Gotta have next year

We were 3-0 mainly because of our defense… offense was only avg 15 pts a game… put up 24 last week, but d just couldn’t get the stop we needed. The D got 3 tos last night, but offense didnt score any points on any of the tos. Back to 17 pts.
Apparently the D needs to hold teams to 10 or fewer points for us to have a chance to win

 

I was surprised they didn't do more to keep Flores inhouse by promoting him to DC, and then setting him up as Mike Tomlin's successor with a big contract.

I know it is the Rooney's and they don't exactly throw cash at the coaches around Tomlin.

And.. RIP Pat Meyers, you can't get out of town fast enough!!!

 

Yes the oline has injuries but te nicely we list one starter in Jayden Daniels. Fautanu was a rookie and we don’t know for certain what we had. In theory the line should still be better. Jones in his second season. Frazier is an upgrade at center. The only downgrade is McCormick.

 

Cmon we’re talking about for All Pris on defense in Watt, Heyward, Minkah and Queen. Not to mention Porter, Highsmith and the others with some decent potential. This defense performing like this is strictly on Tomlin. Absolutely no excuse.

 

The Steelers got Jayden Daniels! Holy ****!

 

Now that that silliness is out of the way, the injuries to the line have been far more significant than your post suggests. They have had to constantly change lineups, which is a big problem whether or not some folks here want to admit it. The unit's strength was supposed to be the guards with Seumalu and James Daniels backed up by Herbig. They lost Herbig for the season before the real games even started. That became a big deal when Seumalu suffered an injury that kept him out the first four games. That forced them to rely on Anderson, who sucked. Now Daniels is gone for the season, too.

I still don't think Jones is right physically. You can dismiss Fautanu if you like, but he had taken the starting job from Jones, at least temporarily.

The current unit can be decent if they can stay healthy, but that hasn't been their luck so far this season.

 

Why ......I guarantee you that no one mentioned Tomlin when Cowher retired

 

While true, that was back when people still had grace to have discussions. Those consisted of more than just... he socks get somebody else. There are enough candidates out there to fill up another thread or two. But that requires actual effort.

 

They held the Cowboys to 13pts until about a minute to go. Gave the offense 3 extra possessions during that game. Good call.

 

I'm tired of hearing about "next year". Nothing is gonna change until Tomlin goes, the pattern is long established and we have seen it play out year after year after year, and Art just signed up for some more of the same.

 

They gave up a long drive at the end of the game and lost the game. Tomlin himself has said we want the Defense out on the field to protect the lead at the end of the game. This defense has given up a 56% conversion rate on 3rd down to opposing offenses while the league average is 26%. Your nuts if you think these two losses aren’t maingy on this defense. To who much is given much is expected .... this defense has been given alot. They are the highest paid defense in the league.

 

They gave the offense 3 extra possessions while holding the Cowboys to only 13 points. You can blame whomever you want.

 

They have the highest paid defense in the league. That means the responsibility is on them to win the game when the opportunity is there for them to win. The offense was severely hamstring because they decided to discipline Pickens this game. Two drives stalled out because of dropped passes one by Heyward and one by Jefferson. Pickens stalled out a third drive because of a dropped pass. The offense is still young and new with rookies and a new OC. It takes time. The defense hs veterans all over the place. Please learn football.

 

https://www.steelcityunderground.co...urprises-in-sundays-loss-against-the-cowboys/

 

Thanks for proving my point:




… And Steelers Defense
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Steelers defense on Sunday. The unit would give up 445 yards to the Cowboys, allowing 60% of their opposition’s third downs to be converted as well as a fourth-down conversion. They gave up 25 first downs total on 75 of the Cowboys offensive plays, a whopping one in every three plays moving the chains.

While the defense forced Prescott to turn the ball over three times, they struggled to contain him for much of the evening, as the Dallas QB completed 69% of his passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense was further pressed as the game wore on, losing outside linebacker Nick Herbig in the third quarter. He would be spelled by DeMarvin Leal, who flirts as a defensive end but has been filling in as edge depth: Leal would also leave the game, leading to Jeremiah Moon playing 37% of the game in his first regular season action. (Moon is the team’s fifth option at the outside linebacker spot, as the Steelers were already down Alex Highsmith who was ruled out earlier in the week.)



Embed from Getty Images


Cowboys Final Drive
But those defensive storylines would pale in comparison to the sequence of events that unfolded after the Steelers took a 17-13 lead with five minutes left in the game.

