Our Offense: First to Worst

AGAIN yes the playoffs are different and you can keep bringing up Flacco and Foles however this years Bills are far from them teams. The thing you are missing is Foles and Flacco didn't turn the ball over like Allen has this season and that right there is the down fall.

You keep bringing up the "power run game" and a "punishing defense" but I just don't see these. Yes the Bills D is good very good however look at our last game. They beat us 17-10 and our QB was horrid, you think the likes of Brady, Mahommes or Jackson will play anywhere close to that....cause I don't. Sorry look at the Bills wins:

Jets 17-16
NYG 28-14
Bungals 21-17
Tenn 14-7
Dolphins 31-21
Redskins 24-9
Dolphins 37-20
Den 20-3
Cowpies 26-15
Steelers 17-10

Other than the Cowpies where is the convincing win and one can even say that wasn't a convincing win. You know what almost all of these wins have in common, no QB that will not happen in the playoffs. Brady, Mahommes, LJ and Watson are all good QB's.

Like you say anything can happen in the playoffs and especially with a good defense but come on man lets pump the brakes with this team until Allen proves he can hold the ball.

 

You are looking at the previous events that had happened and not focusing on what has happened which could lead towards what is to come. I never said Josh Allen was stellar in ball security at all. What I did say was all he has to do is play smart. That is it.


Regarding the power run game I keep talking about, Buffalo is second in the conference, Houston being the third. A top 5 rushing attack will take ANY team far into the playoffs provided they consistently and efficiently pound the rock. Again, look at the previous three Super Bowl Winners.



Regarding the defense, again, Buffalo's Defense is elite. Regardless of their opponents, the fact that the Bills have been able to put teams away for the win only amplifies their position as a unit. Once again, we have to look back at the past three Super Bowl winners. All three teams had defenses that ranked in the Top 5 for PPG and top 10 for Third Down Conversion Rate; Buffalo ranking 2nd and 6th respectively.




So again, it is not that Buffalo is likely to win the Super Bowl. I never said they have the absolute capability to do so. I am stating that underestimate the Buffalo Bills at one's own peril.



The tools are there for them to go into a deep playoff run. Their biggest X Factor is still Josh Allen. How well his ball security is will dictate how far they will go.

 

Bills runs the ball because they don't want Allen slinging it. KISS is in effect up there in Buffalo.

 

Ok to your first point which I am still trying to figure out but the short of it is this. You say all Allen has to do is play smart, he hasn't done that with his 14 fumbles. That is what you have to go on is the performance he is having.

Now onto the next point I bring up the lack of quality the Bills have played to lead to their ranking in the run game. As for the past 3 SB winners where were they seated, I am pretty sure they weren't a #5 seed who couldn't win their division. Last 3 winners Pat, Eagles and Pats I am pretty sure were #1 seeds.

Yes the Bills D is good but I will not call them elite, they have to prove to me they can shut down a good QB. Maybe this week they can do that and maybe this week vs the cheats they will help me change my mind but right now not.

Last something we agree on regarding our recent back and forth(which has been cool by the way) it isn't likely for the Bills to even go to the SB never mind win it but there is a chance of it. And yes they will go as far as Allen takes them, but I guess any team can say that right? I mean what if Duck gets hot or MR comes off the bench looking good? With our D we could be the team nobody wants to play......but that is a big what if. jmo

 

It isn't about individual awards however it is part of the game and gets talked about. Does it mean anything maybe or maybe not but what I will tell ya is I would rather have a coach in the running for it than a coach who is talked about being on the hot seat. How many times does a coach on the hot seat turn it around and win, not many I can think of. Now does all that help the fact that we won't win the SB heck no but I will say it is better than what has happened the last few years here.

Again I am not giving MT a pass on what has happened in the past but I will say this. If MT is as bad as we and many others here have talked about then imo with all the injuries this year we would have been a bottom 5 team. Now you bring up a great point the people he surround himself with, the coordinators. Maybe this right here is the problem all along and a change needs to come. I know we have talked in other threads about Fitch but he stinks bottom line. MT needs to really look at an offensive stud especially one who has experience with young QB's because that is the road we are going to be going down. jmo

 

Does Tomlin really care about winning or just about securing his job?

 

first off not attacking you just want to add to this.

