No wonder he went for the onside kick and didn't trust the D and his dumbass self in charge of it!
PS. the onside kick was and always will be a very stupid call!
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No wonder he went for the onside kick and didn't trust the D and his dumbass self in charge of it!
PS. the onside kick was and always will be a very stupid call!
I had the same thought when it happened, until I realised that no way the defense stops the Jags offense 3 times in a row. They would have run the ball twice, then throw a pass in the middle of the field to a wide open receiver.
2nd thing first. 100% agree. From the moment it happened until the end of time that was simply the stupidest decision I've ever witnessed ( gravity of the situation factored in) in a pro sporting event! Indefensible! I don't care what the defense had done to that point. You kick away. You make that offense with a suspect qb, in his first road playoff game, with the crowd going nuts, have to make a play from inside their own territory to preserve the win. It's a complete different dynamic than anything Bortles or that offense ever faced before. And of course in yesterday's AFC championship game that all came to fruition. 3 times Bortles and the Jacksonville offense got the ball in the 4th quarter with the first two times having the chance to preserve the lead with any sort of sustained offense, then at the end they got the ball with plenty of time trailing by 4 and couldn't come close to getting the job done, Yeah I know supposedly the Patriots have a better defense than us. Yeah that's why they had to claim a 39 year old linebacker off waivers in December and give him a legitimate role after.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue
Side note. Remember early this season when the Patriots defense was a near laughing stock? Remember how they lost one of their best players in Donte Hightower? Notice how they improved starting in mid season? Notice how they incorporated a discarded James Harrison and played him at both OLB spots and even lined him up inside several times? Gee wonder why they didn't sign the obviously "superior" :sarcasm: Sean Spence when he was available instead?
It's called coaching! I'm sick of the Shazier excuse. Yeah that was a tough break, but injuries are part of the game. It's poor roster management knowing you lost Timmons going back to last spring, to not shore up your depth better than what they had. Which of course was nothing. No depth. Zero! Nada! I mean if you have to sink to signing Sean Spence off the street and actually playing him the majority of defensive snaps from then on, that's on you! Nothing to do with bad luck! I guarantee you the Patriots given the same situation with the same available roster would never have signed or played Sean Spence! Pretty easy to surmise they would have found a way to get James Harrison on the field and moved the players they had who actually have the ability to play NFL football to the spots they needed to be to get the job done!
Ok now to the point of Tomlin being the de-facto defensive coordinator. It explains a lot. It explains the bull headed approach to James Harrison all season. Once Tomlin gets entrenched in an opinion he wont move off it. He determined early that Harrison wasn't going to help and he did everything in his power to make sure that would be the case. Of course his plan was foiled when Harrison forced his release and then the Patriots came along and proved he still has value on the field. :frusty:
Anyway back to the brilliant defensive coaching job by Tomlin and his underlings. They had a bye week. And they were totally unprepared for a crap offense! You hear in the interviews with Cam Heyward there were assignment breakdowns throughout the defense, d-line, linebackers, and db's, none know what the hell is going on in critical plays, for crucial situations. The 3rd and 5 in the 4th quarter, blown assignment! Game over!
Tomlin needs to be made to yield the reigns to a legitimate DC who is allowed to pick his own staff! ( no ex Steelers need apply) He also needs a new quality control coach who keeps him from doing stupid shit like kicking an onsides kick with 2.18 of clock, with 2 time outs and Blake freaking Bortles as the opposing qb!
Sorry. Needed to vent! Thanks for giving me the opening! :lol:
The real Blake Bortles and Case Keenum both showed up yesterday when they faced a real defense.
Real defense? Think it's more about a real coaching staff. Both of yesterday's winners lost a starting linebacker during the course of the season. Jordan Hicks for the Eagles, Donta Hightower for the Patriots. But they figured it out. They don't have critical mental breakdowns leaving receivers uncovered on game altering plays. They have coaching staffs who identify and take away your best option and leave you your mediocre qb to win or lose the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezra Tank
Sorry but until Tomlin is forced to yield control of that defense to a real defensive coordinator things aren't going to get better for this team, even if they field 11 pro bowl caliber players on that unit.
You're really overrating Hightower. He is not that good.Quote:
Originally Posted by zulater
Elandon Roberts is just as good, and veteran David Harris has done a good job stepping in for DH.
Eagles did lose Hicks but they also still have Mychal Kendricks, and Nigel Bradham, both very good LB's.
Neither of those guys are good as Shazier, and the replacements are no where near as bad as Sean Spence, who was cut by the Colts for crying out loud.
The defense just got punked by the Jags including all Pro Cam Heyward. They took a big jump forward this year, there is no denying that. The ILB and Safety group needs to be fixed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zulater
I think I am in complete compliance with the 'stop hiring ex-Steelers players to be position coaches' angle. Time to evaluate ability to learn and adapt over how well they know, and can teach our system. IF they happen to be a fan favorite, bonus. Also, we DO need a legit DC that runs his own show within this team. I don't know if Butler CAN, or if being a cog for so long, he's still just part of the machine. Next season will tell a lot.
