1st team to give up 40 + points in 3 straight playoff games

Art has to force Tomlin to hire an actual DC n let him call the def.

BUT he won't...

Unacceptable

 

Interesting

 

Yeah was waiting for this statistic. The damning part isn't that Patrick Mahomes and KC did it.

The damning part is that CLE and JAX did it with Mayfield and Bortles.

 

Big boys come to play in the playoffs. This is where coaching has to be tight, clearly there’s a common factor.

 

I agree that a new DC is needed, but this game was strictly on the offense. Two first downs and 40 yards in the first half. The D held the Chiefs scoreless throughout most of the first half and got us the lead. But every time the offense takes the field it’s three and out. How demoralizing it must have been to bust your ass to stop an explosive Chiefs offense only to have your teammates on the O lay an egg

 

The offense sucks and the defense sucks. We have a couple of superstars on D and some talent on O. When we had a decent O-line, and even better skill position guys, we didn't do any better. This is a head coach problem. I am convinced that Tomlin does not have a championship internal setpoint. There are guys who have that setpoint and never stop working until they get there, and they are rare, and there are guys who have a lower setpoint and when they get there they are comfortable. That's Tomlin, and what a sweet gig that is when that satisfies your employers. It isn't Tomlin's fault, he is keeping his gig, like all of us would. IMO what is missing is that internal championship setpoint that drives all champions. You can't fake it, and it seems to me obvious enough when it isn't there. So Rooney is fine with whatever level Tomlin produces. That is the reality.

 

All three stem from the same issue; poor Opening Offensive Drives. Have to cash at least some points to build some momentum. If not, one is going to tire out their defense quickly.



That has been and continues to be the issue. That said, to solve the issue, major change is needed on the Offensive side of the football. The good news is change is coming. The bad news?!?!



...... how quickly can that change take shape to make the Steelers a Super Bowl Champion?! Time will tell for certain.

 

Partially agree. I think Tomlin puts in the work. He looks drained after every season. He probably didn't sleep last night. I just think he's arrogant and inflexible and does what he knows.

The team is in a loop: Mendenhall morphs into Bell morphs into Najee. Nothing changed- high draft pick complete RB with incredibly high usage rates.

Bad OL play has been a fixture including bad running games. (Munchak era excepted)

ST issues.

What has changed is the defense. Lebeau's defense is gone. Lebeau would have dropped the LBs so much more tonight to cover MOF. Rushing Highsmith is often ineffective. Saw Bush caught on rushes leaving area behind exposed.

Reid knew the only thing the Steelers do really well is sack the QB and game planned against it with screens.

To me it's like Tomlin is threatened by the success of other Steelers. Lebeau's zone blitzes are gone. The corner blitzes are gone. The 3-4 is all but gone (used more tonight it seemed) but often use a nickel back in 3-4 over as a ILB. The stout 2 gap run defense the depth players are incapable of. Tomlin definitely put his mark on this team- it's all his now....

 

Yeah I'm just tired of it.

 

You're suggesting something. I don't want to infer but I ask you to make a statement.

Where is the wheel broken? Where do we start?

 

One problem is gone

 

This year they were severity outmatched. I’d sad say it’s okay. Last year was silly but they were also kinda outmatched. I wouldn’t put that all on the defense though. I mean the offense gave them how many points? Year before that was Jags?

Nevermind I see your point. When’s the last time Tomlin won a playoff game?

 

The common factor was terrible offenses led by Ben. Get behind the 8 ball and see how easy it is to get 40 points racked up on you.

Let me put it in perspective....Ben's QBR the last 3 playoff games

2021 15.0
2020 59.2
2017 67.5

11 TDs 5 Int...but we all know most of those TDs were garbage time TDs as reflected by the QBR. The games had long been over and gotten out of hand either by the end of the first half or early 3rd qtr. The highest avg yard completed was like 8.1? Last night it was 4.9. It hasnt helped that he's had an aged or inexperienced line in front of him but you're not giving the defense much help with those type of numbers from the most important person on the offensive side of the ball.

The OCs have sucked also.

 

I think it's interesting that Ben thinks of himself as a guy who "wins ugly" when he stopped running the QB sneak around 2012 IIRC and has been playing from shotgun for years. Ugly is 2TE sets or I form. Tennessee is ugly. Well I guess this year and 2019 we were really ugly but it wasn't intentional.

 

Have to get lucky in finding an elite QB. Only way I can see it. *Fingers crossed*

 

the Tomlin legacy, if you will.

BUT - he has never had a losing season!!! Well, until Ben is gone, it is coming, #trustME

 

FIXED THAT FOR YOU!

 

I don’t think it would have mattered this year with 2/3rds of the Dline on IR and neither middle linebacker being very good.

That being said, all 3 years are more on the offense IMO, not sure how many times you can go 3 and out, give them short yardage, and throw a pick 6 before the defense collapses. No DC is going to be able to fix the offense.

I’m not saying that they don’t need a new DC, I’m just saying that it’s not really the biggest issue.

 

This. It blows my mind that Ben gets a pass from most people. He has simply not been good enough. Far too many turnovers in playoff games, particularly early in the games which puts us behind.

Ben did a lot of good things in his career, but he hurt us too often in the playoffs. I'm thankful he's gone. I don't care if it takes 200 years to find the next franchise QB, Ben needed to go. He had become a major liability. He was a huge part of the problem this year.

Unfortunately our biggest problem isn't going anywhere, and that's Tomlin. He doesn't game plan for specific opponents. He doesn't care what other teams do. All he focuses on is what the Steelers do and he's going to stick with that philosophy no matter what. What kind of game plan is that?

 

Remember when the Bengals had us beat in the playoffs and then gave us the victory because they couldn't stop Burfict from committing crimes to end the game? That was one of Tomlin's 2 playoff wins in 10 seasons with a HOF qb throwing 4-5K yards - in his prime. Along with the best WR and RB's in the league behind a very good O-line. The only issue we had at the time was pass coverage .... MT's area of expertise. We did finally managed to fix that issue by letting the O-line fall apart to become the worst in the league. And if we are honest the only reason our pass defense isn't a disaster is because of Watt and Minkah.

 

So bad that the chefs ran out of fireworks last night. Like a sprinter shutting it down the last 20 meters because they were so far ahead of the field.

 

Tomlin slept like a baby last night cause he knows that he is not on the hot seat. They will just do the usual internal hiring of coordinator changes and roll into next season working towards another non losing season and 16-22 spot draft pick for 2023. Fans will continue to hold out hope and analysts will continue to throw their praises around about being a stable franchise. We may smell the playoffs once again but in no way shape or form will we be a threat to do anything in them.

It would be nice if we could actually move on from this non losing season trend. I wouldn't even mind if we blew the whole thing up, got a coach and went 2-15 next year and came out with a #1 draft pick for 2023.

I just think drastic changes are necessary or we will be stuck in this rut for the next 5-7 years.

 

This..

It's all about time of possession with an offense like KC.

Keep them off the field.

You need sustaining drives or the defense will tire no matter who is there.

I'm proud of this defense. KC is pretty damn good the offense has to show up.

 

Not exactly, the defense played an awesome first quarter, then proceeded to give up over 230 yards and 3 TD's in the second quarter. KC had 300 yards of offense in the first half. The defense sucks too and it if Butler isnt the one calling the D, the person who has been has to be accountable. Tomlin doesnt get a pass here, he has publicly stated he has been calling the defense for a while now. Blame needs to directed according to whom is responsible.