Blow it up

The Rooneys are great people, seem to be kind, patient and loyal, and probably a joy to work for. But if an external and ruthless consultant was advising them, I believe they would recommend blowing it all up. Here’s the evidence over the last 4 years.

Consistent inconsistent performance. The last four years have been plagued with performance that fluctuates dramatically, often losing to really poor teams and occasionally rising to the challenge when playing good teams. While some fluctuation is always expected in sports, this team’s variation in performance is way too dramatic. This inconsistency is unacceptable.

Lack of talent. On defense, there are really no playmakers. This team used to have multiple all-pro studs – Harrison, Polamalu, Porter, Smith. Now those that are left are old and slow, and the youngsters, though maybe fast, do not seem to have the promise of being game-changers. No one is feared. For an organization that has been built around defense, this is embarrassing. On offense, you have exceptional weapons (Bell, Brown), but every play goes through Ben, and he is problematic. His ratio of “save-the-day” plays to “moronic chuck-it-and-pray” plays has switched from an asset to a liability. He no longer seems to be able to will the team to win on his talent alone. He too often apologizes after games for his performance. And the offensive line, though stacked with high draft picks, seems mediocre.

Questionable game plans and play calling. The rationale behind some of the plays called is a mystery. On defense, constantly playing off receivers, only rushing 3 on 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] and long, and not getting off the field has been an issue for quite some time. On offense, lack of red zone productivity, boneheaded calls in some situations, and poor time management have been long-standing problems.

Lack of discipline and intensity. Personal fouls and other over-the-top behavior has also been problematic. While playing with intensity is essential, it also needs to be controlled. On the flip side of this, there often appears to be a lack of intensity on game day. This is another long-standing issue and is unacceptable.

There are likely more details in each of these, but this is the crux of the issue. Much of this is not directly player-related, though they certainly bear some responsibility. It is not their fault they are not talented enough. This is an organizational problem from the top on down – scouts, GM, head coach, coordinators, position coaches, players, trainer, water boys. And it has been going on long enough that it is not going to turn around quickly. It is now a trend, a habit, and an expectation. If any type of company wanted to address this type of performance and turn it around, dramatic intervention would required,

Blow it up, Mr. Rooney. Blow it up.

 

The thing to remember is that, for all of those things, we were still the no.3 seed.

I don't know if that says more about the rest of the conference than this team itself, but what it tells me is that this is not a situation where you blow everything up. I want to see some changes, and for the sake of my blood pressure I'd like to see some more consistency, but the team is starting to show what it can do.

I think Wardismvp said it well when he said that we need one more season of rebuilding before we're back to form again, and we've probably overachieved this season.

 

No need to blow up anything ..Just look at what the Steelers did this year ..The AFC north has/had 3 of the 6 playoff teams ,and we won the north ..This was a bad game at the wrong time ..
The Steelers have been and will continue to be a cream of the crop organization in the NFL (and all sports) and they didn't get that way by blowing things up.

 

Just have sub par players at the 4 key spots .The 2 safeties and the 2 CB'S play more snaps and they dictate how you play Defense . I saw some nice things from some of our front 7 guys , but the back end is a joke .

 

This is so cool. I wrote this with a thought to sarcasm, and I really liked how it actually brought out a lot of positive thinking. I needed that after last night.

I am still mostly concerned about the inconsistent play, both within and across games, but that may be due to a maturing process. I fear it may be due to a coaching process, which would be much more problematic.

 

I think that we need to start to look for a defensive coordinator, and only if there's someone that has an outstanding Resume maybe like a Rex Ryan. I say this with tremendous respect to Dick LeBeau, he's a great coach but I'm not sure if he can communicate with todays players. I also noticed when they brought back Brent Kiesel and James Harrison the defense seemed to start to get that old tough in your face football, that Steeler fans are so used to. It took two old veterans to fire up the defense. this is a coaches job and the players has to buy into it. I also think they should give him a nice job in the front office if he wants to continue to work. He deserves that much. I

 

There is a fine line in the NFL between winning and losing. This team could have easily been 8 and 8 as well as 13-3. The fact is that they lost last night at HOME and quite frankly were outplayed on both offense and defense. The offensive line is perplexing. They have spent high draft choices on these players and the improvement has been mediocre at best. I know this will draw some criticism from some of you, but look at the running statistics over the past month or so. I understand that Bell was out last night, but I ask you to review the stats over the last four or five games of the season. Not very good and certainly not Steeler football.