The Cowboys would run the football on six of their first eight plays on the ensuing possession, running the clock down to the two-minute warning. Rico Dowdle would carry the ball four times for 20 yards during the first set of plays. Prescott would then find his tight end Jake Ferguson on a third-and-nine to convert with 1:26 to go. The pass got the Cowboys out to the Steelers 22-yard-line, as Dallas marched up to the four and then a Prescott scramble on first-and-goal would be ruled out-of-bounds setting up a second down situation on the half-yard line.

The Steelers nearly came away with a miracle play when LB Elandon Roberts punched the football from Dowdle’s grasp on a goal line dive attempt, but Prescott would recover the loose football back at the five yard line. An incomplete Prescott pass on third down setup a do or die 4th-and-4 with 26 seconds and the game on the line.

The Cowboys would spend a timeout before the Steelers would burn their last to setup the game’s deciding play. The Steelers defense came out of the break, and failed to send a blitz, allowing Prescott time to scan the field and find an open receiver for the game-winning touchdown.

The deflating final play, following the timeout, seemed to be an exclamation point on long night that officially ended at 12:59 a.m. Monday morning due to a weather delay. The conditions created sloppy play on both sides, and exposed a gassed Steelers defense that had already bent but failed to break until the very end.

 

Fine cherry picking skills. Damn fine.

 

Look what’s more alarming here is the defensive issues to me are more clearly on Tomlin. They are more clearly on scheme and coaching. We shouldn’t have issues with the players as the majority of the players are tenured on that side. It’s honestly a bigger concern for me. We have leadership on that side. How are wee allowing teams to continually march down the field on us especially for a game winning drive. That just should not happen.

With the offense I completely expected ups and downs. You have a new OC. You really have no leadership on that side of the ball. You have injuries and new faces on the offensive line. We lack pedigree at the WR position outside of Pickens. I think the offensive line needs more time together and they need to go back to the run blocking scheme they utilized the second half of last year. I don’t think Fields is the problem but it may be a good idea to get Russ in there any way strictly from a leadership point just to calm down the offensive line and direct and lead Pickens. Then go out and get your second WR FA.

The defense is actually a bigger issues because that issue is more of a deep seated fundamental schematic issue that lies with Tomlin and his philosophy on defense and that isn’t going to change as long as he is the head coach. I think by the end of the year you may end up with an improved offense and a defense that is stagnant. You can’t keep spending money on the defense and throwing bodies at it. We literally have one of the most talented defense’s in the league personnel wise. That to me says alot about the scheme and Tomlin. Maybe he will change it up and become more aggressive with the defense if he gains trust in the offense but right now its all about keeping the game close, not giving up big plays (as in long sustained drives are ok even if its from the opposing offense) because it still keeps the game close and low scoring and then it becomes about winning the turnover battle. It isn’t a sustainable way to win football games.

 

Why should we find coaches the Steelers wouldn't listen to any suggestions anyway because they know everything

 

Re-read your second paragraph.

 

Your the one that posted that article not me. By you only focusing on the offense are you not doing the same thing you are accusing me of? I never said there weren’t issues with the offense. I said much more is and should be expected of the defense when you factor in the HC runs the defense, the system has been in place for years, we have mutliple all pros on that side of the ball and it is indeed the highest paid defense in the league. Based on all that if the opposing teams offense hs four minutes to drive 80 plus yards at the end of the game for the go ahead score would you not want your defense out there to secure the win as opposed to your offense? I think it is a reasonable expectation for any sane fan to desire the defense to be out there. Your not being practical at all.

 

Needs for Next Year to make AFC Contenders:

1. New Offensive Minded Head Coach
2. Draft a Franchise QB
3. Better Offensive Line Coach
4. Better Offensive Line at run blocking

The Steelers are just not good enough at Head Coach, QB, or Offensive Line. We know none of those areas will change or improve anytime soon.

Next year is going to look like this year. Entertaining at times, frustrating at times, but this team won't be a contender.

 

Again I never absolved the offense of the issues on this team. What I said is I have a much bigger expectation of the defense to win games for us right now. The second paragraph basically supports that. Tomlin himself came out at the beginning of the season and said the onus will be on the defense at the beginning of the year to win games until the offense matures.

Based on that it is not unreasonable to want the defense in that position at the end of a game against a floundering offense. They had the chance and they couldn’t get it done. They indeed lost us the game.

 

Yes to 1. No to 2. Yes to 3. 4 will take care of itself with number 3. I would add a dynamic Defensive Coordinator. and add a some space eating DT’s to protect the ILB’s and allow them to flow freely to the ball.

 

I posted an entire article talking about the takeaways and problems from the game vs Dallas. You copy posted only the part of that article once it talked about the defense. How is that the same thing?

In your own words you listed out many reasons why the offense is the liability.