Mike Mitchell....

[SidSmythe]

....just plain sucks.

[hawaiiansteel]

he can only get better...

[Shawn]

Not a good FA pick up.

[feltdizz]

I can't defend him anymore...

[7 UP]

Mitchell and Ike seemed hell bent on making sure we lost this game.

[Mr.wizard]

I thought Mitchell was fine, Ike was brutal and polamalu was terrible. Mitchell the one thing I saw is he was late on the first deep pass to green but troy was standing right there and just let the ball float down to green like a feather.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

talks big, plays very very small

[BradshawsHairdresser]

....just plain sucks.
Glad people are finally recognizing it. Some of us had it figured out weeks ago.

[phillyesq]

talks big, plays very very small

That just about sums it up. He is due a $2 million roster bonus next year on the 5th day of the league year. Hopefully the Steelers cut him before that is due, admit the mistake, and move on.

[Flasteel]

Mitchell has been terrible all year and was terrible again today.

[Iron City Inc.]

He takes some bad angles. He dropped a pick that I think was tipped by Gay along the sidelines and he doesn't play the ball well in the air. FS will likely be addressed on draft day.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

He takes some bad angles. He dropped a pick that I think was tipped by Gay along the sidelines and he doesn't play the ball well in the air. FS will likely be addressed on draft day.

I sure hope so.

[Ghost]

But do you go safety or CB first. Secondary is in shambles. Ike is done. Troy is flat out awful. Thomas is undersized and constantly hurt and Allen was benched the same year he was given an extension. The Steelers could draft 4 secondary players and it'd be hard to argue with.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

But do you go safety or CB first. Secondary is in shambles. Ike is done. Troy is flat out awful. Thomas is undersized and constantly hurt and Allen was benched the same year he was given an extension. The Steelers could draft 4 secondary players and it'd be hard to argue with.

$$$$
They could go secondary rounds 1-4 and have at least 3 new starters in the backfield next season.

[WindyCitySteel]

Is Troy any better?

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Is Troy any better?
Troy has been bad, too, IMO. Time to replace him. If Shamarko can't be the guy, better find another youngster.

[hawaiiansteel]

Mark Kaboly @MarkKaboly_Trib - ·

Mike Mitchell takes full blame for TD pass to AJ green.

Ike says about Mitchell taking blame: "tell mike to quit trippin"

Ike missed bump at the line on AJ.

https://twitter.com/MarkKaboly_Trib

[Oviedo]

But do you go safety or CB first. Secondary is in shambles. Ike is done. Troy is flat out awful. Thomas is undersized and constantly hurt and Allen was benched the same year he was given an extension. The Steelers could draft 4 secondary players and it'd be hard to argue with.
Selling out to draft defense won't help. How much have we sen the rookies on the field this year. Tuitt makes his first start in Game 13 today while we've had Cam Thomas out there stinking up the joint. That is laughable and a sad statement to what we would see bring in a bunch of defensive rookies next year.

[phillyesq]

Selling out to draft defense won't help. How much have we sen the rookies on the field this year. Tuitt makes his first start in Game 13 today while we've had Cam Thomas out there stinking up the joint. That is laughable and a sad statement to what we would see bring in a bunch of defensive rookies next year.

You conveniently left out Shazier, a week 1 starter. And while Tuitt played well yesterday, he has been a big part of many of the big runs given up by the D.

[SidSmythe]

Mike Mitchell has NOT made a correct decision on a big play yet this year. He's constantly jumping underneath routes. He even jumped an underneath route that TROY jumped against INDY and left ALLEN alone (Touchdown blamed on ALLEN expecting help over top).

Yesterday he should have known IKE had press on GREEN ...instead he didn't look and then took an awful angle.

Troy also expected him to help inside on a deep pass to GREEN but he was a day late and dollar short.

TROY is limited by age and lack of burst ... BUT Mitchell is just not making good decisions at all. It's a complex Defense but I don't remember CLARK having this much of a learning curve. Plus CLARK didn't come to the STEELERS acting like a D'bag talking trash from Day 1.

[feltdizz]

Mike Mitchell has NOT made a correct decision on a big play yet this year. He's constantly jumping underneath routes. He even jumped an underneath route that TROY jumped against INDY and left ALLEN alone (Touchdown blamed on ALLEN expecting help over top).

