What if...

What if I had told you Sunday morning that Kenny Pickett would get hurt and be out for the game in the first half?

What if you knew in advance that Minkah Fitzpatrick would break his hand, TJ Watt would injure his ankle, and oh by the way, your last remaining decent ILB and your starting LG would also suffer game ending injuries?

What if I also mentioned that nearly every ball was going to bounce the Cardinals direction and the several key officiating calls would go the Cardinals way?

If you knew this before the game, would you expect the Steelers to win? Would you put money on it?

My point being, this team didnt overlook anybody. They lost because of all of the issues I just listed above.

 

No excuse to be down 24-3 against a 2-10 team....

 

I did put money on the game and took a big hit. If you'd have only posted this last Monday I'd be 300 smackers richer

 

That might hold water if this same scenario didn't play out time and time again.

 

To be fair, I would never put money on the Steelers under Tomlin, even if the roster would be as good as it was in the 1970s

 

I quit betting on the Steelers in the late 80’s after a Bubby Brister fumble against the Donkeys. Have not bet on them since.

 

With all due respect, you should have took the points.

 

what I told you you were FULL OF BALONEY

 

It all started with the bad snaps and then The domino effect took place. It’s pretty sad how bad snaps can change the whole complexity of a game.

 

Most of the issues above happened long after AZ went up 17 -3 with the exception of losing Roberts. We could have and should have put Minkah on their TE earlier but we didn’t make that adjustment. This team is fundamentally poor at making in game adjustments. the ball did bounce AZ’s way but on one opportunity where Conner fumbled the ball in the backfield if Heyward would have gotten any push on the guy that was single blocking him we would have had a chance to recover it so the whole luck thing is a bit of a stretch. Our Star players are not stepping up on Defense. We are continually being outreached on both sides of the ball not to mention Special teams. What about all of the pre snap penalties on the offensive line. What about the poor design of the run play at the goal line? Who lines up in shotgun and runs Najee at a standstill in a 11 set. Why not go in with our three TE look and actually run from the I formation? Ho about the Center, Right Guard and Right Tackle actually block on that play and create some push?

How about we actually design some creative blitzes up the middle on defense instead of the same old vanilla 4 man rush? How about the Center actually snaps the ball cleanly in shot gun. This team has a ton of holes. Lots of teams have holes unfortunately for it to work for KP he does not have the talent to carry the team or play above the holes... we need to be nearly perfect in every phase of the game for it to work for him. Meaning we need a better coaching across the board, better center, better left tackle, Cam needs to retire and we need a better DT. Cut Gunjobi and get a comparable replacement at a much cheaper price. Upgrade from Peterson and Sullivan and Kazee and get some MLB’s in that can stay healthy. Or we go get a QB that can lift the whole team up and cover for some of our holes. Teams know all they have to do is play zone defense against KP and blitz from that formation and he craters every single time. Its getting old watching this team. I am ready for a change and would like to see Tomlin go.

 

Before the bad snaps the Steelers were already in a dog fight with a team that was supposed to lay down with their belly up.

 

this:

"Fundamentally poor" - at many things.

our COACHING stinks!

 

when was the last time we beat anybody by more than a touchdown? good teams don't just squeak by every single game.. once in a while, they exert their authority and beat the living hell out of their opponent. this team is just mediocre and is hamstrung by a terrible offense.

 

OP has a point. But so does Ray D.

Their opening drive was solid. But they had to settle for FG. That's happened far too much and they got away with it in the form of wins against bad teams with mediocre QB's. I don't think Murray is a world beater, but he's well ahead of mediocre.

So, yes the injuries were a factor. But so were the other warts that have plagued this team for far too long.

 

Playoffs, what playoffs?

 

Worm assassin. That made my morning.

 

What if I told you the fate of this team would be a lot different if they selected Tyler Linderbaum in the first rd of the 2021 draft instead of Kenny Pickett? Maybe we wouldn't have had the domino effect of bad circumstances that occurred because of incompetent play from the center position.

This whole woulda, shoulda, coulda type of scenario is easily changed by competent execution. Certain things don't lead to certain other things happening later if coaching and execution are on point. Allowing double digit third down conversions ultimately leads to more chances of players getting hurt during a new sequence of downs when they should have been off the field...same thing when the offense doesn't convert on their third downs.

There's a domino effect to everything that happens when it comes to decision-making so you better make sure you make the right decisions. I wasnt able to watch most of the came but multiple people have said that Warren was wide open in the endzone on that play Pickett chose to pull it and run on where he got hurt. It's decision making and execution that leads to these issues. Not enough attention being paid to detail, or head not being in the game. Ultimately it's the decision making being done on the field and the sidelines that led to these issues Sunday.

 

our COACHING has stunk for better part of 10 years.

If there is anyone left on the "Tomlin isn't the problem" train, they need to be locked up in insane asylum at this point.

Art Rooney, grow a pair and fire this incapable, non-football dude masquerading as an NFL HC, post haste.

 

The bad snaps started on our very first possession

 

See this is the problem. Some of you are hell bent on blaming coaching regardless of game circumstances.

I'm not saying coaching has been good. What I am saying is that with the factors I listed above, Vince Lombardi wasn't winning that game.

 

Lol at work assassin. A well deserved new nickname for Mason Cole.

 

Exactly.

 

It sounds to me like it's bad all over.