Much has been made for the last two-plus years over the relationship of Pittsburgh Steelers franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers’ offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
While their relationship got off to a rocky start and the Steelers offense seemed stuck in quicksand for most of Haley’s two seasons in Pittsburgh, things really started to click, not only for Roethlisberger but the Steelers offense as a whole, the second half of last season.
As a result Haley’s job security is no longer a topic of discussion and the Roethlisberger trade rumors died down very quickly.
With that being said though, are Roethlisberger and Haley on the same page as the Steelers get ready to prepare for the 2014 campaign?
It certainly appears so and that could be a scary situation for opposing defenses.
Roethlisberger sang Haley’s praises recently in an interview on 93.7 The Fan, making it seem like all the bad blood is long gone.
“There was an obvious growing period,” Roethlisberger said. “You develop a relationship. I enjoy working with him. I think we have a good relationship now. You see it on the field and you will continue to see that when we get out there because my play will be better and the play-calling will really be better.”
Having a good relationship between a quarterback and an offensive coordinator is vital and even if it took a while, it seems like Big Ben and Haley are finally there.
The results showed the second half of last season when the Steelers averaged a little over 30 points per game.
A lot of that credit has to go to Haley who finally swallowed his pride and gave Roethlisberger the keys to the offense.
We saw more no huddle the second half of last season and Haley’s play calling looked more designed to suit his quarterback’s strengths than we saw early in their relationship.
So far throughout OTA’s and mini-camp we have seen the Steelers work a lot on the no huddle and it looks like the play action pass could once again become a weapon in the Steelers offense.
Roethlisberger excels in play action situations and if the Steelers can have some success running the football, the play action pass adds a whole different dimension to an offense that at least on paper appears to be pretty potent.
At the end of the day though there is still a lot of pressure on Haley to have this offense do big things.
Despite their success at the end of last season, the Steelers offense hasn’t been a pretty picture under Haley’s tutelage.
In 2012 the Steelers finished only 21st in the NFL in total offense, 26th in the league in rushing and 22nd in points per game. Things didn’t get much better last year during their second consecutive 8-8 campaign as they finished only 20th in total offense, 27th in rushing and 17th in points per game.
Needless to say Haley and the Steelers can’t afford a third consecutive season in which they rank in the bottom third in the NFL in total offense.
A lot of that depends on whether Roethlisberger and Haley are on the same page this season.
All the reports suggest that they are and things are going to go well.
But while I give both sides credit for saying the right things, it is early. An interception has yet to be thrown. Losses have yet to pile up.
Until they do and fight through the adversity together, we won’t know how much Big Ben and Haley are truly on the same page.
However the signs in June are encouraging that at least the Steelers will be going into training camp in July clicking on all cylinders.
As long as Roethlisberger and Haley don’t get in the way of each other this has a chance to be a pretty dynamic offense.
Getting along and communicating well is half the battle.
Photo Credit: Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE
