NFL.com Credits Mike Tomlin For ‘Most Impressive Coaching Job’ Through Nine Weeks

The First Read: Unconventional midseason awards; plus, MVP rankings and Week 10's must-see game (nfl.com)

 

Depending on what the Jets do tonight, the AFC North currently has 4 playoff teams.

 

Hell, outside of 2019, one of Tomlins best seasons. That said, I am not letting him off the hook so easily. While it could have been AR II that wanted Canada for an OC, I seriously doubt that Tomlin had little say in the matter. That alone though isn't the biggest reason for me personally.


Not only that though; the teams drafting misses are piling up; 2019-2021 being just yuck as a whole. Alex Highsmith, Diontae Johnson and possibly Najee Harris; more or less what the haul ended up being. Devin Bush could likely be out of the League after this season, Dotson is no longer here, Pat Freiermuth cannot stay healthy, Kendrick Green is arguably the biggest bust for the Steelers this Century, Dan Moore is a backup way in over his head and Isaiahh Loudermilk is below average for depth.


All in all, Tomlin should be praised for getting the team to this point. Given how major factors like Kenny Pickett having regressed in Year Two (Pickens seemingly the same), Calvin Austin the Third not getting much if any form of action, DeMarvin Leal also regressing, Allen Robinson having little to no usage and the 2023 Class having little action (namely Joey Porter Jr) up until this point, the teams record really should be in reverse as opposed to what it is now. If nothing else, Tomlin knows how to motivate a team. That hasn't been his problem though....


..... getting deep into the playoffs is. Sadly, I believe that is an albatross that will continue this season.

 

What hard drugs are you on?

 

Can’t really argue with that. Tomlin game plans around his team’s limitations, keeps the game close, and often gives them an opportunity to win in the 4th quarter. It reminds me of the Marty Schottenheimer approach.

 

The steelers roster is loaded with high level talent. The defense has at least 4 high end players and the offense has 2 capable running backs, 2 good wrs, and solid te whenever he is healthy. The o line has sucked for the last 4 years and the team finally tried to address it in this draft. The oc is putrid and the QB might be just as bad. Oh wait...there goes another ball ten yards over a wide open wr. The offense has looked the same since big ben injury. Its hard watching the steelers games at times and I am a steeler lifer. We are not the bears or cardinals with no talent. We have had same issues for 3 years and no improvement and we are not making the playoffs this year with our schedule left so how great is he and owners management.

 

I would like to know who comes close.

Ziggy Hood?! Rock solid player. Wrong scheme.

Jarvis Jones?! Major reach but not even close.

Artie Burns?! Same.

Terrell Edmunds?! Miles ahead of Kendrick at this point.

Devin Bush Jr?! His Rookie Season will be far better than anything Kendrick Green ever accomplishes.



If talking about players in later rounds?! Only ones that come close is Senquez Golson, Daniel Sepulveda, Liamas Sweed and Ricardo Couclough. I did state "arguably". I didn't state "hands down" or "by far".

 

Mike Tomlin gets a ton of respect around the league. Dobbs even gave him high praise.
'Most Impressive' - I don't know.
The nerdy guy in Miami has done a good job. Maybe Houston's coach.
I don't know. The NFL is having a weird year.
Maybe they should give Taylor Swift some recognition as she seems to have an impact.

 

I think you have to compare him to his peers. Who is killing it as a coach without a top QB? The dude in Miami can’t beat a good team, the Chargers are as inconsistent as they can be. Dallas can’t beat top teams and Buffalo stinks to high heaven. The lions look good but we seen how they failed against Baltimore (we won). The Chiefs and Eagles are at the top and have great QBs. Even the niners are in a tailspin. My point is that the coach is getting out what he can from what he has. We can probably beat the packers but you never know. Our trend is to get better as the season goes and least we have a winning record going into the second half. Obviously, this is not a championship team given we are two years into a QB change and the OC doesn’t seem to be meshing with QB skill level. Basically we are in re build mode.

 

Texans and Ryans are way more impressive.

 

I'll add to this what a talking head said this morning. "Steelers could easily be 0-8".

