Tomlin & Haley

Sorry for being hard on you guys. You guys should remain here another few years. Now, don't let me regret saying this.. Props

 

Let's make the playoffs first - then we can see about congratulations.

 

I think we learn a lot about the Steelers these next two weeks. We have seen amazing highs like the games against Indy and Baltimore. We have seen desolate lows the losses to Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and the NY Jets. The past few weeks the Steelers have been okay and sometimes okay means winning football games and doing enough to get by....what I mean by that is Tennessee they really finally showed up the last 1.5 quarters, Cincinnati they exploded in the 4th quarter...played okay the other 3, and even Atlanta they made some big plays, but generally played nip and tuck with the Falcons who were missing a key player in Julio Jones.

This week and next they have to put together a really solid 3+ and maybe full 4 quarters worth of work, very doubtful a good quarter or two will cut it. I hope they are up for it - its coming together, we'll see.

 

haley and munchak i would say

 

Unless we make a deep playoff run, I really don't see Haley getting calls to be a HC.

 

damn close to it! We may very well be in playoffs this season, but the sub .500 opponent issue continues to not sit well with me

 

Blast the eternal optimist (and that is not a bad thing). I hope you are right. I think there is no way Tomlin gets the boot unless they get smoked these last two games and I doubt that happens, they could lose them, but at worst they will be close games.

 

Maybe I'm a glass-half-empty sort of person, but the Steelers should be 12-2 right now with the inside track to the #1 seed. That's not to say they are the best team in the AFC, but they are fighting for a playoff spot because of four bad losses (two at home). I'll accept one of those--Browns or Saints. Fine. But I can't accept all four. It's indefensible. Losing at home to the Bucs is especially sickening.

 

Why? Even biggest homer on the planet knew this team has huge holes and to expect them to magically disappear is asinine.

 

I disagree - my doubts lie with the identity...the defense really has none. The Steelers are just a solid defensive performance by the Chiefs and Bengals (a distinct possibility) or the PGH offense being erratic again from having a defense on the field that has been susceptible for years to big play after big play. That doesn't mean I don't think some guys are shaping out to be okay - even good, but the bottom line with this defense is not so much that they need to be dominant, but that they need to be okay...i.e. not be dominated or constantly brain farting and being out of position and my fear is that if the chips are fairly even where KC or Cincy's offense is on the field as much as our offense that the Steelers will eventually get smoked by giving up more big plays than we can get. I still pin that largely on a head coach, DC, GM, and ownership that have not been aggressive in figuring out what defense they want to field and holding on far too long to the past with their players.

 

GB vs Buffalo comes to mind.

 

Yes but the point is not to have continual clunker after continual clunker. The defense has been really bad in about 6-7 games this year, TB, CLE (twice), NO, JETS - because of the big plays given up against an inept offense.

Here is what I mean by identity. Baltimore gives up a lot of yards too - NE in the past gave up a lot of yards...but the thing about those defenses is they were complementary to their offense. NE gave up yards and you could be pretty physical w/NE too, but they also create a lot of turnovers and they were fairly stingy in the red zone. Baltimore is very stingy in the red zone and only give up an average of 18 to 19 points a game, they also create plenty of chaos with sacks. Our defense has been putrid and it would be so much worse if it wasn't for an offense that possesses the ball as much as it does. So my point on identity is for 5 years they have been clawing around trying to put a product on the field without really having much success. I am not asking for a defense that is the version of the 76 Steelers, 85 Bears, or today's Seahawks. I am asking for enough of a complement to the offense in terms of splash plays (sacks and picks) that basically takes enough pressure off the offense where they literally have to play a near perfect game.

By the way - Atlanta was actually representative of decent defensive performance - they still gave up two plays over 40+ yards but to their credit a nice splash play with Gay's pick 6 and they held the Falcons to two FG in the red zone. So maybe they are moving in the right direction...I do think a decent defense combined with this offense makes the Steelers a pretty formidable opponent and I would give the Steelers a better shot of knocking off a team like the Broncos or Patriots in January vs. someone like KC, Cincy, or San Diego who could still sneak in front of the Steelers.

Now - if you want we can get into Tomlin's clock management but that is for another day (rant).

 

From the Rooneys.

 

I didn't see green font, but I'll assume it. Say the team goes 10-6 or even 11-5 this year. Say they continue to improve, shore up the o line a little, get some TE and RB depth, improve their secondary and pass rush. No reason to think if they did that, they couldn't win 12 games next year. Last 2 times they won 12 games, they went to the superbowl. So, like I said, they improved this year over the last two and should be better next year. If that be the case, I don't see Tomlin out of a job over the next 4 years. Ergo, TH will not receive any HC offers from the Rooneys. Tomlin haters will love that.

 

And San Fran - Oakland.

But let's make no mistake about it: the Steelers manage to do this a lot more than other upper-echelon teams. A bad loss here or there happens. To the Steelers, it's become two or three a season.

 

Tomlin's growing on me.