What changes ...

What hypothetical changes would you make to the team today, given the 0 -2 start?

 

Believe it or not, I actually thought about that as choice, but went with the "hire a consultant" instead.

 

I voted no change, assuming we're referring to in-season changes. The offseason, that may be a completely different answer and I would ask for an "All of the above" choice

 

I went with Haley. We have Ben not on the same page (I know they say they are BFF's), now we have AB pissed off he isnt getting the ball and having words with the OC. Im just not sure anyone likes Haley and, while this isnt a popularity contest, having this much discord cant be good for the team. JMO.

 

All this players vs Haley stuff shows just how undisciplined this team has become. I'm not defending Haley here, but whatever happened to shutting your mouth and doing what your coach tells you to do. Hines Ward was happy to spend most of his career doing more blocking than catching and he never whined about it. Haley doesn't tell Ben who to throw to, that's on Ben. Haley designs the routes and Ben decides which target to throw to. If AB isn't getting the ball it's because Ben isn't throwing it to him for whatever reason. Maybe AB should do a better job of getting open and Ben will throw it to him.

This team is a mess right now. We have the owner overruling the coach, Tomlin and Haley probably don't see eye to eye, the players are turning on the coaches, we can't stop turning the ball over, etc. This is not your typical Pittsburgh Steelers. Even when we've had down years in the past, we've never looked like a complete mess like we currently do.

 

Yes, sorry I will edit the 1st post to clarify.

 

Hypothetical question for you. Lets say we fire Haley (which I"m fine with by the way) and bring in someone who does mesh well with Ben. Lets say we bring in an OC who lets Ben be Ben and do more of the sandlot stuff. Now what happens if we then realize that Ben can't play that way anymore because he's not 25. All of a sudden Ben is scrambling like he used to, but instead of making plays out of nothing, he continues to get killed by the defence, play after play after play. What then? Ben apparently can't play with an OC that wants him to stand in the pocket and I believe he can't play that sandlot style anymore, so what then?

If Haley is fired and an OC is brought in that lets Ben be Ben, I predict Ben getting hurt early in the year, along with our offence continuing to suck. Ben can't do the things he used to do. It was a miracle he could do those things at all as he looked like a magician at times, but those days are gone. He has lost a step and is a lot slower and less agile than he used to be. Not to mention that he used to take hits and get up from them, whereas the last few years he's been getting injured more and more.

Him standing in the pocket is the only hope he has of being effective. I don't care if it's Haley or someone else, but we need an OC that demands he play the position like it was meant to be played

 

I agree with you 100% Maybe I am being unfair to Haley. It just seems like all of this *****ing amongst each other started when he came aboard. You are right though. The players need to show some respect and just do their jobs. Did anyone see AB complaining to Ben on MNF? I wonder if it was about Haley?

 

I still think we have an overabundance of defensive minds here. lebeau, tomlin, mitchell, butler, lake. can we say the same about the offensive side of the ball?

mann I like that addition. I think he will teach these guys to be complete wr's in time.

daniels? past heath I see no TE advancement.

Wilson? run game has been stale for several years and become a turnover machine.

Bicknell? I think can, but he needs more to work with at tackle and another guard.

haley? no run game. no run design. hard to cope with for players.

I still say a good veteran offensive mind needs to be added to help draft and build the offensive side of the ball.

after the season though. to late for this year.


I did vote trade players. worilds, redman, c.brown, gilbert, ziggy and hate to say it but maybe AB, Woodley and pouncey. depending on the offers we get for them. i'm not saying all of them at once but these may be the guys I would consider in a trade.

 

Get rid of Haley and replace him with Kirby Wilson.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of fichtner.

 

I voted for fire Haley even though I don't believe at this point it would be the right thing to do. But seeing as how the defense has played well enough for us to win and the offense clearly hasn't. I do think ultimately our problems stem from Tomlin as it does not seem like he has developed anyone that has come in under his tenure.

 

He'd be a good choice too.

 

If we would replace Haley, I would want a proven replacment. Fitchner and Kirby Wilson does not strike me as an improvement.

 

Like who?

 

I think the Like Who question is one you must ask yourself. Who do you bring in to replace him? If I had my choice, we would bring in an out of work head coach to be the OC, but we just did that and it hasn't worked in our favor. I expected some growing pains with the new blocking scheme used this year, but this is worse than I thought.

I think we personally need to overlook whatever the NFL is doing as a whole and do what the Steelers do. How do we win? We smash you with running the ball through you and then use play action to make big impact plays. Where is THAT offense? Whoever you bring in must buy into that mentality. We run over you first...then we throw it on you. We are not the Pats or the Saints even. Getting the running game back is THE most important thing for this offense. I would like a big receiver and another TE....this is why I wanted Eifert in the draft....but if we can't run it doesn't make much of a difference.

Beyond that, the most important thing is consistent execution. We make a play here...and a play there, but it is quickly ruined by the next play.

 

I was thinking change in philosophy..... instead of forcing things that aren't there, it would be nice if we actually take what defenses give us........... the other thing would be to actually use the weapons we have regardless of experience level (markus wheaton anybody?).....

 

The changes have to do with personnel on the field and not with the coaches: OL changes and inserting Wheaton into the lineup, as well as telling Felix Jones he is the #1 back, for better or worse. I think Jones needs to know what his role is. The RB by committee crap is not working.