The defense is average at best. They couldn't stop Baltimore in the second half. How many times did you see the Baltimore punter last night? Not very much. One could argue that they have worst safeties in the league. Not sure what they see in Mitchell and Troy should call it a career. Here's hoping Shark can fill Troy's spot and Mitchell gets better in year two, although I'm not very confident here. They need corners very bad, as do most teams in the NFL. I believe Carnell Lake shares some blame here as the development of the corners is slow at best. How many times do we have to watch one of your corners defend a receiver without looking back at the ball?

As for JJ and Shazier, let's hope they turn into playmakers. I believe Shazier will, if he can stay healthy, would be nice to see Moseley in a Steeler uniform, but I'm concerned that JJ is going to be a waste of a first round pick.

Have a good Sunday Steeler Nation.

 

Isnt Keith Butler heir to the Defensive Coordinator job?

 

I'm confident Shazier will pan out. Jarvis will be okay, but I think he isn't going to be "the guy". Steelers need to find someone else on the other side. Worlids is okay, but not worth the money.

I am alittle concerned that with Troy down, it wasn't Shamarko in there, it was Will Allen. Coaching staff still doesn't trust him and that is worrisome. He is n't a big dude either, we need a guy with some range.

I am disappointed with the coaching staff over the progress of Cortez Allen. I think he has the skills to be really good. IR'ing him like that when he wasn't hurt has to be a big knife in the gut for him. I would have benched him, and let him contribute in spot duty rather than ending his season.

 

The only thing here I might take exception to is your assertion that JJ will be a good player. I've got some serious concerns about this guy's ability to be successful at the NFL level. He looks overmatched. If year three doesn't go well, the old B word is really going to start flying around when JJ is mentioned.

 

We need to really focus on upgrading our OT's and Ramon Foster if we plan on competing with the ravens. Sad thing is we are invested in Gilbert, who gets beat like a drum by Dummervile. I don't know, we will probably just have to deal with the line as is.

On defense we need a less complex scheme, one that can allow the young guys to see the field. The D line and MLB are the only spots we don't need desperate help at. OLB, CB, and safety positions are a complete mess folks. Troy, Ike, Harrison, Worlids will probably be gone. Just too many holes to fill on D through the draft.

 

the problem seems we are not good evaluating players on defense we gave money to cortez allen ,
mitchell cam thomas ,we drafted shazier and not mosley , we took jarvis . we needs studs and we have only maybe two /three at the moment timmons heiward tuitt

 

I've defended Jones this year because he was injured, but next year is huge for him. It will be his third season, time to live up to his pedigree. He will be a disappointment to me if he doesn't get double digit sacks.

 

This is insane.

You're a Steelers fan and not a Browns fan.

No need to blow anything up. Not even close.

 

Will say right now, even with the disappointment, that this was a good season, and the Steelers have a lot less fixing to do in the offseason then they did after last year. Draft more fast defensive players, in the LB and secondary. Let the O-line and D-Line continue to jell.

 

Could not agree more. To me, this is our biggest challenge moving forward no matter what personnel we have. If you aren't consistent (in a good or a bad way), you can't know for sure what it is you need to be paying attention to and "fixing". What that ends up leading to is a somewhat unnecessary assumption the answer to what needs fixed is "everything", and I don't buy that.

Last night and a few other games aside, I like what I'm seeing from receivers and Bell (we do need a back up for him), the O-line is improving but needs work, and the D overall needs some attention and rebuilding (though Gay's second half of the season was much improved, in my opinion- he bought another year of my support).

 

The team is looking up. We all knew going in that the 2014 Steelers defense was nowhere near championship caliber. Here is a list that shows some teams who routinely 'blow it up' (except Cinci lately) and start over.

Years since last appearance in a championship game (or never played in one)

Detroit Lions 57
New York Jets 46
Kansas City Chiefs 45
Cleveland Browns 42
Minnesota Vikings 38
Miami Dolphins 30
Cincinnati Bengals 26
Washington Redskins 23
Buffalo Bills 21
Jacksonville Jaguars 20

 

Once again I have to wonder if I watch the same team as other fans do. Ben had 32 TDs and 9 INTs this season. I believe they said that he was the 2nd QB to ever have < 10 INTs when attempting at least 600 passes.

 

The Blount situation hurt this team. If cutting him was the right thing, than do be it. But, Harris saw almost no action. Why in the playoffs did we finally see Archer used as a receiver? Point is, since moving on from Blount, the team didn't do enough to see what they had beyond Bell. That cost them.

 

I just don't know why Josh wasn't ready to play in this game that they needed to go and sign Tate? This is the end of the season he no longer is a rookie by this point.