For the second season in a row, the season ends in a collapse

[Six Rings]

Because Tomlin is a Democrat?

Or is “political” code for something else?

Tomlin injected politics into football which no coach should do. Holding a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in his house, the way politics are these days is probably something half the Steeler Nation fan base wasn't happy with. And I bet some people on the team didn't like it either.


Asking for a team vote on whether to stand outside for the national anatem or not is something no coach should do. I hear the vote was very close. What if your boss demanded something similar against your beliefs? Would you be okay with that?

Does that answer your question?

[Edman]

Bruce Arians was Randy Fichtner's predecessor. A Ben buddy whose incompetence was masked by the talent around him. He was just as horrible if not worse than Randy. He also went on to destroy Andrew Luck later on in Indianapolis.

As far as Tomlin goes this season, he's done a solid job pulling the team together, but the issues are still there. The Special Teams is still utter trash and the Offense is fundamentally flawed. It isn't beyond a mere personnel issue.

[Mojouw]

Ok. I think it's clear what the agenda is here.

[AtlantaDan]

Thanks

Tomlin injected politics into football which no coach should do. Holding a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in his house, the way politics are these days is probably something half the Steeler Nation fan base wasn't happy with. And I bet some people on the team didn't like it either.


Asking for a team vote on whether to stand outside for the national anatem or not is something no coach should do. I hear the vote was very close. What if your boss demanded something similar against your beliefs? Would you be okay with that?

Does that answer your question?

Yes - you think Tomlin’s support is because he hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton

I guess you also believe Belichick’s support is because he wrote a letter supporting Trump

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/new...e-letter-trump

I will be glad to keep dancing around what you think gets Tomlin a pass as long as you want to do so

[Steeldude]

Tomlin took a 4-12 team and made them an 8-8 team with the potential to have done even more. Stop the whining.

How many teams did the Steelers beat over .500? 1?

[teegre]

How many teams did the Steelers beat over .500? 1?

Yep... plus, seven other wins.

[steelreserve]

Yes - you think Tomlin’s support is because he hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton

IMO that does show pretty poor judgment.

Now excuse me while I go commit suicide with two shotgun blasts to the back of the head.

[smokin3000gt]

IMO that does show pretty poor judgment.

Now excuse me while I go commit suicide with two shotgun blasts to the back of the head.

Now that's a 'can do' attitude!

[teegre]

IMO that does show pretty poor judgment.

Now excuse me while I go commit suicide with two shotgun blasts to the back of the head.

SRDKH

[W&M_Steeler]

DJ Wasn't looking at the white line, he was stretched out for the catch. Did he comment? I think now. The replay showed he got both feet in, worthy of a challenge. Without our offense it was worthy a red flag, in case you haven't noticed the play calling and offense have been rather poorly lately, despite what Tomlin thinks

DJ's hand was clearly down on the white line before his second foot landed. It wasn't even close. I don't know what Fouts was thinking, but it would have been a waste of a challenge. It was very clearly not a catch.

[fansince'76]

[Rotorhead]

Wow, another blow up the team thread . . . At least it was entertaining to read!

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Y'all just can't take losing. It's really comical the emotional over reactions. So glad no one on here is in charge of anything really important.

This wins the Steelers MB portion of the internet today, IMO.

- - - Updated - - -

Wow, another blow up the team thread . . . At least it was entertaining to read!

Yup, there are probably 30 other NFL fanbases that have it worse off in the past decade and spoiled, impatient keyboard warriors thing an overhaul is the best way to go. LMFAO !

[Steeler-in-west]

Tomlin took a 4-12 team and made them an 8-8 team with the potential to have done even more. Stop the whining.

Yeah, not going to blame Tomlin too much for the three game collapse; we didn’t have a capable QB this year, we were running on fumes for most of the season and the pinto or whatever crap car he was driving, just broke down before the regular season finish line

[teegre]

As far as playing against the Bengals and Browns goes...

The AFC North is not the AFC East.

Sure, the Browns suck. And, currently, the Bengals suck. But, prior to the past four seasons, the Bengals went to the playoffs 6 out of 7 seasons... winning the division 3 times.

