Another Fan’s Steelers State of the Union

I don’t know these folks but this guy does make some interesting points.


This is a post from Mark R. Dudley on another Steelers site. I'm unable to share it, so I'm copying and pasting it. It's by far the most intelligent post I have ever seen on any Steelers site. Not emotional, not vindictive, not wild--just a cold, clear, hard and insightful analysis of the current situation. I don't know Mark personally, but every post or comment I've ever read by him is brilliant. I wish he were working in the Steelers organization. As an analyst, he's in a class by himself.

"I’ve been looking at this a few years and have seen enough to say the Steelers will not win another SB for awhile. Here is why ( long post)

1. Ownership-the owner hates change so much he won’t change when it’s obvious he should. He is also more focused on having a team that wins games v championships.

2. HC…Tomlin has never been an X and O guy. The Steelers beat you with better players..not better schemes. Over time the game has evolved since 2007 but MT is still the same guy trying to win the same way. He isn’t getting better..he is getting worse. Today Tomlin and his entire staff were totally embarrassed by a brand new coaching staff with a rookie QB in his fourth start. They were also missing two CBs and two starters on the offensive line. Still it did not matter. He lost a playoff game at home..when the browns HC wasn’t even at the game. You simply can’t win on emotion every week.

3. Coaches. The Steelers promote from within policy is a fallacy because you never get new guys with new ideas.especially considering the HC is not known for being strategic. Steelers wasted the peak of the killer B era with a mediocre DC keith butler. But they made up for it by making Fichner the OC. Both were over their heads from day one. But still kept a job. Ray Sherman lasted a year at OC and his offense was better than Matt Canada’s with less talent. Mularkey was better than Canada and he only lasted two seasons. AR2 clearly is no Dan Rooney The position coaches have been worse. They are not developing new talent. Munchack is the ONLY Steelers position coach under Tomlin to get promoted outside the organization. 1 in 16 years is a joke. The fact that the Steelers could have had Eric B as the OC and kept Canada is a Greek tragedy. The commanders scored 31 at philly today. This Steelers team would not get ten points on that defense.

4. Drafting profiles-Steelers love getting DBs that can play the run in a passing league. They draft OL that either are good at pass protection or run blocking but rarely both. They love getting ILBs that are either good at playing the run or pass but not both. Watching the jets ILBs cover better than the Steelers CBs prove to me they are looking at the wrong things.

5. Not playing the best players. This has been a problem the past 4-5 years. Every season the Steelers have a few players making the team that have fans asking why or how. They have had guy’s return kicks that are bad at it. DBs that can’t cover. OLinemen that are average with a promising young player backing him up. They always have a few players that fan’s wonder why they don’t play more. While Emmanuel Forbes, Christian Gonzales and the banks kid were all day one starters..and looking pretty good…JPJ remains on the bench for whatever reason but he isn’t the first.

Add all this up and you get what you always get the past ten years or so. A team that wins enough to make $$, a team that appears woefully unprepared at times, losing one game every season to one of the worst teams in the league, under development of draft picks, mediocre coaches and overall complacency."

 

Spot on and nothing eye opening everything we all see. I kept reading today articles criticizing the Steelers with almost every sports writer seemingly saying Tomlin should feel some but heavens no its not time for him to go. Why??????? What is kool-aid everyone see's in this guy. I get not firing him in teh middle of the season but the implication seems to be not at the end either. It is nuts. The Yankees had another non losing season in a long stretch but the fans have been calling for Cashman to be canned for years and managers to be changed. Stephen A said to today in criticism of Tomlin, why was Canada hired as he only lasted half a season at LSU, why???

 

Glad they are so smart. Go back when We hired Him on this board, and look what I said. LoL 8m glad they are finally catching on. LoL

 

Good stuff and he’s spot on, especially with no. 2. Tomlin said the day he was hired that he focused on the fundamentals rather than scheme. We’re realizing that more and more the longer he’s the coach. While he plays checkers, other coaches are playing chess.

 

I'm going to end my thoughts about this with this.
Isn't it a curious thing that all the so called best coaches have great Qbs, and the not so great coaches have bad Qbs???
Example: Brian Daboll I was told in here was a Qb genius.....yet the best He can do is make Danny look ....ok. Let's look at Andy Reid many many many people have told Me he was a NFL genius.....yet the best He could do before Mahomes was make all those other Qbs look from ok to good.....then He gets Mahomes.....Bam....Genius. Shanahan....been told was a genius.....yet traded 4 draft picks for Trey, and let Him go for Purdy.
McVay said I can't do it with the Qb he had, and traded Him away.
Everyone of these guys have been considered NFL offensive genius.....yet they couldn't, and wouldn't do it with Qbs they had.
Something to think about.
Unless fire all the coaches is just in your blood.

