Top Paid Defense in the LEAGUE

You don't know what the heck you're talking about, so Austin is just holding the playsheet for show .

 

Agreed, but He didn't really fit their scheme like He did ours. Should have been kept.

 

On game day absolutely He does

During the week a lot of people have input on the game plan

Are you just making stuff up

 

This is correct, and if done properly it can work especially with the DL.
The LB's are a different story, talent upgrade is needed at this position.

 

It’s not what I read. Kieth Butler on his way out confessed to the fact that Tomlin called the defense. I have read many articles since then that have stated Tomlin calls the plays. Not sure where you are getting your information.

 

Actually Butlers comments after being blown out of proportion in this site and the news were later clarified to exactly what I posted

Tomlin is not calling the defense on game day other than possibly something here and there

 

Ok so Kieth Butler is a liar? When Kieth Butler retired he confessed that Tomlin was the one calling the majority of the plays. Tomlin was also calling Plays during Lebeaus time as well. It didn’t start out that way but Tomlin started to implement more and more of his philosophies as time went on. That is fine and it is fine for the Head Coach to interject now and then but Butler made it sound like he had no authority in the defense during his last year there as a coach. What makes Austin so special that Tomlin all of the sudden relinquishes power to him? If he Tomlin has indeed relinquished power to him then it makes it more obvious that Austin has to go. If Tomlin has not then it makes it obvious the guy has to go and Tomlin has to stop and give up that power to a bona fie Defensive Coordinator. Tomlin is all in on putting pressure on the QB. That is how the team is built and that is where we invested our money. TO hell with defending the run or the intermediate passing game or the long passing game for that matter. His defense is broken. It starts with him, period. We brought in Flores who was supposed to be a defensive savant and even he struggles with coaching up the MLB’s. That tells me a couple of things. 1. Tomlin has cut him off at the knees on being able to coach the way he did in New England....because it is Tomlin way and nobody else’s. 2. The system sucks. and 3. We lack talent at MLB and CB. I believe it is a mixture of all three. We are asking way to much of these MLB’s in this system. We offer them no protection in the run game with the way the defense is designed. Their is a reason Cam Heyward’s sack numbers went up later in his career as compared to earlier in his career. Back when we truly ran Lebeaus defense we had Arron Smith, Casey Hampton and Keisel. Their first priority was gap contain and to go lateral left to right and tie up blockers and stuff the run lanes and keep the middle linebackers clean. As a result those guys did not produce many sacks. Those sacks went to the OLB’s and the MLB’s. We would implement exotic blitz packages and bring CB’s etc. Now we barely blitz and that is fine because we want to keep enough players back to cover the pass. The issue is our MLB’s basically stand flat footed because they are neutralized by the RPO and the play action. When they finally realize what the read is they usually have a guard on top of them if it is a run or WR, RB or TE flying across their face and its next to impossible to keep up with them with out committing a PI.

Tomlins system works if you have two freaky athletic and huge defensive tackles that both require double teams like we had with Heyward and Tuitt. That all breaks down when you lose a Tuitt. It also works when you have a freak at MLB like Shazier that is twitchy enough to recover even when he diagnoses the play late. The problem is it is very difficult to find those generational talents. My problem is Tomlin is so stubborn that he is unwilling to adapt the system to fit the talent he has. So we continue to pressure the QB with four guys allowing our MLB’s to be completely exposed play after play after play. If I were a MLB this is the last defense I would want to play in. The defensive lineman and Edge rushers get all the glory in this defense. When it works it is great but when teams are able to block us up and contain our rush it is disastrous. The problem is Tomlin was pliable and willing to listen to outside coaches whom had experience when he first came in as the head coach. Not he is set in his ways and his ego is to large for him to listen to anyone. We are stuck in our ways and we are unwilling to change. That is why teams continue to make adjustments against us at half time and they come up out and clobber us again and again and again.

We need to get a large nose tackle to tie up offensive lineman and ask Cam to forget about stats and go back to the ways of playing selfless football and allow the MLB’s to feast. There is a reason the two MLB’s were thriving down in Tampa. They had Vita Tea and Such in front of them acting as their bodyguards allowing those guys to flow freely to the ball. You get a good NT in here and play gap contain I garuntee you it will completely change the way our MLB’s play. I would prefer to see an actual thumper MLB’s like a Leo Chenal and a hybrid MLB/Safety who can be dedicated to cover the crossing patterns. It would make it a lot simpler allowing those guys to have less reads and responsibilities enabling them to play a lot faster. Regarding Cornerbacks we simply need to go out and buy them in free agency. Tomlin can’t draft and develop CB’s. He has proven that time and time again over the years.

 

Well I am confusing two issues here. The play calling is one issue and the defensive philosophy is another issue. Tomlin definitely drives the defensive philosophy. I don’t like our defensive philosophy. The defensive philosophy feeds into the defensive play calling. Austin needs to go.

 

How many times do we have to go over this overblown story? And Arthur Moats said all that wasn't true, he said Tomlin would only make like five calls a game.

 

I am liking the big fella from Baylor.

 

I believe He is very involved in the D philosophy, but if He's calling the plays .....Well He's a freaking genius....because He would have to know every single one of the plays, and terminology....since He's the only person walking around without a play sheet.
Do I think at times He may say.....Hey I think they may try going deep on this one so call something for that.....Yes I do, but every HC does that.

 

5 too many LMAO

 

Oh boy.

 

lol….. I keep saying Steelers don’t really practice.

To be fair to Pickens, Steeler DBs do suck.

 

Yes... they aren't very good.

 

Does anyone know how the NCAA’s practice rules compare to the NFL’s? Not defending the comment, just curious.

 

Why is this thread dumb? The Steelers had their highest paid and best player on injured reserve for most of the season. 24 mill was on the bench. The next high Steelers cap charge was 17 mill.

 

I don't know this for a fact about every college team, but some get away with more than a NFL team ever could. Also those teams He was on were pretty packed with players that have been, and will be distributed all throughout the NFL... on different teams....not just on one team like there.

 

They were rotating guys in the first half, too. People really need to stop trying to blame the offense for the way the defense **** the bed against a shorthanded Bengals' offense.

 

Why do you think the defense **** the bed against that somewhat depleted Bengals offense?

 

JMO.....
1. Out Coached
2. Minkah came back way too early.
3. Watt is still not completely in a all game conditioning yet. It will take a bit.
4. Burrow is a pretty dang good Qb that takes advantage of what a team gives him.

 

Duh

Why are you quoting me

 

Given that they gave up 17 points in the first half when the offense was moving the ball and they didn't have the fatigue excuse, I know it is silly to blame the offense for it. One reason was poor coaching. They kept trying different guys on Higgins, but they didn't try giving whoever it was some help.

The larger issue was the pass rush. The Bengals stink at protecting their quarterback, yet the Steelers couldn't generate consistent pressure.

Put the blame where it belongs, on the defense.