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NFL 2021-22
- Thread starter mrpackerguy
- Start date
- Status
The NFC East is, not surprisingly, already out of the playoffs. The Eagles looked terrible in all phases--offense, defense, and special teams.
Do NOT underestimate the Chiefs. They got off to a slow start tonight and have had an off season, but when they get going it can still get ugly very fast. As the Steelers are finding out.
Chiefs-Bills is going to be a great game.
That game went pretty much as I expected. The gap between the Steelers and the top two or three playoff teams is huge.
Yes, it should be. One of those teams will have to beat Brady.
The problem is, getting off to a slow start against a crappy team like Pittsburgh is ok. Against the Bills, that won't be ok. They'll lose.
As far as tonight's game in KC, I'm convinced Ben was checking off and calling his own plays in the second half. What kind of idiot is Matt Canada calling run plays and 2-3 yard pass plays when you're down by 2-3 TD's?
I know Tomlin isn't going anywhere, but Canada and Butler need to go yesterday along with Bush, Trai Turner, Norwood, Haden, Haeg, Diontae Johnson, JuJu, #99, Highsmith, and a few more.
By the way, much praise is given to Tomlin for never having a losing season. Anyone check his playoff record? You know, the games that really matter? Pssst, don't look if you love him.
-Mike
I know there’s a lot of frustration with the Steelers right now, and rightly so. Heck, I grew up as a Steelers fan and I was pulling for the Chiefs. But they have nice pieces in place on both sides of the ball to build around now that the Ben era is done. Question is, will they choose wisely?
And the winner gets to play the Bengals!
Preface: Die hard Eagles fan here.
One of the ugliest losses I've seen in a while. Long while. Why "rest the starters" and end the season on a whimper in front of the home crowd in Philadelphia against the hated Cowboys if you're going to show up in the playoffs and not come out with the pedal to the metal? When the Bucs scored on their opening drive and we went three-and-out on ours, I had a feeling that was it. Horrible game in all three phases. Even our punter had a lousy game. Why is Jalen Reagor still returning punts? Two muffed punts in that game yesterday alone.
Gannon is too passive as a defensive coordinator. I think the Birds need to draft defense first this year and get some youth and grit back in our defense and get us a DC that is more aggressive. Hurts had a bad game, but I'm not ready to get on the "send-Hurts-packing" bandwagon that's easy to jump on today if you're an Eagles fan. He got us to the playoffs his first year as a starting QB. I'm willing to give him at least one more year, but it ain't up to me now, is it? Watkins and especially Smith are solid receivers going forward. Reagor reminds me too much of Nelson Agholor. He just folds when you need him to step up. Besides yesterday's two muffed punts, the two passes that hit him in his hands which he dropped during that seconds Giants game comes to mind. He wasn't the only one with stone hands yesterday. Even the usually-dependable Dallas Goedert had a nasty drop.
Just a classic, all around nasty loss. Tampa Bay came out to play like it was the playoffs. We didn't. It sucks.
One of the ugliest losses I've seen in a while. Long while. Why "rest the starters" and end the season on a whimper in front of the home crowd in Philadelphia against the hated Cowboys if you're going to show up in the playoffs and not come out with the pedal to the metal? When the Bucs scored on their opening drive and we went three-and-out on ours, I had a feeling that was it. Horrible game in all three phases. Even our punter had a lousy game. Why is Jalen Reagor still returning punts? Two muffed punts in that game yesterday alone.
Gannon is too passive as a defensive coordinator. I think the Birds need to draft defense first this year and get some youth and grit back in our defense and get us a DC that is more aggressive. Hurts had a bad game, but I'm not ready to get on the "send-Hurts-packing" bandwagon that's easy to jump on today if you're an Eagles fan. He got us to the playoffs his first year as a starting QB. I'm willing to give him at least one more year, but it ain't up to me now, is it? Watkins and especially Smith are solid receivers going forward. Reagor reminds me too much of Nelson Agholor. He just folds when you need him to step up. Besides yesterday's two muffed punts, the two passes that hit him in his hands which he dropped during that seconds Giants game comes to mind. He wasn't the only one with stone hands yesterday. Even the usually-dependable Dallas Goedert had a nasty drop.
Just a classic, all around nasty loss. Tampa Bay came out to play like it was the playoffs. We didn't. It sucks.
Congrats to the Bengals for breaking their record 31 year post season win draught.
I think the Steelers have some kind of record for consecutive playoff blowouts.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I may actually turn on a television for that one.
You know what Tomlin's trouble is?
