Ok Rooney Wake Up

The fourth round pick (McCormick) and Seumalo are what it "Cost" to replace Dotson.

And who knows....maybe Dotson needed the jolt of being traded to become a professional and live up to the potential you and others saw.

And the talent I am talking about is far more critical than one decent guard. And I know that you know that. I think you are being disingenuous here because Dotson is the one that seems to stick in everyone's craw.

IF we really want to get into the Dotson debacle, we need to talk about why and how the decision was made to load up around a washed Ben R with a draft class of Harris, PF, and a flawed center prospect. Then follow that up with reaching for KP in an attempt to cement the outgoing GM's legacy. There is a lot more going on with these decisions than just laying it at the head coach's feet.

 

Fear of failure is not an excuse to allow current failures. Tomlin's time has come imo. 19 years is a long time.

 

The thing that gets me about this discussion is how you always say it is the fault of the players. What did Dotson do that you can show me? There is nothing bad that he did off the field. He has always played hard on the field, so where did your assumption that he needed a jolt to get his **** together and become a professional come from?

That is where I believe you are tainted in your support of Tomlin. You blindly convince yourself that the player is 100% at fault. I keep posting facts and information, yet you have posted nothing to show that Dotson wasn't exactly the player he is with the Rams. Tomlin just blew it because there is no evidence that shows otherwise. The coaching staff failed.

I believed and supported Tomlin for many years until I saw enough signs of "below the standard" coaching from him that shows up on tape, coaching decisions, handling of assistant coaches and coordinators, and the use of his schemes, game planning, and the implementation of that on the football field.

You have no problem saying Ben was washed even though they were winning 11 games with him. You claim to see all these deficiencies in his game and what he couldn't do anymore, but you can't do the same with Tomlin. Being a head coach is a lot like being a starting quarterback. Quarterbacks need to continue to show they have answers to the questions and challenges that come up within the game. When they don't have enough answers, they are no longer effective. They can also lose their nerve.

The same applies to head coaches to the challenges they face. It is up to Tomlin to be able to identify and maximize talent. Develop that talent along with his coaching staff. Make adjustments to overcome what other teams are doing to you. Continue to formulate game plans that give your team the best chance to win and to put your players in the best position to play well and win. Be adaptable so that they can overcome new challenges and styles of play. There are a multitude of things that a head coach needs to do well. Once a head coach starts answering less of the questions on the weekly test, and more and more failures show up on the field, in the locker room, and off the field, they can age out or underperform just like any player can. At that point they can and should be replaced.

All I ask is that others be willing to see when something is working, and when it is not. The evidence is there if someone is willing to look for it. Tomlin has demonstrated to me that he no longer answers enough of the questions or overcomes the obstacles he once did to put his team in position to win enough meaningful games. There are no games more meaningful than playoff games and not only have they not been winning playoff games, they have also been getting dominated and embarrassed in those games. They are being outcoached and outplayed by a very wide margin for a long time.

That's not good enough.

 

The evidence for Dotson was that he did not perform well when on the field in a Steelers uniform. I think we can all agree on that. He showed flashes but certainly was not an All-Pro guard when he played in games.

Taking that as a starting point...we can assume something changed for Dotson when he was a Ram. Maybe he has to play on the right side. Maybe he has to play in a specific type of blocking scheme. Maybe he wasn't honing his craft in his off hours and preparation and realized he needed to. Maybe the light bulb just went off like it does for so many players 3-4 years into the league. We don't really know. We may never accurately know.

I am balancing Dotson on one hand with Banner, Moore, McCormick, Frazier, New RT guy, Anderson, various fill-in backup OL over the years at exceeded expectations. Heck, Ramon Foster (was he a Cowher guy?) and AV. Whether it is Tomlin, the team, the OL coach, whoever...there is one mistake in evaluation and several times that success stories. Focusing on the larger picture, you can see a group that has succeeded in the past making me wonder if there is something different with the minority failure(s).

Everyone always pushes back on the "Ben was washed up" statement. Oh...he won 11 games. Like watch the games...Ben was so far removed from what he once was. Just like Wilson. Just like Rodgers. Just like Rivers. Can they have old man success? Sure. But they are still washed up.

Bottom line is that it all comes down to the starting expectations for evaluation. Since about 2020 or so, I figured the Steelers were a 6-9 win team each year. Wildcard exit as a ceiling and like 10th pick in the draft as floor. For instance, this year I thought they would be lucky to win 6 games. With that as my starting point...Tomlin has annually exceeded expectations and provided more answers than I anticipated anyone associated with the Steelers as having.

Tomlin has been coaching for a long time. You have to divide his tenure up into different eras. There is the core he went 1-1 in SBs with. Then there is a mid 2000's group that most feel he should have seen more playoff success with. I am on board with that. I argue that group was just snakebite and had some of the worst injury luck I can remember. I also think the 2019 group brings home a SB without Ben's injury. But all that is another discussion. Then Ben's elbow disintegrates and we have the 2020's.

Best way I can sum it up - and this is only for me and I realize that others can and do see it far differently (doesn't mean I am not going to try and convince them otherwise) - from 2020-2025, I do not care who was coaching the Steelers, they were not winning a playoff game. I further argue that most NFL coaches do not even get those same rosters in the playoffs.

 

Well written

 

Adding
If the Browns had any sort of qb play
They would be hard to beat with that defense
They mentioned during the game that Browns defense leads the league for time spent on the field
Yet in top 10 in a lot of defensive statistics
Impressive

 

Those are the reasons that I am honestly surprised that so many Steelers fans are shocked at the loss. The Browns have one of the best defenses in the league. They have the most destructive individual defensive player in the league. They have an all time great defensive coordinator.

And the Steelers offense is whatever brain cells Rodgers hasn't doused in ayahuasca and whichever 4 of his muscles choose to work that day (I kid but the dude is old) throwing to WRs that either would be or have been cut by the rest of the league. All of that behind an OL that struggles to consistently open running lanes against defenses ranked above average.

And it is a division rival that hates the Steelers, at home, after hearing all week how the Steelers were going to walk all over them in the media. What did anyone expect was going to happen?

Did I think the Steelers could win? Yes. Did I think they would? No. Did I expect the offense to look awful? Yes. Did I expect it to look that ridiculous? No.

 

Just the fact that you're not surprised Steelers lose games to Shredder Sanders and a 3 win team says how low the expectations are for the team.

 

No one is shocked at the loss. This is exactly why fans are pissed. We EXPECT the team to lose anytime they play a team that is 8+ games under .500. Its been 5 straight games without a win vs these teams.

I know division games are always tough regardless of records but it would be nice for once to see this team tale care of business instead of showing up flat.

6 points?

You know what would’ve shocked fans? To show up and beat the brakes off CLE and win the division. That would’ve shocked a lot of us.