Steelers Could Be Hiding A Genius Preseason Trap In Plain Sight

The Pittsburgh Steelers have three preseason games to evaluate players, clean up mistakes and get Mike McCarthy's new operation ready for September. According to Ben Roethlisberger, they also have three opportunities to waste somebody else's time. Pittsburgh can put a strange formation or unusual concept on film in August, never touch it again, and still leave future opponents wondering whether it might return when the games actually count.

Preseason football naturally encourages a little secrecy. Coaches generally have little incentive to unveil the best parts of a regular-season game plan while opponents can watch without paying an admission fee, and McCarthy has an especially large offensive menu to protect. He has spent the summer installing a new system while also preparing to call Pittsburgh's offensive plays himself once the regular season begins.

Roethlisberger sees another way to handle that information battle. Instead of merely hiding concepts, Pittsburgh could deliberately show something it does not particularly care about, allowing the rest of the league to decide how seriously to take it.

During a recent episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, the former Steelers quarterback explained how one unusual preseason wrinkle could eventually steal minutes from an opponent's regular-season preparation.

“If I throw something, or Wildcat, right… because you know what that forces you to do? Practice against it… You may not spend a lot of time, but you have to at some point be like, ‘Hey guys, listen. This is probably not going to happen, but just in case it does.’ Well, you just spent five minutes to 10 minutes to 15 minutes worrying about something that I have no intention of doing,” Roethlisberger said.

The beauty of the idea is that Pittsburgh would not need the play to fool anybody during the preseason. It only has to look plausible enough to survive on somebody's scouting report.

An opposing coaching staff preparing for the Steelers later in the season would see the formation on film and have a choice. Ignore it completely and risk getting surprised, or spend part of a limited practice week teaching defenders how to respond. 10 minutes does not sound expensive until every opponent is fighting for the same finite collection of meeting periods, walkthrough snaps and practice reps.

Football staffs already spend enormous amounts of time preparing for possibilities that may never appear. Personnel groupings have to be identified, tendencies studied and situational calls reviewed. Adding one more item to that menu creates another small decision for a defensive coordinator, and Roethlisberger's point is that McCarthy does not necessarily have to cash in the play later for Pittsburgh to benefit.

The threat can accomplish something on its own.

McCarthy has enough material available to make the idea believable. His massive offensive installation has been divided into eight installs during camp, giving Pittsburgh a broad collection of concepts before the regular season has even arrived. A large menu creates legitimate options for the offense, but it also gives McCarthy plenty of places to hide a little preseason misdirection.

That does not mean Roethlisberger is reporting that McCarthy plans to run the Wildcat or intentionally plant fake concepts on tape. He was describing a strategic possibility, and the distinction is important. The former quarterback's suggestion is interesting precisely because preseason football offers the freedom to experiment without forcing the Steelers to live with the concept afterward.

Pittsburgh already completed the first portion of its exhibition schedule with a 28-9 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. The Steelers still have a home date against the New York Jets on Aug. 21 and a road game against the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 27 before the regular season begins. Those remaining games provide McCarthy with plenty of evaluation snaps, particularly for young players and roster battles, while also creating more film for regular-season opponents to catalog.

The balancing act is deciding how much useful information Pittsburgh wants to reveal. McCarthy still has to evaluate whether players can execute different assignments, and young quarterbacks such as Will Howard and Drew Allar benefit from operating more than a stripped-down handful of concepts. Both played well against Green Bay as Pittsburgh opened McCarthy's tenure with a convincing win.

At the same time, nobody hands out points in September because an offense showed its complete inventory in August. McCarthy can test players without displaying every answer he eventually wants Aaron Rodgers to have available.

Roethlisberger's suggestion flips that traditional preseason caution into something more mischievous. Do not only conceal the real answers. Occasionally place a fake one on the desk and see who studies for it.

Steelers Can Make Meaningless Snaps Cost Opponents Something

Preseason results disappear almost immediately once Week 1 arrives, but preseason film does not. Coaches will still examine formations, personnel packages and individual tendencies when Pittsburgh eventually appears on their schedule. Anything unusual enough to require an answer has a chance to follow the Steelers into those preparations.

McCarthy has been around long enough to understand the value of making a defense prepare broadly. His history with Rodgers also gives Pittsburgh an experienced quarterback capable of handling a large menu once the games become meaningful. The Steelers do not need to empty that menu before September, especially when the preseason can be used to create uncertainty instead.

Roethlisberger's Wildcat example is useful because it does not require some elaborate trick play. Pittsburgh could show an unusual personnel grouping, motion, quarterback movement or formation once or twice and leave it sitting on film. If another coaching staff decides it deserves five minutes during a Wednesday practice months later, the Steelers have already received something from a play they may never call again.

There is no guarantee McCarthy will adopt that approach, and preseason experimentation still has to serve the players being evaluated. Pittsburgh has roster decisions to make and a new offense to sharpen before those psychological games become the priority.

Roethlisberger simply identified another resource McCarthy can manipulate. August gives the Steelers plenty of snaps that will never count in the standings. If a few of them can live rent-free in an opponent's game plan later, they do not have to be completely meaningless.

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