It's not a matter of whether they were as good as Shazier. The point is the Steelers had nothing resembling depth at ILB, this despite losing Lawrence Timmons to free agency in the spring. Knowing that Shazier has had a history of missing series and even games how do you go into a season without an NFL caliber player in reserve? Further having lost him, how the hell do you grab Sean Spence off the scrap heap and deem him better than players already on your roster? How did you dismiss James Harrison when obviously he still has NFL game?Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackAndGold
We had Artie Burns and Sean Davis, both premium draft picks, both coming off promising rookie seasons. Both regressed. You have linebackers drafted in the first round, (Jarvis Jones, Bud Dupre) they never get better, never develop any different attack than they had coming out of college. Every game this team has serious mental lapses in critical
situations where players have no idea what they're supposed to do. At some point you have to come to the conclusion that the coaching staff is lacking. Or at least I do anyway.
- - - Updated - - -
Agreed 100%Quote:
Originally Posted by Born2Steel
Great 'venting' zulater ! Problem is probably NOTHING will change in the defense coaching. The defense sux, has for the past YEAR's and will more than likely sux again NEXT YEAR and we'll lose a bunch of games that we shouldn't. Rooney's are getting blind about football. Such a shame and waste of great offense talent sitting on the sideline. We had that Lombardi in our hands !
Yes and coaching is part of having a real defense.Quote:
Originally Posted by zulater
Got ya! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezra Tank
The lack of depth at ILB was a concern before the season, but every team has lack of depth somewhere on their team. Having a salary cap will cause that.Quote:
Originally Posted by zulater
Matakevich being hurt(just had surgery) put Spence into the starting spot.
The young players regessing, and the metal collapses when it comes to coverage's I have no answer. The players must have a low football IQ. Because there is no doubt in my mind the coaches have tried to fix this, they can't go out on the field and do it for them.
Offensive players on this team tend to progress while the defensive players regress or stagnate. Same front office drafting both. So they draft low football IQ defensive players, but the offensive players not so much?:huh:Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackAndGold
At some point you need to address the elephant in the room as coach Tomlin would say.
Tackling. Tackling. Tackling. Very few missed tackles this past weekend. The Jaguars stayed in that game because of tackling.
It's easier finding offensive talent than defensive. Having a QB like Ben helps.Quote:
Originally Posted by zulater
They drafted/developed players like Heyward, Tuitt, Shazier, Hargrave, VW, signed Hilton, then there is Burns/Dupree/Davis who just aren't consistent, maybe they do get better and just had a down year. There is no true answer tbh. It's very possible that sometimes young players are just overwhelmed which puts both coaches and the player at fault.
Wait, what? Bortles stat line is 23/36 for 293 yards and 1 TD with no INTs. He had a passer rating of 98.5. Moreover, that's not telling the whole story. Bortles hit receivers in the hands and they dropped the ball. He hit back shoulder throws. The Patriots challenged Bortles to win it, and he almost did. It took a magnificent play by the DB to break up a pass that otherwise, was going for a TD at the end of the game. Say what you want about Bortles season-wide, but in his last two games, he played as well as almost any other QB in the playoffs this year. Maybe not as prolific, but just as efficient. His QB Rating was 98.5 against the Steelers and 90 against the Pats. In fact, he played way above his skill level against the Pats*.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezra Tank
Bortles played well. He made some great passes during the game.
The biggest turning point was when the Jags defense let the Pats convert on a 3rd & 18. YOU CAN NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!!
Well that and entering the 4th quarter up ten and then proceeding to muster 30 yards of offense on multiple drives. Seriously, the Jags make a handful of more first downs and the clock beats the Pats.Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackAndGold
I agree that Hightower isn't that good. The players on the Patriots are focused and know where to go. The Patriots don't have a lot of talent on their team, but they have excellent coaching. The Steelers have a lot of talent, but they are immature and not coached well in my opinion. I don't eve see why Butler is on the team if Tomlin runs the D.Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackAndGold
Gotta have a scapegoat that takes all the blame.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeldude
Yep. Just like the Steelers, the Jags defense let them down at the worst possible moment. Well, that an some PI calls that were head-scratching. Romo said something in that broadcast that makes a lot of sense. A defense that is predicated on sacking the QB runs into trouble in the third and fourth quarters because the rushers get tired. That's why you see teams able to drive on them late. That is exactly what the Steelers have been predicated on ever since the fire-blitz of LeBeau came into existence here. And, that's pretty much the exact issue we've seen with this team.Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackAndGold
Now, it was covered when the team would hold the ball for 40 minutes in the Bettis days, but once he was gone and we had to rely on a more balanced offense, our defense started showing cracks. The fix, then, isn't going back to a power-running game. We've seen time and time again that approach does not win Superbowls in today's NFL. Even when teams had 100-yard rushers in the SB, they often also had other good tools in skill positions on offense. So, the fix is to predicate the defense on something other than getting to the QB within 3 seconds or whatever it is.