Shaping up to be the Worst Steelers Defense...

[phillyesq]

Couple of points:

1. The Offense fumbled 4 times and lost 2.

2. Ryan Clark got a turnover to start the game which lead to an easy 7.

3. Officiating turned a Oakland 4th and 2 into a 1st and goal inside the 5. That's another 4 points for Oakland.

4. ST gave up yards. Including a horrible punt. And holds on a return for a TD that cost us some points.

5. The O didn't score TDs in the 4th quarter.

We can blame the defense, but who didn't see this coming? The problem on D for years has been the inability to generate pressure on opposing QBs.

But yesterday's loss isn't all on our D. They have their issues. But we still would have won this game if the O and ST played better.

We have a long time to work this out. No one hands out Lombardi's yet.

Great post, Flippy.

[SidSmythe]

FLASTEEL obviously missed the Tim Lewis Defenses ...they give up 3rd and 15's like they were 3rd & 3's

[feltdizz]

Anyone got the stats to compare a Bill Cowher 10+ point lead to a Mike Tomlin 10+ point lead?

It's actually an 11+ lead where Bill had only 1 loss...

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Pittsburgh Steelers

Year No. Round Pick Player Name Position College
2012 1 1 24 24 David DeCastro G Stanford
* 2 2 24 56 Mike Adams T Ohio State
* 3 3 23 86 Sean Spence LB Miami (FL)
* 4 4 14 109 Alameda Ta'amu DT Washington
* 5 5 24 159 Chris Rainey RB Florida
* 6 7 24 231 Toney Clemons WR Colorado
* 7 7 33 240 David Paulson TE Oregon
* 8 7 39 246 Terrence Frederick DB Texas A&M
* 9 7 41 248 Kelvin Beachum T Southern Methodist
2011 1 1 31 31 Cameron Hayward DE Ohio State
* 2 2 31 63 Marcus Gilbert T Florida
* 3 3 31 95 Curtis Brown DB Texas
* 4 4 31 128 Cortez Allen DB Citadel
* 5 5 31 162 Chris Carter LB Fresno State
* 6 6 31 196 Keith Williams G Nebraska
* 7 7 29 232 Baron Batch RB Texas Tech
2010 1 1 18 18 Maurkice Pouncey C Florida
* 2 2 20 52 Jason Worilds LB Virginia Tech
* 3 3 18 82 Emmanuel Sanders WR Southern Methodist
* 4 4 18 116 Thaddeus Gibson LB Ohio State
* 5 5 20 151 Chris Scott G Tennessee
* 6 5 33 164 Crezdon Butler DB Clemson
* 7 5 35 166 Stevenson Sylvester LB Utah
* 8 6 19 188 Jonathan Dwyer RB Georgia Tech
* 9 6 26 195 Antonio Brown WR Central Michigan
* 10 7 35 242 Doug Worthington DE Ohio State
2009 1 1 32 32 Ziggy Hood DT Missouri
* 2 3 15 79 Kraig Urbik T Wisconsin
* 3 3 20 84 Mike Wallace WR Mississippi
* 4 3 32 96 Keenan Lewis DB Oregon State
* 5 5 32 168 Joe Burnett DB Central Florida
* 6 5 33 169 Frank Summers RB UNLV
* 7 6 32 205 Ra'Shon Harris DT Oregon
* 8 7 17 226 A.Q. Shipley C Penn State
* 9 7 32 241 David Johnson TE Arkansas State
2008 1 1 23 23 Rashard Mendenhall RB Illinois
* 2 2 22 53 Limas Sweed WR Texas
* 3 3 25 88 Bruce Davis LB UCLA
* 4 4 31 130 Tony Hills T Texas
* 5 5 21 156 Dennis Dixon QB Oregon
* 6 6 22 188 Mike Humpal LB Iowa
* 7 6 28 194 Ryan Mundy DB West Virginia
2007 1 1 15 15 Lawrence Timmons LB Florida State
* 2 2 14 46 LaMarr Woodley DE Michigan
* 3 3 13 77 Matt Spaeth TE Minnesota
* 4 4 13 112 Daniel Sepulveda P Baylor
* 5 4 33 132 Ryan McBean DE Oklahoma State
* 6 5 19 156 Cameron Stephenson G Rutgers
* 7 5 33 170 William Gay DB Louisville
*
Tomlin's drafts are poor. When it came time to replace Cowher's players he has been unable to do it with equal talent...so now we are playing weaker players or had to bring back players.