He's too good, for the teams own good.
Hear me out.
He's never had a losing season. Sounds impressive, and it is. He and his scouting department have been steady as they come, with middling draft picks every year. Why? Because he's a hell of a coach and the scouting department is ace too. Trouble is, where-as before #1 draft picks were a blessing and a curse because, sure you got a top guy, but could you afford him? Now, with the "parity" ideal in place, and rookie contracts having a ceiling, the teams that tank, or just suck can load up for a few years, then go on a 5 - 7 year run. If they have the coaching. That's the new tactic in the NFL, build the team with whatever coach you feel like. Then when the team is ready and stocked, try to find a top notch coach. New school versus old school. Imagine if Tomlin decides to bounce to San Diego. . .
I'm actually surprised Fisher isn't coaching now. He suffered from the same problem. Just good enough to get mid round picks year after year. He goes to the Rams and fixes them. McCoach is still getting credit for Fishes drafting.
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Yeah, good points buddy.
We're going to find out what kind of coach Tomlin is now that Ben is gone. Ben is the last piece of the good team he inherited from Cowher. The team has gotten progressively worse over the years as those players move on, and now your Hall of Fame QB is no longer playing.
There's plenty of stats and evidence to make an argument on both sides for Tomlin, and each argument is compelling. The thing that is hard to quantify in stats is expectation.
On paper, Tomlin is an amazing coach. Those stats do not lie. He has done a great job holding it together in Pittsburgh for 15 years.
Not on paper is the fact that there is no NFL ready QB on the roster. They have cycled through DB's year after year. They haven't drafted and developed one that is an NFL quality DB.
Najee Harris is a flashy player, or perhaps I should use the term 'splash' that Tomlin loves to use. Why in the world do you trade up and pick a splashy RB when everyone and their momma knows you have no offensive line? Why do you sign a guy like Trai Turner and Joe Haeg when everyone knows they aren't any good and the Steelers have no decent o-line coach? Did Tomlin and Colbert think they were the two guys who were going to make Turner and Haeg into All-Pro's when no one else could? Furthermore with Haeg, he was a cast off from a Super Bowl winning team. You aren't going to be good signing o-linemen that other teams don't want. The NFL doesn't work that way. The Minkah Fitzpatrick deal? Seems OK I guess, but he pouts when he doesn't get his way and disappears for stretches. Now we see why Miami was happy to trade him away, especially for a first round pick. Major win for the Dolphins in that deal.
Keith Butler never once proved himself worthy to be a DC in the NFL. His defenses have been crap, aside from star players that made it look better like Watt and Heyward, for years. The schemes are the same as they've ever been. Think back to all of those losses to the Patriots when they would run basically the same 2-3 plays the entire game and win easily. Sometimes they'd run the same play 3-4 times in a row in the same game with success.
How about last night? You're letting a TE throw TD passes against you? What the heck? It's like KC dug up some plays children submitted and decided to give them a try and see if they worked last night.
Matt Canada? I think Ben had a hand in this one in some way, but he's a joke. Bubble screens, five yard pases on third and eight, pitch plays with Najee 4-5 yards in the backfield on third and three? What is this? TECMO Bowl?
Remember too, Tomlin made this comment after getting behind 23-0 to Minnesota, yeah Minnesota: “I’m not overly concerned about that perspective. Oftentimes, you’re simply gathering information or setting things up for later in the contest.”
What the thunder? Are you serious Tomlin?
We end up back at expectations. If you want to have a winning season, Mike Tomlin is your man. He will calmly and confidently lead your team to wins while not making any news off the field, which I am very grateful for.
His string of embarrassing 'one and dones' in the playoffs and now sub .500 record in the playoffs are what matter in a city like Pittsburgh that built a tradition of winning Super Bowls. It's been six years since the Steelers won a playoff game. Six years.
But hey, maybe I am wrong and winning Super Bowls is not what matters in Pittsburgh anymore. Perhaps the new ownership group is happy not being under .500. I'm starting to get the feeling this is the case.
-Mike
We're going to find out what kind of coach Tomlin is now that Ben is gone. Ben is the last piece of the good team he inherited from Cowher. The team has gotten progressively worse over the years as those players move on, and now your Hall of Fame QB is no longer playing.
There's plenty of stats and evidence to make an argument on both sides for Tomlin, and each argument is compelling. The thing that is hard to quantify in stats is expectation.
On paper, Tomlin is an amazing coach. Those stats do not lie. He has done a great job holding it together in Pittsburgh for 15 years.
