Week 15...vs NE

[ATL96Steeler]

Well, I've said many times, Tomlin teams do not know how to handle prosperity. After another loss in OAK the Steelers have lost 3 straight. Still atop the DIV by a half game.

The rubber meets the road now...it's a 3 game season and PIT has to win 2 of these and force BAL to win out...I'm a Steeler fan more than a AFCN fan, but right now the Ravens are playing the best football in the DIV followed by CLE.

It's fitting that two of the best team in the league stand in the Steeler's path. The NE Patriots finally arrive...after a bit of weirdness last week with a walk off lateral play, they come in with a battle on their hands as well now for the 2 seed with HOU. Both teams need a win, we all know BB owns Tomlin and for that matter the Steelers.

For the 1st time in a really forever aside from Bradshaw, Tomlin is facing public criticism from the Steeler alumni...they were mostly all there to see that BS vs the Chargers in person. If the Steelers blow a 3 game lead and miss the playoff or loss the DIV...there will be a major change, and Tomlin could be part of it.

Sorry about the rant...this game.

Injury...Gilbert (knee) out...Connor (ankle) questionable Ben (elbow) Probable.

NE is well in control of the east but they are not the same juggernaut they've been in the past. They can still score (6th) with Brady, and whomever they put on the field with him it seems, but the DEF (12th) is not as good as the ranking imo. Much like OAK last week, the Patriots don't have great edge people, but they are very good at scheming. Their strength is on the back end. Look for them to dbl Juju and AB and force Ben and Fichtner to beat to with the rest of the players.

McDaniels attacks the 34 base with his small fast twitch guy on LBs, lot of crossing stuff. If they do the normal loose zone and rush 4 or 5 vs 5 blockers, Brady will carve them up for at least 350 yd 3 TDs. Throw in a FG or 2, NE is going to go 27 or better. So...it will be up to the OFC to win this game and if AB/Juju have 25+ targets they will not match them...Ben has to get more people involved consistently and then take his shots to Juju and AB....forcing it early is trouble.

Everything points to a loss here. IMO Burnett was brought in to defend these kinds of OFCs and he got torched last week...Not sure of Fichtner will be wise enough to use Nix, use, Grimble, JJ, and work back to his star WRs...but I'm not going to predict a loss. Let's just play the game and see what happens.

What say you?

 

[Yo Tee]

Patriots 27
Steelers 20

This game has a totally different feel to it than it did 3 weeks ago. Pats and Steelers both look off. I'm mentally drained from this season to really care about analysis and all this shit because 9 times out of 10, it doesn't matter. Our secondary sucks. Our defense sucks. Ben's accuracy and leadership on the field is bad. The play-calling is bad. Boswell is a has-been right now. At best, we win the division with a 9-6-1 record. But I wouldn't be surprised if we end up finishing 8-7-1 on the outside looking in.

Juju said that real Steelers fans shouldn't be worried about the team. I think that boasts too much confidence in the coaching staff to make the necessary changes needed to win football games. I'm not gonna go as far as to say that Tomlin should be gone, but something DRASTIC needs to change in this franchise.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The arrogance of Tomlin has proven too many times that he is too stubborn to make drastic changes. In other words, we'll see the same schemes and Tomlin will simply hope for "better execution". Because that's what, in his words, "gives them the best chance of winning football games" lol. It's that ego that I'm constantly referring to.

Offense... The major improvements need to be with O-line play. Last week the Goons were dreadful against one of the worst defensive fronts in football. Didn't make any sense, but I hope it was a wakeup call. I'm going to assume that Fichtner is going to let Ben call the shots this week. Ben has played this defense a bunch and knows its weaknesses, but he also has an ego and isn't very smart about these kinds of games. Plus Bellicheat is the best in the business at adjusting to stop whatever you throw at them. I could see Ben passing it 50+ times. Get ready for lots of 3 & outs if that's the case. I doubt Conner will play but we never know what Fichtner is going to do regardless of personnel.

Defense... A shower curtain would have a better chance of stopping the Patriots offense. Butler will have no idea how to stop them. All we can hope for is that a few turnovers bounce their way. Doubtful, unless Xmas comes early.

It's up to the offense to win this game. If they can play clean, efficient football on each drive then they have a chance. But don't be fooled by the score at halftime. The Steelers have proven to be pretty inept in the 2nd half. So even if they somehow fool the Pats and go up 20pts on them, it'll still come down to the wire. Because the Steelers coaches are gonna piss the game away. Prove me wrong assholes.

Patriots 42 - Steelers 30

 

[Superbelt]

A loss. And I hope a truly humiliating one, too.

Steelers Best Interest at this point is for this team to have an embarrassing end for the season.

This isn't a SB capable team, and there are top level replacements that are needed. The best chance for that to happen is if Belichick bends the Steelers over.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Patriots 27
Steelers 20

This game has a totally different feel to it than it did 3 weeks ago. Pats and Steelers both look off. I'm mentally drained from this season to really care about analysis and all this shit because 9 times out of 10, it doesn't matter. Our secondary sucks. Our defense sucks. Ben's accuracy and leadership on the field is bad. The play-calling is bad. Boswell is a has-been right now. At best, we win the division with a 9-6-1 record. But I wouldn't be surprised if we end up finishing 8-7-1 on the outside looking in.