Yesterday he should have known IKE had press on GREEN ...instead he didn't look and then took an awful angle.

Troy also expected him to help inside on a deep pass to GREEN but he was a day late and dollar short.

TROY is limited by age and lack of burst ... BUT Mitchell is just not making good decisions at all. It's a complex Defense but I don't remember CLARK having this much of a learning curve. Plus CLARK didn't come to the STEELERS acting like a D'bag talking trash from Day 1.

I don't remember if Clark was good his first year... pretty sure he was average.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

This seems about as good a place as any to post this...

While a 5 year, $25M contract looks bad on the surface, this is a contract that should be easy to get out of as soon as next year.

$4.75M SB = Dead money of $3.8M if they release him. If they wait until June 1, $950K hit next year, $2.85M the following year.

$4.95M cap hit if he is on the team next year.

I would advocate cutting him after June 1, as the team has Woodley on the books for over $8.5M next year. If I find the time, perhaps we can work on a thread that looks at who might/will be cap casualties after the season.

[feltdizz]

Mike Mitchell has NOT made a correct decision on a big play yet this year. He's constantly jumping underneath routes. He even jumped an underneath route that TROY jumped against INDY and left ALLEN alone (Touchdown blamed on ALLEN expecting help over top).

Yesterday he should have known IKE had press on GREEN ...instead he didn't look and then took an awful angle.

Troy also expected him to help inside on a deep pass to GREEN but he was a day late and dollar short.

TROY is limited by age and lack of burst ... BUT Mitchell is just not making good decisions at all. It's a complex Defense but I don't remember CLARK having this much of a learning curve. Plus CLARK didn't come to the STEELERS acting like a D'bag talking trash from Day 1.

I don't remember if Clark was good his first year... pretty sure he was average.

Ryan Clark's first year 2006 (8-;)):
48 solo tackles, 24 assist
1 INT
4 passes defended,
3 fumble recoveries

Mike Mitchell's first year 2014 (8-5):
45 solo tackles, 16 assist
0 INT's,
3 Passes defended,
2 Forced Fumbles

Damn near identical and MM still has 3 games left to play. I think MM is getting a bum wrap this year but maybe he was paid more so we should expect more.

[Slapstick]

I've made the Mitchell/Clark comparison for awhile now...I still think he'll be here next season as the cap savings will be virtually identical if he is cut post 6/1 2015 or cut after the 2015 season...

[phillyesq]

I don't remember if Clark was good his first year... pretty sure he was average.

Ryan Clark's first year 2006 (8-;)):
48 solo tackles, 24 assist
1 INT
4 passes defended,
3 fumble recoveries

Mike Mitchell's first year 2014 (8-5):
45 solo tackles, 16 assist
0 INT's,
3 Passes defended,
2 Forced Fumbles

Damn near identical and MM still has 3 games left to play. I think MM is getting a bum wrap this year but maybe he was paid more so we should expect more.

Clark was signed as a low-level stopgap type FA. His stats were in line with the expectations. And many people expected him to be replaced by Anthony Smith. Clark got better and Smith got worse, which is how Clark ended up in Pittsburgh for so long.

Mitchell was a big signing for the Steelers. He was supposed to be a ballhawk and add speed to a secondary that needs it. At this point, he's been a step down from Ryan Clark last year.

Compare Mitchell to 26 year old Malcolm Jenkins, who signed a 3 year, $15.5 million dollar free agent deal with the Eagles this offseason. Jenkins has 3 picks and 11 passes defensed, 45 solo tackles, 12 assists and 1 fumble recovery. That is the production that the Steelers were expecting when they signed Mitchell.

Mitchell has not produced up to expectations, but he's always running his mouth or adding a cheap hit at the end of the play. There is nothing about him that makes you want to root for him, other than the uniform. This was a FA miss, and the Steelers should move on.

[phillyesq]

This seems about as good a place as any to post this...

While a 5 year, $25M contract looks bad on the surface, this is a contract that should be easy to get out of as soon as next year.

$4.75M SB = Dead money of $3.8M if they release him. If they wait until June 1, $950K hit next year, $2.85M the following year.

