If you want to know why the Steelers haven't been successful in the playoffs

https://x.com/StatsGuyDaniel/status/1745555239753687446?s=20


Roethlisberger with Tomlin in the playoffs:
63.8% completion rate
26 TDs
20 interceptions
3 lost fumbles
23 turnovers
86.7 passer rating
6 multi interceptions games

 

We had some years where we had the talent to be The Greatest Show on Turf, and it never happened. Very frustrating. I put it on the HC.

 

Complete lack of focus. So many lost opportunities with the talent they had. It’s not really THAT they lost it was HOW they lost that was so frustrating.

 

It all comes down to, sadly, Cowher losing his wife and stepping down. It was a tragedy for him and the fans.

 

Yep. How they lost and who they lost to is sickening.

 

86 Wardsway said it well.

Lots of times, too many times, the team played winning ball for only half a game. They Balboa in Rocky 3 and lost the Eye of the Tiger gir the cheeseball analogy reference.

And a few times we only had Championship talent on one side of the ball.

Poor game plans and conservative approaches often seemed like hallmarks going through the late Cowers years pre 2005.

 

It's a problem when you lose the eye of the tiger for the first half.

 

Hell the first snap!

 

Does he throw passes, does he fumble?

 

Its easy to blame Ben and yes he was part of it. But it really was the defense being a shell which falls on Tomlin and Colbert. The last 3 playoff games they were shelled by 40 plus.

 

Of course you do

 

You do realize turnovers by the offense puts the defense in tough spots, short fields and lack of rest for the defense, but the defense also needs to play better.

 

Steelers had an opportunity in 2016 to win another SB and blew it vs Patriots in AFCCG. There was no excuses. Steelers had the killer B's healthy until Bell got hurt early in AFCCG. But Popcorn should have learned from '14-'15 and had better backups. Shazier was still playing... again, no excuses. They blew it.

 

And how many times did Cowher beat New England in the AFCCG ? Colbert was the GM that's his job to bring in better backups.

 

so - it was on both, IMO.

Ben got sloppy in a number of games, with the ball. he just did.

but MT also seemed to not have the team focused - taking a game or 2 for granted. and my #1 criticism of him for his career is his lack of X's and O's, just getting out-coached with most years, having lesser coordinators, less 'smart' guys around him as assistants.

Losing as LARGE home favorites is not forgettable or forgivable. Losing 2014 to Rats and 2017 Jax playoffs - will not forget those.

 

cowher was KING of CHOKE

 

Killer B's were healthy? 99% of America felt the Steelers lied about Bell's health. There was an investigation by the NFL to see if the Steelers should lose a draft pick. If you go back and watch the game he was obviously hurt prior to. Tomlin "ran the wheels off of him". The killer B's were never healthy because Tomlin made dumb decisions and never gave the backup RB touches. Tomlin should have been able to work some role players into the scheme. There was never a scheme they snapped the ball and gave it to Brown or Bell every game. If one of them got hurt 11 defenders went after one guy.

 

Yep. Steelers losing to the Chargers in January '95 AFCCG is the 2nd biggest choke in NFL history, with biggest choke being Patriots losing to Giants in SBXLII after going 18-0.

 

Big time players make Big time plays in Big time games.
I can't fault Ben for trying. He got us there but could quite carry it across the line.

Coaching is pretty much the same and an easy target.
Sometimes you just run into one of those teams that are destined.

The Steelers could write history here, wining against the odds.
I'm going to hope they do.

Some of the things on my list:
- They know it's going to be bad weather. Will they plan to execute a strong running game which would favor them?
- The Bills are more of a passing team but Josh Allen is dangerous on the go. The Steelers don't have TJ Watt, will they have a strategy to keep Allen in check?
- You cannot drop coverage on a guy like Diggs... heck, I'd cover him all the way to the huddle. What strategy do they have for him?
- If the Bills change their plan, can we counter?
- Lastly, the Steelers players, are they focused? Man, I've seen some laser focused players win in the playoffs all the way to the Super Bowl. It's all about having each other's backs and execution.

 

You're quite the ******* aren't you?

 

"Blew it" makes it sound like they were heavy favorites, when they were big underdogs.

The Steelers went 11-5 and were the 3rd AFC seed. #10 offense, #10 defense.
Without a bye week to recover, they beat the 10-6 Dolphins (who beat the Steelers by 15 during the regular season), and upset the #2 seed Chiefs.

The Patriots went 14-2 (three games better), were the AFC 1st seed with a playoff bye week, and ultimately won the SB. #3 offense, #1 defense.
The Steelers had a chance, but don't pretend differently about which team was highly favored to win at home.

 

Bellichick played a blinder on that game though. The Steelers D had a run of food poisoning during the week and so the Pats went 4 and 5 wide no-huddle offense for most of the first half. Make a less than rested D run about an awful lot.

It could have backfired - failed no-huddle would have bought into the Steelers gameplan of running the ball and holding time of possession. But the no-huddle didn't fail, Bell got injured, and the rest is history.

I know I go on about this game but it's too easily forgotten that the Pats took a huge risk with the strategy they took. But then, I also think that's the problem with Tomlin's teams in the play-offs - they don't tend to take risks. Thinking back to 2005, it was attacking the COlts through the air that caught them off guard, likewise in Denver. When they went to NE in 2016, there needed to be 2 or 3 gameplans ready to match whatever Bellichick threw at them. There wasn't.

 

I've defended Tomlin a number of times on this board, but this is a criticism that I can agree with.

Some people complain that the team doesn't prepare well. I think oppositely; they over prepare, but narrow in scope.
That gives the Steelers the ability to beat arguably better teams (when they do what they've done before), but it backfires when the opposing team is flexible (like the Patriots), when they do uncharacteristic things, or when the Steelers have injuries to starters during a game.
(And it doesn't help when Tomlin gets overly stubborn about sticking with those plans when they aren't working, like when he kept Vick or Trubisky as the starting QBs.)

 

Yup Cowher retired in 2006 and his wife passed in 2010

 

You have to drop the Steelers choke to third. The biggest choke was the Colts losing to the Jets in the Namath Super Bowl.