Tomlin absolutely squandered Ben's prime from 2011 - 2019. No argument here. Had the triple Bs and a stout D and won nothing.
However, make no mistake, Ben was cooked his final 2-3 years, especially the final two.
No matter what crayola / silly puddy offense anyone strung together, he was easy to scheme defensively because he couldn't stretch the field anymore and lost some zip.
And hey, this isn't me bagging on him. But when athletes' bodies go, they go.
No matter how much you take care of yourself, and exercise, and eat right, etc., whether you're a world class professional athlete or Joe Schmo, age wears out the body, and the body has a shelf life for peak performance.
Tomlin and the Steelers owe EVERY player from that decade of 2010 - 2020 an apology, including Ben, for squandering the talent they had and wasted.
But like someone already pointed out, the excuse gun is fully loaded ( fired OC mid-season, starting QB done for season, all ILBs lost to injury, Minkah and Cam missed multiple games, etc ) and the Steelers don't fire their head coaches.
The ONLY hope we have is the ol' Rooney special of not renewing his contract.
And I will lose my FN mind if that contract is renewed. It is LONG past time get a new coach in here.
The last two weeks is the most UN-Steeler thing I've EVER witnessed in my 45+ year fandom.