isn't calling the right plays, the team remains blind.
"I saw that [Coach Randy Fichtner] was taking a little bit, and he shouldn't be," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said Wednesday. "He calls the play. We have to execute them."
But time and time again, the Steelers fail to execute the plays Fichtner calls. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster told NFL Network's Michael Silver that the Indianapolis Colts were "calling out plays" during the first half of their Week 16 game.
Then, in the second half, Roethlisberger took over, and the rest is history.
And still, Fichtner was defended.
"In the second half, it's not just me. He's telling me stuff in my ear. We're talking on the sideline," Roethlisberger said. "He should get as much if not more, I think more, credit than me or anyone else for that second half performance because he's the one that's really kind of given us the insight, the direction and keeping it moving."
Head coach Mike Tomlin jumped in as well.
"We were calling out their plays, too," Tomlin said. "Phillip Rivers was calling out our adjustments. I think it is one of the things that goes on in 2020 during the global pandemic when you are playing in crickets, in eerily quiet stadiums. I know other teams have talked about that some. I think it is just one of the adjustable things that we all globally have to deal with in the 2020 environment because of the level of communication and the amount of communication that's heard between units prior to a snap in 2020's environment."
The Steelers' early success was found when Roethlisberger was "drawing plays in the dirt." When Fichtner wasn't being criticized, the team wasn't worried about giving credit to their 17-year veteran quarterback and telling the NFL how special he was when the game was in his hands.
Now, everything has changed. Once the struggles began and became obvious it was largely due to the rather predictable play-calling, the locker room realized they did not want the media attacking their offensive coordinator.
Really, that's not the problem. Running Fichtner out of town isn't going to happen, and having his players turn on him isn't the goal of anyone. But with the playoffs a week away, the Steelers need to realize their strengths and weaknesses - starting with who's running the show on offense.
This is Roethlisberger's team, or at least it should be. Fichtner's input is valued and needed as someone who understands the whole offense as well as anyone, but he isn't the play-caller this team succeeds behind.
The Steelers should keep defending their coach. At the same time, they should be building gameplans with everyone around the offense, not just Fichtner.
It's crunch time, which means the Steelers either turn to Roethlisberger or roll back to their crossing routes ways.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
