Robinson: Steelers coach Tomlin says it's time to shape up

[polamalubeast]

Fit and finish.

It's a Motor City term for how well a car goes together — do the hood and fenders blend together seamlessly? Does the dashboard rattle and shake? Was the carpet installed without seams showing, or was it thrown down as an afterthought?

What's evident during the Steelers' offseason practices is that coach Mike Tomlin didn't like the fit and finish of his 2012 model team.

He didn't believe it was fit, and he certainly didn't like how it finished games.

The Steelers' five losses by three points all occurred as the result of their uneven fourth quarters. They meant the difference between a team that was 8-8 despite splitting a pair of three-point games with the Super Bowl champion Ravens and one that might have gone 12-4 for a third consecutive season.

Talk about the fine line Bill Cowher always discussed.

“Four games we should have won. Do that, and we're 12-4, but that's how the league goes,” linebacker Larry Foote said. “The year before, we made the playoffs and we could have lost four games. The bottom line is we lost some games that we should have won and we didn't.”

The four games he likely meant were the losses to the Raiders (34-31), Titans (26-23), Browns (20-14) and/or the Ravens home game (13-10) and the overtime Cowboys game (27-24). The Steelers led in the fourth quarter of the Raiders, Titans and Cowboys games, plus a season-opening loss to the Broncos.



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[Moose]

Maybe 'conservative' play calling could have been a contributing factor also ! So, maybe it wasn't just the 'car' but the driver of the car as well.

[Dwinsgames]

it was turnover made and lack of turnover created .....

that is the ONE stat you MUST be on the plus side of especially in close games .....

we failed to be on the plus side of the turnover deficit and in all but 1 of our losses we where on the minus side in the turnover battle ....

Take care of the football and we would have been 15-1 fail to take care of the football we end up 8-8 simple as that .... no need to place blame where blame need not be placed . look no further than ball security ( or lack thereof ) and failure to create turnovers when many times the opportunity was present ( Ike I am talking to you , you got to catch the dam ball it is not that hard )

[polamalubeast]

it was turnover made and lack of turnover created .....

that is the ONE stat you MUST be on the plus side of especially in close games .....

we failed to be on the plus side of the turnover deficit and in all but 1 of our losses we where on the minus side in the turnover battle ....

Take care of the football and we would have been 15-1 fail to take care of the football we end up 8-8 simple as that .... no need to place blame where blame need not be placed . look no further than ball security ( or lack thereof ) and failure to create turnovers when many times the opportunity was present ( Ike I am talking to you , you got to catch the dam ball it is not that hard )

excellent point


The steelers are -23 in the turnovers ratio since 2011(+17 in 2010)

[KeiselPower99]

8 turnovers against the Browns and we still could have won the game!!!! 4th quarters are where championship teams are made.