Relive the 2017 Jags Steelers divisional playoff game

[langer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDuPflv7R1I

Enjoy.

[StillerDownSouth]

Watched Jags take opening drive down for 7, all I needed to see of that horror show. Crazy thing is they only scored 10 the week before against Buffalo.

[Orangesteel]

Nightmare. Jags beat us that year 30-9 as well. Blew the doors off us in Pittsburgh.

Doug Marrone owns Tomlin. I’d argue Doug Marrone is probably a better coach, Xs and Os, than Tomlin.

We tip our cap.

[tbsteel]

The only thing you need to watch from this game are Big Ben's highlights. He makes 2 or 3 of the top 15-20ish plays of his career in this game. Just when you thought we were done he'd pull an amazing play out of his ass to keep us in it. Went down guns blazing. A true motherfucking gunslinger who played with massive balls. Unlike the bug-eyed bitch that was coaching him.

GD do I miss that. I don't think I've felt the way about the Steelers and the NFL in general since that game.

Back in those days we'd still have way too many games where it'd be three quarters of Tomlin's weak bullshit until Ben would eventually just go "Nah nah nah sit the FUCK down T, I got this" and then just go out there and what the fuck he wanted how the fuck he wanted and would drag Tomlin's fat carcass across the finish line. Now we just get four quarters of Tomlin's soggy diaper bullshit.

Tomlin has no ability in identifying QB talent and no ability in developing a QB. The quicker he's gone the better.

I hope he gets beat 52-0 tomorrow night.

[Orangesteel]

The only thing you need to watch from this game are Big Ben's highlights. He makes 2 or 3 of the top 15-20ish plays of his career in this game. Just when you thought we were done he'd pull an amazing play out of his ass to keep us in it. Went down guns blazing. A true motherfucking gunslinger who played with massive balls. Unlike the bug-eyed bitch that was coaching him.

GD do I miss that. I don't think I've felt the way about the Steelers and the NFL in general since that game.

Back in those days we'd still have way too many games where it'd be three quarters of Tomlin's weak bullshit until Ben would eventually just go "Nah nah nah sit the FUCK down T, I got this" and then just go out there and what the fuck he wanted how the fuck he wanted and would drag Tomlin's fat carcass across the finish line. Now we just get four quarters of Tomlin's soggy diaper bullshit.

Tomlin has no ability in identifying QB talent and no ability in developing a QB. The quicker he's gone the better.

I hope he gets beat 52-0 tomorrow night.

I’m here. I can’t root against the Steelers but if we lose tomorrow I hope we lose BIG

[bradshaw2ben]

The defense was just so so bad in this game. Even after offense made a mistake—you just let jAX run up the middle for a TD. Then later, your offense is rolling and all you need are a couple of stops and don’t give up anything stupid… and you get thrashed, beaten by a deep PA pass, basically give up.

If we hadn’t had Ben, they would have lost that game by 30.

[bradshaw2ben]

Good lord the defense was loaded too—you can point to no shazier, but they fielded:
Joe Haden
Javon Hargrave
Heyward
TJ Watt
Stephon Tuitt
Vince Williams
Bud Dupree

That might be more elite defensive talent than they have now!

[bradshaw2ben]

The game plan with which this elite offense started this game inspired the contest I posted earlier:

Starting the game with these play calls (with elite QB, OL, WR, RB):
Short out to AB thrown away when AB knocked down
Bubble screen to JuJu
Bubble screen to Eli Rogers
Shotgun handoff to Bell
Handoff to Bell
Short out to Vance McDonald (broken up by Myles Jack and he caught the deflection)

Finally put Bryant in the game, once down 14
Then Rb run up the middle (successful for a 1st)
Pitch right to Bell for no gain
9 yds to AB, he pushed YAC to a 1st down
Down the middle pass past the sticks to Eli
Suddenly it feels like they’re being themselves on offense

Even though they called an idiotic wide toss on 4th and inches, from that point on in the game, the offense outscored JAX 42–28. That should have been enough.

[bradshaw2ben]

Alright, last rant on this game. Score 28-21. Steelers with the ball, late Q3. They’ve got all the momentum, Ben has completed a career high 12 passes in a row. They get a big catch and run from McDonald to the JAX 40. Crowd is going nuts.

Next four play calls:
Shotgun draw for 2
Designed swing pass for Bell, loss of one
Ben “make a play” 3rd and 9 but his arm gets hit
Now… wait for it…

PUNT from the Jacksonville 39 yard line on 4th and 9. FROM THE JAX 39!!! Ball went into the EZ for a net gain of 19.

[Louis Lipps Service]

Ben was definitely the primary reason that game was even remotely competitive, but AB wasn’t that far behind on that list either.

What stands out to me is that Ben didn’t have a good first quarter (and into the second). A fairly poor INT and a fumble. All the while I see some all too familiar play calling blunders being made, such as calling toss plays on 3rd and 1.

Then once they had absolutely no other choice but to put the ball in Ben’s hands, they start scoring at will.

Makes me sick thinking how much Tomlin has handcuffed this team over the years.

It’s honestly kind of shocking to me that Ben and Tomlin are still friends today.

[bradshaw2ben]

Ben on 4th down in this game

3/4 for 83 yards and 3 TDs

The only incompletion was a missed PI call when targeting JuJu.

[Orangesteel]

Tomlin wasted Ben’s prime years.

Fire him into the sun.

[franco>madden]

Tomlin wasted Ben’s prime years.

Fire him into the sun.

To be engraved just under the following on the tombstone, commemorating:
The Pittsburgh Steelers Football Club
2011 - 2022

[W&M_Steeler]

Good lord the defense was loaded too—you can point to no shazier, but they fielded:
Joe Haden
Javon Hargrave
Heyward
TJ Watt
Stephon Tuitt
Vince Williams
Bud Dupree

That might be more elite defensive talent than they have now!

The current Tomlin apologist revisionist history of this game is that the defense was terrible and bereft of talent and therefore couldn't overcome Ben's constant crushing turnovers and poor play, with Ben only getting garbage time yards and points late in the game after it was well out of hand and the Jags were in prevent. Both arguments are ridiculous and wrong. The defense had plenty of talent, and the game was 28-21 early in the 3rd quarter. This loss is entirely on the defense.

I think this is the worst Steelers loss of the Super Bowl era. Tomlin took a Super Bowl quality team, with a Hall of Fame QB at his absolute peak and a pretty good defense full of good players, and turned it into a 45-42 loss to the Blake Bortles Jaguars at home in a divisional playoff game. That Jags defense was really good, but Ben and the rest of the Killer Bs team shredded it. Too bad the Tomlin playoff defense, lead by All-Pro Cam Heyward and self-proclaimed Hall of Famer Cam Heyward, couldn't stop a thing all day. Even acknowledging that the offense gave up a TD on the strip sack fumble, the Defense should have been able to hold the Jags to under 38 points that day.

Tomlin looked past the Jags, anticipating an AFCC game against the Pats. He essentially said so at the time. As a result, he managed to turn this game into a trap game, and we all know Tomlin's propensity to lose trap games.

As I've said a million times, Tomlin's loss of this game, followed by the 2018 collapse from #1 seed at 7-2-1 to missing the playoffs (fueled by loss to crappy teams like the 4-12 Raiders), should have cost Tomlin his job. But Tomlin remained, Ben blew out his elbow week 2 of 2019, the 2010s Super Bowl window closed, and we have been left stuck watching Tomlin's zombie Steelers ever since.