Tomlin should be placed on the hot seat

[Shawn]

Tomlin should be placed on hot seat


By Dutch Wydo


When they say an NFL team is well coached, what does that mean?


A well coached team is one that gets the most out of the talent that it has. The head coach does this by putting a team on the field that doesn’t beat themselves. They minimize mistakes and force the opposition into their fair share of them. They also capitalize on their opponents blunders. A well coached team is one that often wins the battle of field position. For example, knowing when to kick a field goal, punt the ball, or go for a 4th down conversion goes a long way in winning the battle of field position.


Most would agree that Bill Belichick’s Patriots are well coached. It doesn’t seem to matter who they have playing Wide receiver or Running back; they still perform at a very high level week after week. So let’s take the time and do a little comparison between Belichick and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin since 2007.


TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL SINCE 2007


Belichicks team = +92


Tomlin’s team = -2


Belichicks teams since 2007 have forced 92 more takeaways than they have committed. That is an astonishing figure. Belichicks team rarely coughs up the football, and their defense has continued to give their offense short fields to work with due to their ability to take the football away.


Meanwhile Tomlin’s team is in the hole at -2.





TEAM PENALTIES SINCE 2007


Tomlin’s team has been penalized 82 more times since 2007!





NET AVERAGE STARTING FIELD POSTION RANKINGS


2012 Belichicks team = Ranked #1
2012 Tomlin’s team = Ranked 28th worst

2011 Belichicks team = ranked #1
2011 Tomlin’s team = ranked #22


2010 Belichicks team = ranked #3
2010 Tomlin’s team = ranked #19

2009 Belichicks team = ranked #3
2009 Tomlin’s team = ranked #14


2008 Belichicks team = ranked #1
2008 Tomlin’s team = ranked #18th

2008 Belichicks team = ranked #3
2007 Tomlin’s team = ranked #7

Just take a look at the above statistics at how superior and consistent Belichick is when it comes to managing a game.

OFFENSIVE REDZONE PRODUCTION (TD) RANKINGS

Belichicks’s team ranking

2012 Ranked #2
2011 Ranked #4
2010 Ranked #6

Tomlin’s team ranking

2012 Ranked #21
2011 Ranked #17
2010 Ranked #15

One could even take a look at special team’s rankings.

2012 SPECIAL TEAMS RANKINGS

Ravens #1
Patriots #2
Steelers #20

Some might say that Tomlin has a Super Bowl ring since 2007, while Belichick does not. But if your criteria for a well coached team is that simple, then perhaps the Cowboys should have kept Barry Switzer.

Some will point to a survey that shows Tomlin is the coach most players want to play for. But that survey doesn’t mean much. After all, Belichick and Coughlin were two of the most hated coaches to play for not long ago.

The evidence above isn’t a one game sample size. It’s mostly 5 years of work that shows that Mike Tomlin will struggle mightily as head coach just as soon as some of the talent begins to leave. That talent comes in two words.
Ben Roethlisberger.

Belichick’s team went 11-5 without Brady. This Steelers team under Tomlin might not go 5-11 if Roethlisberger missed the entire season.

In fact Steelers fans might as well face the facts. This Steelers team that you have watched the past 2 weeks is the one you will start to see on a regular basis under Tomlin, once Big Ben retires. Sure, they might not turn the ball over 8 times a game. But the evidence doesn’t forecast much hope.

The Steelers do not take care of the football. They do not force the opposition into mistakes on a regular basis. They shoot themselves in the foot with penalties. They lose the battle of field position and often settle for field goals in the red zone.

When it comes to coaching, Belichick takes Tomlin out to the woodshed and just beats the hell out of him.

The Steelers are not a well coached team. They haven’t been a well coached team under Tomlin. The time has come to place Tomlin firmly on the hot seat.

Dutch Wydo
Wmbs 590 radio

[Prowler]

Good stuff Shawn. I agree 100%.

[SteelCrazy]

I dont think he is a good coach at times, but it may be a little early to put him on the hot seat. Maybe he got a little relaxed and comfortable. Lets see the moves made in the off season, including the draft and next season. If we miss the playoffs again, then........well, it might still be too early. We have to give this guy a good chance at redemption and I think that is the next 2 seasons.

[Shawn]

I hear ya SC. I have always been a Tomlin supporter, but these are some serious areas which need improving. It indicates a team that lacks discipline and that concerns me. That starts with the top.

[anger 82&95]

There seemed to be a lack of discipline with certain components of this year’s team; an example being the WR group. Maybe it’s unfair to pin this on Tomlin, but it has to be addressed in the off season.

[BURGH86STEEL]

The last time the Steelers faced the Pats they won. Steelers are 2-2 vs the Pats since Tomlin took over as HC. Tomlin's teams have shown they can win game without Ben. Teams do struggle to win when they don't have players. Look how Billichick coached teams performed in Cleveland. That's a much larger sample size then one season without Tom Brady.

People want to simply place the focus on Tomlin. All coaches fortunes are tied directly to how their players perform. I believe more of a microscope should be placed on Ben. He hasn't gotten it done when the team needed it most this season. Denver, Oakland, Tenn, Dallas, and Cin were games where Ben and the offense had the opportunity to win those games. The offense didn't get it done. When talent doesn't perform all teams struggle to win games regardless of coaching. Coaches don't usually make that much of a difference unless their players are good enough. The team didn't get good enough play from the QB.

[Oviedo]

Coaches are on the hot seat every year even though good owners don't make a public spectacle out of it to appease fans.

I think Tomlin's "hot seat" should be cooler than Cowher's was from 98 to 99 when he had losing records after Noll's players had all left.