 

Good write up nothing new or ground breaking. Those points are covered and have been covered countless times daily here a good long while. Everybody sees it even if/when we agree to disagree on the certain personal reasons for it.however we all know our opinions do not matter to the folks pulling these strings that we react too.

we all have feelings or opinions or whatever that ultimately don’t matter. I love the team and while I always hope for a better product I totally understand the reality of where the teams at. Honestly the owners not a dog, the coaches are not a dog and outside of a handful of players that are dogs…the business is gonna run regardless of the outcomes and the culture has shifted emotionally, financially and morally. There’s too much noise and not enough reasoning but that’s in everything and everything has a tangiable excuse like it or not.

here’s to the Jekyll and Hyde W coming this weekend.

 

I love when people claim to know what someone they’ve never met thinks and states it as fact.

sorry op you lost me in the first paragraph

 

sorry you were lost…… I only wrote the first sentence , everything else I copied and pasted here. Just thought he made some interesting points ,,,,,, never stated anything as fact , maybe you should have re-read it before reposting

Cajun

 

Yeah, I got that. His first statement

 

As far as DB's ... that was true in Lebeau's era (preferring run stoppers at CB), nowadays I don't think our CB or Safties are much of run stoppers at all AND they suck at covering ... so I guess it would be nice if they at least excelled at one of them?

The ILB that excels at everything seems to have become impossible to acquire. They are unicorns that go in the first round of the draft. If it is that hard to find them, then maybe we need to switch to a 4-3 to limit the amount of them we are looking for?

Scouting and Drafting has been bad for the Steelers for a few years now. We really needed Loudermilk and Leal to really make a huge difference on the D-Line and so far I haven't seen a jump in either one of them. Steelers also draft DT's often in late rounds and haven't developed any of them into starters.

We are playing 3 safties at times now, you would think they would invest in one early in the draft instead of signing castaways in FA.

 

That’s fine and can be a good way to go as the leader of an organization IF you then hire good people as coordinators and position coaches that DO focus on scheme.

For the life of me I can’t understand why Tomlin doesn’t hire some good coaches to sweat the X’s and O’s while he steers the ship.

 

Andy Reid was good with Alex Smith and Mike Vick. Reid, mcvay, and I'm sure u have more examples drafted or traded for qbs they thought could run their offenses and it worked. I'd love for Mikey to have half their offensive talent and skill for making ok qbs look good because Mikey makes ok qbs look like sh!t

 

To the Rooney’s and his partners this is just a business and the only thing that matters is the checks / bottom line profit . They must be doing great otherwise there would be change in my opinion.

 

Switching to a 4-3 would mean we would need 6ilb instead of 4ilb

 

maybe Art Rooney thinks he owes it to his father to keep Mike Tomlin which is ok but Matt Canada and the def. coordiinator -------no fn excuse--- none

 

We beat Andy Reid in the playoffs when He had A. Smith, and He won no playoffs games with Mike Vick. You can't complain about not winning playoff games , and then tell Me another coach was good with players they won nothing with.

 

Yet, that streak in Philly that wasn't even as bad as Tomlins last 7 years, got Andy Reid fired. Here, our owners would have given him a lifetime extension.

 

Well I didn't specifically complain about not winning playoff games. I understand a team wins and a team loses. I just don't like how we have looked lately and hate how we looked in the playoff losses. I'm not some crazy person who expects them to have 20 superbowl victories..I just want the potential to think they have a shot and I'm very far from that now and last I thought they had a shot was just before AB went crazy.

 

I think Pittsburgh sports is being invaded by the bottom line The Pirates have the market on it at the moment. I'm not sure about the Penguins but believe they will try to get up top again.

 

Tomlin had Ben (and the killer Bs for a long time), and BAM, Tomlin sucked **** with a HoF QB.

I fail to see how anyone can claim Tomlin has been dealt a bad QB over the last decade….

 

How did We suck???? Because we didn't win SBs???
Don't let hate ruin Your critical thinking.
So if Andy Reid, and Mahomes never win another SB again. Andy Reid sucks???

 

I don't know. They spent a lot of money on what was called a super team/dream team, and went 8-8, and 4-12. I think You are forgetting this.

 

Maybe AR owes it to the people he depends on to pay the bills, the fans, to put a good product on the field. Insanity is watching the same things for 17 years and expect it to change the next year. JMO>

 

How did we NOT suck?

Losing 3 playoff games by an average of 45 points, and winning one playoff game in 10 years. That’s how we suck while having a HoF QB.

yes, if Reid lost like that with Mahomes, he would suck. News flash: Reid hasn’t lost like that with Mahomes.

come back when Reid loses 3 playoff games in the first round by an average of 45 points with Mahomes, and then compare.

let’s turn this around. Can you name a coach that has lost 3 first round playoff games by an average of 45 points with a HoF QB? Name one other than tomlin.