Things started out bad for me. I missed all three games on Saturday. But then I rebounded nicely on Sunday. Fortunately for me, Jon was bad and only picked one, so now we are tied.
Underdog Special: Cleveland Browns (+10.0)
I hate a push. All picks should have a half point in order to avoid this stupidity. This week I am taking the Browns. Not to win, but to at least cover the ten. I think this game ends up being high scoring. I could see the Chiefs winning 35-31.
Underdog Record: 12-5-1
Steelers Pick Record: 12-5
Mike Tomlin and the Steelers Future
After the Steelers lost to the Browns last week, most fans started screaming that the Steelers should fire Mike Tomlin. I asked on Facebook who the Steelers should replace him with and no one seemed to have an answer. The Jaguars are so desperate for a new direction that they hired Urban Meyer, who has absolutely zero NFL experience.
The part that frustrates me about the Tomlin debate is that people use a bunch of arguments that do not seem very valid.
“Tomlin has never won anything, his Super Bowl win was with Cowher’s team!”
I love this one. Bill Cowher and the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2005. They went 11-5 in the regular season. The next season they went 8-8, which ended up being Cowher’s final year. In 2007, Tomlin took over and he went 10-6. The next year they went 12-4 and won the Super Bowl. If it was only Cowher’s team that won, how come they did not win the Super Bowl in ’06?
Also, know how many starters were the same from both teams? Eleven. Yes, those eleven were definitely crucial, but look at who Tomlin replaced from the Cowher team: James Harrison, Lamarr Woodley, and Lawrence Timmons. Also, Santonio Holmes was now the main receiver (his first season with the Steelers was Cowher’s last and he was used as the third WR).
So yeah, Tomlin had plenty of talent on the team when he took over. But it still meant that he had to coach up the new players and put them in a position to win.
“Tomlin doesn’t have control of his team!”
Why? Because JuJu likes to dance or Chase talks trash on social media? Bill Cowher did not have to deal with social media, so who knows what things would have been like under him. Also, the idea that he was this tyrant who kept his players on a short leash has been squashed by a few of the players talking about how they did not get in trouble for anything and they did some shit back in those days. Fortunately for them, it was easier to keep it quiet in those days.
“The Steelers have underperformed since their last Super Bowl appearance, especially in the playoffs.”
I do not disagree with this statement. Unfortunately, I think so much of this falls on Ben. He makes bad decisions at terrible moments. He has thrown 28 interceptions in the playoffs during his career. In three less games, Aaron Rodgers has only thrown 12 (and he has six more touchdowns).
I think Ben Roethlisberger is the problem. It was clear during this season that he just does not have the arm strength, hence the quick, short passes the offense had to run. But I think there are other problems as well. He always has problem with his OC (either they do not get along, or they are too close).
That leads me to my solution. I think they need to move away from Ben. Maybe they try for a stop-gap, someone like Matthew Stafford or Matt Ryan. Or perhaps they go the blockbuster route: Deshaun Watson (I highly doubt it, but I like to dream). Next, there is the young and forgotten method: Sam Darnold. Finally, there is the draft…probably hard to get someone where they are, but maybe they could trade up?
If they go with the top two ideas, then I give Tomlin one or two years (I do not think it is Super Bowl or bust, but instead he has to win a playoff game). If they go the younger route, then maybe you give him three years, depending on how the QB progresses.
Tomlin is on a short leash. I feel the way they played last year with a franchise QB was definitely because of his coaching skill. If the problems continue with a different quarterback, then yeah, maybe it is time to move on from Mike Tomlin.
