Fire Keith Butler

Coming into his THIRD YEAR, you're acting like he was JUST hired. 3rd year is WAY too early? Don't think so...oh wait, for the Rooneys it may be.

Their definition of fast is Casey Hampton running a 40.

 

Right. But the question would be how much of that depended on 3rd down D, as opposed to other aspects. The point in question was just 3rd down.

(BTW, it could have mattered a lot - I can’t remember off hand)

For me it’s not so much stats be damned, so much as looking at all the evidence sources. Some stats are misleading (our team sack record still doesn’t give me confidence in the pass rush); but the eye test can be too.

 

You’re leaving out the part about #7’s five interceptions. Also you know damn well this team was in shambles defensively once we lost shazier. We weren’t the same team by a large margin. So while what you say is factually accurate it is also quite disingenuous.

 

And since 2013 we've drafted defense with our 1st round pick. There has been an emphasis on boosting the team with defensive talent. Those numbers should go up especially when you consider the easy schedule they had last year. However, this defense is lacking basic fundamentals to show any resemblance of reliability.

 

In my opinion, Steelers don't have the necessary talent (and coaching) to improve very much on the defensive side in 2018. I haven't seen anything yet to convince me the D will eliminate big plays and get stops on 3rd down in the regular season. I hope I'm wrong and there is a noticeable improvement. I don't see it happening.

 

Damn that Butler! We only went 13-3 with his crappy coaching! Slacker!

 

gonna have to agree with some here.

yes stats show our defense to be improving but like I have said, and footballanalyst/heinzthegreat have said, when we needed a stop we absolutely could not come up with one.

Defense coordinators are supposed to adjust. NE did it vs jax, eagles made plays when they had to in the superbowl as well.

Pittsburgh 08 woodly strip sack, JH return etc. our defense just cant get it done when it matters.(heyward invisible, etc)

 

What's killing me is the often true and yet ignored aspect of the game: tackling.


Article 46 changed the NFL FOREVER. Defenses cannot be as dominant as they were during their final golden days of the 2000s. Add this new "helmet rule" and Rodger Goodell is doing everything I feared he set out to; artificial expansion of viewership.



By allowing offenses to become more free and unrestrained, Goodell has effectively built up the overall viewership and install base of the league. Aspects such as NFL RedZone, live streaming, and Fantasy Football were likely at the forefront during the creation of Article 46.


Why this is likely to doom the league sooner however is the fact that Goodell is stripping away the overall entertainment value of the game itself. Sure, the offense is important to the league as that is entertainment itself but the defense also has its role to play. Manipulation of a product of entertainment catered towards one aspect is how one can effectively erode the overall product all together.



I seriously hope that members of the NFL PA and NFL Players as a whole are saving up their money as the next CBA will likely decide the future of the NFL.

 

https://steelerswire.usatoday.com/2018/08/21/how-to-fix-the-steelers-defense/

My question is: If these moves were so obvious why did it take until now to make them?

 

Incorrect. I have actually been on record in stating otherwise. Furthermore, I believe you may have misunderstood.


When I stated it is too early to decide if Butler should be on the hot seat, I was referring to the upcoming 2018 season. Make no mistake; more inexcusable performances like the ones we saw in Chicago will turn his "seat" up a notch by many.


Now, should the defense be the main culprit anf have yet another meltdown in the playoffs, nevermind Porter....



I personally will want Butler out; Tomlin the same.

 

Remember when Butler was the indispensible heir apparent, and St Richard the D Genius had to get ditched to prevent this wunderkind from going elsewhere? That move was nearly unanimously approved by Stiller fans far and wide.

I wonder what butler did to get so stupid so soon?

 

Through the first ten games or so last season the defense was better than I expected. Then it completely fell apart. Losing Shazier was a big blow but at the same time you'd like to see your coach be able to adjust the way the defense plays in order to minimize Shazier's absence. That did not seem to happen.

And yeah, the tackling is ****.

 

Soooo......I can't really be incorrect if I misunderstood,which clearly I must have because your statement wasn't necessarily clear. I definitely wouldn't expect any changes at this point in the season,especially by the Steelers considering their typical M.O.. So technically if his future as D coordinator with the team hinges on his and the teams performance this season......he is on the hot seat.

 

I wouldn't say his hiring was anywhere near unanimously approved of....there were plenty of worries that he was too much a Lebeau clone and many wanted to go outside the organization fir a fresh start.

