Forgive the long post:Originally Posted by DesertSteel
Yes, we certainly agree on that. I think that's a fairly unremarkable point that nearly all Steelers fans agree with. Ben's near the end of the line- the questions are do we move on from him this year, next year, or the year after and, depending on the time frame, how should the Steelers proceed? Those are debatable, and, while people would disagree on the details, most plans would probably be at least reasonable. I think that at best we could have an end of career Elway situation with Ben, where Ben plays like a savvy vet with physical skills that have deteriorated to make him a mid-tier QB but has a good enough cast around him to make a Super Bowl run. I think that those odds are slim given my frustration with the coaching staff, the problems with the offensive line and running game, and a defense that is already aging on the DL and about to lose some key players to free agency, but I still think it's possible. But I don't think people who want a fresh start are crazy. I am skeptical of the argument that Ben alone is holding this team back right now, though, and I don't think Mason Rudolph is the key to a 2021 Super Bowl victory.
Where we vehemently disagree, however, is whether Ben has held the team back or been a major cause of the past 10 years of disappointment. You're not the only one who has made that argument in this thread- Edman has too. I am going to do a quick 10 season rundown to rebut. This is mostly from memory, so I would be glad to see others provide their input about points I have forgotten.
2010: Steelers lose to Packers in Super Bowl XLV. This postseason is where the Steelers' recent tendency to start playoff games ice cold and create a huge deficit to have to climb out of began. The Steelers fell way behind in the divisional against Baltimore but were able to climb out of the hole and win. The Steelers had a decent game against the Jets(!) in the AFCC game, unfortunately losing rookie Pouncey in the process. Steelers, slight underdogs, once again dug a huge hole for themselves in the Superbowl (21-3), including a pick-6 by Roethlisberger when Kemoeatu stepped on him while Ben was throwing the pass from the endzone. Steelers start to fight their way back and make it close in the second half. Tomlin makes a very questionable call to go for a 54-yard field goal on 4th and short in the second half, which represented a career long for Suisham and one he missed by a mile. Later, the Pouncey injury bit the Steelers in the ass when Legursky whiffs on his block, Mendenhall gets destroyed as he receives his handoff and fumbles, the Packers recover and then have a TD drive. Steelers D cannot generate a turnover (common theme). This game could have been a Packers blow-out, but the Packers receivers have a terrible case of the drops. Ben had an ugly first half but a much better second half (common theme), but Rodgers outplayed him.
2011: Last gasp of the 2000s defense. This was the infamous Tebow bowl, the first truly embarrassing playoff loss of the Tomlin era. Steelers lose Mendenhall to injury in the last game of the season and had to roll into the playoffs with Isaac Redman as the starter. No Ryan Clark because of Denver sickle cell issues. Ben played injured. Pouncey was injured, and Legursky had a bad snap taking the Steelers out of field goal range in the first half. Max Starks left the game with an injury, as did Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel. Steelers couldn't overcome the injuries, and the defense allowed the Broncos to hang around until Tebow put a stake through their hearts. Losing to borderline NFL QBs has since become a time-honored Steelers tradition, but the Tebow bowl sticks out as an early trendsetter. Ben had a mediocre game.
2012: Steelers go 8-8 and miss the playoffs. Had the Steelers managed to beat either the Browns at home in November (that Browns team finished 5-11, but beat the Steelers due to the Steelers 8(!!!) turnovers in a Charlie Batch start) or the injury depleted Chargers in Pittsburgh in December (when that Chargers team, which finished 7-9, was starting 3 street free agents on the O-line), the Steelers would have made the playoffs as a wildcard. Still, this was a rebuilding season, and Ben missed a few games with injuries. The RB corps was as bad in 2012 as it was in 2020, the O-line was still a work in progress, and the defense was in rebuild.
2013: Steelers go 8-8 and miss the playoffs. This was a rebuilding year, and probably the worst the Steelers were talent wise in the entire decade. Pouncey missed the season due to DeCastro taking out his knee in the season opener. Still, had the Steelers beat the Raiders (who finished 4-12), the Steelers would have made the playoffs as a wildcard.
2014: Ben has the best regular season of his career (one that would have had him in MVP contention most years). Bell is in his prime, as is AB. Rookie Martavis Bryant emerges as a deep threat. The Steelers win the AFC North. Neverthless, they miss the 1st round bye because of inexplicable losses to terrible teams. The Steelers lose at home to the rookie Mike Glennon lead Bucs, a team that finished 2-14, and in the Meadowlands to the Jets, a team that finished 4-12. The Steelers, playing for seeding in the last game of the season due to those hideous losses, lend up starting and losing Le'veon Bell for the playoffs due to injury. Unfortunately, Tomlin & Co. have completely botched the RB position- kicking LeGarrett Bount off the team earlier in the year but never thinking to replace him. Instead they are forced to sign and start(!) Ben Tate in the wildcard round of the playoffs at home against a tough Ravens team that had already beaten them once that season and barely lost the second game. The Steelers' offense was one dimensional as a result, Ben played ok but not transcendent, the defense couldn't stop Flacco, and the season ended in disappointment.
