The Lost Decade

[jeemie]

I was shocked today to learn that Nic Williams is still in the NFL.

Where I'm at is pretty close to where you are. What I have a problem with is: Tomlin has enough faults that we don't need to make shit up or imagine more with our crystal balls.

For example: as Ben said in his recent interview, the team was good at scoring late in halves but also failed to add to the lead in 2nd halves. Part of that is the philosophy of the HC (the biggest part), part is personnel, part is OC. But Ramon Foster (who I think is pretty forthright about the team) said he thinks the most irreplaceable part of Tomlin is his ability to deal with all the craziness of the different guys on the team and in the locker room. Despite all the drama that leaks out about Bell and AB, Foster thinks Tomlin is masterful at handling a ton of bullshit we don't even know about. I presume that's true, which is why I don't lay the AB thing at his feet.

The philosophy of how to close out games might be the single worst part of his tenure-- it is certainly the most stale. He should go have a beer with Pete Carroll and they can agree that this concept is passe and should be abolished.

There's a lot of criticisms I can't get behind––just sounds like a lot of emotional attacks because of disappointment/anger. But if you go into a different mindset offensively once you have the lead, then the NFL circa 2018-19 are going to consistently come back to beat you or make every game closer than it needs to be.

But this philosophy is a HUGE DEAL, B2B.

Precisely for this point:

make every game closer than it needs to be.

What happens when you make every game closer than it needs to be?

I'll tell you what happens.

All the shit we complain about- the bad ref's calls...the penalty that stops a drive...the turnover or mistake...the overthrown pass on a key third down- all this shit now has a GREATER IMPACT on the game than it otherwise might have.

We think we have an inordinate amount of bad luck.

In reality, we have the same luck as the other 31 teams in the league...but our philosophy MAGNIFIES the impact of random events.

Oh and by the way, because Mike Tomlin is a results-based evaluator of his decisions...it'll be a real chore convincing him of this.

Easier for him to chalk up a loss to a mistake that "we'll clean up next time" instead trying to figure out how to minimize the impact of random events by changing game management philosophy.

[Steelafan77]

So what you're saying B2B is Tomlin is a players coach. That's cool. Perhaps he can stay on and have a part on this team as a personnel specialist. Why the Steelers go out and recruit a REAL head coach.

[franco32]

You guys are hitting it out of the park. Tomlin is simply not maximizing his chances of winning games with his "play it close to the vest" mentality late in games. It's one thing to play that way when you have the Ravens defense. Even that is risky. But, when you have a defense that has proven itself incapable...over and over again...why keep doing the same thing?

Tomlin should be strapped to a chair "Clockwork Orange style" and be forced to watch Doug Pedersen calling the SB last year. Eagles had a good defense last year and they still started the game like they were 21 points behind.

It's 2019....NFL defensive coordinators LOVE IT when you try to pound the ball. It means more 3rd downs and more opportunities to stop the other team. Dumbfuck Tomlin still doesn't get this. I'm resigned to the fact he never will. So, at this point, I think you have to go all-in on defense and pray they can get stops late in the game....because Tomlin will never change.

Oh, and we need to fix our kicking situation because Tomlin's style will lead to a lot more nail biters where they kicking is magnified.

[Stosh-67]

For example, how often do you see a player released by the Steelers go on to make it big with another team? Josh Mauro, maybe (he was good for Arizona for awhile). I could be wrong so please tell me if I am.

I’m not saying we are cutting guys who could be stars.

I’m saying we are keeping guys we know to be turds.

We do so by living in our fears and being too afraid/risk adverse to go with an unknown.

DHB happens to be the current poster child for this.

Does nothing for the offense and our STs sucks annually so it’s not like he is doing anything for that unit either.

Bingo.
Tomlin keeps the back end of the roster with way too many guys that are not positive or impactful players.

