BLAH!!!

I've never been an optimist in life, always a realist! This team is the only thing that has ever kept me a glass is half full kind of guy and that's sad!

the last long while, this team has accomplished great stuff... But it was always circumstantial such as football is and that's why I always believe and forgo the actual semantics of all obviousness.I know I'm only a couple hundred posts into this board and that don't afford me much leeway with some of yinz, but I'm a lifer with this team and am reaching boiling point status.

i won't go into the last time we actually looked good against the pats, or had a good defensive plan (which was) against the pats a few years ago, but it should be said. And honestly, the way they ran on us a good pass D would've been nullified but still.

this is more of the same old same. I'm not a fan of TOMLIN, but I appreciate what he has done. I was a fan of Cowher's and appreciated what he did all the same. This board continues to draw comparisons, and all I can honestly say, is that both coaches to this point have left much to be determined! Been relating it since I hit this board!

sure, Tomlin ain't been here as long and still has Cowher era players on his roster... But week in and week out it's all the same at least from a circumstantial standpoint.

Lebeau playing db's off of receivers, questions about special teams and questions about results with S.T. Personnel. 3rd and longs becoming 3rd and thank Yous... Shoddy line play, questionable play calling, so on and so forth. Every team has it, but good teams try to combat it.

time for a shakeup, as much as I hate a teams inconsistency at the front desk aspect of things... Maybe in the very least it would make sense to blame excuses on managerial decisions vs. constant coach philosophies and idioms that don't seem to carry weight anywhere in or outside the office or it's fan base!!!

We we all have have our preferences and our *****ing moments, but what has changed?!?!?

i can tell you that Tomlin and Cowher have both had talent. I can tell you that both have been embarrassed. I can say that Cowher's teams played with more heart when in lack of talent but Cowher's teams have also been pretty dismal while being talented. Tomlin is on course to be embarrassed!!!!! Cowher recovered from that... Can Tomlin?

or does Tomlin leave it all up to underachieving coordinators?

i tend to think that Tomlin is finding out like Cowher did, that what the Rooneys say and what common sense says is not relatable.
For all the consistency, we've seen that even in good years there are similar results across the board.

 

The situation with Tomlin's current team sort of reminds me of the 1980's Noll years. Of course, Noll had more success but there are parallels. The Steelers hung on to some of the players from the 70's Super Bowl nucleus too long and did not do a good job of replacing those players when they did leave. As a consequence, the Steelers went from a perennial powerhouse to a team losing at home 51-0 to the Browns. As an old-timer who has seen both eras this does feel like a bit of deja vu and it appears that the organization made the same mistakes it made then.

 

When people asked me what I think about Tomlin I say that he makes me just as mad as Cowher would make me. Cowher was stubborn and didn't have true killer instincts. Tomlin is stubborn and doesn't have true killer instinct. I think Cowher was MUCH better as an Xs and Os type guy. I think Tomlin is better as a motivator. But when you are at this level motivation can only take you so far. Belichick is the ULTIMATE Xs and Os guy and you see how his teams look consistently compared to Tomlin's. Even when we DID have a great team under Tomlin we STILL just won by the skin of our teeth. Those days are over and now we're getting our butts kicked and we deserve it. I don't feel sorry for anyone on this team honestly. They are multimillionaire pros and they need to act like it. I wish when they run out of the tunnel the next time at Heinz that they would get the absolute unequivocal unparalleled crap booed out of them. They deserve it and we as fans deserve the satisfaction of making them feel like we have had to feel because of their stupidity. Maybe THAT would wake them up. I love them but man they need some tough love maybe.

 

Noll's lean years: 1985-1988
Cowher's lean years: 1998-99, first part of 2000, which doesn't quite count.

During those years, however, the Steelers somewhow remained a competitive team. They didn't always win, but they fought tooth and nail.

The 1985 Steelers finished 7-9 but defeated division champ Cleveland and nearly knocked off Miami.
The 1986 Steelers finished 6-10 but defeated the Jets and Cincy, two signature wins
The 1988 Steelers finished 5-11 but beat Houston on the road, in prime time

The 1998 Steelers finished 7-9 but defeated Jax and Green Bay (in an impressive MNF performance)
The 1999 Steelers finished 6-10 but knocked Carolina out of the playoffs.

Mike's Steelers so far, in this abysmal 2013 campaign, have no signature win so far, and it doesn't appear that they will get one, either, not unless the Jets or Ravens go on to great things.

 

The Jets beat the Saints today.

 

'Signature' wins are OK in a symbolic way I guess. I see what you're saying but 5-11 is still 5-11.

 

I have watched the Steelers since the mid-60's. Today was the very first time I ever recall a Steeler team actually giving up.

 

I actually can't recall the last time we played a full 60 minutes. Maybe that rats game where Charlie led us to a win. Belichick CONSTANTLY preaches "60 minutes!" and his players obviously listen to him.

 

True, but one thing I failed to mention in that post: it was a different era in the 80s and 90s. Back then, there were a handful of really, really good teams, a bunch of mediocre ones, and then two or three horrible teams. There was no free agency, so you HAD to build through the draft, and it was a long, steady climb to the top. I think about Bill Parcells, and how long it took him to build the Giants. I think of Ditka and how long it took him to build the Bears. Noll had to start over around 1983/84...it took a few years, but he built a pretty darn good team by 1990. Problem was, he'd lost his coaching touch and he knew it and he retired. The team Cowher took over in 1992 was stacked. ("Thanks, Chuck!")

But I'm also trying to point out that despite a 6-10 or 5-11 record the team was competitive. They may have ultimately lost a lot of games, but they sure did grind.

 

Never know. There's still 8 games left and even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile

 

Maybe their own

 

Interesting observation, that would have likely been likely one of my 60 minute game picks as well. Charlie played his ass off in that game, and the rest of the team played their asses off for Charlie. It was as if everyone knew it was going to be his last game.

 

Hard to blame Cowher for 2006. He probably knew it was his last year and I have no doubt a lot of his fire and passion simply wasn't there. Ben got in a motorcycle accident and had that medical emergency early in the year. The whole team was facing a Superbowl hangover. In my eyes, Cowher gets a pass for 2006. He simply checked out, but I don't think he realized he was done until the season started, and that's when he probably realized he had nothing left.