My opinion on Tomlin will be based on what he does about a defense that cannot force turnovers or sack the QB. If he keeps more of the same I hope they raise the temp on the "hot seat"

[flippy]

I just started thinking that our 3 best players on the team play their best when they are acting outside the context of the play.

Coaches are supposed to help players, but you could argue Ben, Troy, and Deebo make their best plays when they freelance.

Does any team have so many guys playing backyard football and making it up as they go?

[NorthCoast]

The last time the Steelers faced the Pats they won. Steelers are 2-2 vs the Pats since Tomlin took over as HC. Tomlin's teams have shown they can win game without Ben. Teams do struggle to win when they don't have players. Look how Billichick coached teams performed in Cleveland. That's a much larger sample size then one season without Tom Brady.

People want to simply place the focus on Tomlin. All coaches fortunes are tied directly to how their players perform. I believe more of a microscope should be placed on Ben. He hasn't gotten it done when the team needed it most this season. Denver, Oakland, Tenn, Dallas, and Cin were games where Ben and the offense had the opportunity to win those games. The offense didn't get it done. When talent doesn't perform all teams struggle to win games regardless of coaching. Coaches don't usually make that much of a difference unless their players are good enough. The team didn't get good enough play from the QB.

I am willing to give Ben a pass on the early games. Installing a new offense and offensive philosophy there was bound to be some adjustment. (ok, you can point to Manning in Denver, but the fact is they are running Manning's offense, not someone else's).
Ben needs to man-up and make the new offense his next season. There were early signs this season that he could thrive in this offense. I still think he sorely misses Ward on broken plays. Some point to Heath as that go to guy, but unfortunately due to a porous OL, he isn't running patterns on every play like a Hernandez.

[Oviedo]

I just started thinking that our 3 best players on the team play their best when they are acting outside the context of the play.

Coaches are supposed to help players, but you could argue Ben, Troy, and Deebo make their best plays when they freelance.

Does any team have so many guys playing backyard football and making it up as they go?

So Troy and Deebo play best when not constrained by LeBeau's overly, and unnecessarily, complex scheme? I'll buy that.

[flippy]

So Troy and Deebo play best when not constrained by LeBeau's overly, and unnecessarily, complex scheme? I'll buy that.

I was thinking of James dropping into coverage before his 100 yard INT return in the SuperBowl. And I've heard Farrior comment about James not really knowing the defense and mentioning he's still impossible to block and makes plays anyway.

Then with Troy, I think of last week when he looks like he's in coverage and then sneaks through the LOS to make a play in the backfield.

[Oviedo]

I was thinking of James dropping into coverage before his 100 yard INT return in the SuperBowl. And I've heard Farrior comment about James not really knowing the defense and mentioning he's still impossible to block and makes plays anyway.

Then with Troy, I think of last week when he looks like he's in coverage and then sneaks through the LOS to make a play in the backfield.

I've said all season long LeBeau has gone too conservative and if the players are taking matters into their own hands to overcome that then good on them. That said, not counting on Harrison ever to be what he was if even on the team which I think is a 50-50 at best.

[BURGH86STEEL]

I am willing to give Ben a pass on the early games. Installing a new offense and offensive philosophy there was bound to be some adjustment. (ok, you can point to Manning in Denver, but the fact is they are running Manning's offense, not someone else's).
Ben needs to man-up and make the new offense his next season. There were early signs this season that he could thrive in this offense. I still think he sorely misses Ward on broken plays. Some point to Heath as that go to guy, but unfortunately due to a porous OL, he isn't running patterns on every play like a Hernandez.

I am not certain how Ben is going to make the new offense his. Offenses can generally thrive around the league if QB's play well.

Now if people are tying the team's fortunes to the way Ben performs then they need to hold him mostly accountable for when the team fails. But no, people will continue to blame everyone else under the sun because Ben is the franchise QB.

Ben played inconsistent football this season like he always did for all of his career. The huge difference from the past vs this season is that Ben always found ways to win games in the past. He wasn't able to lead this team down the field in 5 of the close games they loss. Ben has never been the type of QB that helps an offense produce a lot of points. Making plays at key times in games to help the team win was Ben's thing. If he can't win games in the end, the Steelers could be in for more rocky seasons.

[papillon]

I've said all season long LeBeau has gone too conservative and if the players are taking matters into their own hands to overcome that then good on them. That said, not counting on Harrison ever to be what he was if even on the team which I think is a 50-50 at best.

Just a thought here on the "conservative nature" of the defense this year. Could it be that between Harrison, Woodley, Polamalu, Taylor and Lewis being injured and not on the field and being replaced by Worilds, Carter, Will Allen, Victorian and a practice squad player that I can't remember, that Lebeau was trying to protect the defense until the new players got in the groove. Once Worilds started making fewer mistakes it seemed the defense was more aggressive, the same with Will Allen, Carter, and the cornerbacks replacing Taylor and Lewis. The Dallas game Lebeau was doing his best to hide our 4th and 5th DBs on the depth chart and had it not been for an ill-advised throw late he may have actually pulled it off.

Anyhow, that's what I thought all year that Lebeau was trying to get the defense up to speed without 3 of his 4 best play makers on the field at the same time. I think against Cincinnati we got a glimpse of what the defense can do when they are healthy and minus Ike. With Ike, we may not be lamenting a lost season, for some reason I believe he would have had AJ Green covered on that last play prior to the winning FG.

Pappy

[SDSteel1]

Consider the source of the article. Dutch Wydo aka moneymaker IIRC is the biggest Big Ben fan and apologist around. He isn't a Steeler fan as much as he is a Ben fan. He wrote the article, which I don't completely disagree with, to take heat off his guy. I will agree that Tomlin needs to tighten the ship, but I think it was Ben that accounted for alot of the most important turnovers that killed this season. This team will go as Ben goes, the way it is set up now.