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The Steeler Management blew this even before the season began.

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by STEELWINDS, Dec 31, 2019.

  1. STEELWINDS

    STEELWINDS

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    Hi Everyone.

    Well, the season is over and in the books.

    Yes, Ben has a serious injury. Season-ending at that which is a first for him. Besides being disappointed with the injury I am more disappointed, and quite infuriated, at the Front Office and the handling of this “catastrophe”. More specifically, by not having a “Real Contingency Plan” in place just for this exact scenario. If Management’s plan was Mason and Duck then someone really needs to have their head examined to see if the hamster is still running on the wheel inside there.

    What bone-head(s) would solely rely on two totally inexperienced, basically rookie QBs, to be the answer if Ben went down for any significant amount of time? However, that is exactly what Management did. UNBELIEVABLE! We should have signed a quality Back-Up QB just for this scenario. Also, this should have been done well before training camp back in the Summer. However, they did not. Then they panic and tried to get Landry Jones back but they get blocked by the CFL. Oh, that was great!

    You talk about poor planning and lack of foresight. I am just completely stunned as to how this whole thing was mismanaged. Even a semi-quality back-up QB probably gets us at least two more wins and we are in the playoffs: especially with the close losses that we endured. IMO, someone(s) should be fired, demoted, fined or have some type of punitive action taken against for such a reckless, bumbling and poorly thought-out plan. I may even be giving unjust credit by stating the word plan. As I do not believe that any type of “planning” went into this at all. Just "Disgusting" as I say around here. Take care my Steeler comrades.


    STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2019
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  2. thesteeldeal

    thesteeldeal Well-Known Member

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    We couldn’t even replace a FB and you wanted to have a plan at QB?
     
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  3. Steel_Elvis

    Steel_Elvis Staff Member Mod Team

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    There can be significant cap implications to acquiring a proven veteran QB to serve as a backup. Bridgewater made over $7.5 million. Tyrod Taylor $5.5 million. Chase Daniel $5 million. Etc. Tannehill only makes something like $2 million, but he was going somewhere with a weak starter so that he’d have the opportunity that ended up presenting itself to him. He wasn’t coming here. The Steelers had a 1st round grade on Rudolph coming out of college, and if they had been correct in that evaluation, having him as the primary backup would have been a solid strategy. I think the issue was more their evaluation of Rudolph than the strategy.

    Also, remember when Rudolph looked like a viable backup QB? Even if he wasn’t worthy of the 1st round grade the Steelers had on him, he started the season looking like a legit NFL backup QB who could effectively manage games, until the concussion.

    There were plenty of mistakes made, but I don’t think this was a glaring lack of planning. It was a mis-evaluation of a player’s ability going back to the draft.
     
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  4. STEELWINDS

    STEELWINDS

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    Hey thesteeldeal.

    Yeah, that is pretty pathetic. I don't know what I was thinking when I posted this (smile).


    STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid
     
  5. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    Steelwinds, I get what you are saying however I see both sides of the coin. Let me say this first off other than Foles and maybe Bridgewater this year who in the last 10 years did anything with a back up QB? Yeah the cheats had a good season with Cassell but how did they do in the playoff that year........oh they didn't make it. So you see having a great back up don't always mean anything. Also like SE pointed out they cost money and more important cap space something we just don't have, especially for a back up. Now forget about this season because nobody knew what was gonna happen but Mason was drafted with high hopes. He had a good preseason and nobody can deny that, so it isn't like we kept a guy like Duck who never played. Speaking of Duck if we have to rely on our 3rd stringer don't you think our season is over?

    Now let's talk about other injuries and suspensions. Conner our leading rusher last year and pro bowler played in 10 games. He had 116 att for a team leading 464 yds.....TEAM LEADING WTF? We did bring in a good college RB in Snell who also missed time as well as a guy in his second year Samuels. Samules lead the way with 14 games played we were pretty hurt here as well.

