Tomlin press conference today at 12:30

The masses are out with lit torches, so it is tough to get anything positive considered and it is understandably so.
18-years is an eternity in the NFL.

2024 in review, it is hard not to acknowledge the fact that the Steelers were 10-3 and had a tough 4 game stretch where worst case might have been going 2-2 in that stretch.
The Steelers never won.
What emphasizes that futility is that good teams typically get better to close out seasons, the Steelers got worse.

What went wrong?
Inability to score points for one.
Aurthur Smith did have the team scoring better than Matt Canada did but that is not saying much as Canada is at the bottom of the bottom list.
The front office thought Pickens would be the go-to guy, never giving a thought to who might be able to take pressure off him or heaven forbid play in his place should he come up with an injury.
Their response was to trade for a mediocre Jet receiver.

Inability to get off the field.
I mean, come on man, Austins Defense is not creative by any stretch of the imagination. Some say Tomlin calls it but that is subjective at best and is really a separation of duties problem.

About the only thing steady on the team is Bosworth.

One would think that at some point during anyone of those last 5 games, the Head Coach would look around and say "this is not good enough."
If they are not pressuring the QB, "What can we do to get to him?" should be asked of those responsible.
"Why can't we run the ball and get a lousy foot?" Should be asked.

I'm not sure anything short of wholesale changes will right this ship. You are what your record is, we did make the playoffs but we did so on a historical crash and burn approach.

 

where have you been?

Tomlin can't help it that he sucks. He laughs every time his paycheck hits the bank!

it is ROONEY who is the FOOL! complete FOOL

 

correct - Rooney sucks

 

44% of the teams in the league make the playoffs. it means little any more.

it's like saying our RB had 1,000 yards......

 

The trade argument is a waste of time, I agree. Why would Tomlin accept it? If only for the reason that a trade we'd want would involve high draft picks, and he'd be going to a team he just kneecapped because they lost those draft picks.

 

Yep and in 14 of his 18 seasons he has not won a playoff game. When I reflect on that stat alone let alone the last 6 appearances of having our a$$ handed to us and the games being over by halftime, how that warranted 18 seasons let alone that last extension is mind boggling. He gets paid $15m a year to produce that, it really is insanity. I remember attending underwriting meetings of GM and thinking these guys suck and they are just robbing this company blind. That's exactly how I feel with Tomlin, just flat out fleecing the Steelers. If this was a publicly traded company a Securities Class Action lawsuit would have been filed years ago with these results. No other organization in sports would put up with this, zero. Noll never went more than 4 seasons I believe with out winning a playoff game, Cowher I think is the same or 3.

 

Still, you're adding games. You are in the run.
The real problem(s):
- They did not gel as the season wound down.
- They lost to the tune of historical in the stretch.
- They did not execute.

Some of that maybe coaching, some maybe players, some may be talent.
The $64 question for me, the money-make question if you will... is
"How do we get better?"
"How do we improve on that 10-7 mark" (mind you, a 10-win team is not awful but a perennial 10-win team with no trophies is subject to a LOT of scrutiny.)

Those two questions have to be answered by the GM's and Tomlin while Art supposedly holds them to task.

The window of opportunity.
No doubt the Steelers blew a lot of opportunity during 18 seasons.
For one, they never really went out to bring in the type of impact player that takes you over the top.
Back then, the only real competition were the Patriots and the Colts to a lesser degree.

There's a pattern to good team, a box. The four corners are:
Good Owner
Good GM
Good Coach
Good QB

Not sure we have all those.

 

That answers my question about the coaching tree in another thread. Arians must have been Cowher's.

 

I’ll be back!

 

I guess my solace comes from the realization that even if Tomlin did a great job, the Steelers would still not be a Super Bowl team with that roster. Maybe, I am too old to get mad.

 

Tomlin has no coaching tree whatsoever!

 

You know I started driving that bus about 8 years ago, right?

 

So, no fireings today, ?

 

Once Khan took control and did some things that varied from normal protocol I was hopeful that perhaps some of the new vision might include the possibility of the organization parting ways with Tomlin. Those hopes were all but dashed when he was given the extension last summer.

Tomlin has mastered the art of speaking about the team's failures - and his involvement in it - in a nonchalant manner that fails to convey much in the way of personal accountability or urgency. He also tends to talk a bigger game than he brings. It's one thing to drone on with all the words and cliches and opponent evaluations in front of the camera, but it creates a disconnect when on the sidelines he continues to make poor decisions with time management, challenges, and play calling - let alone his propensity to lead his teams into matchups devoid of proper game planning.

His record just shows him to be a high-floor, low-ceiling type of HC that more-than-likely would need a significant upgrade in talent and coordinators to make a deep playoff run. I trust Khan and Weidl's ability to build a solid roster, not so much Tomlin's ability to surround himself with the proper people to get the most out of it.

 

Nope

 

Mike Munchak is the only one that comes to mind.

 

Being a fan of this team isn’t what it used to be. Just isn’t much fun anymore.

 

Quotes likes this one from his PC are depressing to me:

 

There won't be. Only people that will be gone are those that had their contacts expire.

 

At this point he is just stealing $$ from the Steelers

 

Been there for years. You could see this losing streak coming. Again. I didn't even watch much the last month. Didn't need my holidays ruined like that. It's how so many other fans feel, like the Dolphins, Chargers, Falcons, etc. Decent teams, not bad but no chance to win anything real. Just mediocrity hell.

 

Tomlin’s got such a cavalier, devil may care approach in press conferences while his teams frequently are unprepared, with unexplainable faults in the defensive and offensive schemes. If Noll had Ben and the killer B’s in the 80’s we’d have one or two more lombardis. I’m just real tired of the status quo. Ill still follow and suffer as a fan but wont expect much from this team anymore while the fearless leader is in charge.