DHB is a prime example.
Cost $1.33 million to keep as a trusted vet. A #5 or #5 WR. A Tomlin guy.
A depth WR that has been on the PS for half a decade. 5 years and a total of 33 catches. Four of those years he had 6 or less catches.
A spot that should be used to find young guys with bigger upside.
Will he back in camp in the spring?

Damoun Patterson, Tevon Jones, Trey Griffey were some candidates that would have made more of an impact as a #5 WR.

Chickillo on the roster at almost $2 million this year. 4 years on the Steelers with no signs of becoming a future starter.
Ola or Kion Adams would have been better options at depth OLB who could have been given a chance to show.
Will he be back in camp in the spring?

Arthur Moats took a roster spot last year with 5 tackles and no sacks in 14 games.
He watched NFL games in 2018 as nobody picked him up.

Tyler Matakevich. I saw enough his rookie year, more than enough by year two that he would never be a future starter.
Will he be coming back for a 4th season over some young potential starter?

Big Dan..........
Back for a 6th season?
yeah, he has been on this roster 5 years.

[Donnie Brasco]

For example, how often do you see a player released by the Steelers go on to make it big with another team? Josh Mauro, maybe (he was good for Arizona for awhile). I could be wrong so please tell me if I am.

I’m not saying we are cutting guys who could be stars.

I’m saying we are keeping guys we know to be turds.

We do so by living in our fears and being too afraid/risk adverse to go with an unknown.

DHB happens to be the current poster child for this.

Does nothing for the offense and our STs sucks annually so it’s not like he is doing anything for that unit either.

Bingo.
Tomlin keeps the back end of the roster with way too many guys that are not positive or impactful players.

DHB is a prime example.
Cost $1.33 million to keep as a trusted vet. A #5 or #5 WR. A Tomlin guy.
A depth WR that has been on the PS for half a decade. 5 years and a total of 33 catches. Four of those years he had 6 or less catches.
A spot that should be used to find young guys with bigger upside.
Will he back in camp in the spring?

Damoun Patterson, Tevon Jones, Trey Griffey were some candidates that would have made more of an impact as a #5 WR.

Chickillo on the roster at almost $2 million this year. 4 years on the Steelers with no signs of becoming a future starter.
Ola or Kion Adams would have been better options at depth OLB who could have been given a chance to show.
Will he be back in camp in the spring?

Arthur Moats took a roster spot last year with 5 tackles and no sacks in 14 games.
He watched NFL games in 2018 as nobody picked him up.

Tyler Matakevich. I saw enough his rookie year, more than enough by year two that he would never be a future starter.
Will he be coming back for a 4th season over some young potential starter?

Big Dan..........
Back for a 6th season?
yeah, he has been on this roster 5 years.

BUT BUT BUT - SPECIAL TEAMS!!

Even though ST's have been marginalized by rule changes and our current ST players commit a foul nearly every 1 out of 3 ST plays...

[Havoc]

Packers hire Matt LaFleur as HC.

Paraphrasing some of Kellerman's thoughts...

Calls it a thinking man's hire. They might not have got the right guy, but the football ideas behind the hire were smart, "forward looking".

Packers hire a HC with the current era in mind, hire a HC with offense in mind, believe he can get Rodgers back to mvp level. LaFleur was the QB coach for Matt Ryan the year they had the highest scoring offense in the league and nearly won the SB.

Then Ryan Clark brings up Tomlin...

Ryan Clark said Tomlin was hired for his personality, character, and ability to lead a football team. He also said, "Sometimes it's not necessarily about the X's and O's and sometimes we get caught up in that..."

My thoughts...

So we hired a dumb guy for HC, and noone should be surprised that this is how it played out. Personality, character, the ability to lead... good for running a boy scout troop... or he could be HC of a college program and use charisma and enthusiasm to attract recruits and use his platform to mentor young people which is what I suspect drives him.

