Randy Fichtner spoke to the media in a Zoom call yesterday and boy did we have a lot to unpack after listening to that one. Fichtner has been under fire recently over his play calling in the first half with the Colts this past Sunday. He tried downplaying the Colts calling their plays placing blame on a quiet stadium. Sure that's a good excuse because it is an unusual season, but when teams start calling plays during the pre-snap and get them right on a regular basis then it becomes a big problem.
Fichtner in regards to hearing teams calling their plays: "It's interesting, the National Football League, on both sides of the ball communicate really well," Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner observed today. "At any one given time you're gonna hear on a second down call, 'Hey, watch the draw, watch the screen, watch the deep ball.' So you hear these things all the time. Any time that someone says something like that in-game, it could have been any of those three things and you may not have done any of that."
The media doesn't ask the right questions when it comes to the Steelers Coaches. It seems they tend to play along with what they're saying at times. Not saying it is a bad thing because you do need substance, but at times throw them a hard curveball to get them to open up a little more. Fichtner can make all the excuses he wants to make, but the bottom line is Ben Roethlisberger walked out of the first half with a stat line of 11-20 for just 98 yards. He then finished the game going 34-49 for 342 yards and three touchdowns after going no-huddle. Where was the issue of having no crowd noise in the second half? It wasn't an issue. It just comes down to incompetent play calling from Randy Fichtner.
Many players have told Randy Fichtner their opponents are calling their plays during the pre-snap, but Randy feels it is just part of the NFL. Really? It's just part of the NFL? It's also part of the NFL to call competent plays in order to make your offense succeed. Fichtner doesn't know how to script plays correctly. The first drive against the Colts were 3 slants in a row. One day I would like to challenge Randy Fichtner to a game of Madden because all I would have to do is lookout for the short pass, the screen, or HB dive. It's very predictable and again comes down to being incompetent.
Fichtner won't say that Claypool has hit a rookie wall recently, but said there is something there that he has to work through. Really? The fact that he is limiting Claypool's snaps automatically puts a wall up. There is no Rookie Wall. The wall is Randy Fichtner himself. Randy should get his head out of his you know what and unleash Chase Claypool in the Playoffs. He is ready for the big lights.
Claypool also ran off the field and told his offensive coordinator that the Colts were calling his plays specifically toward their running play on 3rd and 1. Fichtner again said it was part of the NFL and still ran a running play on 3rd in 1 and got stuffed at the line. All of this boils down to his play-calling incompetence. Fichtner just confirmed it during his interview yesterday. Randy Fichtner won't be fired in Pittsburgh this season. His contract is set to expire in the offseason and the Steelers should let him ride off into the sunset. More than likely we hope they will because that seems to be the Steeler way of handling incompetence. Fichtner better fix his offensive issues or the Steelers will be bounced from the first round of the playoffs.
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