A question to ponder

I really felt like we were the better team on the field this evening and that got me to thinking. How many times over the last few seasons have you felt like we were the better team on the football field but we ended up losing the game because of a questionable coaching decision, poor clock management, allowing the opponent to stay close and committing a critical turnover late and basically not playing intelligent football, etc? I'm sorry guys, I think overall Tomlin and staff have done a decent job this season but when it comes down to it I believe our team typically demonstrates a low team football IQ which may come from a head coach with a high motor but low football IQ.

I want to give Tomlin credit where credit is due, this game was unfolding pretty nicely but I just had the feeling we were allowing the Broncos and the wily veteran QB to stay close. We should have put our foot on their throats early and often and seized control of this game by playing physical and SMART football. I don't think we have an issue with emotion and physicality because that's the kind of coach we have, but when it comes to playing smart football (protecting the ball, getting rid of the ball and avoiding huge sacks, being smart in the return game, etc.) we seem to be lacking at times.

Don't interpret this as a FMTI thread. I'm simply suggesting that our identity is physical and emotional football but not always smart football and that costs us games at times. Thoughts?

 

I'm not a Tomlin fan, but I can't blame any aspect of this game on him. We came to play, but a few of our guys had mistakes at inopportune times.

The 4th down attempt was a judgement call. You can justify it either way.

We made mistakes at the worst times and they didn't.

 

Times the Steelers were the better team on the field and they lost

2015: 3 times (Ravens twice and today)
2014: 3 times (TB, Cle, Jets)
2013: 5 times (Tenn, Chi, Minn, Oak, Miami)
2012: 3 times (Oak, Tenn, Clev)
2011: 2 times (Hou, Denver - playoffs)

 

I think what he meant was that we showed up to play, and outplayed the opponent but will lost. Last year against TB CLE and NYJ we didn't even show up to play. We were a better team in terms of record and talent, but the team that showed up those days deserved to get beat

 

Basically if Fitz doesn't fumble and we end up with points on that drive (which was moving nicely) we probably win the game. We had a good gameplay and executed it fairly well. One bad play swung the game

 

Tomlin costs us plenty of games with his terrible in-game decisions and inability to field a cohesive team against inferior opponents.

But that wasn't today. We just didn't have our receiver or running back or backup running back, and our QB wasn't himself, and we were playing a good team.

That said, there were still problems of course - why not kick a 52 yard FG in Denver with Boswell the Badass? why is everybody going deep on 4th and 5? why is our onside kick team the same personnel as our regular kickoff team? - but at least we didn't intentionally give away points or anything, so it was a step up. I noticed at the end, when Tomlin wisely kicked that FG so they could attempt the onside kick, Simms said, "Good job by Tomlin paying attention to the game situation." I should have been offended by that, but I had to agree. I'm glad our coach was paying attention.

 

Toussaint was on the field because of Tomlin. He didn't go out and get a veteran back-up for DWill. Anything Toussaint does falls on Tomlin.

 

Where's the list of teams that were better than us, but we beat them?
That doesn't count right?

 

we tried that last year with Ben Tate. Didn't work.

 

Sadly, this.

To the OP - I can't see any reason, aside from leaving 3 out there in the 1Q going for it on 4th down when a FG was makeable, that MT is on the hotseat for this one. I've had my issues with him, and I think they still do play sloppy and undisciplined at times - but one play probably meant the difference between winning and losing today, and MT had nothing to do with that.

 

There's a huge difference in 2.5 months and 1 week.

 

Defenses win championships. Their D is good and I dunno if Brady can win there. I feel NFC will take the title anyways

 

My take is that with the ridiculous field position Pgh continuously gave Denver in the first half, but for a stellar performance by the D and D coaching, this game could have easily been way over at halftime - but it wasn't. Pgh coughed up the lead now two weeks in a row - difference was last week (as like many weeks) they managed a late game key turnover that helped them to victory. They had chances for sure today, but didn't happen.

 

There's a huge difference in a guy coming in, running for 3 yards in a game and coughing up the ball... and Toussaint and Todman coming in, getting more rushing yards than any other team had against Denver this year, and keeping our rushing dimension to the offensive gameplan.

Who would you rather have out there, of the guys who were available?

 

I think Coach T did a good job , but I was not happy with Haley as a whole.. The main problem that I am seeing with him is play progression . We ran the screen had some success early, but never ran a play that looked like it or built off of it the entire game ...

We ran that reverse to Bryant and it worked , but we never ran a play that looked like it or built off of it...The 3rd. and 2 comes to mind ,why not a trap , a shovel pass , a TE flat ,double reverse,anything besides the same exact reverse...