In the same conversation on the Packers new hire and reasons given for the hire, the football inferior Mike Tomlin is brought up and these Tomlin fanboys still defend the idea of a non X's and O's guy for HC of a professional football team at least in terms of being a strength, still blindly wave their pom poms for Mike Tomlin. I could give a pass to Ryan Clark as an ex Steeler, but Steven A Smith is sitting at the table, and Steven A might be the #1 idiot in the media when it comes to Tomlin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoKEjEzjy8I

[Orangesteel]

You guys are hitting it out of the park. Tomlin is simply not maximizing his chances of winning games with his "play it close to the vest" mentality late in games. It's one thing to play that way when you have the Ravens defense. Even that is risky. But, when you have a defense that has proven itself incapable...over and over again...why keep doing the same thing?

Tomlin should be strapped to a chair "Clockwork Orange style" and be forced to watch Doug Pedersen calling the SB last year. Eagles had a good defense last year and they still started the game like they were 21 points behind.

It's 2019....NFL defensive coordinators LOVE IT when you try to pound the ball. It means more 3rd downs and more opportunities to stop the other team. Dumbfuck Tomlin still doesn't get this. I'm resigned to the fact he never will. So, at this point, I think you have to go all-in on defense and pray they can get stops late in the game....because Tomlin will never change.

Oh, and we need to fix our kicking situation because Tomlin's style will lead to a lot more nail biters where they kicking is magnified.

Exactly this, and the only thing I would add is that the damn league itself has tinkered with the rules so much to encourage high scoring, match down the field affairs, quick strike, no-lead-is-safe type games, but Tomlin is “waddling” around like this is 2007.

Take, for instance, the Chargers v. Ravens game a few days ago. A game that the Chargers totally dominated but a few completions here, a few penalties there, and boom; a one score game with under a minute left and Jackson under center.

Wake up Tomlin!

[Pabst]

Packers hire Matt LaFleur as HC.

Paraphrasing some of Kellerman's thoughts...

Calls it a thinking man's hire. They might not have got the right guy, but the football ideas behind the hire were smart, "forward looking".

Packers hire a HC with the current era in mind, hire a HC with offense in mind, believe he can get Rodgers back to mvp level. LaFleur was the QB coach for Matt Ryan the year they had the highest scoring offense in the league and nearly won the SB.

Then Ryan Clark brings up Tomlin...

Ryan Clark said Tomlin was hired for his personality, character, and ability to lead a football team. He also said, "Sometimes it's not necessarily about the X's and O's and sometimes we get caught up in that..."

My thoughts...

So we hired a dumb guy for HC, and noone should be surprised that this is how it played out. Personality, character, the ability to lead... good for running a boy scout troop... or he could be HC of a college program and use charisma and enthusiasm to attract recruits and use his platform to mentor young people which is what I suspect drives him.

In the same conversation on the Packers new hire and reasons given for the hire, the football inferior Mike Tomlin is brought up and these Tomlin fanboys still defend the idea of a non X's and O's guy for HC of a professional football team at least in terms of being a strength, still blindly wave their pom poms for Mike Tomlin. I could give a pass to Ryan Clark as an ex Steeler, but Steven A Smith is sitting at the table, and Steven A might be the #1 idiot in the media when it comes to Tomlin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoKEjEzjy8I

He was also QB coach for Washington when RG3 regressed horribly and the Coordinator for a shitty Titans offense this past season. Nice of them to completely omit those details.

[Havoc]

Packers hire Matt LaFleur as HC.

Paraphrasing some of Kellerman's thoughts...

Calls it a thinking man's hire. They might not have got the right guy, but the football ideas behind the hire were smart, "forward looking".

Packers hire a HC with the current era in mind, hire a HC with offense in mind, believe he can get Rodgers back to mvp level. LaFleur was the QB coach for Matt Ryan the year they had the highest scoring offense in the league and nearly won the SB.

Then Ryan Clark brings up Tomlin...

Ryan Clark said Tomlin was hired for his personality, character, and ability to lead a football team. He also said, "Sometimes it's not necessarily about the X's and O's and sometimes we get caught up in that..."

My thoughts...

