Cowher has a much better playoff winning percentage than Tomlin's .500 playoff record. And to compare apples to apples Cowher had a .833 playoff winning percentage with Ben while Tomlin is at .500 even though he got Ben with. Winning Super Bowl pedigree
Why I question Tomlin as a head coach.
- Thread starter Steeler Pride
- Start date
I'm done comparing Cowher to Tomlin. Last I'm gonna say. Cowher lost FA regularly and they didn't mortgage the future to play respectably. They rebuilt ****. And quick.
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2014
- Messages
- 1,732
- Reaction score
- 2,520
- Points
- 113
A good deal of Cowher's losses came to teams that won multiple Super Bowls. Cowboys, Broncos, Pats
OK, Cowher didn't win **** until he got Ben. As a matter of fact, prior to the Steelers drafting Ben, the SB appearances, AFC Championship Meltdown Games and playoff wins had dried up. Is that clear even to you?
And Noll won 11 in a row in 1975 along the way to the Steelers' first Super Bowl.
So the answer to bermudasteel's question
Regardless of the season's outcome - how many Steeler HC's have won 11 in a row???
is:
Since 1969, all of them. In 1975, Noll won the Super Bowl. In 2004, Cowher made it to the AFCC and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion. And in 2020, Tomlin lost in the first round of the playoffs to a team who proceeded to lose the following week.
There you have it.
Last edited:
Cowher was I think 2-4 in AFCCG's in 14 years with 2 losses to the Cheating Bastiges in the prime of their cheating. Shades is 2-1 in 14 years, the 2 wins coming with much of Cowher's last core of players and staff, the loss after most of Cowher's players and staff had retired or moved on and it was a humiliating 20 point defeat by the, ta-dah, Cheating Bastiges. In fairness, that was the week after both Lev Bell and Antonio Brown were knocked out by the Bungles and didn't play, but if the Bungles don't self-destruct in the last four minutes we probably don't win that game anyway.
So basically Cowher may have had some losing seasons but he got to 6 AFCCG's in 14 years while Shades got to 3 AFCCG's in 14 years but only 1 in the last 10.
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2014
- Messages
- 3,361
- Reaction score
- 3,298
- Points
- 113
That's not how I remember things....after the 97 playoff run (losing to the Broncos in the AFCC), the Steelers had a three year rebuild and was back in the AFCC in 2001 against the Cheats. They were in the playoffs again in 2002 winning another game and losing in the Div round but the core was taking further shape with Ward, Faneca, Marvel Smith, Jeff Hartings ect supplementing Bettis. The D had young Joey Porter, Aaron Smith, Kimo Von H, and Farrior. 2003 was a down year but Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor were drafted and then in 2004 the Steelers add Ben Roethisberger and Willie Parker and were set for multiple runs.
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2014
- Messages
- 21,529
- Reaction score
- 24,239
- Points
- 113
This missing element from "The Standard of Steeler Football" Physicality.
I don't want to hear about times have changed either. I see plenty of teams play physical. You can bring the wood just fine inside the rules of the game.
The Steelers don't do the simple things right. Blocking and definitely not tackling.
Watch any 70,s Steeler game. Textbook aggressive gang tackling. Men playing together as one single unit. Holding each other accountable. Great leaders who pushed each other to achieve a high standard of excellence. Those guys would kick your *** to the bench in a flash.
Cowhers teams carried that same mentality and physicality. On both sides of the ball. You always had men who led by example and would chew your *** if you became the weak link or half assed stuff.
I don't see anybody on this team taking charge other than Heyward. They will need to set the standard for excellence again as players. If some new guy comes in he better know, hey this is how we play, get the **** off our defense or offense,if you can't hold our standard.
If you took the colors off the Steelers would you know them by how they played from any other team in the league?
That is why they're failing.
I don't want to hear about times have changed either. I see plenty of teams play physical. You can bring the wood just fine inside the rules of the game.
The Steelers don't do the simple things right. Blocking and definitely not tackling.
Watch any 70,s Steeler game. Textbook aggressive gang tackling. Men playing together as one single unit. Holding each other accountable. Great leaders who pushed each other to achieve a high standard of excellence. Those guys would kick your *** to the bench in a flash.
Cowhers teams carried that same mentality and physicality. On both sides of the ball. You always had men who led by example and would chew your *** if you became the weak link or half assed stuff.
I don't see anybody on this team taking charge other than Heyward. They will need to set the standard for excellence again as players. If some new guy comes in he better know, hey this is how we play, get the **** off our defense or offense,if you can't hold our standard.
If you took the colors off the Steelers would you know them by how they played from any other team in the league?
That is why they're failing.
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2014
- Messages
- 11,062
- Reaction score
- 13,207
- Points
- 113
If you want to play that game, Cowher got to several AFCC championship games "without Ben". In the 1 season where Tomlin did not have Ben for a majority of games, he was .500
Conversely, From the time Cowher got Ben, he had only 1 bad season (the dreaded "non-losing season" that Coach T. loves like his mama!) and that was the year Cowher was mailing it in pretty much due to the news that his wife was dying of cancer.
