A couple points to discuss

Just going to get to it....

Defense -
There seems to be a lot of miss communication or lack thereof between the players and coaches. Highlighted late in this last game but seen at other times this season. This shows a lack of preparedness by players and coaches alike. I'll paraphrase Nebraska HC Riley when asked about a "too many men on the field" penalty during a punt return. "Oh, I was so disappointed in that. I absolutely hate that. It was so stupid. And we got the defense on and not enough people came on. Junior high. Junior high teams can do better than that." Then went on to explain how player X should know to be out there but the STs coach has to make sure he knows.
No reason for confusion on the defense late in the game unless there's an injury substitution. You're in the Pros, prepare like it.

Does Coach Mitchell suck? Does Porter, Olsavsky, Lake?? All coaches have their warts but on a whole I'd say no. The team has invested a lot on high draft picks recently but we haven't seen the results. They are young and will get better. I really cannot accept the reasoning that "well it's only Butler's second year..." Do you really think he completely scrapped the defense and started over? A gap is still A gap, deep thirds is still deep thirds...I cannot place a lot of blame on the position coaches when taken as separate entities.

Tackling and pursuit angles just seem to be consistently in question. Are they going over these angles in film study? Are they preaching cut back lanes, etc. Practicing the fundamentals? Yes CBA limitations yada yada. How about the robotic tackling dummies, non contact pursuit drills. Are those abandoned in-season? IDK. We were graded after games in college on assignment and whether you were in the camera frame when the play ended. Better have 11 guys running to the ball. We've seen great examples of that in Heyward and Tuitt. Some of the others...not...so....much. The ILBs are caught flat-footed all the time in pass coverage. What does Witten run nowadays...I've seen grannies run to the bingo podium faster and Shazier can't cover that? Flat footed and Witten runs right by him, same with Timmons on crossing routes. They have to be seeing some of these things on film review.

Overall the communication breakdowns, the fundamentals that could be greatly improved, and the lack of effectiveness as a whole points to a SYSTEMIC problem. That would seem to point to KB as he is the DC and additionally to MT as he his responsible for the teams performance. IMO, KB is having trouble bringing all the various moving parts together. This is a top down failure to be compounded by some troubling fundamentals. And I have two TVs going on Sunday with the ticket so don't give me the "you don't watch other games BS". Yes I see these mistakes by other teams but it seems to be higher than the norm with this team.

Another thing on the D, I am glad the young guys are playing and getting experience. Will they make mistakes...yes but there could be ways to minimize some of those. If you are afraid of blitzing because Burns or Davis will be exposed in coverage or miss an assignment, then make them blitz off the edge. Both are fast and can get there in a hurry. Take the rookies out of the coverage equation. Don't put them in a position to fail, especially in obvious down and distance situations with single coverages etc. Here's an idea..maybe simplify some things so they can use that talent they were drafted for. Maybe they have simplified, but it sure seems that if a guy goes down with an injury for a game or two, he seems unable to come back in immediately because so many adjustments have been made and they need to acclimate.

Offense -

Just an example.. 1 minute left in the half and Pit has the ball at midfield. Dallas has 3 TOs. Ben takes two deep shots to the end zone which forces a 3rd and long situation. Haley or Ben make those calls? I don't know, but my hunch is Ben saw something and changed it. I hate to see that on first down but OK maybe they saw something. Incomplete. Why can't Haley tell Ben on the intercom before 2nd down to forget the long ball and go for the first down and put the team in a better position for a FG? Tight game and a tough opponent. Bombs away instead of trying to get 3 and the ball back for the start of the 3rd. If Haley called those then shame on him for the same stupid reasoning.
Love Ben but Haley needs to tighten the reins at times and not let the offense abandon an opportunity at a better scoring chance late in the half. Have I cheered when it works on occasion, sure but when it becomes the norm it loses its surprise and effectiveness imo. I've also shaken my head after the score and thought, wow got lucky there.

These thoughts are with this season in mind only and some trends I see. Not commenting on hiring/firing, but MT and Butler specifically need to look at other things to get this D going in the right direction imo

 

The tackling and poor angles are very troubling. I can forgive one game (at most) of this if it is early in the season. They preach lane discipline and angles before HS and it is ridiculous that a pro team consistently shows a lack of fundamentals in this area.

We have seen a shift in rookie participation that was asked for by the Rooneys last year. There will be growing pains from this approach.

 

This roster has been mismanaged for years there should be veterans "good veterans" playing and young players learning and backing them up.

