Not sure. The Steelers should roll the dice and find out. What's the worst that could happen?
At times I've wondered if they had a linebacker tree and a WR tree in Tomlin's or Rooney's backyard.They consistently get good skill players in the draft.
well he's sure as fuck not a "good" coach.It's got to be a sad existence when you hope for your team to lose so you can talk stupid shit about their coach, when he's not a bad coach.
Yep, that Steelers defense did not show up at all. The Browns literally bulldozed them.I said Carroll was overrated yesterday along with Tomlin in that they're good coaches that still underperform and Tomlin goes ahead and drives that point home.
And I'll be nice as I don't think this loss was Tomlin's worse coaching performance. I can't really pin it on him if Pouncey wants to launch the ball into the end zone and give the Browns a free 7 points or if Ben is throwing picks in their own territory but I can fault him for what was a top 3 defense coughing up 41 points.
Just because Ben threw a pick that put the Browns in your territory doesn't mean you have to let them score a TD every time. You can hold them to a FG sometimes. And every time the Steelers got something going on offense and made it a less then 2 TD game the defense would allow the Browns to march down the field and get a TD to give them some breathing room.
It's easy to pour it on the coach after this team rested its starters in week 17 in order to rest & prepare for the postseason... That rest & preparation turned into a 28-0 deficit in the 1st quarter. In previous years the team just looked flat out unprepared... This loss wasn't necessarily that, as I felt it had a lot more to do with Ben having a bad game & putting the defense in terrible positions each & every drive. After the bad snap into the endzone the team was just flat out shell-shocked playing on their heels. Would like to point out that those errant snaps started LAST YEAR with Pouncey and have been showing up at awful times for 2 seasons now.
Tomlin most certainly deserves an equal share of the blame. He coached in his fears all week & during the game. Starting Feiler was moronic, and not going for it on 4th & 1 when they had momentum... Looked outcoached by a stand-in coach on the opposing sideline that had only 1 full practice to prepare. Just a few examples. But it's not all Tomlin's fault that his players played like dogshit early on in that game... You can only lead a horse to water. At some point these players need to have their balls descend into their sacks... All season long the entire team rarely played with intensity until the 2nd or 3rd quarter. They were consistently sluggish. Going 11-0 was the worst thing that could have happened to them. Winning covers up a ton of problems, and honestly this team just kept ignoring it instead of waking up. Tomlin has been demanding intensity & more physicality for the past couple months and the players just never picked it up. There was no growth or maturity at any point this season, but now they can reflect on it while watching the postseason from the couch. It bothered me how this team was celebrating wins like teenagers on social media all season after narrowly escaping each & every week... This team needs better lockerroom leadership. And that most certainly starts with Tomlin. Being the players-coach he is will always encourage this behavior though. So to expect anything different every year is a fool's errand. I'm not sayin he needs replaced, just needs to focus on instilling better behavior & focus in the lockerroom.
It is what it is. Tomlin made his bed this year and now they have to sleep in it. Refusing to address the O-line issues or to take control of the offense when it was looking like shit from November through December should haunt him. Hopefully enough so that he gets rid of that sorry excuse for an OC Randy Fichtner. That dude was NEVER qualified for the job. Most of us thought that hire merely meant they were handing the keys of the offense over to Ben, but that rarely happened. The O-line was dogshit last year, and they didn't do much to change it this year. I knew it was going to be a rough year in the trenches and they didn't disappoint. The offense covered up that issue by shortening up the offense's timing & having Ben throw for 50-70 attempts per game. It worked pretty well for 6-7 games, but then everybody figured it out and the players suddenly got the yips. The coaching staff had no answers. They need to revamp the O-line if this offense is going to have any chance next year.
Going to be a very busy offseason for the Steelers... They have a laundry list of FAs and could have a very different look next year.
I'm not sure they could get that yard although I agree they needed to try. Pouncey was getting pushed back quite a few times last night. That Oline isn't the vaunted Oline it once was.It's a conspiracy. The Steelers wanted to give the Browns the game because Stafanski couldn't be on the side line... (I mean we are in the height of conspiracy theories now aren't we)
I really do not get how Tomlin didn't go for it on 4th and 1. I mean yes, the running game was suspect at best but you are telling me that Big Ben couldn't get that one yard?
I'm not sure they could get that yard although I agree they needed to try. Pouncey was getting pushed back quite a few times last night. That Oline isn't the vaunted Oline it once was.
He's what......6-5 and 240 pounds? I would think that'd be a gimme.It's a conspiracy. The Steelers wanted to give the Browns the game because Stafanski couldn't be on the side line... (I mean we are in the height of conspiracy theories now aren't we)
I really do not get how Tomlin didn't go for it on 4th and 1. I mean yes, the running game was suspect at best but you are telling me that Big Ben couldn't get that one yard?
He's what......6-5 and 240 pounds? I would think that'd be a gimme.