Pittsburgh Steelers Should Fire Todd Haley

By Jeric Griffin
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Steelers should have made the playoffs in 2012. They had the No. 1 defense in the NFL and a solid trio of running backs. While the defense was lights out–No. 1 in passing yards allowed, No. 2 in rushing yards allowed and No. 1 in total yards allowed–the running game wasn’t nearly what it should have been, and that’s on offensive coordinator Todd Haley. The Steelers would have made the playoffs if it wasn’t for his stupidity, so he shouldn’t be brought back for a second year.

Everybody and their dog keeps talking about how the Steelers were wise to bring in a pass-first offensive coordinator and they were going to have this new offense to compete with the other pass-happy NFL teams. Well, that didn’t work out so well.

The Steelers have more Super Bowl titles than any other team because of two key factors: they’ve always had a stifling defense and a solid running game. They only had one of those things this past year and that’s why they’re watching the playoffs from the couch.

The Steelers had the 12th-most pass attempts of any team in the league this year – far too many for a team that prides itself on old-school football, which is still most effective in this pass-happy era. Pittsburgh only had the 20th-most rushing attempts, which is absolutely inexcusable for a team looking to win a Super Bowl the old-fashioned way.

But see, that’s the thing–Haley was trying to win in the new, cheap way, which clearly doesn’t work. Why in the world the Steelers brought him in is mind-blowing because they don’t have a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers who can just throw the ball 60 times per game with no issues. Ben Roethlisberger is a tremendous quarterback and a great passer, but he’s not the pass-happy type and the sooner the Steelers figure that out, get rid of Haley and get back to their roots the better off they’ll be.

Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

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