[Oviedo]

Pittsburgh Steelers

Year No. Round Pick Player Name Position College
2012 1 1 24 24 David DeCastro G Stanford
* 2 2 24 56 Mike Adams T Ohio State
* 3 3 23 86 Sean Spence LB Miami (FL)
* 4 4 14 109 Alameda Ta'amu DT Washington
* 5 5 24 159 Chris Rainey RB Florida
* 6 7 24 231 Toney Clemons WR Colorado
* 7 7 33 240 David Paulson TE Oregon
* 8 7 39 246 Terrence Frederick DB Texas A&M
* 9 7 41 248 Kelvin Beachum T Southern Methodist
2011 1 1 31 31 Cameron Hayward DE Ohio State
* 2 2 31 63 Marcus Gilbert T Florida
* 3 3 31 95 Curtis Brown DB Texas
* 4 4 31 128 Cortez Allen DB Citadel
* 5 5 31 162 Chris Carter LB Fresno State
* 6 6 31 196 Keith Williams G Nebraska
* 7 7 29 232 Baron Batch RB Texas Tech
2010 1 1 18 18 Maurkice Pouncey C Florida
* 2 2 20 52 Jason Worilds LB Virginia Tech
* 3 3 18 82 Emmanuel Sanders WR Southern Methodist
* 4 4 18 116 Thaddeus Gibson LB Ohio State
* 5 5 20 151 Chris Scott G Tennessee
* 6 5 33 164 Crezdon Butler DB Clemson
* 7 5 35 166 Stevenson Sylvester LB Utah
* 8 6 19 188 Jonathan Dwyer RB Georgia Tech
* 9 6 26 195 Antonio Brown WR Central Michigan
* 10 7 35 242 Doug Worthington DE Ohio State
2009 1 1 32 32 Ziggy Hood DT Missouri
* 2 3 15 79 Kraig Urbik T Wisconsin
* 3 3 20 84 Mike Wallace WR Mississippi
* 4 3 32 96 Keenan Lewis DB Oregon State
* 5 5 32 168 Joe Burnett DB Central Florida
* 6 5 33 169 Frank Summers RB UNLV
* 7 6 32 205 Ra'Shon Harris DT Oregon
* 8 7 17 226 A.Q. Shipley C Penn State
* 9 7 32 241 David Johnson TE Arkansas State
2008 1 1 23 23 Rashard Mendenhall RB Illinois
* 2 2 22 53 Limas Sweed WR Texas
* 3 3 25 88 Bruce Davis LB UCLA
* 4 4 31 130 Tony Hills T Texas
* 5 5 21 156 Dennis Dixon QB Oregon
* 6 6 22 188 Mike Humpal LB Iowa
* 7 6 28 194 Ryan Mundy DB West Virginia
2007 1 1 15 15 Lawrence Timmons LB Florida State
* 2 2 14 46 LaMarr Woodley DE Michigan
* 3 3 13 77 Matt Spaeth TE Minnesota
* 4 4 13 112 Daniel Sepulveda P Baylor
* 5 4 33 132 Ryan McBean DE Oklahoma State
* 6 5 19 156 Cameron Stephenson G Rutgers
* 7 5 33 170 William Gay DB Louisville
*
Tomlin's drafts are poor. When it came time to replace Cowher's players he has been unable to do it with equal talent...so now we are playing weaker players or had to bring back players.

Here I thought Colbert was in charge of the draft but now it's all Tomlin's fault and good 'ol Bill Cowher will make it all better. Maybe it is the fault of the coordinators whose job it is to coach and design an offense and defense that maximizes the ability of the players he has. Arians failed and was replaced with positive results so far, LeBeau is failing and.... Well and we keep hearing it's someone else's fault.

Maybe you could compare the results above to the rest of the NFL and then clearly show how well all other 31 teams do compared to the Steelers.

[steelz09]