Juju said that real Steelers fans shouldn't be worried about the team. I think that boasts too much confidence in the coaching staff to make the necessary changes needed to win football games. I'm not gonna go as far as to say that Tomlin should be gone, but something DRASTIC needs to change in this franchise.

If PIT ends up 8-7-1...give me a reason why Tomlin SHOULD stay?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

It's up to the offense to win this game. If they can play clean, efficient football on each drive then they have a chance. But don't be fooled by the score at halftime. The Steelers have proven to be pretty inept in the 2nd half. So even if they somehow fool the Pats and go up 20pts on them, it'll still come down to the wire. Because the Steelers coaches are gonna piss the game away. Prove me wrong assholes.

Patriots 42 - Steelers 30

That's it in a nutshell. BEN and OFC play a great game is their only chance at a W. Part of me wants to go the way of @Superbelt, and hope for a loss to get long term change, but when you see stuff like MIA winning last week...you never know. Let's play it out.

 

[Yo Tee]

If PIT ends up 8-7-1...give me a reason why Tomlin SHOULD stay?

I don't think the full problem is Mike Tomlin. Tomlin is to blame because of the pieces he's put in place right now, but if we get rid of someone, we have to change things up on the defensive side of the ball. That's what is holding us back right now, aside from Ben's INTs, which are SOLELY on Ben, not anyone else and Boswell's leg being inaccurate, all of a sudden.

Butler and Bradly need to go and we need to start drafting better in the first round, especially if our focus is gonna be on the defensive side of the ball. We need to make moves in the offseason and trade deadlines. We need to change the way we do things becase "the Steeler way" doesn't work in today's NFL, which is what I tried to say during the offseason but was met with a whole bunch of backlash. I don't think the change starts with getting rid of Tomlin. We know the frustrations with Tomlin, but we also know that we've made the playoffs 8 out of his 11 years as HC and haven't finished below .500 with him as HC either. We as fans have to sit back and think of the POSSIBILITY that the devil we know (Mike Tomlin) is better than the devil we don't know (the coach we replace him with). If you as a fan are okay with taking that chance, then obviously feel free to think that way. I personally am not ready to say that I'm okay with taking that chance right now. On that 6 game winning streak, noone was asking for Tomlin's job, but now that we've lost 3 brutal games in a row, he's on the hot seat.

I look at things like this:

If our defense executes the plays and tackles people properly, we don't need to rely on a hot and cold Boswell to make a game tying FG.
If Ben didn't just throw the ball wherever he wanted to, we might be sitting at 8-4-1 with a win over Denver.
If our defense doesn't commit 3 offsides penalties in the final drive of the Chargers game, we don't hand the Chargers the field position they need to hit a GW FG.

We could be 9-3-1 right now if our on the field play was better, if Ben was much more accurate, if Boswell was much more accurate and the mistakes on defense weren't made. If we are getting rid of ANYONE, in my opinion, it's gotta the DC, DB coach and Boswell before we start talking about getting rid of Tomlin.

 

[SteelersPride]

If PIT ends up 8-7-1...give me a reason why Tomlin SHOULD stay?

Never had a losing season, wver?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

That's it in a nutshell. BEN and OFC play a great game is their only chance at a W. Part of me wants to go the way of @Superbelt, and hope for a loss to get long term change, but when you see stuff like MIA winning last week...you never know. Let's play it out.

That would be nice, but they will probably go on another tear and lose in laughable fashion in the postseason.

 

[cincygrad]

This is a really hard game to pick. I think the Patriots are much more vulnerable than they have been for several years now. Had they won last week, I would pick the Steelers to win as they would be the more desperate team. But now, it's really a battle to see who is rounding into shape for the postseason.

I will say this... I think the AFC playoff race is wide open. The Chiefs will be vulnerable - Don't trust Andy in the postseason. The Pats and Steelers both look weaker than prior versions. I don't buy the Texans because I don't buy O'brien. San Diego might be the most steady of the bunch but they'll have a long road.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I don't think the full problem is Mike Tomlin. Tomlin is to blame because of the pieces he's put in place right now, but if we get rid of someone, we have to change things up on the defensive side of the ball. That's what is holding us back right now, aside from Ben's INTs, which are SOLELY on Ben, not anyone else and Boswell's leg being inaccurate, all of a sudden.

If we are getting rid of ANYONE, in my opinion, it's gotta the DC, DB coach and Boswell before we start talking about getting rid of Tomlin.

Good points.

My response.

Blame...agree, it's not all MT. One point I hear a lot is the talent, and I'm not all that excited about the talent on DEF at all. Burns, Sensabaugh, Burnett, Davis, Edmunds, Fort...of the top 12-13 guys on DEF, these guys listed would struggle start or in a couple of cases struggle to even make the 53 on the other 31 teams. Yet they have logged major snaps for PIT.

Secondly, when players leave PIT, aside from Sanders in DEN, not many recent players are going on to success with other teams.

