Game of inches

I agree Blast, but you gotta admit that a great coach like Belichek gives the Pats an extra few inches to play with so that most of their games don't come to a missed kick, a bad call, etc.

Tomlin, especially lately, seems to be putting us in a position where we're giving up inches left and right. We aren't getting unlucky, we're self-destructing. The undisciplined play has been going on for many years. The piss poor defensive scheme has been going on since 2010.

I know many people believe our defensive players sucks, but maybe someone can explain to me why Belichek can get rid of guys like Jamie Collins, Richard Seymour, Asante Samuel, Chandler Jones, etc. and yet the Pats don't miss a beat. Surely that shows that scheme and coaching are incredibly important. Yes, the scheme falls on the DC, but the buck stops with Tomlin. He should have fired Butler by now. In fact, he shouldn't have ever hired him.

I still agree with your points for the most part, but Tomlin has to go. He's well liked, but I don't think he does anything else well.

 

If you compare it to last season, Steelers easily could of had several more losses. But, they won the close games.

We have had a couple close games where we won at the end. Then the last 3 we lost at the end not being able to tie the game and play further or not being able to hold them.

That being said, a lot of it comes down to the end of the game, who makes the plays when it’s on the line.

 

I had only seen highlights of the Raiders game until I watched it on PVR last night.
Is Butler ever going to get his head out of his ass and realize Shazier is no longer playing so stop putting LB's on WR's.

I am sick of hearing the announcers say " Pittsburg had a LB covering a WR and that's a mis match everytime". If they can see it why can't a professional defensive co ordinator understand it is a failed scheme. If Butler is too stubborn or stupid to see its not working then he should be gone.

The other thing that is obvious is none of our DB's can make a play on the ball except Burnett once in the endzone that should have been PI. On the Raiders long pass to setup the wining TD Burnett is in position but puts his hand up a full second late.

On a slippery wet grass field some of our defensive players were way too clean in the fourth quarter.

In a game of inches our defensive plan is giving up yards.

 

Oh, they also blew one against a very good team. The officials played a big part, but self-inflicted damage didn't just cost the Steelers a victory over the Chargers. Those errors cost them a blowout victory.

 

They blew a 16 pt lead, sorry I ain't gonna hang that all on the refs. And I would argue that self inflicted errors are the difference between a AFC championship team and one that barely makes the playoffs

 

Biggest single stat that is killing this season is turnover differential. They drop picks, or as was the case in the Chargers game, Davis blows up Haden and Allen gets the luckiest TD catch he will likely ever have. These guys do not create turnovers with any regularity. Contrary to what some think, I don't feel this defense has the talent to be anything other than slightly above average and only if they had quality defensive coaching and teaching. Offensively, way too many poor decisions with the ball by #7. Sometimes the best play is to chuck the ball into Row 5, but Ben has never met a broken play he doesn't like. Again, with Tomlin being every player's friend, Ben gets away with it instead of being occasionally chewed out. Conner needs to shoulder his share of the blame, too. The fumble against Denver being the biggest single example.

Yes, it is a game of inches, but if they simply had a positive turnover ratio, they probably would have won at least two out of the last three and the first Cleveland game.

 

Good point. If the Steelers had played a clean game in all phases, and the refs had done their jobs, they would have ran the Chargers right in to the Ohio river.

 

If the Steelers had done their job and the refs called the exact same game they did, then we would have won. It's a game of inches, but really, if you're the better team and you play like it, you will beat inferior teams by more than inches more times than not. For some reason, we haven't figured that out yet.

 

The current coaching staff is stale. The country club good old boy atmosphere is killing things.

Drama....Tomlin terrified to say avuthing to Ben. Ben playing lazy. Receivers bitching about catches. Defensive secondary is DII college level.

Special teams atrocious.

Time management has always been terrible.

Managing timeouts equally as bad.

Post game press conference...

Tomlin is undefeated.

 

Not defending Ben. He has made some bonehead decisions with the ball. But this team needs a balanced attack on offense. Throwing 50 times and running 15 is a recipe for disaster. We need to win time of possession because this defense cant overcome Being on the field extra and defending short fields. They simply can't hold up.

 

Coming into Week 15 (and including the three games already played), the per-game averages are:
Steelers—43 pass attempts, 22 runs (66%/34%);
NFL—35 pass attempts, 26 runs (57%/43%).

Our game-by-game splits:
CLE: 41/35
KC: 60/13
TB: 38/22
BAL: 47/11
ATL: 29/29
CIN: 46/21
CLE: 36/31
BAL: 48/27
CAR: 27/30
JAX: 47/11
DEN: 58/16
LAC: 45/17
OAK: 38/19

 

You do realize that while I acknowledged the role the officials played, my post was about self-inflicted damage costing the Steelers what should have been a win over the Chargers? Right?

If the officials do their jobs properly, the Steelers win that game. If the Steelers avoid the idiotic, self-inflicted damage, the Steelers win that game. The combination took a game that should have been a Pittsburgh blowout victory and turned it into a loss.