I think we are entering a long winter, akin to the Tomczak and Maddox teams
just before Ben got here. Solid (sometimes great) defense, a mediocre to
good QB, and a very average offense.
1) I hope Ben retires, for his sake. I can see a season next year where he
is just terrible and they bench him mid-year, which would be far worse to
go out on than what just happened, imo.
2) I'm going to plant my flag and say that the *most* important coaching
position they need to replace this off season is oline. My kingdom for
Grimm or Munchak and a bunch of young linemen.
3) I think, and continue to believe, that Tomlin is way, way
underappreciated as a coach. I mean, we were playing our 3rd string OLB
most of the time in that game. They had a ton of key injuries, a QB who is
well on the downside of his career, absolutely no running game at all, two
coordinators who are just terrible, and he still got this team to 12-4. He
owns the 4th and 1 call, and who he keeps on this staff after this year,
but honestly as far as I'm concerned if you gave Cowher all those years
without a ring, Tomlin should get the same. We'll see what kind of coach he
really is with Ben gone.
Anyways, I think we are entering a long winter where we are competitive for
the playoffs, but not the Super Bowl for a few years.
Thanks,
Steve
On Mon, Jan 11, 2021 at 5:53 PM Scott H <blitzum@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I largely agree with your whole post. All 3 teams in the division have up
an coming QBs with solid or improving teams. We have an aging QB with an
aging line. Lots of talent elsewhere, but that combo is not good.
No one wants to say it but 3 playoff wins in 10 years with the talent we
have had is ridiculously embarrassing. Bill Cowher, Andy Reid, Mike
McCarthy.... I think there comes a time when the team needs to move on from
a coach. Instances like the 4th and 1 and enough for me. Tomlin has a hell
of a regular season win percentage. That greats and all but that is worthy
of a participation trophy not a Lombardi.
Ben is the big question since I see nothing happening on the Tomlin front.
I don't think he wants to go out with that kind of loss, but I honestly
don't see next year being better. Ben and the line will be a year older. I
like Dotson at LG, but we need a LT and we are still looking at an over
rated center and a declining RG. Juju likely gone and while his number
didn't show it I thought he had a solid year. Ebron can't catch a cold and
I now see why he was available.
There will be changes on D, but still plenty of talent. A young CB would
be nice. Hopefully we can keep important depth role players like Hilton and
Sutton.
I am very curious what the next few months brings. Will Ben retire? Can
the team keep any FA's? Could the team make a move for a QB like Trubisky
or Darnold or take one in the draft ?
Lots of questions and SADLY lots of time to think about it
Scott in Jersey
------------------------------
*From:* steelers_pb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <steelers_pb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
on behalf of Eric Johannsen <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Monday, January 11, 2021 9:20 AM
*To:* steelers_pb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <steelers_pb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [steelers_pb] Postmortem
After having a sleepless night to torture myself over last night's
disaster, I've come up with a few things.
1 - Despite the fact that we spotted the Browns 7 points, they deserve
credit for all they overcame to win that game. I can't stand losing to
that team but I give credit where it's due. Something about all that damn
'good sportsmanship' I used to try to teach my players when I coached
baseball.
2 - Tomlin's decision to not go for 4th and 1 on their own 46, down 12,
was awful. The Browns were reeling. Here were the Steelers 4 drives
leading up to that point: Touchdown, Field Goal, Touchdown, Touchdown.
Tomlin let the Browns catch their breath and they went right down the field
for a score that effectively ended the game.
3 - In the Steelers' last 3 playoff losses, they have given up 36, 45, and
48 points.
4 - I recall Dave saying a few years ago something like "Offensive line is
a sneaky need for this team," and sonofabitch if that dude wasn't spot on
once again.
5 - It's gonna be a long time before the Steelers can realistically
compete for a Super Bowl. Every other team in the AFCN is ascending, and
this was our last best shot. Reminds me of when the Aikman-Irvin-Smith
Cowboys lost in the 1996 playoffs - you just knew it was over. Only that
group had 3 Lombardis to cry on....
Not looking forward to this offseason. The team is going to be decimated
by age and the salary cap and will look very different next year. That's
not all bad, mind you, because change is VERY necessary at this point. The
problem is that Ben has a doll house sized window remaining and he won't be
around long enough to endure the re-tooling. There IS talent on this team
on both sides of the ball, but the supporting cast is just not good enough.
Eric in NJ