This is a critical stretch for coach T

[Rotorhead]

Thats odd, all your quotes say steelers canada?

[teegre]

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

Thats odd, all your quotes say steelers canada?

OMG!!!

Sorry, Riddle... but, that is pretty damn funny.

[Rotorhead]

To set the record straight i was not trying to imply what you are saying. I am simply stating we cant win the SB every year, regardless of past performances. We have not played as well as i would have hoped on some occasions but we are in the process of moving to a younger team so in my eyes we are in transition or rebuilding. We have lost alot of our last SB team core and next year we will most likely lose more. Fortunatley for us, we wont dwell in the cellar for years at a time rebuilding as some teams do.

[Riddle_Of_Steel]

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

Thats odd, all your quotes say steelers canada?

LOL. I was replying to SteelersCanada in another window, got some cross-chatter.

[Riddle_Of_Steel]

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

To set the record straight i was not trying to imply what you are saying. I am simply stating we cant win the SB every year, regardless of past performances.

I know that. I read too deep into everything.

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

We have not played as well as i would have hoped on some occasions but we are in the process of moving to a younger team so in my eyes we are in transition or rebuilding. We have lost alot of our last SB team core and next year we will most likely lose more. Fortunatley for us, we wont dwell in the cellar for years at a time rebuilding as some teams do.

Thank you for being reasonable and not argumentative like me.

I actually agree with everything you have said here, I think we just ran into each other the wrong way initially.

Glad to put this stupid argument to rest-- not even sure what the topic originally was anymore 10 posts into this thing.

[Edman]

Bill Cowher had three consecutive playoff-less seasons and two consecutive losing seasons to close out the 90's.

Mike T. has yet to have a losing season. Not saying the criticism is unwarranted, I don't like the guy's decisions sometimes either, but at the rate he's going it's going to be a mighty LONG time before he's shitcanned.

[ChristianKustomz]

Our team has no discipline this year. However it has always been Pittsburgh M.O. to saddle down to horrible lousy teams. We play hard and win against significant difficult and hard teams with skill but flop when it comes to teams that are below us. I never understood it and never will.

I think the coaches are part to blame and the other part is on the half prepared, non flare, no passion and lazy undisciplined offense and players. Special teams is weak at best and they have not gone bact to Basics as Tomlin so predictably and repeatedly recoups every post game interview.

I am sick of Tomlin and the same excuses and same responses. I think he is part of the problem along with Todd Haley. There's no fire from the coaches. Just blow off excuses. "we take responsibility and we own this one" and "the standard is the standard" etc. you know...the Tomlin catch phrases.

We have Wallace who is an over paid track runner who couldn't even catch a cold if his life depended on it let alone when the game is on the line. Mendenhall who is equally bad. Leftwich and Batch...everyone over paid and useless. This whole season has proved that and there has been no improvement in my opinion from any of them. They all prove to be unprepared for the games they face and they are waaaayyyy to unpredictable. Championship teams don't play like this.

I am disgusted as a fan and I have more to say but its breaking my heart thinking of how bad we are playing and knowing the potential being thrown away and the talent that is just being wasted....

[zcoop]

Originally Posted by pete74

As long as Ben is our QB we can compete so I dont want to hear shit about rebuilding. If you think we are rebuilding then were screwed. By the time the players learn the new definsive system Ben will be retired or way past his prime. Everyone says it takes a few years to learn our defense correct? Pointless

With that said you wont hear me complain unless were eliminated from the playoffs. The steelers can surprise us all and really play like shit against some of the worst teams in the NFL but can also hang with the best of them. Some of you seem to think the season is over but as long as we have Ben and the best definsive coach in football we can winu the super bowl any season and I wouldnt be surprised to see us there again this year.

Once we totally crush Dallas im sure a lot of people will jump back on the wagon were they belong. Yes we have flaws like every other team out there but we have always played best when our backs are against the wall and everyone has counted us out. Come January were going to look at the Chargers game as our turning point. Were we hit bottom and and started swinging.

??? What happens when Ben leaves? Will that be the end of the franchise? I think not. Ben is good for the team but damn man, there will be QBs after him. You sound as if no one else can fill the QB slot. We're not and never will be a one trick pony.

Ben has done well for us and has a few more years, but there will be life after Ben.

[jiminpa]

Originally Posted by zcoop

??? What happens when Ben leaves? Will that be the end of the franchise? I think not. Ben is good for the team but damn man, there will be QBs after him. You sound as if no one else can fill the QB slot. We're not and never will be a one trick pony.

Ben has done well for us and has a few more years, but there will be life after Ben.

This^. My contention with Ben for years has been that he used to act like he was the team, and that when he retired there would be no more Steelers. Sorry, but he is just now good enough to be Bradshaw's towel boy, and the Steelers rolled on without Bradshaw. They will continue without BR.

[SteeleReign]

Originally Posted by SteelersCanada

It has nothing to do with the fact that the franchise quarterback went down. Or the fact that the second string went down as well. Oh, and before that, our defensive playmaker and best Safety in the NFL went down, as well as rotating in and out our Pro Bowl OLB's.

When this team was 6 - 3, we were absolutely rolling. You're sitting there with a straight face and telling me that the offense hasn't made drastic strides since week 1 playing in Denver? We had the number one offense on third downs until Roethlisberger went down. We had the ball for an average of 35 minutes a game - tied for second in the NFL - when he had Big Ben at the helm. After we beat the Giants, we had one of the best teams in the NFL - no question. Inexcusable losses to Tennessee and Oakland early in the season are beginning to come back and haunt us, but by midseason, we had one of the best teams in the league.

When Ben went down, things went down the tubes. Not having your franchise guy and instead, a third string quarterback, is a good way to derail any teams season. The fact that we're still in the conversation for a playoff spot shows the resilience of this team and the ability to fight through adversity.

This team has made significant strides since early in the season but shockingly, when Ben went down, it went off the rails. How about we keep the doomsday talk to a minimum until we've actually been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Maybe that's asking too much.

I can appreciate your points. But, lost in this is the fact that those "inexcusable losses" happened with BB at the helm. The big win at the Giants too. The big win at Baltimore with Batch. So, there is no CLEAR understanding to take from all of this, except that the team is neither prepared to be, and not built to be able to live up to Tomlin's "the standard is the standard" BS.

If Tomlin is going to make those statements after EVERY game, then he needs to make sure that the players are in place to live up to it. He and KC haven't done that. It's gotten to the point where the fans no longer buy that crap. So, you KNOW the players don't believe it either.

So, what I take from this rollercoaster season? The HC and the Front Office have failed to prepare this team either through the draft or free agency, or through training camp and game prep, to handle adversity - whether it's injuries or otherwise.