The end of the Tomlin Era

["BuzzNuter"]

I saw the end of Chuck Knoll and I know the story of Chuck Noll's year 1. I believe this will be Mike T's last season. We ate going to get 30× against us the next 2 weeks. We will be embarrassed. Perhaps we beat the Bengals. After that maybe beat the Dolphins and the Browns. At most 8 wins. Our defense is the worst I have ever seen it. Our first round O line is sh*t. Art will not bring this back in 2026. Mike T will retire to save face and perhaps Art hangs it up.

[feltdizz]

yep.. this definitely feels like the end. the worst part, or maybe its actually the best part, is paying top dollar to expose our coaching on defense. I thought we had something with Aaron Rodgers but we are seeing the same thing that happened in NY. We abandoned the run in the second half and became one dimensional and looked like crap.

[Eich]

It will be 15 seasons out of 19 without a playoff win. If that's not enough to jettison a head coach, then Tomlin says as long as HE wants.

[Iron City Inc.]

Mr Rooney listening to "Go pack Go" at the stadium has to be the final chapter of this story. Of course he doesn't want to let coach T go. However Chuck and Bill and Shula and Landry all get to a point where there was change to be made. And it will happen here as well. If we keep doing what we have been doing we're going to get what we have been getting. For us the money paying fans I have no problem giving someone else a chance.

[feltdizz]

I believe Cowher was at the end but we lucked up and got Ben. The funny thing is Cowher was going to sit Ben his rookie year but once again, luck was on our side and 2 QB’s went down. Unless we get lucky and a young QB shines due to injuries to starters its over for Tomlin.

[Eich]

For me as a fan, watching from TV at home, hearing, "Go Pack Go" and seeing us go with a silent count on offense, was supremely embarrassing and upsetting. If Mr. Rooney wasn't equally upset and embarrassed by that and the defensive performance overall, then he's not even a fan himself. And Renegade is a joke now. I've lost track of the number of times the opposing team goes right down the field and scores after it.

[brothervad]

Unfortunately, some really hard decisions will need to be made after this season...there are way too many players on the D side that are too old. And frankly I think TJ Watt has lost a quarter step and it's not going to get better. They are stuck with him as the dead cap money is unpalatable. If you check out his stats/projected stats on ESPN He is 21st in sacks, he is projected to have his lowest output in 16/17 games in Total solo tackles (29 solo - he had 27 in 10 games back in 2010), his third lowest sack total (his rookie year where he had 7 and again due to the injury season in 2010 where he had 5.5. He is projected to get 9.7 this year). ESPN doesn't have TFL I would have to look elsewhere to find that but this is abysmal for what they are paying him. However, they can part with Heyward, Ramsey, and Queen and save $47 million in cap space. My fear is Tomlin stays...the love of over the hill veterans will continue...The Steelers if they continue down this course...will actually come to a point where there will be a rebuild. I know we keep waiting for the non-losing season dam to break...I think they still end up 9-8 this season...but I think the ship is taking on water right now and next season after they lose Rogers where do they go from there?

[Ghost]

The biggest reason Tomlin should go is because this is his defense - built and coached. Love threw for 360 yards. Flacco 342. That's 703 yards in 2 games. Overall they have allowed 924 total yards in 2 games. They are now ranked 30th in yards allowed (386 per game). They have not had a turnover since Dublin. And they have allowed 30+ points in 4 out of 7 games. The D is not bad, it is in shambles. Adding to that - Slay looks to be a wasted signing, Ramsy is clearly well past his prime, and they just lost their starting Safety. The 4 starting linebackers are playing average. It is a huge mess.

[Dog chasing Cat]

Ghost said it all. And to show they are still clueless, openly talking about bringing back a washed up Rodgers next year as well.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Agree Ghost. A HC taking control of a unit is one of those "that's why I get paid the big bucks" things. If it goes well, you get to accept the credit, but when it implodes as badly as it is right now, you stand front and centre and take the blame. Especially when keep going out of your way to hire coaches in house instead of looking for someone to coach the unit.

[The Standard]

He's not going anywhere unless he chooses to. Art II doesn't have the stones.

[NorthCoast]

Keep adding to the hit list: - poor evaluation of FAs and their role on the team - poor/slow development of young players - draft misses/picks not contributing early in their careers - too focused on 'pedigree' of washed players in FA - continued pointing finger at everything but the defense (last PC said they settled for too many FGs, nothing about the YAC surrendered by the DBs).

[Eich]

He's not going anywhere unless he chooses to. Art II doesn't have the stones.

I agree that Rooney isn't going to outright fire Tomlin. But I think he can reach a point where he's had enough and will "encourage" Tomlin to retire/move on to allow him to save face. The only solace I can take from these humiliating losses is that maybe Rooney is finally getting closer to that point.

[Eich]

I keep wondering what state the D would be in, if we had kept Flores. I give Tomlin credit for bringing him in when he did. But he shouldn't have let him get away.

[Eich]

I'm rooting for Tomlin to join the analysts on the pre/post game shows and retire from coaching. Can you imagine the fun with all the Tomlinisms he'd be regurgitating with that much air time?