We are two fumbles away from likely being 3-2...

...why are the coaches being blamed here way more than the players? Every post, regardless of topic, somehow come back to "Tomlin is so bad, he needs to be replaced!"

The Steelers haven't had a losing season for a long time. Imagine what it's like being a Dolphins or Browns fan. This whole argument that "we are the Steelers, we should be special and never lose" is immature and selfish.

Now look at that past game. Our best player (Ben) is out for the year. He also plays the most important position in football. Our solid backup QB gets hurt. We put in what would have been our 4th string QB at the start of the season before the Dobbs trade, and still manage to almost come away with a win against a big rival. Possibly only one fumble away.

In addition, the defense has been playing head and shoulders above where it was prior to the Fitzpatrick trade. They are actually getting pressure and creating turnovers. Do you really want to fire Butler for that? Too many fans here are delusional when they think that some mythical defensive coordinator can just swoop in willy nilly and return the defense to their 2008 or 2012 level.

If you watch other teams, you would be just as frustrated with their playcalling and coaches as you would with ours. Even Belichick gets ripped by Patriots fans when they aren't perfect.

 

You were mostly making sense until you defended Butler. Sorry, but he needs to go. The defense is still plagued by massive breakdowns and they still leave the middle of the field wide open far too often. It's a problem that he has failed to fix for quite a few seasons. Butler needs to go or the much-improved talent will be wasted.

 

IMO, more than fumbles, the problem is that in 3 games, the Steelers O has kept them ahead at the end of the game, and the D then gives up points for the other team to go ahead and win (in one game, it was 4 series in a row that they gave up points).

So I blame Kieth Butler's defense for giving up the go ahead score for the win more than I blame a couple of fumbles. If the D holds the line and doesn't give up the score, the Steelers could potentially have 3 more wins right now, despite losing Ben.

 

The whole "we're X plays away from being undefeated or 4-1 or whatever" is weak. While nominally true, it's also true for every middling to bad team in the NFL. It's the nature of the league where a good portion of games are close.

Good teams don't leave it to a play or two, they blow out their opponents. Really bad teams, i.e. the Dolphins, get blown out and mediocre teams play a lot of close games where you win some and you lose some. The Steelers are 23rd in the league in point differential. That's not indicative of a team that somehow deserves to have a winning record. They are what their record says they are.

 

Hey if it wasn’t JuJu fumbling, it would have been Conner, Bell, Grimble, Toussant....our playmakers have let us down in recent years.

 

We are 45-50 bad coaching decisions and poor gameplanning away from being 5 - 0.

 

You are missing one key piece of information....in those games had the coaching staff better managed their time, better prepared the team and implemented and executed a good game plan it never would have come down to a fumble at the end of the game.

Don't just focus on the key thing at the end of the game....consider each play from start to finish. Or every game season throughout season. This staff has never strung together a strong 60 minute game plan or 16 game season. There are ALWAYS bad decisions/plays/games. We've all heard it; "this is a game of inches" and the coaching staff leave a lot of inches on the field throughout the course of a season.

Could this team be 3-2? Definitely. Is it Juju and Connor's fault they aren't? No. I'm sorry I don't agree.

 

Gotta see the big picture.

 

And I'm 20 situps away from looking like Hugh Jackman

 

And im 5 inches away from being 5"8

 

Could a, should a, would a....record reflects a 1-4 team and that’s where we are at. I’m always 3-4 putts away from shooting in the 70’s; however, I miss those putts and my score is reflected accurately. Bottom line, we are not a good team, with bad coaching and an apathetic front office watching it happen. You are what you are and good records get a chance at the big dance. Just hoping for a .500 season at this point.

 

The Conner fumble wasn't as directly related to the outcome as Smith-Schuster's. The defense still gave up the score after that fumble. Even if the Steelers punt instead of turning it over that drive, which seemed likely, I doubt the defense could have gotten a stop at that point.

The Ravens only gained a few yards after the fumble in overtime yesterday. It pretty much gave them the winning points. The defense deserves some blame as well, but they were relatively good against one of the league's best offenses.

 

I'm more concerned about the play-calling and inability to get points after we get a turnover. How many turnovers have we failed to turn into points this year?

 

You have heard the old saying haven't you?

Woulda, shoulda could of.

 

Bad teams find a way to lose. We are a bad team

 

and we’re getting to play the Bengals away from 0-5

 

And I'm 20 years away from satisfying a female.

 

It is a shame......... This defense if healthy will be flying in a couple of weeks. There is not much doubt in my mind if we were 3-2 right now we would win this division.

 

17- 3. That is the record of who we have lost to. We got blown out game one. Many players here have between 1-2 years here or in the league, some less. Playing together ,less then that. Every week major players are hurt or have not seen the field yet. Injuries are killing us, if we could have a few weeks of health it would go a long way. With all the player changes and injuries in pretty proud we have been playing toe to toe in every game but the first one. I doubt there is any team out there dealing with this much crap. Get we are 2 games back. That's it. 2. We have been two games back before. It's easy to just say cut him, fire him or we suck. This ain't fantasy football. All these things matter. It could be a lot worse.

 

It can be done?

 

Only for very brief periods of time.

 

Great another "he haven't had a losing season" statement, yes that is true but aren't we about more than that? Aren't we as Steelers fans who for a long time had the best WR and RB in the game, a future HOF QB with a top 5 veteran oline to go with the most stable origination allowed to expect more that just a non losing season? I am not trying to poke fun but trying to explain why so many of us want to blame the coach(s). jmo

 

You can't expect defensive football from 20 and 30 years ago in the NFL today. Too much offense..too many rules in place to help the offense.

The defense played plenty good enough to win the last games.

Our sideline on the other hand


S
U
C
K
S

If Tomlin spent as much time preparing the team as he does rehearsing his press conference statements we'd be right there with the Patriots.

But nooooo...

He is just another average body in a coaching club that will always have a job makimg millions and failing his team, players and management.

 

Past tense or future tense? Regardless, just remember the Cheerios mantra - "Big G, little O".

 

Well we don't have any of that this season, so the OP is right if JuJu and Conner don't fumble they should be 3-2 with a lot of new faces.