 

I'm a Mike Mitchell fan but he needs to retake geometry

 

For years fans were complaining rookies sat too long... be careful what you wish for.

 

Maybe Colbert is getting some bad intel on his scouting? Haven't we had some change over in the scouting dpeartment?

 

I personally have never complained about lack of playing time for rookies if they have some that are really good and can contribute then they should play if they have no business playing then they should be backing someone up. A example of a well managed roster is Pete Carroll in Seattle fact they have not lost a game by more than 10 points for over 83 games dating back to 2011 dude knows what he is doing.

 

We just saw how some rookies can come in and be impactful. Unfortunately they were all on Dallas' roster. Prescott, Elliott and CB Brown. Prescott can handle one of the toughest positions at QB, I have no hesitation that others cannot come in and play on this defense.

 

Gay should be starting over Burns. I actually think Gay and Cockrell have been pretty fantastic this year. I don't think we are bad on defense because of them, rather I think we are losing because our safeties suck, we have no OLB pass rush (Harrison is some but only plays 15-20 snaps a game and isn't always rushing when he is in the game), and I think our defensive line is grossly overrated. Our run defense sucks and it starts up front.

I think the Steelers should make Shazier the new roamer and let him roam (although we don't nearly have the smart players that we did with Polamalu to cover for the roaming player), and have Timmons and Williams manning the middle. Either that or make Shazier a pseudo-OLB that can move around a little on a side and pick up a TE or blitz.

Beyond that, we need better DL players, safeties and OLBs.

 

To put it simply, we're f*cked

 

What people fail to see is the game plans have been terrible for the last two years . What was the change? Labough was a master at devising a game plan for both offence and defense . Since he was let go our game plans looked what high school teams would try. Our plans for the last two seasons have dependant on big plays to win games rather than consistent play. Tomlin is too immature as a coach to come up with a game plan to beat teams with consistent play. If they decide to keep Tomlin , which I think they will , they need to find someone to help create a more efficient and consistent game plan.

 

Turtle's right. Pursuit angles have been terrible for two years. Mitchell has regressed badly and Golden has gone from encouraging feel-good story to a major liability. Davis isn't ready yet apparently so plug Dangerfield in there I guess. I actually like our corners now and into the foreseeable future so I think it's time to draft safeties along with OLB.

I still hold out hope for Dupree coming back and instantly upgrading our rush. Who knew Worilds retiring would have such a ripple effect on our pass rush?

 

Our front 7 is mediocre and our secondary is mediocre but has upswing.

 

McCullers has been a disappointment for me this year. Really thought we'd see more. Can't remember the quarter but it was 3rd down and the center/guard had a combo block but the center quickly left to go to the 2nd level and the LG pushed him back 4 yards. Easy first down pick up for Elliott. McCullers was way too high, which is something he knows is a problem with his stature but seems to forget when on the field. Or conditioning is a problem.

 

I can only remember one pass last year where Mitchell had a PBU. It was on the defensive's left sideline. For a guy supposedly with some speed, that seems like a very small amount. Will he on occasion force an incompletion with a hard hit, sure but actually making a play on the ball is another thing.

And really, do we need the posturing/celebrations like he won the PCH sweepstakes every time he jumps on the pile. Staring at the sideline like he did something. Please, can't stand the guy tbh.

 

Credited with 9 passes defensed last year. I'm surprised it was that high.

 

Both safeties suck Golden and Mitchell, they never seem to get there in time to help out the CBs. Mitchell takes some of the worst angles I have ever seen for a safety.

 

I don't like him either. Honestly, he's one of my least favorite Steelers of all time. There's just "something" about him to me that rubs me wrong.

 

I agree. Both game plans and specific play calls within those plans have been really lacking in the past few years. So much head scratching after games about "Why did they call that".

Offense has morphed into long ball, big play chances with very little sustained drives, especially on third and manageable. Tough to even characterize the defense, other than designed to stop big plays, and then they don't.

I still think we have talent on both sides of the ball (more on offense, obviously), but it is not being used well.

 

Yes! Yes de does. He absolutely sucks. At least this year. Wow, 0 ints and 0 forced fumbles from both starting safeties?????? That is not working.

 

Giants had about 4 rookies playing last night, their two rookie receivers played very well, their HC McAdoo has said he is not afraid to play his rookies, and he is starting them....

 

I was referring to the DL coach John Mitchell but I get your point..

 

Yeah, if it's the play I seen McCullers was flat on his back.

 

A lot of words, I think Captain Obvious nailed it...... Mike Tomlin: "At the end of the game, we broke down defensively."