First off, I am a Steeler guy through and through. I grew up in Pittsburgh and have loved the Steelers from the early 70's through now. Yes, I still love, watch and follow them. I have a good background in football, not only playing but coaching it for over 25 years. I have coached players who have gone onto the NFL and kids that have hung up the pads after their last high school game. I have a serious background in behavior and normative behavior which has aided me immensely in life in dealing with players, parents, organizations and especially in sports where over the past 50 years things have shifted dramatically.
2 years ago when the Steelers started 11-0 and were being hailed as an elite team I posted after their 11th win that the Steelers would lose their remaining games and lose in the 1st round of the playoffs. They actually won 1 of the remaining games against Indianapolis, much as they had done in their 1st 11 games by a team actually handing them a win. They got crushed in the opening round of the playoffs and from there have gone steadily downhill.
Let's go back in time a little bit to actually look at where I think things started going out of control. Believe me, they are out of control to which we will get to that. Mike Tomlin is a great place to start. The Head Coach is the person who is responsible for the culture within the organization both on and off the field. Decisions he makes with players and staff and what those decisions are lead to the development of the team as a whole. The Steeler Organization used to be one that was held high and that everyone wanted to be a part of if they could. That has changed. Look at the number of players who have left this organization and the circumstances for why they left. Pittsburgh used to be in the national spotlight because of the teams and culture they that they adhered to. A great football team made up of high character guys that not only were great on the field but also off the field as well. Looking at our team over the past Tomlin years we have a bunch of underachieving finger pointers and malcontents. I actually think Ben Roethlisberger was right when he said we had a group of "ME" guys who only thought of themselves and not what was best for the team. This has gone on and on and Pittsburgh is now in the spotlight nationally as a team who is disorganized and cannot compete against even average NFL Teams. We have a defense that is the highest paid in the NFL but yet cannot stop anyone on any Sunday. Yes, we should have lost to Cincinnati in the opener and also to Tampa Bay which gave us a win although we gave them every opportunity to win. Instead of 2-6 we could and should be 0-8.
In the past couple years players have commented almost weekly about not being prepared, calling out other players, calling out coaches and basically saying, "The Standard Is Not The Standard Anymore". This is what the telling point of what is really going on in the organization is all about. "BUY IN". Players are not bought into what is being given to them from coaching decisions on down. The media has got to start asking the hard questions and pressing people to be accountable. Until that happens we will get the same answers and quotes we always get.
The evaluation of talent that is on the field and also absent from the field also seems questionable to me. That goes from who is active and inactive to who is on the field in key situations. You hear everyone talk about an identity to have for what you are trying to accomplish for which I think we would be hard pressed to have our staff say what that actually is. Offensively, we are what I call poking and hoping. It looks like we call plays for general purposes and not for the situations that are dictated. Bill Cowher had a very interesting commentary about Kenny Pickett and what is going on at QB. Having this kid throw the ball 45-50 times a game right now is not good. I think the receivers are actually a problem now. I do not have actual game film to watch, but from the replays and seeing what is being done I agree with the QB's Pickett and Trubisky that the receivers are giving them bad reads on what they are doing and where they should be. I am not a fan on Matt Canada and I believe his offense from seeing it now for almost 2 years is garbage. Nothing is ever schemed for a player's to get the ball in an open area. NFL OC's that are really good know how to get the ball in their best player's hands in positive situations.
I could go on and on about this offense and exactly what I think but the only way to get this better is to scrap and go to something different.
Defensively. This is Tomlin's forte and something that he really needs to address. For over 4 years he has taken control of the defense and although he has a person who is listed as his defensive coordinator Mike makes the defensive calls. Our defense is made up of players who make a combined 108 million dollars a year, the highest paid defense in the league. TJ, Minkah and Cam make up the majority of this and yes they are great individual players and getting back TJ can only help. What though will change when he comes back. Yes, he will get his sacks and splash plays but will the defense be able to stop people and get off the field ? Big plays running, big plays passing. These are all things way to familiar for a defense that Pittsburgh people and also people nationally have said should be elite. Elite to me means consistent, game changing, fundamentally sound. We fail in all 3 categories.
What I am getting at and have been for the past 4-5 years is that the RED FLAGS have been there on the decline of this organization. Thank you Coach Tomlin for your ears but your ideas, words and actions have shown that there needs to be new leadership for this team. I know, people are going to say who will we get to replace him. He will have a job in 5 minutes. That's all fantastic. Hopefully your ideas work to help someone else. They are not helping or rectifying what we need. There are many good coaches out there who need a chance. I would love to let Byron Leftwich or someone like that come in to work with this offensive group. Let him or another coach come to Pittsburgh and assemble a staff behind their ideas. The time is after this year.
LETS GO STEELERS !!!!!
Comentarios