Now...I'll say this...I don't know if Tomlin/Butler get the most out of the talent they do have. Either you thrive in the system, or you suck...they don't seem to be able to tweak the scheme to best fit the players.

Record...just taking a snapshot from '14 to date...PIT has won at least 10 games every season. When you really start drilling down, there are not very many quality wins. When was the last time PIT won a game that you didn't think they were the better team?

For me it would be the '14 season vs DEN...they beat DEN in the regular season, but were eliminated by Manning/DEN in the playoffs. The Broncos DEF caught fire that season and Manning did just enough to win games...that was a better squad and the last time I remember that happening.

Finally...Tomlin was best as an overseer, CEO type HC. He wanted more input with the DEF, he got more input with the DEF, the DEF stinks and it has for the last 2 seasons. I think the Steeler DEF scheme is in part Tomlin's and I don't think it's very effective against the better QBs in the league and the record in those games bears that out.

 

[thedddd]

Really don't expect much but what really stinks if they miss the playoffs they will be too high up to get a good 1st round pick.

 

[SteelersPride]

Tom Brady is 10-2 against Pittsburgh in his career (including playoffs), with a 115.1 passer rating. That is the highest mark of any starting quarterback against any single team since 1991 (min. 10 starts). Since 2007, Brady has 324.7 passing yards per game, 22 touchdown passes and zero interceptions against the Steelers.

Gronk eats against us............and is not healthy

I see brady carving us, edelma catching 6-10, gronk slipping down seems........

pats 38 steelers 31

 

[Psych-Ward]

The tweet had been removed, but according to Sean Davis, HE will again be covering Gronk......

Showing coaching is attempting the same fuckin thing they did last year, hoping for different results.
This coaching staff is a fuckin joke AND THAT INCLUDES TOMLIN!!!!

He's this self proclaimed defensive guru, yet he shows the same shit over and over expecting different results.

 

[SteelersPride]

The tweet had been removed, but according to Sean Davis, HE will again be covering Gronk......

Showing coaching is attempting the same fuckin thing they did last year, hoping for different results.
This coaching staff is a fuckin joke AND THAT INCLUDES TOMLIN!!!!

He's this self proclaimed defensive guru, yet he shows the same shit over and over expecting different results.

i use toi like sean davis but he hasnt delivered either......................gronks gonna get rosted

 

[Psych-Ward]

i use toi like sean davis but he hasnt delivered either......................gronks gonna get rosted

I think you mean Gronk will be doing the roasting!!!!!

They did the same fuckin thing last year and Gronk burned Davis for 187 yards.
So expect the same this year.....Fuckin brilliant game planning by butler and Tomlin.....Fuckin pole smokers.

 

[SteelersPride]

I think you mean Gronk will be doing the roasting!!!!!

They did the same fuckin thing last year and Gronk burned Davis for 187 yards.
So expect the same this year.....Fuckin brilliant game planning by butler and Tomlin.....Fuckin pole smokers.

llol eayh gronks gonna roast him lol......

 

[Maximus Rex]

I think you mean Gronk will be doing the roasting!!!!!

They did the same fuckin thing last year and Gronk burned Davis for 187 yards.
So expect the same this year.....Fuckin brilliant game planning by butler and Tomlin.....Fuckin pole smokers.

Hell, do they have a guy on the roster that can cover Gronk? I guess Hayden has the speed, but not the size and could get blocked out pretty easy. Match up nightmare, that. Gotta double the fucker with 2 safeties or something, I guess, I don't know how they can handle it....

 

[Psych-Ward]

Finally...Tomlin was best as an overseer, CEO type HC. He wanted more input with the DEF, he got more input with the DEF, the DEF stinks and it has for the last 2 seasons. I think the Steeler DEF scheme is in part Tomlin's and I don't think it's very effective against the better QBs in the league and the record in those games bears that out.

The defense on this team gets worse and worse each year under Tomlin.
And with his self-proclaimed defensive guru bullshit, the blame lies solely on him.
I know everyone is thinking, that's an unfair statement, BUT he is the head coach!!!! It's his responsibility to step on these idiot coaches and say, hey, this shit isn't working. We need to try something different. And the schemes can't beat shit QB's forget the better ones. All they have to do is wait. The D stops pressuring the QB and the sad sack secondary ALWAYS gets exposed as the frauds they are.

This is all in Tomlin's lap, and Colbert.....they are the ones with all the power, yet nothing ever changes and nothing ever improves. Tomlin's way of running this team is the definition of INSANITY. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

 

[Psych-Ward]

Hell, do they have a guy on the roster that can cover Gronk? I guess Hayden has the speed, but not the size and could get blocked out pretty easy. Match up nightmare, that. Gotta double the fucker with 2 safeties or something, I guess, I don't know how they can handle it....

I'm by far no coach, but IMO I'm putting Dupree on this fucker and giving him safely help.
Dupree overruns the QB and the RB at least a half a dozen times a game.....let him chase that big goof around a while.
And just to be safe, if the game is close, I'm putting Dupree back on the line to chase Brady, and putting Watt on Gronk with help over the top......like I said, I'm no coach, but I'm not letting that big dumbass beat me AGAIN!!!!