    WR well wow here is a shocking number our ROOKIE lead this group in games played. DJ played in 16 while mr #1 WR played in 12 and was not very good this year for a lot of reasons some himself and yes some others. JW was our leader in Yds and many people wanted him gone last year. Let's also talk about Moncrief who was brought in to help fill the gap of AB, he could catch a cold. He had a nice career before getting here and was considered by many to be out "mike wallace" guy this year but the stone hands got him a ticket out of town. Let's bring in Vance who played in 14 games why were his numbers down this year? Most important number targets down almost 25 from last year when a young QB needs his security blanket.

    Our play calling and game planning to get our skill players the ball was horrid and here lies the problem with this team. RANDY EFFIN FITCHNER sucks, which also has an effect on Tomlin cause he is the HC and needs to fix this. I have not even touched on Pouncey's games missed as well as other oline or Tuitt's injury.

    The bottom line is this team did go into the season with a plan and injuries kicked their a$$ bottom line. The other thing is like I said above Fitchner needs to go and we need a QB coach. These are management decisions and I agree this is a problem. However if you think they went into the season thinking all they would have ALL these injuries that nuts. There is one team out there right now who has tons of injuries like us and that is the Eagles and they struggled all season as well and barely made the playoffs. Let's keep an eye on them and see how they do, granted QB is a hard position to replace and they unlike us didn't have to this year but they have many many many other key spots gone. Heck you can't even name a WR for them.

    This is just my opinion and let it be known I am not a Tomlin supporter however I have backed him this year. The injuries alone is a lot to come back from but we could have if we had a better OC and that is on MT.
     
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  6. STEELWINDS

    STEELWINDS

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    Hey Steel_Elvis.

    Yeah, I think management may have had the "Plug and Play" mentality with Rudolph if Ben did get hurt. And yes, I agree that both Mason and Duck both served admirably until each one hit a bad game: Mason (Browns) Duck (Bills). It is too bad that Mason got hurt and could not play that last game. One reason being, he looked pretty good coming in for Duck in the Jets game. Theory: Maybe he needed those few games off to "regroup" which is what I stated in another post. Also, I have been a big Mason supporter from Day #1. My concern was he really had no experience when he came in for Ben in the Seattle game and he actually played well there if not for Moncrief's tipped ball >interception> Seattle game winning drive.

    Your Quote: "Also, remember when Rudolph looked like a viable backup QB"? Yes, I agree. Actually, he played well all the way up to that Browns' game. And each game that he played, and we lost, was not because of him except for the Browns' game. It was blunders by the Veterans (Moncrief: Seahawks, Conner Forty-Niners, JuJu: rats. I actually posted this several times. IMO, I think Mason is going to be good at this level. Duck, I just do not know. He was pretty good in college. I think he played at the Division Three level. However, it has to count for something.

    STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid
     
  7. Diamond

    Diamond Well-Known Member

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    What team who lost their starting QB for a year would turn that position over to two rookie QBs who never started an NFL game in their life with out getting an experienced QB to fill that position even if it meant giving up a late round conditional pick to sign him. It turns out that was the biggest down fall for this wasted season, no excuses thats not how you handle the most important position on any team, and rudolph wasnt exactly lighting up the scoreboard early on as some happen to think he was showing promise, and duck was just a disaster who will never be anything in this league and most likely be out of the nfl next year......
     
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  8. HeinzMustard

    HeinzMustard Well-Known Member

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    I honestly don't think the Steelers would have been any better than 8-8 with a "quality" backup QB.... if there is such a thing. :rolleyes:

    Everybody is quick to blame Duck and Rudolph, but the truth is... they didn't get much help at WR and RB. I don't think Montana in his prime could have done much with 3rd and 4th stringers.
     
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  9. Hanratty#5

    Hanratty#5 Well-Known Member

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    I had to go back and re-read 3 times that Juju played 12 games this year. I seriously thought that he only played maybe 6 games at the most. He was invisible for half the games he played in.
     
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  10. Da Stellars

    Da Stellars Well-Known Member

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    I think you could say the same about the inexperience at WR that we went into the season with too.... I didn't have high hopes for the group unless Ben was on his game every week.
     
