Antonio Brown's truancy is loudest, but could be least of Steelers' problems

[hawaiiansteeler]

Antonio Brown's truancy is loudest, but could be least of Steelers' problems

September 18, 2018

Mike Tomlin took care of addressing the least important people first: us.

By "us," I could mean the media, the Steelers fan base or the public in general, including those who do not care whether superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown’s absence from work Monday had been prearranged and excused.

Later Tuesday, Tomlin promised, he would be speaking to Brown himself.

"I'm looking forward to visiting with him today and discussing that, and some other things," the Steelers coach said at his weekly news conference. “I’m not going to get into the details of why he wasn't here, and whether he was excused, and all of those things. I'd just as soon leave those things in house."

The context of that answer suggests he allowed at least a little of the dirt to slip through the screen door, because there would be no reason for Tomlin to discuss an excused absence with one of his most prominent employees.

Yep, it's pretty obvious AB went AWOL.

to read rest of article:

http://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/n...71qez2ehrmbwlf

[Rotorhead]

It looks like AB is seeing what a lot of us are, this team is going nowhere fast. That being said, it is his job to help fix it as an extremely well paid Vet for this team. Quitting or not showing up is not an option.

[GBMelBlount]

We are 0-1-1 after 2 games.

[tube517]

[cold-hard-steel]

Living in the cellar with Browns ain't so bad.Long as we don't plan on staying there long.You know,like don't sign a lease or nothin like that.Just win one game and we're out of there.

[Edman]

That makes it worse.

They knew they were going to be without Shazier in 2018 and they spent an entire offseason doing next to nothing to address it. Make some Defensive changes, change the gameplan, do something to maximize the talent of everyone else. Instead they just stuck to what they were doing as if Shazier was here and think they can just plug in somebody and everything will be fine. Bostic is not Shazier. He's Jon Bostic.

All the more reason why Keith Butler is terrible and needs to go.

[Mojouw]

Good read.

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...-drama-no-show

[Neversatisfied]

Ahhh, that explains the secondary woes, missed tackles and general confusion....now I see

[st33lersguy]

They had a full 8 months to compensate for the absence of Shazier between the disaster in Jacksonville and the disaster in Cleveland. All they did was get a journeyman run stuffing LB and sign an undrafted free agent who I'm not even sure they've played yet

[NCSteeler]

The loss of shazier just amplified how bad the rest of the defense is.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

[hawaiiansteeler]

The loss of shazier just amplified how bad the rest of the defense is.

$$$$

[Steeler-in-west]

We had problems in defense before Shazier got hurt. The Bears killed us on the ground early last year, as did the Jags during that same time.

Shaz going down worsened the problem but we already were having issues stopping the run. Haden going down (or not consistently being on the field) has been just as big as the absence of Shaz.

But the biggest worry or concern is the defensive players admitting to miscommunications and blown assignments - that problem points right to Butler, and Tomlin.

Perhaps Shaz and Haden masked or made up for the lack of preparation by the coaches. But without them, the D is totally exposed.

[tube517]

We had problems in defense before Shazier got hurt. The Bears killed us on the ground early last year, as did the Jags during that same time.

Shaz going down worsened the problem but we already were having issues stopping the run. Haden going down (or not consistently being on the field) has been just as big as the absence of Shaz.

But the biggest worry or concern is the defensive players admitting to miscommunications and blown assignments - that problem points right to Butler, and Tomlin.

Perhaps Shaz and Haden masked or made up for the lack of preparation by the coaches. But without them, the D is totally exposed.

I think that's his point.

[GoSlash27]

Ahhh, that explains the secondary woes, missed tackles and general confusion....now I see

I think the secondary woes in this last game were due to Haden being out. He's the guy who normally communicates and directs the secondary.

[Born2Steel]

I think the secondary woes in this last game were due to Haden being out. He's the guy who normally communicates and directs the secondary.

That didn't help. But the Chiefs have some very good players too. As bad as the defense did indeed look, they will get better.

[AtlantaDan]

FWIW Bill Barnwell at ESPN is not pushing the panic button yet

I think the Steelers are going to be fine. Let's start with the easy stuff. Brown isn't going anywhere....

There are genuine concerns about this team, though, and the issues aren't surprising. Pittsburgh sorely misses Ryan Shazier, and it didn't do enough to replace him this offseason...

Injuries are also a short-term concern for what was the league's fourth healthiest team a year ago...

At the same time, this team just hasn't been bad enough to justify any sort of significant early-season concerns...

Anybody expecting another 13-3 season was likely to be disappointed, given that Pittsburgh went an unsustainable 8-2 in games decided by seven points or fewer in 2017. A more reasonable expectation for 2018 would have been a 10-win season, and barring a rash of injuries, the Steelers should still be able to get there by the time they get to the end of the season.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24730644/ranking-nfl-0-2-teams-eliminated-alive-playoff-race-2018-season

[Steeler-in-west]

I think that's his point.

Well, it seems he’s saying Shaz going down was the biggest issue, but we were having issues with run defense before Shaz went down. Players admitting to having no inter communication and being lost on D seems a bigger problem to me. Maybe I wasn’t clear in my previous post.

[GoSlash27]

That didn't help. But the Chiefs have some very good players too. As bad as the defense did indeed look, they will get better.

I honestly couldn't tell if talent or ability were even factors in that game; the receivers were so wide open that the DBs never had opportunity to make a play.
That goes to prep in my opinion. If you only have one guy who knows what the secondary is supposed to be doing, that's a problem.

[Steeler-in-west]

FWIW Bill Barnwell at ESPN is not pushing the panic button yet

I think the Steelers are going to be fine. Let's start with the easy stuff. Brown isn't going anywhere....