Not on paper is the fact that there is no NFL ready QB on the roster. They have cycled through DB's year after year. They haven't drafted and developed one that is an NFL quality DB.
Najee Harris is a flashy player, or perhaps I should use the term 'splash' that Tomlin loves to use. Why in the world do you trade up and pick a splashy RB when everyone and their momma knows you have no offensive line? Why do you sign a guy like Trai Turner and Joe Haeg when everyone knows they aren't any good and the Steelers have no decent o-line coach? Did Tomlin and Colbert think they were the two guys who were going to make Turner and Haeg into All-Pro's when no one else could? Furthermore with Haeg, he was a cast off from a Super Bowl winning team. You aren't going to be good signing o-linemen that other teams don't want. The NFL doesn't work that way. The Minkah Fitzpatrick deal? Seems OK I guess, but he pouts when he doesn't get his way and disappears for stretches. Now we see why Miami was happy to trade him away, especially for a first round pick. Major win for the Dolphins in that deal.
Keith Butler never once proved himself worthy to be a DC in the NFL. His defenses have been crap, aside from star players that made it look better like Watt and Heyward, for years. The schemes are the same as they've ever been. Think back to all of those losses to the Patriots when they would run basically the same 2-3 plays the entire game and win easily. Sometimes they'd run the same play 3-4 times in a row in the same game with success.
How about last night? You're letting a TE throw TD passes against you? What the heck? It's like KC dug up some plays children submitted and decided to give them a try and see if they worked last night.
Matt Canada? I think Ben had a hand in this one in some way, but he's a joke. Bubble screens, five yard pases on third and eight, pitch plays with Najee 4-5 yards in the backfield on third and three? What is this? TECMO Bowl?
Remember too, Tomlin made this comment after getting behind 23-0 to Minnesota, yeah Minnesota: “I’m not overly concerned about that perspective. Oftentimes, you’re simply gathering information or setting things up for later in the contest.”
What the thunder? Are you serious Tomlin?
We end up back at expectations. If you want to have a winning season, Mike Tomlin is your man. He will calmly and confidently lead your team to wins while not making any news off the field, which I am very grateful for.
His string of embarrassing 'one and dones' in the playoffs and now sub .500 record in the playoffs are what matter in a city like Pittsburgh that built a tradition of winning Super Bowls. It's been six years since the Steelers won a playoff game. Six years.
But hey, maybe I am wrong and winning Super Bowls is not what matters in Pittsburgh anymore. Perhaps the new ownership group is happy not being under .500. I'm starting to get the feeling this is the case.
-Mike
This is a pretty good take on Tomlin also. I have to agree with all of it.
Paul Zeise: Steelers' standard under Mike Tomlin has been lowered
Paul Zeise: Steelers' standard under Mike Tomlin has been lowered
Totally agree, +1,000.
Big, big mistake holding on to Ben when the rest of the conference had moved on and started over with new QB's. That was the Steelers chance to do it too. Baltimore and Lamar were out on the forefront doing it first, but they could have joined Cincy and Cleveland with the redo at QB. But nope, Ben comes out in the paper with his emotional pleas for one more season and one more run with these guys, so they caved and did it.
I like how he called out the Bush pick too. I cringed when they announced his name, and sure enough, Bush was out there last night chasing decoys around like a puppy dog. You don't even have to look Bush off. He chases the first thing he sees.
Now it's Cincy and Baltimore they have to chase down, that's going to take a few years unless they catch a break with a free agent signing of a good QB.
-Mike
I agree about Ben being there too long. It's also a significant money sink invested in him. Still, the Steelers are renowned for their loyalty to their team. Now that the Steelers have money to spend, it will be interesting to see if they draft linemen and go for a vet QB ( Wilson is going to be out there - Not really a Pittsburgh kinda guy though... Jimmy G? That's interesting. ) Personally? I think they should pry Kyle Trask from the Bucs and move forward. He's a Pittsburgh guy through and through.
I think Rudolph will be the starting QB next season with Canada as the OC and Butler as the DC. Can Tomlin squeeze nine wins or eight and a tie from the roster as it looks today without Ben? Maybe.
Will there be 75,000 people in Heinz Field every home game? Definitely. There is no financial reason the Steelers owners have for doing anything otherwise. The standard in Pittsburgh is now not to be a loser in the regular season.
-Mike
Hope the Bills Chiefs game follows the same script as the last one. The Bills are rounding into form right on time. Josh pitched a perfect game against the cheatriots and that pick by Hyde was legendary. This COULD be the year... 
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