Should have let Keith Butler take over for LeBeau

I love LeBeau I respect him immensely for all he his done and his defensive prowess but the NFL has changed so much and its an evolving entity and you have to change with the tides. Keith Butler would have been far and ahead the best person to fill LeBeau's shoes (not that any1 can) and if we lose him to the Colts thats a pretty serious blow. The loss to the Broncos and the persistent failure to make changed throughout a game should have been the nail in the coffin (for lack of better phrase) for LeBeau. I understand thats not how he wants to go out but you can't stake multiple season going for another Championship just to get someone to retire.

Dont want to add to the whinefest going on but any thoughts here?

 

Yeah you're right. We all just aren't used to seeing this much change in such a short time. But hell maybe its what we need?

 

Although the Steelers lacked turnovers in 2011, they still had the overall #1 defense and that is a stat that is hard to argue with. Especially with the amount of injuries he had to deal with.


I'll welcome Dick LeBeau back all day long in 2012.

 

In 1996, Bill Cowher had a decision to make. He had old, reliable Ron Erhardt as his OC. Erhardt had helped develop the offense over the years. But he also had a young, up-and-coming WR coach named Chan Gailey who was getting calls right-and-left to take over as OC elsewhere. Cowher thought Gailey was going to be an offensive genius and knew he didn't want to lose him. So, he made the tough decision: He let Erhardt go and made Gailey the OC.

That's what head coaches do. They take command of a situation. Tomlin is a wet noodle right now, and it is troubling me.

(Unfortunately for the Steelers, and for a young Kordell Stewart, Jerry Jones plucked Gailey a year later to be the head coach in Dallas, a move I still believe, all these years later, was made by Jones to piss off the Rooneys more than help himself.)

 

Sorry, I think that determining the best defense by yards allowed is ridiculous. Yards don't win games.

 

Points allowed, points in the Red Zone, and third down conversion percent allowed should be the criteria.

 

I'm still scratching my head at those who point to the Denver game as evidence that he's "lost" it. That he had a horrrible game plan and failed to make adjustments. You guys might want to revisit the box score to see what actully went down that game.

 

I saw Ike Taylor our best CB get burned by Demaryius Thomas REPEATEDLY. And then on the winning play he was burnt AGAIN in single coverage. I also saw our Safeties playing in the box almost everyplay and LeBeau fail to make any adjustments. When even the Broncos with Tebow are able to throw like that u know the NFL has truly changed. I fear LeBeau can't change with it at this point, thats all. Dont mean to pin one game over his whole career but... i dont see it getting better now.

 

I try not to be too judgmental in these situations as we don't know the whole story. Irsay could be throwing some big bucks around to get the coaches he wants.

 

The devil is in the details. Look a little deeper.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/playbypla ... 7&period=0

DLs game plan from the beginning was to load up the LOS, stop the run and the option, and dare Tebow to beat you with his arm. Pretty much how EVERY DC in the NFL wouldve approached this game. And this worked to perfection as they averaged just over 1.5 ypc (5 rushes, 8 yards) in the first quarter while gaining 8 total yards (all rushing). Then in the second almost immediately (In fact, it was immediately as the first big pass was the second play of the 2nd quarter) Tebow actually DID start to beat them with his arm. Boom, boom, 2 big passes for 81 yards.

Now, is that enough to make you change your gameplan? In hindsight of course you are going to say yes. But as a DC, I dont panic, I stick with the GP. Then the 2nd posession of the 2nd quarter...BAM another big bomb. It was at that point that he adjusted. From that point on until the end of the first half the Broncos had 7 carries for 37 yards or 5.3 ypc. Over 3 times the ypc that they had before the big passes. Tebows passing from that point until the end of the half? 1 of 4 for 6 yards.

In the second half, the Broncos averaged 4.4ypc as they had 83 yards on 19 carries. Tebow in the meantime went 3 of 8 for 38 yards...and the Broncos scored 3 points.

From the 3rd big pass play until the end of regulation, the Broncos got 120 yards on the ground in only 26 carries (4.6 ypc) while Tebow went 4/12 for 44 yards. I'd say that LeBeau DID in fact adjust to Tebow and DID shut the Broncos passing attack down.


And then came the one play in OT. A bad call? Maybe. Or was one of the safties out of position? Troy IS allowed to free lance and does occasionally get caught out of position as he sometimes gambles wrong. Truth is we will never know. But even if it was a bad call, I don't think it warrants the bashing the he is getting. The claims being laid against him and the cries for him to step down because the game has passed him by and he doesn't adjust. Thats just a flat out WRONG knee-jerk reaction.

 

Yeah thats true... but Keith has stayed in hopes of supplanting Lebeau but Irsay may have offered him something he couldn't refuse.

