What a Complete Waste

Hi Everyone.

I know that this topic has been beaten into the ground. However, as this looks that it may very well be the end of Ben's career, I felt compelled to reflect on Ben's time with Coaches Cowher and Tomlin.

Again, I WAS a Coach Tomlin fan for the first five years or so of his tenure here. HOWEVER, and again, as the “onion layers” peeled away (Exodus of Coach Cowher’s Players and Coaches.) what was to be found underneath those “peels” came more and more into view. I can say the following with extreme confidence as I look myself in the mirror.

I came into the Tomlin era, as I did the Cowher era, with a clean and objective slate. To judge each man on his body of work during their time as our Head Coaches.

Admittedly, I was even advocating for the firing of Coach Cowher at one point. However, unlike Tomlin, Cowher started off “Hot” per se, hit a rough patch but then “Rebounded” to win it all. With Tomlin, he started off “Hot” (Again with Cowher’s Players and Coaches. Like the truth or not.) and after his first five years it has been a steady decline with no “Rebound” as with Coach Cowher.

The “Rebound” is the major difference between Coach Cowher and Coach Tomlin. Good, no great coaches, leaders can take a “Ready-Made” team and keep the ball rolling if that is what they inherited. That was the case with Coach Tomlin. He did what he was supposed to do as did Siefert with the 49ers and Switzer with the Cowboys.

Even with many of Cowher’s Playoff losses, he at least got his teams to the AFC Championship Games. Tomlin cannot even get his teams out of the First Round.

As stated, time and time again, Cowher did what he did with basically second and third tier type Quarterbacks. It took him just two years to win it all with a “Bonafide” 1st Tier QB. And some, please do not give me that baloney:

“Well what happened in Ben’s third and final year with Coach Cowher?”

The obvious happened: Ben’s motorcycle accident and he had an emergency appendectomy. It is no wonder that they started 2-6 that season and finished 6-2 as his body was healing. Imagine if Coach Cowher had stayed around. IMO, multiple Championships on the past horizons. Tomlin threw away countless years of having a Top Tier QB. What a Complete Waste.



STEELWINDS The East Side Kid

 

That is one hell of a post. Since Cowhers Core retired Tomlins playoff record speaks for itself. He’s won a bunch in the regular season because he still had a HOF QB that could simply outplay much weaker QBs in our division. Period.

 

I'm with you SteelWinds but when the guy running the place is fine with how things are going idk what else to say. I would have thought when you have a franchise QB you do all you can to put that team over the top, coaching and players. But the stability at all costs mantra just looms too large. I do believe Art is in over his head now and I'm not sure if the future of this franchise looks positive.

 

A lot has to go right to win a Superbowl.

The whole team in general needs to remain healthy. Injuries derailed many seasons after 2008:

That year we went out to Denver to face Peyton in playoffs ... I think we beat them if we have LevBell. The year we lose Shazier ... might have turned out different. What if Ben doesn't hurt his elbow that year ... defense was great!


I would say it is a shame that Killer B offense really didn't do much damage in playoffs. I don't know how much that is them, or how much that is defense not being quite up to par? Was never able to beat Brady in Playoffs either, always had our number.

Ben gave us so many great moments though. Probably so many I don't even remember half of them. Just trying to remember the good stuff.

 

If Ben doesn't hurt his elbow, I don't know if we end up with Minkah. Miami believing we'd have a top pick is what put our offer over the top.

 

Unfortunately, Ben's career was at the same time as Brady's. That has a lot to do with it.

 

And many others. And yet the d*ck is still here continuing to torture us until he's 50.

 

Bingo!

The number of franchises, coaches, players, and fanbases that are or will be by the end of Brady's career that are going to say "we should have won more titles" is going to be long and distinguished. (insert penis joke here)

Besides the Steelers:

Colts
Broncos
Packers
Seahawks
Falcons
Rams
Chiefs
Chargers


Maybe everybody but the Giants.

 

I sometimes wonder if he will play till he is 60.

 

I’d rather have had a healthy Ben than Minkah. Minkah hasn’t been that impressive outside the year he got to Pittsburgh.

 

Hey D5.

Yes, I agree with you 100%.