 

No. I'm not buying your weak a-- argument in an attempt to diminish the team's accomplishments. The stats were what they were.

Here's a little info for you:

(1st in PPG D) The Vikes played 6 offenses that finished in top 10 PPG (NO, Steelers, Detroit (2), Ravens, and Rams).
(2nd in PPG D) The Jags played 3 offenses that finished in top 10 of scoring PPG (Steelers, Ravens, Rams).
(3rd in PPG D) Chargers played 5 offenses that finished in the top 10 of scoring PPG (KC (2), Jags, Eagles, NE)
(4th in PPG D) Eagles played 2 offenses that finished in the top 10 of scoring PPG (KC and Rams)
(5th in PPG D) Pats played 3 offenses that finished in the top 10 of scoring PPG (KC, NO, and Pitt)
(6th in PPG D) Raves played 5 offenses that finished in top 10 of scoring PPG (Pitt (2), Jags, Vikes, and Lions)
(7th in PPG D) Steelers played 7 offenses that finished in top 10 PPG (Vikes, Ravens(2), Jags, Chiefs, Lions, NE)

I understand that there are a lot of factors that go into wins, losses, scoring, ect. All the defenses above had their good and bad moments. The Steelers had some issues on defense last season. Overall the Steelers fielded a respectable and good defense last year. It was better than many of you believe. I've said this before and I will say it again. The days of consistently dominating defenses are over for several reasons. People expecting that are fooling themselves.

Even the "better" defenses in the league had issues. For example, the Jags gave up a 10 point lead to NE in the 4th QT of their playoff loss. How did the vaunted Vikes defense play vs the Eagles' backup QB? This is a small sample size that proves the days of consistently dominating defenses are over. There were other examples.

You will probably move the target again to prove the Steelers defense sucked. People like myself won't buy into that line of thinking though.

 

Sometimes the eye test lies. What people perceive isn't always reality. I just don't understand why some people are so hell bent on making it like the Steelers sucked??? Carry on

 

So you don’t like how the Rooney’s do things?

 

Right I mean we lucked into a 13-3 season?

 

The statement, rather, the question provided itself is incorrect.


How you interpreted my statement is where the misunderstanding lies.


Both can co-exist within the same context.

 

Offensive ppg doesnt tell the whole story also must look at personell. For example atl had the 15th ranked offense. Do you seriously think bmore had a better offense than ATL? Vikings also played GB with Rodgers. That counts as top. Rams played Dallas with Zeke. That counts as top. You have to put things in context but I dont think ne's defense is good. I said they MAKE PLAYS WHEN NEEDED. Our defense cannot make any type of game changing plays or crucial stops. And if you paired minny, jax, la rams, la chargers etc.. or any of those teams defenses you mentioned with our offense we would have won the sb last yr. Our defense was so bad we made Blake bortles look like a competent qb.

 

I would not say that entirely.


I would rather say that, given the amount of time me and him debated over Terrell Edmumds over the summer, he does not like the critical aspect on how the Rooneys run business and how to sustain that level of success within the business itself.



Then again, such raw emotions and implusive viewpoitns showcase the difficulty of managing, meeting and exceeding the expectations of a fanbase; large ones no less. The expectation is a Super Bowl every year. However, 31 other teams are also vying for the same goal.



In short? Fans who ignore the facet of the 31 other teams who compete for the same goal are often the same ones who elect to "go all in" to win for one season and sacrifice the continual foundation that must be built.


As you may know Gleen, the future.

 

Although I’m not impressed I would say losing Shaz when you basically missed on every other linebacker 1st rd is what put us in this situation. So how much is it Butler or Tomlin or Colbert?

 

When people say this defense wasn’t that bad last year I really hope they mean pre Shaz injury. Because once he got hurt I could argue they were a bottom 3 NFL D especially run D. And the sad part is I don’t see one damn thing better for this year other than no Mike Mitchell

 

All of them and none of them.


Tomlin and Butler knew that Shazier had a "kamikaze" style of play. Why not reign that in without sacrificing who Shazier is remains to be seen.


Within that same vein, Shazier himself should have known better as he was the one who considered such actions necessary. The biggest anomaly of all of this was the fact that the tackle he made was not one of his usual bone crushing ones but a routine one.



Within that aspect alone, no one can take the blame either.

 

Google T J Watt