 

or 1-7...They were behind after 3 quarter in 7 of their 8 games this year

 

For our win against the Ravens, we must be honest, if the Ravens receivers would not have had one of the worst first half in history, this game would have been over after halftime... It was that bad... But Weird things happen sometimes when it's a big rivalry and they're teams in the same division....I mean the Pats with Brady had a record losing record historically on the road against Miami

 

IMHO Tomlin didn’t win in 2019 because they lost the last 3 games. Regardless of what they say about him now, he must go better the second half.

 

Ziggy, Jarvis, Artie, Terrell, and Devin are all first round picks and shouldn't be compared to a late 3rd round pick.

That being said, you made my argument for me, thank you. Green was having a good year with the Texans before being put on IR. They use a scheme that better fits his skillset. So if Hood gets a pass for the wrong scheme, so does Green.

 

Enough high first round picks can infuse a lot of talent on a team.

 

No CJ Stroud is very impressive. He has looked great with every coach He's had. Crazy how good Qbs are like that.

 

Stroud is good... I'll give you that. But in the beginning of this season, Texans had more holes than the Steelers with a new coach and have been more impressive than the Steelers even though they are 4-4. Have to give props to Ryans for the Texans defense who doesn't have any stand out players like Steelers do with Watt, Heyward and Fitzpatrick.

 

Green doesn't get a pass at all. Dude cannot play.. period. Guard or not, he cannot maintain his leverage nor anchor properly. The point still stands...


Kendrick Green is arguably the biggest bust for the Steelers this Century.. as in since 2000. Mind you, "arguably" is being used here... as there were worse. Reason he does belong is he was severely evaluated incorrectly.


A center coming out with only 4 career starts to his name?! Being drafted as highly as he was?!?! That is about as much of an incorrect evolution as the likes of Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin, Matt Canada and AR II have ever done; Adrian Klemm not withstanding either.

 

the flip side of that argument is that we can be 8-0 if 4th quarter Kenny shows up the entire game. Bottom line is that the Ravens didn’t perform, not just the WRs, and lost.

 

This is ridiculous! The Steelers are not winning bc of great coaching! If they were, their offense would be moving the ball consistently and they would have the ability to shut down opponents on D. Neither of these things are happening. I've already gone into multiple examples of bad coaching/scheme and technique just in the last two seasons alone!
The poor overall scheme on D, terrible playcalling on O that does not utilize the strengths of this Steelers' team and the Offensive Line are the 3 main issues. But, all of those issues point fingers directly back at the Head Coach! This is mediocrity at best!!

 

I think it's too early to argue Green in the 'biggest bust' category yet. He was certainly a terrible pick as a part of a bad draft strategy for Ben's final year, but we've yet to see if he's able to ever find his way at guard - which is the position he should have been drafted for in the first place.

Even if he never does, I can think of a few with equal or higher draft capital that proved more unproductive in the pros: Justin Layne (2019), Senquez Golson (2015), Dri Archer (2014), Curtis Brown (2011), Limas Sweed & Bruce Davis (2008), Willie Reid (2006), Ricardo Colclough (2004), and Alonzo Jackson (2003).

Of those I'd probably label Sweed as the worst because I actually thought he was a steal falling to the Steelers in the late second. The Jackson and Davis picks came out of nowhere for me at the time, as did Archer, so I didn't have much in the way of expectations going in (and they were gone before I could develop any). Golson had talent but injuries washed him out of the league before he ever played a down.

 

Mind you I did say "arguably". Never stated "by far". In addition, I did list some of the worst picks during Colberts time as GM here earlier in the thread.



The main reason though Green gets on the list is due to his incorrect evaluation. Again, a Center, who had only played four games ever at the position, was the correct choice?! While I believe this more so falls on Adrian Klemm, both Tomlin and Colbert had the power to overrule that... no matter how badly Klemm may have wanted him.

 

You understand they don’t play the same team each week. If they went 0-3, it could be who they were scheduled against, injuries etc.

 

I was just going to say Golson was all injuries, but You covered this. I actually forgot about Alonzo. I still think J. Jones is one of the worst. He only played because He was a 1st round pick. I watched Wrs block Him regularly. LoL