So we hired a dumb guy for HC, and noone should be surprised that this is how it played out. Personality, character, the ability to lead... good for running a boy scout troop... or he could be HC of a college program and use charisma and enthusiasm to attract recruits and use his platform to mentor young people which is what I suspect drives him.

In the same conversation on the Packers new hire and reasons given for the hire, the football inferior Mike Tomlin is brought up and these Tomlin fanboys still defend the idea of a non X's and O's guy for HC of a professional football team at least in terms of being a strength, still blindly wave their pom poms for Mike Tomlin. I could give a pass to Ryan Clark as an ex Steeler, but Steven A Smith is sitting at the table, and Steven A might be the #1 idiot in the media when it comes to Tomlin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoKEjEzjy8I

He was also QB coach for Washington when RG3 regressed horribly and the Coordinator for a shitty Titans offense this past season. Nice of them to completely omit those details.

The Titans offense sucking last year was mentioned. But again, the point being not that the Packers hired the right guy but the football reasons are in line with football as it is played in 2018 and going forward.

You need a guy running the show who knows how to leverage every ounce out of your qb or who hires an OC for this purpose meaning the HC "gets it".

[Legacy User]

So we hired a dumb guy for HC,

But when Tomlin was hired there were the stories about how he came in and told John Lynch how to be a better player, how he took copious notes and had all these notebooks. He wasn't a dumb guy.

[955876]

He’s a FRAUD dude.

Ya, he got Lynch all squared away yet in 12 years has not been able to draft and develop a single DB that’s been worth a damn.

Just bad luck right?

Or is it his RB coach has been getting in the way?

Tomlin is a FRAUD...

[stillthere]

For reference, teams with most playoff wins since last PIT SB win:
NE 13-7 (2-2 SB) Brady
GB 9-7 (1-0) Rodgers
SEA 9-5 (1-1) Wilson
BAL 8-4 (1-0) Flacco
DEN 6-4 (1-1) Peyton Manning
NO 6-4 (1-0) Brees
PIT 5-6 (0-1) Roethlisberger
IND 5-5 (0-1) Peyton Manning
SF 5-3 (0-1) Kaepernick

Couple of observations: QB matters most, outlier great defense helps. The teams who outperformed Ben & Steelers in this time frame also had great QBs or good QBs with truly great defenses. Not to say they couldn't have or shouldn't have performed better but having to get through Brady and Manning probably not going to be more successful than .500, even in the best-case scenario. The disappointment is not getting to face Manning or Brady more often, for sure... but you could argue injuries (and the contigency plans for dealing with them) played a huge part in this.

I’d say “LACK of contingency plans for dealing with injuries”.

2014 was the most grevious sin with this...Steelers chased Blount away by insisting on running Bell’s wheels off...then waited until Bell got injured to even think about a competent back-up for him.

And Tomlin hasn’t really learned- given oodles of time to think about how to replace Shazier...they come up with Bostic?

Don't forget Ridley and Trey Edmunds our other RB's. They spent a good bit of time finding those guys. I am sure you could sign a street free agent this week and he would be every bit as good at playing running back that Trey Edmunds is. I would almost be willing to bet you could put Terrell Edmunds in the backfield and he could play running back as well as his brother.

[Obviously]

I was shocked today to learn that Nic Williams is still in the NFL.

Where I'm at is pretty close to where you are. What I have a problem with is: Tomlin has enough faults that we don't need to make shit up or imagine more with our crystal balls.

For example: as Ben said in his recent interview, the team was good at scoring late in halves but also failed to add to the lead in 2nd halves. Part of that is the philosophy of the HC (the biggest part), part is personnel, part is OC. But Ramon Foster (who I think is pretty forthright about the team) said he thinks the most irreplaceable part of Tomlin is his ability to deal with all the craziness of the different guys on the team and in the locker room. Despite all the drama that leaks out about Bell and AB, Foster thinks Tomlin is masterful at handling a ton of bullshit we don't even know about. I presume that's true, which is why I don't lay the AB thing at his feet.

