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Coaching to his fears

I think Tomlin is afraid to fix the running game.
 
you have a **** run game for 2 years.. Ya know what else,, ? You havent used a fb for 2 years... Where is canadas magic use of personnell,? You know where harris lines up in back field then shifts out wide.. etc.. smh
 
Derek Watt, freiermuth, JuJu and claypool on the field.
Claypool stretches vertically forcing them to keep at least one safety deep.
JuJu can block or be the hot route, same goes for Muth
Watt as the only pure blocker
Harris can either run it or go on a wheel route .
 
Tomlin has been here 15 seasons now and what I see is a very average NFL coach, period. Nothing at all special! He does not do any one thing exceptional but many things average to below average.
He had the great fortune of inheriting a very good team with a young super bowl winning QB and two damn good coordinators in Lebeau and Ariens. He was continually stocked with good players over the years but after the 2010 SB loss as coordinators left, inherited players retired or left he had one constant, Ben who kept Tomlin’s head above water. Colbert continued bringing in good talent but it was squandered with poor preparations, overlooking weaker teams, looking ahead to other opponents, being intimidated by
his nemesis the Patriots, poor decisions, lack of game adjustments, stubbornness. excuses and blaming others, and so on. The guy is an average coach who was handed the best job in sports and really has not gotten any better over the years.
 
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So once more, we punted on 4th and 1 from our own 34 with 8:23 left
They ran 4 plays and punted it back to us and we got it at our own 32… with just about 6 minutes to play…

The oline is still missing blocks… they are not at the point that you take this gamble…

Statistically there is a case that you should never punt on 4th and 1, but realistically this was a near perfect exchange. Had we gone for it and missed, the game is over… instead we got a field goal next drive and were back into it with a defensive hold… which we didn’t get unfortunately…

I have absolutely no issue with this call… had he gone for it and missed people would have been furious…

If you want to focus some HCMT hate, maybe look at the oline, which is playing out of control emotionally… yeah they were too passive in the past… but this is an over correction… I know klemm is a hyper macho man coach, but Tomlin may want to reign it in a little… out of control isnt the best look on a line
 
You play to extend the game, imo, the punt does that deep in your own territory. If you go for it and miss, the game is basically over, LV is already in FG range and they're bleeding the clock as well. I would have been fine with them going for it as well. I have zero issues with the punt that extends the game and forces LV to keep playing.

Papillon
 
The standard late game playbook is
1 how much time
2 how many scores are you down
3 how is your offense/defense/special teams holding up

Assume you need 2 minutes per score

Assume they are going to eat 2.5 minutes per possession

Factor in timeouts

If you are down multiple scores and in no mans land go for it unless the distance is over 10 and you are within a score.

There are more… thats top of my head… again i think we played it right… the defense just buckled on that last field goal…
 
Black & Gold Bleeder said:
you have a **** run game for 2 years.. Ya know what else,, ? You havent used a fb for 2 years... Where is canadas magic use of personnell,? You know where harris lines up in back field then shifts out wide.. etc.. smh
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I am a HUGE fan of Canada and have been following him since his Pitt Panther squad beat my Nittany Lions in 2016. What he has done here in Pittsburgh thus far is head scratching. I'm going on the assumption that he's being scaled back on what he is allowed to do, be it Mike Tomlin or the fact that he can't change too much with Ben at the helm, I really don't know why, but this isn't a Matt Canada offense.
 
Badcat said:
I am a HUGE fan of Canada and have been following him since his Pitt Panther squad beat my Nittany Lions in 2016. What he has done here in Pittsburgh thus far is head scratching. I'm going on the assumption that he's being scaled back on what he is allowed to do, be it Mike Tomlin or the fact that he can't change too much with Ben at the helm, I really don't know why, but this isn't a Matt Canada offense.
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No. He uses hbacks and fullbacks more…. Like I’ve said, it takes around two seasons to fully overhaul a pro system…. And we see that a lot here. I keep mentioning how arians ran mostly whiz’s offense in 07… road grating blocking and run heavy unlike the rest of his tenure here
In 12 Haley still ran most of Arians deep pass attack… you just cant install that many plays in one offseason
In 18 we were running the haley stuff for the better part of the season… almost exactly the same stuff until 19…

This isn’t unusual… people expect a complete overhaul and you just don’t really see that right off the bat
 
ZonaBurgh said:
Honest questions, what plays have been installed and are the Steeler players not bright enough to grasp a playbook?

