Pickett out for an extended period

[WindyCitySteel]

By what metric?

Do you think Kenny was better this year than in his rookie year?

Not before Canada left, but in the small sample we saw after, yes -- that was the best he's looked.

[Northern_Blitz]

because at the end of the day. The record is the most important thing. We had fans on here who wanted the Sam Howell model simply because it shows he takes chances even if he throws INT's. Some people said "at least Mitch takes shots" even though he turns the ball over and most of his shots are hot garbage.

if Mason throws no TD's and we win is it less of a win?

and yes, Kenny is well into his second season and was 7-4.. WITH CANADA. I think without him Kenny would've won at a 2-1 clip minimum and folks would've been compiling about clinching a playoff spot but not having gangster passing stats.

Mason Rudolph: 8-4-1
Kenny Pickett: 14-10-0

Even Duck was 3-3.

Tomlin is good at winning with QBs that aren't good. I heard yesterday on some podcast that he has the best win% in the league in one score games (can't remember the timeline...could have ben last 5 years, could have been since he came into the league).

Tomlin knows how to construct a game plan when you have to carry the QB. The game plan we've been running for 5 years is super ugly and not entertaining. But it gives a team with a bad QB a chance to win. Not sure how many hockey fans here, but we're the Devils when they ran the neutral zone trap. Super boring. Hope one or two good plays can carry the day.

Re: less of a win with bad QB play. It's not about how good the current win was. It's about trying to figure out if winning that was is sustainable. And it's just not when you can't get more yards, more first downs, or more time of possession than the opponent. Because eventually your defense is going to falter. And I wonder how much of the losing with Mitch was just the defense getting gutted up the middle so that they couldn't carry the bad QB anymore.

[WindyCitySteel]

Mason Rudolph: 8-4-1
Kenny Pickett: 14-10-0

Even Duck was 3-3.

Tomlin is good at winning with QBs that aren't good. I heard yesterday on some podcast that he has the best win% in the league in one score games (can't remember the timeline...could have ben last 5 years, could have been since he came into the league).

Tomlin knows how to construct a game plan when you have to carry the QB. The game plan we've been running for 5 years is super ugly and not entertaining. But it gives a team with a bad QB a chance to win. Not sure how many hockey fans here, but we're the Devils when they ran the neutral zone trap. Super boring. Hope one or two good plays can carry the day.

Re: less of a win with bad QB play. It's not about how good the current win was. It's about trying to figure out if winning that was is sustainable. And it's just not when you can't get more yards, more first downs, or more time of possession than the opponent. Because eventually your defense is going to falter. And I wonder how much of the losing with Mitch was just the defense getting gutted up the middle so that they couldn't carry the bad QB anymore.

Tomlin is good at building an 8-9 win floor with his "hide in the fox hole until the shelling stops" system, unfortunately the ceiling is probably 10 wins and a blowout playoff loss if you get enough help to get in.

Hoping Rooney aspires to be more than the annual 16-seed that wins their conference tourney for the right to get blown out by the top seed.

[Northern_Blitz]

Not before Canada left, but in the small sample we saw after, yes -- that was the best he's looked.

Against Cincy. Yes.

Against Arizona, it looked basically the same as with Canada IMO. The sample size is small though. Maybe it would have been better in the 2nd half. But he didn't have that chance because he got hurt. Which I think is unfortunate for the team. Because this season was really about trying to evaluate and develop Kenny IMO.

[Northern_Blitz]

Tomlin is good at building an 8-9 win floor with his "hide in the fox hole until the shelling stops" system, unfortunately the ceiling is probably 10 wins and a blowout playoff loss if you get enough help to get in.

Hoping Rooney aspires to be more than the annual 16-seed that wins their conference tourney for the right to get blown out by the top seed.

I think that's what you're forced to do when you don't have trust in your QB.

And I don't think we have had trust in the QB for a while.