The philosophy of how to close out games might be the single worst part of his tenure-- it is certainly the most stale. He should go have a beer with Pete Carroll and they can agree that this concept is passe and should be abolished.

There's a lot of criticisms I can't get behind––just sounds like a lot of emotional attacks because of disappointment/anger. But if you go into a different mindset offensively once you have the lead, then the NFL circa 2018-19 are going to consistently come back to beat you or make every game closer than it needs to be.

As to the craziness/bullshit in the locker room you mention. Is the craziness because of the type of player that is drafted? Or is the behavior learned when they get to Pittsburgh? How much craziness/bullshit in the locker room do you think goes on in other teams - specifically the good teams? In the case of the Patriots, do you think Belichick does a good job of managing craziness/bullshit or rather is a system set up by a coach that's been there a long time where the players buy in?

[Havoc]

So we hired a dumb guy for HC,

But when Tomlin was hired there were the stories about how he came in and told John Lynch how to be a better player, how he took copious notes and had all these notebooks. He wasn't a dumb guy.

Look at the context. Ryan Clark while waving his pom poms in defense of Teflon Tomlin, has to downplay the importance of X's and O's in order to make his defense. This is not good when we are talking the professional leagues, it's typical in defense of Tomlin, always has been.

I have been a fan of this team since I was 10, waited 20 years after Bradshaw for the next great QB, and now I have to watch this football idiot not know how to get the most out of him. Fuck Mike Tomlin.

John Lynch before MIke Tomlin...

All-Pro Teams

1999 1st Tm All-Conf. Pro Football Weekly
1999 1st Tm Associated Press
1999 1st Tm Pro Football Writers
1999 1st Tm Sporting News
2000 1st Tm Sporting News
2000 1st Tm Pro Football Writers
2000 1st Tm Associated Press
2000 1st Tm All-Conf. Pro Football Weekly

I guess it's too bad he didn't have Teflon Tomlin earlier in his career, maybe he could have made a 1st team all pro. Oh wait.

I don't give a rats ass what John Lynch said, means nothing in terms of HC material. And some of these guys just like saying the "nice" thing.

John Lynch, when Tomlin was his DB coach...

2001 1st Tm All-Conf. Pro Football Weekly
2001 1st Tm Pro Football Writers
2001 2nd Tm Associated Press
2002 2nd Tm Associated Press

[jeemie]

So we hired a dumb guy for HC,

But when Tomlin was hired there were the stories about how he came in and told John Lynch how to be a better player, how he took copious notes and had all these notebooks. He wasn't a dumb guy.

Maybe “dumb” when it comes to assuming responsibility for the whole shebang.

And we haven’t see the Tomlin who takes copious notes and who sharpens up the little details in some time. At least, it’s not evident from the sloppiness on the field.

Maybe he was successful too soon and the fire isn’t there? Who knows? But the Tomlin we thought we were getting in 2007...he hasn’t been seen around these parts for a while.

[Havoc]

Look at my signature.

Tomlin does this over and over again. That moment was the tipping point for me.

It's coaching stupidity at the highest level, of the worst kind. And robbed me of that moment as a fan.

[Steelafan77]

This year the Steelers ranked 19 [ just for some sort of gage ] by PFF in their secondary rankings. 19? I realize this is the first year for Bradley and their talent pool is on the shallow end of the pool but isn't Tomlin an ex-DB coach? Evidently it's unfixable even for the great Tomlin. The reason I post this PFF crap is to shed light on the real problem. Stosh posted a comment about how average vets are kept on this team driving down the back end of the talent pool on this team. Also making it difficult for any young up and comer to make a name for himself. Heyward-Bey, Hunter, as mentioned Moats, Matakevich, McCullers, Burns and so on.... how about getting some of the younger guys involved? The Brian Allen's, Marcus Allen you get what I'm putting down. I realize Sutton and Sensabaugh are tied to the next man up mantra that Tomlin promotes. How about thinking outside that box once? Instead of Bey and Hunter holding onto roster spots for doing nothing. How about you promote a couple of DB's that could come in and improve at least the ST's play. Who knows perhaps they even make some plays on the defense that makes them indispensable. You have to create ways for them to see the field instead of the same old dead beats stealing those paychecks.