This is what the 2008 superbowl winning steelers did

steelers 38 texans 17
steelers 10 browns 6 (almost lost to 4-12 browns team)
steelers 6 eagles 15 (eagles 9-6-1)
ravens 20 steelers 23
steelers 26 jaguars 21
steelers 38 bengals 10
giants 21 steelers 14
steelers 23 redskins 6
colts 24 steelers 20
chargers 10 steelers 11 (chargers 8-8)
bengals 10 steelers 27
cowboys 13 steelers 20
steelers 13 ravens 9
steelers 14 titans 31
browns 00 steelers 31

other than ravens we didnt beat great teams

 

The problem I’ve said all along is the coordinators. The HC has to take responsibility for that. I would think with his success and his tenure he would have say on his coordinators. If he doesn’t that’s a sad commentary on how upper management feels about him. If he does have control he has to get rid of his buddies. I think the way the Rooneys handle their coaching situations forces us to look at the coaches in a different way. They don’t fire anyone if they’re under contract and seeing how coaches(coordinators) are usually on 2-3 year deals we get stuck with under performance. Just last year and even in the beginning of this year almost everyone was calling for Butlers head. Now that he has talent playing on a elite level,he’s a good coach again? He should of been fired after the debacle in NE in the AFCCG and certainly after the Jax playoff loss. So Butler is having a good run with these players are we’re willing to sign him for another 3 years knowing damn well if he does he’s not going anywhere regardless of performance?

For the last 4 years or so I and many were calling for a Butler to be fired. When nothing was getting done and the defense was becoming worse and worse I think I rightfully expected the HC especially one with a defensive background would be able to step up and make the necessary changes in house himself or fire Butler all together for not doing his job well at all. That’s when it got to the point where I was shifting blame towards MT he’s the HC. I’m sorry but I don’t subscribe to the idea that Butler suddenly learned how to be a DC again and there no way I’m forgetting about the time leading up to now and giving him a new contract IMO Butlers success has everything to do with the players and very little to do with him. I want a coach who can make more of something out of nothing. There were ways to scheme better and do a better job of putting whatever players he did have in a position to succeed. He failed miserably on both ends. Laughably predictable schemes and square peg ,round holing the defense. Now all of a sudden he can coach? Not buying it....

Now with RF I feel we are on the same path as Butler. Does he have elite talent to work with? Certainly not. Can he be doing a much better job of game planning,play calling and putting players in better situations? Absolutely as I see it.
Do we have to wait years to stockpile more talent on O to make RF look competent? At the same time the most important part of our O the OL is aging before our eyes. It’s just frustrating because I don’t see any innovation out of our offense. Almost all of the teams are doing new things with motion and RPOs and our plan is the wildcat . Gonna try and cut this short. I like MT as a coach,I hate his coordinators and feel we can do so much better. I put the onus on him to make the necessary changes to bring in some fresh minds and ideas....I don’t think it’s fair to just blame the coordinators when MT signs off on these game plans and play calls. The buck should stop with the HC...

 

Steelers got their asses handed to them by the Titans late in the season. Good thing the Ravens took them out for us. Brady being on IR helped too.

 

some teams just match up well vs others regardless how good they should be. We never match up well vs pats, but other teams have knocked them out for us (2005(broncos), 2008(hurt) 2010(jets)).

I am not one of those guys that says "bring em on i want to beat them!" nah, im more along the lines of "If steelers win a superbowl with favorable calls, hurt opponents, and lucky plays so be it".

 

The Deities get great joy in watching Tomlin's ineptitude, unlike Steeler fans. In fact, they actually set aside time on game day to sit around watching his blunders, eating Moose Munch popcorn out of decorative tins. Oh there was popcorn flying everywhere the day he successfully executed a challenge, I can tell you that. To this day, one large, dented tin, devoid of popcorn, is displayed proudly, or in infamy based on your perspective, over the hearth in Deity Fred's living room. He still finds a nut or unpopped kernel in his couch cushions from time to time.

 

It's funny how a Jake Plummer-led Broncos team had little trouble taking out the Patriots in '05. Steelers would have been slaughtered by the Patriots.... we were lucky we got Bengals, Colts and Broncos. Strange how the Steelers could beat arguably the best team in the 00's... the '05 Colts, but were completely owned by the Patriots for most of that decade and this decade.

 

And here I thought the topic was about how much our offense has regressed from last year. Wait...it was.

Enjoy the rest of your discussion

 

I get all that but we weren't a #5 seed with a shaky QB like the Bill are. I am not taking anything away from the Bills I am just saying I am not picking them as a darkhorse for the SB when you still have NE, KC and the Rats all as solid teams.

 

You are right but you are getting into a much deeper conversation then what I was referring to when I responded to this thread. The op was talking about MT not being a COTY front runner and I disagree. Forget about the past what is going on right now is a good to great job by MT. I for one have been heavy on the fire Tomlin train however what he has done with this mess he has been given this year is incredible. This other stuff you are bringing up is all great and is all true but does not apply to what I am referring to this year.

Butler and Fitch are 2 total different discussions imo. I disagree with your assessment of Butler and feel he and MT were oil and water. I have always believed KB could coach my problem was the system he has come from and what MT wants to run. Now Fitch on the other hand is pure garbage. To save wear and tear on my finger tips for typing about him I will leave it at that. Now you can say both of these guys are a reflection of the HC that is fine I would agree. So now while our D is kicking butt why isn't people giving credit to MT? jmo

 

The Oilers always seemed like tough games. Old divisional foe them Titans.

 

See video taping signals.