And I think at least part of this is because the mission statement of the Steelers (from Rooney) is to always be competitive. They could have blown it up after Ben. But Rooney wants to be able to say that they are going to compete for a SB every year. And that starts with getting into the playoffs. And with 7 teams going, I think there will usually be a 9 win team that gets in (I think this year is weird because the NFC is bad so there are lots of wins in the AFC).

This is what Rooney wants IMO. Don't get eliminated from the playoffs until the last week. Keep fans interested for 18 weeks.

The down side is that we won't ever be bad enough to draft a very good QB. Unless we get super lucky again like we did with Ben. A slightly down year so you pick somewhere around 10. And a generationally deep QB class.

[feltdizz]

Tomlin is good at building an 8-9 win floor with his "hide in the fox hole until the shelling stops" system, unfortunately the ceiling is probably 10 wins and a blowout playoff loss if you get enough help to get in.

Hoping Rooney aspires to be more than the annual 16-seed that wins their conference tourney for the right to get blown out by the top seed.

Tomlin has 10 seasons with 10 or more wins.

You really need to step outside of your fantasy island theories on Tomlin.

I’m fine with him leaving soon because he has been here forever. While its been frustrating at times I do have to remind myself its year 2 without a HOF QB and we also held onto that HOF QB too long. Football is a young man’s game and we tried to win with a QB who was 75 by football years given his age, injuries and such.

[feltdizz]

I think that's what you're forced to do when you don't have trust in your QB.

And I don't think we have had trust in the QB for a while.

And I think at least part of this is because the mission statement of the Steelers (from Rooney) is to always be competitive. They could have blown it up after Ben. But Rooney wants to be able to say that they are going to compete for a SB every year. And that starts with getting into the playoffs. And with 7 teams going, I think there will usually be a 9 win team that gets in (I think this year is weird because the NFC is bad so there are lots of wins in the AFC).

This is what Rooney wants IMO. Don't get eliminated from the playoffs until the last week. Keep fans interested for 18 weeks.

The down side is that we won't ever be bad enough to draft a very good QB. Unless we get super lucky again like we did with Ben. A slightly down year so you pick somewhere around 10. And a generationally deep QB class.

correct.. and lets be honest, as soon as Tomlin has a 6 win seasons these folks will want him gone because they want him gone already.. lol.

[feltdizz]

By what metric?

Do you think Kenny was better this year than in his rookie year?

Not sure.. Kenny had a rough start his rookie year. Finished strong.

I think the same thing was going to happen again this year but we were 7-4 and in a position to make a run before he went down.

Its funny because as rough as it was to watch at times this year with Kenny and Canada. We were still 7-4. Fans would be in the chat trying to bench Kenny after every missed throw. Then when he made good throws it was “but can he do it again” or “he got lucky”

When WR’s dropped TD’s it was Kenny’s fault. We were an unhappy bunch while winning more than losing and every loss was “see, told you it wouldn’t last” and every win was “this isn’t going to last”

I think our expectations were sky high and after the 49ers game it all went away and we unfairly watched each game looking for reason’s not to celebrate.

but I truly believe once Canada was removed we were watching Kenny live up to expectations as far as making throws all over the field. Its odd that driving to the GL and being 7/10 is considered same old Kenny under Canada. That type of talk lets me know the expectations were still unrealistic. Like Kenny had to throw for 200 and 2 TD’s in a half or its bum sauce.

[papillon]

Well, since, I'm one of the few that likes Tomlin and this is the second year of the rebuild post Ben and the team has been competitive (I know about playoff losses, etc.) I want to give him a chance to get the QB and OC situation straightened out before they give up and move forward with a different coach. Many fans are so amped to get rid of Tomlin that they're unwilling to give him a chance to build a championship team post Ben. Its been 2 years, if this year did nothing else it did shine a light on the QBs on this team. If MR2 lays an egg this weekend, no issues going back to KP8 and try to keep MR2 in the fold as the backup. If MR2 plays well (regardless or a win or a loss) then there should be an actual competitive battle in training camp for QB1.