Looks like last years O to me.
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Jujus td was new… much of that blocking scheme is new… that has to gel before you start really changing things up. I mean the bones are there.. the execution is not…

And our targeted yards per attempt is definitely a lot different… the second read apparently isn’t a rb or crossing wr.., the middle of the defense isn’t open yet because I don’t think we have a cohesive line so teams don’t have to blitz to create pressure and don’t respect our wrs deep speed outside of claypool… and honestly he hasn’t been great yet this season. When we have looked to try deep middle stuff instant pressure has disrupted it…

Two rookies, a second year guy and a second year starter on the line with a ufa pickup… this was going to always be a rough first quarter… add the rookie te and rb and 1 wr that has played outside of Fitchners offense and this was going to be a chore and a half early this year…

If you rewatch the games at all, watch how the line is missing blocks because of hesitation or overthinking…and some overagressive whiffs that all should clear up in a few weeks .. there are some technical things that the young guys have to work on…that may take time… and big nt or dts over greena are going to be an issue all year maybe, but that blocking scheme is going to get better, especially in the run game…

Honestly though until it does it might be worth it to give KR a helmet at TE.. muuth and ebron are missing too many blocks too…

This offense is maybe the youngest outside of the qb position i have ever seen here.. if it gels and we find an heir to Ben we are going to be set for a while there… though greene has to bulk up and we absolutely need to get another speed wr..
 
Fiji Mariner said:
Just weighing in on where the rest of Steeler Nation sits on the coaching decision to punt down 2 scores midway through the 4th quarter on a 4th and short yardage play?

For a coach who professes to not live in his fears it sure as hell seemed he was coaching with the fear of getting blown out rather than coaching to win the game.

LV had been consuming good chunks of clock on most drives with ball control offense.

Steeler Nation, was this a wave the flag and try not to be embarrassed call or did it give us the best chance to win the game by punting?
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The offense sucked balls. Basically right now be it 4th-and-10 or 4th-and-2 inches, if they're out of FG range they will punt. Bank on it.
Shades isn't living in his fears, he knows his OL is bad.
 
Badcat said:
I am a HUGE fan of Canada and have been following him since his Pitt Panther squad beat my Nittany Lions in 2016. What he has done here in Pittsburgh thus far is head scratching. I'm going on the assumption that he's being scaled back on what he is allowed to do, be it Mike Tomlin or the fact that he can't change too much with Ben at the helm, I really don't know why, but this isn't a Matt Canada offense.
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So, this is MIKE TOMLIN's offense or really Mike Tomlin's hand on the offense with Canada taking the heat ?

Badcat, I think you nailed it in two parts
1) Ben can only do so much physicaly
2) Canada is being held back
BONUS
3) how much hand does coach Tomlin install for this offense
4) OL is definately having troubles (Ben is affected a lot by this)
5) injuries are devastateing us




Salute the nation
 
papillon said:
You play to extend the game, imo, the punt does that deep in your own territory. If you go for it and miss, the game is basically over, LV is already in FG range and they're bleeding the clock as well. I would have been fine with them going for it as well. I have zero issues with the punt that extends the game and forces LV to keep playing.

Papillon
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I completely understand. And that would normally apply - but the Raiders were running the clock and walking all over the defense at that point. I'd assume that "situational awareness" would come to Tomlin's head in that particular instance.

I just thought it was crazy not to go for a half a yard with the circumstances as they were and the amount of time that was on the clock. But then again, I don't get paid to coach and am just a fan.
 
Drink IRON City said:
So, this is MIKE TOMLIN's offense or really Mike Tomlin's hand on the offense with Canada taking the heat ?

Badcat, I think you nailed it in two parts
1) Ben can only do so much physicaly
2) Canada is being held back
BONUS
3) how much hand does coach Tomlin install for this offense
4) OL is definately having troubles (Ben is affected a lot by this)
5) injuries are devastateing us




Salute the nation
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Nailed it yourself. There is a lot ailing this team right now and all we can do is sit back and hope that things get ironed out.
 
