What is the Steelers greatest mistake of all time?

Steel, I think Bell has a better career than Lacey. I hope I am right and you're wrong

 

They did not score on Mendy's fumble, Unlike Ben's pick six. I never was sold on mendy but why blame him when they didn't score on it?

 

I will go with cutting Johnny U as well.

 

the injured player was Ernie Mills, who'd been having a super game. Look it up- Mills was a GREAT Wr in the post season for the Steelers, probably their 5th best all time in the postseason, with 3 of the other 4 being Super Bowl MVP and the 4th one (Stallworth) should have been.

 

I hope you are too, I really, really am, but I have the sickening feeling that it was a major gaffe by the Steelers.

 

Might have to go back and look, but at the time even if he had just chunked it up out there further downfield, IIRC he probably would have scored on both of those.

 

IIRC, he had Thigpen open but didn't look his way.

 

I think the kid will be a good back for us. I like the mcneal kid and actually all of our backfield going into camp.

we have some beef, we have a big strong FB leading the way and it has to take a toll on the defense throughout a game. not the power game we once ran but big tough RB's to bring down. throw in a couple of quick guys that we have and it seems like a nice mix for teams to have to defend. that's what i'm seeing anyway.

living in big 10 country, I've seen a lot of this kid. he won't be a break away threat much, but he'll be a 100 yard rusher during games, and maybe 30-40 a game receiving hopefully.

 

Breakaway threats are okay, but give me a back like the Bus who can get the tough 5 to 7 yard bursts late in the game to seal the deal. I love guys like Willie Parker but they made a living getting negative yards or no gain three out of four attempts before breaking the 40+ yarder. Looking forward to Bell carrying the mail in 2013 and getting the run game back where it belongs. I want to see the DL arguing over who's going to initiate the contact in the 4th quarter the way they did with the Bus.

 

Well I woulda got you tickets TTF! Ha-ha

 

Picking Neil O` Donnell...
Just kidding, how could they pass on a kid with an Irish name, like that?!
(that, and the fact that he had one of the best completion vs turnover ratios in the history of the team, except when it counted?!?)...
Getting rid of Harrisson?!?... We`ll see... but, I don`t like it, even if it was probably for the best interests of the team, long term...
Blowing up Three Rivers?.... That is hard to forgive.
Hiring Mike Tomlin?(just had to put a controversial one in there)...
Drafting Limas Sweed?... Well.... It seemed like a good idea at the time....
Worst mistake , EVER?...
Getting rid of the block numbers, and the "Steelerettes"!!!
Or hosting high school playoff games on a natural grass field, and not having it prepared for Pro level of play, afterwards......
Let`s see... I`m on a roll... the SINGLE biggest mistake... ?
Not paying attention to the offensive line, for the last 10 years, or so... when running the football is the heart and soul of our football team!!!(Whether we have Ben, or not!)...
And on a related note...
HIRING BRUCE ARIANS!!!!
LOL:kapow:
GO STEELERS!!!

 

But it killed our drive. But there were a lot of factors, not just that play. It just felt like it killed momentum we had to come back.

 

Ding ding! We have a winner.

 

I haven't thought enough to offer a valid opinion but as it stands the top two worse decisions has to be your #2 first and secondly your 1st suggestion.

To everyone proposing Marino as #1. Let's remember this. Its way easy to look back after all the events unfold and say " should have done' so lets take a look back at some truths. Marino was drafted in the 1st rd but was the 6th QB picked. It was widely accepted he wasn't the QB he ended up being. Also the player we picked, Gabe Rivera was an absolute beast. He, and this is purely conjecture, would have had a HOF career at DT. As big and strong as he was I saw him run down a RB from behind, catch him and tackle him 60, SIXTY Yds down the field. He only played a few games his rookie yr before his car wreck and already had 2 sack from the 4-3 DT position. He was ABSOLUTELY the BPA when we picked.