But every OTHER year that Cowher had "Ben" went like this...
Went 15-1 in 2004, lost to the cheats in the AFCC (15-1 in regular season)
Won a SB in 2005. (11-5 in regular season, beat the #3, #1 and #2 seeds on the road in the playoffs to beat ANOTHER #1 seed in the SB.)
Went 8-8 in 2006. (admittedly a truly disappointing season for Steeler fans, but sometimes you gotta take a moment and feel the death of your wife.)
So... Cowher went to the AFCC, and then the SB and then he pretty much "pretired" upon learning that his wife was dying of cancer.
Ya. I can totally see where you are going with this.
Last edited:
I think you may want to reread what I posted. I acknowledged those AFCC Melt down games that Cowher lost (That was the prior to Ben .... statement).
Yep, Cowher had some tough personal decisions to make. I think he chose wisely and didn't allow the profession to overcome what was really important at that time.
Is it your contention that Cowher would have won more than one more SB with Ben? With league allowing Belicheat to continue cheating his way to SB titles? Belicheat who had already outcoached Cowher, as he has Tomlin? I just don't see it. But then, I don't see anyone getting more two or three SB appearances from the AFC during the Belicheat/Cheatriot era... The league wasn't allowing to happen.
There have been many times in the past 15 years where I have been vocal about firing Tomlin. Every time this team gets out coached like last night and the games come down to terrible decisions based on coaching, yeah we should be addressing this. Long term stability doesn't mean **** when you aren't winning Super Bowls. He's done nothing outside of winning with Cowher's guys. We saw how terrible we will be without Ben. Hopefully the Rooney's make the decision sooner than later and we can move on from this guy. The amount of talent he has wasted the past 15 years is astounding.
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2014
- Messages
- 1,732
- Reaction score
- 2,520
- Points
- 113
Not winning is one thing. But not even having a remote chance of winning (which is where we've been the past decade or so) is another.
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2014
- Messages
- 11,062
- Reaction score
- 13,207
- Points
- 113
I can't honestly say that Cowher would have had any better luck against the cheats than Coach T. did. Indeed, the Cheats beat the 15-1 Steelers in Ben's rookie year in an AFCC game that Hines said featured the cheats calling out the offensive plays before the snap.
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2014
- Messages
- 11,062
- Reaction score
- 13,207
- Points
- 113
In my opinion, they SHOULD have won the SB against Green Bay. They had come back from a large deficit and they were driving to either tie or take the lead in the game. I personally believe that if they score, they break the will of the Packers. But... Whiff Johnson earned his nickname and Mendenhall was blasted at the same moment he got the handoff and the rest is history.
- Joined
- May 10, 2019
- Messages
- 1,987
- Reaction score
- 3,016
- Points
- 113
Tomlin never has a Plan B.
His plans are usually a C or C-.
100% spot on.
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2014
- Messages
- 33,531
- Reaction score
- 36,273
- Points
- 113
- Location
- between $2 short & ten buck two
I totally hear and get everything you are saying but one more thing to add, It started at the top, HEAD COACH and trickeled down fro there. Those players knew the Coach had their back in that aggressive kind of way, hell the Coaches encouraged that attitude and characteristics. Both Noll & Cowher.
Tomlin is to soft to do that. He is a "player's" coach which translates to not held accountable / lackadaisical / no attention to detail / ect.ect........ Little chest, keeping "friends" on as coaches are just a couple examples of being soft.
I've said it for some time and quite often lately.........We are a soft team from top on down.
Salute the nation
It’s funny how people remember things in different ways. I remember Ben totally ******** the bed in the first half. Down 14-0 first quarter. 2 int. One for a TD,the other a short field for a GB td.
Even when the person you like to blame for the whole loss fumbled,it was on the GB 33. With time left.
Now of course Ben could have made up for his first half shitfest by having an epic TD winning drive with a full 2 minutes left. One completion for 5 yards. Then 3 straight incompletions. No,not exactly epic.
He played average at best,with the turnovers killing them. AR definitely the better QB on the day.
And no. I am not a Ben hater.
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2014
- Messages
- 33,531
- Reaction score
- 36,273
- Points
- 113
- Location
- between $2 short & ten buck two
Definately, the way I see it is the cheatriots weren"t good enough to face us. We can ONLY play who is put infront of us.
Salute the nation
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2014
- Messages
- 12,713
- Reaction score
- 10,025
- Points
- 113
The entire league turned a blind eye for the sake of the.....league. Rooney's included. All comes back to the dollar. It is why I really could careless about the cheating anymore now when I look back. If the Rooney's don't care why should I? I have gone from a die heart football fan to where I am now. One game a week and if I happen to miss the game....oh well.