Steelworth said:
I completely understand. And that would normally apply - but the Raiders were running the clock and walking all over the defense at that point. I'd assume that "situational awareness" would come to Tomlin's head in that particular instance.

I just thought it was crazy not to go for a half a yard with the circumstances as they were and the amount of time that was on the clock. But then again, I don't get paid to coach and am just a fan.
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That's just it Steelworth, the situation called for going for it as the flow of the game needed to be changed. Momentum had switched to raiders and our players needed this. When the decision was made to punt it was like the players saw it as a conceeded play. Body language showed and what little fight was left deflated even if for just a little while. It's that emotional swing that is hard to come back from.

I know what transpired after that decision but the fact remains emotionally they went into a pit and tried to climb out but were still short. Had they gone and converted the momentum would have swung big time and more likely than not they would have won the game. So that decision alone is a big factor of the team seeing the perceved thoughts of a coach who doesn't believe in them. Doesn't matter of weather they make it or not but that the decision was coach felt they couldn't.





Salute the nation
 
Drink IRON City said:
So, this is MIKE TOMLIN's offense or really Mike Tomlin's hand on the offense with Canada taking the heat ?

Badcat, I think you nailed it in two parts
1) Ben can only do so much physicaly
2) Canada is being held back
BONUS
3) how much hand does coach Tomlin install for this offense
4) OL is definately having troubles (Ben is affected a lot by this)
5) injuries are devastateing us




Salute the nation
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As mentioned, I think they're kind of limited because the OL isn't that good right now. I knew it would take the all-new line about half the season to get good. Also the only OL of significant pedigree if you will is Banner and he hasn't played yet, obviously. I'm not too worried...yet.
Shades is primarily a defensive coach (and a marginal one at that), my take is that he mostly lets the OC's run the offense.
They'll never do it but if Ben wants to whine about the playcalling, if I'm Shades and Canada I tell Ben, "Fine, you think you can do better then go all Terry Bradshaw and call all the plays yourself and see if your way wins the game." The problem for Canada is there's a chance that would work.
 
mdk2 said:
This is the normal for Tomlin. Remember in the playoff game last year when it was 4th and short from midfield and we were down 10, I believe.
Tomlin chooses to punt it. It's nothing but the usual.

Not to mention, his clock management is just embarrassing. At the end of the first half when Raiders have the ball at the goal line with over a minute left. Tomlin just lets them run the clock out and pockets two timeouts going into half. Easily would have had 50 seconds or so to try to get into FG range. This is a weekly thing coming from him. How ownership does not see these issues is scary or maybe even ignores them which is scarier.
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I'm coming around to the same conclusion about the Steelers as the other debacles we now see in the world: The Steelers brass is fine with the outcomes and 3 playoff wins in 10 seasons.
 
Fiji Mariner said:
The “more than enough time” assumes our depleted D can hold them to more than 1 first down on their two possessions.

To me, if getting a yard is less probable than back to back 3 and outs (or no more than 1 First down on 2 possessions) for a depleted D then that is a helluva indictment on the entire offensive staff and HC.
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Tomlin has always been "going when he should be coming and coming when he should be going" on these types of things. He then gets his top WR hurt at the end of the game throwing and down 2 scores.

All joking aside, I know he says he goes by "gut." He'd be better off just the doing the opposite of what his gut tells him. Every time.
 
Lets see Tomlin last five games and playoffs did nothing different, two games this year if you did not see uniforms looked the same both games. He wants a running game and yet sees the line cannot block and he does not even try the fullback. His gut feeling is written all over the look he gets when he seems to not even know where the filed is. All the write ups this week is on Ben when the Steelers should let him go when in reality the sports media should be asking why is Tomlin stroked so much and why this ownership cannot see past him
 
Litos said:
Do the ******* qb sneak in 4th and inches. Big Ben is a tower of a man and can easily get that 1st down. He gets hit more when throwing anyways
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When he is healthy sure. Probably not this week nursing a minor injury.
 
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