Also we still had Bradshaw, and any QB drafted would have been a back-up. Who knew an elbow injury was around the corner.

Cajun-

 

Hard to argue the Marino decision. But if we invented a time machine and actually went back to 1983, in a DeLorean, with Marty McFly, and changed/altered that one decision...well, it would alter everything else. It's doubtful that Rod Woodson is ever a Steeler. Same could be said of Greg Lloyd, Carnell Lake, even Jerome Bettis. Maybe, just maybe, the Steelers in 84-85 win SB XIX. And perhaps nothing since then. It's also possible that Bill Cowher never coaches the team and ends up in Cleveland, and the Browns promptly whip the Steelers throughout the 90s.

So for that reason, I'm going with Rod Woodson, after the 96 season. Because undoing that bad decision doesn't alter the direction of the franchise so much. I doubt having Rod on the team, from 97 to 2000 or so, improves the team so drastically that it alters their history. But I mostly choose this one because Rod should have remained in a Steeler uniform his whole career. And it pains me that of all the Steeler greats, he played too much of his career elsewhere.

 

Can't argue with Marino being number 1.
But how about taking a pass on Brett Favre and drafting Huey Richardson in '91? Bet Brett would have won us a couple of Lombardis in the 90's.

 

After much thought it has to be passing on Dan Marino and having Art Jr. believe that Mark Malone would've been a successful starter in the league after Bradshaw retired.
Oh the agonizing pain I still feel from having to watch all that unfold week in and week out from the lower deck at TRS.

 

So that little sports almanac Biff held in his hands revealed that the Cowher led Browns won 3 Super Bowls in the 90s, Rod Woodson starred with the Cowboys, Lloyd with the Chiefs, Lake with the Chargers and Bettis was traded to the Bengals where he ran roughshod over the Steelers defense for many years. It also reveals that the Steelers win Super Bowl XIX and then Marino blows out his knee on the TRS carpet during a playoff game the next year and was never the same after that.

Man, I am glad we didn't draft Marino. That would have altered the course of Steelers history forever.

[video=youtube;-Rze0XkDUqQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rze0XkDUqQ[/video]

 

Here is one to rile people up:

How bout letting Neil Oddonell go and not going for another run at the SB after the Cowboy loss?????

He was better than what the Steelers had at QB. Odonnell was pretty money with the 4 and 5 wide sets despite his Superbowl gaffes. Add the Bus in there and I think we could have won the SB the very next year.

Yeah Oddonell sucked at the Jets, but he fit in with the Steelers offense pretty good.

 

But I don't think any qb would ever be a bona fide superstar under Cowher because he just believed in managing the game and letting the RB and defense be your bread and butter. So I wouldn't say it was the biggest mistake because I think pretty much ANY qb could be ok under his mentality. Remember that NFL Films thing where Ben was on the sideline in the Super Bowl and said to Cowher "let's play to win and not just to not lose"? I think that was a window in to Cowher's mindset when it came to qb's.

 

OK Steel, like I said. Ben threw a pick 6. We lost 31 to 25

 

You might have a point there...
But, we DID have "just any qb" for a number of years, hell, we even had Kordell, and Tommy-Gun...
But, until Ben came along... It didn`t get us to the Superbowl!
For YEARS.... (Pretty much since Bradshaw retired,) I said pretty much the same thing you posted...
"If we just had a "DECENT" qb, we would be unstoppable...
Thru the Mark Malone, Bubby Brister years...
We MAY have made a mistake, by letting the unmentionble one walk, but he chose his path...
He followed the money thrown at him, after losing the Superbowl...
And at that time, we were NOTORIOUS for being "cheap"...
We just diidn`t pay what other teams would for players of the caliber we had...
Still... No one else has more rings than us (barely)...
So, I STILL trust in the Rooneys!!!
Hard to call them out on their "mistakes"...

 

Answering myself here as I am watching the highlights of the SB. Packers scored on both of Ben's Picks