Pappy

[Northern_Blitz]

Not sure.. Kenny had a rough start his rookie year. Finished strong.

I think the same thing was going to happen again this year but we were 7-4 and in a position to make a run before he went down.

Its funny because as rough as it was to watch at times this year with Kenny and Canada. We were still 7-4. Fans would be in the chat trying to bench Kenny after every missed throw. Then when he made good throws it was “but can he do it again” or “he got lucky”

When WR’s dropped TD’s it was Kenny’s fault. We were an unhappy bunch while winning more than losing and every loss was “see, told you it wouldn’t last” and every win was “this isn’t going to last”

I think our expectations were sky high and after the 49ers game it all went away and we unfairly watched each game looking for reason’s not to celebrate.

but I truly believe once Canada was removed we were watching Kenny live up to expectations as far as making throws all over the field. Its odd that driving to the GL and being 7/10 is considered same old Kenny under Canada. That type of talk lets me know the expectations were still unrealistic. Like Kenny had to throw for 200 and 2 TD’s in a half or its bum sauce.

His WRs didn't do him many favors.

But a fair number of those drops are because the ball is high and / or behind when guys come over the middle.

There are a couple to DJ in the end zone that I'm thinking of where he was wide open but we couldn't get it to him in a place where he didn't have to change direction on a dime and / or jump to make the catch.

But there are others where the WRs drop it. The one that comes to mind for me was last season where he threw a beautiful deep ball (his best pass of last season IMO). And the WR (Pickens) just let it go through his hands.

[feltdizz]

Well, since, I'm one of the few that likes Tomlin and this is the second year of the rebuild post Ben and the team has been competitive (I know about playoff losses, etc.) I want to give him a chance to get the QB and OC situation straightened out before they give up and move forward with a different coach. Many fans are so amped to get rid of Tomlin that they're unwilling to give him a chance to build a championship team post Ben. Its been 2 years, if this year did nothing else it did shine a light on the QBs on this team. If MR2 lays an egg this weekend, no issues going back to KP8 and try to keep MR2 in the fold as the backup. If MR2 plays well (regardless or a win or a loss) then there should be an actual competitive battle in training camp for QB1.

Pappy

I’ll admit, I was furious with Tomlin after the Cardinal and Pats losses. Mitch was so pathetic it was unreal. Thankfully the change was finally made and we bounced back.

I think if we went with Mason instead if Mitch we may have gone undefeated or 5-1 in those last 6 games and given how the season played out it would’ve been extremely impressive to have that type of record in year 2.

10-7 is still somewhat impressive for year 2 without a franchise QB. I still have faith in Kenny without Canada but that will have to wait until next year.

I went in so bad on Tomlin on a sports board I now get joked for it BUT in my defense, I said Tomlin should play Mason instead of Mitch and that was a large part of my frustration so I don’t look as bad.

[papillon]

I’ll admit, I was furious with Tomlin after the Cardinal and Pats losses. Mitch was so pathetic it was unreal. Thankfully the change was finally made and we bounced back.

I think if we went with Mason instead if Mitch we may have gone undefeated or 5-1 in those last 6 games and given how the season played out it would’ve been extremely impressive to have that type of record in year 2.

10-7 is still somewhat impressive for year 2 without a franchise QB. I still have faith in Kenny without Canada but that will have to wait until next year.

I went in so bad on Tomlin on a sports board I now get joked for it BUT in my defense, I said Tomlin should play Mason instead of Mitch and that was a large part of my frustration so I don’t look as bad.

10-7 is a nice season, if Mason can finish it off with a good performance or maybe even 2 then the season will have been a success imo. If he lays an egg, then its easy to get back on the KP8 train and hope that Canada really was the biggest problem with the offense. The first 14 games (minus the second Cincy game) were hard to watch games because the offense was so boring and bad. 2 of the last 3 games the offense looked good, I'll give the offense a pass on the cold, windy and rainy Ravens game. Looking for a good outing and a competitive Steeler team this weekend versus a good defense.

Pappy