Steelers vs Chiefs Gamethread
- Thread starter TheSpecialSauce
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Mason Rudolph might instantly be the worst starting quarterback in the National Football League. He is every bit as slow as modern Ben; his arm is somehow weaker than Ben's; and he does not read the field well.
If he's the starter next year, it better be the tank job portion of a two-year rebuild plan.
While I don’t argue with most of the Tomlin stats and takes, save your energy, cause he isn’t going anywhere unless he wants to step down. Focus on the future and how to fill our huge holes and the changing of our coordinators.
You're not wrong about.
I think the biggest problem I'm going to have with him next year is that I just don't see him committing to a rebuild. And I'm not saying it all needs torn down, etc.; that's not how you do it in the NFL. But I also don't want to see us sign some 32-year-old, as if we're only a few players away, or trade any draft picks.
I don't know if Tomlin has it in him to go into next year knowing we almost certainly won't be very competitive.
They lost time cause Ben should have retired with Pouncey. Even with that they’re division not that far ahead. I’m guessing that’s where Rooney is right now. Oh well
Gonna disagree. His legs in his appearances this year extended drives and in a way made me think he would be more effective than Ben. But Ben also had that knack for winning games late. So next year will be interesting. Rudolph’s pocket awareness and mobility is decent and far from elite, but it’s better than what we had with Ben. His arm strength is a concern for me though. But next year is nothing more than a bridge year anyway.
I'm not seeing it with Rudolph. He had a paltry 4.84 yards/attempt against Detroit. He looks like a statue in the pocket. His throws are lollipop city, and he misses high over the middle. I thought we would have beat Detroit by two touchdowns with Ben. Of course, this is just my opinion.
Yeah but again, windy and rainy day, not a day where throwing the ball was much of an option, a depleted receiver corp (no Claypool), and running the same Canada offense that didn’t do anything for the 1st 3 quarters of every game and was designed to throw the ball short of the sticks on every play. But just like Ben he flicked a switch in the 4th quarter and OT. Additionally, he ran for 60 yards in that game. He is not a #1 in my eyes though. But get used to it. September is right around the corner.
What I mean is that if the Steelers decide to bring in a new coach, it won't be someone with a proven track record. It will be a coordinator with little to no experience as a head coach. So it's really a roll of the dice what that person can do with the current roster and likely a rookie QB, a career backup, or some 3rd-tier journeyman.
I also would argue that Tomlin has overseen something of a rebuild. I mean compare their 2017 starting roster to their 2019 starting and a full 50% of the names are different. By week 2, almost 30% of their cap space wasn't available on the field, by week 7 it 35%. Tomlin almost made the playoffs with that roster. He started 8-5 and was being mentioned for coach of the year in a season that was basically a rebuild season because they were playing without their #1 QB, RB, WR, TE, ILB, & more from 2 years prior. Not only that but they also lost Davis and Tuitt early in the season and Conner missed 6 games with injury.
So to me it comes down to the question of do you want a coach that will most likely still be competitive during a rebuild, but probably won't get top 10 draft picks to rebuild, or someone that likely won't be as competitive for 2-3 years but could return better draft slots.
They will bring back Tomlin, 100%. But...if they didn't.... I'd love to see Luke Getsy get an interview. Kind of shades of Cowher....successful young local assistant.
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I've seen a lot of people call 2019 and this year Tomlin's two best coaching jobs. I think there is something to be said about that, though. There is a big difference between getting an under-skilled team to play over its head and actually constructing a championship contender. The style of play, for one, is completely different. You're playing a conservative style of offense and trying to entice your defense to bear the game on its shoulders and make a big play when it counts. You're muddying up the game as much as possible and running clock when you can. You're often not getting an opponent's best punch. It's just different.
I think the Chiefs were sort of playing right into our hands initially last night. Then they woke up and said, "Wait a minute, why are we putzing around with these guys? Let's blow them off the field." And they did just that.
Some coaches are probably better suited for this than others, and it's very possible that Tomlin is quite good at it. There's also a very restrictive ceiling that comes with it.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
The 2019 team beat one team with a winning record (9-7 Rams, who missed the playoffs) and lost to a 6-10 Browns team. It was not a great coaching job.
I think it was an okay job. But there's a cap on that style of play. The Jaguars sucked this year, but if their goal was simply to keep games close and try to win them at the end, I'm sure some of the scores would have been less embarrassing.
My point is only that Tomlin being able to produce respectable results with a mediocre team does not really mean that he would be producing great results with a good team. It just means he was able to shorten and simplify the games for those two years.
How many teams take 2nd in their division with their backup QB making $650k and 1/3 of their payroll on injured reserve or dead cap?
Shit, you don't even have to go that far back to find a similar comparison. How about last year in Belichick's first year without Brady. But he only had around 20% in missing cap space and had a 31-year-old former All-Pro QB (Not saying he was an All-Pro still, but who would you rather have had at backup in 2019, Rudolph or Netwon?).
Belichick went 7-9 and lost to 5-11 Denver, 6-10 49ers, & the 4-12 Texans.
Tomlin a better coach than Belichick confirmed? /s
And there's also something to be said for having arguably the best QB/WR/RB trio in NFL history and only winning like three playoff games with it in how many years? You can't look at one facet and not the other.
Some Steelers fans are insanely delusional. Check out this take from a nut on Steelers Depot:
“Stop blaming Ben Definitely not his fault. Blame Canada and butler. Get the man a decent line and watch what the old wizard work. Can't throw if no one is blocking! Y'all mfs don't know football or prolly never played.”
That is truly insane. The “wizard” broke his wand three years ago and is a below replacement mortal.
“Stop blaming Ben Definitely not his fault. Blame Canada and butler. Get the man a decent line and watch what the old wizard work. Can't throw if no one is blocking! Y'all mfs don't know football or prolly never played.”
That is truly insane. The “wizard” broke his wand three years ago and is a below replacement mortal.
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pittdan77
Athletic Director
Finishing second in the AFC North has taken very little effort over the last twenty years. 2019 was no exception.
Tomlin's 2019 team was way better than Belichick's 2020 team. Especially the defense. But also, it's not like Belichick spent ten years struggling to win playoff games with a HOF QB, either.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Tomlin has had a lot of great teams and still managed to crap the bed in the playoffs.
The AFC North is 310-291 against non-division foes in the regular season since Tomlin was hired. I'm not doing that math for the other divisions, but I'd be willing to bet that a 51.6% interdivision record is probably top 2-3 in the NFL over that time.
I'd also be willing to bet that the AFC North has sent more teams to the playoffs in the last 20 years than any other conference. (I know I added them up in 2019 for another argument on this board and the AFC North was #1 at the time, I'm guessing they are still #1 considering they sent 3 teams to the playoffs last year and 2 this year)
The AFC North is top-to-bottom one of the best divisions in the NFL over the past 15 years.
For KP's sake I'd hope so. Would be a great situation and the perfect coach for him. Though who knows, Rodgers may follow Getsy wherever he ends up. They have a great relationship.
Yes Detroit. Everything in the post you responded to was exhibited in the Detroit game that he would have won if not for a DJ fumble in OT.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Oh yeah. 2014 that division was easily the best in football. Steelers won that tough division but of course that's the season the Steelers lost two terrible games (Tampa and NYJ) and cost themselves a good playoff seed. Lost in the playoffs, again. But there have been double digit seasons in the last 15 years where at least one team in that division lost 5 or more games, too.
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