Obviously, everyone knows how “awesome” the Ravens are (because Harbaugh is soooo much better than Tomlin). The Ravens have gone to the playoffs 8 times during Tomlin’s tenure with the Steelers. During that time, the Ravens won the division 4 times and have one Lombardi. Similarly, the Steelers have been to the playoffs 8 times, won the division 6 times, and have one Lombardi (in two Super Bowl appearances).

Oh, and the Majestic Mr. Harbaugh has one (ONE) playoff win in the past six seasons.

The AFC North is the only division to send 3 teams to the playoffs in the same season. And, they did it twice. The Steelers, Ravens, & Bengals all three went to the playoffs in 2011 and in 2014.

Meanwhile, the AFC East has had the Dolphins and Jets occasional go to the playoffs, but this year marks only the second time in this millennium that the Bills have reached the playoffs.

SUMMATION:
Tomlin isn’t nearly as bad of a coach as some of you think that he is. In fact, he’s pretty good.

[Dissolv]

I think the big revelation this year was not only just how thin we are at QB, but also that the O-line may have its best days behind them. They weren't horrible, exactly, but definitely did not put our UDFA QB in the best spot frequently. It was clear that Ben was making them look better than perhaps they really are.

[AtlantaDan]

I think the big revelation this year was not only just how thin we are at QB, but also that the O-line may have its best days behind them. They weren't horrible, exactly, but definitely did not put our UDFA QB in the best spot frequently. It was clear that Ben was making them look better than perhaps they really are.

Agreed - I had my doubts about even bringing Foster back last season (IMO that had a lot to do with trying to address the dumpster fire of a locker room issues), but the notable decline in the play of AV and Pouncey in 2019 indicates a major rebuild may be necessary sooner than I expected.

Run blocking has been in decline for two seasons now, but the pass protection also fell apart after midseason (although that might be due to teams being able to tee off once they got enough video on Mason to see he could not get through his reads and having zero fear Duck could hurt them)

[steelerdude15]

Agreed - I had my doubts about even bringing Foster back last season (IMO that had a lot to do with trying to address the dumpster fire of a locker room issues), but the notable decline in the play of AV and Pouncey in 2019 indicates a major rebuild may be necessary sooner than I expected.

Run blocking has been in decline for two seasons now, but the pass protection also fell apart after midseason (although that might be due to teams being able to tee off once they got enough video on Mason to see he could not get through his reads and having zero fear Duck could hurt them)

Foster had some issues this year with his pass blocking. He would leave holes open in the line and sometimes would be slow to react to a linebacker or defensive back running up to the line and would blow right by him.

[Fire Goodell]

Honestly I'm not sure I wanted to see this team in the playoffs, in a way I just wanted to see the season end so I could look forward to next year. Let's be real, this team would have gotten embarrassed in round 1. As good as the defense was, they weren't good enough to carry the #30 ranked offense. Defense can only win championships if your offense is halfway competent, I also hate the saying that "Defense wins championships", it's half of the equation. You have to score more points than your opponent to win a championship also. Maybe if Mason didn't get hurt last week there'd be a chance of something happening, but the clock struck 12 on Hodges 3 weeks ago.

As fun as it was to cheer for an underdog like Duck, the guy shown he was severely limited. His passes hang in the air for what seems like 10 seconds, that's gonna eat you alive against any decent defense. I don't know if there's anything can be done about that kind of lack of arm strength, but unless something changes, defenses will pretty much keep throwing the same thing at him and shutting him down. The fact his passes float for that long is a good reason why he never goes over the middle at all, can you say INT?

[Rotorhead]

. . . Run blocking has been in decline for two seasons now, but the pass protection also fell apart after midseason (although that might be due to teams being able to tee off once they got enough video on Mason to see he could not get through his reads and having zero fear Duck could hurt them)

This pretty much sums up our OL issues, teams stacked the box to stop any possible running threat and dared the Steelers to beat them through the air (which we couldn’t do) so they were able to overwhelm the OL most of the season with sending 7+ defenders . Get a QB that can beat the blitz and our OL is fine, as is our running game. That showed in Ducks first couple games when he was able to hit JW on some deep shots (the games he was winning). We all saw our QBs missing the open WRs every game, Ben won’t do that which equals at least 3-4 more wins this season. As a result of Ben being able to beat the blitz, teams won’t be able to stack the box, and our running game will be fine also.

