Mike Tomlin Does Not Have Requisite Control of the Steelers
By: Henry McKenna | 1/15/18
The circus came to Pittsburgh.
Mike Tomlin’s players looked unprepared and unfocused in the first half of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ upset of the Steelers on Sunday. Tomlin only has himself to blame. The Steelers coach has created a laissez-faire environment where players can say and do whatever they want.
The result was a disorganized group of highly talented players who couldn’t get their act together for a Super Bowl run.
It all started when Tony Dungy and Tomlin sat down for an interview on NBC in November. Tomlin told Dungy there would be “fireworks” against the Patriots in Week 15. The Steelers coach promised the game would be the first of a two-part series — with the second being the AFC championship. He said all that before a Week 13 game against the Bengals, which the Steelers nearly lost, 23-20.
The writing was on the wall — Tomlin just didn’t read it.
That interview set the tone for the season. When players began talking incessantly about the Patriots in the regular season and the postseason, they followed their coach’s leadership. Tomlin said it was “ridiculous” not to acknowledge the obstacles on the way to their goal: a Super Bowl win. The Patriots, presumably, would be in the Steelers’ way. Meanwhile, New England would make no mention of Pittsburgh after the Week 15 win. Not even the Patriots’ signing of James Harrison, the Steelers’ franchise sack leader, could encourage chatter about Pittsburgh.
During the AFC divisional round, Mike Mitchell was emphatically promising a win over the Patriots in New England. Because, apparently, he wasn’t taking the Jaguars seriously. And the Jaguars took it to the Steelers for that exact reason. Steelers offensive lineman David Decastro, a Stanford man, did not approve of his team’s obsession with the Patriots.
“We played like crap, and we want to talk about New England?” David DeCastro said after the game Sunday. “I don’t know what to say about that. It’s just stupid. It’s just not what you do. You don’t need to give a team like that more bulletin board material.”
Sounds like a direct shot against Tomlin’s philosophy. Did I mention DeCastro went to Stanford? He seems like a smart guy.
to read rest of article:
http://thebiglead.com/2018/01/15/mik...-the-steelers/