Another play that looked really great and was blocked very well is the one that looked like a Jet Sweep to DHB , but they sanpped it and DHB became the lead blocker and the RB almost scored .. Where was the Jet Sweep part of that play ?another good 3rd. and 2 play ..Where was the PA pass off of that same look ?

In a very close game like this one was play calling and the way you build off of those plays are huge . I am starting to see that Haley doesn't do a great job in this area .. Maybe the Team should hire a better Assistant to help him see these plays and chart them so we can build on them...

I have been on the sideline and in the booth it is hard to think on the sideline sometimes , but the guy in the booth should be charting these plays and putting good bugs in the OC'S ear...I don't seem to see that with this Team..

 

Yes, because good veteran runners are so easy to find then stash on your PS just in case you have to use your 4th string RB. He got Todman (who is a fine veteran 3rd/4th stringer), but Toussaint had been out performing him. You just can't have studs that deep down the depth chart.

No matter how hard people try, this loss can't be blamed on Tomlin.

 

Every single team in the league has someone charting every aspect of every play. I have a very hard time believing that we are the exception to that rule. I'm sure the plays are charted just fine

 

MT is hyper emotional. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I do question his decision making and clock management at times. Tomlin himself talks about coaching from the gut, being a fundamentalist as opposed to scheme, etc. This works out at times but at other times I think our low football IQ costs us games. I know people get sick of hearing about them, as do I, but Belichick and Brady have made a pretty good living being smarter and preparing better than everybody else. I think Dungy and Manning made a good coach/quarterback combo and always demonstrated good football smarts. I think football intelligence comes first and foremost from the head coach. We've got an emotional guy at the helm and get out-maneuvered in the intellectual category at times. I don't want to fire Mike Tomlin, but he is what he is and emotion only takes you so far.

Chuck Noll is the standard in Pittsburgh. He was a very intellectual coach. His teams were tough AND smart. Bradshaw drove him bonkers at times but Noll did a good job of forcing Bradshaw to THINK and not just react. The Steelers dynasty was great not just because they out-performed everybody from a physical standpoint, but also because they were a very smart team who understood situational football and had a very high football IQ.

 

its the nfl. Denver helped us out a lot today with drops and some questionable play calling themselves. just like when the panthers lost to falcons this year. anyone can beat anyone on sundays in this league. playoffs included.
lets keep this in perspective, Denver has the best defense in the league. I know we moved the ball and were in control but its not like they are bums.

 

Anything can be blamed on Tomlin. Just read the board. If we're not undefeated/Super Bowl Champs every year, it's Tomlin's fault and he should be fired. Get used to it. It will continue this way for 15 more years, and when there's a new coach, they'll be pining for the good old days of Tomlin football (see Cower, Bill).

 

Well if they are then why do we not have any play progression ? Name the last time you saw the Steelers run a play to set up another or the last time you saw a big play off of another big play look from them .. So if they are charting them then we have a bigger problem. Either we don't have those plays built in ? We are afraid to call them ? Or we don't practice play progression ? Or we refuse to call them ?

I took the high road , but we don't progress our plays like the other top Teams in the NFL...I can get you 3 or 4 from every game and every Team that played this weekend except for the Steelers.. Why do you think that is ?

 

Who is a fine 3rd/4th string that couldn't play. He only got 5 touches. There was plenty of people early in the pre-season Fred Jackson torched us then got cut. Seattle picked him up. They are paying more for Lynch then we are Bell and DWill combined. That would have took some real insight and thinking into the future but once again Tomlin doesn't have that. Pierre Thomas got picked up by the Skins like 2 weeks before the playoffs and still looked good. Patriots picked up Steven Jackson like 4 weeks ago and he hasn't fumbled a game away for them. Once again they had 2.5 months to get a back-up running back ready and just ignored it. That falls on the coach. You guys can blame injuries and look for all the silver linings you want. The game was winnable and they lost their 2nd playoff game in a row because of a back-up running back.

 

Why are we asking questions to Ponder? - he's not in the league right now although he would be a better option than Vick. (sorry I deal with loss by joking around)

 

Tomlin is a good coach but not a great one. Steelers get in trouble because they don't pay attention to details. Everything from game time decisions to the way the ball carriers run is sloppy and inefficient.

 

I am NOT a Tomlin supporter at all, and I agree that he often demonstrates poor management and decision-making.

But this loss isn't on him, or anyone else. And I would NOT say that the Steelers were the superior team.

Are we forgetting this team had no RB (for the second straight post-season) and was missing the best WR in the league? They went into the #1 seed's home turf and took it to them.