What are Reasonable Expectations for Mike McCarthy in year one with the Steelers?

No — Patrick Queen is a liability in pass coverage. I can prove it with more than just PFF grades. The official NFL stats back it up too. His coverage numbers were so bad in 2025 that he should be taken off the field on every 3rd down with 4+ yards to go.

 

You saying the same thing over and over doesnt change the fact that Queen was on the field for those situations and will continue to be on the field for those situations. I already explained to you why he is there, you complaining to me about PFF grades is a waste of time because neither of us can control the defensive personnel or are qualified to do so. If you think your idea is so revolutionary then take it to an NFL defensive coordinator and let him explain it to you.

 

I know many of You don't remember this ,but the 1st Year Tomlin was the HC Ben, and many, many others complained that it was too hard, and that at the end of the year by the time they got to the playoffs, and played the Jags they were physically worn down. So the next year Tomlin took a more easy approach, and they went to the SB. I actually have that stuff recorded on VHS from the old Stan Savran show on Pittsburgh fox sports back in the day.

 

IDK

Several posters use that strategy

Facts be damned

 

Please show us the NFL stats that back it up

 

You don't know how to use the internet? There are several top platforms that offer premium NFL statistics for deep statistical analysis. Many of them have strong free tiers as well. If you're truly interested in advanced metrics, it's worth paying for the good stuff instead of expecting others to provide it for free.

PFF (Pro Football Focus) — Player grades, advanced stats, Premium Stats 2.0
Sports Info Solutions (SIS) DataHub — Very detailed, often used by pros
FTN Stats / StatsHub — Includes DVOA, EPA, custom filtersFootball Outsiders — Classic advanced metrics

You migth want to try them.

Free options:

Pro-Football-Reference
NFL Next Gen Stats (official)
NFL Savant
ESPN, TeamRankings

Now, did you learn anyting?

 

Yes-- Tomlin and his DC played Queen often on 3rd down and 4+ yards to go. They are gone. What is your point? My point which is based on observation, and stats is Queen is below par of his starting peers at ILB .

The data backs my points on Patrick Queen’s 2025 performance.

He led the NFL (among qualifying defenders) with 31 missed tackles in 2025 (some sources note 32).

Missed-tackle rate: 21.2% — one of the worst marks for a high-volume starter.

Overall defensive grade: 44.0 (78th out of 88 qualifying LBs).

Coverage grade: 31.3 (83rd/88) — allowed high completion % (75%), 71 receptions on 91 targets, 115+ passer rating when targeted, and league-high yards in some metrics. Queen was the red headed step child in coverage. IE: he was absused.

Queen not worth his cap# I say.

This puts him below average relative to other starting ILBs. Many peers graded higher in run defense + coverage consistency, especially those in similar schemes. His tackling grade was among the worst for substantial snaps.

Now do you at least agree with the data that says this? Another question which you won't likely won't answer.

In the post above, I gave a few web sites that give stats & data.

 

I never once disputed any stat you posted I explained to you why LB's play in those scenarios and Patrick Queen was aquired to play those scenarios. The pff grades I dont really care about because I think their grades are subjective. Do I think Patrick Queen has made it to this level in career and suddenly forgot how to cover, absolutely not! It is more likely that playing next to a young guy like Payton Wilson has put Queen in alot of bad spots and that paired with the fact that Austin was a terrible in game coordinator. Queens strength coming out was his ability to cover and his athleticism, now all the sudden after one year we are supposed to throw him away because PFF gave him a bad grade, spare me. The guy was flying all over the field for 17 games he probably was wore out in half the games from being the guy going after tackle. If the solution to stopping short passes was just to put all DB's on the field then they would of stopped Tom Brady long before 6 superbowls.

 

Good post

I’m a type A personality and I just would have thought everyone does this

 

And to think @steelersrule6 thought MM should get “off of his lazy a$$” and go to more team days before the draft

 

It's astonishing when you really think about it.

In a new NFL where they severely limit the time you have to work with players, the fact that Tomlin was using up time walking around the field talking with players while they were stretching and burning the 2-hour window of limited coaching time seems like something he could have handled differently. McCarthy is doing something very smart to get as much time as possible coaching the players AND having more coaches on the field to coach up more players on an individual basis which builds better chemistry and fosters an environment where all the players can get a better understanding of what they have to do and what is expected of them much sooner.

What McCarthy is doing just makes a ton of sense and is a very smart use of time. It's pretty hard to come up with a negative to his approach and the added coaches to help the team learn the new systems and get more in-depth coaching earlier in the process.

 

I think we won’t know if this approach works until the season starts.

If we start out 1-3 or end up 7-10 will we praise his approach?

First year most coaches are going to be all hands on deck to try and establish a culture. Someone mentioned Tomlin’s experience first year and how players said they were over worked. Bunch of hogwash. They were overworked by those damn Jags who always gave us problems.

 

I'll praise this approach no matter how they start.

The NFL limits the amount of practice time that coaches have with the players. The coaches need to maximize that time. It's a smart approach whether the team comes out on fire or not. New offense. New defense. All new coaches learning about all the players on the roster. It just makes sense to squeeze as much coaching time as possible into each session.

 

Someone didn't say it, Ben, and many other players said it on a interview on Stan Savran fox sports Pittsburgh.

 

When it comes to first year regimes this is true because they have to start from scratch with every single player and they have to spend alot more time on the details no matter how small.

 

I said “someone” (as in someone in this thread) mentioned PLAYERS saying Tomlin overworked them.

I don’t care if it was Ben, Casey or Jesus Christ.. we always had issues with the Jags so that excuse didn’t hold water.

When we faced the Jags (or the Pats) the outcome wasn’t good in the playoffs regardless of how hard or soft Tomlin handled the team.

 

The 2007 steelers had a 9-3 start but they won only 1 game in the final 5 games including the playoffs and it was against a awful rams team.Of course injuries were a massive factor for the awful december but I will not be too hard on Tomlin for that since it was his first year and he learn from that after.(for the training camp)

 

Slow start? Steelers are usually good in September and October in recent years... with a few duds here and there like opener vs 49ers in '23. The Tomlin trend was to start out strong and wipe out in December. Cowher was usually the opposite.. with slow start with dismal September and better performance after Thanksgiving.

 

Tomlin's best month historically is October... I don't have the numbers, but I'm confident about that.

September and December are never the same for Tomlin; it depends on the situation....I mean, when the Steelers have a great record like 11-0 in 2020 or 10-3 in 2024, it was ugly after that, at least since 2018. But when the Steelers were in danger of having a losing season, like in 2013,2022, 2023, and 2025, they had a great December.

In september,Tomlin had some great september like in 2007,2010,2020 and 2024,some bad one like in 2009,2012,2018,2021 and the rest in between.October,he was great for sure

 

This is true.

McCarthy’s offense is proven top-5 in the league for three straight years in Dallas and did so with Dak Prescott at the helm. Impressive. He has a strong track record of developing players and designing the right schemes for his personnel. The Media also consistently praises him as extremely organized and detailed.

 

McCarthy also had a QB in his prime with Dak in Dallas, with the Steelers not so much.

 

Tomlin lives rent free in your head if you actually took the time to look all of that up .

 

Two things

First, I didn't need to look at that.And second, what wrong did I say?

My god, Tomlin fanboys are sensitive, even after the facts.

 

McCarthy had also Cooper Rush for 14 starts and he was 9-5 in those games.And the cowboys score 20 points or more in those games