Says it better than any of us can

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...oney-II-demanding-change/stories/201801140220

 

If you could kindly post the article if its allowed, that would be awesome.

 

ouch

 

“We should win it all.” — Mike Tomlin, in November.

“We’re going to play [the Patriots] again. We can play them in hell, we can play them in Haiti, we can play them in New England. We’re gonna win.” —Mike Mitchell, three weeks ago.

“I’ll give you guys one guess who you think I wanna play.” — Ben Roethlisberger, two weeks ago.

“I love round 2s … we’ll have two round 2s in back to back weeks …” —Le’Veon Bell, late Saturday night.

When you talk that way and win, you’re the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s. You got swagger.

When you talk that way and lose — in your opening playoff game, at home, as a heavy favorite, no less — you’re a punch line. And today, friends, the entire football world is laughing at the Steelers. The guys who couldn’t stop talking about a game that will never happen.

Thank God it didn’t, right? After watching Blake freakin’ Bortles carve this defense like a Christmas ham, what would Tom Brady have done?

“They acted like we didn’t destroy them the first time around,” Jaguars safety Barry Church said. “We dominated those fools [in October].”

I don’t know that “45-42” qualifies as another case of domination, but it surely qualifies as an abomination. It was the Steelers’ most embarrassing playoff loss since the 1994 AFC championship against the San Diego Chargers, and it should precipitate major change on Mike Tomlin’s staff, whether Tomlin wants it or not.

Tomlin should be faced with increased scrutiny after this disaster. His team wasn’t ready. It looked disorganized on several occasions. His defense was laughably inept, blowing assignments all over the place. Some of his game-management decisions were borderline insane.

Tomlin’s not going anywhere, though. Nor should he.

Some of his staff members, however, should face real consequences. Don’t give me the “They went 13-3!” crap. With this talent, and with the way the schedule broke, anything less than 12 or 13 wins would have been a massive disappointment.

They don’t pop champagne for 13-win seasons in New England. Even a loss in the conference championship is considered abject failure there. You know what Bill Belichick did when his offensive line faltered in the AFC title game two years ago in Denver? He fired line coach Dave DeGuglielmo less than 24 hours later.

It’s time for action here. Serious consideration should be given to parting with both coordinators. That the offense put up 42 points had way more to do with sheer individual brilliance, born of desperate circumstance, than anything Todd Haley did.

It doesn’t seem like him and Roethlisberger — who remains allergic to quarterback sneaks — are built to last much longer, anyway.

But offense wasn’t the major problem, even if Haley got way too cute early and lost his mind on some fourth-and-1 calls (unless that was Ben changing the plays). If Tomlin doesn’t revamp his defensive staff, then team president Art Rooney II should step in and do it for him.

This was the second year in a row that ended with a defensive meltdown. The Steelers couldn’t stop the pass or the run against an extremely mundane offense.

“Oh, but they led the league in sacks!” the apologists will cry.

Yeah, how many sacks did they have Sunday?

Try none, which equaled their turnover total. They were a discombobulated mess from the very first drive. Even Bortles couldn’t miss his receivers, so open were they.

“But they had injuries!”

Yeah, well, New England lost its defensive leader, Dont’a Hightower for the season and managed to survive. You might also remember the Patriots winning the Super Bowl without Rob Gronkowski last season.

Listen, I admire the Steelers stability. It’s a big reason they’ve been so successful over the years. But when stability turns to stubbornness, it’s a problem. The Steelers now are chasing another franchise and have been for a while. The Patriots own this century. The status quo is not working.

So yes, I seriously would consider firing coordinator Keith Butler. At the least, it’s time for Tomlin to part with his right-hand man, outside linebackers coach Joey Porter, and secondary coach Carnell Lake.

What happened to the first-round, edge-rushing linebackers under Porter’s tutelage? Bud Dupree has regressed to the point where he is literally invisible.

The secondary never solved its big-play issues. Another hurtful play happened Sunday — the 45-yard strike over Artie Burns after the Steelers pulled to within 28-21 early in the fourth quarter.

Tomlin outdid himself late in the game, opting to try an onside kick trailing, 42-35, with 2:18 left and two timeouts. It stirred the echoes of his legendary 2-point conversion attempt from the 12 against Jacksonville 10 years earlier. It also set up the Jaguars’ game-clinching field goal.

Tomlin’s postgame explanation for the onside kick was a massive indictment of his defense.

“We hadn’t stopped them convincingly enough to take any other approach,” he said

Wow! He basically just said he didn’t trust his defense enough to get a stop against Blake freakin’ Bortles. And this is a team that thought it could beat Tom Brady?

By the end, after all the guarantees had died, these were the coach’s first words as he stepped to the podium:

“You know, really, not a lot to say.”

 

Awesome. Thanks JPP

 

I'm wondering why he thinks Tomlin shoudn't be fired? Tomlin' s the one constant that remains for loosing. 2 offence and 2 def cooridinaters. since Tomlins been here and results remain the same?