Your Quote ".... when the guy running the place is fine with how things are going idk what else to say."

Like you, I too do not know what else to say. I do not know anyone in a Head Administrative/Management capacity such as a Principal of a School, Police Commissioner, CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, Manager of a Supermarket, etc. that would have kept his/her job after wallowing in the mediocrity that the Steelers have been for nearly a decade now under Coach Tomlin.

Now, I am not going to place 100% of the blame on him for this Team's shortcomings for so long now but he deserves the majority of the credit/blame for this Team's sub-par performances over that time. Anyone again, in a Head Administrative/Management position will uniformly convey to the public the old adage:

"It all starts with me."

Coach Tomlin is no exception as is the current Mr. Rooney that is in charge. Mr. Rooney needs to also take on a good portion of this Team's dismal state of affairs. And someone correct me if I am wrong here, but didn't Coach Tomlin just get a three-year contract extension? I believe that he did. This is unfathomable!

Look, as long as Coach Tomlin is our Head Coach, sporting the Black & Gold, then I am rooting for him. However, I can only support him to an extent and that extent has come and gone quite some time ago. Nonetheless, what choice do I have but to root for him. He is our Head Coach and I want him to be successful. Truly I do. For if he is successful then we as Steeler Nation are successful and all are "Happy" (smile).

As some have stated:

Coach Tomlin seems to have a "lifetime" contract with us. Seemingly, for as long as he WANTS to be here. If that is the case then for Crying Out Loud Mr. Rooney, hire some "Top-Notch Assistant Coaches that can help this man. He seems to have shortcomings with that side of the business as well if in fact he is hiring his Coaching Staff.

Good Head Administrators know that it is important to surround themselves with proven and highly effective "Cabinet Members". This has not been happening here in Pittsburgh for quite some time now. If in fact he has been running the Defense for quite some time now, then again, it just exposes one more "short-coming" on his part.

Honestly, I do think that Coach Tomlin is "trying" his best, but it just is not good enough to uphold the Pittsburgh Steelers' Standard.



STEELWINDS The East Side Kid

 

I wonder how different the 2016-17 AFC Championship would have been had Le'veon Bell not gotten hurt.

 

Maybe he takes Bart Scott's advice and takes viagra before the playoff games.

 

Hey OX.

One "failed" segment along Tomlin's timeline was when we had AB, Bell, Martavis Bryant, Heath Miller and of course Ben. That was a golden, big time missed opportunity with all of that Offensive fire power. I remember just looking at our Offense lining up on the field of play and with pure delight thinking about all of those playmakers. Too many for opposing teams to deal with. They were electrifying. That was a window of time that needed to be seized but again, never was under Coach Tomlin.

Team rosters are always changing as we know. it is an inevitable event season to season. It is naive to think that a current roster can be kept intact for extended periods of time. The instituting of the salary cap plays a huge role in that. Given that, and again the short window of time to keep as many star players together as possible, has to be capitalized on. Those guys mentioned above, should have brought us a championship or two if managed/coached correctly. Oh (sigh), what could have been accomplished with that group.

Then the "Second Wave" of Offensive firepower came along during the Tomlin era. Not as "dynamic" per se as the guys above but they too are/were very good when combined. They are still here now (except Jesse James). This group included: JuJu, Claypool, Washington, DJ and Jesee James. Initially, they were a difficult group to account for, all of them. We have a very good track record of drafting Wide Receivers as we all know. Once again, this second group may not have been as talented as the first but again there were/are enough quality players there that they could cause headaches for opposing teams. This was a good enough group that if managed/coached correctly could have made deep playoff runs and maybe even win a championship, or two.

Now, if the those four WRs are back and we have Najee, Freiermuth and Gentry (Who I think has been coming on lately.) then what? This is a very young and talented group of Offensive Skilled-Position players. However, two issues that have to be addressed to max-out this talent. Fix the freakin' O-line and get a Quarterback that can produce. IMO, that is seven quality Offensive Skilled-Position players that can again be extremely formidable if managed/coached correctly.

The one Offensive Skilled-Position player that I want to see added is a "Speedster" Wide Receiver. That cannot be too hard to find in just about any round. Someone, anyone with a half-way decent set of hands that can "fly". Is this going to be another wasted opportunity? I really hope not.