It really is that simple. 3-4 more games makes our 8-8 season 11-5 and with our defense a strong contender for a SB appearance. Hell, if our third rate QBs would have been able to put together 2 TD drives in games instead of one, we would be in the playoffs. Anyone that thinks Ben can’t do that is foolish.

[steelerdude15]

Honestly I'm not sure I wanted to see this team in the playoffs, in a way I just wanted to see the season end so I could look forward to next year. Let's be real, this team would have gotten embarrassed in round 1. As good as the defense was, they weren't good enough to carry the #30 ranked offense. Defense can only win championships if your offense is halfway competent, I also hate the saying that "Defense wins championships", it's half of the equation. You have to score more points than your opponent to win a championship also. Maybe if Mason didn't get hurt last week there'd be a chance of something happening, but the clock struck 12 on Hodges 3 weeks ago.

As fun as it was to cheer for an underdog like Duck, the guy shown he was severely limited. His passes hang in the air for what seems like 10 seconds, that's gonna eat you alive against any decent defense. I don't know if there's anything can be done about that kind of lack of arm strength, but unless something changes, defenses will pretty much keep throwing the same thing at him and shutting him down. The fact his passes float for that long is a good reason why he never goes over the middle at all, can you say INT?

It doesn't help that Duck likes to throw downfield into double and triple coverage. That was another issue that plagued him that last few weeks.

[pczach]

This wins the Steelers MB portion of the internet today, IMO.

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Yup, there are probably 30 other NFL fanbases that have it worse off in the past decade and spoiled, impatient keyboard warriors thing an overhaul is the best way to go. LMFAO !

To think that this is what many believe is the end of the world from a sports perspective......

They have no idea what real failure is.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

To think that this is what many believe is the end of the world from a sports perspective......

They have no idea what real failure is.

Exactly. This was a season of adversity, followed by more adversity and its pretty great to see this group of players persevere thru it and compete to the end. Now if Steeler fans could just learn to persevere thru some adversity, they might find out that it makes being a fan of such a successful franchise so much better than some fair weather team/fanbase like Seattle.

[pczach]

Exactly. This was a season of adversity, followed by more adversity and its pretty great to see this group of players persevere thru it and compete to the end. Now if Steeler fans could just learn to persevere thru some adversity, they might find out that it makes being a fan of such a successful franchise so much better than some fair weather team/fanbase like Seattle.

I completely agree.

[steel striker]

The killer was losing to the Jets and, the offense just could not put enough points up. I thought they should have challenged the DJ catch and, with how hard it was for this offense to score points it was worth a shot. You got to give Tomlin a lot of credit this year 8-8 with one of the worst offenses in the NFL! The defense carried them and, nice come back year for The BOZ.

[AtlantaDan]

Dupree admits what I assumed to be the case

[Mojouw]

Dupree admits what I assumed to be the case

It is amazing that assignment discipline and fundamentals didn't breakdown even more as guys gambled to make plays.

[steelcityboyz]

Dupree admits what I assumed to be the case

Shouldn't that be the Defense's goal week in and week out regardless?

[Shoes]

Shouldn't that be the Defense's goal week in and week out regardless?

Yes, folks of all professions do it daily year round. Welcome to the real world Bud.

[AtlantaDan]

Shouldn't that be the Defense's goal week in and week out regardless?

Of course - but you have no margin for error and not only have to get stops but score and generate turnovers in the opposing team’s end of the field to overcome an offense that averaged one touchdown a game the second half of the season. By my count 4 of the 8 wins (Chargers, Colts, Rams, Cards) required a defensive or special teams TD to win.

In today’s NFL an offense scoring in the low to mid-teens is a load to overcome. Hard enough to do your own job well without having to do that of incompetent coworkers’ as well every damn week.

In any line of work eventually that wears you down. 1976 Steelers pulled it off until the AFC championship game loss but was a defense for the ages. It is even happening to the all powerful Patriots defense the second half of this season.