3-3 and Likely the 2nd Worst Team in the League

[Flasteel]

Which is what, exactly, besides played out catch phrases?

I like his passion and the way he communicates with his players. I'm an ex-coach myself and it reminds me of how I strived to operate. At the end of the day, that doesn't mean a whole lot if you can't get the job done with the X's and O's.

I'm not done with Tomlin...not yet. But if he can't right the ship this year, then I will be.

[sick beats]

I don't know; our coordinators are putting game plans together resembling this hippo. They aren't so bad. And, by the way, is this team so low in talent that J Brown is really our 2nd-best WR? Is that what they are telling us? You got to be kidding me.

[Steelhere10]

I said it and will say it again, if Tomlin don't can Dickey and. Haley then he should be canned.

[Sword]

Completely agree. Too much talent on this team to be this bad. Multiple major breakdowns on defense with receivers left completely wide open. The offense has some of the best talent in the league, and has been pretty much inept the past two weeks against two average at best defenses. The Ravens, with less talent on offense, scored at will on TB, and that was on the road.

This isn't a lack of talent or a problem with execution. This is game preparation, adjustments and things that the coaches get paid to do. I can't see Tomlin getting canned, but if this continues, you have to change the OC or DC or both. Simply unacceptable results.

And Tomlin!!!!

[Sword]

I said it and will say it again, if Tomlin don't can Dickey and. Haley then he should be canned.

They all 3 need to go...

[Steelhere10]

They all 3 need to go...

I cant argue with that , since he have had plenty of years to do so.

[buckeyehoppy]

First things first: Tomlin isn't going anywhere. His coordinators might be another story. And if the coordinators are in question, shouldn't it be high time that the person responsible for assembling the talent takes some of the blame?

Eventually, the Rooneys will need to step in if nothing improves. And two factors need to be realized: one, that the purge of old players is not over yet and; two: before the future can be addressed, there should be a clear line of demarcation as to who gets to contribute to the draft process and who will issue recommendations that will merely be taken under advisement. I get the sense that there are too many cooks stirring the pot on draft day and it muddies the water as to who is ultimately under the gun for putting the roster together.

I still don't think the sky is falling on the Steelers. They've split the first four road games, while two of the losses came to divisional teams on the road. But the wins have not looked all that convincing, and they are certainly not as convincing as the losses thus far.

At some point, one must ask where the Steelers heart is, because it is clear that they have mailed in the first six games.

[Shoe]

First things first: Tomlin isn't going anywhere. His coordinators might be another story. And if the coordinators are in question, shouldn't it be high time that the person responsible for assembling the talent takes some of the blame?

I agree.
Let's be real--this franchise doesn't get rid of head coaches easily, and so Tomlin is here going forward. But besides that, if there was just ONE move that I think could give quick returns--it is to get rid of Lebeau (BTW, not Lebau, Lebuae, Lebeua... At least explain the joke to the rest of us).

What Tomlin needs is a meticulous, detail-oriented coordinator underneath him. If that is Butler, so be it. I doubt that is Carnell at this point (need A LOT of experience, before you have that knowledge). But I just think that Tomlin lacks that detail, and it shows in the team's preparations week-to-week, and going into the season (i.e. slow starts).

[Slapstick]

I can see LeBeau retiring at the end of the year. If the offense keeps up like the last two weeks, I can see Haley's contract being allowed to expire. Maybe Mitchell retires if LeBeau does. I could also see Danny Smith's contract being allowed to expire if the special teams can't cut down on penalties and figure out better starting field position on KO returns. We could possibly see a lot of new blood. If the LBs can't show some improvement, maybe Butler isn't the heir apparent.

Or, the team can turn it around during this three game home stand and end up 6-3. I can't tell what will happen. We whipped the Panthers. The Ravens did as well. The Bengals could only tie. The league is nuts.

[WindyCitySteel]

The last three games have seen the Steelers lose to Tampa at home, almost lose to winless Jax, and get blown out at Cleveland.

The league might be nuts, but the Steelers are right as rain and predictable: they are a bad football team.

Every week we hear the same old ****e from Tomlin, Ben, Keisel, Polamalu - i.e., the "leaders" - "we're going to fix this."

And yet, things get worse. They have no answers. They are in a death spiral and they know it, they're just trying to buy good will and time.

Next three on national TV at home. Three bad losses later, the emperor will truly have no clothes, and finally, hopefully, with any luck at all, Tomlin will be getting criticized by the national media for the house of crap he's built in Pittsburgh.

[AxnJxn]

The last three games have seen the Steelers lose to Tampa at home, almost lose to winless Jax, and get blown out at Cleveland.

The league might be nuts, but the Steelers are right as rain and predictable: they are a bad football team.

Every week we hear the same old ****e from Tomlin, Ben, Keisel, Polamalu - i.e., the "leaders" - "we're going to fix this."

And yet, things get worse. They have no answers. They are in a death spiral and they know it, they're just trying to buy good will and time.

Next three on national TV at home. Three bad losses later, the emperor will truly have no clothes, and finally, hopefully, with any luck at all, Tomlin will be getting criticized by the national media for the house of crap he's built in Pittsburgh.

Agreed on all counts. They also got completely dominated across the board by the Ravens, barely held on to beat the Browns, and beat a Carolina team that also got creamed by the Ravens. I'm not sure how anyone can argue that this isn't a bad football team, at least right now. Bad penalties, dumb play calls, clock management failures on a regular basis, failed execution - there are very few things that are working right now. Bell and AB are having good years stats-wise, and Shazier and JJ were looking ok before they got hurt. Everything else has been a complete trainwreck.

