Groundhog Day

This,a million f'ckn percent!!

 

You could move the season date far earlier than 2018 and still see a similar pattern emerging long before then, although perhaps with less frequency or severity. I'd argue that some elements or even some degree of foreshadowing was always present right from the start, but definitely from 2009, onward.

 

Popcorn

 

Wasn't 2009 the season when we unleashed hell in December by losing 2 games to bottom feeders?
All talk, no substance

 

yes,against a weak raiders team in Pittsburgh and against the 1-11 Browns 4 days later

 

Oh, so maybe what we've been doing these last 3 games is unleashing hell. I don't think it means what Tomlin thinks it means

 

Yeah I wondered same thing. I know we were 7-4 but that was done with smoke and mirrors.

 

I don't get all the complaining. We are in first place in the NFCS Now that is a bad division and one of them will get a home Playoff game.

 

Lol

 

I don't think this team could beat the Panthers right now.

 

Im just surprised it took some of you so long to see what a fraud this guy was.

 

November 13, 2016 4:42 p.m. EST.

 

5 yrs 2 l8

 

2009 raised some red flags for me, but we were just coming off a SB win so it was all easily forgivable.
2010 was a great year obviously
2011 is where it started really turning for me. There were lots of red flags for me and I thought we were very overrated. That loss to Tim Tebow was inexcusable.

it's been all downhill since. Little peaks here and there, but for the most part it's been a steady decline.

 

That's an excellent rundown of history and examples, although I think we could expand the list of problem players under Tomlin even further by including none other than Ben Roethlisberger. Although it's true that Ben showed signs of behavioral problems shortly after the team's first SB win, while Cowher was obviously still the HC, I'm tempted to include him as a prominent early example in a long line of problem players that would emerge throughout Tomlin's tenure.

Ben getting seriously injured while riding a motorcycle without a helmet was, indeed, supremely irresponsible, but - morally speaking - that particular incident pales in comparison to the sort of very, very serious - and potentially even criminal - issues that would manifest not so long after Cowher left, now with Tomlin at the helm. Whether or not one believes that the allegations against Ben had any legal merit can be debated ad nauseum, but it's also kind of irrelevant, as - either way - it's absolutely clear that Ben was completely out of control at the time. At minimum, his behavior was extremely self-destructive - mentally and physically - and his actions invited legitimate skepticism in his defense against the various lawsuits and charges that, while not leading to any convictions, culminated in somewhat lengthy suspension.

Although this is just speculation, obviously, my sense is that Ben would never have gone so far off the deep end whilst under Cowher, or some other coach who would have been more of a disciplinarian than Tomlin has ever been. If Ben's problems were an isolated incident, then it would be easy to look at Ben and day argue that the situation with him was unique and that he would have been who he was, regardless of coach (and I mean, at the end of the day, he is, of course, the only one who is truly responsible for his own actions) - but that just isn't the case. Instead, when looking over Tomlin's career in Pittsburgh, there's an irrefutable pattern that emerges, wherein Ben's descent into (potentially career-damaging) degeneracy and attitudinal toxicity is really just one early prominent example of the many that would follow.

And while Ben's situation was particularly egregious (and uniquely damaging for both himself and the franchise), we would see various strains of devil may cade, toxic behaviors manifest in some form or another in several other players, most infamously AB, but also Bell, Blount, Harrison, DJ, and Pickens. And that's not even talking about the players whose attitudes aren't bad, per se, but were never properly coached up, much less developed in any impactful or meaningful sort of way. Even a likeable guy like Juju would see some controversies come his way, largely as a result of his fixation on social media, to which he was clearly very addicted to an arguably unhealthy extent.

Among all of these players - a number which includes players of less consequence whom we've not even touched upon - runs a common thread of problems related to self-control and self-discipline, or the absence thereof.

But, yeah - I guess what I'm ultimately trying to say is that these sorts of problems didn't just emerge at some indeterminate later time in Tomlin's career, they've been there from the get-go. Ben is responsible for Ben, but Tomlin's apparent lack of any meaningful desire to discipline him only made his existing problems a thousand times worse. And the same goes for AB, Bell, and the rest. How anyone here can still cling to this idea that these are common problems repeated in every locker room and that Tomlin is therefore the victim in all of this kinda just blows my mind. Tomlin might be a nice guy, but that doesn't make him a great coach. A popular coach, for sure...but definitely not a great one.

 

You don't consider losing to two 2-10 teams when you're in top wild card spot a collapse?

Isn't that the definition of a collapse??

 

all of this is well documented, understood by astute NFL (Steelers) fans and it all says that TOMLIN SUCKS Art does not seem to care, HE LIKES WHAT HE SEES!!!!

 

i remember....he was not too bright then too!

 

I agree. I actually consider that season to be Tomlin at his very best. Tomlin proved to have a unique talent at taking a very, very broken, piss poor team with no string QB at the helm and making said team play well above expectations. Basically, he's got a knack at raising the floor. Unfortunately, he's also proven to be terrible at raising the ceiling.

On paper, this season isn't all that different from the Duck-Mason season. This 2023 Steelers team is also lacking in direction at the QB position, is also ravaged by numerous injuries, and also has a record that is arguably well above what it really ought to be. And yet, somehow, this team feels infinitely worse and definitely gar less impressively coached overall. Part of it is that, fairly or not, may be that expectations were much higher for this team, given the talent that it supposedly has. It feels like they should be accomplishing more, but either can't, or won't.

Either way, Tomlin's gotta go, like yesterday. Keeping the floor higher than it should isn't really even a good thing in this league and, when repeated over and over again, can be outright detrimental. Tomlin's high floor and low season locker room might be beneficial somewhere else, but it's definitely not cutting it here in Pittsburgh anymore.

 

Just goes with the trend. Let's not forget, at that time fans were starting to call for the Steelers to move on from Ben. Rudolph was drafted with the intention of him being the heir apparent. So it's not like Ben went down and they weren't prepared for it.

Other teams deal with similar circumstances all the time. Look what the Bengals are doing with Jake Browning.

 

Light years ahead of the recent holiday rush.

 

Good point. 11 - 13 were not exactly memorable either. A loss to Tebow followed by two 8-8s.