  11. Diamond

    Diamond Well-Known Member

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    Cant blame the receivers when the QBs cant get the ball to them, and the oline cant run block, better passers means better receivers, better run blocking means better run game.....
     
  12. HeinzMustard

    HeinzMustard Well-Known Member

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    I agree on the OL... it's the root of all problems on offense, IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if Steelers grabbed an OG, OT or Center in the 2nd.
     
  13. SDOT

    SDOT Well-Known Member

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    They had a solid plan in place with Dobbs, Rudolph, and Hodges on PS. Then for some reason they decided to go all in on Rudolph and trade Dobbs. Like I've been saying in hindsight that cost them their season.
     
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  14. HeinzMustard

    HeinzMustard Well-Known Member

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    Dobbs would have done no better than Rudolph or Duck. Truth. Rudolph clearly outplayed Dobbs in preseason. That's a no-brainer.

    I remember several people here wanting the Steelers to keep Duck over Dobbs after preseason.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2019
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  15. Disco1981

    Disco1981 Well-Known Member

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    Ha... FB...We never used the All Pro one we had!
     
  16. Thigpen82

    Thigpen82 Bitter optimist

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    Moncrief was a big part of that problem. He was the veteran presence...
     
  17. Thigpen82

    Thigpen82 Bitter optimist

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    If they had signed a vet back up, then:

    - we would have overpaid given who was on the market
    - we would have threads complaining about not giving Mason playing time/ trading Dobbs
    - we would have struggled for cap space to sign Vannett, leaving the TE position even thinner
    - the run game would have the same problems, as would we still have open field fumbles that cost us two games

    So I don’t agree this is somehow all on the FO.

    We need to stop with this “reduce the season to one problem”. The season had so many problems from so many angles, it’s just misleading to try and pin it on one thing.
     
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  18. Jball

    Jball Well-Known Member

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    I think everything compounded on everything.

    We lose our HOF QB in the 2nd game for the season. Leaving two guys without a start between them. SB hopes were really gone at this point.

    Defenses start stacking the box to stop the run because they aren't afraid of the pass. This makes it very hard to run. A constantly hurt #1 RB makes it even harder.

    No running game, and bad QB play, constantly leave the team in 3rd and long situations. Teams just begin to constantly blitz against our aging OL and pound the hell out of the kid QB's.

    To compound this issue, they lost the best wr in football and replaced him with Moncrief(enough said). Also, JuJu clearly was struggling without help from another quality wr across from him. And a rookie and a 2nd year guy behind them. Lots of inexperience and dropped passes. And obviously they had terrible passes being thrown to them, so even if they got open, they were missed.

    Not to mention the fact that the OC was unable come up with anything resembling a creative game plan. It's chess Randy. I realize he didn't have his best pieces left but he showed no ability to adapt and come up with creative solutions. The only game that felt like an actual game plan was the 1st Cinncy game. Of course that's Cincinnati.

    This all adds up to a painful offense.
     
  19. SDOT

    SDOT Well-Known Member

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    Sorry but we do not know that. Just because Rudolph was better this preseason doesn't mean you automatically trade Dobbs away. Nobody was rushing to scoop up Hodges. We could of had all of them.

    Which position cost us our season? Answer me that.


    :rolleyes:
     
  20. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

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    :facepalm:
     
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  21. SDOT

    SDOT Well-Known Member

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    Speak.. Which position cost us our season this year?
     
  22. thesteeldeal

    thesteeldeal Well-Known Member

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    That’s because he became a All Pro on STs....:hehehe:
     
  23. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  24. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    I'll pipe in here WR.....RB to name a couple. Let's see we missed the playoffs by 1 game if I remember right we had 2 fumbles that each cost us a game.......just saying can't keep going back to Dobbs. The fact is this you don't know if Dobbs would have been better but we do know we lost 2 games with 2 fumbles..........
     
  25. SDOT

    SDOT Well-Known Member

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    QB play cost us and you know it. Fumbles happen. We didn't crack 30 points one time for the first time in decades. One of the worst offenses in the history of the nfl ever fielded.
     
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