$4.95M cap hit if he is on the team next year.

I would advocate cutting him after June 1, as the team has Woodley on the books for over $8.5M next year. If I find the time, perhaps we can work on a thread that looks at who might/will be cap casualties after the season.

He also has a $2 million roster bonus due next year. They should cut him before that comes do and designate him as a post June 1 cut, particularly since they will have a big dead money hit from Woodley in 2015.

[feltdizz]

Clark was signed as a low-level stopgap type FA. His stats were in line with the expectations. And many people expected him to be replaced by Anthony Smith. Clark got better and Smith got worse, which is how Clark ended up in Pittsburgh for so long.

Mitchell was a big signing for the Steelers. He was supposed to be a ballhawk and add speed to a secondary that needs it. At this point, he's been a step down from Ryan Clark last year.

Compare Mitchell to 26 year old Malcolm Jenkins, who signed a 3 year, $15.5 million dollar free agent deal with the Eagles this offseason. Jenkins has 3 picks and 11 passes defensed, 45 solo tackles, 12 assists and 1 fumble recovery. That is the production that the Steelers were expecting when they signed Mitchell.

Mitchell has not produced up to expectations, but he's always running his mouth or adding a cheap hit at the end of the play. There is nothing about him that makes you want to root for him, other than the uniform. This was a FA miss, and the Steelers should move on.

Malcom Jenkins doesn't play in a Lebeau D with Ike, Troy and all types of unknowns on D.

We have no idea how Jenkins would look playing for us.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

He also has a $2 million roster bonus due next year. They should cut him before that comes do and designate him as a post June 1 cut, particularly since they will have a big dead money hit from Woodley in 2015.

Agreed, he is not worth the money that he is signed for. BTW The $4.95M cap hit reflects that roster bonus...$2M bonus, $2M salary, $950K pro-rated SB.

[Slapstick]

Mike Mitchell:

2015 - Salary $2M, Roster Bonus $2M, Cap Value $4.95M, Dead Money $3.8M

2016 - Salary $5M, Cap Hit $5.95M, Dead Money $2.85M

It's not worth the money to cut him before the roster bonus...his dead money is $3.8M, so you save about $1M. If you cut him post 6/1, you'd have to add the roster bonus to 2015. I'm not sure that you can avoid a roster bonus AND designate a player as a post 6/1 cut. The Steelers would be better off giving him another year, IMO...

I think he will improve after a year with the team...

[steelz09]

Mitchell was god awful yesterday. As the FS and the last line of defense, he has got to STOP letting players get behind him. It's completely unacceptable.

[Mr.wizard]

Clark was signed as a low-level stopgap type FA. His stats were in line with the expectations. And many people expected him to be replaced by Anthony Smith. Clark got better and Smith got worse, which is how Clark ended up in Pittsburgh for so long.

Mitchell was a big signing for the Steelers. He was supposed to be a ballhawk and add speed to a secondary that needs it. At this point, he's been a step down from Ryan Clark last year.

Compare Mitchell to 26 year old Malcolm Jenkins, who signed a 3 year, $15.5 million dollar free agent deal with the Eagles this offseason. Jenkins has 3 picks and 11 passes defensed, 45 solo tackles, 12 assists and 1 fumble recovery. That is the production that the Steelers were expecting when they signed Mitchell.

Mitchell has not produced up to expectations, but he's always running his mouth or adding a cheap hit at the end of the play. There is nothing about him that makes you want to root for him, other than the uniform. This was a FA miss, and the Steelers should move on.

He was also part of much more talented defenses.

[feltdizz]

He was also part of much more talented defenses.

Yep... and how many players have come into a DL defense and balled out their first year? Farrior is the only one I can think of... it takes time to learn this D and play at full speed.

[SidSmythe]

Clark might not have been great but the stats dont show the TDs he did NOT give up either

[feltdizz]

Clark might not have been great but the stats dont show the TDs he did NOT give up either

We had a better pass rush in 2006. 39 sacks in 2006, only 24 so far this year.

[phillyesq]

Yep... and how many players have come into a DL defense and balled out their first year? Farrior is the only one I can think of... it takes time to learn this D and play at full speed.

He's had 13 games and he still looks lost.