There are genuine concerns about this team, though, and the issues aren't surprising. Pittsburgh sorely misses Ryan Shazier, and it didn't do enough to replace him this offseason...

Injuries are also a short-term concern for what was the league's fourth healthiest team a year ago...

At the same time, this team just hasn't been bad enough to justify any sort of significant early-season concerns...

Anybody expecting another 13-3 season was likely to be disappointed, given that Pittsburgh went an unsustainable 8-2 in games decided by seven points or fewer in 2017. A more reasonable expectation for 2018 would have been a 10-win season, and barring a rash of injuries, the Steelers should still be able to get there by the time they get to the end of the season.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24730644/ranking-nfl-0-2-teams-eliminated-alive-playoff-race-2018-season

Maybe its it’s better if we get by with 10-6 in the regular season and hit our stride in the post season for a change

[Fire Goodell]

Maybe its it’s better if we get by with 10-6 in the regular season and hit our stride in the post season for a change

Not really confident in Ben's ability to win 3 road games in a row. I'm not sure if he has a run like 2005 in him anymore, things like that are usually a once in a career kind of thing

Though until they fix the issues on defense I don't really have high expectations, they'll be one and done if they do make it to the [not gonna say it] lol.

[DesertSteel]

On the other hand, we saw how instrumental the bye was last year.

[Fire Goodell]

On the other hand, we saw how instrumental the bye was last year.

I'm sure we would have lost in an even more embarrassing fashion if we played Jacksonville on the road. First round byes / home games aren't the end all be all, but they certainly help your chances.

Look at the year we lost in the divisional round to Denver. Yeah the team played a good game, but could it have been better? In the wildcard round, Ben had a bad shoulder injury and AB got knocked out so bad he was unavailable vs Denver. Those 2 things could have been avoided if we had a bye.

[steel striker]

We know the offense can score points but, the defense is the question? I'm willing to see what happens from here and, the defense should get better. Let's not freak out like all of the media has already because, they have already said the Steelers are dead.

[BlackAndGold]

They should start to look at Matthew Thomas at LB. He's not Ryan Shazier but maybe he can become a playmaker. He's fast as hell and can keep up with TE's down the field, he's the closest thing to Shazier in terms of talent.

[86WARD]

The loss of shazier just amplified how bad the rest of the defense is.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

The defense wasn’t really that much better with Shazier. They were still getting gashed for big Runs and still had problems covering the tight ends. Obviously it was better, but it was nothing to scream and get excited about.

[Steeldude]

They should start to look at Matthew Thomas at LB. He's not Ryan Shazier but maybe he can become a playmaker. He's fast as hell and can keep up with TE's down the field, he's the closest thing to Shazier in terms of talent.

It couldn't hurt. They could always pull him if it doesn't work out. His entire problem, from what I have read, is he is dumber than a box of rocks. How much time did he spend in coverage in the pre-season? That might be why he doesn't see the field for quite awhile. He may be fast, but if he doesn't know where to go or whom to cover then it could very well be worse.

At least the LB corps has possibilities that may help. Other than Hilton and Haden the entire secondary is horrible.

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

It couldn't hurt. They could always pull him if it doesn't work out. His entire problem, from what I have read, is he is dumber than a box of rocks. How much time did he spend in coverage in the pre-season? That might be why he doesn't see the field for quite awhile. He may be fast, but if he doesn't know where to go or whom to cover then it could very well be worse.

At least the LB corps has possibilities that may help. Other than Hilton and Haden the entire secondary is horrible.

Dumb as a rock ? Sounds like he will fit in perfect with Butlers Scheme and will be another Zombie on the field.

[teegre]

It couldn't hurt. They could always pull him if it doesn't work out. His entire problem, from what I have read, is he is dumber than a box of rocks. How much time did he spend in coverage in the pre-season? That might be why he doesn't see the field for quite awhile. He may be fast, but if he doesn't know where to go or whom to cover then it could very well be worse.

Hey... you just hurt rocks’ collective feelings.

Really though, he’s not smart. The coaches have done a good job of helping him evolve. First, they had him simply stop thinking (which he wasn’t good at anyway) and just “go after the ball.” It sounds awful, but it worked: he made tremendous strides during the preseason.

Thomas is a long-term project (he might not be “NFL ready” for another year)... but, unlike Big Red (who knows exactly where to go, but can’t get there), at least Thomas won’t get beaten physically. As in: why not give him a shot.

You know... he might be better suited for OLB. “Get the QB... GO!!!” Honestly, he can’t be any worse than Dupree.

[BlackAndGold]

It couldn't hurt. They could always pull him if it doesn't work out. His entire problem, from what I have read, is he is dumber than a box of rocks. How much time did he spend in coverage in the pre-season? That might be why he doesn't see the field for quite awhile. He may be fast, but if he doesn't know where to go or whom to cover then it could very well be worse.

At least the LB corps has possibilities that may help. Other than Hilton and Haden the entire secondary is horrible.

Sorta, it was a red flag(along with immaturity issues at FSU) during the draft reason why he went undrafted but during preseason he looked good. Diagnosing plays, making tackles, rushing the passer(remember his almost TD return?)

He should get a look. Maybe not as a starter but definitely on passing downs(Try to keeps it simple).

- - - Updated - - -

You know... he might be better suited for OLB. “Get the QB... GO!!!” Honestly, he can’t be any worse than Dupree.

Week 8 can't get here fast enough.

Ola time!!!!

[teegre]

Maybe not as a starter but definitely on passing downs(Try to keeps it simple.

He played gunner on punts. You know... the position where DHB plays... as in: the position where the fastest guys on the team play.