Pittsburgh Steelers

Year No. Round Pick Player Name Position College
2012 1 1 24 24 David DeCastro G Stanford
* 2 2 24 56 Mike Adams T Ohio State
* 3 3 23 86 Sean Spence LB Miami (FL)
* 4 4 14 109 Alameda Ta'amu DT Washington
* 5 5 24 159 Chris Rainey RB Florida
* 6 7 24 231 Toney Clemons WR Colorado
* 7 7 33 240 David Paulson TE Oregon
* 8 7 39 246 Terrence Frederick DB Texas A&M
* 9 7 41 248 Kelvin Beachum T Southern Methodist
2011 1 1 31 31 Cameron Hayward DE Ohio State
* 2 2 31 63 Marcus Gilbert T Florida
* 3 3 31 95 Curtis Brown DB Texas
* 4 4 31 128 Cortez Allen DB Citadel
* 5 5 31 162 Chris Carter LB Fresno State
* 6 6 31 196 Keith Williams G Nebraska
* 7 7 29 232 Baron Batch RB Texas Tech
2010 1 1 18 18 Maurkice Pouncey C Florida
* 2 2 20 52 Jason Worilds LB Virginia Tech
* 3 3 18 82 Emmanuel Sanders WR Southern Methodist
* 4 4 18 116 Thaddeus Gibson LB Ohio State
* 5 5 20 151 Chris Scott G Tennessee
* 6 5 33 164 Crezdon Butler DB Clemson
* 7 5 35 166 Stevenson Sylvester LB Utah
* 8 6 19 188 Jonathan Dwyer RB Georgia Tech
* 9 6 26 195 Antonio Brown WR Central Michigan
* 10 7 35 242 Doug Worthington DE Ohio State
2009 1 1 32 32 Ziggy Hood DT Missouri
* 2 3 15 79 Kraig Urbik T Wisconsin
* 3 3 20 84 Mike Wallace WR Mississippi
* 4 3 32 96 Keenan Lewis DB Oregon State
* 5 5 32 168 Joe Burnett DB Central Florida
* 6 5 33 169 Frank Summers RB UNLV
* 7 6 32 205 Ra'Shon Harris DT Oregon
* 8 7 17 226 A.Q. Shipley C Penn State
* 9 7 32 241 David Johnson TE Arkansas State
2008 1 1 23 23 Rashard Mendenhall RB Illinois
* 2 2 22 53 Limas Sweed WR Texas
* 3 3 25 88 Bruce Davis LB UCLA
* 4 4 31 130 Tony Hills T Texas
* 5 5 21 156 Dennis Dixon QB Oregon
* 6 6 22 188 Mike Humpal LB Iowa
* 7 6 28 194 Ryan Mundy DB West Virginia
2007 1 1 15 15 Lawrence Timmons LB Florida State
* 2 2 14 46 LaMarr Woodley DE Michigan
* 3 3 13 77 Matt Spaeth TE Minnesota
* 4 4 13 112 Daniel Sepulveda P Baylor
* 5 4 33 132 Ryan McBean DE Oklahoma State
* 6 5 19 156 Cameron Stephenson G Rutgers
* 7 5 33 170 William Gay DB Louisville
*
Tomlin's drafts are poor. When it came time to replace Cowher's players he has been unable to do it with equal talent...so now we are playing weaker players or had to bring back players.

I said this last week or possibly the week before last. I would clarify one thing. Tomlin AND Colbert have been poor in replacing our DEFENSIVE talent. On offense, Tomlin and Colbert have been solid... especially at WR.

Looking at those picks and looking at our current defensive starters... it's obvious. There will be many though that fail to recognize or criticize the drafting and development of defensive talent.

[Oviedo]

I said this last week or possibly the week before last. I would clarify one thing. Tomlin AND Colbert have been poor in replacing our DEFENSIVE talent. On offense, Tomlin and Colbert have been solid... especially at WR.

Looking at those picks and looking at our current defensive starters... it's obvious. There will be many though that fail to recognize or criticize the drafting and development of defensive talent.

Maybe that is because they have been spending all their money RETAINING LeBeau's boys, e.g. Harrison, Polamalu, Woodley, Timmons, etc. Why do you need replacements in the draft when you are spending huge dollars keeping who you have?

[steelz09]

Here I thought Colbert was in charge of the draft but now it's all Tomlin's fault and good 'ol Bill Cowher will make it all better. Maybe it is the fault of the coordinators whose job it is to coach and design an offense and defense that maximizes the ability of the players he has. Arians failed and was replaced with positive results so far, LeBeau is failing and.... Well and we keep hearing it's someone else's fault.

Maybe you could compare the results above to the rest of the NFL and then clearly show how well all other 31 teams do compared to the Steelers.

You don't think the HC has any say in the draft? I highly doubt that. It was well known that Cowher had a lot of "say" in drafts. The bottom line is that the HC always gets the heat regardless of whether it's 100% his fault or not. That is nature of being a HC. If he is not happy with his DC's play calling and development of young talent then Tomlin needs to make a change.

I don't want to compare the Steelers defensive player development with 31 other teams. As far as I'm concerned, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense has a higher standard.. That is based on the history of this franchise and the defensive tradition. It's what we come to expect.

We can keep making excuses but the bottom line is that this defense is not good. I'm particularly disappointed with our DL and LBs.

[steelz09]

Maybe that is because they have been spending all their money RETAINING LeBeau's boys, e.g. Harrison, Polamalu, Woodley, Timmons, etc. Why do you need replacements in the draft when you are spending huge dollars keeping who you have?

You don't need huge money to draft and develop mid round, late round, or UFAs.

[flippy]

I'd still be in favor of trying to bring in Eric Mangini to replace Lebeau. I think he had some good drafts in Cleveland and NYJ. He made a quick positive impact in both places. He is the SOB that left us with Timmons instead of Revis so I hate him, but I'd still take him.

I think there's a lot of value in the ex-HCs that no one wants any more. These guys usually got to be a HC because they're a great coordinator. Then once they fail as a HC, it kills their aspirations and makes them a perfect long term OC or DC. And probably a good one to boot.