I guess it's good that fans don't run this team. They might be worse off. At least that's what they'd have us believe. I just don't get the refusal to seek out and implement new talent in any phase of the team. First I cut a bunch of turd guys stealing paychecks. Bey and Hunter top my list. Followed closely by McCullers, Matakevich, Burns, Gilbert, Bostic, Chickillo, Sensabaugh. Clean house, start fresh with new blood. Teams all over the league do it year in and year out. What is Pittsburgh's hesitation for? Frustrating.

19. PITTSBURGH STEELERS
It wasn’t pretty early in the season for the Steelers secondary, but they bounced back over the course of the season. Safety Sean Davis’ improvement was a big reason why. Davis’ 69.8 overall grade represented a huge jump over his 47.3 from a season ago when he was one of the lowest-graded in the NFL. He cleaned up his missed tackles as well going from 19 last year to 12 this season.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/10826649 ... 621e2.html

[Havoc]

I was shocked today to learn that Nic Williams is still in the NFL.

Where I'm at is pretty close to where you are. What I have a problem with is: Tomlin has enough faults that we don't need to make shit up or imagine more with our crystal balls.

For example: as Ben said in his recent interview, the team was good at scoring late in halves but also failed to add to the lead in 2nd halves. Part of that is the philosophy of the HC (the biggest part), part is personnel, part is OC. But Ramon Foster (who I think is pretty forthright about the team) said he thinks the most irreplaceable part of Tomlin is his ability to deal with all the craziness of the different guys on the team and in the locker room. Despite all the drama that leaks out about Bell and AB, Foster thinks Tomlin is masterful at handling a ton of bullshit we don't even know about. I presume that's true, which is why I don't lay the AB thing at his feet.

The philosophy of how to close out games might be the single worst part of his tenure-- it is certainly the most stale. He should go have a beer with Pete Carroll and they can agree that this concept is passe and should be abolished.

There's a lot of criticisms I can't get behind––just sounds like a lot of emotional attacks because of disappointment/anger. But if you go into a different mindset offensively once you have the lead, then the NFL circa 2018-19 are going to consistently come back to beat you or make every game closer than it needs to be.

But this philosophy is a HUGE DEAL, B2B.

Precisely for this point:

make every game closer than it needs to be.

What happens when you make every game closer than it needs to be?

I'll tell you what happens.

All the shit we complain about- the bad ref's calls...the penalty that stops a drive...the turnover or mistake...the overthrown pass on a key third down- all this shit now has a GREATER IMPACT on the game than it otherwise might have.

We think we have an inordinate amount of bad luck.

In reality, we have the same luck as the other 31 teams in the league...but our philosophy MAGNIFIES the impact of random events.

Oh and by the way, because Mike Tomlin is a results-based evaluator of his decisions...it'll be a real chore convincing him of this.

Easier for him to chalk up a loss to a mistake that "we'll clean up next time" instead trying to figure out how to minimize the impact of random events by changing game management philosophy.

Right, Jeemie

[Havoc]

But when Tomlin was hired there were the stories about how he came in and told John Lynch how to be a better player, how he took copious notes and had all these notebooks. He wasn't a dumb guy.

No he's not dumb in the everyday sense, not a dumb guy.

He's not a thoughtful analytical personality type but he doesn't need to be to know to keep his foot on the gas (but it might help).

