More locker room skirmishes after this miserable abortion?
More locker room skirmishes after this miserable abortion?
Well sure, those guys aren't uber talented players. But the part of the job that Cole is destroying is snapping the football. It's job #1 for a center, and many bad centers can snap the ball just fine.
I understand that Roberts isn't going to handle elite players in coverage or that Walker is now having to make all the calls for the defense. I know that they aren't built for the job. They are backup players.
It's the mental mistakes, penalties, and missed assignments of everyone, including players other than those guys. That isn't about talent. That's about discipline and doing your job.
It’s called executing the play.
It's not "crying" when it's noticing a trend. Tomlin coaches this team to inferior competition and they rarely handle business when they need to.
It's why the "Killer B's" went 3-4 in the playoffs and lost to Blake Bortles. It's why Matt Canada was allowed to keep his job for two and a half seasons too long. Tomlin is committed to mediocrity.
Sure.
And I think it is ridiculous that every time a player wearing a Steelers helmet makes a mistake it gets blamed on Tomlin or another coach. It is laughable.
Cole can't snap a football reliably because he kinda sucks and really shouldn't be a starting center in the NFL. That isn't a "coaching" thing.
Roberts is a great downhill LBer who is heady enough to organize the defense. But he is out of place running around in space most of the afternoon. That isn't a coaching thing. That is a scraping the bottom of the roster kinda thing.
Players have flaws. All players do. And when those flaws get exposed, there isn't a way to coach around it in most cases.
Hopefully the Steelers spare me the additional agony and just forfeit this debacle. At the least the need to bench Cole.
Is it?
What if the answer is Cole just isn't good enough? I mean he's been at the "center" of the problems all day. He's getting beat by his man and it is impacting his snaps. Pressure through his area has blown up multiple plays.
I like Walker. He's been pressed into service and responded well. But he can not cover MCBride. He just can't. So.... I guess that is coaching if you want to fault Austin and company for having a LBer on a TE...but other than that....it is just that Walker is physically out-gunned.
If you really want to make this about the coaching staff....then these would seem to be the big issues:
1. The Bengals had the Steelers at basically an 0 for whatever the # when they either blitzed or simulated pressure of more than 4 coming pre-snap. The Cardinals can watch tape. They just did one of those things a whole bunch. Steelers OL and play calls had no answer for that on critical downs. That is bad self-scouting and planning. Even if the Cards are not a big pressure team....they are going to watch the film and see what you suck at handling and do that until you make them pay for it.
2. Putting LBers on McBride was a bad idea. This kid has been the main reliable and consistent target for Murray since his return from injury. And the plan appears to be to hope the pass rush wins before the coverage fails. Not looking like the best of gambles.
That is the difference in the game more than anything else.
Line up under Center and run the damn ball!!!
I'll grant that I'm sounding far too harsh on Roberts. I don't have a bad word to really say about his play. It was an attempt to point out that the idea that any "mistake" or "negative" outcome on the field is somehow on "coaching" just has never made sense to me.
Like I just watched the Titans-Colts highlights and they had a guy run the punter over and it got called fumble and Boykin got a flag for far less. That isn't on Smith, Tomlin, or Boykin. It is just bad breaks.
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No argument. But that isn't "coaching". That is the fact that Mason Cole is not a starting caliber NFL center. He just isn't. He only seems that way in Pittsburgh because the other option was Kendrick Green and JC Hassenhauer.
But again, I understand if he is getting blown up by a 345 lb tackle. He isn't a great blocker. The snap is a skill that is worked on constantly. That's why there are long snappers. It is a skill that is mastered with repetition.
I am not screaming at Walker or Roberts anywhere in this thread. I don't get why you keep saying this to me. I haven't mentioned them anywhere but on the personal foul on Roberts. So I don't get why you are talking about them covering Mcbride. I never bitched about either of them in coverage.
I also didn't say anything about Tomlin in this thread. I said Cole shouldn't have a job, because today is kind of the culmination of a horrible season snapping with this being his worst game.
I know that these threads turn into a shit show with screaming about all the coaches, but I haven't really done that today. The snaps, the penalties, and the blown assignments in pass protection have been the biggest issues I have been complaining about.
Maybe I just lumpted all the posts together from this thread? I dunno. I'm doing a few things at once on my end so it gets hard to keep track of who has really said what in what order.
Are players making bad mistakes that are costing the Steelers more than the Cardinals actually just beating them? Yes.
And I do not think that is on the coaches completely. I great deal of it is that I just think several of the players that appear to be consistently involved are not playing well. It sucks but it just happens for these kinds of guys.
Have mercy on the waiting faithful, call the game already.![]()
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I think much more play should come from under center, with more play action. Just run more of it. But why have they been getting away from the run? I know when they take penalties they take themselves out of it, but sometimes they need to stick with it a little more.
This isn't that hard. Eliminate the short yardage handoffs from shotgun, and give the defense a look that makes them respect the run even when they pass. It will help with pass protection. Pickett's numbers have been awesome in play action, but they hardly use it.
Why do they waste their time with Mitch? Like waving the white flag. I would give MR a shot, he can throw deep with accuracy, it’s kinda what they need now
Man, losing to the Cardinals ... 3 points ... Trubisky ... extra delays ... can't you see this game was just set up for absolute maximum pain? Nothing good is going to happen.
See you Space Cowboy ...