First off, Jim Chaney is not the perfect offensive coordinator, or even a great one. Again, he pitched the ball short-side; he called a reverse to the short-side; he called a screen to Ollison on 3rd and 8 to the short-side. His fascination w/ the short side is akin to mine towards Laphroaig on the rocks. His offenses are allergic to up-tempo or hurried styles, even when down 13 points w/ under 3 minutes left. Simultaneously, he leans on the run too much and abandons it in weird circumstances. If Al Davis liked the deep ball, Chaney digs the sideways ball. His lack of urgency would make waiters in Italy frustrated.
But, even w/ all of the above said, Jim Chaney, like all other OCs, needs talent. He simply doesn't have it.
The WRs are simply unable to create separation. No position group, no collection of talent, is more lacking and more detrimental to Pitt's success this year than this group. And, the fact that said statement is true is *crazy*, considering that it has one of the BEST WRs in the COUNTRY among them. Pitt's TEs can create more separation than our WRs.
Ask yourself this: How can you continue to call deep-throws/slow-developing-routes when your WRs don't have the speed or route-running ability to get open? That's just setting yourself up for sacks and negative-plays. Chaney has his faults, as mentioned, but, you can't call plays that are predicated on the WR getting open....when the WR continually fails to get open. Whether it's Challingsworth, Ford, Zeise, or Weah, the other team simply doesn't fear or respect them. As a result, Boyd is actually starting to get triple-teamed, or at least a LB and S are fading to his side every time to help the CB. It's only because of Boyd's brilliance that he continues to find ways to get open, whether it be by beating his two-men or finding a hole in the zone. The other guys don't do that. Sherman could have something to do with it; strangely, I haven't seen him questioned on the board. But, in reality, it's mostly due to the fact that these guys just aren't nor were they projected to be good enough to consistently make plays. Sometimes rankings are right; unfortunately, in the case of Pitt's WRs, they were.
If the defense doesn't fear your passing game, particularly your down-the-field passing game, play calling becomes a lot more difficult. You're often having to call running plays w/ 8 in the box; you also are forced to throw shorter passes that rely a lot on timing. Considering it's a new QB and mostly new WRs, timing can be one of the toughest things to develop. Add in two essentially new running-backs that often are running timid....and it becomes a tough mission to put the ball in the endzone against solid teams.
I'm not excusing Chaney. It seems even Narduzzi may be frustrated with him. But, this is a guy that has gone on some 10-12-14 play drives that have eaten the clock and won games. He's had defenses guessing in the past. But, against good and athletic defenses, Pitt's passing game is one-dimensional and nothing else. It makes play-calling difficult. He needs more weapons. He simply needs more talent.
SPII
But, even w/ all of the above said, Jim Chaney, like all other OCs, needs talent. He simply doesn't have it.
The WRs are simply unable to create separation. No position group, no collection of talent, is more lacking and more detrimental to Pitt's success this year than this group. And, the fact that said statement is true is *crazy*, considering that it has one of the BEST WRs in the COUNTRY among them. Pitt's TEs can create more separation than our WRs.
Ask yourself this: How can you continue to call deep-throws/slow-developing-routes when your WRs don't have the speed or route-running ability to get open? That's just setting yourself up for sacks and negative-plays. Chaney has his faults, as mentioned, but, you can't call plays that are predicated on the WR getting open....when the WR continually fails to get open. Whether it's Challingsworth, Ford, Zeise, or Weah, the other team simply doesn't fear or respect them. As a result, Boyd is actually starting to get triple-teamed, or at least a LB and S are fading to his side every time to help the CB. It's only because of Boyd's brilliance that he continues to find ways to get open, whether it be by beating his two-men or finding a hole in the zone. The other guys don't do that. Sherman could have something to do with it; strangely, I haven't seen him questioned on the board. But, in reality, it's mostly due to the fact that these guys just aren't nor were they projected to be good enough to consistently make plays. Sometimes rankings are right; unfortunately, in the case of Pitt's WRs, they were.
If the defense doesn't fear your passing game, particularly your down-the-field passing game, play calling becomes a lot more difficult. You're often having to call running plays w/ 8 in the box; you also are forced to throw shorter passes that rely a lot on timing. Considering it's a new QB and mostly new WRs, timing can be one of the toughest things to develop. Add in two essentially new running-backs that often are running timid....and it becomes a tough mission to put the ball in the endzone against solid teams.
I'm not excusing Chaney. It seems even Narduzzi may be frustrated with him. But, this is a guy that has gone on some 10-12-14 play drives that have eaten the clock and won games. He's had defenses guessing in the past. But, against good and athletic defenses, Pitt's passing game is one-dimensional and nothing else. It makes play-calling difficult. He needs more weapons. He simply needs more talent.
SPII
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