 

I dont think butler going is a big deal. lebeau is calling the shots and he will find someone to fill in. I like butler but at the same time I dont think change is all bad. the offense will look different and maybe lebeau will bring in someone with a background in a different system who has a few ideas. it will be interesting to see. I am sure kevin greene will get a call

 

I agree totally. Taylor was beaten like a drum all game and Lebeau failed to make any adjustments to help him out. And it's not only that game, how about the countless other games where we were getting torch my inferior quarterbacks.

I love Lebeau like just about any steeler fan but his schemes or lack thereof have been weak.

Plus, just because we had the number 1 defense this year that means nothing. Patriots had the worst and they are in the super bowl.

Lebeau should been force to leave and let Butler take over.

 

It didn't mean anything because their offense could overcome it. If our offense was operating efficiently (ie putting points on the board) we would have run the table, easy. But on the flip side, I think the amazing lack of turnovers produced this year not only hurt the defense, but it took away a lot of scoring opportunities for the offense.

 

Did you bother to read my post above to see what actually happened?

After the 3rd big pass play in the 2nd quarter it is quite obvious by the numbers that Lebeau DID switch his focus from stopping the run to stopping the pass as the Broncos averaged almost 5 ypc on the ground from that point on (they averaged 1.6 BEFORE that) and only gained 44 yards in the air on 12 attempts from then until the end of regulation.

 

I dont think Butler will impress in Indy with the roster they have. My guess is if we really want him we can wait a couple of years and pick him up when the Colts lose 10+ games the next 2 years.

 

Yeah I read it but like you said "AFTER THE 3RD BIG PLAY" he started making adjustments. Why after the THIRD BIG PLAY? It was countless other times where guys were open and Tebow just didn't make the throw and that includes Thomas. Taylor was stumbling all over himself throughout the game. I've rewatched this game and Taylor was having trouble even when the ball wasn't thrown in his direction.

And what defensive scheme do you use that takes a saftey out of the middle of the field and commit 9 guys in the box in a NFL game? Even a college quarterback can pick you apart. If you can't stop the running game with 8 in box, someone just has to make a play because it leaves you too vulernable for what happened.

And like I mention it's not just the Denver game but several others this season has been questioned.

 

We should have had Butler's contract locked up before allowing Lebeau to commit to another year. Now we have no DC in-waiting to turn to after he leaves next year.

 

This much change? Bruce Arians is gone and we may loose an assistant coach and that's alot of change?

 

I agree, I don't care what the box score says, DL attacked that game all wrong. Coaches have bad games, I don't know why that is hard to accept. And anyone who follows my posts knows I don't normally go around pointing fingers at the coaches. That was a bad game plan though.[/quote:zbs1adf3]

Please elaborate.
How was it a bad game plan?

In a nutshell, he GP'ed to stop the running game and the Tebow option and dared Tebow to beat him with his arm...and he did.

More specifically, when Tebow blew his original GP to hell and back by busting 3 long passes, Lebeau adjusted to stop that and as a result it opened up the Tebow option and Denver run game which ate Pittsburgh alive and set them up for the PA pass in OT.

How about crediting Tebow and the Broncos for playing an outstanding game? How about crediting Tebow for constantly being one step ahead of Lebeau and making DL adjust to Tebow and not the other way around?

 

I agree, I don't care what the box score says, DL attacked that game all wrong. Coaches have bad games, I don't know why that is hard to accept. And anyone who follows my posts knows I don't normally go around pointing fingers at the coaches. That was a bad game plan though.[/quote:9pnj3uxt]

Please elaborate.
How was it a bad game plan?

In a nutshell, he GP'ed to stop the running game and the Tebow option and dared Tebow to beat him with his arm...and he did.

More specifically, when Tebow blew his original GP to hell and back by busting 3 long passes, Lebeau adjusted to stop that and as a result it opened up the Tebow option and Denver run game which ate Pittsburgh alive and set them up for the PA pass in OT.

How about crediting Tebow and the Broncos for playing an outstanding game? How about crediting Tebow for constantly being one step ahead of Lebeau and making DL adjust to Tebow and not the other way around?[/quote:9pnj3uxt]

I've been on Tebows bandwagon all season long so no reason for me to give him credit again. As for DL's game plan, he got cute, there was no reason to stack the box and dare Tebow to beat him with the pass. Also, I never go back and watch tape so someone else may need to chime in here, but it seemed that he was leaving the middle of the field open all night. Maybe DL should have given Tebow more credit and that was his downfall.[/quote:9pnj3uxt]

But thats the book on Tebow. He's not a very good passer and what makes him dangerous is his ability to run the ball, run the option. Take away the strength and make him do what he supposedly cant do. Its a logical GP and one that I bet ANY DC in the NFL wouldve employed. How would you have felt if they played a two deep safety defense all day and been eaten alive by the run game and the option? I'd bet 95% of the posters here would be calling for his job. "Why would you respect the pass and the expense of the run defense when Tebow hasn't shown that he can consistently throw the ball well?" wouldve been the general consensus around here. Just look at what happened after they relaxed the run defense and took away the pass. The Broncos averaged almost 5 ypc the rest of the game.