 

That article was therapeutic. Only thing missing in it was any mention of Tomlin needing to be on the hot seat next season.

 

I posted earlier this season that Lake needs to go, his top 2 picks from last year Davis and Burns both regressed. Porter hasn't done a good job of developing the OLBs.

 

They’ll be watching them play!!!

 

Why is it that most players that come out of the draft go to other teams and are productive and/or show some sort of growth right out of the gate - except those that come here? Aside from the ones that are just insanely talented - we seem to have the market cornered on regressing talent. IMO, that points directly (and only) to coaching.

 

Whatever, they managed to survive and we n despite a 21-0 cushion to start the game and now he wants to talk crap?

The vaunted #1 pass defense just got carved up for 467 passing yards and 5 TDs.

A story about cockiness showing cockiness from the other team...meh

 

Starkey can be an odd dude, but he knows his stuff and he's right on the money in that piece.

 

Did anyone really think Joey Porter was some great coaching mind? If he didn't play for the Steelers, he'd never be coaching here, or probably anywhere.

 

Tomlin has never had a losing season. 13-3 this season. Has overcome so many disasters ( Harrison release, Shazier injury, Bryant and Brown immature moments, national anthem, Bell start of the season) and more.

I’m not saying he’s made the best decisions in the world but he leaves it up to his coordinators. One was a former head coach and the other has been a pupil of one of the best defensive minds in the NFL.

At the very least, Haley should be gone and I would let Porter and Lake go. I would give Butler some more rope.

Lastly, if Marvin Lewis can keep his job, Tomlin is safe.

 

The honest answer to this is that they don't. We perceive it to be that way because we tend to notice the successes on the other teams and ignore the failures. We can name all of our draft picks each season; can we name them all for other teams?

I don't think we're any better or worse than most teams when it comes to the draft. For all their other strengths, the Pats, for example, are actually really bad at developing their own draft picks.

 

without cheating who is better

 

This sounds like a bunch of excuses. Every team has adversities they must overcome. Tomlin doesn't have the market cornered on that. And Butler's defense is a bad copy of an outdated one.

 

Not excuses just the truth. Everyone wants him gone but he is a top 5 coach in the league. Always has us in th conversation for winning it all.

That being said he needs to take a strong look at his coordinators. I would be surprised if Haley is back and not sold on Fitchner as his replacement. Lake and Porter should b gone. They are here because what they did as players because the results as a coach is not there.

 

I wouldn't say that is the case but we also tend to draft BPA instead of what we actually need. Those players end up not fitting our system for whatever reason. The players that do end up performing, like Watt, are just great players that also fit what we are trying to do. It was obvious that Watt slowed down the latter part of the system but that is to be expected with a rookie. He'll be even better next year. Now if we could ever find a stud to go on the other side, then we'd have something.

 

If by 'overcome' you mean 'enabled' then I agree. Sure, Harrison acted like a prima donna but it was pretty clear that was handled poorly. Shazier injury was devastating and unfortunate. Bryant / Brown, again, that's part of the role of the coach to manage. Anthem was a huge screw up, etc. etc.

This is the job of the head coach to deal with. I would have rather had those issues than the Eagles and Vikings who lost their starting QBs and somehow are still playing.

Bengals aren't exactly the yard stick for good decisions.

 

We hear that all the time but where's the evidence? Regular season losses to horrible teams is so common it's not a surprise. Head scratching game time decisions that a 12-year old wouldn't make, 3 playoff wins in past 7 years. This team wins because it has a top 3 QB, #1 WR and top 3 RB. That's why they win. Their talent overcomes their deficit in coaching.

Everyone talks about the overturned catch in the Patriots game. The real failure there were Tomlin/Haley watching from the sidelines like fans instead of coming up with 2 play calls to run. That game was very, very winnable even with the overturned catch. Is that what a top 5 coach does? He is an average coach with superior talent. Good coaches elevate their teams beyond their talent.

 

You’re right about what issues you rather have.

I definitely wasn’t speaking of the Bengals decision making. Just if Lewis can have so much ineptitude and keep his job, Tomlin doesn’t come close.

 

I said this in another thread, but if we fire Tomlin who would you hire to replace him that will consistently be better? Fans always want a coach gone after an embarrassing loss, but rarely offer a better solution. And often the solutions offered are coaches that we can’t realistically hire.

 

Hire somebody who has the tools to be a head coach . Did anybody see Tomlin take over Cowher? Most of you probably thought the Wiz was next in line. I bet the Rooney rule ruined that deal for the Wiz..Tomlin came in and talked the good talk

 

I'm not going to claim I have the answer but if you look at the four teams remaining, 3 of them have relatively new coaches and Belicheck. If Tomlin was willing to tighten up the ship, maybe he stays, but this isn't anything new (the lack of discipline) and he doesn't seem to want to change.

If the Pats coordinators are still available, hire one of them.

But as the saying goes, insanity is doing things the same and expecting different results.