We're very, very fortunate to be sitting at 3-3. The remaining schedule is pretty ugly, too, especially the last 5 games.

[steelz09]

If the Rooneys don't have the balls to pull the trigger and fire some people that deserve it then this team will continue to suck for more years than necessary. Just because they "nailed it" on the past two coaches doesn't mean anything. You can miss on a coach hire just like you can miss on a 1st round pick. It's time for a change.

[NorthCoast]

Should have been warned what kind of day it would be when they called a freaking timeout AFTER a break at the end of the 1st quarter. How on God's green earth can that be justified?

[hawaiiansteel]

Ron Cook: Real surprise is Steelers are 3-3 after further humiliation

October 12, 2014
By Ron Cook / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



A Browns fan celebrates at the two-minute warning as his team crushed the Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday.

CLEVELAND -- So you’re moaning today because the Steelers were trounced by the Cleveland Browns Sunday and fell into last place in the AFC North Division? Get over it. It could be so much worse. The way the team has played, not just Sunday but all season, it is lucky to be 3-3 instead of 1-5. It is undisciplined. It often looks unprepared. It is generally unproductive.

At the moment, the Steelers are a nightmare.

The 31-10 beating the Browns dished out might just be their biggest win since they came back to the NFL in 1999. Without question, it is their most lopsided win against the Steelers since they rolled into Three Rivers Stadium in 1989 and won, 51-0.

“I said it last week, they’re the best opponent we’ve played so far,” Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel said.

That might be true, but there’s no excuse for the way the Steelers played after a competitive first quarter. It wasn’t just one thing. The offense stunk. The defense stunk. The special teams stunk. The coaching stunk.

I’m thinking that about covers it.

The whipping was so bad that the Browns took a little time after the game to rub the Steelers’ noses in it. Offensive tackle Joe Thomas talked about his team’s many injuries — it came into the game without three of its top defensive linemen, lost a fourth in the first half and also lost All-Pro center Alex Mack early with a broken leg — and said, “It’s hard to believe we could beat a college team today.”

Then, there was this from quarterback Brian Hoyer: “It was a little boring at the end.” It’s no wonder. The Browns blew the Steelers away with three second-quarter touchdowns and had such control of the game that Hoyer had to throw just six second-half passes.

Even Browns coach Mike Pettine got in on the fun, promising to have a big victory cigar. “It was a special day for us and for all of Cleveland.”

But maybe the most hurtful observation came from Browns running back Isaiah Crowell. “Everybody’s happy. Everybody’s a little overwhelmed. But I think we should get used to it.”

Ouch.

It’s a good thing Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has an extra day before his team plays again next Monday night at home against the Houston Texans. He has got plenty of work to do to get things right.

How bad was the Steelers offense? It managed just 10 points for the second week in a row against one of the NFL’s worst defenses. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a miserable game and finished with a passer rating of 64.4 compared to Hoyer’s 113. It looked as if Roethlisberger and his receivers — especially Markus Wheaton — were working out of separate playbooks. Everybody seemed confused. Roethlisberger had to angrily call a timeout before the first play after the first-quarter break because tight ends Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth didn’t know where to line up. That was awful.

“I think I’m frustrated like we all are because we are capable of moving the ball and possessing the ball, but the points aren’t reflective of that,” Tomlin said.

How bad was the defense? It was really good early, holding the Browns to minus-8 yards on their first two possessions. But then Hoyer hit wide receiver Miles Austin for a 17-yard gain and followed that with a 42-yard gain on a pass to wide-open tight end Jordan Cameron. The Browns turned that series into a 7-3 lead and quickly made it 14-3 on their next possession when Hoyer found Cameron for a 51-yard touchdown with a catch over cornerback Cortez Allen, who had an awful game.

“We know he’s a vertical tight end,” Tomlin said of Cameron.

Funny, Tomlin’s players played as if they didn’t have a clue.

The defense never recovered. The Browns made it 21-3 on their next drive, thanks to runs of 11 and 16 yards and passes of 24 and 12 yards. Who knows how much worse it could have been in the second half if Pettine didn’t have Hoyer hand off so much?

“Every game we’ve struggled, we’ve allowed big plays,” Keisel said. “We’ve got to find a way to keep people from getting chunks and flipping the field. We’ve got to make them work their way downfield.”

Don’t forget the special teams, which contributed to the loss. Holder Brad Wing fumbled a snap when kicker Shaun Suisham lined up for a 35-yard field goal to try to give the Steelers a 6-0 lead. Just about everything went wrong after that botched play.

“We failed on several fronts,” Tomlin said.

It was a battered Steelers team that boarded its bus for the Turnpike ride home. Troy Polamalu came off the field, the right leg of his uniform pants covered in blood. Keisel and Mike Mitchell limped off on bad knees, Cam Heyward on a bad ankle. Steve McLendon had a shoulder sprain.

Too bad for the Steelers that the officials couldn’t stop the game at the half. The fight clearly was over.

“We took one on the chin today and couldn’t respond,” Keisel said. “We’ve got to learn from the bad and hope it turns into something good.”

Good luck with that.

[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2014/10/12/Ron-Cook-Real-surprise-is-Steelers-are-3-3-after-further-humiliation/stories/201410120262[/URL]

[K Train]

tomlin will make someone the fall guy

when has tomlin ever made anyone the fall guy? Hes never once thrown someone under the bus