[Legacy User]

This year the Steelers ranked 19 [ just for some sort of gage ] by PFF in their secondary rankings. 19? I realize this is the first year for Bradley and their talent pool is on the shallow end of the pool but isn't Tomlin an ex-DB coach? Evidently it's unfixable even for the great Tomlin. The reason I post this PFF crap is to shed light on the real problem. Stosh posted a comment about how average vets are kept on this team driving down the back end of the talent pool on this team. Also making it difficult for any young up and comer to make a name for himself. Heyward-Bey, Hunter, as mentioned Moats, Matakevich, McCullers, Burns and so on.... how about getting some of the younger guys involved? The Brian Allen's, Marcus Allen you get what I'm putting down. I realize Sutton and Sensabaugh are tied to the next man up mantra that Tomlin promotes. How about thinking outside that box once? Instead of Bey and Hunter holding onto roster spots for doing nothing. How about you promote a couple of DB's that could come in and improve at least the ST's play. Who knows perhaps they even make some plays on the defense that makes them indispensable. You have to create ways for them to see the field instead of the same old dead beats stealing those paychecks.

I guess it's good that fans don't run this team. They might be worse off. At least that's what they'd have us believe. I just don't get the refusal to seek out and implement new talent in any phase of the team. First I cut a bunch of turd guys stealing paychecks. Bey and Hunter top my list. Followed closely by McCullers, Matakevich, Burns, Gilbert, Bostic, Chickillo, Sensabaugh. Clean house, start fresh with new blood. Teams all over the league do it year in and year out. What is Pittsburgh's hesitation for? Frustrating.

19. PITTSBURGH STEELERS
It wasn’t pretty early in the season for the Steelers secondary, but they bounced back over the course of the season. Safety Sean Davis’ improvement was a big reason why. Davis’ 69.8 overall grade represented a huge jump over his 47.3 from a season ago when he was one of the lowest-graded in the NFL. He cleaned up his missed tackles as well going from 19 last year to 12 this season.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/10826649 ... 621e2.html

That sounds like a positive statement about the secondary.

[Legacy User]

I have seen it suggested before that Tomlin might be a good position coach, just not a good or good enough head coach.

[Steelafan77]

This year the Steelers ranked 19 [ just for some sort of gage ] by PFF in their secondary rankings. 19? I realize this is the first year for Bradley and their talent pool is on the shallow end of the pool but isn't Tomlin an ex-DB coach? Evidently it's unfixable even for the great Tomlin. The reason I post this PFF crap is to shed light on the real problem. Stosh posted a comment about how average vets are kept on this team driving down the back end of the talent pool on this team. Also making it difficult for any young up and comer to make a name for himself. Heyward-Bey, Hunter, as mentioned Moats, Matakevich, McCullers, Burns and so on.... how about getting some of the younger guys involved? The Brian Allen's, Marcus Allen you get what I'm putting down. I realize Sutton and Sensabaugh are tied to the next man up mantra that Tomlin promotes. How about thinking outside that box once? Instead of Bey and Hunter holding onto roster spots for doing nothing. How about you promote a couple of DB's that could come in and improve at least the ST's play. Who knows perhaps they even make some plays on the defense that makes them indispensable. You have to create ways for them to see the field instead of the same old dead beats stealing those paychecks.

I guess it's good that fans don't run this team. They might be worse off. At least that's what they'd have us believe. I just don't get the refusal to seek out and implement new talent in any phase of the team. First I cut a bunch of turd guys stealing paychecks. Bey and Hunter top my list. Followed closely by McCullers, Matakevich, Burns, Gilbert, Bostic, Chickillo, Sensabaugh. Clean house, start fresh with new blood. Teams all over the league do it year in and year out. What is Pittsburgh's hesitation for? Frustrating.

19. PITTSBURGH STEELERS
It wasn’t pretty early in the season for the Steelers secondary, but they bounced back over the course of the season. Safety Sean Davis’ improvement was a big reason why. Davis’ 69.8 overall grade represented a huge jump over his 47.3 from a season ago when he was one of the lowest-graded in the NFL. He cleaned up his missed tackles as well going from 19 last year to 12 this season.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/10826649 ... 621e2.html

That sounds like a positive statement about the secondary.

Right. So this is why I think Bradley stays and they add more talent to that secondary either through the draft and/or FA. Would be Smart football.