STEELWINDS The East Side Kid

 

It wasn't a complete waste. The Steelers got 3 Superbowl appearances and had many chances to compete for a chance to play in the Superbowl with Ben as the QB. Last season they had a realistic shot but the injury bug hit and teams caught up to Ben.

A lot has to go right simply to win. Post season and Superbowl even more has to go right.

Better QBs and comparable QBs never played in 3 Superbowls. It's better to win than lose.


The OP wanted Cowher fired at some point and now he romanticizes that Cowher would simply won more championships. The OP won't recognize what the Tomlin/Ben era accomplished until years down the road.

 

His success was a long time ago with Cowhers core. Since then 11 years 3 playoff wins!! Now it’s not all his fault for sure. Ben is to blame as well so are other players and other coaches but isn’t he the top? Where the buck stops? How is this futility acceptable?

We used to be a proud and feared Organization. Those days are over.

Too many on this board and in the organization are living in the past. Nothing wrong to brag about lombardis but other teams will be passing us by real soon.

 

I think its obvious what has happened to Minkah...he came here as a very good if not one of the best safties in the game, our defense was an incredible, renewed, turnover machine. Then Minkah got Tomlined, made him play his way and not the way Minkah played, he became average, out of position, etc.... call me crazy but Minkah has regressed under Tomlin's defense....coincidence?

 

This really bothers me. After the trade and last year the kept him deep and he flourished. Had so many moments where he saved games by stopping big plays.

This year they tried to turn him into a linebacker when he has superb deep safety skills. His tackles went through the roof, but we really suffered on 3rd and long's and 2 minute situations.

 

That’s right up there with the grassy knoll, Elvis sightings and Life cereal Mikey dying from Pop Rocks.

 

Cowher built a great team for Tomlin to plug and play. What has his own squad accomplished?

 

Tomlin has a weird resume when it comes to his performances year in and year out. Some of his best jobs have been taking some of our more poor teams and holding them together (the 2-6 team to 8-8, the Rudolph/Duck year to 8-8, and this past year to 9-7-1 and a playoff spot).... However he has vastly underperformed with some excellent teams that either missed the playoffs or were easy outs in the first round of the playoffs. His measurables as a coach all point to him being a subpar/mediocre coach (his poor challenge record the past 8 years, his poor record against subpar teams and back up QB's, the losses to Tebow, Mayfield, and Bortles (two of which at home) in playoff games, and his overall clock management). HOWEVER, he does have a part in drafting some excellent Steelers players, the players love playing for him, he's won a Super Bowl and went to another (early in his career)... So its really hard to tell how much that last part makes up for the first part since they aren't really measurable factors. He has shown he has been great keeping teams in it through the grind of the season even when we aren't as good or go through a bunch of adversity. However he has overall been poor when we have very good teams. He's a very tough evaluation. I truly believe when people say that he is great or he is awful, that they are both very true in many ways. I guess we will see how the transition goes now that Ben is gone. He may be very good at it. But he might need to go when we actually have a really good unit.

 

Look at me!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lol, Just kidding...great post

 

It's easy to look at Ben's career and think we should have gotten more out of it. However, as a few others have stated, a lot has to fall into place to win a Superbowl. Just think of how many great QBs have played their careers without a SB win or even appearance. Here are some greats and how they fell short (of course not all are in Ben's league but all at least pretty darn good and many HOFers):

No SB wins - Rivers, Marino, Moon, Ryan, Tarkenton, Palmer, Stafford, Beldsoe, Fouts
No SB appearances- Rovers. Moon, Palmer, Stafford, Testaverde, Fouts
No conference championship appearances - Moon, Stafford, Fitzpatrick, Hart, Deberg, Hadl
No Playoff wins - Stafford (now off this list), Fitzpatrick, Hart, Dalton, Hadl, Gabriel
No Playoff appearances - Fitpatrick, Carr, Archie Manning, Zorn

 

Hey Steelwinds, You forgot to mention were legitimately “Cheated” out of wins by the Patsies and Belicheat in AFC Champ games during Cowhers reign.

Also a sign to a successful and high quality HC is his coaching tree, who are his Asst and how has he developed them…..

Cajun