2015: The Steelers lose Leveon Bell midseason, but replace him with DeAngelo Williams and don't miss a beat (and arguably improve). Steelers lose both games to the Ravens that year despite the fact that this Ravens team only managed a 5-11 record, resulting in the Steelers not winning the AFCN. Unfortunately, Williams himself gets injured in Week 17, forcing the Steelers to go into the playoffs with Fitzgerald Toussant and Jordan Todman. They end up having to play in the wildcard round against a good Bengals team that had won the North and had already beaten the Steelers once that year. The Steelers start out well, holding a 15-0 lead going into the 4th Quarter. Ben suffers a shoulder injury, and Landry Jones has to step in. The Bengals mount a ferocious comeback that the Steelers can't answer, forcing an injured Ben back into the game. Ben can barely throw, but moves the ball down the field. Then Burfict gives AB head trauma (possibly changing the trajectory of AB's career?) , the benches clear, Joey Porter contributes to another Steelers playoff win by baiting Pacman Jones into an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and the Steelers win with a last second field goal.
The injury depleted Steelers then go to face eventual Super Bowl champion Denver in Denver. Ben plays with a shoulder injury, without AB, and relying on the same terrible Fitz-Todman RB group. Nevertheless, Ben has a good game throwing to the likes of Markus Wheaton, Sammie Coates, and DHB, and the Steelers have a narrow lead in the 4th quarter. Fitz then fumbles on what might have been the game-winning drive, and the Broncos manage to put the game away with a touchdown. Once again, the Steelers Defense fails to produce a turnover in a playoff loss.
2016: The Steelers WR corps falls apart. Martavis Bryant gets suspended for the season for drugs, Markus Wheaton is largely ineffective and injured, so the Steelers end up having AB and a group of JAGs at best (Eli Rodgers, Sammie Coates, DHB). The Steelers don't have any truly embarrasing losses during the season (worst loss was in Philly to an Eagles team that would finish 7-9). The Steelers win convincingly against the Dolphins, then beat KC in KC in a close game. Bell gets dinged up in the playoffs, and WR injuries / underperformance leads to CFL-level player Cobi Hamilton starting a playoff game at WR for the Steelers. Bell ends up leaving the game early in the first half. The Patriots were the better team and simply outmatched the Steelers at every level. The coaches trot out the same stale defense they had used against Tom Brady for 15 years and, as anyone with a brain would have expected, Tom Brady eats them alive. Needless to say, the Steelers D did not force a turnover. The Patriots toyed with the Steelers most of the game, and the result was never in question. The Patriots could have scored 60 points if they wanted to. For the first time ever, I turned off a Steelers playoff game before it was over, furious that the Steelers didn't try something different on D knowing- KNOWING- their usual approach would fail. That was when I first wanted coaching changes. Ben played a decent game, but the depleted Steelers offense had essentially no chance against the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots.
2017: The last gasp of the mid-2010s Killer B Steelers. For the first and only time, the Steelers had Bell, AB, and Bryant all season (plus rookie JuJu!). The Steelers went 13-3, winning the north, but still had an embarrassing loss on the road to the Mike Glennon Bears (a team that went 5-11) despite still having Shazier, a loss that cost them the #1 seed. The Steelers lost Shazier permanently in the middle of the season, and the Defense never really adjusted or recovered.
The Steelers lost the infamous Jesse James non-catch catch game to the Patriots, then, once in the playoffs, overlooked the Jags (despite having already lost to them once) because they were so set on revenge. This lead to another classic slow start clusterfuck playoff game. The defense gave up two long TD drives, Ben threw a pick to set up short field and another TD drive, and Ben suffered a strip sack fumble resulting in a 21 point Jags lead midway through the 2nd quarter. Only then did the Steelers' O wake up- and when it woke up, it went off. 5 Roethlisberger TD passes, 1 Bell TD run. 42 total points. But that wasn't enough because the Defense allowed a Blake Bortles led Jags team to walk over them at will. The Defense couldn't make a stop to save the season, nor could it force a turnover.
Losing Shazier was a blow to be sure, but losing one player should not render a defense completely ineffective. The Steelers had half a season to adjust but couldn't. This is where the mid-2010s high round defensive busts Jarvis Jones, Artie Burns, Senquez Golson, and Sean Davis were most keenly felt. They should have been difference makers, or at least solid starters, by now. They weren't. After this embarrassment, the Steelers keep the D coordinator (despite the second straight playoff defensive collapse) but fired the O-coordinator. While I was glad to see Haley go (less glad in retrospect now that I've seen the Fichtner offense), the Defensive staff should also have been cleared out. It wasn't, and we still have Butler-ball to this day (though reports say that Tomlin is calling plays).
To be continued...
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